House of Commons Hansard #19 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

11:50 a.m.

Liberal

Paul Zed Liberal Saint John, NB

Mr. Speaker, I listened with great interest to the hon. member, and specifically to his reference to the $2.83 million allocated for harbour cleanup. I want to ask the hon. member if it is his recollection that the $2.83 million was in fact money for municipal-rural infrastructure and that team Saint John had actually put that money together for projects like the YMCA, waterfront development and the Rothesay regional economic development project.

Regarding the $44 million that is needed for construction this summer for harbour cleanup, there is no money in this budget for strategic infrastructure. Have we not taken money out of one fund and put it into another? In other words, have we not robbed one fund and put it into another fund for political expediency? This is not a partisan issue. In 2004 the mayor and council of Saint John came out for the first time with a proposal that all members of this House were involved with at meetings, including the then prime minister.

I would ask the hon. member about the $2.83 million and that money being taken away from other projects in Saint John. How does he square those two funds?

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

11:50 a.m.

Conservative

Greg Thompson Conservative New Brunswick Southwest, NB

Mr. Speaker, that is coming from the member who fell asleep on this fund in his years in this place.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

11:50 a.m.

Liberal

Paul Zed Liberal Saint John, NB

I did not fall asleep. That's not true.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

11:50 a.m.

Conservative

Greg Thompson Conservative New Brunswick Southwest, NB

The truth is that he represents Canada's oldest incorporated city. We acknowledged that the need for this project has been around a long time. We are the first government to actually put real money into that project.

It is true because last year there was a deathbed repentance to get this guy elected in Saint John on a bogus promise of $80 million and the money just simply did not appear. There is no document in this place, including the cabinet, that would support that position.

The only member on the Liberal side who spoke the truth on this was the minister of infrastructure who said that there was no money in the budget for that project.

That is the same member and the same government who promised to refurbish Point Lapro. There were 700 high paying jobs at one of the world's best nuclear reactors in the world and the Liberals abandoned that project on their watch. That is the record of that member's party.

The Liberals also went down on another bogus announcement in July 2005 for our aquaculture industry. They promised $20 million to aquaculture but did not deliver one cent. Again, an abandonment of their position. Their position was a bogus position. There was no money, zero dollars, nothing. That is his sorry record as a member representing Canada's oldest incorporated city.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

11:50 a.m.

Conservative

Patrick Brown Conservative Barrie, ON

Mr. Speaker, on May 2, Canada's new government presented its first budget and the budget delivers. It delivers on tax relief, on focused spending, on debt paydown, on supporting infrastructure, on investing in health care and on helping Canadians most in need. I am very proud to support the budget on behalf of the residents of Barrie.

Let us look at the tax relief in the budget. Taxes are too high. Canadians are overtaxed and the budget recognizes that. Since 1994 the GST burden on Canadians has doubled from $15.9 billion to $31.8 billion. Total income taxes collected have doubled and personal income taxes are up 82%.

According to the TD Bank, GDP per worker rose by 21.8% over the past 15 years and yet real after tax income per worker remained stagnant at just a 3.6% gain over the same period.

Enough is enough. Canadians deserve a break. Canadians deserve to be unleashed from the shackles of the Liberal tax age. It is time to give money back to Canadians. That is the bottom line of budget 2006. The budget delivers $20 billion in tax relief over two years. That is more than the last four budgets combined.

Let me tell the House how the new government will lower taxes. The government will reduce the GST from 7% to 6% effective July 1; happy Canada day. We will create a new $1,000 Canada employment credit effective July 1. This new tax credit gives Canadians a break on what it costs to work, recognizing expenses for such things as home computers, uniforms and supplies.

The government will reduce the lowest personal income tax rate from 16% to 15.5% effective July 1. We will increase the amount that all Canadians can earn without paying federal income taxes.

The government will create a new apprenticeship job creation tax credit of $2,000 per apprentice. Once again, effective July 1 we will provide a 15.5% credit for the cost of transit passes.

The government will completely eliminate federal income tax on all income from scholarships, bursaries and fellowships. The government will create a new tax credit for textbooks for post-secondary education. We will provide a physical fitness credit of up to $500 for the registration fees for children's sports.

