Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo.
One of the most important principles we have as elected members of Parliament is what we call the responsibility of government.
This means that when a government tables a budget or potential expenditure, it will be analyzed by the elected representatives of the people. This is one of the founding principles, a pillar of our system, and we must maintain and support it. We certainly must not ignore it, which is why we are here today talking about the latest main estimates tabled by the President of the Treasury Board for the upcoming year.
There is one thing in particular in these main estimates that members of the official opposition and members of the second opposition group are worried about, namely the infamous vote 40.
This vote would give the government access to a $7.4-billion envelope to spend according to its priorities, and it would not have to report on this envelope until the fall of 2019. I remind members that there will be an election in the fall of 2019. The government is essentially getting a blank cheque so big that it is almost grotesque, but that is the truth. The government is getting $7.4 billion, and it can do whatever it wants with it. Life is good, and we will talk about it after the election.
This is not how things work in our democratic system. It is important and imperative that every dollar spent be subject to scrutiny.
If by some misfortune this vote is approved and we accept this situation, that is more than $7 billion that will be sheltered from the scrutiny that we are all subject to in accordance with our mandate. The sad thing is that the programs are vague and it is even written that way in the legislation. The money can be associated with departments or agencies, but the legislation does not specify where the money will go, how it will be spent, and what their objectives are. It is worrisome.
There are also no progress reports. Usually we would get a report every three to four months. That makes sense because it allows us to know how far we have come, are we on course? Are we following the curve? Is the spending in line with what was projected or are we spending too much? It is important to have an update every three or four months, depending on the expenses. In this case, reports are not required. That is another concern.
There is also no legal controls around the use of this fund, which should be a top priority. It is very important. When we vote on budgets, on envelopes, we have some idea of what is in store. Sometimes there are some contingencies, which is totally legitimate, but we know where we can spend and where we cannot. That is what we call legal controls. None exist in the case of vote 40. We believe that is a concern that absolutely must be addressed.
The same goes for the budget. There are things in this budget that are vague and lack legal restraints. Everything is left to the goodwill of the government. It can spend as it sees fit with the margin of manoeuvre that it gave itself.
I am sure that, later on, my colleagues across the way will very keenly claim that I do not know my history and that I should know that my own government, meaning the previous government, did the same thing with a $3-billion budget.
Given that Canada and the entire world were in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the great recession, it was perfectly normal for the government to give itself three billion dollars' worth of latitude. I would point out that that is less than half of the amount currently at issue, and back then, the economic climate called for swift, immediate action.
Everyone knows that the situation is reversed today, because the economy is booming around the world, not just in Canada. That means our economy is flourishing and jobs are being created, all thanks to the global economic boom. We need to keep that in mind.
Naturally, as soon as the subject of public finances or budgets comes up, since that is what we are talking about, I feel impelled to remind the members that the government betrayed the trust Canadians had placed in it. Almost three years ago now, these people got elected on the promise of small deficits and a zero deficit in 2019.
How is that actually playing out? The deficit is three times higher than promised, and we have no idea when the budget will be balanced. Then the Liberals have the gall to ask us to trust them when they say the $7.4 billion will be put to good use. We want to believe them, we know they are not dishonest folks, but the problem is that they said one thing to get elected and are now doing the opposite. The problem is that voters believed they could trust them. Unfortunately, they were wrong. The Liberals have not kept their promises. They have scrapped the agenda they campaigned on. Day after day, they talked about how they were bold enough, courageous enough, but also responsible enough to say that deficits were necessary to stimulate the economy and that everything would be fine. Great. Wonderful.
Today we see the truth of it. The Liberals have run up massive deficits and have no idea when they will balance the budget. That flies in the face of every single recognized, rigorous economic theory. Just because a country is enjoying a period of prosperity does not mean it should go into debt. We all know about economic cycles. Sooner or later, when prosperity is flagging, the government will have to pay for today's spending with money it does not have.
The government likes to crow about its lofty principles, saying how fantastic it is that it has lifted thousands of children out of poverty with more generous benefits than the previous government offered. It is so easy to hand out money one does not have and, I would add, so low to claim to be doing it for the children, when they are the ones who are going to pay for it later.
A deficit is a debt. When is a debt paid? Later. A debt is a bill that our children and grandchildren will be forced to pay because today's Liberal government does not know how to manage money responsibly. It certainly cannot manage it properly with the mandate it was given, which was specifically to run a small deficit.
Just to be clear, what the government is saying to us right now is, “Send us $7.4 billion. We know what is good, and people will see it a year and a half from now, because all the results will be in the fall of 2019.” What a coincidence. It will be just after what? It will be after the election. Who will have to get all the problems from that? For sure, the official opposition, which we are today, will be in office two years from now.