Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to participate in today's debate in support of Bill C-15, the budget implementation act.
Budget 2025 arrives at a time when the rules-based international order and trading system that powered Canada's prosperity for decades are being reshaped, threatening our sovereignty, our prosperity and our values. This is not a time for passive stewardship. Canada must pursue active, ambitious nation building.
Budget 2025 is the government's plan to meet the moment by harnessing Canada's strengths, including its wealth of natural resources, a skilled and diverse workforce, and well-established stability and democratic values. In order to do that, we understand that we need to spend less so Canada can invest more. Leadership means making smart strategic investments while preserving the strength that comes from having the lowest net-to-GDP ratio of the G7, a strong fiscal position and a clear path to long-term sustainability. We have the resources and the people we need to thrive and compete in today's global economy.
Bill C-15 is essential to building a Canada that is confident, secure and resilient for today and for generations to come. That is why I am urging all hon. members to support the speedy passage of Bill C-15, so Canada can advance toward these goals. With my time today, I would like to outline some of the reasons why.
We will spend less to invest more. Budget 2025 introduces a new approach to fiscal discipline and strategic investment. The government will spend less on government operations so it can invest more in workers, businesses and nation-building infrastructure. To achieve this goal, government itself must become much more productive by rightsizing, cutting red tape and wasteful spending, and adopting new and innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence at scale. The government would balance Canada's operating budget within three years by making responsible, pragmatic choices, shifting the composition of spending toward capital investments that would grow the economy and prosperity for Canadians.
The government would slow growth in direct program spending from 8% to under 1%. The savings plan means Canadians can count on their government to be more efficient in delivering services that matter, while reducing operational costs. This is where Bill C-15 comes in. Bill C-15 is key to budget 2025's objective to deliver on the comprehensive expenditure review, which will focus on core priorities and ensure less is spent on the day-to-day running of government. Savings would be achieved by restructuring operations, consolidating internal services and rightsizing programs. The approach would also return the size of the public service to a more sustainable level.
The federal government played an instrumental role in ensuring that Canada weathered the COVID-19 pandemic far better than most of our G7 and OECD peers. However, a new set of challenges is now upon us, and returning the public service to sustainable pre-COVID levels would help us meet those challenges. The comprehensive expenditure review would achieve savings of $9 billion in 2026-27, $10 billion in 2027-28 and $13 billion in 2028-29. Combined with other savings and revenues in budget 2025, this would total $60 billion over five years, starting this year, 2025-26.
Making government more efficient is not just about rightsizing the public service, but also about making sure government can help drive productivity growth that can support higher wages, strengthen Canada's private sector investment and improve Canada's resilience to future shocks. Bill C-15 would amend the Red Tape Reduction Act to empower all ministers with authority to enable regulatory sandboxes. It would give a responsible minister the authority to grant temporary exemptions from legislation or regulations to allow for testing of products, services, processes or new regulatory approaches. The proposed amendments would cut red tape that slows private investment, limits trade and labour mobility, and restricts competition.
In a similar way, the government is also committed to making the public sector more efficient. Legislative requirements, such as duplicative reporting or cumbersome approvals processes, consume a significant amount of public servants' time, diverting them from tasks that provide greater value to Canadians.
The government will conduct a review to identify additional legislative amendments to, for example, streamline low-risk internal processes, modernize outdated requirements, and eliminate unnecessary and burdensome reporting requirements.
In conclusion, Bill C-15 and budget 2025 are critical steps toward securing a stronger, more prosperous Canada in an increasingly uncertain world. I implore the hon. members here today to support the speedy passage of the bill so that we can get it working for Canada as soon as possible.