Debates of March 21st, 2017

Business of Supply

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the member talked about how we should get ready for part two of the middle-class budget.

I am hoping that this time the Liberals will actually include the middle class, the 17.9 million Canadians who got nothing from their middle-class tax break, those who earn $23 an hour and work full time and who got left out last year in the so-called middle-class tax break.

The member also said other parties are out of touch with Canadians. This is a party that could not be more out of touch with working-class people. In the last budget, the Liberals forgot about working-class people. People in my riding have high unemployment. In the Alberni Valley, mills are closing. In Qualicum and Parksville, seniors cannot afford medicine. In Courtenay, people cannot get a livable wage and cannot find a well-paying job.

They talk about a 1% tax break for the rich. What about closing CEO tax option loopholes? What about ending tax havens and tax deals for the super-rich? Talk about getting out of touch. Hopefully tomorrow we will have a real budget for middle-class Canadians, and it will include the 17.9 million Canadians who are working and who were totally left behind last year. It is their turn. I hope the government actually follows through with the promise of real change, including the middle class, and helping those who are not in it to join the middle class.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the member across the way is factually wrong. That is as simply as I can put it.

The member needs to realize that the New Democratic Party voted against—and this is a fairly long list—a special tax on Canada's rich, a middle-class tax break, a substantial increase to the Canada child benefit that would have delivered tens of thousands of children out of poverty, and increasing the income of Canada's poorest seniors, once again which would have delivered tens of thousands of seniors out of poverty.

The NDP has done something I would never have thought it would do. Here, last year, we had one of the most progressive budgets in our country's history, and the NDP actually voted against it. I suspect it has something to do with the mentality that the NDP had during the last general election when it said it would balance a budget at absolutely all costs.

We know that if the New Democrats had to revisit that decision, they would probably back away, but they do not have the courage to admit that they would back away from it.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is such a pleasure to rise in the House this afternoon to speak on the opposition day motion on budget 2017, a budget that is to be announced tomorrow by our hon. Minister of Finance, Bill Morneau, at 4:00 p.m. Oops, sorry.

One part of the opposition motion being debated—

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Order.

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I think we have been here over a year and a half now, so certainly the protocol around mentioning member's names should be adhered to.

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

I thank the hon. member. I note that the hon. member for Davenport did catch her error on that. I think it is useful to remind all hon. members that we try to avoid, in fact should avoid, the use of proper names or any references to other hon. members in the House.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I apologize.

It is such a pleasure to rise in the House this afternoon to speak to the opposition day motion on budget 2017, a budget which is to be announced tomorrow at 4 p.m., by our Minister of Finance.

One part of the opposition motion being debated in this venerable House today focuses on youth. It asks that the 2017 budget provide immediate measures to encourage companies to hire young Canadians and address the youth unemployment crisis. I want to thank my fellow member for her concern for Canada's young people. I want her to know that this is also an issue of great importance for the residents of my riding of Davenport, and especially for the Davenport youth council, which has identified youth unemployment as a key issue for them.

In the time I have today, I will be relaying how youth has been a key focus for our government, outlining key initiatives introduced over the last year and indicating that there is no doubt that youth will continue to be a key focus for our government moving forward.

One of the things our government understands clearly is that Canada's prosperity will increasingly depend on young Canadians getting the education and experience they need to prepare for the jobs of today and tomorrow. One of my very favourite quotes from our Prime Minister is that if we do not give everyone a chance to succeed, we do not live up to the potential of Canada. Now more than ever all governments at every level need to do all they can to help our youth, to set them up, to get them started, to support them. We need to do all we can to give them the best start on the road to achieving their potential.

Young Canadians need to have access to meaningful work from the beginning of their careers. A large part of our success as a country rests on our youth, but unfortunately, they still face barriers to employment. As such, I am pleased to let members know that we have been taking concrete measures to help young Canadians enter the workforce and contribute to our country's economy.

One of the initiatives we launched was the expert panel on youth employment in October 2016. We launched it as a way to improve job opportunities for all youth. The panel's findings are key in identifying future investments, including ways to enhance the youth employment strategy, also known as YES.

