As usual they do not like what I am saying. We will go into that in a moment.
An article appeared in the newspaper today which I want to read because it contains some important points that I will address about my situation. Anthony Ostler of Toronto wrote:
I have many beefs about how our country is being run, but having recently graduated with my MBA from Ivey in 1997, I have seen dozens of my friends participate in the “brain drain”.
This is truly a depressing sign, as I see the best talent leaving the country, and much of the mediocre talent remaining. We are rapidly becoming a second rate country.
This is from one of our young people. “Ironically, my work as a consultant takes me south of the border for more than half of the year. However, I am paid in Canada in Canadian dollars and pay taxes at the highest marginal rate. My colleagues at the same pay level in the U.S. take home much more than I do as the highest tax bracket does not kick in for them. So although my brain is being drained in the U.S., my tax dollars are still in Canada. One day this may have to change. My parents immigrated here 35 years ago when Canada was nearing its peak. Maybe I will have to pursue greener tax pastures elsewhere”.
This is a sad but true unsolicited commentary from a Toronto individual. I just picked that out of a newspaper, but we can see that every day in every province.
I remember clearly when I left my home in Nova Scotia 33 years ago. My mother who is watching today will remember. It was because there were no opportunities for jobs in Nova Scotia in 1966. Quite frankly, today the situation has not improved after all those years and successive Liberal governments. In fact, the situation has gotten worse. I can attest to that fully by having some of my young relatives live with me in western Canada because they too, although supported with a higher education from our universities, go west to get jobs. So things have not really changed that much which is very sad.
I just came back from London where I did some work with the opposition and government House leaders, whips, the House of Lords and others. In order to cut some of my costs, I stayed with two young people from Canada. They are both recent graduates of the University of Victoria. They are in England because they could not get jobs in Canada. These two well-educated young men are living not where they want to live but where they have to live. Those who know the cost of living in England can imagine that their situation there is not the best, yet they are trying to fend for themselves and exist.
It is quite appalling that members on the other side would stand and brag about jobs they have created when in fact a lot of this country's young people are going elsewhere for jobs. The tax rate is too high. Some hon. members know this. We have to deal with these issues.
My son is highly qualified as a civil engineer and a digital animator. He makes cartoons for television shows. He is attracted to the United States. They want him down there and are willing to pay him big money. Instead of the taxation rate here of above 50% for this young fellow, he can go down there and make much more money at a lower tax rate. This would give him the ability to pay off his student loans.
It is sad that members on the opposite side would try to present a facade that says Canada is in great shape because they have balanced the budget and have created x number of jobs. They are kidding themselves because this is not the case. I would doubt very much if any one of the members opposite do not know some young person who has left Canada because the cost of living and unbearable tax rate here are driving them south.
When we talk about paying more and getting less, I can only relate it to my own circumstances and the young people whom I care very much for who are paying more in this country. This government has increased the CPP premiums. They are extraordinary increases. What has the government offered these young people in return? Again, my son said to me, “Dad, there is something wrong with this. Today you get about $8,900 for CPP. These guys have just raised the rate around 70-some per cent, and they are promising that I will get about $8,600 30 years from now”. He is an engineer. He gets out his calculators and his slide rules and he says there is something wrong with this picture. And there is something wrong with this picture. It is a facade of this government.
While it is good that we are dealing in surpluses, it is not good that the tax rates were raised to get there. While it is good that there is surplus moneys to pay down the debt and to draw down the tax rates, it is not good that the government is spending it on other programs by and large to get votes and get re-elected.
This Liberal government has got the wrong attitude with this whole issue. It has a lot to do with that. It should not be about getting elected again; it should be about the future of our country. Unfortunately, we have to live with this archaic and traditional idea that we have to get money in the hands of those who can get us elected rather than pay down the debt, pay down the taxes.
There are other things I would have liked to have seen in this budget. I would have liked to have seen some mediocre attempt at the very least to deal with the sad drug problem in our country. I know the government has been talking about a drug strategy, but actually it is an overlay of the Conservative drug strategy of 1987. Very little, if anything, has been done to address that. That is a subject for another discussion because I have less than a minute to tie all this up, but I will be speaking about this shortly in the House.
Suffice it to say that as one father and one son and somebody who has seen a lot of young people leave our country, I am extremely sad to hear government members brag about the jobs the government has created. It has not created jobs unless it has been at the cost of the taxpayer. What creates jobs is private industry with a low tax rate. There are people who want to invest in our future without having to pay down debt because it was accumulated as a result of governments giving away money it could not afford.
I hope in an attempt to continue on with this discussion today the government will at least listen to what I have said.