The government will double the amount of eligible pension income for seniors that they can claim. I know this is the first such increase in more than 30 years.

The bottom line is that the budget delivers $20 billion in tax relief, a staggering 29 different tax reductions.

Let us talk about crime and security. Our government is committed to ensuring that Canadians are safe in their homes, their communities and on the streets, the defining characteristic of the Canadian way of life that must be preserved.

Times are changing and our cities are changing. The safe streets and neighbourhoods we expect as Canadians are threatened by gun, gang and drug crime. I have seen that happen even in Barrie where this past weekend there was a murder investigation that began in the south end of Barrie. Crime is not simply the domain of big cities but has spread into the traditionally peaceful small towns and neighbourhoods.

With this budget, our government focuses spending to protect Canadians on their streets, in their communities, at their national border and throughout the world. We are cracking down on crime. We will provide $161 million to put more RCMP officers on the streets. We will invest $37 million for the RCMP to expand their training academy.

We will set aside additional funds for Canada's correctional facilities. We will provide $20 million for communities to use and develop programs designed to prevent youth crime. We will provide $26 million to get victims a more effective voice in the judicial process. We will provide money required to arm our border agents.

Canadians deserve to feel safe within the confines of their own communities. The budget helps our Minister of Justice to achieve that important aim.

On health care the budget is a win as well. A strong health care system is the foundation of any healthy society and yet between 1994 and 1999 the previous government cut health care by $25 billion. Wait times during the Liberal tenure went from 9.3 weeks to 17.7 weeks. Canadians deserve better.

I think of my local hospital in Barrie, the Royal Victoria Hospital, which struggles with limited resources and often does not have beds available. Doctors are working extended hours. Our community has become involved financially to support the hospital. Our CEO, Janice Skot; our board chair, Chris Gariepy; and fundraising chair, David Blenkarn, have done exceptional jobs for our community. The community, which has raised over $25 million, and the city council, which has contributed one-third to the hospital expansion and over one-third to doctor recruitment, have taken on an incredible burden. We have done this despite federal leadership. We need a federal government that shows leadership in health care.

In the 1990s the federal government was part of the problem, not part of the solution. I am proud that health care funding is increasing in this budget by 6% because this government is becoming part of the solution. Our new Canadian government will work with the provinces to create a patient wait times guarantee and we have already committed $5.5 billion to the provinces for the wait times reduction transfer.

One of the challenges we face in the health care system today, especially in Barrie, is the lack of doctors. One out of 30 Canadians does not have a doctor and in Barrie it is one out of four. Given our high growth and aging physician population, this is a dangerous stat especially in Canada when doctors are driving taxi cabs and delivering pizzas. I was excited to see this budget made mention of a Canadian agency for assessment and recognition of foreign credentials. This may seem like a small, unnoticed initiative but it will certainly go a long way in communities like mine that are struggling to find doctors and are frustrated by the ones within our own communities who are not allowed to practice in the land of hope and opportunity simply because their medical degree is from a different country. Even if they pass our equivalency exams, often we do not give them residency spots because of a lack of funding in our health care system.

We will improve the system so Canadians get what they pay for.

Small businesses are the backbone of the Canadian economy. Many Canadians are employed by them. They are responsible for almost half of all the new jobs created in Canada. All of us turn to small businesses for services, such as our local dry cleaner, our computer software company and our local grocer. I think of our small businesses in Barrie like Garner's Source for Sports on Dunlop Street, StorageOne on Bell Farm Road and Hot Banana, a new tech company. We need to support these small businesses because they are the heart of our communities. They create jobs and give back to our communities in a cultural and charitable fashion.

Canada needs a government that will do everything it can to support small businesses. We will increase the threshold for small business' income eligible for a reduced federal tax rate from $300,000 to $400,000 effective January 1. This is an important step. This government will also reduce the 12% rate to 11.5% effective 2008 and 11% in 2009. I am very pleased by this.

I remember before the election that the local branch of the CFIB and Lew Miller put together a group and talked about these issues. These are things they wanted to see Canada's new government focus on. It is really encouraging to see that the government has actually put plans in place that small businesses were thirsty for in this country.

