Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Restigouche-Chaleur for splitting his time.
Today we are debating the 1996-97 budget. I am pleased to have the opportunity to represent the city of St. Catharines in this debate. I want to focus my comments on creating jobs because that is what the budget is all about, creating the atmosphere and positive attitude for businesses to create jobs.
During the election in 1993, unemployment in St. Catharines and Niagara was around 15 per cent. Last year, it was below the national average of 9.1 per cent, still too high but moving in a positive direction. It is not due to government handouts. It is due to the open process for budget review, cutting red tape, working with small businesses, working with people, working with communities. By working together we have obtained economic stability, growth and deficit reduction.
The government ran on a platform of creating opportunity. Liberals believe that a federal government must work with Canadian business to provide the proper supports and to create a positive climate for economic growth. That is what I endeavour to do in my riding. I meet with local business people in St. Catharines every week to try to find out how their businesses are doing, what they need to succeed and how government can work to help and not hinder business growth.
I was telling the House a couple of weeks ago about a company in my riding, Lincoln Fabrics, which has the ISO 9002 standard. This company is the first fabric supplier of this type in North America to achieve this high level of quality manufacturing and management. I am going to make sure that people, governments and businesses know about this achievement because it is companies like Lincoln Fabrics that set the industry standard. It is companies like Lincoln Fabrics that create jobs.
I met recently with two companies which make wood products. These companies are going to work with the EDC to sell 100 per cent of their manufactured wood products to Germany. This is a very important step for these companies and is an example of how governments can create the opportunity for jobs within businesses without throwing money at them, instead working with them. These businesses need information, they need contacts, they need people who can open doors. With this help they can expand and create jobs.
I have worked with a business from the greater Toronto area. It was going to move to the United States because of the duty hit it was taking on imported goods and the requirement of up front money, excess paperwork and administration. The government passed Bill C-102 which provides for duty deferral and a free trade zone system. Now that business is staying in Canada, keeping Canadians employed.
Bill C-102 is important for a lot of companies. In St. Catharines we compete directly with U.S. businesses across the border. They had a major advantage over Canadian companies because of their free trade zones. We have changed that. A group of St. Catharines' companies worked with me and with the finance department to make sure the new legislation was effective and useful for businesses.
Local companies in St. Catharines are also looking forward to benefiting from the government's Canada community investment program or CCIP. Communities and businesses outside major urban areas like Toronto, Halifax, Montreal, Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary need help. Areas like mine have smaller populations with fewer businesses but they have very active business potential which needs the assistance of the Canada community investment plan announced in the budget.
I believe many local projects which could have created jobs have been lost because of lack of financing, venture capital and a co-ordinated community investment fund. For example, did members know that the inventor of the plastic hockey stick is from my area? What they may not know is that he could not obtain funding in Canada so he had to go to the U.S., which meant jobs in the U.S.
How about the inventor of no-lead shotgun shells, John E. Brown, who was forced to go to the U.S. for funding, and we lost more jobs?
We must continue to find solutions to help Canadian inventors and entrepreneurs find risk and venture capital from Canadian sources. New programs like CCIP can help to create jobs. I have just outlined how government policies and programs through finance and industry have already benefited and will continue to benefit businesses in my area and areas across Canada.
The budget announced last month will continue to help business. It helps because it continues the path of fiscal accountability and stability. It helps because the bottom line is that the deficit must be brought under control in order to improve the Canadian economy and we are doing exactly that.
Canadians will not see a drastic slash and burn approach by this government. They will see an aggressive loyalty to bringing our fiscal house back in order. It took many years to create the deficit and it will take a few years to get in line.
In 1993 the deficit run up by the last government was $42 billion or 5.9 per cent of GDP. This year the target is $24 billion, which means the government will have met its target of 3 per cent of GDP. Meeting targets is very important. Next year with a deficit of $17 billion for 1997, the debt to GDP ratio will be down to 2 per cent. This will put us in a position where the economy can finally grow faster than the debt.
As the finance minister said on budget day, it sets the stage for the first meaningful decline in the debt to GDP ratio since 1974-75. It sets the direction for meeting targets, building confidence and allowing people and business to make their home and business plans and build a better future for Canada and Canadians.
As I have just outlined, first and foremost government is putting its fiscal house in order. That is an important initiative the government can take to ensure the economic future of our country.
Action is being taken to directly foster job creation and growth in several ways. This year's budget reallocates $270 million to encourage technology and innovation over the next three years. This includes programs like Technology Partnership Canada and expanding the SchoolNet program introduced in 1994. Every member in the House should be working with their schools to promote SchoolNet in their area. It is an investment in young people.
When talking about unemployment, the focus must be on youth. Not just because they are the future of our economic success, but because young people have a much higher rate of unemployment than the overall population. In many cases it is their first job and it is very important.
The budget addresses the issues of education and improved job opportunities for youth. First, we have provided secure, long term funding for transfers to provinces which help to pay for post-secondary education. They asked for it and it has been given to them for five years, $25.1 billion. The student loan programs have been expanded to provide financial assistance.
In this year's budget the government is providing an additional $80 million a year in tax assistance to help students and their families with the cost of tuition.
Three hundred and fifty million dollars is being reallocated to help create jobs for young people over the next three years. This includes doubling the funding for student summer employment this year. The funds will also be used to help young people with the school to work transition. That can be a real barrier to getting a first job. This is in addition to the funding for the Youth Internship Canada and Youth Services Canada programs which have been very successful in my riding of St. Catharines.
There are many other items I would like to touch on, including the information from the Canadian Export Association on what the government has done.
In summary, I want to emphasize that the budget is about jobs. The government is working to create an economic and business climate so that jobs will be created, while at the same time being sensitive to the needs of our most important resource, people.
