House of Commons Hansard #15 of the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was budget.

Topics

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

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Ed Fast

Thirteen years.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

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Liberal

John McCallum Liberal Markham—Unionville, ON

Thirteen years is right. Thirteen years is the time it took to get rid of that Conservative deficit of $42 billion and to create the conditions for a booming Canadian economy. I am proud to have been a part of those 13 years.

Our only concern is that on the other side, they are going to mess it all up with this attitude of not wanting to pay down debt, going too close to the edge and going back to a deficit. That is the problem.

Let us go on again about Canadians or regions that are not necessarily the richest. What I would say, having travelled extensively in Atlantic Canada and northern Ontario, that I have a keen appreciation of the central role of regional development agencies in creating jobs and stemming the outflow of people to the more populated parts of the country.

Why was there no mention of regional development agencies in the budget? Do they no longer fit into Conservative Ottawa, which wants to solve everything with a tax break? Or, is it the case, as with aboriginal people and farmers, that the government just does not care?

Why is it cutting funding to forestry, which is so critical to those regions of the country? Why, in a typical case of indifference to the plight of the less privileged, is it totally ignoring the fishing industry in which older workers are in a state of transition?

The answer, as usual, is that it is a government and a political party that does not care. It has no compassion for Canadians in need.

Another relatively underprivileged part of the country is the north. We see another broken promise with no mention of the northern development plan. Why the decimation of aboriginal funding, which will be especially damaging to the north?

That gives a pretty clear idea of the general attitude of the government, which is callous toward the least privileged members of our society

Let me now spend a little more time on three particular areas of concern, beginning with the environment.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

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Myron Thompson

Please don't. Give us a break.

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Liberal

John McCallum Liberal Markham—Unionville, ON

I would like to address a particularly major shortfall of this shortsighted budget. The member opposite should pay attention because this is a very important area.

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An hon. member

All the while, roses are dying.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

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Liberal

John McCallum Liberal Markham—Unionville, ON

On this side of the House, we know that the fight to save our planet is one we cannot afford to lose. As my colleague suggests, we have to preserve those wild roses for future generations.

This is a war that claims as its casualties our air, our water and our wildlife. It is affecting our children and it will damage generations yet to come. It is a battle that needs all nations to unite and fight as one, but if what is in this budget is any indication, the Conservative government seems intent on denying this reality.

The Conservatives are not taking into account the very real risk of climate change, besides being determined to nullify the efforts made by the previous Liberal government to halt this destructive process. Thus they have discreetly axed environmental programs, and they have been silent, contradictory, indeed sometimes incoherent about their plans for our environment.

Through denial and inaction, the government is cutting short our country's future and jeopardizing worldwide efforts to reverse the damage that has already been done. The Conservative government plans to kill programs that would help Canada to meet its Kyoto commitments. It intends to use the savings to fund a $2 billion transit tax credit. This tax credit will cost over $2,000 per tonne of greenhouse gas reduced. This is incredibly inefficient. For a government that prides itself on efficiency, here is a number that is between 10 and 100 times more ineffective than the Liberal plan. Ninety-five per cent of the money going to the transit pass will go to people who use the system anyway. What is the point?

What the government refuses to acknowledge is that a tax credit is not an environmental program. It will not do anything to address the urgency of climate change.

Meanwhile, I used to be minister for NRCan and, in response to high energy prices, we established a super program through EnerGuide that provided funding to low income Canadians and to other Canadians to help them improve the energy efficiency of their heating, and it worked. EnerGuide has been a proven success over many years.

Energy efficiency improvements are good for the environment because there is less pollution, and they are good for the pocketbook because it costs us less to heat our houses. It was a great program but the government simply cut it. It does not make sense when it says that it was ineffective because having been there I know it was highly effective.

Since 1997, the Liberals funded programs that have helped us better understand the challenges and risks of climate change, promote green technologies and innovations, develop policy options that allow us to address the climate change crisis and take every action possible to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We have worked to move Canada toward a clean energy future and increase the efficiency, sustainability and international competitiveness of the Canadian economy.

I am particularly proud, as a Canadian, of Canada's global leadership role played at the Kyoto conference in Montreal in December 2005 by our former minister of the environment. He really led the world to develop the next stage.

Also, as a Canadian I must say that I am particularly dismayed by the role of our new environment minister who, as president of this same conference, will check in and then check out pretty fast. What an abdication of responsibility and what a loss of a great opportunity to show leadership on this global project that is so important to Canada and to the world.

Canada must continue to play an influential role. We cannot relent in our determination or in the efforts we should make to reduce greenhouse gas emissions both in Canada and in the rest of the world.

I urge the Conservative government to rise above petty politics and adopt specific measures for the environment.

I turn now to Canada's aboriginal people, to what is in the budget for them, or more accurately, what is not. The Conservative government jettisoned the Liberal government's Kelowna accord, an agreement by both levels of government committing $5 billion to improve aboriginal housing, health and economic development.