I want to make note of initiatives in this budget for apprenticeships and tradespeople. Canada is facing a serious shortage of tradespeople, such as carpenters, plumbers, electricians, cooks and others. Our government is taking action to encourage apprenticeships and support apprentices in their training. Our Prime Minister came to Barrie last fall and made a commitment to Georgian College where we have a very focused training program for apprentices. He said that if he were prime minister he would support the industry and do everything he could to support initiatives like we have at Georgian College.

I am very encouraged that in this budget we are going to help companies hire apprentices with a new apprenticeship job creation tax credit of $2,000. We will create a new apprenticeship incentive grant of $1,000 per year for the first two years of a red seal apprenticeship program. We will invest $500 million over the next two years in these two measures, which will help approximately 100,000 apprentices.

We will also help apprentices and tradespeople with the heavy burden of buying the tools they need to do their jobs. Our government will invest $155 million over the next two years for a cost of tools deduction, which will help approximately 700,000 employed tradespeople in Canada.

I also want to make mention of what this budget will do for municipalities. As a former city councillor in Barrie, I am very impressed with the commitment this government is making to infrastructure. Investing in infrastructure, bridges, roads and transit is all too important.

Delays in moving goods and the cost of a business is a very significant challenge for businesses when we do not have a proper infrastructure. Hence, supporting municipal infrastructure, supporting pan-Canadian infrastructure is a significant advantage for Canadians because we are investing in our economy or allowing for a greater speed of delivery for our goods.

This is a long term commitment of unprecedented new investment that the government is focusing on. Over the next four years we will invest a total of $16.5 billion in new infrastructure initiatives, including $3.5 billion this year and $3.9 billion next year.

The government will provide more than $5.5 billion in new federal funding for highways and border infrastructure, the municipal road infrastructure fund, the Canadian strategic infrastructure fund, the public transit capital trust, and the Pacific Gateway initiative.

This is great news for cities. Municipalities only receive 8¢ on the tax dollar to deal with the many day to day challenges of Canadian citizens. The mayor and city council in Barrie are doing a great job with a limited budget. I am certainly encouraged to see that the government is able to do a little bit to help them.

On January 23 Barrie residents voted for change. Our new Prime Minister promised to honour that trust. I suggest that the Prime Minister has delivered in the budget. It is certainly encouraging to see.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

12:05 p.m.

Liberal

Rodger Cuzner Liberal Cape Breton—Canso, NS

Mr. Speaker, I have one question in particular on the speech my colleague shared with the House. I think what Canadians are beginning to realize, and they will realize it even more when they come to do their income tax next year, is that what they put in the window on this budget falls far short of making any kind of difference in the average life of a Canadian.

Yesterday I mentioned in the House the tax credit of $500 for sport registration for children under 16 years of age. When Canadians come to do their taxes, it will come down to about $80. Will that have any type of impact? Will that elicit any change in behaviour, when mom and dad are sitting down at the kitchen table figuring out whether or not they can put their young ones into gymnastics, minor hockey or whatever the sport might be? Is there any true benefit in that?

It is nice. It is 80 bucks. I will claim that. I have three boys who are involved and that is great, but will it prompt any kind of change in behaviour? Will it address obesity, health and fitness issues?

My question for the member is, why did his party not follow through with their campaign promises? They are hurting themselves over there patting themselves on the back. Why did they not follow through with the campaign promise that the Conservatives would allocate 1% of the total health budget, which would have been about $400 million, to sport and fitness? Where is that in the budget? I cannot find it. Would the member show me where that is in the budget?

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

12:05 p.m.

Conservative

Patrick Brown Conservative Barrie, ON

Mr. Speaker, it is amusing to hear this question from a Liberal member, given that it was the Liberal government that cut health care transfers by $25 billion between 1994 and 1999.

If we look at the problems that we have with health care in Canada, the root of that occurred on the Liberal watch. If we look at waiting lists, at challenges we have in providing the best possible health care system for children and providing funding to enhance health, it happened on the Liberal government's watch.

