Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to rise on this issue and speak to this motion.
Let me say at the outset that I will be supporting the motion. The gist of the motion is that the government take measures to drive greater productivity in this country. It is, in my opinion, a term that is not used as much as it should be in this town. It is extremely important. The whole issue of productivity determines our future prosperity as a nation. Everything we do here in the Government of Canada should, in my opinion, be viewed through a productivity lens.
Canada has not done as well as it should. Our productivity level is approximately 85% of that of the United States. The gap is getting greater. We are basically a resource based economy. Prices are reasonably strong, but on the other side of the equation, the manufacturing sector is not doing that great. I believe the statistics are that approximately 80,000 jobs have been lost lately.
It is up to the Government of Canada to take action on productivity, and I do hope this motion is supported and acted upon.
Regarding the first two budgets of the government and the most recent Speech from the Throne, although there have been some positive comments, I believe direction is lacking. One of the positive comments that came out of the last speech was how the Minister of Finance was talking about a single securities regulator. I know there are jurisdictional issues on that, but again, this is something I urge him to continue to work on.
Interprovincial trade barriers have plagued this country's economy for many, many years now. Again, I realize there are jurisdictional issues, but I believe this is something that we and all Canadians should work on.
When we look at productivity, we look for certain programs, initiatives and policies. Some of the more commonly accepted ones are increased research and development, especially in the private sector, and increased technology transfer. On those issues, I am very pleased with the Liberal record.
Starting about eight or nine years ago, billions and billions of dollars have been put into the foundations for peer reviewed research. A lot of it is done in the academic institutions, but a lot of it is done in the private sector also. This is a program and a policy that has worked.
We look to policies and programs to improve our infrastructure, which the previous speaker spoke about. We look for improved highways, ports, airports and broadband so that our goods, our people and our knowledge can be transferred quickly.
We look for open, fair and equitable trade agreements. I am not sure I like the discussion regarding the South Korean trade agreement, but again that is something that will be debated further in this House.
We look for labour mobility, especially labour mobility within the provinces of Canada.
We look for progressive immigration policies, especially in regard to immigrants with the skills this country needs. We look for policies so that when those immigrants do come to our shores their skills are recognized.
We look for skills training and lifelong learning.
Two of the most fundamental issues that we look for are education, starting with our early childhood education system and going on to our secondary education system and our post-secondary education system, and, very importantly, an effective and efficient tax system.
It is somewhat ironic, and it has been said before in this House today in regard to this motion, that economists are unanimous regarding the GST. It is totally unbelievable that one of Canada's national newspapers surveyed 20 economists from different organizations and they were all unanimous that the reduction of the GST, from a productivity point of view, was not the way to go.
All 20 surveyed were of that view and I am not aware of any economist in this country who shares a contrary view. If there is one out there, I would ask that he identify himself.
Some of the economists are Sherry Cooper, chief economist at BMO Nesbitt Burns; David Park, chief economist, Vancouver Board of Trade; Jim Stanford, economist, Canadian Auto Workers; Ian Munro, economist, Atlantic Institute for Market Studies; and Don Drummond, chief economist with the Toronto-Dominion Bank, who says that not only should the GST not be reduced, but it actually should be increased. I do not think we will ever find another issue on which there is unanimity among so many economists.
What we are looking for are taxes that are efficient and effective. First we look for the reduction of capital taxes. They are a very inefficient, unproductive method of taxation. We also look for reductions in the rate of corporate taxation. The Liberal Party reduced it from 28% to 19% and the Conservative government has taken it down another half a point, from 19 points to 18.5.
We look for decreases in taxes on personal income, especially for Canadians in the lower income brackets, and it is my opinion that the reduction in consumption taxes is not the way to go at this time.
Why is it that we are going in this direction? It is my suggestion that it is just politics. It appeals to some people, but it is not the way to go. It is not a pan-Canadian approach. It is not a long term view of the economy of this country.
I cannot cover every topic, but there are a few I want to talk about. Another one I want to mention is the whole area of education. It is my view and opinion that this is an issue that is very critical to this country's productivity.
I would like at this time to read for members a brief quote from James Milway, executive director of the Institute for Competitiveness and Prosperity. He stated:
Lower educational achievement weakens our productivity. Most economists agree that the level of education attained across the workforce is an important determinant of the quality of an economy's human capital. Economic studies also show repeatedly that individuals' earnings increase with their level of education. In fact--
What he states next is important:
--the best single predictor of personal income is level of educational attainment.
I believe that view is held unanimously, but I am disappointed with some of the directions that this country is taking. In the last Speech from the Throne, it was promised that the Government of Canada would create 125,000 early childhood development spaces. It was not repeated in the latest Speech from the Throne.
Now, after 20 months, we ask the question: how many did the government create? Did it create 100? Did it create 75,000? Did it create 50,000? Did it create 25,000? Does anyone in the House know the answer to that question? The answer is none, zero, a big goose egg.
We see the same direction on the whole issue of post-secondary education. It is my belief and position that more resources have to be directed toward students, especially students from lower and middle income families, and there have to be more government grants based on need. I believe it is time for this country to take a couple of steps back and look at the total picture.
It is time that the government looked at the educational tax credit and also at the book tax credit, which I do not think helps anyone except perhaps the very rich. We should take a look at the whole picture and ask ourselves what the best program is for students right across Canada, because it is my belief that we are abandoning the democratic right to an education, and I believe we have to move very quickly on that issue.
I see that I am quickly running out of time and there are other issues I want to talk about. I support increased resources to students on needs based issues with certain principles of accountability built into them.
Another one is the whole issue of infrastructure. The previous speaker spoke to that eloquently. I believe we are lacking on this, but more importantly, the accountabilities are not there. They are not built into the system. I know I do not have time to review that now.
In closing, I will be supporting the motion. I think the government's productivity lens has to be adjusted. The question has to be asked in every program, in every piece of legislation and in every policy: does this initiative makes the country more productive? Also, we have to do it in a way that is accountable.