In budget 2016, funding for the youth employment strategy was increased by almost $300 million. That funding is being used in four very specific ways. One is to create new green jobs for youth. These are occupations that are involved in preserving or restoring the environment and jobs in renewable energy, or energy efficiency. The second way the funding is being used is in increasing the number of youth who have access to the skills link program. This is a very important program that is available particularly for youth that are disadvantaged in a number of ways. The third way the funding is being used is to increase opportunities for young Canadians who want to work in the arts sector, a sector that is very popular, rich, and diverse in my riding of Davenport. Last, the funding is being used to increase the number of summer jobs offered through the Canada summer jobs program.

I am very proud that both last summer and this summer our government has more than doubled the number of jobs available through the Canada summer jobs program. It is important to highlight that because that increases the mentorship for our youth. It increases their job experience. It helps them to more quickly get started in their future careers.

There are also many youth initiatives that fall under the umbrella of skills and employment that support all Canadians. After extensive consultation with experts, employers, and labour and service providers, we have finalized amended agreements with each of the provincial and territorial governments to provide an additional $175 million in labour market training for youth, for a total of close to $3 billion. Included in this amount is $125 million in funding for labour market agreements and $50 million in funding for the Canada job fund.

Turning our attention to the trades, one of the most promising career paths for young Canadians today is in the skilled trades. Tradespeople play an important role in our economy and our society. We all depend on the work of skilled trades, and we want to encourage more youth to take advantage of good, well-paying jobs in skilled trades. Therefore, the federal government is providing support to Skills Canada to actively promote careers in skilled trades and technologies to Canadian youth by working with local organizations, educators, and governments right across Canada.

We are making significant investments in apprenticeship through the Red Seal program, and we are offering numerous federal supports, including grants, loans, tax credits, and EI benefits during in-school training. In addition, our government is providing more than $800 million through grants to individuals for the progression and completion of their apprenticeship training. Our government is working with provinces and territories to make apprenticeship training more consistent across the country. This will help support apprentice mobility, help apprentices complete their training, and give employers access to a larger pool of workers.

Our government and, indeed, the nation recognize that unions play an important role in training their members for careers in the trades. As such, to support their efforts, budget 2016 provided $85.4 million over five years starting in 2016-17 to develop a new framework to support union-based apprenticeship programs. In Davenport, there are a lot of union workers. Most of them are in the building trades. There are a lot of youth who are very interested in a career in trades because they provide good-paying jobs, which will help them to support their families and communities in the future.

The federal government is also addressing the importance of demand-driven education and training through the student work integrated learning program. I am specifically talking about training and funding for training because I think they are equally important in terms of setting up our youth for the future, their future careers, and achieving their future potential.

Budget 2016 announced an investment of $73 million over four years to support partnerships between employers and willing post-secondary educational institutions. The program will help ensure students develop the foundational, entrepreneurial, and business skills required to secure meaningful employment in high-demand occupations in the fields of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and business. We need to continue to work with colleges and universities to prepare the next generation of Canadian youth for the highly skilled jobs that are out there. We need to ensure that Canadian employers can bring about and benefit from co-op and work-integrated learning opportunities.

There are so many companies and businesses in Davenport that are very excited about this. More and more of our companies are working with post-secondary education to make sure that the right training and education is provided to our youth, and that it sets them up to more quickly enter the workforce and start to develop their careers. I think we are going to see more of this in the future.

Indigenous youth is another key focus for the Davenport youth council in my community. Everyone in this House is aware of this government's commitment to restoring fairness and opportunity to indigenous people, including indigenous youth. One way to help indigenous youth receive training and find jobs is through the aboriginal skills and employment training strategy, also known as ASETS. It is through this program that we have been working with indigenous organizations to further strengthen their capacity to provide job training and wraparound supports. Our government has engaged with indigenous stakeholders to see how we can improve and strengthen the indigenous labour market programming for a future longer-term strategy.

Our government has provided quite a bit of support for Canada student loans and grants because we know how expensive that education and training actually are. We are doing everything we can to make sure that low-income and middle-class youth are not going to suffer, that they have access to the grants they are looking for and the education they seek so that they can set themselves up in terms of education and skills training for the jobs of today and tomorrow.

