Rick Borotsik

[Specific Claims Resolution Act, March 18th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, members of the Progressive Conservative Party will vote no to both these motions.

[Lobbyists Registration Act, March 18th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, members of the Progressive Conservative Party will vote yes to the motion.

[Canada Elections Act, March 18th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, on Bill C-24, the main motion, the member for Fundy—Royal and the member for Kings—Hants will be voting in opposition to the motion.

[Canada Elections Act, March 18th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to add the member for Cumberland—Colchester to the Progressive Conservative members voting.

(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

[Border Security, March 18th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, in his televised address last night President Bush said he was “...taking further actions to protect our homeland”. The last time the United States heightened security Canadian goods were stopped at the border and Canadian citizens were detained and interrogated.

The Deputy Prime Minister says he has talked to Mr. Ridge, however what guarantees has he secured from the United States to ensure that our commodities will cross that border and our citizens will not be detained?

[Question No. 118, March 18th, 2003]

What, in detail, are all of the funding options being considered regarding the twinning of the Trans-Canada Highway in the Province of Manitoba, and with respect to this process: ( a ) how many road and/or highway construction projects has the government approved in Manitoba; ( b ) what was the dollar amount for each project; and ( c ) what work has been carried out under each project?

[The Budget, March 17th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I will speak through you to the members of the government. They are the ones who should be paying attention when I stand to speak. I will speak very quickly because I probably will not be able to finish in the time allotted.

Budgets are pretty simple. They collect money from the taxpayers of the country and spend money supposedly on services to benefit those same taxpayers who pay the money in the first place. It is pretty simple. The money is taken and put into what is supposed to be seen as the priorities. We can talk about what Canadians see as priorities. It is their money.

One thing the government has a tendency to forget is that it is the taxpayers' money. The Liberals seem to think it is their money when they bring it in by the shovel load or the barrelful. They think they should have the right to dole it out on their own pet projects. Budgets are simple; money in and money out.

The problem with the government is that in this budget we had the opportunity of having Canadians analyze it. Canadians throughout this great country over the last number of weeks have seen the different areas of priorities and expenditures the government put forward in the budget. I can honestly say that I have not had anyone run up to me and say, “Boy, have the Liberals ever done a wonderful job with our money this year”. Not one person suggested that maybe I should not stand up and take the LIberals to task because, boy have they ever hit the mark on this one and put the money to good use. In fact, it is quite the opposite.

A lot of Canadians have come up to me and said that just maybe the Liberals missed the mark on this one. The Liberals have tried the shotgun approach and hit every little piece they possibly could for whatever reason, and legacy comes to mind. They have tried to hit every little piece and quite frankly have failed miserably in trying to put that shotgun approach forward.

There were a number of areas which Canadians felt should be priorities. Needless to say the first one was health care. Health care was the priority. Yes, the Liberals sat down and bullied the provinces and by the way, put back into health care they money that they yanked out of the system in 1993 and 1994. It was the lack of that money through which they destroyed the system in the first place and they are now putting it back in dribs and drabs and saying, “Are we not wonderful”. The provinces and Canadians are saying that if the Liberals had not taken it out in the first place and put more resources in during that timeframe, the health care system would not be in the sad state it is in now.

Canadians wanted to see that as a priority along with the billions, and pick a number because it varies from $12 billion to $17 billion to $32 billion, depending on which Liberal member we talk to. The fact is that the dollars put into the health care system in this budget were the dollars that were yanked out of the system previously by the government.

On tax cuts, Canadians also said to me, and I am sure they said it to other members in the House, “It is our money. We give it to the government by the shovelful and the barrelful. It would be nice if we could keep some of it in our own pockets”. Canada is one of the highest taxed countries in the OECD.

Canadians say that it would be real nice, if there are surpluses that we talk about that perhaps, just perhaps, there could be a change in the basic exemption. It would be wonderful if there could be a change in the basic exemption and people of all incomes could take advantage of it. Was there any of that in the budget? No.

Canadians also talk about the capital gains side of it, which we have certainly suggested should be struck. Was there anything in that area? No.

Was there any kind of tax relief at all in the budget? Yes, there was. There was 2¢ on every $100 to employment insurance earnings. The Liberals say it is 12¢ but 10¢ of it was a previous budget commitment so really it was 2¢ that came off.

By the way, that is an insurance program which has anywhere from $7 billion to $8 billion in surplus a year which has accumulated to about $40 billion. It has just been put into a black hole. In fact those people who are putting in the employment insurance premiums, not only the individuals, but the employers too, are being taxed substantially more to help balance the budget.

