Debates of Feb. 3rd, 2009

Financial Statement of Minister of Finance

[Gary Goodyear, Conservative, Minister of State (Science and Technology)]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to address the House here today as the new Minister of State (Science and Technology).

Mr. Speaker, I am splitting my time with the member for Prince Edward—Hastings.

I am proud to stand here as the Minister of State for Science and Technology to talk about our government's commitment to science and technological excellence in Canada, a commitment that has been reinforced by substantial additional investments in every one of our budgets, most especially in budget 2009, Canada's economic action plan.

Prosperity today is measured in the currency of knowledge. Countries that succeed in the 21st century understand that the capacity to innovate, to capitalize on change, to embrace change, to generate new ideas, to take greater risks, is essential to remain prosperous, productive and competitive in a challenging and changing economic environment.

That is why two years ago the Prime Minister launched our government's science and technology strategy, which we called, “Mobilizing Science and Technology to Canada's Advantage”. This is an ambitious strategy that is charting a new direction, one that links the competitive energy of our entrepreneurs to the creative genius of our scientists. It is a bold plan designed to build a national sustainable competitive advantage through science and technology. It cannot be done overnight, or even in one budget. That is why we started three years ago. We will continue to push hard each necessary step, each essential aspect.

Our goal is to help Canadians turn their ideas into innovations that provide solutions to environmental, health and other important social challenges. We want to provide solutions to our environment, health and other important social challenges and to improve our economic competitiveness and meet the current and future needs of this great nation.

Canada is an international leader in post-secondary research. We rank first in the G7 and second among the OECD member countries in terms of research and development expenditures for colleges and universities as a percentage of GDP. That is very good news. We have come a long way, but that does not mean we can rest and it certainly is not the time to coast.

We want to attract the best researchers, provide them with the best equipment and help them get our innovations and their innovations from the laboratory to the marketplace. To accomplish this, the government has embarked on a major program of strategic investments. These are well thought out, well planned and well timed.

In total, the Government of Canada invests just over $10 billion every year to support science and technology and innovation. In this year's economic action plan, our government announced a series of new investments to support our nation's science and technology strategy. Over 10% of this budget is focused on science and technology. Let us talk about some of the examples.

This government is providing $750 million to the Canada Foundation for Innovation to attract and retain the best researchers in the world.

We have embarked on an unprecedented $2 billion program to repair and refurbish, to build and to expand the world's finest research facilities at colleges and universities all across Canada.

This year we are adding $200 million to the National Research Council's industrial research assistance program, IRAP. This program helps small and medium size businesses innovate and conduct their own research.

We have increased the funding for Canadian graduate scholarships by $87.5 million, as well as other scholarship programs, to encourage Canadian students to develop and improve their skills and choose research in Canada as a career.

In the last three years every one of our budgets has increased money to the granting councils in Canada, including the National Research Council, so that scientists and researchers across this country can do more research.

We created the Vanier scholarships and the industrial research assistance program. The Vaniers will award 500 international and Canadian doctoral students with generous three year support scholarships in order to build a world class research capacity here in Canada. We have funded new, large-scale science projects like Canarie, Canadian Light Source, Triumf and Snolab, in addition to the Institute for Quantum Computing in Waterloo that will receive $50 million from the government.

We have also opened centres of excellence for commercialization and research, and the business-led centres of excellence all over the country to commercialize Canada's leading edge technologies, products and services, because this will create jobs and wealth for Canadians and diversify and stabilize our economy going forward.

In the previous two budgets we have also provided $240 million over five years to Genome Canada to provide it with stable, predictable, long-term funding that is helping it conduct world leading genomics and proteomics research to benefit Canadians.

Under the Canada excellence research chairs program, up to $10 million over seven years will be awarded for each chair to enable Canadian universities to recruit, retain and equip the most brilliant and promising researchers the world has to offer. Doing top-notch research in Canadian universities will help maintain and advance Canada's leadership in the global economy.

These investments are clear and solid indicators that we not only get it but we are getting it done. We understand the importance of supporting the very best ideas wherever they may arise, and we know that basic inquiry into the big questions at the heart of academic disciplines may not yield quick results, but can yield results that are beneficial to Canadians down the line, and that the obvious path is not always the one we should take.

Canada's potential for innovation is limited only by our individual and collective imaginations. I look forward to working with our researchers, our scientists, our innovators, our businesses, and our educators so that we can continue to see success in science and technology.

I am eager to work with my parliamentary colleagues and with all Canadians in order to realize this enormous potential.

I look forward to working with my parliamentary colleagues and all Canadians to see the tremendous national potential crystallize.

[Paul Szabo, Liberal, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his commentary on a very important area.

The principles sound fine. The delivery is always the question that has to be looked at as well. Have the Conservatives followed through? Has the money flowed? Has the regulatory framework been put in place for these agencies to do their work?

I could give the member a brief example. The reproductive technology centre, although it is in medical research, is still in the same vein of the intent for excellence. We passed a bill, and that bill required regulations to be put in place, which were mandated by the legislation itself. Part of the bill's requirements was that those regulations would have to go to the health committee for review because they involved establishing a committee, which would review research projects and make recommendations for funding. Here it is. It is a number of years later. Those regulations have still not gone to the health committee, which means that the committee has not actually been started, which means that projects that could probably get funded have not been funded.