We have accomplished a lot, but we know there is a lot more to do. We know that the job market is evolving and changing, and that is true particularly for young Canadians. That is why we are making such historic investments in skills training and education.

I look forward to the budget announcement tomorrow. I am sure we will continue to support our youth in the future.

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have listened to the debate throughout the day, and I have not heard the government address in any terms what is a significant issue. The significant issue is the fact that the Liberals took what was a surplus, promised a $10-billion deficit, and turned it into a $30-billion deficit, with no end in sight. I do not know if my colleague has young children, but it is her children and her grandchildren who will be forced to pay for the Liberals' inability to spend within their means.

Certainly, the economy is stronger than it was last year when there was a surplus budget. Does the member agree that the minister must include a path back to balance in the budget that would fulfill the government's commitment to getting back to balance in 2019?

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, when I was canvassing in the last election, I spoke to many families and many youth. They told me that education is expensive and that life is expensive. They were very much attracted to the Liberal team, which is now the government, because of its desire to invest in the middle class, to invest in youth, and to invest in our future. That is why we have introduced the Canada child benefit. It is why we have provided a tax break for the middle class. It is why we have provided all of the programs and investments that I spent 10 minutes highlighting today.

I want the residents of Davenport and all Canadians to know that we are spending Canadian money in a responsible way. I think we will be hearing more about that spending tomorrow when our Minister of Finance makes the announcement with respect to budget 2017.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Speaker, we know that in Canada the real job creators are small business people. They are the people who drive our economy. They sit on our volunteer boards and our local governments. They are struggling to make ends meet. When we talk to small business people in our communities, they are having a hard time paying their rent and paying their employees' wages.

What we have seen over the last 25 years is a significant tax reduction for Canada's largest corporations. We have seen a reduction from 28% to 15%. Under the Conservative government we saw it go from 22% to 15%. We did not see the job creation that was promised. Instead, what we saw was Canada's largest corporations having record profits, hoarding tons of money, CEOs earning more money than ever before, and corporations shipping money to tax havens out of the country to avoid paying taxes here in Canada.

Canadians expect more. They want to see us invest in our local communities and our small business people. Why are we choosing Canada's largest corporations and CEOs over small business people, the people who are building our communities? What is the Liberal government waiting for when it comes to making big companies assume their fair share of the tax burden? Will the Liberals provide relief to small business people and make them a priority? Canadians expect us to take care of the people who are building and serving our communities, and they are our small business people.

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is such a pleasure to answer that question. I do not agree with the member's premise that we are trying to favour large corporations over small businesses. What we are trying to do is create a strong economy in Canada so that it is beneficial for all businesses. We are also trying to create a strong middle class, and those who are trying to join it, because the stronger they are, the stronger our overall economy will be. That is the reason we introduced our middle-class tax cut, which we have talked about quite a bit in the House.

I also want to let the member know that the small businesses in my riding really love the summer jobs program. It allows them to hire local students. It helps them support their own businesses, as well as support jobs. They are very excited about that.

There is another thing that our small businesses are excited about. I represent the largest Portuguese community in the country. They are really excited about CETA. Many of the small businesses in my riding are doing business in Europe, and they like agreements like CETA that will provide benefits not only to small businesses in Canada but also abroad.

Finally, I have mentioned the Davenport youth council a couple of times. That council is very active. One of its key concerns is small businesses in Davenport. The council wants to be active in ensuring that the Canadian government continues to support not only small business but our overall economy in general.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the hon. member for Edmonton Manning.

Today my Conservative colleagues and I are calling on the Liberal government to take four very simple and very concrete steps going forward. These actions will benefit everyday Canadians.

One, we call for no further tax hikes on Canadian families, businesses, seniors, or students. Two, we call for immediate measures to encourage companies to hire young Canadians and address the youth unemployment crisis we currently face in our country. Three, we call upon the government to put a credible plan in place to return to a balanced budget by 2019, as was promised to Canadians. Four, we call upon the Liberals to halt all plans to sell Canadian airports to finance their reckless spending.

