My colleague from Brandon--Souris has just reminded me that it was 13 years ago that the Liberals came into power. He is quite right. It is 13 years of neglect that we are trying to overcome.
I just wish that he and his colleagues on the Conservative benches had found the courage and the wherewithal to address the weaknesses from the Liberal government and to restore the necessary elements that create strong communities and a strong country.
Unfortunately, they did not do it. They chose instead to once again follow the Liberal path of investing in areas that help big business and the wealthiest in this country. They chose to neglect hard-working Canadians who spend day and night sustaining themselves and their families, contributing to their communities, volunteering at hockey rinks and church bazaars, walking on safety patrols and helping people in need.
They looked to the government for some recognition of that contribution, some way to ensure that the path is a little brighter, that the future is a little clearer for themselves and their children, and they got none of that in this budget.
What did Canadians get? They got exactly what the Liberals have been delivering for 13 years.
On the one hand, it is an approach that has no balance in terms of fiscal policy. Rather than ensuring some money go against the debt, some money in terms of progressive tax relief and some money in terms of investment, what did we get? We got what the Liberals have always done, which is to not come clean with Canadians about the surplus and thereby dump a whole pile of it against the debt, without regard for the kind of economic growth that would have come from that investment, and to give a huge amount in tax breaks to corporations.
This time it was $7 billion worth. If we take the $5 billion of extra money that they threw against the debt, because with all of their resources they could not figure out how to invest that money that would create jobs and grow the economy, plus the $7 billion in tax cuts to corporations and the wealthy, many of the issues that we raise each and every day in this House would have been addressed in some significant way. If the Conservatives do not want to listen to the words of members in this House, maybe they will listen to some of the people who write and call, day in and day out. I want to reference just a couple.
The first one actually is a letter from a school in your constituency, Mr. Speaker. It is from the student council of Murdoch MacKay high school. A group of students involved in a Make Poverty History conference last year decided to keep fighting, to make their voices heard and to try to get through to the government. The students wrote a letter to the Prime Minister on April 24 and said the following:
As a group of caring and concerned students who have recently become aware of the issue of poverty in Canada and the world, we have organized a poster campaign, an educational trivia contest and a food drive for a local food bank in our community. We fully support the Make Poverty History campaign that has gained momentum throughout the past year and wish to see our federal government take action to eradicate poverty.
That is an incredible voice. It is an incredible impetus for the government. Those are the voices of ordinary Canadians. They are the voices of the future of this land, the voices of young people active in their student council and wanting this country to be a model for the whole world, an example of caring and compassion for the whole world to see.
Another letter, similar to the last one, comes from a constituent of mine by the name of Jacob Blondahl, who lives right in the heart of Winnipeg North on Main Street. He writes to the finance minister:
I'm writing to call on you to make ending poverty at home and abroad a priority in your first Federal Budget. Over 1.2 billion people live in abject poverty. Every day, 50,000 people die from poverty-related causes and more than 800 million people go to bed hungry every night.
In the upcoming budget, your government should acknowledge the international target for aid spending of 0.7%--
He said that the government should act to keep the commitments made in the last election.
Let me give the example of a family in my constituency that has had to come to grips with this supposedly great benefit the Conservatives have given to families through a child allowance in the name of a child care program. Let me show how the family is going to suffer as a result of it. The breakdown this family gives is as follows. The annual family allowance is $1,200. Less income tax it is $838. Minus a benefit clawback, it drops to $448. Finally, minus the young child supplement. it goes to $199. The total is $199 per year, less than a dollar a day. That is the great benefit and the great program that the Conservatives have brought to us in the name of a progressive child care policy.
I think constituents say it all and I think these are the voices that the Conservative government ought to be listening to.
The government has been obsessed with accelerated debt reduction and tax cuts, as I have mentioned. We are no further ahead for it. We are simply going to have a continuation of the kind of direction this country has gone as a result of Liberal policies.
Let me say that if we take this kind of policy down to the grassroots level, down to a constituency such as Winnipeg North, we will see that constituents, ordinary people, are not rejoicing in this budget. They are not rejoicing because they are going to feel the effects of this lost opportunity in their lives and the lives of their children for years to come.
Winnipeg North is probably one of the most economically disadvantaged constituencies in Canada. It is hard for many folks to make ends meet. A disproportionate number live on low incomes. Many hold down several jobs. It has a rich cultural mix, including first and second generation immigrant and urban aboriginal populations, and everyone is working hard to build a stronger community. They are striving to make their lives and the lives of their neighbours better.
Despite this, as we all know, the gap between the rich and the poor is growing. Despite hard work, these constituents of mine are not benefiting. They are not finding it easier to make ends meet. They are not able to feel good about what they are able to provide for their families.
Let me give a couple of examples of this. There is the question of housing in a constituency such as Winnipeg North, which is at a very difficult stage in terms of older housing in need of repair, housing that has suffered at the hands of a federal government that has taken away all the means of support, all avenues for assistance, after the government abandoned housing as a policy back some 13 years ago.
Since then, this patchwork of programs has not made the kind of difference that is required. Since then, housing has deteriorated even further. Let me look at this specifically from the point of view of off reserve aboriginal housing, because in fact, my constituency is home to a number of aboriginal constituents who are tackling the need for affordable housing.
Let me conclude by mentioning that there was a very recent study called “An Examination of Hidden Homelessness among Aboriginal Peoples in Prairie Cities”. It examined the lack of affordable housing for aboriginals. The study found that thousands of people drift from shelter to boarding house, from borrowed couch to homeless mission. Let me read for members four of statistics from the report. Five thousand people live in rooming houses in Winnipeg, 1,000 people live in hotels in downtown Winnipeg, and 2,330 aboriginal families are waiting for housing in Winnipeg. Forty-five per cent of participants have moved more than three times in the past six months. Fifty-five per cent of people earn $10,000 or less annually and 19.8% of the people have no income.
The list goes on and on. We have a difficult and very needy situation in Winnipeg. The government has abandoned its role in terms of housing. The Conservative government did not address it other than to implement the NDP addition to last year's Liberal budget.
This is an area that needs investment that will have all kinds of spinoff benefits for this country. I urge the government to finally come to grips with what it means to be relevant to families that work hard and want to make a contribution to this country.