While the commitments the Conservatives have made, including national water standards for first nation reserves and native-run school boards, will no doubt be beneficial to our country's first nations, Inuit and Métis people, they are little more than a distraction from the larger issue at hand.

The programs outlined in this budget were laid out in the Kelowna accord. What the budget lacks is any new funding at all for aboriginal Canadians.

Kelowna was the result of first nations, Métis and Inuit leaders joining with premiers, territorial leaders and the federal government, for the first time in history, to forge a comprehensive plan, with measurable targets to ensure accountability, that will address the urgent problems facing aboriginal communities.

On this side of the House, we believe the commitments made in Kelowna are essential in order to bridge the gap in living standards between aboriginal and non-aboriginal Canadians. However, with this new budget, it is clearer than ever that what we achieved in Kelowna is in danger. The Conservative government has abandoned the plans laid out in the accord for the sake of ideology.

The Conservatives' lack of commitment to what was achieved in Kelowna is no secret. During the last election, the former Conservative finance critic, now the immigration minister, publicly stated:

[The] Kelowna agreement is something that [they] crafted at the last moment on the back of a napkin on the eve of an election. We're not going to honour that. We will have our own plan that will help natives a lot more than the Liberals'.

It is disappointing but not surprising, I would say, to see this lack of commitment reflected in the Conservative budget. Where is the plan that was promised by the former finance critic? Is this budget a signal of what is to come? Is it the first step in the Conservatives' plan to abandon the Government of Canada's commitment to aboriginal people? Is this their strategy to gradually undermine the Kelowna accord?

Kelowna is the product of more than two years of hard work by native leaders and the federal and provincial governments. Together we managed to reach a historic agreement to overcome the economic divide that will still exist in 10 years between aboriginals and their fellow citizens in the areas of education, health, housing and economic opportunities.

I cannot see how a government of any kind could withdraw in all conscience from such an agreement. Aboriginal Canadians deserve at least that. They deserve all the funds they were promised at the first ministers’ meeting in Kelowna, and not just crumbs. Only a detailed plan will enable us to make real changes to the quality of life of aboriginals and help them move from poverty to prosperity.

It is simply unacceptable to cherry-pick from the Kelowna accord without even having the decency of consulting the aboriginal leaders. In the Liberal Party, we are committed to working together with first nations, Métis and Inuit leaders. Despite the poor showing in this budget, we will continue to strongly encourage the Prime Minister to do the same. It is not enough to just pay lip service. Canada's aboriginal peoples deserve a government that can achieve real progress.

Throughout the past few months, the Conservatives have been trying to create a phony war between their government and the opposition on the subject of child care. The Prime Minister and his ministers have tried to frame the child care debate as a matter of choice. In a way, they are right, but it is not a choice between the Liberal child care program and the Conservative child care program. It is a choice between an existing national public system of early learning and child care--

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Gerald Keddy

There is no existing system. What are you talking about?

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Merv Tweed

It's a figment of your imagination.

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Liberal

John McCallum Liberal Markham—Unionville, ON

--and no federally funded national child care system at all.

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An hon. member

There are agreements signed with every province in this country.

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Liberal

John McCallum Liberal Markham—Unionville, ON

Mr. Speaker, $1,200 is not bad to put in people's pockets. It is like the baby bonus. But it is not child care and it is not early learning. I think that is one of the main confusions over there.

What the Conservatives do not seem to understand, including those members I hear from over there, is that the vast majority of Canadian parents need to work. The simple fact is that child care is not a matter of choice for most Canadians. It is a necessity.

Let me make one thing clear. Again, I have to go slowly for the benefit of the members opposite. The Liberal Party has always believed in income support for Canadian families. In fact, we pioneered the concept. Our party established both the national child benefit and the Canada child tax benefit, which just last month alone provided $800 million to 2.9 million Canadian families.

We are pleased to see more income support for families included in the budget. I said that at the beginning: we do not object to the $1,200. We are pleased to see more income support, but a cash payout to parents is not a child care plan. It does not address the child care space deficit across the country.

The provinces, parents' groups, women's groups and advocacy groups representing the poor have all opposed this government's plan to dismantle the national child care agreement signed by the provinces. Nevertheless, the government ignored that opposition and forged ahead with its plan to kill the national child care system in favour of its taxable $1,200 a year child care plan.

Parents need viable, affordable solutions to the child care dilemma, not a small payout that is subject to taxes and clawbacks. The problem with the Conservative child care allowance is that it will not make child care more affordable. It will not create any new spaces. It will not increase accessibility for children with special needs. In short, it will leave parents to fend for themselves.

