Mr. Speaker, I join my colleagues in congratulating you on your election as Speaker. We look forward to working with you.
As this is my first speech of the 37th parliament I take this opportunity to thank the constituents of Calgary East who, with a resounding victory, sent me back to represent them in the House of Commons.
I also congratulate all members who have returned and those newly elected members who have received their own votes of confidence from their constituents and are here to represent them. I want to go on record as stating that I strongly believe in Canada like most of us who have been elected in the 37th parliament. Canada is a land of opportunity. Canada has been built over the years by creating bridges. These bridges are very important to our regions.
I was saddened today when my colleague from the NDP started accusing us and asking for an apology for someone else's comments. This kind of rhetoric creates division among regions and creates a problem in our vast country.
Let me tell the Liberal government that there is western alienation. It should not think for a moment that it does not exist. It exists because the government has not built bridges over the years. It has taken the west to be its backyard and western Canadians are saying that can no longer be the situation. They want to be equal partners in Confederation. They are asking for change. If the government keeps ignoring them it may have some serious repercussions for the country.
Today we are debating Bill C-2, the Employment Insurance Act. The Employment Insurance Act is one of our social safety nets and one that we have talked about a lot. Over the years it has assisted many Canadians during a time when they may have had a temporary break in their working career, which is an understandable thing and the reason the legislation was created.
However, as time has passed something has happened.
Before being elected to parliament, I was a small businessman. In 1985 and for the past 15 years I had my own business. With my accounting experience, I saw this one graph line that kept going up and up. This graph line represented the government's increases in payroll taxes and EI, and its introduction of service charges. These things created a heavy burden on Canadian businesses that had a hard time meeting their payroll obligations.
New immigrants, especially from open markets like Hong Kong, who came to Canada to set up businesses, looked at the taxes and said that they could not survive. They packed up and left. These were warning signs that were ignored by subsequent governments.
In 1993 the Liberal government curtailed benefits to the EI program but at the same time leaving high premiums. The result was a huge surplus in the EI fund. This provided the government with the opportunity to reduce payroll taxes and EI premiums for both the employer and the employee. This would have provided businesses with more opportunities to reinvest and create more jobs.
The Bloc member spoke about the softwood lumber issue having an impact on his riding and creating unemployment. I would like to tell him that softwood lumber is not part of the free trade agreement. It is tied to tariffs. It is where the market is curtailed and Canadian companies cannot take advantage of that market.
As borders open up there is a need for Canadian businesses and companies to stand up and compete with everybody from around the world. As we open up free trade agreements and our borders, competition increases. We have to compete with business people from other parts of the world selling the same product. How are we going to compete?
We all know that 43% of Canada's GDP is tied to international trade. This shows how important international trade is to Canada. One out of three jobs is tied to international trade. Have we realized what has happened? We are now in competition with everybody who is trying to sell the same product. Whoever is more competitive and selling their product cheaper will take the market. There is no more loyalty.
Every corporate business person knows that loyalty does not exist any more. Even I as a businessman knew that. People are now looking for value for their money. The same applies to businesses and corporations. Therefore we have to say that we have products at good market value, that there is good value for what we are charging.
I have travelled with Canadian business people around the world where they sell products in competition with others. The same happens. Companies from every part of the world are bidding along with Canadian companies. However, when foreign companies come back they have to work under the conditions that exist in our country. Those conditions include high payroll taxes and high taxes.
Let me give a short example from Alberta. As members of parliament we have constituents coming to our office. My cases were concerned with EI because it is a federal responsibility. People who did not qualify or who had problems sought the assistance of their members of parliament. However, I have noticed that the number of constituents looking for assistance with EI problems has diminished dramatically. Why? It is because today in Alberta they can find jobs. They are no longer unemployed and fewer people are losing their jobs.
Why is there a market for jobs in Alberta? Before the Klein government was elected, the previous government followed policies similar to those of the present federal government: high taxation, spending government money, pouring money into the economy, artificially propping up the economy, and saying it will to work. It did not work.
Then the Klein government came in and said that this was not the way it would be. It was simple mathematics: it had to reduce taxes and reduce the debt. It went on a cutting spree. There were protests by the people affected but the Klein government carried on. It has reduced government expenditures and directed money toward the debt and toward creating an atmosphere of sound economic principles where businesses could compete.
Many people will say that Alberta is rich because of the high price of oil and the high price of natural gas. Let me tell the House what just happened recently. Alberta has put its house in order by laying a sound financial foundation. That is the reason Alberta today is reaping the benefits. We could contrast that to British Columbia where the situation is similar. That is the problem, simple and straightforward.
Today the government of Alberta can reduce taxes and can invest in health care. It is investing in more equipment.
I was invited by the government of Alberta to attend a globalization conference which was held in Banff in October. There were CEOs from all across the nation, the key players in our economy. Message after message came through that we had to be competitive. If we are not, there will be clouds on the horizon.
In April this year, we are going to have a free trade of Americas conference in Quebec City. Now these people want to protest. It is an old policy where they still want to go back to 30 years ago. Anyway, they are welcome to protest. They are already detached from the Canadian public, so it is okay they can protest. It is no problem. The fact of the matter is that the borders are going to open up.
I am not going to say that globalization by itself unchecked is the best thing. We have to make sure that everybody benefits from this opening up of the market and not create fortresses. Canadian businesses need to get into that place. They need to be updated to grab the opportunities. The way is not to keep taxing. The way is not to keep a burdening us. The way is not to reduce the competitiveness of a Canadian business. It is as simple as that.
What do we need? What did I hear from the business people? They need a lower tax regime so that they can reinvest, not make profit. They need to be allowed to take advantage of emerging technologies. They need a trained workforce. They are willing to be partners in the training of that workforce but they need to have that room. They then said they would be in a position to take advantage of the opening up of the market.
I said this it in the House before. The Minister for International Trade keeps going across the world signing free trade agreements. If we are not going to take advantage of the free trade agreements for Canadian companies, what is the point of signing the agreements? We can go on as many trade missions as we want. Let us look at the result of Team Canada's trade mission.
Yes, it is nice. Business people are going there looking for opportunities. When they come back, they find that they cannot take advantage of those opportunities because the economic regime allowing the competitiveness does not exist right now in Canada. The Minister of Industry, who is now the Minister of Foreign Affairs, stated contrary to what his counterpart was stating. He admitted to that. He of course had to backtrack. That was not the government line.
I will never understand the transparency point. The Canada Employment Insurance Commission looked at this thing. It was independent but I do not know if it was really independent or whether it had patronage appointments or whatever. Now that has been taken away. Again the government controls it. We have a massive overpayment in EI and the government does not want to do anything about it. It does not want to clear the regime. It has also taken the ability of somebody else to come along, an independent commission, and make sound recommendations. The government wants to make the sound recommendations.
My colleagues and I will talk and try to improve on the legislation.
Before I conclude, I want to make this point very clear. Before the free trade of the Americas meeting in Quebec City, our trade minister is going to the USA. The appointment of a new U.S. trade representative opened up an opportunity for us to become a world player and sell our products. We will fail to take advantage of all this if we do not create sound economic principles.