Mr. Speaker, I have had the pleasure to listen to members from both sides of the House speak on the issue of the budget. We have to keep in mind that Canada is the envy of the world in many respects, particularly in our financial situation. We have had seven consecutive budgets. We have had unprecedented surpluses in our budget as well, which makes us the envy of many places around the world.
At times, when listening to the debate, we forget to praise and recognize that Canada has put itself in the world stage, which is a remarkable feat. Because of these unprecedented balanced budgets and the measures taken by previous finance minister, now the Prime Minister, to put us in this great economic situation, we can look at investing in some of our key priorities that will put forward the social agenda for the country for the years to come.
In particular, an area I am most interested in is the cities. It is something for which I have a great passion, having been a municipal councillor for almost 10 years in the city of Toronto. The cities were not just crying out for money, although money is extremely important. They were crying out for recognition by the federal government that cities would play a big role in the decision making and for respect. I believe we have managed to do that.
The Prime Minister has spoken with many of the leaders of municipalities across the country. He has demonstrated time and time again that he wants to listen to their concerns and act on their suggestions. They greatly appreciate the Prime Minister giving a hand to help them.
In particular, the GST has saved municipalities like the city of Toronto some $50 million annually. That is a tremendous saving. The budget of Toronto is an extremely large budget of about $7 billion, but $50 million goes a long way to help the city deal with many of the financial burdens that it faces, specifically in delivery of direct services.
Another core issue that we are moving forward with is the gas tax. The announcement by the minister has been extremely well received by municipalities. It is another sign that our government and the Prime Minister want to work with the municipalities. The Prime Minister does care about their concerns and is doing everything he can within his power to ensure that cities get what they deserve. They very much appreciate the incredible amount of cooperation and goodwill that has been exhibited by our government and our Prime Minister.
Another area that is very important is public transportation. I particularly admire the fact that both the Prime Minister and the minister have stated over and over again that they want to move forward, not just with the GST rebate and the gas tax, but also with the issue of Kyoto and linking its obligations to meet the protocol. The moneys to be given to the municipalities is a very strong move forward in support of the importance of meeting the Kyoto protocol and our concerns about the environment.
There is a link when we talk about helping our cities. Cities are in many ways at the forefront of dealing of issues of the environment and issues around climate control. What better way in Toronto than to deal with the whole issue of public transportation? The Toronto transit system carries about two million passengers daily. In many ways that takes away the reliance on cars which in turn reduces smog.
Time and time again Toronto has faced many problems with smog in the summer. It is quite critical. Strengthening public transportation is essential in order to deal with the issue of smog and climate change.
This is a very important move at a very critical time. The government has pushed forward the Kyoto protocol agreement. Cities are moving forward on issues like public transportation. A link is being made between the gas tax rebate and Kyoto. This is fundamental. I am very proud to see that the government is moving forward very strongly in this area.
As a government and as a party, we have committed to health care, a fundamental issue to Canadians. Certainly the signing of the health accord with the premiers is fundamental in ensuring that we are on solid footing for years to come in Canada. I am very pleased to support the government. All of us should take great pride because it was not just an agreement reached with the Prime Minister. It was reached by the Prime Minister in conjunction with all the provincial premiers, many of them from different political parties. They came together, understood the importance of health care to the citizens of this country and were very proud signatories to this historical agreement.
We are moving forward on the issue of child care. The minister is meeting with his provincial counterparts. We hope to have an agreement signed soon. The government is quite committed to moving forward on child care. I had the privilege of sitting on the human resources committee. This issue has been dealt with and discussions are ongoing. We have heard from agencies and community groups who very much want the government to move forward on this proposal. We are encouraged by the goodwill of people in the communities and agencies. The minister's discussions with his counterparts have been extremely successful.
We are very happy to be moving forward on these very important issues. I want to state once again my profound thanks to the former finance minister, the Prime Minister, for the incredible direction in which he has taken the country. We thought years ago Canada was headed toward economic oblivion and that we would not have solid foundations on the issues of employment insurance and pension plans. On many other fronts we thought we would not have the money but it is now a decade later and we have the money and Canada is on a very good, solid footing.
It is a balanced approach. There are those in the House who would like to put all the money into one specific area. The government always looks to balance the budget in a way that provides the social service programs Canadians need and deserve, and at the same time makes sure that we are on solid footing. We do not want to forget our obligations to maintain a competitive economy. We must also look at the tax cut measures that were taken by the government. It is a balanced approach. I think Canadians appreciate that the government has put the economy on a good solid footing for many years to come.