Furthermore, in order to pay for this plan, which will provide lower income parents with a paltry $20 a week for child care, the government will cut the young child supplement under the Canada child tax benefit. This monthly tax-free income supplement is targeted to those who need it most. Under the Conservative plan it will be killed, yet another example of the reverse Robin Hood behaviour so typical on that side of the House.

This supplement currently pays $20.25 a month to parents who do not claim child care expenses for their preschool age children. Now we learn that it will be eliminated at the same time the child care payout takes effect. The benefit was due to increase in July to $249 annually.

Families with modest or average incomes will benefit the least, after taxes, from the child care allowance. By eliminating this supplement, the Conservatives are making things worse because they are going to widen the gulf between poor families and rich families. There is every reason to think that the Conservatives’ child care allowance will ultimately be nothing but a mirage. They cannot help parents in need by taking with one hand what they give with the other.

Our party enabled the Conservative government to inherit the best financial situation of any country in the G-7. There is nothing to prevent the Prime Minister from honouring the day care agreements we concluded with the provinces and, at the same time, financing his child care allowance.

With this budget, the Conservatives are showing once again that they are completely out of touch with, or simply do not care about, the needs of the majority of Canadian families. With this budget, the Conservatives are proving once again that their priorities lie with protecting the wealthy and neglecting the underprivileged.

I would like to remind the Prime Minister that standing up for Canada means standing up for all Canadians, not just those in the highest income bracket.

That is why the conduct of the Bloc Québécois is so shameful. By forming an unnatural alliance with the most right-wing government in the country’s history, the Bloc members are betraying the values and convictions of the vast majority of Quebeckers.

Quebeckers want a healthful environment. Quebeckers want to help the most disadvantaged in society and not just pass them by. Quebeckers want a good preschool education and day care system. Quebeckers also believe that the fiscal imbalance must be resolved.

For purely partisan reasons, though, the Bloc Québécois has allied itself with the Conservatives, this party of extreme neo-conservatism, even though the budget does not provide one cent to resolve the fiscal imbalance.

As for the NDP, that is a party that sacrificed child care. It is a party that sacrificed the Kelowna Accord and the environment for the sake of 10 additional seats in the House of Commons. That party is an accomplice in this budget. NDP members have reaped what they have sewn and their cynical opportunism has left the Liberal Party as the only legitimate voice for progressive voters.

We had 13 years of cleaning up their mess, 13 years of fantastic economic growth. The only fear we have is they will mess it up.

Several times I have stressed the triumph of the Prime Minister's political expediency over what is good for the nation in his disdain for debt paydown, his decision to cut GST rather than the income tax, his opting for a transit pass that does nothing for the environment and even his preference for small, targeted tax credit over broader tax relief.

Why are young hockey players more deserving of taxpayer support than young violinists? Is this a paternalistic government, a “government knows best” government that wants to socially engineer Canadians in the direction of its own recreational and educational preferences? Social engineers over there encourage the hockey players but not the violinists. I do not know why. Why does one deserve help and the other does not?

However, my basic point is that the Prime Minister's political expediency will not work. At the end of the day, his cynical riding-by-riding calculations of where to put the tax credits to get the most votes will fall flat. On this side of the House, we have greater faith in Canadians. We believe Canadians will see through these rather crude vote buying schemes. Canadians will vote against a government that desecrates the environment. They will vote against a government and its accomplice over there that cancels child care, a government that shafts aboriginal people and applies its reverse Robin Hood mentality to take from the vulnerable to accommodate the well-to-do.

Canadians care about a strong economy founded on balanced books and prudent fiscal management. They do not appreciate governments like that one, which is in the process of playing fast and loose with the nation's finances. Canadians understand that if our country is to thrive and prosper in a highly competitive world, we need to take big steps to go to the next level, not the small and cynical steps proposed by the Prime Minister and his followers. Ultimately and before too long, the Prime Minister's expediency will fail. Let us hope it is not so long that his short-sighted policies have time to bear their poisoned fruit and impose lasting pain on Canadians and the Canadian economy.

I end with a few words about politics and honesty, and then I have to present the amendment.

Yesterday I was amazed to discover that a blatant error contained in the budget provoked so little comment or reaction from the public. Yes, it is true. The media corrected this error and referred to an income tax increase, not a decrease. The fact is, such an obviously self-serving error appearing on page 1 of the budget speech in and of itself provoked little comment.

On reflection, maybe this is because Canadians have come to believe that it is normal for politicians to behave in a way that in most other occupations would be seen as flagrantly dishonest. If so, maybe that is why we, as a group of politicians, all of us in this room, fair so poorly in public esteem. To me this is most unfortunate not only at the personal level as a politician myself, but also because the distrust of politicians by the citizens of Canada can hardly auger well for a strong democratic process.

Therefore, I would end with a simple and serious request of the Minister of Finance. For the sake of the public esteem of politicians, for all of us in this chamber, for the sake of our reputation for honesty and for democracy in Canada will he simply come clean and tell the truth to Canadians so we can honestly debate the merits of his budget?

