Madam Speaker, before I begin, I have to take care of three very important orders of business.
First, Madam Speaker, I would like to compliment you on your appointment to Acting Speaker. I know it is something you are going to appreciate. You will get to learn from the learned member from Kingston. I wish you all the best throughout this term in your capacity as Madam Speaker.
I have this opportunity to speak in the House of Commons, the sacred place that as parliamentarians we all should embrace, due to the privilege that has been bestowed upon for the second time by the electors of Fundy—Royal. I want to thank the electors who reside in my fabulous riding of Fundy—Royal for this opportunity.
I would also like to pay tribute to two individuals who have made an immense contribution in the last parliament with respect to getting the EI issue for seasonal workers on the political map. Lots of other individuals played a role in that but I would like to pay particular tribute to Jean Dubé and Angela Vautour. They spoke out for the seasonal communities who really needed a voice in this parliament. They were clearly magical components in the recipe that got that bill tabled. We now have the bill before us again. Their legacy will benefit many citizens who reside in their communities for many years to come.
I would also like to pay tribute to my colleague Jean Dubé who was successful last evening in a byelection. He is now the member of the legislative assembly in Fredericton and for the riding of Campbellton. He is going to continue that public service commitment. I also want to pay tribute to Mr. Moore, another Tory, who was successful in the riding of Caraquet. The legislature only got stronger last night in New Brunswick.
I referred to the EI bill which has just been reintroduced. The bill with respect to immigration has also been reintroduced. We are also going to see the government make its third attempt at bringing forth legislation with respect to protecting species at risk. Also, there was a bill on the order paper with respect to financial services. The government tabled it five years after it said it was a priority however it died on the order paper.
It would be quite appropriate to say that the government is a government of improvisation. It makes it up as it goes. No longer are we seeing that with respect to the Marshall decision. The government was not ready for that particular incident, despite the fact it must have had people in the Department of Justice saying the decision may not have gone the way the Government of Canada had expected. We saw that in 1995 referendum, in the postal strike and in the farmers' crisis as well. It is a government that manages by crisis and not by vision.
In the throne speech there was no real commitment to developing and augmenting health care in the country. Basically, the government reflected back upon the agreement it signed with the provinces in September or what I call the postdated cheque bill. The government returned the money that it gutted from the health care system in 1993-94 and agreed to return descending levels to that threshold again. When? Not today but three years from now.
When I campaigned in the recent election, they said categorically that given the government was in a surplus and if it had its priorities in order, before it did anything else, it would have returned that money to the health care system today, not three years from now. This fact may not be known, but the province of New Brunswick will not return to the 1993-94 threshold for health care funding until the year 2005-06. New Brunswick actually waited five years for the government's postdated cheque on health care.
I challenge the Minister of Health to return that money now and to escalate the accord that was signed in September as opposed to the take or leave it deal that it left the provinces in that regard.
I also want to talk about one perspective. We have seen a lot of economic indicators in the last little while that would say the North American economy is starting to slow down. It is unheard of and unprecedented that the Minister of Finance would not have the fortitude to provide the leadership that the country fundamentally needs to ensure that Canada will make the necessary investments in our economy to ensure that it maintains its place in the world economy.
Why do we not have a budget tabled that would recognize the fact that Canada has the second highest corporate and personal income taxes as a per cent of its GDP in the industrialized world? Why would we not have a budget right now that would send a signal that Canada is going in the direction of lowering its taxes so it can have more growth to keep up with its principal trading partner, the United States?
Moreover, we categorically have to make investment for the younger generation. The best investment we could possibly make for younger generations right now is to set out a methodical strategy about paying down our national debt. That is the least we owe to our future generations.
There was no clear signal that the government will in a prudent, methodical way pay down debt. If we want to send a signal to the international investment community that Canada is getting its economic fundamentals in order, that it is a place to grow and invest those important dollars in, no signal would be more valuable than a methodical approach to paying down national debt. I want to pay tribute to the member of Kings—Hants, our finance critic, who played a fundamental role in ensuring that that element was in the platform we bestowed upon Canadians in the recent election.
There is one issue that I was very shocked by and that the Right Hon. Adrienne Clarkson did not utter the words because they were not placed before her in the throne speech. The member for Burin—St. George's obviously does not think my next point is going to be all that important. I know students who live in Burin—St. George's. When the member was a Tory, he actually thought this was a problem. Now that he is a Liberal, he has forgotten about the students.
Can you, Madam Speaker, go to a high school, a community college or a university near your riding and say that post-secondary education is accessible to everyone? We cannot do that right now because we do not have the guts to invest in post-secondary education to the level that we should.
The message I want to send throughout this debate on the throne speech is that this is a government of improvisation. I want to be a friend of Fundy—Royal and a friend of Canadians as a parliamentarian who advocates these particular issues. I want to be a friend to farmers to ensure that we actually have an income stabilization system that would address catastrophic loss of income.
I want to ensure that we are friends to students. I want to ensure that we do things in terms of being a friend to the environment, to safe air and safe water, to protect species at risk and to address climate change. Those are the issues that we had in our platform. I am sure, Madam Speaker, that you actually read our platform with wholehearted intensity during the course of the election.
I am a friend of the environment, of farmers, of students and, above all, I pledge today that I will be a friend of my great riding of Fundy—Royal.