Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to take part in today's debate. It is an important one.
This week's Speech from the Throne was great news for my riding of Guelph—Wellington, and for all of Canada, quite frankly. It outlined a commitment to protect and improve the social programs we all hold very dear while not abandoning our commitment to fiscal responsibility.
Fiscal responsibility is very important to all Canadians. When the federal Liberals came to power in 1993 we inherited a deficit of $42 billion. We know that the Conservative government did not handle things very well, much to the sadness of every single Canadian. Canadians from across Canada at that time left only two Conservative members in this House. They said no, that the Conservatives were not on the right track.
We refused to let this era of deficit spending continue. By 1998, just five short years later, we had not only balanced the budget, we had posted a surplus of $3.5 billion. That is an improvement of $45.5 billion. It is an accomplishment of which every one of us can be proud because each Canadian helped to do that.
Obviously our balanced plan is working and we will continue to pursue that plan because it is working.
The Speech from the Throne renews our commitment to fiscal restraint. We have renewed our commitment to ensuring that the nation's finances never get out of control again. We have renewed our commitment to ensuring that the debt to GDP ratio remains on a downward track. We have renewed our commitment to continue cutting taxes while making strategic investments in this country's future.
The Speech from the Throne contains a promise to further reduce taxes. People in my own riding as well as many Canadians across Canada have asked for that. We will put more money back into the pockets of all Canadians.
The next budget will also lay out a multi-year plan for tax reduction. This is important to my riding because Guelph—Wellington has seen that this multi-year plan worked in slaying the deficit and it will work in tax reduction also.
Targeted tax cuts and broad based tax cuts are both priorities in my riding. I have done a survey in Guelph—Wellington and that is what my constituents have told me. However, I also want to stress that Guelph—Wellington believes, and I know many Canadians across our great country agree, that we must not cut taxes at the expense of our valued social programs. That would be a serious mistake.
When asked where new spending should be directed, my constituents identified post-secondary education as a priority. I am pleased to report that our government is committed to ensuring that Canada has a strong infrastructure to improve our skills, promote innovation and conduct research. That is great news for the University of Guelph.
The University of Guelph is a world class, world renowned institution located in the heart of the golden technology triangle. It is an important part of the academic community and of our local community. Consequently, we are all very pleased with the federal government's promise to increase support for granting councils, enabling them to forge new partnerships with universities and to attract more of the best research minds in the world. This is very important to all Canadians. Places like the University of Guelph do wonderful research that benefits all Canadians in the areas of health, animal research—just name it, we do it in Guelph.
This will be done through an innovative program called 21st century chairs for research excellence. We will invest $60 million in the first year, $120 million in the second year, $180 million in the third year. The program will be ongoing, with the goal of creating 12,000 positions in three years and 2,000 in the very near future. It is fantastic.
The federal government also will foster greater international research collaboration by Canadian universities, and research institutes will help to expand Canadian scientific expertise in a variety of areas. Legislation will be tabled to create Canadian institutes of health research and the commercialization of research from universities and government research centres. They all will be improved.
The federal government will also work with our provincial partners to develop an action plan that sets out common principles, objectives and a funding framework for all governments to increase their resources dedicated to post-secondary education. Together we will find ways to ensure that skills development keeps pace with the evolving economy and makes it easier to finance lifelong learning. For anybody who has worked in a community, we all know that lifelong learning is absolutely paramount in this economy. It is very important.
The survey that I did also indicated that health care is very important and on people's minds. People want access to quality universal health care, and the factor really is a very high quality of life. People want that. Our health care system represents our society's belief in compassion and in caring. It is one of our proudest national achievements and it is an example for many other nations.
Many times we hear the Reform Party talk about the United States and how wonderful the United States is. Canada's crime rate is far below that of the United States and Canada's health care system is much better than that of the United States. We are certainly very blessed.
In the Speech from the Throne we have promised to strengthen the federal government's own research and science capacity to better protect the health and safety of Canadians. We will strengthen the food safety program and take further steps to address the health risks posed by pesticides and will table legislation to modernize health protection.
Over the next two years we will support our partners in testing innovations in home care and pharmacare and integrated service delivery, then consider what further significant investments need to be made.
We will also build a modern health system to make health information more accessible, not only to health professionals but also to citizens like you, Mr. Speaker, and I.
More and more we are learning that the quality of our health is affected by the state of our environment. Canadians have long recognized that a clean and healthy environment is essential to maintaining and enhancing our quality of life. Guelph—Wellington is known for its environmentally friendly practices, such as its state of the art wet and dry recycling facility.
Just recently we had five members of parliament in attendance at an event held at the recycling plant. This was really a great show of support from the government for recycling and environmental issues. I believe other communities can and will learn from our example, especially given the federal government's commitment to further developing and adopting green technology.
A clean and healthy environment is a wonderful legacy for our children. Children are our future and Guelph—Wellington believes that they deserve the best possible start in life. On this issue once again the Speech from the Throne reflects the priorities of my constituents.
The 1999 throne speech includes the commitment to help families by cutting taxes and leaving more money in their pockets. The federal government will also increase funding for the national child benefit by 2002, further helping parents to provide for their children. We will lengthen employment insurance benefits for parental leave. Children always come first with the government.
I am very proud of the Speech from the Throne. It reflects our balanced approach, combining fiscal prudence with a commitment to social programs. In a recent survey my people identified health care, post-secondary education, tax cuts, the environment and the future of our children. The throne speech has all of these elements. The Prime Minister of Canada has listened to the people of Guelph—Wellington again.
The throne speech lays out our path as we enter a new century and a new millennium. The initiatives it outlines will help us to maintain a dynamic economy, strengthen our communities and further advance Canada's place in the world. I know that the future holds many wonderful things for Canada. With the guidance of the federal government, we will work together and achieve our goals.
I would like to finish with a quote from our Prime Minister. Yesterday He said “Canada belongs to the 21st century and Canada will be the place to be in the 21st century. The world has seen the future and it is Canada”.