I move, seconded by the hon. member for West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country:

That the motion be amended by deleting all the words after the word “That” and substituting the following:

“this House condemns the government for a budget which

abandons any federal leadership role in the development of social policy;

ignores the Kyoto Protocol and the battle against climate change;

destroys federal-provincial agreements which were creating high quality, universal, affordable and developmental child care spaces;

walks away from the Kelowna Accord with Canada’s aboriginal people and all provinces and territories;

fails to deal with student access to post secondary education, including the high cost of tuition, or to provide adequate support for science and technology;

raises the income tax rate for all Canadian taxpayers; and

eliminates the policies of fiscal responsibility which have fostered Canada’s robust economy for over a decade.”

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

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NDP

The Deputy Speaker NDP Bill Blaikie

Order, please. The House has heard the amendment and the Chair will take it under advisement and determine whether the amendment is in order and get back to the House very shortly.

In the meantime, questions and comments, the hon. Minister of Natural Resources.

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Saanich—Gulf Islands B.C.

Conservative

Gary Lunn ConservativeMinister of Natural Resources

Mr. Speaker, I have listened to the Liberals in the House now for a number of days. I listened to their visceral attacks on the NDP, on other opposition parties, questioning their motives in defeating the recent Liberal government. The previous government members might want to look in the mirror. They did not proffer for their government, they defeated their government, following the largest corruption scandal in Canadian political history, the sponsorship scandal. They were not supporting anyone else.

I understand the Liberals are beside themselves and have not come to accept that they are in opposition and that they are deeply troubled. They are having a very difficult time sitting in opposition and they are showing this by attacking all other parties. However, they might want to reflect upon why they are sitting in opposition today.

With respect to the budget, what we saw for the first time in a long time in the House was the government's campaign commitments and the delivery on those very specifics it promised to Canadians. Based on the mandate that Canadians gave the government, it delivered. It turned that into a budget in the House, something of which we are very proud, and Canadians are responding to very favourably.

However, the Liberal members may want to look in the mirror to see exactly why they are sitting where they are.

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Liberal

John McCallum Liberal Markham—Unionville, ON

Mr. Speaker, I thought there might be a somewhat more elevated level of debate. I think I had some substantive points on the budget. I thought I might hear something about the minister's department. I used to be the minister there. I know a bit about it too.

I would have thought he might have explained why he gave such a totally wrong and incompetent answer in question period the other day. My colleague asked him why he had abolished the EnerGuide program, which subsidizes Canadians to improve the energy efficiency of their home heating. It was a wonderful question. I know, from having been there and seeing the studies, this is a hugely effective program. The minister gave a stock answer that programs do not work. I know that program does work. It saves people money and it is good for the environment, yet he goes and cancels it.

He totally misunderstood the question. He thought we were talking about the cheques that go to older people and parents of families. Those cheques have gone out, so he does not seem to understand the first principles of running his own department.

Before he starts talking about our competence, maybe he should go back, get a few briefings and learn a little about the Department of Natural Resources.

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Bloc

Raynald Blais Bloc Gaspésie—Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC

Mr. Speaker, I am quite aware that the person who has just spoken is very fond of wordplay. I will therefore start with a play on words, by saying that his comments are far from exhilarating. That is to say, his words partake more of complacency. These people seem to forget where they come from.

When my colleague alludes to the fact the members of the government have access to a certain fortune, he fails to mention at whose expense that fortune—or the surplus—was accumulated. It was accumulated at the expense of regions such as mine, and of the unemployed. As we very well know, nearly $50 billion has been taken from the pockets of the unemployed and people in the regions. Thus bled dry, they were subsequently forgotten and ignored.

My colleague’s speech may seem interesting from certain points of view, but it is far from exhilarating. The Liberals seem to totally forget what they failed to do and what they did do when there was some relative improvement in the financial situation. It was relative because it was accomplished to the detriment of certain regions or certain individuals.

It is in that sense that I would like to correct my colleague. I would like him to stand back a little and look at what he is saying. The regions and employment insurance should be among his priorities, but that has not been the case in recent years.

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4:30 p.m.

Liberal

John McCallum Liberal Markham—Unionville, ON

Mr. Speaker, clearly that was one of our priorities. This partnership between the Bloc and the Conservative Party is not very logical in terms of the priorities of the regions. As I was just saying in my speech, the budget provides nothing for the regional development agencies. As my colleague just said, neither does it provide anything for the fisheries. Yet these are important in the riding of the hon. member, who is a member of the Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans. Now here he is associating himself with this government which has provided nothing for fisheries and nothing for the regions. We Liberals were much more generous to the regions. We believed in the importance of these regional development agencies. The hon. members opposite think they are a waste of money.

