House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2006, with 80% of the vote.
Petitions March 13th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, I am also proud to present today a petition from the people of New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, and area who are very opposed to Bill C-68.
They wish the government to pursue other means of enforcing current firearms legislation and not to introduce new legislation that would turn law-abiding gun owners into criminals.
Petitions March 13th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, I have several petitions to present today. The first one is in opposition to any move by the government to include the term sexual orientation in the Canadian Human Rights Act.
It is from petitioners ranging from Moncton, New Brunswick, to Dover, New Brunswick, to Ottawa, Ontario, and right into British Columbia. I am very proud to say that I support the petition.
Labour March 13th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, Canadian farmers took a tremendous hit in the budget and they are willing to do that if they know the government will back them up when it comes to getting their product to market.
What they would like to know is whether this government is willing to introduce back to work legislation as soon as possible to help them a little after the government has knocked the pins out from underneath them.
Labour March 13th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Transport.
The current labour situation in the railways could easily lead to a national strike or railway lockout. This would have immediate and devastating effects on the Canadian economy.
When will the minister take action and introduce back to work legislation?
Borrowing Authority Act, 1995-96 March 2nd, 1995
Madam Speaker, in response to the member for Kamloops, I guess the country I would hold up is the country that Canada used to be. There was a time when people were counted on to rely on their own resources to a great extent to find their way in the world. They did that most admirably and it enabled us to build a social welfare state that would protect the people who could not look after-
Borrowing Authority Act, 1995-96 March 2nd, 1995
Madam Speaker, I reject very much the hon. member's premise which is that the social safety net is somehow the fabric of this nation, as though people in this country cannot somehow create their own tremendous culture by virtue of their own dreams and aspirations and in what they contribute to the country.
Having said that, I would be happy to answer the hon. member's question. He has asked where we would cut and we laid it out explicitly, unlike the government. During the election campaign government members said not to worry about social programs, they were not going to touch them. A year later, of course, they did a tremendous flip-flop. The hon. member for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce announced that the government has flip-flopped on its red book promises. There is still $20 billion that the government will have to cut to get its deficit to zero, at
least $20 billion by its own projections, and it has not laid out how it expects to get there.
Is the government telling people everything? Is it really not going to cut any more social programs, like it says, or is it going to get to zero like it tells people? It cannot be both ways.
We have been very up front with people. We said we would cut $15 billion. We would cut $3 billion out of old age security. It will go from $20 billion to $17 billion. We would make big cuts to transfers for welfare. We have said that. We are not embarrassed at all to say that. We know that we have to do that so that ultimately we will not allow social programs to completely unravel. We have to make those cuts.
I would like to emphasize again that for the hon. member to say somehow Canada is a social safety net is ridiculous. People who work every day for a living look at that. People who contribute to the economy and make great contributions to the culture of this nation look at that and say if that is the best we can do to become a country, produce some bloated government bureaucracy to come up with a bunch of social programs, that is not a country at all. That is a social welfare state. The hon. member across the way does not understand the country at all.
Borrowing Authority Act, 1995-96 March 2nd, 1995
Madam Speaker, it is a real pleasure to stand in the House today to address the request of the government to borrow $28.9 billion, something that has become an extremely bad habit that the government must soon break before it breaks the country.
It is very important to put that $28.9 billion in perspective. As people in the House know, but perhaps the public is not aware of it, we have a debt today of $551 billion. It is one of the highest debt to GDP ratios in the world. We have huge problems with respect to the amount of overspending we have done over the last 22 years. I would point out that over that period of time mostly Liberal governments have been in place.
It is even more discouraging that the government has set a goal for itself: to spend another $100 billion more than it takes in during the four years before its mandate is up. We will have a debt of over $600 billion before its mandate is up. I find it shocking. I find it alarming. However, the government has put that into its plans. It says that somehow it is a good thing and the rational way to proceed. I reject that.
Let us talk about what happens to an economy when a government continues to overspend day after day and year after year. I invite hon. members across the way to look at what has happened to the unemployment rate and compare it to the rise of the debt and the deficit. They move in parallel courses, both rising upward very sharply. I find that quite alarming.
I invite members across the way to note that tax levels have rocketed upward with the debt and the deficit. That impedes the ability of the economy to produce jobs. By the way, I point out to my friends across the way that governments do not produce jobs. Business does. When they take credit for 450,000 new jobs being created, it is an insult to the business people who work everyday to make a living, to make a profit to support their families.
