Mr. Speaker, as I rise in this House, I would like to begin by thanking the hon. members for Kings—Hants and Markham—Unionville for their exemplary work during the meetings we held nationwide. They travelled with me across the country and listened to what Canadians had to say about their hopes for a better future. I would like to congratulate them, along with the other members of the Liberal caucus, for having given the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance the constructive ideas that appear in their budget.
I would also like to thank the leaders of the NDP and the Bloc Québécois for their thoughtful, constructive contributions over the past few months. Unlike the government, these two leaders have understood for a long time now that the recession is serious and far-reaching. They have worked hard on behalf of the people of Canada.
Canada's ship of state has entered some very rough and turbulent water and the captain's steering through this storm has been erratic. He misjudged, misled and misguided. At first he failed to act and then he acted irresponsibly. Now, finally he recognizes that we are in real danger. Finally, he is taking some measures to head for safety, but it has been a long time coming.
For three years, the Conservatives have chosen reckless spending and irresponsible tax policy over prudence and fiscal discipline. They drove Canada toward a deficit long before this recession began and they harmed the federal Government of Canada's capacity to act in the face of crisis.
For that failure, the failure to plan and act as a government, we hold them responsible. We hold them responsible for telling us that there would be no recession when we were already entering one. We hold them responsible for their disastrous fall economic statement with its fanciful forecasts of surplus and its arrogant and divisive partisanship. We hold them responsible for proroguing Parliament at a time when Canadians wanted this House to work.
The government has already made Canadians wait too long for help.
Because of the Prime Minister's actions, the recession will be longer, deeper and more painful than necessary. He spent like crazy during the good years. He said that the economy was fine, but it was not. He said that there would be no recession, but there is one. He made announcements, over and over again, about infrastructure measures, but we are still waiting for new jobs. He made announcements, over and over again, about training and skills development programs, but he did not keep those promises either.
This budget is a hodge-podge of last-minute measures. What is even more disturbing is the news of an $85 billion deficit. The Minister of Finance has predicted where this country will be in six years. He has talked about long-term plans and forecasts, but the government cannot even see as far ahead as the next six weeks. Now he is talking about the next six years.
We have a government, which cannot manage spending or programs, daring to tell us today how it will manage the economy six years from now. The reality is simple and stark. It is now the end of January. To say that action is overdue would be an understatement.
Yesterday's budget is a flawed document. However, the impact of a united opposition has been clear. The budget includes measures that we called for during the last election and which the Prime Minister said that he would never do: affordable housing; skills development; expansion of the working income tax benefit and the child tax benefit; investment in regional development agencies throughout the country; measures to make credit available to business; and investments in colleges and universities, the incubators of the jobs of tomorrow. These measures stand to offer actual hope for actual Canadians and they are only in the budget because the opposition parties did their job.
At a time when Canadians raise questions about whether our political system could work, the political system did work, and the Liberal Party, in particular, remained resolved to hold the Conservative government to account.
The budget falls short on many counts. Why does the budget open the door for attacks on pay equity for women? Why does it not propose the improvements to employment insurance that Canadians who have lost their jobs were waiting for? Why does it break their promise to all provinces from only two years ago on equalization? Why does it attach strings to infrastructure dollars that may delay projects and delay jobs? Where is the Conservative plan to guarantee Canada's productivity, competitiveness and prosperity in the future? Where is their plan for a green and sustainable economy? Where is their plan to get us out of deficit? Why are they still counting on the sale of government assets to fill the coffers, without saying which assets and at what price?
This is not a government, to say the least, that has proven good at planning. It has also not proven to be very good at keeping its promises. Yet the Prime Minister has never held himself to account the way Canadians expect him to. If he is asking the House for its confidence, then he will have to earn it. He will have to work to keep it as long as he sits in that chair.
That is why we will move to amend the budget to include new measures to ensure the government is held accountable for its promises.
We will require regular reports to Parliament on the budget's implementation and its costs, one in March, one in June and one in December. Let it be clear that each of these reports will be an opportunity to withdraw our confidence should the government fail Canadians.
We will vigilantly monitor the budget's effects on our economy and on every region of the country. If the Prime Minister fails, we will be ready to defeat him.
Let me be very clear that our support for this budget is conditional upon adopting the Liberal amendment. Let me say it another way. Without this amendment, we will not support the budget and the government will fall.
Canadians do not want another election and they are tired of political games. They have waited too long for action on the economy for us to fail them now because of partisan interests. The Liberal Party is not giving the Prime Minister of Canada a green light. We are giving him a flashing yellow light: proceed with extreme caution.
The Prime Minister does not have a free pass. He can no longer use “take it or leave it, my way or the highway” as his way of dealing with Parliament.
He is under the watchful eye of this Parliament. We will be demanding much more and much better from the government to better serve Canadians.
It has finally put forward a plan for our consideration. Now the question is whether the money starts flowing. We take nothing for granted from the Prime Minister and the government. We will be watching them like hawks.
I repeat this for the Prime Minister. Proceed with the very greatest caution. With that, I move:
That the motion be amended by changing the period to a comma and adding the following:
“on condition that the government table reports in Parliament no later than five sitting days before the last allotted day in each of the supply periods ending March 26, June 23 and December 10:
(a) to provide on-going economic and fiscal updates;
(b) to detail the actual implementation of the budget;
(c) to itemize the actual effects of the budget with respect to:
the protection of the most vulnerable in Canadian society,
the minimizing of existing job losses,
the creation of the employment opportunities of tomorrow,
the provision of economic stimulus in a manner fair to all regions of Canada, and
the assurance that the government's deficit is not a burden to future generations or a detriment to economic recovery and;
(d) to provide details on any adjustments or new measures as may be required to benefit the Canadian economy”.