It is not only with respect to the regions that the interests of the Bloc differ from those of the Conservatives. Yet despite everything, for purely political reasons, the members of the Bloc have decided to ally with them. Otherwise the Bloc would lose a lot of ridings in Quebec if an election were to be called in the near future. In addition to regional development, Quebeckers are concerned about protecting the environment and helping the disadvantaged, unlike this government.

It is the Bloc that is in an impossible and contradictory position, not us.

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4:30 p.m.

NDP

Dawn Black NDP New Westminster—Coquitlam, BC

Mr. Speaker, I listened very carefully to the Liberal finance critic as he went through his criticisms of the new budget that we are all dealing with in this House. I agree that there are many missed opportunities in this budget to provide commitments to Canadians on issues that we in this party certainly care about around child care, education and the environment. Certainly the Conservatives are squandering an opportunity when they have a large surplus at this time to provide the services that Canadians need.

Members will recall that in the 1993 election campaign that member's party produced what was called the red book. The Liberals highly flaunted it to the Canadian people. They made huge commitments at that time, 13 years ago, for a national child care program that would be affordable and accessible to all Canadians.

In my riding of New Westminster--Coquitlam in British Columbia, the waiting lists for child care spaces can be very long. There can be 100 families on the list for one child care space. It is a real crisis. Yet his government, in 13 years of constantly promising, did not deliver even one child care space in this country, not one. I am amazed to see the Liberal critic stand there and not even blush. He did not even go red in the face when he said it was the fault of the New Democratic Party that there was no child care program in this country. It is shocking to hear that kind of rhetoric.

I want to ask the Liberal critic how he can say such blatant nonsense in this House and expect to have any kind of credibility with the Canadian people when we know that his government had such a long time to provide these kind of services that are needed by Canadian people and did not do it.

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4:30 p.m.

Liberal

John McCallum Liberal Markham—Unionville, ON

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member must know that the reason for the lack of day care lies at the feet of the NDP. The NDP had an opportunity and the NDP blew it. The NDP sacrificed day care for 10 more seats. The NDP sacrificed the Kelowna accord for 10 more seats. The NDP sacrificed the environment for 10 more seats. The NDP had the opportunity and the NDP blew it.

That is why I said in my remarks that the cynical opportunism displayed by that party and that member has left only one voice remaining, and that is a Liberal voice, to represent the progressive voters in this country.

The NDP members had their chance and they blew it; that's it.

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4:35 p.m.

NDP

The Deputy Speaker NDP Bill Blaikie

Before resuming debate, the Chair had an opportunity to review the amendment and finds it in order.

Resuming debate.

The hon. member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot.

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4:35 p.m.

Bloc

Yvan Loubier Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC

Before getting to the heart of the matter, I would like to address a remark to my Liberal colleague who spoke before me.

I think that the Liberal Party members as a group should look to their reputation. They are not credible when they talk about the common good or when they talk about using public funds properly, particularly with the sponsorship scandal in the background. They are not credible when they talk about the welfare of the regions, because they devastated the regions, particularly with the employment insurance cuts, the theft of the surplus in the employment insurance fund. They left the fishers out in the cold, just as they did the farmers.

So it seems to me that they should be a little less arrogant, and a little less cynical too, and hold their peace for quite some time. I think that this would be a good thing for everyone.

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An hon. member

Modesty.

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Bloc

Yvan Loubier Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC

That being said, my message is now addressed to the Conservatives.

During question period, I heard the Prime Minister say: “I am pleased to have the Bloc Québécois' support in our efforts to improve the Canadian federation”. The thought came to me that I hoped that the Conservatives would not become as arrogant as the Liberals were after 13 years in power, particularly not after only a few months in government.

The Conservatives must know that we would have rejected this budget had it not been for their formal commitment to solving the fiscal imbalance, with a specific timetable for a meeting of first ministers to discuss it and find solutions, and a specific timetable for the solution, that is, the next budget, in the spring of 2007.

We would have voted against it, with all the consequences that might have involved, but we would have voted against it.

Were it not for there being a solution to the fiscal imbalance, this budget, with a few exceptions, to which I will come back at the end, is unbelievably flawed in terms of the decisions the Conservatives should have made regarding the problems we have been working on for years. Decisions should have been made that could have had an even more positive effect on the welfare of the citizens of Quebec and the rest of Canada. Those decisions were not made, and I will take the next few minutes of my time to talk about them.

I suggest that the Conservatives put that in their pipe and not start being arrogant with us, because they will find us on their heels on every issue I am going to name. We will be in their face whenever they present bills dealing with matters that are fundamental for the citizens of Quebec. We will work relentlessly to achieve progress on these issues, and to win.

If they think they have found allies, they should know that we are temporary allies and that we are giving them the benefit of the doubt on the fiscal imbalance, one of the most important issues of concern to Quebec and one of the top priorities. They have been warned.