The government does focus on families and health. Families are the building blocks of society. Communities are what bind us together. Parents have to fight harder to balance work and family commitments. Some Canadians need help more than others. For our government, supporting families means providing choice in child care for all Canadian families. It means providing a sports tax credit. It means helping out children with disabilities.

The member mentioned fitness in his question. For many Canadians, loading up a minivan for hockey practice or car pooling to the soccer field is routine. It brings families and communities together. It keeps kids involved. It keeps kids fit, but it is an added expense.

The member across the way may not view it as an added expense. It may not make a difference for families in his opinion. I can tell him that it does. I remember growing up, and my mother and father took me to the rink when I was six and certainly they sacrificed things in order to do that. A lot of Canadian parents make a sacrifice to involve their kids in recreation. Canadians take a tremendous degree of pride in being able to involve their children in recreation, whatever sport of their choice.

I am certainly very proud that the budget includes the tax credit for children's sports. It is important to support our families.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

12:05 p.m.

Bloc

Yvon Lévesque Bloc Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC

Mr. Speaker, I want to remind hon. members that the Bloc Québécois intends to support the budget, but not necessarily for all the reasons listed by my colleague opposite.

As we have said many times, we consider this to be a transitional budget. It contains the Conservative Party promise to resolve the fiscal imbalance. However, when he says this budget includes tax relief, we disagree. In fact, given the higher cost of living, there is no tax relief.

As far as lowering sales tax is concerned, this goes against the global trend. Furthermore, this party voted in favour of providing assistance to workers, older workers in particular, and transferring the employment insurance fund to an independent committee.

I would like my colleague to indicate where in this budget or in his party's provisions he sees this transfer and this assistance to older workers.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

12:10 p.m.

Conservative

Patrick Brown Conservative Barrie, ON

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that the member across the way mentioned that he is supporting the budget. The bottom line is that the budget has 29 different tax cuts. It delivers $20 million in tax relief. When I talk about how we are delivering in the budget, we are delivering focused spending, debt repayment, investment in health care, and delivering for students like those in my riding at Georgian College. The budget delivers for Canadians. I encourage all members in the House, not just the Bloc who support this important budget, to help build an even stronger country.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

12:10 p.m.

Liberal

Bonnie Brown Liberal Oakville, ON

Mr. Speaker, we have all heard the old saying,“Tell me who your friends are and I'll tell you what you are”. I do not dispute the wisdom of this statement, but I think a more updated version would be, “Tell me where you're spending your money and I'll tell you where you're going”.

The Conservative government's first budget does not tell the whole story, but it does drop a few hints. I agree with the leader of the Bloc Québécois who said that the real budget is next year.

I also agree with my favourite journalist who said last week on TV that with the performance of the economy and the size of the surplus left by the previous Liberal government, a good news budget could have been written by a chimpanzee.

It was good news for some Canadians, I agree, those comfortable folks in the affluent suburbs where we can find some moms lucky enough to stay home to focus on their children's needs. Yes, they will get a cheque which is supposed to recognize their truly hard work, but if they calculate the Conservative government's recognition of their contribution, they will realize the government thinks they are worth about 27¢ an hour.

The government is underestimating these women who could earn good salaries in the marketplace, but stay home because they can afford to do so and because they choose to do so. For these women, 27¢ an hour is an insult.

Actually, they are more concerned about the state of the environment in which they are raising their children. They are not happy about dumping overboard an international plan, the Kyoto accord, for what seems to be as yet a vague notion of a made in Canada plan, one that has still to be developed.

If this mom's family home is located near a transit line, the parent who goes to work outside the home can get there using public transit with a 15% tax credit on the purchase of a monthly pass. Homes near transit lines are more expensive, so lucky people who live in these homes just became luckier.

These two strategies are the bait. They reveal the narrow casting for future votes that the budget represents. However, people in Ontario have seen this movie before. It does seem like good news at first, until time passes and shows the cost to society of these cynical payouts.

On budget day a chill ran down my spine when I saw former Premier Mike Harris in the front row of the gallery, nodding and smiling as his acolyte, the Minister of Finance, unveiled the same neo-conservative prescriptions the Harris government used in Ontario.