Today my Conservative colleagues and I are doing what we do each and every day in the House: we are standing up for Canadian taxpayers. We are standing up for those who work hard to make ends meet, to pay their mortgage, to put food on their table, to fuel their car, to care for their children, to enjoy life.

We are taking a stand for those who do not have a job but desperately desire to have one. We are taking a stand for the students who have invested countless hours of time and energy into earning a degree and who are now looking for meaningful employment. We are taking a stand for business owners who have taken risks for the sake of pursuing a dream and by doing so have created jobs and contribute to the well-being of our economy.

Today we are taking a stand for the young and the old and all of those in between. Not only that, we are taking a stand for the generations that are still to come after us, because when all is said and done, we recognize that the decisions we make today will impact those tomorrow. We must do all that we can to ensure a vibrant future for those who come after us.

Today we are calling on the government to join us in this endeavour, an endeavour that will serve each and every Canadian.

Although all points of the motion before us today are certainly worthy of attention, I will focus the majority of my time advocating on behalf of Canada's young people.

Since being elected by the people of Lethbridge 17 months ago, I have had the privilege of travelling from coast to coast to talk to young people across our country, and without exception, they have made one thing very clear to me: despite the finance minister's damning position on job creation for young Canadians, calling it “job churn”, it will not be tolerated by the rising generation. They are insisting that things can and should be different, and I agree.

Allow me to home in on my home province of Alberta for just a moment. It is no secret that Alberta is facing a jobs crisis. From 2015 to 2017, the unemployment rate doubled, going from 4.4% to 8.8%. Today 220,000 Albertans are out of work. Youth unemployment sits at 13.5%.

During November and December, I held six round tables throughout my province, where I talked to young people with regard to their job prospects. Overwhelmingly they reported feeling discouraged by the labour market and the lack of opportunities that are available to them. Many have worked hard to earn their degrees, and they would like the opportunity to use them. Others are seeking to save for their education, for travel, for a house. Others are looking for a job in order to provide for their families, and still others are just simply looking to pay the bills and get by.

The state of Alberta's economy makes it extremely difficult for young professionals. With a significant cohort of unemployed skilled workers who are now flooding entry-level positions, young professionals are actually faced with a huge disadvantage because there are qualified competitors now who are competing for a very small number of jobs. Meanwhile, statistics show that students who gain experience related to their area of study are 66% more likely to find a job after graduating, but unfortunately they are finding it extremely difficult to find co-op placements, paid internship opportunities, and summer student positions.

Although l have zeroed in on Alberta, the reality is that these problems plague Canada's young people in every corner of our great country.

In the fall I had the opportunity to meet with members of the students' union at the university in P.E.I. and with another student organization in Fredericton. Like those in Alberta, these students are also faced with very few job prospects, and they are feeling overwhelmingly discouraged.

Today more than 190,000 Canadian young people are unemployed and looking for work. As we all know, higher education comes at a cost. I believe it is good for students to invest in their training and education. We know that investment spurs greater responsibility and ownership. That said, I also recognize that students are graduating with increasingly large amounts of debt and need meaningful, well-paying jobs in order to be able to pay it off.

However, what concerns me just as much as the youth unemployment rate is the number of young people who are having to settle for part-time or precarious work. The Minister of Finance told Canada's young people that they will just have to get used to “job churn”. I disagree. By creating an environment of economic prosperity, the government can and should support businesses in their desire to grow and create meaningful and stable employment for those who are starting out in the labour market.

The Prime Minister promised to create “40,000 good youth jobs” each year from 2016 to 2018. Sadly, like most of his other promises, this one has not materialized. According to the final 2016 job numbers published in February, only 9,000 jobs were created last year for workers between the ages of 16 and 24. This is the net number after we account for the 40,000 full-time jobs that were lost from Canada's economy and the 49,000 part-time jobs that were created. In other words, all of the jobs that were gained by young people in our country were in the sphere of part-time work only.