A country is a lot like a river. There is a tremendous amount of power in a river when it shoots down a river valley. It can produce a lot of good when there is a water wheel or a turbine in that river; as the river goes rushing by it produces a lot of energy. There is a tremendous amount of good out of that.
Governments are a lot like dams. The good governments are very small dams. Mostly they allow the river to keep flowing, to push forward to the sea, its ultimate goal. The bad governments are the very big dams. Those big dams are constructed when governments continue to overspend and overregulate. They
build the dam up bigger and bigger. Pretty soon the river quits flowing and the economy as a parallel stops.
We now have a huge dam on the river. We have a lot of water sitting dormant. I equate that to all the potential productivity in the country that is not fulfilled because it has to sit there. Then there is the water that evaporates from the dam. I would equate that to all the people who have left the country. I am talking about people with high skill levels and lots of capital who can go to other jurisdictions. Many of them have. We see doctors fleeing across the border. We see businesses running across the border. I admit the NDP government in Ontario has not been a big help; it has contributed to the problem.
We also see a lot of the water ending up in a backwater in sloughs. I equate that to people stuck on social programs who see no hope coming forward because the government has created safety nets that are more like fishing nets. People get caught in them and are unable to escape.
Unfortunately the human resources development minister has failed completely to come up with a new way to provide social security for people while at the same time not remove incentives to work.
The final thing that happens with a big dam is that eventually trickles of water start to undermine the dam or go around it because they flow up over the riverbank. I would equate that to the people who have joined the underground economy and are continuing to pursue their dreams in spite of the government and not because of it. More and more of that is going on all the time.
The last subject I want to talk about is my children and everybody's children. I phone home at night and talk with my youngest little boy who is six years old. I hear his little voice on the other end of the telephone line. I find it very exciting. I sit and talk with that little twerp for a few minutes about how his day was and what kind of aspirations he has. I talk with my 10-year-old about the same sorts of things. I find that very uplifting. At the same time I find it very sad.
Like everybody in this place and like Canadians everywhere who have hopes and dreams for their children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, I get discouraged and angry when I hear that the government is planning to load another $100 billion on to the backs of those children. Government members laugh about it. They sit there and laugh about it like they are doing right now. That makes me fighting mad.
I am telling members across the way that if they continue to do this they will have to bear it on their consciences. It is a big joke to them. They sit and laugh about it. However, Canadians do not laugh about it. They will pay a huge price the next election when they have to explain how they can justify adding $100 billion to the debt, driving people out of the country, driving jobs out of the country and destroying the social safety net.
When will they have the guts to do the right thing: start cutting, get the economy back on track and get a handle on the debt and deficit? I can hardly wait for them to stand and challenge me on questions and comments because I have some questions of my own.
Government members sit there blithely joking about the fact they will borrow another $28.9 billion. I hope they can explain it next week to their constituents who have children like I do and like most of the people in this place and are wondering how in the world they can pay back those bills after 22 years of overspending.
I appreciate the chance to talk to government members about this matter. I truly hope they get the message not only from me but from taxpayers across the country who are fed up with 22 years of overspending.
The Budget February 28th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the finance minister delivered his budget and in so doing missed a glorious opportunity.
Canadians want hope. They want truth. They want leadership. But where is the hope when we discover that the compound interest on the deficit the finance minister is projecting, on top of our already huge debt, will cancel out the savings from the cuts announced by the minister? The minister could not even muster the strength to tell us when we will have a balanced budget.
Canadians want the truth. They want to know what will happen to their social programs as compound interest continues to eat up an ever larger share of their tax dollars simply because the government could not make the hard decisions in the budget. On this issue the minister is silent.
Finally, they want leadership. They want a government that will make personal sacrifices. Canadians resent a government that cuts the public service, ups taxes and allows overspending to jeopardize old age security but does not have the character to give up what is the richest, most extravagant pension plan that taxpayers' money can buy.
Petitions February 27th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, I am also pleased to present a petition on behalf of constituents who are opposed to the extension of same-sex benefits. I am pleased to offer the petition with my complete support.
Petitions February 27th, 1995
Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I have several petitions to present today, two of which relate to tax increases and the opposition of my constituents to any move by the government to increase taxes.
Altogether I have 48 sheets of names opposing tax increases. I heartily concur.