Ontarians know that good news for a few lucky ones translates into bad news for many. They watched the decline of public education in the province as the Harris government starved the system, demonized and demoralized the teachers and negatively affected almost every student.

The affluent simply withdrew their children from the public system and enrolled them in private schools and were rewarded with a tax credit for school fees. In my town the number of private schools grew by 400% during these years.

However, the most vulnerable in society suffered. Social assistance rates were cut ruthlessly to the point where recipient parents were unable to feed their children properly. For the working poor, a second and even a third job became the norm.

For the children in these families, the school, which had been the last safe place, shrunk in its ability to respond to their needs. Social workers and psychologists were reduced. Music and art programs were reduced and sometimes cut altogether.

The heroes of this period were the teachers who worked harder, but still witnessed a rise in the dropout rate as young people, unserved, simply gave up. None of the human service professionals are surprised that 10 years later we are facing a rise in gangs and guns.

I describe Ontario's experience to warn Canadians in other provinces. The same people who brought this misery to Ontario are now in charge of our federal tax dollars. Our new federal Minister of Finance and our new President of the Treasury Board were part of the Harris government and still believe in its policies.

By the way, Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the hon. member for Mississauga South.

The evidence that these people do not believe in community investment is seen by their throwing overboard the beginnings of a national day care program, most of the strategies developed by environmentalists to reduce global warming, and the best arrangement we have had with the aboriginal people in 30 years, which is the Kelowna accord.

Where are the Conservative putting this money they are saving? They are giving bits and pieces back to selected taxpayers, but the largest chunks of it will go to more people in uniform with guns. They are going to try to recruit 2,300 more people into the armed forces for missions like Afghanistan, add 1,000 more RCMP officers and, for the first time, put guns into the hands of our officials at the border. One of my colleagues joked as to when they were going to issue uniforms for us to wear in the House of Commons. In addition to more guns, they have introduced such justice measures that will put more people in jail and require more prisons and more prison guards, with guns no doubt.

I am a Canadian. I have English roots, but I have a long held profound respect for my brothers and sisters in Quebec. My respect is multifaceted and includes admiration for their nurturing of language and culture, music, drama, film, dance and literature. Even more profound is my respect for their advanced programs in education, their early childhood program, their community colleges and universities. I believe their education system does not simply prepare people for jobs, but tries to prepare them for a rich and meaningful life.

Progressive programs in youth justice have kept many people out of jail. From everything I have experienced in Ontario, Canada needs more Quebec solutions, not less. It needs more cooperation and community, not more American competition and individualism. Quebeckers should be worried about what they will lose under the Conservative government and the alien culture it represents. When the government present its next budget, its true colours will show.

I do not believe Quebeckers will be willing to trade their traditions of caring for each other for the ruthless individualism the government will espouse. I ask them not to be fooled into complacency by the small bait offered in this budget because there could be another unpleasant price to pay.

That is the relationship between large tax cuts and the resulting threat to the treasury. Certainly, the Ontario tax cuts by the Harris government left a large annual deficit, even though the record of economic activity at the time suggested boom times. I notice that this federal budget did not provide a prudence factor in the case of an economic downturn.

Considering the legacy of deficits from the last two Conservative governments experienced by Ontarians, that is $42 billion from Mulroney-Campbell and $6 billion to $8 billion from Harris-Eves, we should hold our applause until we see what the budget's combination of tax cuts and spending does to Canada's long term financial health.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

12:15 p.m.

Conservative

Laurie Hawn Conservative Edmonton Centre, AB

Mr. Speaker, I will correct one small fact in my hon. colleague's comments. There will be 23,000 more recruits to the Canadian Forces, not 2,300. She probably knows that.

That also serves to emphasize the point I want to make. There will bet 23,000 more Canadian Forces members and 1,000 more RCMP officers, who will have guns on our streets in our cities, people trained and dedicated to protect us. I am not making this up. That will actually happen. I for one and many Canadians think that more protection by people properly trained and dedicated is a good thing.

What is insulting is not whatever calculations the member has made to come up with 27¢ an hour. What is insulting is the Liberal party's ideology that says the government must live the lives of Canadians for Canadians. We think Canadians can live their lives for themselves given the right tools.