The Prime Minister also promised to create 35,000 summer jobs for students through the summer jobs grant, as mentioned by our member who previously spoke. At the end of August 2016, Statistics Canada reported that when employment rates were compared year over year, there were 48,000 fewer jobs for young people than the year before. Coincidentally, the year before—when there were 48,000 more jobs—was when the Conservatives were in power.

Liberals also promised to invest $160 million to create co-op placements for students in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and business programs. Shortly after making that promise, however, the Prime Minister relented and brought that number down to only $73 million, which is half of what he originally promised.

The federal government has two main responsibilities. One is to keep Canadians safe and the other is to facilitate an environment of economic prosperity. Today, my Conservative colleagues and I are calling on the Liberal government to live up to its mandate.

During our travels across Canada, one of the things Canada's youth have recommended to me is that the federal government provide a tax incentive to employers who are willing to hire young people. This, of course, makes sense, because it would empower job creators to do just that—create jobs. Specifically, these jobs would be targeted at those who are just entering the workforce.

Furthermore, when it comes to looking out for the economic well-being of Canada's youth, we are calling upon the government to champion our oil and gas sector, as this has significant economic benefit for young workers from across Canada.

Finally, we are calling on the government to balance the budget, as we know that sensible fiscal management is absolutely essential to secure long-term prosperity for Canadians from all generations, and especially for those who will inherit the outcomes of today's decisions.

My colleagues and I on this side of the House are calling on the Liberal government to act today and to act responsibly for the sake of those who inherit this great nation tomorrow.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, there is an issue that Conservative members across the way like to raise, and that is the issue of the deficit. I wonder if the member can explain to me that while Stephen Harper was the prime minister, in budget after budget there was a significant deficit, to the degree that, in total, over $150 billion accumulated. The best-case scenario for the opposition is that it is debatable whether or not the country was left in a deficit situation. We would argue that it was left in a deficit situation.

Therefore, my question to the member is this: when did the Conservatives have this road-to-Damascus revelation that all of a sudden deficits are bad? Every year that Stephen Harper was the prime minister, the country had a deficit, but now the Conservatives seem to feel that deficits are bad. I do not quite understand. When did that conversion take place?

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, when the Conservatives were in government, the world was facing a bit of an economic crisis. That said, it would be fair to compare economies from around the globe. Canada fared at the very highest point, so with regard to the hon. member's question, let us compare apples to apples here. At the end of the day, we left the current government with a surplus, and the Liberals took that surplus and let it spoil. They wasted it.

Now, today, my generation and the generation that comes after me is going to have to pay for the indecisions of the current government.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, maybe we should get a little more factual.

When Stephen Harper took office, he was left a multi-billion-dollar surplus. That was not in question at all. He had a multi-billion-dollar surplus. Before the recession even began, he turned that billions of dollars in surplus into a deficit. I would ask the member across the way to explain how the Conservatives can say today that deficits are bad when Stephen Harper had a deficit every year, even during good times.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his theatrical question.

There are a couple of points here. Number one, when the Conservatives became government, it should be pointed out that the Liberals were the former governing party and had just cut back drastically in spending on provincial transfers, particularly around health care. They may claim to show fiscal management, but what they really did was gut the money from the provinces that was rightfully theirs.

The second thing that should be noted is this. Within the Conservatives' first few years of government, we paid down over $40 billion of the national debt. That was done on behalf of the generations that were to come after us. That was done on behalf of the youth of this nation, and that is responsible leadership.

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's responses to what have been very fact-free questions in terms of the record of the Conservative government.

I would like the member to compare and contrast the situation facing us now, as opposed to when deficits were necessary, at which time the Liberals indeed asked Conservatives to spend more than we were. There are very different circumstances. I would like the member to comment on why different solutions are needed for different times.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, we certainly are looking at a very different time than when the right hon. Stephen Harper was leading government. At that point in time, of course, as I mentioned briefly before, the economy of the world was facing a downturn. We struggled through that, which meant that yes, a deficit was created in this country.

At this point in time, we are not facing that same downturn on the world stage. We are not even facing a downturn within our own country, so there is absolutely no reason that the government should be taking on the amount of debt load or deficit that it is.