For the rest, and until then, we will be watching them closely. We will be on their heels. We will oppose their decisions when they do not reflect Quebec’s difference and our deeply held convictions.

I assure you that they will find us everywhere they go, and in particular to make sure that they reform employment insurance, the big thing left out of this budget. Have we not been talking about this for long enough? The Liberals sabotaged the employment insurance scheme.

We have at times worked with the Conservatives, who seemed to agree with some of our proposals for reform. Now that they are in power, they have nothing to say and they are not talking about employment insurance any more. Today, 60% of unemployed men and women are still excluded from the employment insurance scheme.

If we look to the budget tabled yesterday, the theft of the employment insurance surplus is still being perpetuated. This has got to stop.

The Conservatives are no longer talking about an independent employment insurance fund. And yet they made a commitment to create such a fund. The Bloc Québécois will continue to fight for justice for unemployed workers, so that the 60% who are excluded are covered properly and with dignity by the employment insurance plan and the systematic looting of the EI fund surplus stops.

As for the POWA, the Program for Older Worker Adjustment, it is not difficult to understand. I have an invitation from the Prime Minister. I met with the Minister of Finance several times to explain the priorities of the Bloc Québécois: employment insurance, followed by the POWA. An assistance program for older workers is not difficult to understand: there are older workers who have been victims of mass layoffs, especially in single-industry regions.

We are talking about regions where there is one dominant industry.

As soon as things go wrong on the international scene, for example, because the Canadian dollar is too strong and we have to reduce our exports to the United States or elsewhere, there are mass layoffs and even plant and company closures.

For older workers, retraining and job re-entry programs do not work. Ninety-five percent of workers over 55 years of age are not eligible for retraining and job re-entry measures. Why? Because when you work in a single-industry region, if the company closes, workers cannot be hired by another employer because there are no other employers.

As well, some employers will not hire workers who are going to work for only another five or six years before they retire. They will invest in younger workers, who will stay with the company for 25, 30 or 35 years, as the older workers who were dismissed en masse did before them.

In the regions, often couples have worked for the same company for 30 or 35 years. They have little education and have accumulated some assets over the years, such as a house and an RRSP.

Ten years or less from retirement, having run out of employment insurance benefits, these people are required to liquidate everything—house, RRSPs, etc. They end up going on welfare before they are entitled to their pension. What a terrible and tragic end. It is not hard to understand. I explained all this three times to the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Transport and the Deputy Prime Minister. I think it is easy to understand.

The human resources development committee worked very hard on this in order to develop a new aid program for older workers. This program existed until 1997 when it was abolished by the unfeeling Liberal government.

Since then, there has been nothing and we have been fighting to reinstate an aid program for older workers. This program is highly important, especially in a context of globalization. There is no mention of it except in the minister's speech when he says a feasibility study will be done. The word “feasibility” suggests looking at what it will cost to implement such a program. This is encouraging. At least the government recognizes the need to implement such a program and is looking into the cost.

We have had enough of feasibility studies. This program costs roughly $100 million a year. When it was abolished in 1997 it cost $17 million a year for all of Canada. It cannot cost $2 billion today. There is nothing on this in the budget. We wanted to have this immediately.

In terms of the allowance of $1,200 per child under six—my colleague from Trois-Rivières will say more about this—why could this amount not have been a refundable tax credit? This would have the same effect except that it would target low and middle income families. They would not have to pay a dime in taxes on this $1,200.

Yesterday, the Minister of Finance proudly announced that they would protect the national child benefit, that it would not be touched, even with the $1,200 per child under six. Yes, but what about federal tax? Federal tax will still be charged on that amount.

Our advice to parents receiving this $1,200, or $2,400 if they have two children under six, is to put the money aside to pay their taxes at the end of the year to avoid any surprises. This government did not agree to convert this $1,200 annual cash payment into a refundable tax credit, which would have avoided all these problems.

With regard to the Kyoto protocol, it seems to me that for quite a long time, while the Conservatives were in opposition, they criticized the establishment by the Liberal minister of the program for achieving the Kyoto targets. They said there was another alternative. They could have immediately put that alternative on the table, instead of driving everyone wild by shelving the $2 billion provided for in the previous plan, with no indication as to how it will be used.

The Conservatives will find themselves obliged to deal with the issue of Kyoto. If there is one issue apart from employment insurance and the POWA that deserves all of our energy, it is surely Kyoto, because we are in favour of protecting the environment. The Bloc Québécois, including my colleague from Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, would even like to go beyond Kyoto. If the Conservatives think it will be easy, if they think they have bought us because of a commitment on the fiscal imbalance in the budget, they are mistaken. They have not bought us. They will have to deal with us as they move ahead. What is more, we are not for sale.

As for the manufacturing sector, we know that the Conservative philosophy dates back to the end of the last century, even the 19th century.

At that time, it was said that the market could solve everything, the market could regulate everything, nothing was necessary. It was said that we had to achieve balance between supply and demand, and then the labour market would organize itself.

