Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Burnaby—New Westminster.
We in the NDP have a lot to be concerned about as we move forward with the government and what we call its elusive numbers in terms of what really is the surplus.
For years and years various groups and associations, especially our seniors and our children, heard the government say that it did not have the money to help them out but, lo and behold, surprise, it has a burgeoning surplus. It is simply unacceptable that it keeps playing these voodoo hide-and-seek economics with the Canadian people. It simply is not honest of a government to do that with the people. It should tell us exactly, within a very short parameter, what the budget will be.
The finance department has some smart people. We think they deliberately withheld that information in order to look good at the end of the year instead of being able to assist people and give them the honest facts.
On a personal note concerning the budget that will come out on February 22, I would like to see a few things in it. Once and for all I would like to see a shipbuilding strategy out of the Liberal government. The previous finance minister, Mr. Manley, said that shipbuilding was a sunset industry. I know the hon. member for Dartmouth does not believe that because if he did he would not be here today.
The former industry minister, Mr. Tobin, set up a task force of industry, labour and community leaders to come up with a report. The report was not very big but it had solid recommendations to get our shipbuilding industry back on its feet and to hire thousands of people from across the country, not just from Atlantic Canada, but from Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia. We are into the fourth year of that report and absolutely nothing has come from the government. What that tells us in Atlantic Canada is that if we want to replace our military vessels, our coast guard vessels, our ferry fleet or whatever, the government will not do it. It will buy them offshore.
A classic example of that was in the industry minister's riding. The British Columbia Ferry Corporation and the B.C. government tendered a three ferry project of $580 million to a German company. Not one penny of that $580 million will help to create jobs in British Columbia. We have the industry and the workers. It is all there in B.C. ready to go, plus the fact that the government automatically gets 40¢ back on every $1 it invests. We also have the trickle down theory which is that people who make $18 to $22 an hour will spend their wages in their own communities. But no, that opportunity was tendered to a German company.
Our military now needs their AOR vessels replaced. When will those be replaced? There is still no word from the government. Our coast guard vessels need to be replaced. Many people within the industry, including our own Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans, have asked for a $360 million over three year investment into capital for the Coast Guard and $160 million per year investment into the operating of that capital. We asked the government when and where that would be done. The government has been silent which gives us quite a confusing message.
We had one minister, John Manley, tells us to forget about the industry, that it was sunset and that we should move on to something else. We had another minister, Mr. Tobin, tells us that he would do a report, and he supported that report. What message are we getting from the Liberal government?
That is just one item. Let us get a little more personal about how the government treats the most vulnerable people in our society, our senior citizens. I am speaking on behalf of Brenda Anderson of Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia. Get this. Hold back, Mr. Speaker, I know you are going to jump out of your seat because you are so happy for her. A few months ago she got an 11¢ increase, not a percentage but an 11¢ increase on her OAS. That was absolutely outstanding. Of course, what happened? Fuel bills went up. Medical bills went up. Assessments went up. The cost of food went up.
Everything else went up around her, but she got 11¢. So we come to the House and we ask the finance minister a very serious question. We asked the minister where she should spend that 11¢ increase. Should it go on prescription drugs, heating fuels, or food? There was no answer from him. He just flipped it off and said they are going to increase it in the next budget, but still no details. I still cannot tell her what to do with that 11¢ increase because now she is further and further in debt.
One million seniors in this country run the risk of going into dire poverty. My colleague from Ottawa Centre has been on the forefront of the battle against child poverty in this country since 1989 and long before that. His motion in 1989 to eliminate child poverty by 2000 was supported by every member of the House at that time. What have we seen? We have seen a fourfold increase in child poverty.
What do the Liberals do? We can give them a little bit of credit. They invented the child tax credit. It is a good thing in theory, but they allow the province of Nova Scotia to claw back every penny of that. They give $100 to a particular family that is in hard times and the province takes it back. Why would the federal government enter into an agreement with a province that allows the clawback of a very necessary item like the child tax credit?
It is all smoke and mirrors with the Liberals. The reality is that the government, since 1993, has put more and more people than ever before in the position of running the risk of losing everything because of their financial concerns, and all they talk about is that they only have so much money to play with. However, it was an amazing thing that in 2000 they gave a $100 billion tax deduction to the very wealthy and to the large corporations.
In fact, just recently they gave additional tax considerations to the oil and gas sector off our coasts. They can give tax considerations to the most profitable in our society, the oil and gas companies, but for once could they not just look into their cold hearts and think that maybe they should start eliminating the tax on home heating fuels in this country?
I just recently got my fuel bill with another $62 in tax. I can afford that, but many people in my riding cannot afford that tax. What we get from the province is that it cannot do anything until the federal government says something. The federal government turns around and says it cannot do anything until the province does something. Where is the leadership in this country? How can they stand in the House and brag about how great everything is when ordinary citizens, the most vulnerable in our society, children and seniors, are having more and more difficulty?
It is bad enough that we have food banks in this country on the rise but now we have school banks. During the school year in September there were facilities set up where people could buy extra pencils and paper so that kids could have equipment to go to school. How can they stand in the House of Commons and brag about burgeoning surpluses and in the next minute live in a society where people have to buy extra pencils and paper so kids can have equipment to go to school? If I was a Liberal, I would be thoroughly ashamed of myself. If we do not look after the most vulnerable in our society, then we have failed as parliamentarians. We have failed considerably.
I also want to mention the concerns of our military. The men and women of our military serve our country with great service and with great admiration. I admire their efforts. We need to give them the tools and clear direction by which to do their job.
Since the days of Brian Mulroney, Mr. Chrétien and so forth, military budgets have been slashed and cut. We need to reinvest in our military. We need to give it the proper equipment it needs. We should not be shutting down bases. I am going to put a plug in for my favourite base, Shearwater. I hope the government will make a decision very soon.
I ask the hon. members for Kings--Hants and Dartmouth and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence to go to the minister and ensure that the decision on the Shearwater air base is turned around. We need to upgrade that base, not downgrade it. We need to tell the men and women of our military that we will give them the tools and equipment with which they can do their jobs effectively so they in turn can do the job that we ask them to do for Canadians. They have the ultimate liability and we as parliamentarians have the ultimate responsibility for their needs.
A motion to adjourn the House under Standing Order 38 deemed to have been moved.