Mr. Speaker, the phony debate between the Liberals and Reform Party on productivity has nothing to do with productivity at all.
Reform, the Liberals and their right wing friends at Nesbitt Burns and the Fraser Institute just want to cut taxes for the rich and gut wages and working standards for everyone else.
If we read the KPMG study of business costs carefully, it makes another, altogether different point: “Canada and the United Kingdom both enjoy a significant labour cost advantage over the third place United States, where relatively high costs for employer sponsored benefits drive up total labour costs”.
In other words, Canada's social programs give us a leg up on the competition.
Our public health care system, our public pensions and other benefits all help make our workers and our businesses more productive and competitive.
No wonder Regina and Saskatoon are listed in the KPMG report as better places to do business than Calgary or any of our American neighbours in the midwest. In fact, better public programs for income support, child care and training would further reduce the cost of doing business and thereby continue to improve our productivity in Canada.