Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise on this pre-budget debate. As a member of the finance committee I have had the opportunity to travel across Canada with the committee to consult with Canadians and to hear from a broad cross-section of groups.
The finance committee invited many of the groups to come before it to discuss the application of our budget surplus. The groups were asked in all cases to come to the finance committee with their national priorities so we could report to the House and the finance minister how we should approach Canada's fiscal situation.
It was clear that notwithstanding the request, many of the groups that came before the finance committee preferred to deal with their own priorities in isolation rather than the overall national interest. It does pose some difficulty to the finance committee in terms of forming a consensus as to what Canadians believe when so many groups come before the finance committee and speak on behalf of their special interest.
One which concerned me at the time and still does was the intervention by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. This group obviously represents major business and industry across the country. It came before us with some scenarios of how that surplus should be applied.
I want to share with the House what the Canadian Chamber of Commerce felt we should do with the surplus, the so-called fiscal dividend.
The first item was that 50% of any total surplus should be applied against the national debt. The second was to reduce EI premiums by 15 cents. The third was to eliminate the 3% general surtax completely. The fourth was to increase basic personal exemptions by $500 for all taxpayers. The fifth was to increase RRSP contribution limits by an additional $1,000 bringing it up to $14,500.
The sixth item was to introduce indexing of RRSP contributions so that the amount of contributions could rise over time. The seventh was to fully index personal income tax brackets and credits to the CPI over the medium term. The eighth item was to increase the foreign content of RRSPs to 30% from the current 20% and the last item was that there should be no new government spending.
In the written submissions and oral testimony given by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce there was not one mention of health care. This concerned me. It is reflective of the kinds of things the finance committee dealt with. It had to segregate those narrow interests of the wish list of particular groups and try to put them in the context of a national interest.
This was of concern to me and I raised it at the time at the finance committee. I referred to it as the presentation from Oz. This was a presentation that demonstrated that they had the brain to figure out all these details.
It also had the courage to list nine items, each of which would benefit the highest income earners of Canada but not every taxpayer in Canada. It was skewed or biased on behalf of the highest income earners in Canada.
It had brains. It had courage. But what this proposal did not have was a heart. We need a budget that has heart. We need a budget from the finance minister that has the brains to figure out the priorities, to make sure the important priorities of health care, debt reduction, income tax reduction and social conscience are reflected in the budget.
Much has been said before the finance committee about a subject near and dear to my heart, child poverty. Child poverty is a convenient political synonym for the broader issue of family poverty.
We have through Statistics Canada an instrument called LICO, low income cut off. It establishes levels of income given population areas, whether urban or rural, and the number of persons within a family. That has been used from time to time to be the measure of poverty in Canada.
Statistics Canada will clearly state that we do not have a poverty level established in Canada. It is something that we have refused to do and I find it really important.
In 1989 the House of Commons dealt with a motion to deal with the elimination of so-called child poverty by 2000, a motion tabled by Ed Broadbent.
Mr. Broadbent was in the House on his last day as a member of parliament. He was leaving the place. Most of the dialogue was giving tribute to Mr. Broadbent. Those who had the guts to talk about child poverty were talking about food, shelter and clothing.
Today we talk about child poverty and listen to advocacy groups talking about child poverty. One person, when asked for a symptom of child poverty, cited as an example a case where a child would not be able to go to a birthday party because they could not afford a good enough gift.
It was at that point that I recognized child poverty had become defined in a way that is much different from the perception and concerns of Canadians. I raised the point with the finance minister that a measure of poverty in Canada is important, not relative poverty which is what LICO is, but real poverty. If Canadians understood there are people who do not have the food, the shelter or the clothing they need then we would not be so desensitized to the seriousness of this problem in Canada.
The numbers have become so large and so fuzzy in terms of what constitutes poverty in Canada, I believe Canadians have become desensitized. I also believe that groups like the Canadian Chamber of Commerce have become desensitized to the seriousness of that issue simply because of definitions and soft numbers.
Under the health regime we have concerns about social poverty. In Canada 25% of children enter adult life with significant social or behavioural problems.
I have had many initiatives suggesting that we have to address these from the standpoint of prevention because each and every Canadian must pay for the cost of dealing with children with problems after they have them. If we can get a better balance between prevention and remedial action all Canadians stand to benefit.
Under the current Income Tax Act we have the child care expense deduction which is up to $7,000 for a preschool child. As all members know, the deduction is worth more to high income earners versus low. It is my recommendation that the finance minister convert the child care expense deduction to a refundable tax credit and make it available to all families with children regardless of whether they are working at home or in the paid labour force.
I believe there are some issues beyond basic fiscal issues. It is the health of our children and the social deficit in Canada that we also have to address. We must have a budget with brains, courage and, most important, a heart.