Lost his last election, in 2004, with 39% of the vote.
The Budget March 27th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, I do not know where the member across the way is coming from. He talks about a shipbuilding program. We just finished building a brand new fleet of Halifax class frigates. The Canadian navy is brand new again. There are contracts already let out to replace the Sea Kings. I believe that will happen next year. More money is being put into defence as a result of this budget. I am not sure where he is coming from, but he had better get his facts straight.
The Budget March 27th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague across the way used to sit on the standing committee on agriculture. He has an agriculture background and should know better. Of course I stand up for the interest of farmers. I was out west at least three times last year. We worked hard to get an extra $240 million to western farmers.
The minister of agriculture just signed an agreement with the provincial ministers on another long term program to support agriculture in Canada. I do not know where the member across the way has been living, but obviously he should sit down, read the newspapers and read Hansard because he is missing a lot of really good information on what is happening in agriculture.
The Budget March 27th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, the short answer to that question is yes, and they agreed with what we are doing.
The hon. member across the way talked about the GST. One of the first things I told my constituents in the 1993 campaign was that whatever we do with the GST it generates $18 billion worth of revenue for the government, that the government needs that money, and that if we do away with the tax we will run an extra $18 billion deficit.
In the last six and a half years the government has not only solved these problems but are now in the black. The previous government could not get its act together in this regard. The short answer to his question is yes, my constituents knew about all decisions the government was making and agreed with them, because I am back here for a second term.
The Budget March 27th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, this is typical of the Tories. They are just out of touch. That is the problem.
Important to my constituents also were environmental projects and job initiatives. These priorities were right in line with what the budget delivered. I cannot help but feel good about this budget when its top priorities were the same top priorities identified by my constituents.
Budget 2000 has something for everybody. Let us take a look at the tax cuts. Personal income taxes are being cut by an average of 15%. For families with children, they are going to be cut by 21% over five years and middle class families will receive a break of 23% from 26%. Restoring full indexation of the personal income tax system, which is something that took everybody by surprise, will end bracket creep caused by inflation. This means that Canadians will be able to earn more tax free income and more of their income will be taxed at a lower rate. It is a good deal.
We are lowering taxes when the nation's finances allow us to do so. These cuts have already been paid for through three consecutive balanced budgets. I want to make perfectly clear that we are not borrowing the money to pay for these cuts like the Mike Harris government has been doing in Ontario.
To make strides in our economy it takes more than lowering personal income tax. The budget will also help small businesses in my riding and across the country by lowering their tax rates. The budget also proposes to spur investment and encourage entrepreneurship by lowering capital gains tax, by taxing stock options only when the shares are sold, and by allowing a $500,000 tax free rollover for new ventures. It will also help by increasing resources available through the community futures program. This program delivers economic support to small and rural communities in the form of mentoring services, business counselling, training and loans.
As a sound investment the budget provides for health care and quality of life for Canadians. Building on the 1999 health care announcement, the budget increases the Canada health and social transfer payments to the provinces and the territories by $2.5 billion for health care and education. This means that the CHST will reach an all time high of almost $31 billion for the 2000-01 year.
In the last two years the federal cash support for health care and education in Ontario increased by 24%. The government provides transfers to health care in Ontario through cash and through tax points under the Canada health and social transfer. I want to stress a point that does not come out very often but should. All contributions taken into consideration, the federal government now provides in excess of 33 cents of every public dollar spent by governments in Canada. My constituents want us to continue our responsible fiscal management and to continue paying down the debt.
As budget 2000 reports from 1997 to 1998 when the budget was first balanced and through to 2000 to 2002, the growth in program spending will be held roughly to the growth in population and inflation. The unemployment rate is 4.5% lower than the 11.4% the government inherited shortly after taking office in October 1993.
Over 1.8 million new jobs have been created since then. The budget continues the principles under the debt repayment plan, setting aside a $3 billion contingency reserve each year to ensure a balanced budget. If we do not need the reserve it automatically goes to debt repayment. Previous governments set aside long term deficit targets that were never met. This government's approach to budgeting is to set credible two year rolling deficit targets. This means the government is held accountable on a continuous basis.
There are many more important investments outlined in the budget to make Canada more innovative such as in new technology and leading edge research and innovation in research hospitals, universities and the private sector. There are many supports for the environmental initiatives of clean air, water and health habitats. On the community level there are $25 million to help municipalities and communities to determine best approaches toward waste management, renewable energy, water conservation, and the list goes on. There are $100 million in a revolving fund, the green municipal investment fund, to support projects in areas such as sustainable communities, urban transit, energy and water savings, and the list goes on.
