Mr. Speaker, I am very glad to take part in this debate and to represent the New Democratic Party and particularly the constituents of Halifax.
I want to add my congratulations to all members who were elected to serve in the 37th parliament. In addition, I extend an appreciation, and I do so on behalf of all Canadians, to all candidates who offered to represent people in their communities. That appreciation needs to extend not only to the candidates who offered to represent the five parties now in parliament, but also to the smaller parties, such as the Green Party, the Canada Action Party and others. We cannot have too much democracy in a democratic society, and I think we should thank them all.
I also want to congratulate the Speaker for the high honour bestowed upon him by his peers earlier in the week in being selected to preside over the Chamber. It is a demanding task to interpret the rules fairly, to ensure that all members are heard and to maintain order in a Chamber where there is such a vast range of views, beliefs and political philosophies.
Mr. Speaker, you will enjoy the support and co-operation of myself and my colleagues in the NDP caucus as long as you continue with your already demonstrated practice of firmness, fairness and allowing us all to have a bit of fun while we get on with getting the job done.
I want to state the obvious. Parliament is the forum through which our citizens speak. The Parliament of Canada must represent the people of Canada in all their diversity. As we debate the throne speech and as we vote on whether parliament has confidence in the government, it seems to me that we must consider an even more profound and disturbing question: Do Canadian citizens have confidence in parliament to get the job done?
In the recent federal election it was alarming to recognize that a mere 58% of Canadians actually bothered to vote. I think those terrible results of very low voter turnout indicate how many people really have lost faith in parliament. It indicates how many people see some of the archaic practices in parliament and excessive partisanship as not being able to address their concerns and as being remote from their everyday lives and somewhat irrelevant to their concerns.
We have to seize the challenge that this presents. Far too often, amid the pomp and splendour of parliament, there is a tendency to ignore the dangerous and growing gap between those who govern and those who are governed. If we ignore the problem then we place our precious democratic system in peril.
From their parliamentary perches, too many government members are asking themselves what could possibly be wrong with an electoral system that elected a Liberal majority government. Let me say that narrow partisanship will not heal democracy. It is not leadership. As parliamentarians we know that it is essential to represent citizens in every community in every corner of Canada.
As members of parliament we have different political philosophies, but together, at the end of the day, we share the responsibility to help restore the faith that Canadians have in the democratic process and in parliament's ability to get on with addressing their concerns.
It seems to me the project deserves more than the vague reference it received in yesterday's throne speech, a bare mention, conjuring up the image that parliamentary reform is to consist of not much more than a little technological tinkering on the corners of our desks when it comes to voting. Radical parliamentary and electoral reform are imperative if we are to revitalize democracy within these walls and throughout our nation.
We share as well an obligation to ensure that Canadian democracy is not threatened by external factors. Canadians are justly proud of our reputation as responsible, compassionate members of the world community. The 21st century provides an unprecedented opportunity for us to work in partnership with other progressive forces to promote peace, human rights, social justice and genuine economic progress around the world.
It is therefore disappointing in the extreme that the throne speech failed to reject unequivocally the national missile defence system, the madness that threatens to reignite the nuclear arms race and to introduce dangerous instability into today's world.
The throne speech regrettably was also silent on other important international issues. In trade agreements the government has uncritically embraced the corporate model of globalization. In the throne speech and in the Prime Minister's response to my questions earlier today, it remains true that the government ignores the legitimate concern of Canadians that trade deals protect core labour standards, basic human rights and our cultural diversity; protect our social programs, particularly the universality of our health care system; protect our natural resources and our primary producers; and protect our environment, including the most life sustaining provisions of all, clean air and safe water.
With the government these critical concerns are casually dismissed as impediments to the corporate goal of unfettered trade. The government is virtually bargaining away our ability to choose and chart our own future as a sovereign nation. It threatens the very democracy that is so prized by Canadians.
In opposition the Liberals recognized, or at least they professed to recognize, that unless the flaws in the free trade deal were fixed the trade agreement remained unacceptable to Canadians and therefore should not be ratified. However, once in government, the Liberals reneged on their promise not to ratify the flawed free trade agreement. In fact, they compounded the problem by entrenching those same flaws in the broader NAFTA.