I should also note that the Prime Minister made a promise to Canadians to only incur $10 billion of deficit, and that number has grown quite significantly, now being over $30 billion. That is worth noting.

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

It is my duty pursuant to Standing Order 38 to inform the House that the questions to be raised tonight at the time of adjournment are as follows: the hon. member for Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, Canadian Heritage; the hon. member for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, National Defence; and the hon. member for Nanaimo—Ladysmith, Status of Women.

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

Mr. Speaker, last fall I travelled with the Standing Committee on Finance across the country as part of the pre-budget consultations. We heard from academics and business leaders, from farmers and trade unions, and from students and senior citizens. One thing they had in common was a concern about the direction of Canada's finances.

When the previous Conservative government left office, the nation's budget was balanced. We had come out of a difficult recession, when the government had been compelled to put billions of dollars into economic stimulus measures. That sort of spending was no longer necessary in 2015. The Conservative government had the economy in good shape. We had weathered the recession, and Canada had been praised internationally for the soundness of its banking system and the economic policies of its government.

What a difference 18 months can make. Now we have a government that has not a clue about fiscal management, led by a Prime Minister who believes, in some magical way, that budgets balance themselves. If he truly believes that, then we can expect no new taxes when the Minister of Finance rises in the House of Commons tomorrow to table his new budget. Canadians who are already struggling as the government has increased the tax burden on the middle class will have nothing to fear. There will be no carbon tax on seniors and students. By the way, that carbon tax is raising the price of almost everything Canadians do or touch.

Those of us who live in the real world know better. We know that the current government has a spending problem and not a revenue problem. There is not a trendy program at home or internationally that is not supported by the current government with huge chunks of taxpayer dollars. No one on the government side ever asks if Canada can afford this reckless spending. No one on the government side asks how the endless borrowing will be repaid. The Liberals expect the Conservatives to clean up after their fiscal mess when we win the next election in 2019.

Will the Minister of Finance admit to this House that the problem is not one of inadequate government revenues? They can ask anyone, as I had the opportunity to do as the finance committee travelled the country. People will tell them that taxes are already too high and that the government wastes the money it receives. Will the minister commit to not raising taxes on hard-working Canadians until he is able to get his fiscal house in order? Can the minister tell this House when he expects he will be able to bring government spending under control and balance the budget, or will he continue to pretend that borrowed money never has to be paid back? How can the government promote thrift and savings to Canadian citizens, when it refuses to lead by example. Where is the credibility in that?

Before the people of Edmonton Manning asked me to represent them in this House, I was a business owner, an entrepreneur. I can read a balance sheet. I understand about profit and loss. I know about the need for a return on investment if a business is to be successful. In the early years of a business, as a company is getting established, it is not surprising if operating costs are high and the business does not turn a profit. There are capital expenditures up front, perhaps, or extra personnel costs in launching a new venture, but after a few years, if the business is well run, it starts to turn a profit, and that profit makes up for losses in the early years.

Government is not the same thing as a business. There is no profit and loss in serving the public, but some of the principles are the same and are supposed to be the same. A business that is always in the red does not stay in business very long.

When we always have to borrow money to stay afloat, it is a sure sign of bad management, and eventually no one will loan us any more money and we will have to shut down.

When a government runs deficit after deficit, always borrowing money to pay for its spending, the cost of borrowing goes up each year. Eventually lenders are unwilling to extend any more credit unless there is a plan to repay the money, not just a theoretical plan but something the government is actually required to stick to.

Those people who lend money, especially the major international lenders who deal in the billions, know very well that budgets do not balance themselves. Someone has to take charge and reduce spending. Will the Minister of Finance be the person who says, “Enough”, to fiscal insanity, to deficits three times their election promises? I really hope so, but given his track record and the track record of his party, I am not very optimistic.

I am the proud father of two sons, young men just beginning to make their place in the world. I know how difficult it can be to get established in the workforce. At times it seems like employers want to hire young people only if they have 20 years' experience. It is tough to get started in a career in this world.

