Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Hamilton East—Stoney Creek.
In this budget, the government appropriated all the right catchwords about working people but did very little to address the prosperity gap that even it does not deny exists. This budget, in fact, tries to buy Canadian votes with little handouts but it does nothing to make life more fair for middle class or working people.
Under the pretext of delineating roles and responsibilities and focusing on core federal responsibilities, the federal government abdicates its responsibility to build social equity and social cohesion in Canada. It is a vision for Canada that sees Canadians as taxpayers only instead of as citizens. It encourages us to care not about our neighbours but only about our tax bill. Social equity is not even a footnote.
The Conservatives say that this is our Canada. Well, it is not my Canada. It is not the vision of Canada held by the majority of my constituents in Victoria, Oak Bay and Saanich.
In Victoria, people look for decisions that are based on a triple bottom line, where environmental, social and economic factors are equally considered. They look for government to be a responsible steward of the economy, for sure, but they know that the economy is not an end in itself, that the GDP is not the key statistic that reflects quality of life as this budget suggests. GDP factors in how much money was made from car accidents or oil spills but not the human toll, the waste or the pollution.
Our health, literacy rates, air and water quality, affordable housing, civic involvement and the value of unpaid work are the factors that reflect quality of life and that quality of life is compromised by the prosperity gap. Even the Conservatives have not denied that this exists.
However, the prosperity gap is not reduced with a couple hundred dollars off our taxes and that is why I oppose this budget.
It was summed up well by my hometown newspaper, whose editorial concluded:
There's a striking disconnect between this week's budget and the issues seen as critical in the capital region.
They are issues that the almighty market has not, and will not, fix on its own.
I would like to speak to the issue of homelessness.
Recently, the Victoria branch of the Urban Development Institute gathered 15 representatives from the community who decided, among other things, to call the homeless “our homeless” and to acknowledge their membership in our society and our collective responsibility to them. The sentiment that is entirely lacking in this budget and in the Conservatives' vision for Canada is that we are in this together. Homelessness has been called an epidemic in Victoria.
I could hardly believe it but I searched the 2007 budget plan and the word “homeless” does not appear.
The natural resources minister is from the riding next door. On a talk show last week, he was asked why there was no funding for housing and he responded that it was a question of priorities.
In B.C.'s capital region, we have made homelessness a priority. Regional and municipal governments, community groups and agencies are working together to tackle the problem of homelessness but the federal government remains absent from the table. Meanwhile, almost 1.5 million Canadian households are in desperate need of decent, affordable housing, even though Canada has one of the most vibrant economies in the world. This is inexcusable and reason enough to oppose the Conservative budget.
Another reason is this budget's inadequate anti-drug strategy. At best, there is $300,000 in new resources for the whole capital region, which is nowhere near enough to make a dent in this problem. It is reflective of the Conservatives' tough on crime package that has been thick with punitive legislation and thin on any preventative measures.
Child care is yet another reason to oppose the 2007 budget. It continues the Conservatives' narrow ideological intransigence on child care.
A study released a couple of days ago estimates that the cost of behavioural and mental health problems triggered by problems in early childhood was at least $30 billion. According to the researchers, this could be cut in half with a more comprehensive early child care education system.
Currently, we are dead last among developed nations in spending for early childhood education, giving us “a chaotic mess” of programs. That is what we have in Canada, a chaotic mess of programs. We spend 0.25% of our GDP on early childhood education, less than the U.S. and a fraction of other developed nations.
I also want to speak to post-secondary education. This budget's shortcomings are especially clear in its half-hearted approach to the accessibility to public post-secondary education in Canada.
Obviously, we are pleased with the long-overdue funding increase for basic transportation, but if the government thinks that is enough and that the matter is now closed, then it is irresponsible and short-sighted.
Students in Canada are not asking to be spoiled. They are asking for affordable tuition and modern resources and equipment. They are asking the government to help lighten their debt burden. Their stories are heartbreaking. After five years of studies, they are $52,000 in debt, they have a job or two, they go without food and sometimes even heat, and they cannot even begin to think of starting a family. That is no way to manage a dynamic economy with a strong and flexible workforce. It is completely unfair.
The Canadian Council on Learning stated very clearly that we need a national post-secondary education strategy, a strategy that includes shared standards and goals. The federal government is not providing the leadership we need to ensure that students in all provinces and all communities have fair access to similar quality education. This goal was dropped even though there is a $9 billion surplus, the tenth enormous surplus in a row. Nevertheless, the government is refusing to invest in young people.
Moreover, the climate is changing. Conservatives have heard what Canadians have to say, but they have not listened. The environmental sector agrees that subsidies have to be directed to clean energy rather than dirty energy. They are making plans for seven years from now, but the time to act is right now. For example, we should develop a clean auto industry in Canada instead of giving $2,000 to foreign automobile manufacturers.
The point is best expressed by Genevieve, a 10-year-old citizen from Victoria. She wants the Prime Minister to take climate change seriously, not just to talk about it. In her letter to the Prime Minister, which she copied me on, she says, “Please don't send me another picture of yourself. I'd rather you put my words into action”.
I have to say that this budget has completely ruined the word “aspire” for me. To aspire is precisely the opposite of what this budget does. It does not aim high. It aims decidedly low. It could have aspired to so much: to end homelessness and child poverty in Canada; to ensure equitable access to post-secondary education, training and other learning opportunities, like a solid literacy program; to ensure full participation in a workforce full of quality jobs; and to confront climate change by putting into place extensive programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The government may use the words “caring society” but in practice it appears that it believes the only thing Canadians care about are tax cuts.
I oppose this budget because, as my local paper said, the Conservatives' choices are badly out of step with the needs of Victoria.