Philip Mayfield

[The Budget, February 20th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I am dismayed to hear the parliamentary secretary speak about a government budget defended by building strawmen to hack down. Is that all this budget is about?

He talks about what Reform has done. It is the Liberals who have hacked billions out of our social programs, out of our health care system and then before an election gives back a few thousand. That is the nature of this budget and that is why we are so disappointed.

In terms of health care there is not going to be any improvement from this budget in the six hospitals in my constituency nor in the hospitals in the outlying areas. This is a shadow budget.

The parliamentary secretary spoke about the friends of Reform and that Reformers want to reduce spending for their friends. That is true. But let me tell the House who our friends are.

Our friends are the ordinary Canadian people who want jobs, who want medical care when they need it, who want the freedom and opportunity to earn their living and to enjoy the fruits of their labour. Our friends are the Canadian people who reject the Liberal determination that the government can care for them, can take care of capable people better than those same capable people can take care of themselves. These are our friends. It is true that we want to reduce spending on their behalf.

Why does the government continue to promote the philosophical idea with the budget that Canadians must continually sacrifice and serve the needs of government when what they need is a government that will simply and unobtrusively serve the Canadian people?

[Excise Tax Act, February 10th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, with perseverance we shall endure. I know the finance minister apologized about breaking his GST promise, but saying "I am sorry" does not pay the bills. It does not help the sick. It does not help the most vulnerable in society.

The federal legislation for the harmonized sales tax is before this House today, Bill C-70. It should not be called a harmonized sales tax but perhaps a coat-tail tax or a tax that entices provinces with other people's money.

Bill C-70 is a reminder to all Canadians that the Liberals cannot be trusted to keep their word. Bill C-70 is a symbol of broken trust.

Why cannot Canadians trust this government? The Prime Minister leaves us with a third and final reason. In October 1990, during an interview with the Toronto Star , the Prime Minister said: ``The Liberals will scrap the goods and services tax if they win the next election. I am opposed to the GST, I have always been opposed to it and I will always be opposed to it''.

In October 1993, just before the election, the Prime Minister spoke again about the GST: "Yes, I will abolish it". In May 1994, after winning the election, he said about the GST: "We hate it and we will kill it".

However, just yesterday in the Toronto Star , the Prime Minister said: ``I have always said we want to replace the GST with a harmonized tax''. Come on, let us speak the same language.

The Prime Minister not only told the Canadian public that he would scrap, kill and abolish the GST, he told the Liberal caucus the same thing. The member for York South-Weston told the House on December 12, 1996, from page 7467 of Hansard :

Mr. Speaker, I think what is compounding the problem is that the Prime Minister refuses to recognize what his promise was. He has now had the opportunity to review both the audio and video tapes. Not only did he promise Canadians that he would scrap the GST, he also promised caucus on a number of occasions that he would scrap the GST.

After being elected the Prime Minister changed his tune. He started to say that he had always promised to replace and not abolish the GST. This got him into big trouble at a CBC town hall in December. When asked at the CBC town hall why he did not scrap the GST, the Prime Minister said: "That is not what we said on that. We never said in the red book or directly that it was to be scrapped". It was clear to everyone that the Prime Minister broke his word to Canadians.

Compounding the problem over the next couple of days, the Prime Minister denied ever saying he would scrap, kill and abolish the GST. He said: "We have not lied. We have always said there would be a replacement tax. I recognize that it is not always been clear and has remained a problem in public opinion". It seems the Prime Minister at this point was trying to pass the blame for his broken promise on to the Canadian public but it would not fall for it. It knew he had broken his word.

Therefore the Prime Minister tried to set the record straight a couple of days later by saying the following: "If I and others left the impression with anyone that we would be able to do away with the tax without replacement, I want to tell them I am sorry". Only after experiencing incredible public pressure was the Prime Minister willing to admit he was wrong. Canadians can no longer trust this Prime Minister or believe his words.

This truth is reflected in public opinion today. Let me quote from a letter sent to me earlier this year: "The CBC town hall meeting with the Prime Minister is the best of what CBC is all about. The Prime Minister again was not honest with Canadians. I don't trust the Prime Minister. I don't believe a word the man says". This is what average Canadians are saying about the Prime Minister. Canadians cannot trust this government.

In closing, I want to say what a Reform government will give Canadians. It will give four tools to keep its elected officials accountable to their promises. These four tools are the following. First, free votes in Parliament so that MPs ultimately take their voting instructions from their electors, not the party whip. Second, the right to binding referendums so that Canadians have a direct say in issues affecting their interests. Third, the right to citizen initiatives so that Canadians can force an issue on to the referendum ballot if the government chooses to ignore it. Fourth and most important of all, the right to recall, to fire MPs who fail to keep their commitments to the people and lose their trust.

The GST fiasco has taught Canadians that they cannot trust this Liberal government. In fact, Canadians have learned that they can only trust themselves. If we give Canadians the tools that I just mentioned they will continue to build this great country. They will build a strong country, built not only on the foundation of peace, order and good government but on the foundation of integrity, responsibility and accountability.