I have one specific question for the hon. member and it relates to Kyoto. Does the member approve of sending billions of Canadians' hard earned tax dollars to other countries so they can continue to pollute our planet? I know I will not get a simple yes or no, but I will try.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

12:20 p.m.

Liberal

Bonnie Brown Liberal Oakville, ON

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his correction. I am sorry, it is 23,000 more recruits. I would like to point out just how much money that will cost the treasury, not just the salaries for these new soldiers, sailors, et cetera, but also the infrastructure that will have to be built to house and maintain them.

I believe he was accusing the Liberal government of social engineering. His party did that for the last 10 years. The Liberal government did occasionally use a tax credit or some such thing to elicit certain behaviours. However, it is a situation of the pot calling the kettle black. There is a lot of social engineering in this budget.

There is money to help when registering a child for sports, of which I very much approve, although the amount one actually will get is so little: $80. I know my daughter's fees for her children's dance lessons amount to thousands of dollars each year. The $80 becomes small change.

There are several issues in the budget which I find funny, considering the accusations that flowed from the Conservatives when they were in opposition to the Liberal government, only to find that the Conservatives have replicated the same style. That is very strange.

As far as trading what I believe is called carbon credits, it is not the ideal scenario. On the other hand, if we can help bring all countries together, through such a mechanism, I am not opposed to it. The main thing is there was a plan. There were a great number of dollars in the last Liberal fall economic update for a variety of environmental improvement strategies, all of which have been cut. I think most Canadians are sad about that.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

12:20 p.m.

Bloc

Guy André Bloc Berthier—Maskinongé, QC

Mr. Speaker, I want to respond to the comments made by my colleague who just spoke.

One of my greatest concerns is that since 2004—since I have been here—we have been talking about improving the employment insurance system. We know that $45 billion was accumulated in the EI fund. We want to have an independent, improved employment insurance system. The Liberals were in power for 13 years and they did very little for people who receive employment insurance benefits. In their budget, the Conservatives have also forgotten about the unemployed and the POWA program for older workers.

Now that the hon. member is in opposition, does she think it is important to improve this system? Sometimes it can be easier to take that kind of position when you are in opposition. I want her opinion on the employment insurance fund and the improvements that should be made to it.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

12:20 p.m.

Liberal

Bonnie Brown Liberal Oakville, ON

Mr. Speaker, I would like to compliment the questioner and his party for the tremendous work they have done on the EI file over the last number of years.

He will recall that the major cuts to the EI system happened as a direct result of the terrible annual deficit left by the previous Conservative government. Most programs that the federal government ran were cut at that time and it took years to get back to a point where we could make improvements. As the financial--

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

12:20 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Royal Galipeau

Resuming debate, the hon. member for Mississauga South.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

12:25 p.m.

Liberal

Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON

Mr. Speaker, the measure of success is not a matter of where one is, but a measure of how far one has come from where one started.

During this debate we have had a number of suggestions that somehow the Liberal record is not worth boasting about, and I would like to clarify that for the House.

In 1993 we inherited from a Conservative government, which was in power from 1984 to 1993, an unholy mess. There was a $42 billion deficit. Our overall debt had ballooned to stifling proportions, equaling almost 70% of our gross domestic product. Deficit financing was a bad habit. Interest charges were high. There was no real economic growth. Job creation was essentially nil and our economic sovereignty was in jeopardy. We were even compared to a third world country. This is a sad legacy of a Conservative government.

Let us see what happened in the next 12 years, from 1993 up to the last election.

The government cleaned up the nation's finances, restored Canada's financial sovereignty and re-established the federal government's ability to invest properly in Canadians' leading social and economic priorities, while at the same time balancing the books, reducing its debt and coping with unforeseeable external shocks. We balanced the books in 1997. We brought down eight consecutive surplus budgets with five more balanced budgets projected in the future. We reduced the federal debt, in absolute terms, by more than $63 billion. As a proportion of the total--

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

12:25 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Royal Galipeau

I am sorry to interrupt the hon. member for Mississauga South.