People in my riding are very interested in protecting the environment. With the headwaters of three rivers, the Credit, the Humber and the Saugeen, plus the Grand River system and Nottawasaga in my riding, they are very interested in initiatives that can help in their protection. The creation of a new sustainable development technology fund will help companies develop new environmental technologies and bring them to market.
In another initiative, building on local efforts to preserve natural habitats and species, the federal government is cutting by half the capital gains tax arising from donations to ecologically sensitive lands and will be providing $90 million over three years to protect species at risk.
Other initiatives include increasing the tax exemption for income from scholarships. That was one I pushed for. It has been increased from $500 to $3,000. There will be $90 million over three years to strengthen the government's ability to regulate biotechnology products and processes, and $160 million over two years so that federal government services will be offered to Canadians on line.
There is also a proposal to work out a multi-year agreement with the provinces and the private sector to improve highways and municipal infrastructure, including green infrastructure and affordable housing in urban and rural communities.
My constituents were happy with the budget. I have not to date received one phone call complaining about the budget. I can remember back in 1993 my fax machine going crazy. We could not keep paper in it. There were no tax increases.
My constituents were afraid that we were going to be like the previous government. We are not. Canadians are very comfortable and very confident in the government's management of the country.
The Budget March 27th, 2000
No, Mr. Speaker, the member is absolutely wrong. The landslide was for tax reduction, health care investments and debt reduction. That is what the survey said.
The Budget March 27th, 2000
I will, but I will be honest and factual at the same time.
I am proud to be here now, when we are in an era of surpluses and we can move forward to embrace the opportunities of the 21st century.
First, I would like to talk about those early days. Many of my colleagues were also here in 1993. They could tell the House what it was like.
Seven years ago this country was at an economic low. Nine years of the Mulroney government had played havoc with our federal debt. Estimates indicated that within eight years the debt had increased by $250 billion.
We were also left with a $42 billion deficit and we had to pay 33 cents of every revenue dollar to the interest on the debt. This was not paying back the debt, it was just the interest on the debt.
Unemployment was at 11.4% and high deficits and the resulting pressure on interest rates had affected, adversely I may add, economic growth and job creation. If this cycle had been allowed to continue Canada would have been in very, very bad shape. It may even have hit the New Zealand wall that everybody talks about.
As a government we made some pretty tough comprises and prioritized, down to the absolute detail I might add, and thought about the sorts of things that were important to Canadians. With the economy now gaining momentum and new jobs and opportunities available to us we are optimistic and we are ready for the 21st century.
A couple of months before the budget was announced I asked my constituents what they thought these investments should look like. The informal survey which I sent out asked them to list in the order of priority where they would like to see budget dollars spent. I received approximately 200 responses. The top three priorities—
The Budget March 27th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, I was here in 1993 when the government began to pick up the broken pieces that were left from the government we replaced.
Supply March 20th, 2000
Madam Speaker, I totally agree with the member. Her speech has been one of the best ones I have heard in the Chamber this morning. She sees the Reform members for what they are.
We transferred emergency funds to the provinces. The province of Quebec for instance took $700 million and put it into a savings account in the Toronto-Dominion Bank where it is collecting interest right now. We transferred $1.3 billion to Ontario. Mike Harris, the kissing cousin of the Reform Party, said that Ontario would immediately spend every cent of that money. Ontario spent $750 million of it and $556 million is still sitting in a savings account.
What process would the hon. member see being put in place to make the provinces spend the money the federal government transfers to them for health care?
Supply March 20th, 2000
Mr. Speaker, I have sat here and listened with a lot of interest to the two speeches by the Reform members. My evaluation of the speeches by the members for Calgary—Nose Hill and Calgary East was that they were long on rhetoric and very short on facts. I will try to get an answer out of the member for Calgary East.
In the last budget, we transferred emergency funds to the provinces and they were to spend it. Now we find that in Quebec, for instance, it took $700 million, which was supposed to go into health care, and put it into a savings account at the TD Bank. We transferred $1.3 billion to Ontario, Mike Harris' government. It spent $750 million of it but banked $556 million, again in a savings account. Mr. Harris says he will spend every cent of it on health care.
My question for the member is how do we get the provinces to spend the money we are transferring to them on health care instead of putting it into a savings account? How do we do that?
Supply March 17th, 2000
Madam Speaker, the federal government has been putting money into health care. In fact we put up $1.3 billion in emergency funds for Ontario to draw from. At that point in time Ontario spent about $750 million and it still has $556 million in a savings account that it has not spent.
My question is for the hon. member across the way. I know Quebec did the same. It has $700 million sitting in a savings account in the TD bank. Could the hon. member tell me what rate of interest it is getting for that money?