Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs.
This motion is a very important subject which is very important to the government and very important to Canadians. The motion however is an unfortunate mix of good intentions and a blatant attempt to score cheap political points. As such it is insupportable.
The motion before us asks the House to urge the government to conclude an agreement on the social union with the provinces prior to December 31. When the Prime Minister and the other first ministers initiated these negotiations last December, they intentionally avoided setting artificial deadlines. This initiative is too important for Canadians. It must be done right.
Last night both Premier Romanow and Premier Tobin rejected establishing artificial deadlines. It is unfortunate the focus of this motion is an attempt to capitalize on what is an important issue, one that this government takes seriously and one that is important to all Canadians.
Let us look at the important elements of our social union and what this government is trying to achieve in these negotiations.
What the federal, provincial and territorial governments are trying to do is to arrive at a framework agreement on the social union. The idea is to strengthen the social partnership between the provinces, on the one hand, and the governments and citizens, on the other hand.
The Government of Canada feels that the new partnership should have three objectives: to provide equal opportunities to all Canadians, wherever they live or travel in the country; to increase co-operation between the governments so as to better serve Canadians; and to make governments more accountable to Canadians for the results they achieve.
To provide equal opportunities also means to respect the great diversity that is an integral part of Canada. We must therefore be flexible enough to meet the diverse needs of Canadians. That diversity is the result of cultural, linguistic and geographical factors, or of other specific circumstances or features.
This means that governments must work together with the aboriginal peoples of this country to meet their particular needs.
As the premiers pointed out in the Calgary declaration, it also means recognizing that the equality of the provinces is compatible with recognition of Quebec's particular needs, in the form of its French-speaking majority, its distinct culture and its tradition of civil law.
Finally, equality of opportunity means ensuring that Canadians are free to travel anywhere in their country, without facing obstacles related to place of residence and without concerns about access to social benefits.
Our social union is about our solidarity with one another. It is about our understanding that we are stronger together, that when Canadians in one part of Canada are in need, Canadians from all parts of Canada are prepared to help. This in turn means greater collaboration among governments in Canada, learning to manage their interdependence to ensure the most effective and efficient service to Canadians.
In this era of globalization, with an increasingly competitive world economy, it is no longer possible, if it ever was, to segregate public policy into neat, air-tight compartments of social policy and economic policy, federal and provincial-territorial responsibilities, or even domestic and international considerations.
Canadians want their governments to work together to modernize our social programs, to face the challenges ahead, to help individuals and regions adapt to the new knowledge-based global economy and to ensure that social programs work and are affordable and sustainable.
How do we translate all of this into action? Practically speaking, it means that all governments should make commitments to information sharing, to joint planning and to joint action where this would provide more cost effective service to Canadians and to advance notice and consultation.
We are already working together with the provinces and territories in this new collaborative partnership approach. A good example of this is the new national child benefit which the Government of Canada developed with the provincial and territorial ministers. It focuses on the goal of helping Canada's children. This collaborative approach promises to bear fruit in other areas, including developing a national children's agenda, programs for persons with disabilities and youth employment.
The Prime Minister and the Minister of Health have also made it clear that renewing medicare and modernizing Canada's health care system will require co-operation among all governments in Canada.
The future social union framework agreement will give effect to the new partnership between governments in the social policy sector by requiring a more co-operative approach to federal spending authority.
In all the world's large federations, the national government has this authority. It is because of this authority that the Government of Canada, in co-operation with the provinces and territories, can ensure that all Canadians have access to more or less comparable benefits and services. This was how the government promoted equality of opportunity for all Canadians.
It is clear that, without this spending authority, we would not have Canada-wide social programs, such as medicare. In fact, we would not have the national social safety net.
Even if the federal spending power is an essential component of the Canadian social union, one that is recognized in the Constitution, we must exercise it prudently, taking into account and respecting the important responsibilities assumed by the provinces in the area of social policy.
For this reason, the Government of Canada promised in its 1996 Throne Speech not to implement any new cost-shared programs without the consent of the majority of provinces. Provinces opting out of these programs would be entitled to financial compensation, provided they offered a comparable or equivalent program.
Similarly, the legislation creating the Canadian Health and Social Transfer, the CHST, which is the main federal instrument of support to the provinces in the area of social policy since 1995 calls for the drawing up of new principles or objectives, by mutual agreement.
The Government of Canada has also made an effort to make the funding of social transfers more predictable, by having multi-year financial commitments, by establishing a minimum guaranteed floor for the cash component of the CHST, and by holding consultations prior to renewing or modifying any taxation agreements.
Social policy principles and commitments to collaboration among governments must be put into practice and made effective. A social union framework must include appropriate mechanisms and means to ensure this through public accountability and transparency. This means public reporting by all governments, linking expenditures to results for Canadians. It means developing comparable measures and, where appropriate, making use of experts and non-governmental organizations for independent evaluation and social audit.
It also means recognizing publicly the roles and contributions of each government, so the public knows who should be held accountable for what. And it means engaging Canadians, providing opportunities for their input into policies and programs and the assessment of their effectiveness.
This is a far cry from the old style government-to-government accountability and traditional bean counting. The key must be accountability to Canadians for results.
This is how a social union framework can be made real and meaningful to citizens and taxpayers and it should not restricted by the timeframes suggested by this motion.
