Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Vancouver Kingsway.
It is with great pleasure that I rise to speak to the budget brought down this week. It is the Liberal government's sixth budget since it was first elected to office in 1993. We have not seen two balanced budgets in a row since the 1950s.
Let us go back to the 1997 election campaign for a look at the Liberal Party's election platform. We set out to do what we are doing today and what we will continue to do in future budgets during our term of office.
As for the surpluses, we said that 50% would go towards social and economic programs; 25% towards tax relief; and 25% towards paying down the national debt. That is what we have done in the last two budgets and that is what we will go on doing.
Who is not happy with our budgets? The opposition parties who, unfortunately, will never be satisfied with what the government does. This is perhaps a weakness in our system. The opposition parties always have to be unhappy. They can never say they are satisfied with the government's achievements.
I do not wish to be too critical of the opposition parties, for that is the nature of our system, but there are also special interest groups that are dissatisfied with the budget. There is the accountants' association, which says we should put more money into paying down the debt. Bay Street says there should be more tax relief. Doctors' associations in Ontario say we should have put more money into health care.
This goes to show that this is really a balanced budget. When we are criticized from all sides by special interest groups, I think it means that we in the government have done a good job.
Another group that is not pleased with the budget is the separatist government in Quebec. They have misgivings about the changes made to the method used to calculate the Canada social transfer. However, what they fail to mention is that, in the next three weeks, Quebec will be receiving $1.4 billion in equalization payments. With social transfer and equalization payments combined, Quebec, which accounts for 24% of the Canadian population, will be receiving 29% of all federal transfers. Some injustice. Some humiliation.
As the Prime Minister pointed out yesterday in Montreal and again today in the House, this $1,4 billion payment will enable the PQ government to balance its budget. But then again, that too will be blamed on the federal government.
But I have to confess that I am biased. I believe the government is doing a terrific job. So rather than hearing it from a biased individual, I will quote from today's editorial in the Orillia Packet and Times in my riding, a Hollinger owned newspaper, not necessarily given to being friendly to the Liberal Party:
Balance.
That's the most striking element in Tuesday's budget announcement.
Paul Martin's second straight balanced budget—something not seen by Canadians since the early 1950s—seems to be a hybrid of political thought. It could even be used to demonstrate that, despite its flaws, Canada's political system is working.
This budget has the distinction of being balanced at the centre of the political spectrum. Its influences are obvious: the frugality and fiscal responsibility preached by Conservatives and Reform are balanced with strong social conscience represented in significant increases in health care funding.
The right is represented again in the small tax relief presented to Canadians. It acknowledges that Canadians are struggling under a heavy tax load, but it does so with a trickle, rather than a gusher.
We believe this is a responsible, moderate budget.
It will not solve every pressing issue on the spot. But that is the stuff of political fiction. Problems as complex as those faced by the federal government will not be solved overnight. But they can be solved.
There is hope sewn into the lining of this budget.
That speaks volumes on how this budget was conceived and how it is perceived in the community.
Another issue I will touch on is the question of the reaction of the provincial government in Ontario. The Harris reformatories will be saying because of the funds being put back into health care in this budget, it is an admission by the federal government that the difficulties in the health care system were caused by cuts in transfer payments.
I believe the Ontario electorate will not be fooled by that rhetoric. I believe the Ontario electorate will be able to understand the figures. They will know that for the next year the cuts in transfers prior to this budget from the federal government to the province of Ontario were in the order of $831 million. They will also know that the Harris reformatory tax cuts amounted to $4.8 billion. If we divide the responsibility for any difficulties that may be being experienced in Ontario health care, the apportionment can be easily struck at one-seventh responsibility for the federal government cuts and six-sevenths responsibility for the Harris tax cuts. Those are the priorities of the Harris reformatory government and that is how it chose to use the resources.
I do not believe that the electorate will be deceived. Nor do I believe that the electorate will pay any attention to Premier Harris when he makes comments like what I read in the newspaper today. He was referring to the Harris-Martin tax cuts.
There is no comparison between the way this government under our finance minister dealt with the issue of tax cuts with the deficit and the havoc that the Harris government, the reformatory government, has imposed on Ontario by allowing the massive tax cuts before it was in a position to balance its budget. There is no question that this will be taken into account by the Ontario electorate in the upcoming provincial election.
In summary, it appears evident to me that this budget will be widely accepted by Canadians and so far it has been widely accepted by Canadians. I congratulate the government for once again bringing in a balanced budget with a significant surplus and properly applying that surplus in a balanced fashion.
