Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Edmonton Southwest.
As I speak to the budget today, I cannot help but think it is almost a waste of my time. Through a series of unforeseen circumstances we are here on the second day of debate on the budget, almost two weeks after it was introduced in the House. Already the budget is of little if any concern to the Canadian people. It was insignificant 12 days ago when the finance minister gave the budget speech and it is of even less significance today.
The budget the government members are so proud of is a budget that does nothing. Actually it seems to be the rallying cry of the Liberal government, the party that does nothing and is proud of it.
I know I am being a little facetious here. After all, the government has done something. After three years in power the government will have added $100 billion to the national debt. For some unknown reason members opposite seem to think this is a great thing to have done. I would like to put their record into some statistical perspective.
The Liberal government has been in power for less than 2.5 per cent of the 129 years Canada has existed as a country. During this short period it is responsible for 17 per cent of the entire debt. There is a record these Liberals can be proud of. They have been able to run up the debt at a faster rate than any other government in the history of Canada.
I can see the Liberals in their caucus meeting chanting "we are number one, we are number one". Unfortunately the members of the government have actually bought the premise that having a deficit of 3 per cent of GDP is some magic elixir. Three per cent of GDP is irrelevant when the national debt is 75 per cent of GDP.
This massive debt load we carry is the biggest threat to our social programs and the greatest hindrance to increased employment. The government is following in the same footsteps as the Tories when they came to power in the mid-1980s. It is not doing things differently. It is not being creative.
The Tories also took modest steps to improve on the disasters the previous Liberal government had created, and then congratulated themselves for their meagre accomplishment. The Tories failed to take advantage of a booming economy to get their finances in order. When the recession hit, they were in dire straits.
Unfortunately the Liberals do not seem to have learned from the mistakes of the Tories. Here we are with some of the lowest interest rates in the last 30 years, a booming economy in the United States, low inflation, yet our economy is stifled by sluggish growth and we still have far too many people unemployed. What is the problem? In case government members have not noticed, it is the debt.
The debt costs Canadians $50 billion a year in interest payments. It astounds me when I hear members of the government and the socialists complain about our banks earning billion dollar profits. Do they not realize that much of the profit the banks earn is from interest payments on money they lend to the federal government? It is not just Canadian banks. Each year our government sends almost $20 billion of taxpayers' money to foreign banks and financial institutions.
Has the government not realized that with almost 33 cents on every dollar the government spends going to service the debt that it is extremely limited in what it can accomplish?
The Reform Party knows the problem is the debt. The IMF knows the problem is the debt. Even the CIA knows the problem is the debt. That is right, the CIA.
While surfing the net last week, my office came across the CIA's home page. While it does not list all its secrets on the Internet, it does list its analyses on all the countries around the world. It has a very thorough eight page listing on Canada. Of particular interest was its information on our economy. In summary, the CIA states:
"With its great natural resources, skilled labour force and modern capital plant, Canada has excellent economic prospects, although the country still faces high unemployment and a growing debt".
If everyone else recognizes the problem, why has not the government? Instead it brags about a deficit of around $30 billion this year and $20 billion and some next year.
What is particularly troubling is how the government is reducing the debt. Much of its cost cutting has involved a reduction in transfers to the provinces. That means the federal government is not seen cutting any of its programs; rather the provinces have to cut theirs. It looks good for the feds, but the real losers are the taxpayers.
The other major sleight of hand is how the government is now using unemployment insurance premiums to subsidize other government spending. It is true that two years ago the unemployment insurance fund was in a deficit situation, but that deficit has been eliminated. By the end of this year there will be a $5 billion surplus. By next year there will be close to a $10 billion surplus.
Is the money being saved in a special unemployment fund which can be used the next time there are more expenditures than revenue? Of course not. It is put right into the consolidated revenue fund. Is there any chance that the government will reduce the premiums so that employers and employees will have more money in their pockets to stimulate the economy? Of course not. The government is keeping the money in its pocket so it looks like it is doing something about the deficit.
The government should be spending less time on optics and more time on doing the right thing. What is the right thing? To figure that out I think the best minds in the Liberal Party scour through the Reform Party's policies to see what idea they can steal next. If the government continues to steal the Reform Party's policies and platforms, it will eventually get around to addressing the debt. After all, it has already adopted our policies on seniors.
In my constituency there is a large senior population. Amendments to the old age security program will be viewed with particular interest. In the last election campaign the Reform Party suggested two changes to OAS: calculating income on a family basis and eliminating payments to high income earners. I recall the Liberals condemning us for these suggestions. "How unfair to use family income to calculate benefits", they said. "It is heresy", they stated, "for Reform to suggest that we eliminate payments to high income earners, as that would mean the death of universality".
What do we see in this budget? The end of universality and the family based income calculation. It is so typical of this government to say one thing to get elected and then do the opposite when in government.
If this government had just adopted our position on the debt and deficit, it could have saved Canadian taxpayers billions of dollars in interest payments. It could have prevented billions of dollars from being sent out of the country to foreign financial institutions. Maybe it could have let Canadians enjoy some of that excellent economic potential that we would have if it were not for our debt. Hey, if you do not believe us, go ask the CIA.
