David Walker

[Income Tax, December 8th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Minister of Finance, I would like to thank the committee and its chairman, the member for Willowdale, for the excellent work done this fall on reviewing the budget.

All members of the committee worked very hard hearing the representations from Canadians. All three parties made an effort to put forward their own ideas. On behalf of the minister, I would like to also thank the other two parties for putting forward their ideas.

The Minister of Finance has made it quite clear that during this process we will not be commenting on any specific proposals from any sources. We will just simply continue our consultation process until the budget is announced in February.

[National Debt, November 25th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, this idea has been presented not only to the Minister of Finance but also to the committee on its travels throughout the country.

It shows an anxiousness that Canadians have to see the deficit resolved and their willingness to participate in widespread efforts to bring down that deficit. We are looking at a number of instruments including the victory bonds to ensure there is opportunity for Canadians to help us out with this very difficult task.

[Northern Tax Allowance, November 25th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, this issue has been raised several times by the governments of the north. As part of our pre-budget consultations we are receiving representations on a number of very important issues that affect the budgets and the lifestyles of northerners. We will continue to listen to these in the next few months.

[Research And Development, November 25th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General raised very serious questions about how the SRTC moneys were spent.

Under the old program up to 1985 the tax credit was given out before the expenditures and not after. The current system has much better controls on it. Through Revenue Canada we make sure that the proper expenditures are made before the tax credit is given out.

[Supply, October 25th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, first the addition of a $6 billion debt to the country is simply Reform Party arithmetic and has nothing to do with the substance of what happened.

On the question of consultation, if for some reason the member thinks the public is not being given a chance to be heard, I would ask the member why he did not read his House of Commons order book? That order and the description of the consultation process has been on the books for nine months. It is clear to everyone who is a concerned parliamentarian how the process is going to work. I can assure him on behalf of the Minister of Finance that everyone who wants to be heard will be heard. He might also be interested to know that next week when we are in Vancouver it is totally booked.

[Supply, October 25th, 1994]

It is hard not to get excited by this program.

I come from Winnipeg and quite frankly mine is one of the poorer constituencies in the country. Last summer is the first time since I was elected to this House that anybody has come up and thanked me that they had an opportunity to work.

Some people are snobbish about building roads, but there are a lot of people in this country who work building roads and they need those jobs. There are a lot of people who drive cars and buses over those roads. There is nothing to be ashamed of for creating a better infrastructure.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry stays on top of all these issues. He points out that in Winnipeg we are going to be rebuilding the road system which allows trucks to exit from the airport more quickly to the south. Part of our overall plan to rebuild the Manitoba economy is around the airport and transportation. We used to be the gateway to the west but that economy has changed. We are now going to be the gateway to the south.

You cannot walk away from the project. It requires capital. It requires investment. The minister for human resources, who is responsible for western Canada and Manitoba, came forward to the provincial and municipal governments. Their response was: "Thank you for putting this together. Thank you for giving us the opportunity. We will throw in some money. We think it is important. Yes, we know it is borrowing money and we know this is expensive, but sooner or later people want to see their governments do something for them".

When I passed by people working this summer one came up to me and said: "Mr. Walker, I have been in Canada for 15 years. I am a little embarrassed. I am still just a road construction guy. My kids are going to college. However, I am working this year". It is important to him. He is not going to be doing anything else, but he is going to be working.

The cultural community in Winnipeg which is so important does not have the capital. However we came up and said: "We are going to help your fund raising effort. We are going to put some money into this. You go to the provincial and municipal governments and the private sector. Let us see if we cannot rebuild your facility. Let us see if we cannot build it up for the first time in a decade". From the looks on their faces it was apparent we were doing something so they might have an opportunity. I can only say this with passion. It must be understood that the relationship between Canadians and their governments requires governments to act on their behalf. There are some very needy people who need our response.

[Supply, October 25th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I share your respect for this institution. I apologize to you and to members of the House if my animation toward the good infrastructure program seemed to be-

[Supply, October 25th, 1994]

Liberal road kill.

[Supply, October 25th, 1994]

Do you know what they do not talk about in the House? Have they ever asked a question about Alberta projects in question period? They just say silent. Why? Because they understand that for Albertans the only piece of good news from any government is what this government is doing on infrastructure. It has not come from the provincial government. It has not come from this opposition party. The only good news has come from the minister of energy and her colleagues who work very hard for the province of Alberta. The best evidence of that is in infrastructure.

I know that in Winnipeg-

[Supply, October 25th, 1994]

I appreciate the inexperience of the Reform Party members in the House but it is still no excuse for not having any ideas on the table. They are adults and they should be able to participate.

Let us just talk about the infrastructure program. Let us talk about the way Canadians finally had a government that said: "You people need to get back to work. What we are going to do is we are going to start this project". In a classic Liberal fashion which I am very proud of we started out with a number of projects across this country-and you are smiling-