Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak to Bill C-36, the budget implementation act.
The recent Liberal budget could have been historic since it is the first time in decades that our books have been balanced. However, the Liberals missed an historic opportunity in the budget to deal with the issues of most concern to Canadians.
High tax levels, a crippling national debt, bracket creep and job killing payroll taxes have all been passed over by the government, despite the fact that these things affect the quality of life in our country, that these things reduce our standard of living.
Canadians are subject to some of the highest tax rates in the world and the Liberals did nothing in the budget to address the situation. In 1993 Ottawa collected $125 billion a year from taxes, but thanks to the Liberals Ottawa will suck $166 billion out of the pockets of taxpayers in 1998. By the year 2000 Canadians will be paying $48 billion per year in higher taxes than when the Liberals were elected. That increase is equivalent to $5,000 per Canadian family. It is these taxes that are sucking the lifeblood out of our economy and forcing many of our highly skilled workers to move to the more tax friendly United States.
In the recent budget the Liberals should have addressed bracket creep but they did not. This insidious tax constantly pushes taxpayers into higher tax brackets even though their income remains unchanged. Even the OECD called on the government to eliminate this sneaky tax. Bracket creep represents taxation by stealth since taxes automatically increase each year.
The government has collected an extra $22 billion since bracket creep was introduced by the Tories in 1989. Considering the present government's tax and spend mentality it should come as no surprise that it opted to maintain bracket creep, to maintain high tax levels and to maintain a source of income for its big government programs. The 1998 budget contains $11 billion in new spending initiatives for 25 new government programs.
What it does not contain is real tax relief. It utterly fails to recognize that there is a $583 billion national debt. The debt load costs $45 billion each year to service. That is $45 billion less for important social programs like health care and education. It is $45 billion thrown into the wind each year with no direct benefit for Canadians. That is what our national debt load represents. Yet the Liberals are patting themselves on the back for taxing Canadians to death in order to eliminate the deficit. Meanwhile the monstrous debt load looms over our heads.
The finance minister had nothing to say about the serious debt situation which we now face. In fact budget documents show the national debt remaining unchanged through the year 2000. In typical Liberal fashion the government believes that if it ignores the problem it will go away.
It is not possible to sweep $600 billion under the carpet. Ignoring the debt today means that it will be passed on to the next generation tomorrow, and that is wrong. According to the budget that is what the Liberals want to do. The truth is that there was a surplus in 1997-98 of $3.2 billion but the Liberals blew it on new spending.
If the Liberals had applied the surplus against the debt, we would have had an interest savings of $235 million a year over the next three years. Rather than show a surplus on the books and face questions over excessive taxation, the Liberals simply spent the money.
Speaking of the nation's financial books, the auditor general accused the finance minister of cooking the books. His accusations are well founded in standard accounting practices as a matter of fact, standard accounting practices the government has stubbornly refused to accept.
The amendment put forward by my colleague from Medicine Hat addresses this issue. The problem is that the Liberals have assigned $2.5 billion to the Prime Minister's Canada millennium scholarship foundation despite the fact that not a single scholarship will be handed out until the year 2000. It is not standard accounting practice, except in Liberal circles, to cost future liabilities into current budget figures, but then a lot of strange things go on within Liberal circles such as patronage appointments to the Senate in exchange for certain financial remuneration.
This is not the first time the Liberals have used this method of accounting for purely political purposes. The auditor general twice criticized the government for doing the same thing with the Canada foundation for innovation fund and the $1 billion payment to Atlantic Canada for the HST.
The amendment put forward by the member for Medicine Hat would deny passage of Bill C-36 because the Liberals are cooking the books for pure political gain. I think this is obvious to all members of the House, and I urge them to support the amendment.
I would like to continue discussing the budget by pointing out the opportunity that was missed to lower taxes, particularly payroll taxes. Even the finance minister's department states that payroll taxes kill jobs. When the finance minister appeared before the finance committee in October 1994, he said that high payroll taxes were a tax on jobs and that it was ludicrous. He certainly has changed his tune in the last few years.
The CPP premium hike introduced this year is the largest tax grab in Canadian history. It will kill tens of thousands of jobs. Likewise, the minister has kept EI premiums at artificially high levels and he applied the huge EI surplus against the deficit.
EI premiums for employees are $2.70, but the break even point is $2. EI over the last few years has been taking in $8 billion more each year than it pays out. These high EI premiums represent nothing more than a tax on jobs. To the minister these high premiums have become necessary revenue to apply against the deficit.
The CFIB and small business continually cite high taxes, particularly payroll taxes, as the largest impediment to growth and expansion. If the government wants to address unemployment it must get our tax levels down and encourage firms to hire.
The Liberals just do not get it. Government does not create jobs. High taxes most certainly do not create jobs. Big government and high taxes kill jobs. They are an impediment to economic growth and lower unemployment. The Liberals do not have a plan to create jobs as demonstrated by progressively higher taxes in each subsequent budget since 1994.
However, Reformers have a plan for getting Canadians back to work and strengthening the economy. We would reduce job killing payroll taxes and capital gains taxes in order to encourage investment in Canadian businesses. We would eliminate the 3% and 5% income surtaxes introduced by the Tories and only tinkered with in the budget. As well, Reformers would increase the amount of the basic personal deduction and extend the child care expense deduction to all parents.
In all, our efforts would reduce taxes by $15 billion by the year 2001. This amounts to $2,000 per family of four. This plan is directed toward providing a brighter future for Canadians, a future filled with hope and opportunities.
Unfortunately, when we examine the Liberal government's obsession with high tax levels and its continuing yearly tax increases, the hopes of many Canadians are erased and many opportunities will simply never arise. Therefore, for these reasons I cannot support Bill C-36. I urge all other members of the House to oppose the bill.