That is not how it works these days. Draconian measures are necessary in the sectors threatened by globalization and by the emerging nations, sectors such as textiles, furniture and apparel. Now there is agri-food as well, for Brazil and Chile are entering the traditional markets, especially with the Canadian dollar above 90 cents.

We have to help these sectors survive. We were successful at this in the mid-1980s thanks to the free trade agreement with the United States. There were restructuring measures. In so-called soft sectors, such as furniture for example, certain companies did very well. They modernized their equipment and boosted their productivity. They are able to pull through. But it is not the market that is going to do it.

We cannot compete with countries on an uneven playing field, such as China for example, which does not have a market economy. It has a controlled economy where you can play with prices as you wish, and so push down the competition. Once the competitors are down and out, you take their market. That is not fair competition. The government has to assume its responsibilities in this area.

There is also the whole arts and culture sector. The cultural community had high hopes. My colleague, the critic on heritage issues, will address this more specifically later. Those hopes have been dashed. Instead of the $150 million increase for the Canada Council, this budget is content to invest an additional $50 million over two years in the Canada Council.

To my mind, an effort could have been made. I cannot believe that there is not one Conservative who has not gone to the theatre, who has not seen shows, who does not visit art galleries and who does not encourage artists. I cannot imagine that Conservatives are all calculators. They must consider culture to be important. It is one aspect of peoples' vitality, the peoples of Quebec and Canada, naturally. I cannot understand that greater priority was not given to the arts and culture.

Let us talk now about the Canadian securities commission. What a crazy and detestable idea. Since I have been here, since 1993, they have been trying to pull the wool over our eyes. They say a supranational body is needed to ensure the requirements for securities commissions are standardized and to encourage investors. Really. For 10 years, the securities commissions, including Quebec's Autorité des marchés financiers, have harmonized their practices. And they continue to do so. There is no need for a big league player to oversee everyone.

The fact of the matter is that a Canadian securities commission would totally ignore the jurisdictions of the provinces and Quebec in this matter and support Bay Street. Its head office would be in Toronto. Toronto would be on the investors' circuit. Everything would go through Toronto. Instead of individual traits reflecting the particularities of each of the provinces and Quebec, there would be one standard. They want the rules to be the same everywhere, just so it can all be centralized in Toronto.

We will fight, as we have since 1993, to prevent the creation of this Canadian securities commission. They cannot say, as the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance are saying, that they will respect the jurisdictions of the provinces, and dare at the same time to propose a securities commission like that in opposition to Quebec. It will not fly.

This is why we asked the Prime Minister the question. If Quebec were the only one to oppose it, would the government still establish a Canadian securities commission? The government has given us evasive responses. Nevertheless, we know that if this were this case, nothing would change. Everything would happen in Toronto. Eventually, the Autorité des marchés financiers would gradually lose its power in an area of provincial jurisdiction.

I have said it before and I will say it again: if it were not for the Conservatives' pledge to correct the fiscal imbalance, we would have voted against them. We will be keeping an eye on the government and every move it makes between now and the first ministers' conference this fall. We will be keeping an eye on it as it puts together its next budget. Given all the negative effects of this budget, we are not their allies.

That said, in terms of that commitment, this side of the House, the Bloc Québécois, cannot demand—and employment insurance will be our first target—that the government move forward, make commitments, find solutions to this problem, develop a process and a set a deadline, and then say that we will bring them down anyway.That would be ridiculous. We are not electioneering.

Some members of this House are electioneering: the Liberals and the NDP. What did they do when they found out there was something on the fiscal imbalance? From the start, the Liberals were against correcting the fiscal imbalance, so they opposed the budget. The NDP, which is closer to the centre than any other party in the House, also opposes our suggestions for correcting the fiscal imbalance, which is by transferring tax fields and reforming equalization. The New Democrats' attitude toward the Conservatives' budget is natural, opportunistic, and entirely to be expected.

The budget sets out other positive measures that the Bloc Québécois has supported for years. We are pleased that the Conservatives have paid attention. It does not make up for all of the gaps and problems I mentioned, but it is a band-aid solution until the next budget. We think of it as a transition budget.

The budget provides $1 billion for post-secondary education. We had asked the government to take immediate, concrete action in this area, given that this sector was suffering from the drastic cuts made by the previous government, the so-called government of the common good. The budget now provides $1 billion for post-secondary education. We can applaud this measure.

The budget also allocates $1.5 billion to help farmers. This is also good news. These investments must be continued, however, for years to come. Until subsidies are restored, as long as the Americans and Europeans offer their farmers higher subsidies, we will not be able to compete with them on equal terms. This cannot be a band-aid solution; we need to maintain assistance until the question of agricultural subsidies on an international scale is resolved. This is, however, a good starting point.