I wonder if the member would care to advise the House whether or not we can deal with this problem where the mechanisms for the research and technological assistance can be put in place in an efficient manner and in fact money can flow and authorization be given.

[Gary Goodyear, Conservative, Cambridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, indeed, the money from past budgets is already flowing. I have had the honour of announcing funding for research for everything including the diagnosis and early detection of infant neuropathies with respect to hearing, which is very important. As the member may know, it is very difficult to diagnose hearing impairment in infants three months old.

We have also funded advanced research already from previous budgets. Of course, as the member knows, this budget has to pass for this money to flow. However, we have provided support research for organ transplant methodologies trying to inhibit the rejection capacity and for using biomass for fuel. We have even funded a research centre out in Winnipeg, I believe, where it is inventing techniques to help municipalities find leaks in pipes, which I understand is a big issue in the city of Toronto. Some 30% of the water used is through leakage. This technology will not only save water, but also help municipal workers find the leak and use a shovel in the ground instead of ripping up an entire a street.

I want to assure the member that a number of mechanisms are already in place. The granting councils, for example, are already there. NRC is already there. IRAP is an existing program. We are supporting them because they work. That is our intention.

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to commend the minister of state for an excellent intervention and highlighting the things in our economic plan that are going to help Canadians get through this crisis. I think he will have also noticed how much glee our Liberal friends across the floor take in trying to sell Canadians on whether or not the $12 billion surplus that they supposedly left Canadians was squandered. In fact, the minister knows that we built on that $12 billion and paid off $40 billion worth of debt.

I would ask the minister to explain some of the strategies that we as a government took as far back as two years ago to cushion Canadians against the economic crisis we are presently experiencing.

[Gary Goodyear, Conservative, Cambridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, indeed, the reason Canada is doing so much better than other countries is particularly and primarily because of the intervention of this Prime Minister in 2007. We saw the storm coming and when one looks at the charts, Canada is better in almost every sector. However, we are facing an enormous offshore crisis.

I want to point out, because I am the minister of state for science and tech, that during the best of times in the late 1990s and early 2000s the Liberals actually cut spending to all the granting councils. They cut spending to the NRC and they even cut the minister of state for science and technology. Now, we are facing a bit of a crisis. This government saw it coming two years ago and put forward a solid strategy because we know that intervening and funding science and tech creates jobs and improves our economy.

[Daryl Kramp, Conservative, Prince Edward—Hastings, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on January 27 our government tabled the budget and it really is a historic economic action plan. Historic because of the depth and the breadth of the consultation that took place to achieve this balance, yet a bold approach to stimulate the economy to protect Canadians' livelihood and to keep our country prospering.

The Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance, along with individual members listened to people and groups across the country about what steps we should take. I talked to hundreds of my constituents. I talked to farmers, families, workers, seniors, and most importantly listened to their concerns, their hopes, their dreams and their ideas. Every Canadian from coast to coast to coast was invited to provide input directly by an online consultation form on the Internet and we received over 7,000 suggestions.

We held open, public town hall and round table meetings throughout Canada. We met with provincial and territorial government leaders. We established a non-partisan economic advisory council of eminent Canadian business leaders for advice on the budget and on the economy. We invited representatives of the other political parties for face-to-face meetings. I know the finance minister personally wrote every MP, regardless of the party they represent, asking them to talk with their constituents, to listen, to establish their local priorities, and to report back to him.

Round table discussions were held with business leaders, economists, academics, industry leaders, community and labour organizations in cities across this country. No government in Canada has ever reached out so much to so many to create a budget. This was done to make sure that every voice was heard and no stone was left unturned to create an economic action plan for this country. It is a plan to meet the challenges ahead and ensures that Canadians from all walks of life may look to the future with hope and optimism.

This action plan includes measures to stimulate the economy by building better roads, bridges and other infrastructure. Taxes are reduced in it. EI payroll taxes are frozen and first time homeowners and home buyers who wish to do renovations will get significant tax credits. Assistance to businesses is available to help them get financing so that they can stay in business and keep people working.

Canada's economic action plan includes measures to protect Canadians by, as I mentioned before, extending EI benefits, providing skills and training opportunities, lowering taxes, improving Internet high speed broadband access across this country, improving post-secondary facilities, increasing child benefits and more. Canada's economic action plan will provide almost $30 billion in support to the Canadian economy just this year.

Importantly, each province is created equally across the country. I know my constituency is located in eastern Ontario and I am especially pleased to note some of the initiatives for Ontario in the budget.

There is action to build infrastructure by providing Ontario with its share of $4.5 billion over two years for infrastructure projects such as road, water, and sewer system upgrades across the province.

There is action to reduce taxes and freeze EI rates by providing the people and businesses of Ontario with tax relief of $9.1 billion over the next five years and providing billions to keep EI rates low for 2009-10 in order to remain competitive.

There is action to stimulate housing construction by providing billions to build quality social housing, stimulate construction and enhance energy efficiency. The new renovation tax credit will provide up to $1,350 per homeowner which will benefit Ontario homeowners by up to $1.3 billion over two years.

There is action to improve access to financing for businesses to obtain the resources they need to invest, to grow and create new jobs, and to give consumers the adequate financing they need.

There is action to help Canadians hit hardest by the economic downturn including enhancements to employment insurance and more funding for skills and training.

