Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to address the budget today. The last overview that was given in response to a question from my colleague was an entree into the perspective on the budget that I would like to address.
In as much as I am the chairman of the environment and sustainable development committee, commenting on those aspects of the budget from an environmental perspective is probably very appropriate.
From time to time in the House the economic sustainability with respect to what we do is often drawn into question. It has often occurred to me that in the heat of partisanship we tend either to forget what the corporate memory is with respect to our economic advancement or we deliberately choose not to remember it.
In fairness, when we do reflect on Canada's economic position on a comparative basis in the world, it bears repeating that we have achieved, in a global context, a pretty remarkable and quite substantial fiscal success.
I would like to emphasize that in a world where even our provinces are struggling with fiscal deficits, Canada's record, in several consecutive budgets since the early nineties, has been to bring the deficit under control. In fact, in 1997 we eliminated the deficit. Among the G7 countries, Canada continues to have one of the most progressive and successful economic strategies, to the extent that we have one of the best job creation records with the creation of nearly three million jobs since 1997. For people watching their government struggle with economic pressures and issues in the global village, that in itself is a tremendous success.
Yes, we face huge challenges with respect to rural areas, in particular in our farming and agricultural communities, in our softwood lumber industry and in our cattle industry, but, generally speaking, living standards across our country are improving. When we look at those who are most affected, such as our first nations people, many aspects of the budget reach out and attempt to deal with those issues.
When one reflects on the stagflation and inflation cycles over the last 30 years, one cannot help but look at the economy in terms of its key indicators: the low rate of inflation and the stability within our interest rates and financial regime. These have contributed to the kind of confidence that people have, not only domestically but externally, entrepreneurs and those who are looking to invest capital, and are looking at Canadian opportunities. They have in fact voted with their confidence in sustaining that level of growth in the economy.
I think the budget attempts, which is what the Minister of the Environment said, to find the confluence of two important and fundamental phenomena. One emphasizes what Canadians truly feel in terms of the environmental legacy that they would like to pass on to future generations. All the indicators are, in terms of climate change and so on, that legacy is threatened and every poll has indicated that Canadians are very concerned.
The second phenomenon is the economic phenomenon, the value added that comes from the investment in new technologies, the recognition that globalization is changing a lot of things in terms of tariffs and barriers to commerce and capital. The Minister of the Environment has captured those two essential economic phenomena and has said that we have to combine the concept of sustainable development with a sustainable economy. He calls it the sustainable economy in the sense that we are not only creating a legacy for our environment but also value added in terms of our economy. Everything we do is an attempt to balance those two particular characteristics.
The other criteria that we attempt in this budget and in everything we do is to first invest in people. We want to know what capacity the people of Canada have to be entrepreneurial, to be creative, to add value to their own lives and, in turn, build a stronger Canada, to also invest in ideas and research and enable the commercialization of that research to add value to the Canadian economy.
The third criteria was to look at the regions. Canada really is, and has been throughout history, cognizant of regional needs. Whatever the budget does it should attempt to satisfy those regional needs, to maintain a fair and competitive tax system and to finally to make markets more efficient and more effective.
When we talk about the environment, we try to capture the stability of our economic past in this budget by attempting to maintain those five or six critical areas for investment in reinvigorating the Canadian dream.
When we come to the economy, the record has been quite clear in terms of the environment. Since the 1997-98 budget, the government, with the support of the opposition parties, has invested over $10 billion in areas related to adding value from an environmental perspective to the Canadian economy.
The 2005 budget delivers on some key commitments that have been in two or three red books or throne speeches. The budget delivers on the government's commitment to a green economy with a $5 billion package of measures over the next five years. It does this by addressing the issue of greenhouse gases and by recognizing that investing in environmental technologies will transform the economy and add jobs as we do it. It also recognizes that building on the tax measures that have been announced in the past will create a stronger investment climate and, in particular, in the area of renewable energies.
The whole concept of investing in public infrastructure, be it through cities or be it through the areas of the green funds through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, cannot help but add value to the Canadian economy.
In terms of climate change, I just wanted to mention, in case it has been missed, if we look at the $1 billion with respect to the climate fund; the $250 million in the partnership fund that is reaching out to the provinces and regions, the cities and rural communities; the $225 million over five years for the retrofitting programs in residential and commercial homes and buildings; and the sustainable energy science and technology strategies, all of these form a comprehensive framework within which there will be investment and returns that will come back. Those returns cannot help but improve life for Canadians, make us more competitive and create a better environment for the future. I would hope that those elements of the budget would be supported by all members of the House