Madam Speaker, it is great to rise today on behalf of my constituents and speak to the budget that was brought down on Tuesday. For most of my constituents they are finding it a very muddled document that is not really quite sure what it wants to do.
It is touted as the health care budget and we are waiting to see the proof of the pudding. This document claims to restore health care funding but in fact it hardly starts the process of putting back into place what existed before members opposite came to this place in 1993.
While Canadians were piling extra billions of dollars into government coffers, waiting lines for health services went up by 28%. Members opposite like to blame the provincial governments. If the provincial governments were solely to blame, it still would not explain why federal expenditures on health have fallen from the promised 50% base line as outlined in the original Canada Health Act to the measly 11% that exists today. It does not explain why the much talked about five principles are in a shambles while this government did nothing but download to its provincial counterparts.
Where is the portability when we see one government failing to fully reimburse another for treating its residents? Where is the universality when the wealthy are put at the front of the queue or skip off to the United States to get their service, leaving 180,000 Canadians waiting weeks and months for operations here in Canada?
Members of this party find it ironic that Liberals have attempted to frighten Canadians with that bogeyman of a two tiered American style health system when in fact they have encouraged through their action or inaction the creation of this very thing.
The problem began in the first days of this government. The present Prime Minister was elected in October 1993 and his finance minister brought down his first budget in 1994. Since this was greeted with roaring disapproval, the Liberals decided on a new tack for 1995. They would make the appearance of cutting the deficit their central theme. What a good idea, one near and dear to everyone's heart, but not the way we would have pursued it.
The government started to see the economic recovery and decided to do two things: rake in the maximum amount Canadians could stand to give and download the responsibility of paying bills on to provincial governments. That is a reality. The numbers are there for anybody to see. I am gratified to see many commentators starting to say the things we have been saying for the past few years.
This government has never got its wild spending habits under control. It has never admitted to the anchor that its high tax regime imposes on all Canadians. It cannot get it through its collective head that Canadians want to be in charge of their own destiny. Leave the money with them and let them decide.
This government lays claim to a balanced budget because it pulls $42 billion more in revenues from the economy than it did in 1993. We are paying more while provinces, individuals and institutions are getting less. Members opposite will say to look at the tax cuts.
The 3% surtax will be cut in half this year and eliminated in the year 2000. Average taxpayers will see a few dollars per week from that one. The basic personal credit is up $340 over 1998 and will go up another $240 next year. This translates into another couple of dollars per week for hardworking Canadians and that sounds really good. It works out to about a cup of coffee a week. The reality of this cut is on average $79 a year. We know the EI rate is going down a whopping 5%, from $2.70 per hundred dollars to $2.55. The CPP is certainly going to offset that with the increases we are seeing there.
Everyone was saying the EI rate should have gone down even more. Business is calling for it. It is a tax on jobs. But the finance minister has been banking that $7 billion a year surplus and the Liberals will have us believe that these nickel and dime returns should have us all thanking our lucky stars to get anything at all. That is the reality again. This government would have us believe that their tuna fish ideas are seen as caviar by the peasants out there.
If we add all this up, what do we get? As it turns out Canadians will pay $2 billion more in taxes while these little tidbits of so-called tax relief are phased in. We pay more, we get less. We pay more CPP premiums with no guarantee that anything will exist in 20 years. We still have bracket creep working its magic on our incomes while this government ignores outdated brackets and disincentives that have existed in our tax code for decades, especially for small business.
What do we get for this? Do we get more health care? Do we get more economic activity? Do we get more national wealth? No, we get more politics, the last thing we really need.
Two weeks ago were treated to the spectacle of our government leaders trumpeting the creation of a social union deal. Did this amazing document re-establish the primacy of the two levels of government in their respective spheres of jurisdiction as set out in our Constitution? No. It put on display the arrogance of the Liberal government and the desperation that provincial politicians feel when they see billions of dollars up for grabs. They need it. They have programs to run.
There was no thought to leaving that money in the hands of the taxpayers, or to giving it back from where it originally came. These politicians traded away the right to spend the money and take the credit as if there were two kinds of taxpayers and government was all about the size of the program and not how good it is. He who has the money makes the rules.
Why does the federal government not concentrate on what it is supposed to do? The budget just released puts $175 million into DND. That does not rebuild a single soldier's house, add a single soldier, sailor or pilot to the forces, nor does it buy a single piece of equipment. The Canadian forces as we see them now are overcommitted. They cannot train up to the proper standard without the proper equipment. They cannot replace worn out equipment. They have lost $7 billion from what previous governments told them to expect, and this administration has the nerve to give them this pitiful increase.
Members opposite will say to look at the wonderful job they do. That is the whole point. Despite broken promises by this government and unfulfilled commitments, despite the downloading of responsibility, despite the fact this government does nothing but take while it asks for the moon, these hardworking Canadians get the job done.
The Canadian taxpayer is in the same leaky boat. We are so used to high taxes, hidden costs and government programs that are supposed to alleviate every problem under the sun, that I am afraid we are complacent about the antics of this government in this budget. This budget repeats what we have seen in the last three. The minister's projections are wrong. He finds himself with more of Canadians' money than he even thought possible so he pumps up government spending. The debt continues to fester, taxes continue to suppress our potential, a key element, and the Liberals continue to claim that they are being prudent, generous and compassionate. They are none of these things.
In the past, Canadians slowly became outraged as they saw finance minister after finance minister miss the mark on the deficit and charge them for it in increased taxes. Now they are slowly becoming outraged that this finance minister misses the mark on spending and charges them for it. It is not their imagination. It is being exposed everywhere. The numbers are there. They are documented very well.
Think tanks, research institutions and economists are all asking where the surplus went. They are all answering that the finance minister is hiding it from the Canadian people so he can pursue a political agenda of his own. For how long are Canadians going to accept this outrage? For how long does this minister think he can make taxpayers pay more and receive less?
This Liberal government has failed on health care. It has taken out far more than it intends to put in. It has failed to perform the federal role it is supposed to focus on. And it is losing the trust of Canadians by manipulating the national books.
Over the last few months we have heard a great deal about productivity but I do not see much about that from the Liberal spin doctors. I do not suppose that is because it is another missed opportunity by this government. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business classed this budget as a missed opportunity. We have been losing ground on these issues for years. This finance minister trots out the typical line that things are looking up and that adding a few dollars will address the situation. Everything looks better after you have hit rock bottom which is where we seem to be headed.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has warned this government that Canada is failing, not rising upward on the issue of productivity. These studies indicate that our tax burden is just too great. The window dressing in this budget does nothing to solve that. Again nothing for business, the engine of the economy, the job creator. It says that the United States is surging ahead in this area with half the unemployment rate, but here we have the finance minister bragging about job creation. Eighty per cent of those jobs are created by the small business sector, not by government programs.
Our unemployment rate is twice that of the U.S. Is that good enough? Our standard of living is falling; disposable income continues to fall. Why is this acceptable? Why is being 17th in the world good enough? It is not. There is so much more that has to be done.
What did the minister do about the small business deduction? Nothing. It is still mired in 1980 values. What has he done about corporate taxes, payroll taxes, user fees? Nothing in this budget. Where is the burden of personal income tax? Among the highest in the world, and this budget does a little tinkering with it. We pay more and get less.
We need a government in this country that is committed to openness, accountability, freedom and wealth creation for everybody. Instead we are stuck with a government that is obsessed with manipulation, social engineering and bureaucracy. I do not see anything productive about that.