There is support for businesses and communities by protecting jobs and supporting sectoral adjustments during this extraordinary crisis with $7.5 billion in extra support for sectors, regions and communities such as the forestry and manufacturing sectors.

Ontario will continue to receive historically high and growing federal transfers in 2009-10 that will total $15.8 billion, an increase of $1.5 billion over last year and a $4.3 billion increase over the previous government.

Ontario will see growing health, $9.6 billion, and social transfers, $4.2 billion, to help the province pay for vital health care, education and social services that families depend upon.

I am pleased to report that my constituency of Prince Edward--Hastings will see some of these benefits from some specific areas of the budget.

As an example, the government will invest $407 million in improvements to VIA Rail Canada to support improvements to the Quebec City-Windsor corridor. These investments will support two additional trains per day between Toronto and Montreal and reduce the travelling time by half an hour. The station in Belleville will benefit from this investment as it is one of three stations chosen to be revitalized.

Furthermore, I am especially pleased to see that $225 million will go toward developing and implementing a strategy on improving high-speed broadband coverage to rural and underserviced communities. We all recognize that high-speed Internet access is an absolute must today for those who are trying to either operate a business, provide a service or even provide for an economic growth opportunity in rural communities.

On another note, $500 million are earmarked over two years to create recreational infrastructure Canada to support construction of new recreational facilities and upgrades to existing facilities across Canada.

Sports and recreation facilities across many ridings in this country drive tourism as well. The largest city in my riding of Prince Edward--Hastings is Belleville and it is the proud home of the Belleville Bulls who play at the Yardmen Arena and, not coincidently, it is an arena that is facing upgrades in the very near future.

Many of my constituents are students or faculty at the local community college, Loyalist College of Applied Arts and Technology. They are encouraged as the government will investment $2 billion to support infrastructure, to repair, maintain and accelerate new projects at post-secondary institutions.

Our government is committed to supporting farmers with a $500 million agricultural flexibility program that will facilitate the implementation of new initiatives, both federally and in partnership with the provinces, territories and industry.

Furthermore, we will amend the Farm Improvement and Marketing Loans Act which will help make credit available to new farmers, support intergenerational farm transfers and modify eligibility criteria for agricultural cooperatives.

Prince Edward--Hastings has a large senior population, the second largest in Ontario. They are people that I work with daily. Many of them live on fixed incomes and many of them get by on small pensions. I am pleased that there are measures in the budget that will be of serious assistance to our seniors, such as the $400 million over two years for the construction of housing units for low income seniors.

I am pleased to say that Canada's economic action plan meets the varied challenges of our time and provides equally for all provinces and ridings across this country. What is important is that it is a balanced plan. It balances between stimulating our economy for the short term and building our capacity for the long term. It is balanced between putting money back in the hands of Canadians and new investments. It is balanced between the unavoidable reality of a short term deficit and the principle that we cannot and must not burden our children and grandchildren for decisions that we make today. It gives a boost, a stimulus, when we need it and where we need it, and it looks out for those hardest hit by the effects the global recession is having on Canada's economy. It protects the vulnerable and the disadvantaged. It protects our senior citizens, seniors who are the very heart and soul of our Canadian society. It protects our farmers, the hard-working and dedicated people who feed us all. It protects the future of each and every one of us.

It is a national plan. It is a plan based on a broad consensus of what we need to do to emerge from this global recession stronger than ever before.

I look forward to seeing it pay off for years to come. I certainly would welcome the support of all colleagues in the House who would be willing to work in a spirit of consideration and activity for the benefit of all Canadians.

[John Cannis, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I enjoyed what the member for Prince Edward—Hastings said in his closing remarks, which was that we work together, especially in these most difficult times that our country is facing, as well as internationally. I am on the same page on that one.

Having said that, I think it is also appropriate in these most difficult and trying times that we leave the facts as they are and kind of move away from the politics of things.

Before I ask the member a question, I would like to set the record straight. The previous speaker, the Minister of State for Science and Technology, talked about how in the nineties there was nothing done and money was taken away. He was absolutely wrong. I had the honour during those years to serve as the parliamentary secretary to the minister of industry. There were programs that the current government criticized then, such as the small business loan program, IRAP and the Canadian millennium scholarship fund. What about the 2,000 research chairs that were created in our country.

The member talked about providing money for skills and retraining. We know that all sectors are losing jobs. Do we not assess before we start training what the jobs are? Has that assessment been done?

[Daryl Kramp, Conservative, Prince Edward—Hastings, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the hon. member's comments with regard to going forward with a cooperative team approach. I think it is crucial at this point and I acknowledge his consideration along those lines.

With regard to identification of needs for skills enhancement and for training purposes, the budget has $2 billion for R and D and for the expansion of capital, restoration and maintenance programs for post-secondary institutions. It should be noted that the split is actually 70:30, 70% to universities but 30% to the colleges.

I think the member would recognize that a lot of the training that goes into helping identify areas of concern, areas of want, areas of need and areas of deficiency in particular categories is generally handled through college applications and retraining through the EI programs in conjunction with the provinces. I am quite comfortable in their approach to that. We have dealt with this through recommendations from the various community colleges and they have adequately demonstrated that they are willing to move forward along this vein.