Let us talk about surplus and debt reduction. Has there been any identified in the budget? Well, there is a $3 billion contingency fund but if someone in some department decides to put in another gun registry, perhaps the $3 billion could be used for it. It is a contingency fund and if it is there at the end of it, perhaps it will go to debt.

We said a long time ago that it took a long time to get into this position. In fact it goes back to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau days where deficits were in vogue and started our deficit spiral downward. It took a while to get into that position. Perhaps it should take us a while to get out.

Our party said to put a line item in the budget and ensure that in every budget a specific amount went directly to debt reduction. Perhaps it could be a 25 year plan. It took time to get into it and it will take time to get out of it. We said to identify those numbers so that when we got revenue in from Canadians we could identify it and put it toward a debt reduction program. That is what Canadians are asking for. They want it. People come up to me on the streets and talk to me about it.

The member from Richmond Hill gets incensed when we talk about infrastructure. As the previous executive director of the FCM he knew it suggested that there is a $15 billion deficit in infrastructure.

Let us look at what the government has done. It has taken the shotgun approach. There has been $3 billion. There is $100 million in the next budget year, 2003-04, and $100 million in 2004-05. I refer to it as infrastructure Chinese water torture, a drip here, a drip there. That is all it has been.

Liberals can stand up on their hind legs and take great pride in this, but the member knows that the same executive director of the FCM has said quite emphatically that it is nothing but a down payment. CMHC needs a down payment when someone is buying a home. This is not even the beginning of a down payment, yet those members stand up and say they are wonderful because of this infrastructure funding of $100 million for the next budget year on this particular program over 10 years. When the government says $3 billion over a 10 year period, that is not even close to what is required by the FCM.

Canadians come up to me and say that it is a budget and that is very good and it is nice to know that the shotgun approach has dollars going into different areas. What they are really concerned about is the way the government is spending their money. It is called management. In this particular case with the government, it is called mismanagement.

If there are billions of dollars to be spent in different directions and which cannot be given back to the taxpayers, perhaps the $1 billion that went into the gun registry was not really best managed on behalf of Canadian taxpayers. Perhaps that $1 billion should have gone someplace else, to another priority, whether it be health care or tax cuts.

Today we learned of an untendered health care contract that went to a company that does retrofitting for automobiles. Heavens, there was also Groupaction. There was a thing called sponsorship programs where millions of dollars were expended with no reports and with no real benefit to Canadians.

There are so many examples of mismanagement that perhaps even the budget is a bit of a misnomer. Dollars can be thrown at all departments and they can waste it without being accountable to Canadians. That is what a budget is all about, being accountable to Canadians.

The last item I will talk about is one that is dear to my heart. One of the Liberal members talked about the wonderful dollars and the wonderful budget item on the APF, the agriculture policy framework. That is smoke and mirrors. That is the way the Liberals turn a phrase. They say they are doing wonderful things for different industries and different priorities. They talk about $5.2 billion that was identified for the APF. I asked the member if he could tell me what timeframe that was, but I do not think he knows because he did not answer the question. That is quite usual for members of the government.

The $5.2 billion he referred to in the budget is over six years. It is not $5.2 billion this year. It is like the smoke and mirrors of the infrastructure program. There is $3 billion but only $100 million this year. It is the same with agriculture. Over that six year period, $5.2 billion is less than what was in last year's budget.

The government can play with numbers. It can float the numbers. It can hide the numbers as best it can. That is what it has done in these budget documents.

The government believes sincerely that it has done a good job but I would like to pass this message on to the government of the day: it has not and Canadians will not be seen as accepting this budget document that is placed before us.

Believe it or not, we will vote against the budget when it comes before the House. I can honestly say that most Canadians will agree with us when we do that.

[Question No. 120, March 17th, 2003]

What were the total costs incurred by the Department of Foreign Affairs for the distribution, including Federal Express postal charges, of “A Dialogue on Foreign Affairs”?

[Question No. 117, March 17th, 2003]

Can the Minister responsible for Agriculture and Agri-Food provide an estimate of the impact on net farm income of the Country of Origin labelling regime contained within the U.S. Farm Bill on: ( a ) the beef industry; ( b ) the pork industry; ( c ) the lamb industry; ( d ) the seafood and shellfish industry; ( e ) the poultry industry; ( f ) vegetable growers; ( g ) fruit growers; and ( h ) peanut producers?

[Government Contracts, March 17th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I come from Manitoba. I own a 1957 GMC. I have been to a doctor within the last 12 months. Therefore I would have to assume that I meet all the criteria for an untendered health department contract.

My question is for the Minister of Health. Other than oil changes and political grease jobs, what qualifications did Continental Custom Carriage Ltd, an auto restorer, have to be awarded a $200,000 untendered health department contract? Can we see the terms of reference and can we see the report?