[Excise Tax Act, February 10th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I would be happy to do that. The Deputy Prime Minister used the money of the rest of Canadians to enforce the GST, to entice the Atlantic provinces to accept this GST.

Canadians cannot trust this government. That member is one of the reasons why. Think for a moment about what $1 billion could do for the hospitals that are closing down in this country and for the

students who cannot go to school because their tuition is too high. Such is the price of a broken promise.

I know the finance minister apologized about breaking his GST-

[Excise Tax Act, February 10th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, what I said was that the finance minister, instead of keeping his word, bribed the three Atlantic provinces with $1 billion to the cost of the rest of the country to harmonize the provincial sales tax with the GST and that this is his way of saying that the GST has been abolished.

[Excise Tax Act, February 10th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join the debate on the report stage of Bill C-70.

Some members opposite would have us believe that the debate is about harmonization of the GST with the provincial sales tax in the Atlantic provinces. They would have us believe that the debate is about doing taxation better. That is not what it is about.

I take my cue from a headline on the Saint John Telegraph Journal editorial in January which said: ``Most people can hold their breath longer than the Liberals can hold their principles''. That is basically what the debate is about.

The debate we are having today is about integrity, about responsibility and accountability; the lack of accountability of the government to the Canadian people. The debate is about the government's failure to keep its election promise to scrap, kill and abolish the GST. It is about why Canadians cannot trust the government.

Integrity is important to Canadians. When I travel around my riding in British Columbia, people stop and tell me that they do not expect miracles from their politicians, but they do have some expectations. They expect politicians to show compassion, expect them to care and to set an example and to keep their word. The Government of Canada has fallen short of these expectations. It has not kept its word. It has broken faith with those who trusted it. Canadians cannot trust the government for three major reasons.

The first reason they cannot trust the government is because during a CBC town hall on October 18, 1993 the Deputy Prime Minister promised Canadians: "I have already said personally and very directly that if the GST is not abolished, I will resign". The Liberals refused to abolish the GST and it took months of denial, cover-up and flip-flops before the Deputy Prime Minister finally did resign to run again in a byelection. She resigned only after a poll told her that she would win. This is not resigning. This is not responsible action. This is not integrity.

It is like saying "you caught me this time, I will go through the motions but I still don't have to be accountable". Canadians do not trust this government.

Let me share with members again the second reason why this is the case. The finance minister said on April 4, 1990: "I would abolish the GST". That is what he said. Instead of abolishing the tax and keeping his word after being elected, the finance minister tried to cover up his broken GST promise. He hid behind the coat-tails of the new tax he created, the harmonized sales tax.

Yes, the finance minister, instead of keeping his word, bribed three Atlantic provinces with about $1 billion cost to the rest of the country to harmonize their provincial sales tax with the GST. This is his way of saying that the GST has been abolished.

[Softwood Lumber, December 5th, 1996]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals promised Canadians jobs, jobs, jobs, but what Canadians have received are pink slips, pink slips, pink slips.

Nowhere has this been made more clear than in the chaos created by the Liberal government when it signed the softwood lumber agreement with the United States. This agreement is killing jobs and destroying job security across Canada.

The softwood lumber agreement is problematic for another reason. It replaces an open lumber market with the problems of a marketing board. Already I am hearing stories of lumber quotas being for sale to the highest bidder, while mills are being shut down and employees are being laid off because of a lack of lumber quota.

Will this Liberal government stop micro-managing the lumber industry and do something for the people of one of Canada's largest industries? I challenge the Liberal government to defend the jobs of Canadians against U.S. interests by referring the softwood lumber issue to the World Trade Organization.

People are hurting-

[Petitions, December 5th, 1996]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to present a petition today signed by 200 residents from British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. The petitioners feel that the GST on reading material is unfair and wrong. Education and literacy are crucial to the development of our country.

The petitioners call on Parliament to zero rate books, magazines and newspapers and ask Parliament and provincial governments to zero rate reading materials under the proposed harmonized sales tax.

[Aboriginal Peoples, November 22nd, 1996]

You are smarter than that.

[Administrative Tribunals (Remedial And Disciplinary Measures) Act, October 31st, 1996]

Madam Speaker, I agree with the member that there is no magic in the process, but the process must be open. The Canadian people, the appropriate people, must be involved. It must be more than a political adventure in appointments. When openness is there, when people know what jobs are available, what they can apply for and when the applicant who is successful has the scrutiny of not only the government but of the public at large, the process will become much fairer and will much better serve the needs of the Canadian people.

[Administrative Tribunals (Remedial And Disciplinary Measures) Act, October 31st, 1996]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased my colleague asked this question. Perhaps the single most effective means of accomplishing that purpose would be to have appointments ratified in a public forum such as a parliamentary committee. If that were the case the public would know, scrutinize, understand and make its objections if it was not properly done.