Mr. Speaker, it is critical that we take the time to discuss, to analyze and to review what the government's spending priorities are and that we put it in the context of what Canadians' priorities are. What does Canada need?
There is an old saying, wishing someone a blessing that they might live in interesting times. Some say that it is perhaps a curse and not a blessing, but we certainly do live in interesting times. Having had the privilege, the honour and the duty to represent my community in this place for coming on seven years now, I have seen the effects of the changing global, national and regional dynamics on my community.
The beautiful riding of Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands—Rideau Lakes comprises 13 municipalities. It is a collection of stories of families and of neighbours, people who are the true essence of this wonderful country, the greatest country in the world, Canada. Like so many other people, they have forged their livelihood, forged a living, forged a community and are raising a family, having broken the ground and fed the the nation and the world with the products they produce.
It has never been for lack of ingenuity, effort or wherewithal that hard times have fallen on my community. Its people have an incredibly collaborative spirit, always looking to work together, and they are committed to lifting up the least among us. I truly think that the measure of a good, just and fair society is how we treat the least among us. How are we doing with that? As I said, the efforts that people in my community have put forward have been laudable, and I am incredibly proud of the work they undertake, but what I hear consistently from them is that the cost of government so far outpaces what we are able to afford.
Is that to say that everything government, or the current government, does is bad? Well, not everything is. There is the continuation of programs that have been developed in consultation with generations of Canadians that continue to be funded and that are important.
Could we do better with the allocations that are being made? Yes, we could. While that is true of all governments, none being perfect, what we see in the current budget is an awful lot of debt and deficit spending that are really beyond the ability of Canadians to manage. The amount that we are spending on servicing the debt is more than we are spending on health care, which is something I hear about in my community often.
What is the federal government doing in terms of resolving the health care human resource challenge we have? How much money is it allocating in health transfers to the provinces? What specific measures is it taking to solve the lack of access to a doctor or other health care professional?
It is important, as the official opposition, that we oppose; it is our role, and it is an imperative in our system. However, we must also propose. I encourage the government, as it seeks passage of legislation, to meaningfully consult with the opposition. There is a lot that ties us together. There is more that we all have in common in this country than we would disagree on, so why not have those consultations?
Why not take a look at the proposal the Leader of the Opposition put forward in the election on credential recognition, on having one system across Canada for personal support workers, RPNs, RNs, NPs and MDs in which their recognition, licensure and credentials are recognized across the board. Let us straighten that out. It should be the same for folks coming from abroad who want to bring their skills, talents and credentials to Canada to help solve our health care human resource challenge. That is one example of many in which we can offer constructive solutions to the government and look for it to collaborate with us on that.
Every dollar the government spends comes from somewhere. It is coming from the pockets of Canadians. We would say that some of that should stay in their pockets. Now, how do we do that? We encouraged the government to cap the deficit and to do more on cutting taxes. Again, we are not just opposing legislation put forward by the government on reduction of taxes, on making sure that we are able to work as one Canadian economy. I voted for that. I would not just blindly oppose what the government puts forward, but I do look for those constructive conversations on such things as capping the deficit and cutting taxes.
Where can the government save money? As soon as we talk about saving money, the cries go up that it is going to mean cuts to important services for Canadians. Let us look at such things as the more than $20 billion a year that is being spent on consultants. Is every dollar spent on consultants a waste? I would not say every dollar is, but I would say it is more than $1 billion, more than$10 billion. That is what the government needs to look at. It was exposed and laid bare with the arrive scam and with fraud in indigenous procurement, with companies claiming to have indigenous status or eligibility when they did not. That is one concrete example. My goodness, $20 billion would go a long way to solving much of what ails our country and could be used to support our community.
We need constructive conversations. We need a government that cares about our trading relationship. My community has two international bridges to the United States, our largest trading partner. More than 100 jobs from Invista, in Maitland, Ontario are going across those bridges down to Texas. Dozens of jobs at Douglas Barwick have been lost because of steel tariffs. Let us have those conversations. We need that collaboration.
We need a government that is working with the opposition to adopt some of the priorities we have put forward. The people in my community, like Canadians from coast to coast to coast, need a government that cares. I am offering that. I have offered that in my seven years of service, and I will continue to do that, as will my Conservative colleagues. I look forward to members' questions.