The budget also provides $800 million for social housing. We called for a first step, an initial investment, which we see here.

As for public transit, on three separate occasions, the Bloc Québécois tabled a bill aimed at creating a tax credit to promote the use of public transit. My colleague from Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher tabled another one last week. We are pleased that the government understood the message being sent concerning public transit. This represents another battle led by the Bloc.

Action has also been taken in the budget on longstanding demands such as exempting scholarships. It was not right, in fact it was completely ridiculous that a student who received a scholarship from the Government of Quebec or Ontario would pay federal tax on it. It was absolutely ridiculous. These scholarships are no longer taxed. We fought for this for seven years.

With regard to microbreweries and the excise tax, we have also won after battling for five and one half years. Our microbreweries create hundreds of jobs in the regions. They can now compete favourably with their American and European competitors.

I repeat, no measures are planned for the following: employment insurance, POWA, changing the $1,200 allowance to a tax credit, the Kyoto protocol, arts and culture, the weakened manufacturing sector and the Canadian securities commission. I can assure the House that the Bloc Québécois will fight with all the energy for which it is known.The Bloc will oppose the government if it goes against the interests of Quebec in these matters. We will propose solutions for each one of them. We will convince the other opposition parties and the government. The Bloc Québécois' action and zeal will not stop at this budget. We will be on the heels of the Conservatives until the next budget.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

4:55 p.m.

NDP

Peter Stoffer NDP Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS

Mr. Speaker, I have very great respect for the hon. member from the Bloc Québécois who just spoke. He is one of the more eloquent speakers in the House of Commons. However, in some of his debate, he was factually incorrect.

He said that he applauded the Conservative government for putting $1 billion into post-secondary education but he knows, as a long-serving member of this House, that it was his party that voted against Bill C-48 in the last Parliament. Bill C-48 contained $1.5 billion of additional money for post-secondary education to help students. What the Conservatives have done is they have taken the $1 billion out of the $1.5 billion and put it into university infrastructure. This is why we have so many students, not only in Quebec but across the country, extremely disappointed.

He should know that at the end of this year student debt will rise. Poverty in this country and international poverty will rise. Pollution will rise.

There is no question that the budget does contain some good things, every budget has its good and bad, but I am questioning how someone, who stood in this House in the last Parliament and voted against the budget that helped students, is now applauding a Conservative government that said very clearly that this is helping students.

I would be honoured to have his comments.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

4:55 p.m.

Bloc

Yvan Loubier Bloc Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC

Mr. Speaker, I too have very great respect for my colleague. However, he is also advancing an opinion based on false premises.

First, Bill C-48 had some unbelievable weaknesses. It did not even oblige the government to move on its promises.

Even if we had voted in favour of this bill and even if it had passed and received royal assent, it would still be true that the NDPers were conned like amateurs. There was a line in all these commitments—to international assistance, to social housing and to post-secondary education—saying that the expected surpluses over the course of the year would have to exceed $2 billion. It is easy to fiddle with the expected surpluses to circumvent a fiscal year and avoid having to fulfill one’s promises.

In addition, under Bill C-48, the scheduled amounts were only invested if the government did not have any other priority. The NDP was conned, therefore, like a school kid. I have a lot of respect for schoolchildren, of course. But that does not change the fact that the NDP was had.

In the budget today, on the other hand, we find approximately the same amounts as in Bill C-48, except that this time they are invested. Does the NDP really want to abandon post-secondary students now and abandon the colleges and universities that are applauding this billion dollars? The NDP would be bringing down the government because it no longer believes its own positions from last year.

Are we also to understand that the NDP is opposed to the most disadvantaged people because it voted against the $800 million invested in social housing? All the stakeholder groups are happy to have at least this $800 million, while waiting for the $2 billion that is supposed to be invested annually.

Are we to understand today that the NDP no longer believes in international assistance? Just a second. Last year the NDP abandoned the unemployed and this year it is abandoning students and poor people. I ask my dear colleague at least to be consistent.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

4:55 p.m.

NDP

Judy Wasylycia-Leis NDP Winnipeg North, MB

Mr. Speaker, with all due respect to the Bloc finance critic, he has his facts all wrong.

We do not need to vote twice on a bill. Bill C-48 was passed last year. It is the law of the land. The Liberals failed to implement Bill C-48. We have many concerns with the Conservative government but, despite all its faults, it at least agreed to move on the implementation of Bill C-48. The money that the member is referring to in terms of education, social housing, urban transit, the environment and aboriginal people is all money that is there because of Bill C-48 that came out of last year's surplus which was well able to accommodate this amount.

If the member noticed, the government had the audacity to send, not just $3 billion against the debt, but $8 billion because it had that much more flexibility and it chose to squander it.

Does the member now understand that the money that he is referring to is money out of last year's surplus and is not really part of this budget? If he would like to give us his support for that initiative and say how important it is we would welcome that.