When the minister presents his budget tomorrow, I hope he takes that into account. Canada has an abundance of smart, educated young people who are unemployed and underemployed, through no fault of their own. The job market is tough, especially as businesses are reluctant to expand because of the ever-increasing tax burden they face. No one is tougher than Canada's youth. Whether they have just finished their education or are taking time off school to save money for it, young Canadians are having difficulty finding meaningful work.

Given such a situation, one would expect the government to address the youth unemployment crisis, to take immediate measures to encourage companies to hire young Canadians. This is the sort of thing we would expect governments to do, one of those areas where profit and loss are not measured the same way they would be in a business. Money spent on such a program would have long-term benefits for the health of the country. It would provide young Canadians with that all-important first job in their chosen field.

I would not be surprised if the Minister of Finance includes something like that in his budget. It would be the right thing to do. People would praise him and the government for their actions.

What he will not tell young Canadians, what they will have to figure out for themselves, is that he is merely loaning them this money to get them started. The government, due to reckless spending decisions already made, does not have the money to support our youth. If it wants to do anything to deal with youth unemployment, it will have to borrow the cash. It will use that money with no plan for how to pay back. It will be left to future generations, those just starting in the workforce now and those yet to come, to pay this bill, plus interest. So it is with anything this government does. We do not need to pay now, but we will pay later, much later and much more, once we add all the compound interest.

It would be nice to see fiscal sanity return to this House when the minister tables his budget. Is that too much to hope for?

[Adam Vaughan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, I had the honour of serving for a very brief time in the last Parliament, so I have a bit of a living memory of the previous government's economic record. There was a recession we were charting and following as the Conservatives tumbled out of economic distress into economic chaos. I remember nine years of trade deficits. I remember $150 billion added to the federal debt. I remember the only way we could get close to balancing the budget in the last year of the previous government was by selling GM shares at a discount, effectively selling the furniture to pay the rent, advice we are told not to follow by members of that party.

When the hon. member talks about having to pay back deficits and pay back debt and respond to young Canadians, how are we to pay your $150-billion debt? What program should we scrap to pay the $150 billion you saddled young Canadians with, $150 billion that must be paid back before we even start talking about paying back our situation?

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Order, please. I would just remind hon. members, when they find themselves repeatedly using the “you” word, not in a rhetorical fashion but particularly directed to other hon. members in the House or on the other side, that it is usually the first indication that we are getting out of the third person mode and into something that is not really desirable in terms of comportment in the House.

We will go to the hon. member for Edmonton Manning.

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

Mr. Speaker, bad memories or good memories, the one thing the government needs to remember, the one lesson in economics 101, is not to borrow money one cannot pay back. Do not spend what one does not have, and look after Canadians before looking outside Canada. That is the best recipe to control spending and balance budgets and to keep the economy in the right place at the right time.

What the government is doing now is the opposite of all the good things we learn in our memories in our classrooms in school. That is my message to the government, and that is my answer to the hon. member.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his comments. Like all parents, we want our children to do well.

When we look at the economic budget issue, there are many aspects to consider, one of which is that the Conservative government, for six years in a row, lowered the corporate income tax for big corporations. The Conservatives are probably proud of that, but let us just put the figures on the record and analyze them for a minute.

The corporate income tax went down from 22% to 15% over the course of six years. That meant that $12 billion in revenue was lost for Canadians and for the government. That is money that could have been invested in a variety of fashions.

The evidence indicates that these cuts actually did not stimulate investments or deliver the promised job creation. Barbados and the Bahamas, two countries that are tax havens because of their lower tax rates, have unemployment rates of about 12%. In the context of that, would the member agree that there should be a redirection with respect to the corporate income tax and that those monies be regained and invested for Canadians where they need it the most?

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

Mr. Speaker, again, I will go back to economics 101. We need to lower taxes on the job creators. That is exactly what happened. That is not only on large businesses but also on small businesses. We are the pro-small-business party. That is what we believe in.

I am a small business owner. I am not sure about the hon. member. We created 1.1 million full-time jobs for Canada's economy. That reduction in the business tax helped us create jobs and bring more money into the economy. That is a smart measure. That is a smart step to take in doing business anywhere, and we are very proud of our record.