[Dennis Bevington, NDP, Western Arctic, NT]

Mr. Speaker, I very much agreed with my hon. colleague at the end of his speech when he talked about the need to come out of this recession in a positive fashion. I just do not happen to see this in the budget today. I see very little that will lead to a new economy that we anticipate will come from the convulsions that we are seeing in the world economy now.

Quite clearly in the United States we are seeing a plan for the new energy future. We will see increased pressure from the United States to clean up our tar sands. We will see increased pressure from the United States to expand the volume of renewable energy used on the continent.

The opportunities to be engaged in the production of renewable energy are not addressed in the budget. The opportunities to move ahead are simply not there. In fact, what the government has done is cut the eco-initiatives, which will reduce the amount of money available to expand our wind industry. A billion dollars over five years may go into renewable energy but much of it might be foisted off on to that boondoggle of the carbon sequestration.

How will the budget deliver a clean energy future for Canadians?

[Daryl Kramp, Conservative, Prince Edward—Hastings, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I will refer to my earlier comments on the budget when I mentioned that it had to be a balanced budget. It cannot deal just with the environment, with industry, with social needs, with post-secondary education or with technology. It must deal with all of the above and it must strike the balance between meeting the social needs and meeting the actual future demands.

The member suggested that how we come out of this is very important and crucial. We cannot just go through this, put a band-aid solution on this and have the dollars that we spend not give us a return on investment, either intellectual and/or property and/or long term commitment for infrastructure. That is why we cannot have a structural deficit. What we must have is a deficit that gives us a long term result and I am quite confident in that.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for British Columbia Southern Interior.

I am pleased to speak today on the January 27 budget. As hon. members are aware, the NDP has decided to vote against the budget. Comments have been made that the NDP has not read the budget, but I feel we did not need to read it. We heard about it a week ahead of time on television and radio, and in the press. I do not know why we would be accused of not reading it, when we got it fed directly to our ears.

There is a reason, however. When you lose confidence in someone, you lose confidence, and clearly Parliament no longer had confidence in the Conservative government. The Liberals had also said they had lost confidence, but it would appear they have recovered it now. It is the voters who need to decide what comes next. That said, it is comical to hear the Liberal leader saying that the Newfoundland members can vote against the budget, once. So it is okay to vote against the budget, once, provided there are only four or five of you.

Those members are going to vote against the budget because of the transfer payments and the infrastructure funds. Are the members for New Brunswick in favour of the equalization transfers to the provinces, and are they pleased that we in New Brunswick will also be losing transfer payments to the province? It seems that they will be voting in favour of the budget and not following their colleagues from Newfoundland.

Yes, there are some things in this budget. We are not saying there is nothing in it. Yes, it does contain some things. But we need to focus on what is not in it. In my opinion, it was a sad day indeed when the Liberals indicated their readiness to support the Conservative party. The coalition was at last going to bring in some changes to employment insurance, changes that workers have been waiting for for years.

Another thing that bothers me about this budget is the freeze on public service salaries. As far as pay equity is concerned, the government is depriving women of their fundamental right to justice. Every Canadian, male or female, should be entitled to access to justice. But no, after all these years, their rights will have to go the route of negotiation rather than through the justice system where the courts would decide.

This budget contains nothing for fisheries, either. There is indeed an economic crisis in Canada, what is now being called a major economic crisis. The crisis in the fishing industry has gone on for years, and, despite that, the government presents a budget that will cost fishers their shirt. Although things are not going well at all in the fisheries sector, the budget offers nothing to help out fishers whether they be in the Gaspé, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland or Prince Edward Island. Furthermore, there is nothing in the budget to resolve the fisheries crisis in the Atlantic provinces.

Something different could have been done for transfers to the provinces and infrastructure. I talked to people. Clearly, the Conservatives did not talk to the same folks. We must not forget that only 20% of the money for infrastructure in the 2008 budget was used. For the major cities and towns with money, giving a third and a third and a third is no problem, but towns and municipalities do not have that money.

I must speak to one aspect of this budget. That is employment insurance. The government says it has changed the employment insurance program by adding five weeks of benefits. My Conservative colleague says it is true, that the Conservatives did add five weeks. Fine, five weeks of benefits were added, but at the end.

Last week the minister commented on the radio. She said the reason she did not want to eliminate the two-week waiting period or pay the first two weeks of employment insurance benefits was that these two weeks revealed those who were abusing the system.

For starters, the minister said that workers in Canada are a bunch of cheaters. Then, this week or on the weekend, she said it again. She does not want to make changes to employment insurance, because doing so would encourage people to stay at home rather than go and work. This is an insult to the workers of this country.

Why would she not do the same thing for the big companies that mismanaged their affairs? Why would she not tell the big corporations and the banks that the government would not help them because they did not manage things properly and are a bunch of exploiters? In this case, the government changed its mind and said it would give them money. The largest amount will go to the major corporations in the form of a tax reduction.

The workers get $1.5 billion, but the big corporations get nearly $60 billion in tax reductions. That is a ratio of 1.5 to 60. That is what the government decided to do.

The minister says that workers are a bunch of abusers who want to stay home. In case she does not know, it takes the government more than just the two-week waiting period to check a person's claim. Under government rules, it takes 28 days. Some people even wait not two weeks, but up to 40 or 50 days before they qualify for employment insurance. It is said that workers are dependent on employment insurance, but it is really the government that depends on employment insurance. In fact, it has stolen $57 billion from the employment insurance fund—$57 billion. It is shameful.

