Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise to address the budget during the budget debate.
I will start by saying that this is honestly the worst budget that the government has produced since it has been in power. I am shocked that the finance minister would buy into the idea that the government is somehow starved for cash to the point that he would approve a 9.3% increase in spending. That is absolutely shocking.
In the wake of that big increase in spending, we have a world that is very uncertain. Because of this large increase in spending, there is absolutely no cushion for any kind of contingencies down the road. I think what the finance minister has done is completely imprudent. I would argue that the markets have passed judgment on the budget too. We see that in a record low dollar.
A few minutes ago my friend from Strathcona was talking about the Diefenbuck and how the country was alarmed when the dollar fell to 92¢. Now it is at 62¢. I would think that the country should be outraged. I point out that is a 20% drop in the value of the currency since the Liberals came to power in 1993, a 20% drop in our ability to pay for imports from the United States. We must remember that most of our imports come from that country, which means a lower standard of living for Canadians.
The government is so sanguine about it. We have had the finance minister, and especially the Prime Minister, talk the dollar down for 20 years. Ever since the Prime Minister came to parliament he has argued that a low dollar is good for exports.
According to that theory we should be tremendously prosperous today but we are in fact in a recession and our standard of living is falling. He is finally waking up and saying that we should have a stronger dollar, but it is a little late after talking it down for 20, 30 or 40 years, which is what he has done.
I am disappointed in the budget because it has failed to address an issue that is important to my riding, agriculture. There is still no comprehensive plan to deal with agriculture. We have a serious problem with agriculture on the prairies and throughout the country, although I know it best on the prairies, and there is no plan in the budget at all. I think my friend across the way is saying that is a good point.
I am the critic for revenue and customs for my party and I want to say a few words about that portfolio. First I want to welcome the minister to her new portfolio. It is full of challenges and she will have to face them. She ran headlong into one today when we found out that the government has overpaid the provinces to the tune of $3.3 billion over the last six years, again over the period since the Liberals have been in power. That $3.3 billion amount is a big oops.
It was outrageous when the human resources minister misplaced $1 billion, and the country was shocked. Now we have a $3.3 billion overpayment. It does not exactly inspire confidence in the customs and revenue agency, does it? That is a serious amount of money. I think the logical question that many people will ask is: How is the agency calculating their income tax, corporate taxes and every other type of tax, of which there are many? Can we have any confidence at all that the government is not overcharging us? I think that is a serious question. I would think the minister would undertake an audit of all the computer systems and all the calculations that are being done today for all these various types of taxes that the revenue agency oversees.
I will talk about the customs side of this in just a moment, but I also want to talk about a revenue agency that is completely out of control with respect to its attitude toward taxpayers.
Almost every member in this place has been confronted by constituents who have told them horror stories about how they have been harassed by the revenue agency. I know that is true. There is probably scarcely a person in here who has not had that happen.
I can tell a story from my riding where recently I had a woman and her husband in my office. She was in tears. They were in a dispute with Revenue Canada over about $30,000. What they wanted was for Revenue Canada to take them to court so that they could settle the matter, but it would not do so.
Instead what it did was freeze their accounts, take money out and harass them constantly to the point where when it came time for their mortgage to be renewed the bank said that it would not renew it because it did not have faith they would be able to pay the mortgage. Revenue Canada was breathing down their necks, taking money out of their accounts and freezing their accounts all the time. Now they will lose their home.
Let us remember this is a dispute. This is not Revenue Canada having proof or having a judgment from court saying that the money is owed. The revenue agency is to put these people out of their home. That is absolutely unbelievable, but that is what happens everyday with this newly aggressive revenue agency.
I argue this change took place in 1995 when the government brought in a pretty important budget at that point, hired a bunch of auditors and changed the focus of Revenue Canada and ultimately the revenue agency. The focus was changed from being a relatively honest arbiter of the rules to a group of people who as part of their mandate are instructed to wring every cent they can out of taxpayers, hoping that they will be so cowed that these disputes will never make it to court.
I am certain this is what the agency is doing. If there is a scandal that is underreported in Canada today, it is how the revenue agency treats taxpayers.
I would like to say a couple of words about the customs side. For a long time people did not think a lot about customs when they thought about the revenue agency. It is a revenue and customs agency, after all, but for a long time customs was a bit of an afterthought. However it has become extraordinarily important. The customs agents are the first line of defence at all entry points into Canada and it is very important that these people are properly funded.
We are grateful for some of the money that has gone into the customs side of the agency so that we have enough people. It is pretty clear that this all happened after September 11. Only when the disaster struck did the government wake up.
The government needs to realize that the first and most important role of a government is to provide security for its citizens. I am hoping, now that the immediate danger has apparently passed, the government will not let its guard down. Let us hope that it does not forget the lessons of September 11. I will do my best to remind it of those problems.
We also encourage the government to continue to work toward various ways to expedite trade between Canada and the United States, a $1.3 billion a day trading relationship which is extraordinarily important for our country. We need to ensure the government keeps its eye on the ball and keeps the ports between Canada and the United States as open as they can possibly be.
I could go on. There is lots to talk about but my time is running out. I will simply conclude by saying again that this is a terrible budget, the worst I have seen come from the finance minister. He obviously bought into the idea that it is important to ratchet up spending. The moment it looks like the deficit crisis has passed, the government starts to ratchet up spending instead of continuing to lower taxes and pay down debt.
This terrible mistake is being judged by the markets, and the result is a falling dollar and a lower standard of living. The government should be ashamed of the budget.