Mr. Speaker, I will be dividing my time with the member for Brandon--Souris. I would remind the member opposite that when he talks about investing of whatever kind, whether health care, education, or business, it also means taxation. It means we must get that money from somewhere and there is only one place to get it and that is from the Canadian taxpayer. I urge him to be temperate in his ideas of investing and investing. While it all sounds good it means we must tax and tax in order to get that money.
It is a pleasure to speak to the budget well after the fact. The budget was presented last fall and we have had a couple of months to see the fallout. We have been able to see whether it had the desired impact and we have seen how people reacted. What the budget did not do in retrospect was to calm the markets and support the Canadian dollar.
Since the budget came in we have hit a new all time low for the Canadian dollar. Some people, including the Prime Minister, who seem to like the low dollar should be reminded that a low dollar means that Canadians will pay a price for that. They pay it in the form of higher costs for imported goods, for machinery, for holidays abroad and many things. A lower dollar is a hit in the pocketbook for everyone. That is not good in the long term for the Canadian economy.
It is interesting that it has not only hit a record low since the budget came in but the government has presided over the actual demise of the Canadian dollar. When the government took power the dollar was 76 cents and since that time it has dropped 20% of its value against the American dollar. It would be one thing if it was just the American dollar but we have lost ground against the pound, the Australian dollar and the peso. Name it, we have paid the price.
It is interesting how the Minister of Finance always takes credit when things look good but the Liberals are running like rats from a ship for accepting the blame for a record Canadian dollar which lands squarely on the economic policies of the government. It has presided for eight and a half years over the economy and what we have as a result is a dollar that has never been weaker and shows no real signs of recuperation.
The budget did nothing to fix the mismanagement of taxpayers' funds. It did nothing to address the concerns of the new auditor general and the old auditor general. They both specified that there is no control system over there. The government consistently outspends the budgeted amounts in every department. It does not seem to have any plan on how to arrest what everyone agrees is widespread and rampant abuse of taxpayers' dollars. That is a major failing of the budget and it has been manifesting itself ever since.
Yesterday I brought to the attention of the House, as did others, the mismanagement of funds by Mr. Gagliano's department, the former minister who has now gone on to greater glory to a taxpayer funded haven across the way. Members will notice that before the scandal rocked the government for his mishandling of taxpayers' funds it got him out of town. The scandal continues. Funds were expended improperly, dollars were wasted and the taxpayer is always on the hook. That has not been addressed and it will not go away because the government shipped him overseas.
The problem remains because it is a systemic problem for the government. It does not seem to understand that a dollar held by it should be a dollar held in trust. It should be something that is used wisely and judiciously as every auditor general begs and demands. As we consistently see, from Mr. Gagliano through to other departments, it just does not get it. It cannot handle it.
We have today's revelation that the government perhaps somehow lost track of $3.3 billion that was sent to the provinces. It is not sure what happened to it exactly but it says not to worry because it was a government to government transfer, not a big deal. The money just plucks off the money tree. No one has to pay for it, it comes like manna from heaven. The government does not know where $3.3 billion has gone. It will do its best to find it but no one will take the blame.