It is sad to see what the Liberals have done. They had said they had no confidence in this government, but today they are going to vote in favour of the Conservative budget. They could have given workers a glimmer of hope, but the Liberals are telling the Conservative government that they have confidence in it and that they are going to let the Conservatives govern. They are going to support a public service wage freeze, an RCMP wage freeze, the refusal to let women go to court, all of that. The Liberals' position is quite regrettable.

Let us look at how employment insurance could have been changed for the better. During an economic crisis, people lose their jobs. And as if that were not enough, they do not even get any money during the first two weeks to help their families. Then they get 55% of their wages. This crisis would have been a good time to tell workers that this program belongs to them, that the government had stolen enough from them and that it was going to give it all back and make changes.

Of all the people who will lose their jobs—for example, in the auto industry—some have worked for 25 years, and some of those people have never received employment insurance. The minister said last week that the reason the government did not want to pay people for the first two weeks was so that it could check whether they were a bunch of cheaters. She does not even know the system. The waiting period has nothing to do with that. When the employment insurance system was set up 50 or 60 years ago, the two-week waiting period was created because there was no employment insurance. The government decided to wait two weeks to give people time to look for another job. If, after that time, they had not found other work, the government paid them employment insurance. The waiting period was not for checking whether people were cheating. It had nothing to do with that.

Instead of changing its mind and helping women and men who are losing their jobs in Canada, instead of requiring 360 hours to qualify for employment insurance, instead of eliminating the two-week waiting period, instead of considering the best 12 weeks to help these workers and families invest in the economy and find a job, the government did nothing. When it comes right down to it, in the end, it is granting an extra five weeks. So the government crosses its fingers and hopes that these people find work before these five weeks, so that it does not have to pay them, despite the profits it made with the employment insurance fund.

The most important reason for voting against this Conservative budget is because we have lost confidence in them. This same government proposed a law for fixed election dates and then violated its own law. We do not have confidence in the Conservatives.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank you for giving me the chance to talk about this subject. I hope that the Conservatives will have a more open mind when it comes to workers and that they will show these workers some respect.

[John Cannis, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I listened to the member for Acadie—Bathurst. It seemed like he was more upset with the Liberals. I would just remind him that we are not in government.

He talked about giving hope to the workers of the country. He talked about the economic crisis, people losing their jobs. Does he think it is wise to bring down a government and spend over half a billion dollars to have another election when we just had a few months ago? Is that what he wants to say to those workers who are trying to find stability and security?

Canadians told us that they did not want another election. Does he want to spend over half a billion dollars to have another exercise?

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Speaker, first, it is not that I have more against the Liberals than the Conservatives. It is just that Canadians had hoped that parliamentarians would come here and work together.

We had three parties that were ready to work together. We do not need to have an election. I really believe the Governor General of Canada would have the authority to tell the coalition to take its place and do the right things to help the workers who have lost their jobs in this crisis.

The Liberals say that they have no trust in the Prime Minister. All of a sudden they have confidence in the government. The members from Newfoundland and Labrador do not have any confidence in the government and they have the right to vote against it. It is a one-shot deal.

Will the member tell his colleagues from Newfoundland and Labrador that they do not want an election and they should vote with the government? I do not need any lessons from the members of the Liberal Party today.

[Guy André, Bloc, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate my colleague in the NDP. I agree with him entirely on employment insurance. It has not been made any more accessible. The Conservatives have just extended the benefits by five weeks. Not many people will benefit from this. The Conservatives did it on purpose, basically, to prevent the unemployed from being able to live a bit better. That is hardly surprising on the part of the Conservatives. Everybody knows that social programs are not their forte. It is a right-wing government. The Conservatives are much more in favour of banks and big corporations than ordinary working people.

The Liberals have been in the opposition for some time now. They are the ones, though, who started pillaging the employment insurance fund. They took out $45 or $55 billion, and instead of apologizing now for that, they just agreed with the Conservative budget and its meagre improvements to the employment insurance system. I would like to hear what my colleague has to say about that.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his question.

Some changes were made to employment insurance back in 1990 with Bill C-21. More changes were made with Bill C-113 in April 1993. The Liberals said at the time that what Brian Mulroney’s Conservatives were doing was terrible. Then they were elected to government. In June 1994, there was Bill C-17, where the Liberals lowered benefits from 57% to 55%. What they did then in 1996 to reform employment insurance was almost sinful. That was when they started filling the government’s coffers, the general accounts, with $54 billion. Now they say there is a $57 billion surplus. I thought the Liberals had virtually confessed last November and said that what they did was wrong and sought forgiveness. They were ready to bring the government down and make real changes on behalf of working people.

It is disgraceful to see them ready now to support the Conservatives and carry on in the same vein as in 1996. They are coming down on the people who built this country. When it comes to families, women and children, who are in need and do not have enough to eat, the Conservatives say, “They are a bunch of cheaters, they are just going to stay home and do not want to work”. It is disgraceful and the government should apologize. The Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development should come to the House and apologize to all the working people in this country for the way she has treated them. It is disgraceful and the government should apologize. It is unacceptable in our country. The way our working people are being treated is not acceptable. These are good people who get up in the morning and go to work—

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

Resuming debate, the hon. member for British Columbia Southern Interior.

