Mr. Speaker, back in my university days I had some experience with Maoist economics. I just heard some of that come at me from the previous speaker. I understand that is where their leader is coming from in terms of protocol ideology.
Nevertheless I am pleased and privileged to have the opportunity to speak on the fourth budget of the government. My maiden speech to the House was on the occasion of the government's first budget. I vividly recall the challenges we were facing as a new government and as a people.
The previous Conservative government during its nine years in office mismanaged the Canadian economy, gave Canadians record deficits and the debt grew from $208 billion to $508 billion. We were facing a fiscal crisis whereby over one-third of our revenues went to finance the debt.
The challenge for us as a government and the challenge for us as Canadians was to bring the country back to fiscal health and to regain our fiscal sovereignty. As a government we knew that if we failed at this task we would fail at everything else we tried to do.
We have met our deficit targets. We have restored Canada's fiscal integrity. We have united the country in the determination to guard the new fiscal sovereignty we have won.
The proof of our fiscal success is the reality of having the lowest interest rates in 40 years. The Canadian prime rate is at 4.75 per
cent and the U.S. prime rate is at 8.25 per cent. Our prime rate is 3.5 per cent lower than the U.S. prime rate. The U.S. prime rate is 74 per cent higher than the Canadian prime rate. On a loan of $100,000 this represents a saving of $3,500 in annual interest charges.
Because we have our fiscal house in order Canada is viewed abroad as a good place to invest, a good partner to trade with and a great place to live. Everyone is optimistic about Canada's future both in the short term and in the long term. The rest of the community is forecasting improvements and rightly so.
The budget has its priorities in balance. This is truly a Liberal budget for it makes provision for those who need the assistance of their fellow Canadians within the framework of the economic realities. Because of the government's policies which have been reiterated in the budget we the people of Canada are once again maîtres chez nous.
We are investing in ourselves by facilitating the full participation in society of those with disabilities. We are investing in ourselves by taking steps to maintain and strengthen our health care system. We are investing in ourselves by not yielding to the temptation to buy votes with our tax cut. That would be a fool's bargain. That would be throwing away our future, our children's future and Canada's future.
Therefore we have chosen to invest in our future. We are proposing the new national child benefit system to give the children of low income families a better start in life and to fight poverty.
Without a job the ordinary Canadian has no future whether we are speaking of today's adults or today's children when they grow up. Creating a favourable climate for a growing economy has been and continues to be a goal of the government.
The government has taken positive actions to create more jobs for Canadians now and in the future. That is how we will maintain and improve our standard of living and increase government revenues, not by borrowing more money to cut taxes.
The Minister of Finance and the Prime Minister are to be applauded for their leadership in involving the Liberal caucus in drafting the budget. They involved members of the Liberal caucus through caucus committees. The budget is a result of our collective efforts. Along with my colleague from Kitchener I helped establish the eight-member post-secondary caucus, of which we are both members. We see the fruits of our three years of work in the budget.
Canada's bright future depends on our continuing ability to produce the goods and services the world needs. To produce those goods and services we need to invest in ourselves.
My constituency is blessed with two universities and a community college campus with a combined student enrolment of over 40,000. Wilfrid Laurier University, the University of Waterloo and Conestoga College are integral parts of the identity of my riding. I applaud the wisdom of the finance minister in arranging to help students pay for their education. There are three ways in which the budget will benefit those paying tuition for higher education.
The increased tax assistance makes it possible to dedicate more of a person's income to education costs, thus holding down the debts incurred in meeting those costs.
In the past it has been common for students to graduate and find themselves faced with having to pay off their student loans before they could get established in a job. The maximum deferral period will be increased to three years to help them get on their feet.
James Downey, president of the University of Waterloo, and Lorna Marsden, president of Wilfrid Laurier University, have expressed to me their enthusiastic approval and support of the higher education provisions of the budget.
Canadian universities and their presidents have all reacted positively to the budget which identifies investment in university research, university infrastructure and students as key priorities.
The idea for improved student financing was started at the University of Waterloo last spring by two economic students, Chris Lowe and Paul Skipper. Through Kelly Foley, vice-president of education of the Federation of Students, they worked with the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations to lobby the government through the post-secondary education caucus.
As a former president of the Federation of Students, a member of the senate at the University of Waterloo and a former board of governors member of Wilfrid Laurier University, I thank Kelly Foley and all members of the post-secondary education community for their help. We did this together. You made a difference. Your lobby worked and I and my colleague from Kitchener look forward to working together with you to ensure the excellence of our post-secondary educational institutions in Canada. This budget is a big step in that process.
It is because of my deep belief in post-secondary education that I support financially all the post-secondary educational institutions in my community and I urge all post-secondary graduates to do the same. The education community supports us in this because it knows the value of education. Like the students and their parents, it does not want to see our young people robbed of their opportunities for higher education because of fiscal barriers. All the people of Canada do not want to see the nation deprived of the talents of the next generation.
I am very happy that the budget is investing in future jobs in Canada for Canadians by setting up the foundation for innovation. This is a very important strategic move to keep Canada in the technological forefront in several keys areas, science, engineering, health and the environment. The dividends of this investment will be huge. By putting funding into education and research and development we are building the bridge to the next millennium. We need jobs and this is where the jobs of the future are.
The key to a person's success in the world is education. Statistics show that the more education you have, the less likely you are to be unemployed. So there is no question that the more of us who obtain a higher education, the better off we will be as individuals and as Canadians.
Where will these graduates work? As I said, here in Canada. I can give a good example on how it works for my riding. There are probably similar situations right across Canada. The University of Waterloo, Wilfred Laurier University and Conestoga College have spun off more than 200 companies because of their programs in engineering and computers, environmental technology and business. These companies are located in Canada's technology triangle and in other Canadian centres. They are doing well because they are dealing in the goods and services that are needed.
Because of the constant output of new graduates from universities and because of university research our local high tech sector is going to boom in the immediate future especially in the area of information technology.
Right now Canada has a shortage of 20,000 positions in the software sector that are not being filled. This is clearly hurting our economy. It is hurting us economically as a nation. Clearly there are many places these young people can be trained. Resources spent in our post-secondary institutions will ensure those jobs are filled.
With the notable exception I just stated, we have through our education system a critical mass of skilled labour together with the capability of ongoing research in partnership with the educational sector. Thanks to the new budget the federal government is fostering the growth of both industry and education to the benefit of all Canada. With a new high tech industrial park in place, it is now in the initial stages. There will be less of a tendency for graduates and companies to move south. The facilities for development will be here in the Waterloo region, in Canada's technology triangle.
In the new economy it is an imperative that industry, educational institutions and governments at all levels work together in the fashion of Team Canada. We are doing that in my riding.
I mentioned that we have a high tech sector in the Waterloo area. Students are graduating from the computer engineering program at the University of Waterloo. The biggest recruiter of our students is Microsoft in the United States. Clearly that does not make any sense.
We are spending tax dollars to educate our young people. We get them to the point where they can compete in the world. In too many cases the brain drain goes to the United States.