The hon. member for Hull—Aylmer.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

12:25 p.m.

Liberal

Marcel Proulx Liberal Hull—Aylmer, QC

Mr. Speaker, on a point of order. We do not seem to have quorum. I would like the members in the House to be counted to ensure we still have quorum.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

12:25 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Royal Galipeau

I would like to inform the member for Hull—Aylmer that the Sergeant-at-Arms will check to see whether there is quorum.

And the count having been taken:

We have quorum.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

12:25 p.m.

Liberal

Marcel Proulx Liberal Hull—Aylmer, QC

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

12:25 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Royal Galipeau

The hon. member for Mississauga South.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

12:25 p.m.

Liberal

Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON

Mr. Speaker, as I was saying, we balanced Canada's books in 1997, brought down eight consecutive surplus budgets, with at least five more balanced budgets projected for the future five years.

We reduced federal debt, in absolute terms, from $63 billion and, as a proportion of the total economy, by 45%. The debt is now in a steady downward track, scheduled to decline to 25% of GDP by 2015 and then to no more than 20% of GDP by 2020.

Under the Liberal government, we obtained the AAA credit rating. Inflation declined, interest rates came down and remained low and stable. Federal taxes were reduced by more than $100 billion since 2000 and another six-year $50 billion tax cut was initiated in 2005. I should also mention, we indexed the income tax system to give Canadians tax breaks each and every year.

The Canadian economy has generated more than 3.5 million new jobs since 1993. Participation in the labour market is at near record level highs, while unemployment has plummeted to a 32-year low. Business and consumer confidence is up. Investment plans are robust, housing markets have been impressive and both domestic demand and export sales have continued to be very positive.

Canada has enjoyed 12 straight years of unprecedented economic growth. We can properly claim the best fiscal performance in the G-7 group of world-leading economies and the best fiscal record of any Canadian government since 1867.

Ten years ago, there were 12.8 million jobs in Canada. Today there are 16.4 million. The unemployment rate was 11.5% 10 years ago. Today it is 6.3%, the lowest in 32 years.

I could go on with statistics, but there is more. It is also important that a government invest. So what did the government do? We did that, too. We invested in the strongest ever support systems for children, families, seniors, the disabled and their caregivers.

We invested in the highest ever transfers to provinces and territories, as well as direct federal programming to advance health care, more than $42 billion for health care alone over the next 10 years, plus education, a clean environment, public infrastructure, safe and vibrant cities and communities, the agriculture and resource sectors, new Canadians, first nations and aboriginal peoples.

We also invested in science and innovation, talent and brains, so Canada could remain number one in the G-7 for publicly-funded R and D and so Canadians could succeed in the knowledge-based, technology-driven, skills-intensive and highly-competitive global economy in the 21st century.

We also invested in foreign aid, diplomacy, national defence, security and public safety.

Our track record in this regard is very enviable.

What about children and families and those in most need in our society? We introduced the Canada child tax benefit and the national child benefit supplement, which will help more than three million families annually, providing $3,000 a year per child, totalling about $8 billion a year in family benefits. We expanded the child care expense deduction to $7,000 per year for children under seven, $4,000 for children seven and older and $10,000 for children with disabilities, totalling some $500 million per year in benefits.

We have enhanced the broad range of tax and other supports for children with disabilities, including a major improvement in the child disability tax credit. We expanded parental leave from six months to a full year. I am pleased to say it was my bill. We created the registered education savings plan, the Canada education savings grant and learning bonds for every newborn child in our country. We launched the head start program to help ensure a good beginning in life and at school for our aboriginal children.

In the 2000 health accord, we established an early childhood development framework, which is now providing provinces and territories with about $500 million every year, through the Canada social transfer. We also invested in a multi-year $100 billion tax reduction plan, which began in 2000 and emphasized cutting the personal taxes of middle and low income families. It brought down the federal tax burden by some 27%.

Our further plan to cut taxes would increase the basic personal amount, which all Canadians can earn tax free, reduce federal taxes across the first three brackets and also institute a new working income benefit to help low income families get over and stay over the welfare wall, representing an overall tax savings to Canadians of close to another $30 billion over six years, with the vast majority of benefits focused on middle and modest income Canadians.