[Alex Atamanenko, NDP, British Columbia Southern Interior, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is always an honour to be on the same topic as my hon. colleague for Acadie—Bathurst. I do not think there is a stronger champion for the rights of working men and women in Canada than my hon. colleague.

We recently learned that the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development stated that the Conservative government had no interest in making it lucrative for jobless workers to stay home. Today I would like to challenge the minister to visit some of the forest communities that I represent and make those statements to workers and their families, who are suffering. I would like her to tell the mill worker whose EI has run out and, after five more weeks, will be faced with natural gas being cut off, telephone and hydro disconnections, mortgage foreclosure and mounting debt incurred for food and clothing.

Layoff equates to an immediate inability to provide for self and family, not to mention the loss of identity. The two week waiting period without benefits, while the household expenses continue to accumulate, is onerous. In British Columbia provincial income assistance or welfare is legislated in such as way as to be basically inaccessible for displaced forest workers. Owning a vehicle worth more than $5,000 disqualifies one from even applying. Forcing people into extreme poverty before they can qualify for income assistance from the province puts them at a disadvantage when seeking retraining or new work.

Even for those eligible, backlogs within Service Canada often mean that files take more than 30 days after the two week waiting period to be processed. This means unemployed workers are going without income for a minimum of six weeks. This puts extreme stress on the family. For many laid off forestry workers, there are few, if any, opportunities to work locally, forcing them to go elsewhere. Older workers or those with health issues may find the demands of changing communities and careers in later life to be an extreme hardship. Leaving communities where homes have been purchased and extended families live, where medical support is in place and where children go to school has a ripple effect on the family and the community.

Some workers may have a partner or other family member who can assist them, while others are facing utter destitution. One worker came into my office and talked about his plans to live in his truck, in the bush, when his mortgage was foreclosed. He plans to start his vehicle periodically during the night to keep warm.

According to Mel Hurtig's book, The Truth about Canada, before the cuts by Brian Mulroney, Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin, more than 80% of unemployed workers received employment insurance benefits. In 1986, that figure was 86%. Today, only 40% are eligible and here, in Ottawa, only 21%. It is a disgrace.

And that is not all. Because of cuts at the provincial level by Mike Harris, Ralph Klein and Gordon Campbell, thousands do not have access to employment insurance and are forced to live on social assistance—if their vehicle is not worth more than $5,000.

Between 1994 and 2006, the federal government accumulated a $51 billion surplus in the employment insurance fund. However, in 2006, only 53% of unemployed workers qualified for benefits. Let us not forget that the federal government used the money accumulated by workers, that is to say our money, to reduce the federal deficit.

According to a Toronto Star article of February 25, 2007:

The benefit program must return to being a true insurance policy for those who lose their jobs, not a cash grab by the government at the expense of the most vulnerable in our midst.

In a list of 28 OECD countries, Canada is in 22nd place when one measures benefits in terms of the replacement rates of previous earnings. This is less than one-half that of countries such as Denmark, Finland, the U.K. and Australia.

According to Mel Hurtig, public opinion polls here in Canada show that Canadians put social programs near the top of the list of priorities, well ahead of tax cuts. What we are seeing in this budget is that corporate tax cuts outpace help through EI at a rate of 60 to 1. The target is to bring our corporate tax rate from 19.5% to 19% in 2009.

As far back as 2005, in a list of 22 OECD countries, Canada was in 16th place in regard to the total tax rate as a percentage of profits, below the U.S., Austria and Japan. Our corporate taxes are already some of the lowest while our social infrastructure continues to crumble.

During my prebudget consultations many spoke of the need to reform EI in order to make it more accessible to those who are being hit hard. In a submission received from the Similkameen County Keremeos Chamber of Commerce, it states, “Unemployment insurance reform is long overdue and now is the time to address this”.

It goes on and on. Canadians want a system they have paid into to work for them. It is absolutely unacceptable that in this time of crisis fewer than 40% of those who need help receive it. I have already underlined some cases of what happens to some of those 60% who are not eligible for EI, and our minister has the gall to say that we should not be making it lucrative for jobless workers to stay home.

Another major priority that was reflected during my prebudget consultation meetings with community leaders was that of infrastructure spending. The following points summarize some of the feedback I received.

First, the allocation of funds for infrastructure should be expanded and sped up, for example, the build Canada fund and the gas tax refunds, promised funds that have been held back long enough.

Second, economically challenged communities should be targeted for priority funding.

Third, there is strong support for the Federation of Communities and Municipalities' proposal to work with the federal government to create 100,000 jobs across Canada.

One fear that our small rural communities have is that they will be left out of the funding due to government requirements to match funds. Some communities in my riding, such as Greenwood, do not have enough resources and staff to go through the grant funding process let alone contribute a one-third share. It is my fear that the majority of infrastructure funding will go to big cities that have a strong tax base and that rural Canada will be left behind.

It is the duty of our federal government to ensure that all Canadian communities and the people living in them have the maximum amount of support to weather these tough economic times. They deserve no less.

[John Cannis, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, because the NDP member was not here at that time, I would like to clarify this for the record. He used three different figures, $45 billion, $51 billion, $55 billion in terms of the surplus at EI. I just want to inform the member that back then, when the Liberal government took over, close to 12% of Canadians were unemployed and a lot of money was being paid out to unemployed Canadians. However, over the course of several years, three million jobs were created, thanks to good Liberal policy, which means that more revenue was coming in.

