Mr. Speaker, since many MPs wish to speak during this debate, I will be splitting my time this afternoon with the hon. member for Souris--Moose Mountain.
As members may know, I am in this House again after an absence of some 13 years. I have certainly been asked on more than one occasion why I went through the pain of an election process to get back here again. One reason is this budget.
Canadians need tax relief, honest government and more hope and opportunity, and they need to believe we have a gang in power now who cares about the survival of the middle class in our country. That is exactly what this budget says and for that reason, I support it.
This is a remarkable first step for this government and it definitely deserves the full confidence of the House. However, there are a few other reasons why I chose to come back here and why I bothered to fight to return to the House of Commons. I would like to take a couple of minutes to share some of the reasons why I am here, and maybe explain a few things about this budget as well.
The first reason I am here, which relates strongly to this budget, is to represent the people of my riding. That may sound trite and obvious, but it is rather revolutionary.
In the election campaign against the Liberals, who had been in power in my riding for the last 13 years, I was able to point out easily that no Liberal MP in my riding ever held an open and public meeting to actually ask the people of Halton what they wanted. No member of Parliament ever stood and said, “We ought to find out what the people of this riding actually want in a federal budget” and then took that to Ottawa.
In the election I made a commitment not to say anything in the House that I would not say back in my riding and I made a commitment to hold public meetings regularly with individuals and bring their voice to this place. I promised I would never send them a piece of mail with a party logo on it or use taxpayer money to tell them how to think. I told them I would work for the people and my first job would be here to represent my neighbours. That is what I am doing and that is why I am on my feet today in support of my tax-slashing colleague, the Minister of Finance.
In this new era of leadership, when politicians enjoy a popularity rating of 14%, just a little ahead of used car salesmen, it is important for all of us to make sure we are here in this place to give people their voice and to listen to it. In understanding this simple truth, a truth so simple and profound that I believe it was lost in my riding for a long time, I also came to understand something about myself.
It has now been 18 years since I was first elected to this place, 13 of them since I last sat as a member of the House. Today I am extremely pleased to be a member of Parliament. It is a badge of honour, an achievement. Of the people who sent me here, I ask for no more. I am completely challenged and fulfilled in being a member of Parliament, but I have found, coming back here, that there is intense pressure for one to represent one's party instead of the people who sent them here.
The question often arises, how do we change this? Not easily. I do believe members of Parliament need to be more independent, more powerful, with more free votes in the House and less party discipline. We need committees of MPs with more clout and the ability to do actual work in this place. They need direct input into key government initiatives, such as a budget.
The Minister of Finance welcomed my submission. I did poll people and found 11,000 Canadians who had something to say about the budget. I told the Minister of Finance, clearly, some of the things that I wanted him to hear. He listened, and I congratulate him for that.
I believe successful politicians have to stay close to their voters. They know what their voters want. They need to communicate it. I happen to believe that the biggest, most influential and probably the most underrepresented group of voters in the country, and certainly the dominant group in my riding, is the middle class. It is this group to which the budget speaks the loudest.
During the campaign I consulted this group. I came up with a pledge to them. I wrote brochures and policy statements for them. I took time to understand the pressures on their individual lives and I addressed it. These people, I know it by the nation's standards, are well off. They are solidly middle class. They are not the ones the government is busy sending cheques to, no energy rebate cheques, and no GST tax credits.
They are the worker bees of our society, the ones who are always employed, always taxpayers, always spending. Middle class people are the backbone of my riding. They make up the bulk of the population. They are responsible for the economy, as well as funding the government which redistributes their taxes to others.
However, there is a continuous erosion of family conditions right now, brought on by governments who pride themselves in caring for the rest of society at the expense of the middle class. These folks need help and attention. They deserve it.
The middle class in Canada now is actually under attack. I have pledged myself to work every day that I am in Ottawa to represent these people, to help them, to speak for them, and to fight for them. That is a major reason why I am supporting a federal budget that puts billions of dollars back in the hands of these middle class families who populate my riding in Halton.
The budget includes a GST cut, a personal income tax reduction, a universal child care benefit, more money for seniors, farmers, students, apprentices, and for the small businesses that create most of the jobs in my riding. These are the things I can go back and present to middle class voters as significant achievements and a great start down a path to tax fairness.
As I have said, I gave the Minister of Finance a prebudget report, including the thoughts of thousands of Canadians and he listened. Then his own department went online and also asked Canadians from coast to coast to coast to contribute and they did. That was a first. The minister said to Canadians, “I care what you say. I'm going to read your e-mails”, and I congratulate the minister. I think he is the first one who has ever done that.
We all have a lot to gain from that process. Voters get to be heard. Politicians get to communicate free of any special interest group filter. Governments stay in touch and we all build a better country together communicating.
I support the budget because it will improve the lives of the people who sent me here, middle class Canadians. It cuts their taxes. It assists their families. It eases household finances. It gives them new hope for the future.
I hope that all members support the budget, or at least have something constructive to say about it. I will be voting for the budget, to keep faith with the people who sent me here and be consistent with what I said I would do for them, and I do it with pride. I am honoured to be here.
Mr. Speaker, this is a beautiful seat that I occupy next to your knee. I may not be in the camera angles. I may not be in a position of influence. I may not even have the ear of the Prime Minister, but it just does not matter.
I think just being an MP is Ottawa talk. Every MP in this place matters, since we are here representing millions of Canadians. There is no bad seat in the House of Commons. There is none of us more powerful than the rest of us, since all the people in this country are equal and they all do truly want the same thing. They want this place to work and so do I, and passing this budget is a tremendous start.