Mr. Speaker, if anybody needs any information on kibbutzim, the hon. Minister of Citizenship and Immigration worked on a kibbutz for a number of years before coming to the House.
It is important to focus the debate somewhat. It would be fair for me to say that the biggest cohort in the House is the class of 1993. When the Liberals formed the government at that time it is important to remember what our position was as a nation.
During the previous nine years the debt grew from $208 billion to $508 billion under the Progressive Conservatives and we had a record annual deficit of $42 billion.
In 1993, 11.4% of Canadians were unemployed and we were told by the former Tory prime minister that we should not expect anything below 10% before the year 2000. Although it is still much too high, the number right now is 7.8%.
In 1993 employment insurance premiums were scheduled to rise to $3.30. Since then we have lowered them each and every year. We are now at $2.55 for every $100 earned.
Our nation was falling into self-doubt and we were an economic basket case among western countries.
The reality is that we now have back to back balanced budgets for the first time in almost half a century. As we have recovered the fiscal integrity of our nation we must thank all Canadians for their support in this effort. We must also recognize and commend the leadership of the Minister of Finance and the Prime Minister in this effort.
Who would have believed that this day would come? In order to complete this first stage of the recovery plan and balancing the budget we pursued a balanced program of a reduction in spending, reducing transfer payments to the provinces and growing the economy. The decisions made and the actions taken were not easy for anyone, but they worked. We can once again look to the future with optimism.
Governing is about bettering the lives of Canadians and improving their standard of living. It is building today to ensure for a better tomorrow. In order to do this and do it well we as a government cannot work alone so we enlist the input of Canadians.
The principal concern of Canadians and Ontarians across the country is health care. We are making the largest single investment of the government in health care. Under the budget provinces will receive an additional $11.5 billion in transfers for health care over the next five years. My province of Ontario gets an additional $4.4 billion of that for a total of 38.2%. This investment will bring the health component of the Canada health and social transfer to the level it was before the 1990 cutbacks.
Because we are removing the equalization cap on British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario and moving to a per capita entitlement for equalization payments, Ontario will receive an additional $900 million in transfer payments.
Health care is a priority for Canadians and continues to be for the government. As the Minister of Health has said, and I am paraphrasing, we must strive for a people centred system, one that stresses transparency, sharing of information and the right provider giving the right care at the right time in the right place at a reasonable cost to taxpayers. This increasingly means innovative ideas and the use of the newest technology.
My riding of Kitchener—Waterloo is well known for innovation and research. The budget has tremendous gains in this area, both in health specific research and research in general. I have just spoken of the health research initiatives as a cornerstone of the budget and will now continue to discuss other forms of research, an issue near and dear to me and the people of Kitchener—Waterloo.
I am very happy to have contributed to this process through the post-secondary caucus of the Liberal Party. I was one of the original members, along with the hon. member for Peterborough and Dr. John English, the former member for Kitchener who has now returned to teaching at the University of Waterloo.
Our universities are very pleased with the budget. Bob Rosehart, president of Wilfrid Laurier University, stated:
The focus on health in Federal Budget '99 was great news for all Canadians. The enhanced health research opportunities presented to all universities...and the increased funding to the granting councils was great news. Obviously the federal government has been listening to the universities and WLU looks forward to participating in these new initiatives.
The comments from the University of Waterloo were much the same. I am very glad to be able to say that the Kitchener—Waterloo area is very well served by the budget and by the government. Having worked with the post-secondary education and research community for a long time I knew that our caucus would help them in putting their message across.
In the consultations before the last budget the post-secondary education caucus helped to ensure that the future of post-secondary institutions and hundreds of thousands of students was given high priority. As a result, the last budget was good news for post-secondary education. This year it continues.
That is why the budget works. The people had an influence on its preparation through public opinion polling and through different caucuses and committees. Canadians are working hard to better themselves and improve their prospects. In so doing they are enhancing Canada's economic strength and furthering Canada's future prospects, enabling us as a nation to compete successfully in the new economy.
Research and development are crucial to the economic well-being as we compete in the new economy. It is more imperative now as we are undergoing an information technology revolution and has a greater impact on jobs than the industrial revolution.
Millions of jobs across the country were lost in the old economy and the millions of net new jobs created in the past four years are a tribute to our ability to embrace the new economy, much of it a new economy founded on research and development.
For example, my community in Kitchener—Waterloo was once a manufacturing community and an insurance centre. Now its manufacturing sector is reduced and it specializes in higher education and high tech and is still an insurance centre. Under this new budget there is an increase in funding for research and research infrastructure that will be of great benefit to my riding, to my province and to my country.
This increase in funding includes another $15 million over three years for the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, $15 million over three years for the National Research Council, $75 million over three years for the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, and $200 million for the Canada Foundation for Innovation. This new funding is in addition to the funding granted for health research.
The Canadian opportunities strategy increases our ability to achieve our goals by giving every Canadian better access to knowledge and skills. The 1999 budget builds on this strategy by investing more than $1.8 billion for this year and the next three years. This funding will go toward knowledge: creating knowledge, disseminating knowledge, commercializing knowledge and hence supporting employment.
The Canadian opportunities strategy includes Canadian millennium scholarships averaging $3,000 a year up to $15,000 in total for four years; Canada study grants averaging $2,225 per year to help students with the greatest need; support for advanced research as detailed earlier; and tax relief for interest on student loans in the Canada student loan interest relief. The strategy also encourages families to save for their children's education through the Canada education savings grant announced last year. The government contributes to RESPs.
The Canada opportunities strategy helps to disseminate knowledge across the country through SchoolNet, a program to connect every high school and library to the Internet before the millennium. It is due to be completed by March 31, 1999. The community access program will connect 10,000 rural and urban communities in two years.
There is no question that my community of Kitchener—Waterloo is part of the new economy. As Canada moves forward into the knowledge based economy of the present and the future, we will have a budget that helps us as a nation to prepare for that. We have many challenges before us as Canadians. I think the budget helps us in that direction.