It is a fact that after the government addressed the payout need for the unemployed and the future, it took some of that money and put it into debt retirement and deficit elimination, which saved money for the country. It was managed well by the Liberals.

[Alex Atamanenko, NDP, British Columbia Southern Interior, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I guess the fact still remains that we have had a surplus that all of us, all the workers in Canada, have paid into that totalled something around, and we can dispute the figure, $50 billion. Regardless of where the money went, it was their money that was put into this fund, and now, in these tough economic times, over 60% of the people who need it do not have access to it. Let us figure that one out.

[Yvon Godin, NDP, Acadie—Bathurst, NB]

Mr. Speaker, we talked about tough times when the Liberals were in government. This is a budget of the present government but it cannot leave the Liberals behind because tonight there will be a coalition between the Liberals and the Conservatives, a new coalition.

The Liberals said that there were tough times and that they had to cut the employment insurance. Would the member for British Columbia Southern Interior agree with me that it is not by cutting the employment insurance that we help the country because the country is made up of people, of workers? Why does the government want to take away the earnings of workers who are trying to feed their families?

The government is proud that only 40% of workers who lose their jobs qualify for employment insurance. How could anybody be proud that a program, which workers pay into for a safety net, is being stolen from them? Is that not what is happening? Even if the government wants to pay the debt, does it pay it only on the backs of the workers, because it is a $55 billion surplus? It was $57 billion but the government took $2 billion and put it in this new agency.

[Alex Atamanenko, NDP, British Columbia Southern Interior, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his concern.

It seems that our country over the last 20 years or so has been sliding downhill when it comes to a social net, the social net that so many developed countries today have. They have a social net, productivity, a strong workforce and strong investment. However, we, somehow, are sliding.

I would like to share with my colleagues in the House of Commons the book by Mel Hurtig, which is called The Truth About Canada. I would like them to read it to see what has been happening and to see if they have comments on some of these issues.

Yes, the money was paid by workers and the money, we could say, has been stolen from workers if they do not have access to it now. That is a shame on our country and a shame on how we treat our workers. I know we can do better.

[Mario Silva, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the hon. member for Ajax—Pickering.

Hon. colleagues, as I stand in this House to speak to the budget presented this past week by the Minister of Finance, I cannot help but think that we could have been having this debate two months ago.

While it may be somewhat discouraging that the government would only feel motivated to act in response to a threat of its own political survival and not out of courage or concern for the millions of Canadian families, workers and business people who need assistance, at least we are now seeing some action from the government.

This situation is certainly challenging and of great concern.

Since the summer, we have watched as stock markets here at home and around the world literally lost millions of dollars in value right before our own eyes. This, of course, affects not only the companies and their employees, but also millions of people, including older Canadians who have invested in these institutions. Many Canadians look to these investments to see them through their retirement years.

In the manufacturing sector, we have seen for some time now the loss of jobs at levels not witnessed in decades. I have repeatedly joined with labour leaders and other members of the House for over two years now in calling for action to protect manufacturing jobs in this country.

Retailers across Canada are now facing unprecedented challenges just to survive and many have already cut jobs in the wake of falling sales.

We are all aware of the significant and ongoing pressures facing the automotive sector. The Canadian Auto Workers union has for several years now been warning about the dire situation in one of the largest economic engines of our economy, automobile manufacturing.

In addition to the challenges here in Canada, we are clearly affected by the circumstances confronting our neighbour to the south, the United States.

I am pleased to congratulate President Barack Obama as he begins his term leading our largest trading partner.

We in Canada do not live in a vacuum and situations south of the border impact us very directly as we conduct 80% of our trade with the United States. It is an inescapable reality that policies of the former administration contributed to the economic woes facing the U.S. and the world. The trigger to the current economic dire straits was, of course, the United States' housing market and the lack of regulations and control with respect to lending.

If there is any bright spot in terms of the financial services sectors, it is that in our country the prudent management of the previous Liberal government spared us from some of the seismic collapse we have witnessed in the U.S. and other western countries.

Despite pressures to the contrary, the government of former Prime Ministers Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin understood the need to ensure that our banking system required stringent regulatory control. It is easy to forget now the calls for bank mergers and relaxed lending regulations that the then Liberal government refused to accede to and it is also true that we are fortunate that leaders like Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin possessed such foresight and political courage.

As financial institutions around the world, in particular in the U.S., teeter on the precipice of survival, Canada's financial system, while under stress, is essentially sound.

In the weeks leading up to the return of this Parliament, the government continuously disseminated information on the content of its budget. The creation of a deficit was first among the so-called leaks. Then we saw announcements of forthcoming infrastructure spending, employment support programs, assistance to struggling industries and a variety of other initiatives. In short, those were many of the things that we in the official opposition were calling for since the beginning of the economic downturn.

In that regard, there are measures within the budget that our leader, the member for Etobicoke—Lakeshore, our caucus and me personally find we must support at this time. Canadians simply cannot wait any longer for this support and certainly not for purely political reasons.

