Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Mississauga South, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Works and Government Services.
I am delighted to once again rise in the House to let the House know about the results of my prebudget consultation. This is an exercise that I do every year and it always gives me a great privilege and honour to share with my colleagues on all sides of the House what my constituents are saying.
Every year the Standing Committee on Finance seeks input from members of parliament in its preparation of a so-called prebudget report. This year the stated aim of the committee was to recommend to the minister a budget plan that would address the following objectives: first, to ensure that Canada remains a major player in the new economy; second, to provide Canadians with an equal opportunity to succeed; and third, to create a socio-economic environment where Canadians can enjoy the best qualify of life and standard of living.
It is important to note that these objectives were drawn up prior to the apocalyptic events of September 11. While the committee's objectives still remain relevant today, it is indisputable that the recent tragic events brought new financial demands on the government, particularly in the areas of security, defence and transportation.
In fact, ensuring the security of citizens and dealing with the threat of terrorism on an ongoing basis has instantly moved to the top of all governments' priority lists.
As I have said, every year I hold annual prebudget consultations in my riding. However, as these consultations were scheduled and took place after September 11, in addition to seeking input to the finance committee's objectives, I also solicited recommendations from my constituents on the following issues.
The first question I asked was whether they would favour additional spending in the areas of security and defence in response to the terrorist attack.
The second question dealt with the state of our airline industry, especially Air Canada. I asked them what in general the government's approach should be to this industry.
The third question I asked dealt with the possibility of the government having discretionary funds or a surplus in the next fiscal year and what they thought the government's financial priorities should be?
The responses I received can be broken up into four major areas. First, my constituents felt that the budget should implement measures to stave off or minimize the effects of a recession.
Second, they felt that the government should provide extra funding for security measures.
Third, they felt that the government should target more assistance for the poorest Canadians.
Fourth, they felt that the government should find new means to provide assistance to charities throughout Canada.
With respect to stimulating the economy, there was some initial discussion about reducing the GST. I know this always sends shivers to my colleague, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance. However I am pleased to inform him that there was also an acknowledgment that any such reduction or even a short term GST holiday would do little to stimulate spending. In fact, it may even assist certain industries, industries that are more based with their parent companies in the United States. I will use the auto industry as an example.
Moreover, we must remember that the GST presently accounts for government revenue of approximately $25 million and any reduction in that revenue would in turn lead to a reduction in any surplus or discretionary funding.
One of the business owners in my riding noted that if he actually held a sale and advertised 2% off, everybody would simply laugh.
The other notable comment that was made was that the government should not only focus on the new economy but also on ensuring that there is a climate for investment in and the promotion of all types of businesses, especially small and medium sized enterprises. Those are the bulk of the businesses that are situate in the riding of Parkdale--High Park.
Some of the local business owners noted that the banks still tend to be unsupportive of communities, small retailers and anything that is not high tech. In a sense they were blaming the government because we were not promoting small businesses enough. As a result, the banks are tending to look to the high tech industries and not to the old economy.
With respect to the need for increased spending on security measures, there seemed to be a general consensus that more defence spending was a necessity and that tighter airport security was needed necessitating increased expenses on airport security. The question is, who should supply the security? Should it be the government or should it continue to be the airlines?
It was also stressed that spending on tighter airport security measures should be implemented in two areas, what is known as land side and air side. Most of the measures that we have concentrated on right now have been on the land side.
I was also very pleased to hear that in my riding there is continuing widespread support for an open immigration policy but that there was an urgent need for additional funding to ensure more front line personnel and caseworkers to expedite immigrants and refugees. They wanted more people to be in places close to Afghanistan so that legitimate refugees could make their way to Canada as soon as possible.
I heard a lot of concern about the assistance we need to provide to the poorest Canadians. Many people noted that the economic slowdown has hit Canada's poor especially hard. Investing in programs to stimulate job creation was viewed as being very important.
I have to disagree with the hon. finance critic for the Alliance Party. He said that HRDC programs do not work. In my riding they work extremely well. The industrial adjustment programs rejuvenate communities and make communities safer and more prosperous. We cannot ignore the fact that there is a relationship between safe communities and prosperous communities.
Another thing I am sure a lot of members have spoken about is the recommendation that was brought forward by the Canadian Restaurant Food Services Association, which was a recommendation to implement a recommendation by the standing committee on human resources. It would establish a $3,000 yearly basic exemption in the EI program to reduce the cost on labour sensitive industries such as food service, retail and tourism. What was also noted in the association's briefs and presentations was the fact that it would also assist lower income Canadians.
What the people in my riding also noted, even though it is a provincial responsibility to a great degree, was the need for urgent child care and how we should deal with it. Do we increase the national child tax benefit or the child care expense deduction? It is especially difficult for single parent families. People need to work and provide for their children but sometimes they are unable to do so because they cannot find suitable or affordable child care.
One of the interesting recommendations made was that perhaps we should look at increasing the GST rebate which would again help the poorest Canadians and avoid provincial clawbacks.
What is extremely important, in light of the aftermath of September 11, is that while many donations were being channeled to the Red Cross, many other charities had noticed that donations had significantly decreased. The food banks were not able to provide food. There was a general malaise, a lack of desire to give. There was a call for this government to implement policies and programs that will promote more private sector giving. The government cannot do it all but it has to instill that sense of philanthropy in the sense of helping our fellow Canadians.
The Minister of Finance recently announced that capital gains exemption on the gifts of publicly traded shares to charities has become permanent. I would submit that is a step in the right direction. I know many friends and colleagues in my riding were glad see that made permanent but they would also like to see all capital gains tax taken off these types of gifts to charities. That is be something we will continue to speak about.
It was also interesting to compare the recommendations from last year and see that there was a significant difference.
I want to now address the importance of continuing to implement the government's commitment to reinvesting in the arts, as was evidenced by the May 2 announcement. The arts do make a difference.
I informed my colleagues in caucus that nine days after the tragic destruction of the World Trade Center an article appeared in the National Post quoting Mr. Wolfensohn, the president of the World Bank, who so eloquently stated:
There is a level--in terms of music and the arts--beyond finance, beyond budgets, beyond economics, beyond politics, that is the inner resource that most of us don't talk about most of the time because it's sort of soft and because it's sort of luxury.
He went on to say:
It would be a terrible thing, in my judgment, for Canada to be one of the leaders in the world, as you are, in so many political and other things, without understanding, developing and giving visibility to your own culture.
I also personally believe we should not fall into a deficit. We should continue with our balanced approach. We should continue to stimulate the economy and to reinvest in the social priorities of Canadians. We should also continue to pay down the debt.
However we must never forget that the values of a society are reflected in the fiscal choices that we make. Let us ensure that Canadian values continue to be reflected in the fiscal choices that will be found in the December budget.