Thanks to NAFTA, we have not only moved away from the polluter pay principle in protecting our environment, our most precious resource, but we are actually facing the indignity of having to pay the polluters. Thanks to NAFTA, Canada is forced to permit the use of MMT, a dangerous neurotoxin banned in many other countries. To add insult to injury, for having dared to protest, Canada is now required to hand over $20 million to Ethyl Corporation, the American company which supplies that neurotoxin.
Sadly, last week at Davos, Switzerland, Canada's industry minister killed the last hope that the federal government would wake up to the growing concerns held by Canadians about the Liberal-Tory globalization model. I have to say that the new industry minister's fawning over the Mulroney free trade deal rivals the Irish Eyes Are Smiling embarrassment in the Ronald Reagan era.
Thanks to NAFTA, Canadians are struggling to heat their homes this winter because a U.S. energy crisis will not allow us to sell our fuel to one another at reasonable prices.
Farmers and farm families cannot get the support they need to survive in times of crisis, while U.S. and European agricultural competitors are massively subsidized by their national treasuries.
What critical analysis of and what solutions to these problems does the government offer in the throne speech? Absolutely none. Nothing. Not one word. Not even an acknowledgement that these problems exist.
I would like to believe that the throne speech of platitudes and warm fuzzies that we heard yesterday will translate into genuine progress and concrete solutions for our citizens: for our aboriginal peoples, too long shut out; for persons with disabilities, too long ignored; for visible minorities, too often sidelined; for women who still suffer discrimination in many ugly forms; and for those trapped in poverty and those living without adequate shelter or, worse still, living on the streets.
Unfortunately yesterday's throne speech was devoid of solid initiatives, like a national housing strategy to help the quarter of a million Canadians who are living in substandard housing or who have no roof over their heads.
Where was the concrete action to introduce the promised legislation to ban bulk water exports? Where was the action to protect our endangered species or to meet our climate change commitments? Where were the national pharmacare and home care programs, which are needed to modernize Canada's health care system and help people deal with the rising costs of medical care? Where was the commitment to a national child care program, promised in 1993 and still not delivered?
Perhaps most important, where was the promise to introduce a budget that would set out clearly and concretely what social, environmental and infrastructure investments the government is actually prepared to make in the years ahead and throughout its mandate?
What choices will the government make, especially with the economic storm clouds gathering on the horizon? Will it be the corporations or the citizens of Canada whose interests will guide public policy choices through the third mandate of the government? Will it be the elimination of the surtax on incomes over $100,000 or the commitment to eliminate child poverty? Will the government delay in another tax break on capital gains targeted to those in the $250,000 plus bracket or in another barrier to post-secondary education and more student debt?
There are many more questions that my colleagues and I will have in the days ahead. From the point of view of my constituents in Halifax and those in the Atlantic region, I have many other questions that go completely ignored in the throne speech.
My colleague from Sackville—Musquodoboit Valley—Eastern Shore has mentioned one of them. Where is the commitment to the national shipbuilding strategy? After eight years of denying that there was a need for any strategy, we finally had some acknowledgement on the eve of this election that it was past time for the Liberal government to introduce such a strategy. Then we saw the industry minister backpedalling completely from it. It seems to me he has some questions to answer about whether in fact the real impediment is not the free trade deal that he is now praising from the heights of Switzerland.
Where is any recognition of and any commitment from the government to deal with the problem posed by an unfair equalization formula, one that makes it impossible for governments in have not provinces to actually make progress because of the excessive clawback of any resources from, for example, the offshore development that now may give an opportunity to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland?
Democracy in Canada is at a crossroads. The choices made by the government and what we achieve in this parliamentary session will determine where we go from here. It is significant that as we launch this 37th parliament we have an opportunity to rethink the very nature of our country's democracy, which is in peril because of the government's approach to free trade.
With the free trade of the Americas summit happening in Quebec in April, there is a perfect opportunity for Canada to see the fact of this happening here in our midst as an occasion for Canadians to begin to be heard on the fundamental concerns about the threat to democracy because of this uncritical embracing of a corporate model for globalization.
If we want to restore the faith of Canadians in our public institutions, we must reform those institutions. Most important, we must deal concretely and sincerely with the everyday concerns, the bread and butter issues that plague our citizens, together with the myriad of issues this 37th parliament must tackle. If we can restore Canadians' belief in capability and resolve of their public institutions to get the job done, I believe it would be possible to declare the 37th parliament a success.