I would be remiss if I did not mention probably one of the most important acts that I participated in along with most parliamentarians in 1993, and that was the Clarity Act. Over the last decade that act became the hallmark and an important legacy of the Government of Canada in that it addressed up front the problem with regard to having referendums on the issue of Quebec separation. Now we have legislation in place, thanks to the Liberal government over the last 12 years, that will ensure that this problem will not be the same kind of problem we experienced the last go-round.

We know where the Conservatives were before 1993. We know where the Liberals have been over the last 12 years. What do we see now? Very honestly, when I look at the budget as a package I do not see a vision for Canada. I do not see nation building. I do not see investment in post-secondary education. I see an abandonment of the climate change file, which is probably one of the most important files that we need to address.

On the Kelowna accord, who in our society is more deserving and more in need than our aboriginal and first nations people? I have visited at least a dozen reserves. I have been there so I know. We have talked very passionately. The member for LaSalle—Émard has been doing excellent work to advance those issues.

We need a vision for our country. I understand every government can make its choices, but I can say that in the next budget some $22.5 billion in programs that Canadians need in order to live in dignity and respect are going to have to be cut. I am afraid for seniors. I am afraid for children. I am afraid for Canadians at large. We have heard so many examples of how the budget has not told all of the story with regard to the implications of the tax increases. If members were to check with the Conference Board or look at the Caledon Institute report, they would see that this is clearly a budget that is dedicated to short term gain for long term pain for all Canadians.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

12:35 p.m.

Conservative

Laurie Hawn Conservative Edmonton Centre, AB

Mr. Speaker, I would point out to my colleague that broken promises and empty rhetoric do not build nations. Actions build nations.

I would also point out that while the Liberals take credit for balancing the books, a distinguished panel of McGill academics rated previous prime ministers strictly on their economic performance regardless of whether one likes them or not. They rated former prime ministers Trudeau and Chrétien at the bottom of the pile and former prime minister Mulroney at the top because he brought in policies, which the previous federal government between 1993 and last year used to some effect. They were not the Liberals' policies, they were the policies of the former Conservatives.

It is not hard to balance a budget when there are unlimited powers of taxation. One of the ways the Liberals balanced the budget was by confiscating $60 billion from EI, and the military, RCMP and public service pension plans, one of those pension plans being mine.

To say that the Liberals invested in national defence is a joke. I acknowledge the Clarity Act, but I wonder if the member would acknowledge that in fact it is the current Prime Minister who actually wrote the words that were in the Clarity Act that were then adapted, to the Liberals' credit, by his government to have what we have today. It was not their idea.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

12:35 p.m.

Liberal

Paul Szabo Liberal Mississauga South, ON

Mr. Speaker, I am sorry but the member has his facts wrong. He obviously did not listen to the speech. Let me give an example of where he is wrong.

He said on the EI file that we somehow took some money. If the member would do his homework, he would understand that during the Mulroney years the EI program was actually operating at a deficit and it was being funded off balance sheet, if he understands what that means. As a consequence the Auditor General instructed the Government of Canada to put the EI fund into the government operating funds so that we could properly fund it. That was from the Auditor General. I am sorry, but the member is wrong on that.

There is another place where the Conservatives are wrong. They are going to spend $1.3 billion for transit pass tax credits, 90% of which are going to go to existing transit users. It is estimated that ridership will increase by 5% to 7% but there is not that capacity in the system which means there will have to be investments to beef up the transit systems. What is going to happen then is that transit fares are simply going to go up because all of these public transit systems are subsidized in the first place. Talk about waste and mismanagement, that is a perfect example.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

12:35 p.m.

Bloc

Jean-Yves Laforest Bloc Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC

Mr. Speaker, at the beginning of his speech, the hon. member said that the previous government had restored the country's financial sovereignty.

I would like to ask him about the cost of restoring financial sovereignty. We know that unemployed workers paid a high price, as did older workers whose POWA program was cancelled, and that there has been a major increase in the fiscal deficit between the central government and the provinces, including Quebec.

I would therefore like to ask him how he can be proud of this record.