Mr. Speaker, I stand today to speak to the Conservatives' budget that was tabled March 19.
Traditionally, budget time is the most exciting time of the year for any government, with intense media speculation and buzz surrounding which initiatives will be included and will be left out. The anticipation around a budget is so high because it is the centrepiece of a government's forecast for the country. It is the clearest message a government can send to its citizens about the path on which it wants to lead our nation.
This is the second opportunity during this parliamentary session that my colleagues and I have had to address this House on the government's most important piece of legislation and, boy, what a disappointment.
I remember how years ago, while I was a full time practising accountant, the employees at the firm where I worked would sometimes be working on last minute tax planning for our clients until the night before the federal budget was tabled in case certain policies would be introduced on budget day that would adversely affect our clients. In those years, the speculation always surrounded what new tax policies would to be introduced that would increase income taxes and sometimes those new tax policies would come into effect the same day of the budget.
When the Liberals took power, the country's financial house began to be put back in order. The Liberals did not have to punish hard-working Canadians by announcing drastic last minute tax measures to cut into their incomes. As the former Liberal government started to reduce the deficit, the country began to see budgets that had a vision for the future of this country.
In light of the excellent financial situation it was in, the government committed an unforgiveable act when it tabled its budget, giving our leader a reason to declare, “—so little with so much”.
Last week's budget should have been about a vision for the future, a vision that would continue to lead Canada into the 21st century. All the ingredients were there. Thanks to the previous Liberal governments, the Conservatives inherited the biggest surplus and the best economic situation this country has ever seen. The Conservatives could have used this budget to make real improvements to keep Canada on the cutting edge of innovation and prosperity in the global economy. Instead, the budget tells Canadians nothing about a vision for this country.
With the overall inaction and lack of vision in last week's budget, all Canadians can now realize that the Conservative government wants to sacrifice our country's long term prosperity.
Some have called the budget a piece of electioneering. Even if that is the case, the budget fails miserably. It is an unfocused document that delivers practically no substantial help to Canadians. Some have called the budget a paint ball budget that sprays paint everywhere but never fully hits its targets. Some have called it a chocolate cake budget but without the chocolate and just the sprinkles and, therefore, no sweetness.
As I listened to the budget speech, I was astounded at how many times the finance minister took credit for positive Liberal initiatives and tried to pass them off as Conservative ones.
The finance minister is getting the label of being able to deliver a speech with so much and yet end up delivering so little for Canadians.
After last year's budget, the last fiscal update and the budget tabled this year, it is obvious that the Minister of Finance can say what he wants, but at the end of the day, the numbers do not lie.
Canadians are just now beginning to see the effects of how negligible last year's budget was in terms of tax fairness. Canadians see it as they file their 2006 income tax returns.
As vice-chair of the Standing Committee on Finance, I want to focus the remainder of my time on the ideas and items all members of the committee from all political parties heard about during the prebudget consultations. My statements today will be based on the facts that the committee heard and will not be the usual political grandstanding we hear from the other side.
Without question, the top two items the committee heard most about, whether it was from individuals, businesses, community groups or non-profit organizations, were about how Canada needs to maintain a balance between, first, a competitive tax regime and, second, the ability to guarantee Canadians the social programs they cherish.
Most groups understood the correlation between having government provide tax cuts to promote and enhance productivity while at the same time needing to collect enough revenue to provide for social programs. Canadians understand that this balance needs to be maintained. They look to the government to balance the two, but Canadians also expect the government to provide new and innovative programs to make sure that in today's Canada, as the member for LaSalle—Émard, our former prime minister, indicated on many occasions, no one is left behind.
Unfortunately, the government does not understand the balancing act. This was evident in last week's budget. It is primarily for this reason that I cannot support the budget.
At a minimum, the personal income tax at the lowest rate needs to be reduced to 15% to match the 2005 rate. The finance minister claimed that this new budget would take thousands of Canadians off the tax rolls, but what about the hundreds of thousands of Canadians put back on the tax rolls when the Conservative government increased the basic amount to 15.5% in its last budget?
Just because the finance minister says something does not necessarily make it true. At least the government had the good sense to abandon its ill-advised plan to lower the GST by another percentage. However, I suspect that it had no choice but to abandon the proposal it announced in its last budget in order to pay for the incredibly high expenditures contained in the current budget.
Last week's budget saw a year over year increase in spending of 5.6%. Economists have stated that this is way too high. Even 3% is tough to sustain. An astronomical increase in spending does not equate to a vision for the country, but in fact equates with simple vote buying and electioneering. This budget is not a plan of spending for the long term prosperity of our country.
In 2007, given the surplus this government had, we might wonder why the programs abolished in the previous budget were not reinstated in this budget. I am talking about programs such as the court challenges program, the Law Commission of Canada, the women's program at Status of Women Canada, and literacy programs, just to name a few.
New and innovative social programs start with national leadership. It is up to the federal government to undertake great new projects and to have Canadians embark on new ideas that will keep us the envy of the world, programs such as those the former Liberal government started: a national early learning and child care plan; a real and effective environmental plan to address climate change; a plan to respect our Kyoto engagement and lower our country's greenhouse gas emissions; and education strategies to ensure that all Canadians from coast to coast to coast have access to post-secondary institutions.
National leadership would also do what is right and would ratify agreements such as the Kelowna accord to make sure that first nations and Métis people have the same opportunities as all other Canadians.
The government needs to tell its citizens that our country is in a position to provide for the future of all Canadians, not just the chosen few, whether it is people entering their retirement years, young families with children or young people entering the education field or the workforce.
It is also about businesses having the knowledge and assurance that investing in Canada will provide them with a competitive advantage. How can any business, national or foreign, have confidence in this government after witnessing the surprise Halloween attack on companies structured as income trusts?
Not only did the Conservatives' decision to tax income trusts eliminate the opportunity for companies to convert themselves into trusts, but now all existing trusts will be treated as corporations. After this Halloween treat, businesses must be wondering what horror lies in store for them next.
Businesses need choice. Income trusts gave companies an additional mechanism to invest in Canada and obtain the capital needed for their businesses. It was not an ideal structure for everyone, but it was an additional option.
How can a business have the confidence to invest in Canada when it cannot have confidence in Canada's government? The insensitive and meanspirited manoeuvre to tax income trusts will harm Canada's economy for years to come, as investors must now reassess whether or not Canada is a safe place to put their money.
Moving on to another point, the finance minister made concrete claims that this budget favoured hard-working Canadian families, but just because the finance minister says something does not make it a fact.
Last week the Conservatives announced a $300 non-refundable tax credit to families for children under 18, but at the same time they are levying a $4,000 tax on the purchase of their minivans. They talk of helping families, but not one child care space has been created in the last year. How does that help hard-working families?
I will wrap up, although there are a few other issues I would like to speak on. There is one positive thing. The changes for accelerated CCA are definitely a good thing but, for the other reasons I have mentioned and many more, I am opposing the government's budget for doing so little with so much and for failing to offer a vision for a prosperous Canada. All members should oppose it as well.