Mr. Speaker, in the early part of her speech the member referred to the scandalous surplus the government was budgeting. The member will well know that the commitment made to Canadians was to balance the budget in the current fiscal year ended March 31, 1998, and to balance it again next year and the year after. This is the budget for the current year with a two year outlook.
The member will also know that the budget includes a contingency of some $3 billion. If the member looks closely she will also find very prudent assumptions with regard to the interest rate and growth estimates during the periods under which the estimates are being given.
It is very clear that if private sector estimates on interest rates and growth are achieved, which are much more positive than the government is assuming, surpluses will even be larger than projected.
The member must concede that if we are to pay down the debt, if we are to service the debt in an orderly way and get it down to sustainable levels, surpluses have to be achieved.
The member also knows that it is the intent of the government to use 50% of surpluses for important program spending like health, education and social programs. The other 50% will be used for debt reduction and for income tax relief for Canadians.
The member should temper the comments about scandalous surpluses in view of the fact that it is very important for us to have our debt being paid down so that we can continue to enjoy very competitive and lower interests rates which benefit all Canadians.
My question for her has to do with the millennium scholarship fund. She talked about the fund, as have many other members, as a subsidy for people already in the education system to lower tuition and to deal with student debt.
She has missed the point. It is important for us to remember that accessibility to post-secondary education was one of the primary reasons for the development of the millennium scholarship initiative. Many students would like to go on to post-secondary education but cannot afford to incur the costs of living and the costs of tuition. They are not prepared to enter into that obligation.
Some have said that the millennium scholarship fund would only benefit 7% of students. It could be zero per cent of existing students and another tranche of students who would not otherwise go to school.
Would the member not agree that the issue of accessibility is much more important to Canadians than subsidy?