I must say it is distressing to hear the leader of the New Democratic Party speaking of a new coalition. I would ask him to put aside his own ambition and recognize that there is really one coalition that matters, the one between the people of Canada and those they have chosen to work on their behalf. Canadians need help, not more political games. When the opposition parties formed the coalition in November, it was about more than politics. It was about holding an irresponsible government to account for its own highly political rhetoric.

The Leader of the Opposition has shown courage and put the needs of Canadians first by announcing support for the budget. He has also shown great leadership in tempering that support with the amendment that was passed last night, an amendment that will ensure real and meaningful help is delivered to Canadians.

We simply must have economic stimulus. One of the most effective ways to deliver this kind of financial assistance is through infrastructure renewal. The budget does contain significant commitments in this regard, if indeed these funds flow in a manner that will see road construction, bridge construction and so forth. These projects are too important to come with strings attached.

The Conservative government cannot create infrastructure opportunities through the building Canada fund and then let the opportunities fall by the wayside when cities cannot afford to contribute one-third of the expenses. Toronto mayor David Miller has already made it clear that Toronto does not have the cash for the revitalization of Union Station, which the Minister of Finance referred to as a “crucial commuter hub”. The Conservatives must ensure that infrastructure funds are accessible to all and are not merely political window dressing.

The Liberal amendment is, as noted, designed to do this.

Likewise, the commitments to affordable housing are important. I would remind many in the House that it was the previous Liberal government's finance minister, the member for Wascana, who had made commitments in this area for the first time in decades. Nonetheless, this budget contains provisions for affordable housing. This is a significant improvement and an important one.

We are also encouraged by the support for low income earners through the expansion of the child tax benefits and the working income tax benefit. These also are long overdue.

The financial commitments aimed toward our educational institutions are very much needed. I am supportive of these provisions as they will deliver long-needed assistance to these institutions.

If we are to recover economically, then we need a stimulus that will create jobs, restore confidence and assist Canadians in meeting the unique challenges of this time. The so-called spin-off effect from economic stimulus ranges from the purchase of building supplies to spending undertaken by those working in the construction sector.

There are things to find encouraging in this budget. The government has included some of what we have been calling for over the past two years. Regardless of who gets the credit, it is important that we just move forward in assisting Canadians and the Canadian economy.

I would like to take a moment to point out some areas that I believe have not been addressed and which require attention.

Senior citizens in my riding and across the country are facing very difficult times. Living on fixed incomes they must contend with a multitude of challenges. For example, in my city of Toronto many older residents are facing increased property taxes at a time when they can least afford it.

While recognizing property taxes are municipal and provincial issues, the reality is that older Canadians on fixed incomes are contending with these increased costs. There is much we can do at the federal level to assist them. This can be achieved in the form of increased support through the tax system or through the guaranteed income supplement. Regardless of how it is done, we must assist those who have contributed to building our country and who now need our help.

The previous Liberal government was moving forward to meet many of the long-term challenges facing Canadians. Sustainable and stable funding was flowing to working Canadian families, our cities, our important manufacturing sectors, and the list goes on.

We also need to improve the employment insurance system to make it fairer and more responsive, create a real national child care system and deliver on employment equity to name but a few areas. While the budget contains many important items, we need to move forward in the direction we were heading under the previous Liberal government.

Now is the time when we need full cooperation between all levels of government, new and invigorated relations between various parties and a progressive approach to leading the country. The current economic realities require immediate and short-term support.

I would remind members of the words of the writer James Freeman Clarke who stated, “The difference between a politician and a statesman is: a politician thinks of the next election and a statesman thinks of the next generation.”

As we conclude debate on the budget, we need to work together and put aside partisan actions like those we witnessed last November from the government. We need to move forward with this budget.

[Judy Wasylycia-Leis, NDP, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the member for Davenport started off his speech by saying that we could have had this debate two months ago. He is absolutely right because we are no further ahead today than we were at the end of November.

Never have the Conservatives been let off so easily. Never have they been given such a bargain as we have seen with the Liberals holding their feet to the fire. My goodness, could the Liberals get any tougher than saying to the Conservatives that they want regular reports about how this supposed anti-recession package is doing? What did the Liberals get from the Conservatives for that kind of tough talk? Why did we hear from the Liberals this tough talk and then they wimped out completely?

I want to know from the member how it is that he is not at all upset with the fact that there have been no improvements to employment insurance, no investment in child care, no investment in a green economy, and infrastructure with serious problems? There is no real stimulus package that is going to help Canadians in the worst of economic times.

[Mario Silva, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I want to remind my colleague and the House that at one time there was a government that brought forward a budget which invested in housing, which invested in child care, which invested in our cities. I checked the records and it was the NDP that actually brought down that government and decided to have the Conservatives in power. Let us not rewrite history.

There was a time when we were moving on those issues. We were speaking to those issues that she is now speaking about. We were actually doing things for Canadians, but at that time, the NDP chose to have an election and that party got the House that it asked for.

[Dan McTeague, Liberal, Pickering—Scarborough East, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member has given us a good idea as to how we find ourselves in the current situation.

The government has been dragged kicking and screaming into providing what I think is a Liberal budget. Obviously there is more that needs to be done.

With the member's particular background and expertise in areas like infrastructure, I would like to know how he sees the disposition of the finances and how important that is going to be in terms of getting the projects done quickly. Will he be watching to see if those projects are immediately acted upon, especially for our friends in Toronto?