Mr. Speaker, when I began earlier today, I started off with Madam Speaker, was interrupted by Mr. Speaker, and now I have a different Mr. Speaker in the Chair. I would like to be certain that this Mr. Speaker will remain in the Chair for the duration of my short intervention in this debate.
As I said earlier to my colleagues in the House, the Department of Public Works and Government Services has had to sustain some significant reductions. I note my colleague from the Reform Party. No doubt he will have numerous questions for me when we go before committee. I might add he usually asks very good questions.
I want to share with him and other members of the House that we will be commercializing the Canada Communication Group, an aspect of public works and government services. We will be doing away with the stock item supply. We will be going to direct deposit across the board to save the taxpayers significant amounts of money. Cheque production sites will be consolidated in order to save costs to the taxpayer, contributing to the savings we are putting toward the deficit over a three year period of $353 million.
In addition, public works and government services, Treasury Board and all agencies of the Government of Canada have been, presently are and will continue to look at ways in which to make additional savings in terms of the reduction in office space which houses a variety of government departments.
Program review was conducted by my colleague the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and had a number of aspects associated with it. One was a vertical examination of all expenditures in each of the departments. As a consequence of that examination, there will be less need for additional space.
I want to be very careful and very prudent. I welcome suggestions from members across the way in terms of how we can do public-private partnering in this regard and how we can have additional savings as it relates to the space requirements we need as a national government across the country.
These savings, as I indicated earlier, will total $353 million and will dislocate 5,263 employees over a three year period. It is very difficult to try to sugarcoat tough decisions, but I want to be clear. Although there will be some dislocation of jobs, many of those jobs will reappear in the private sector. We ought not to downplay the significance the private sector can play in terms of handling some of these services and activities which, prior to the budget, were being conducted by government departments.
The Department of Public Works and Government Services is a common service department. We act in relation to the requests made to us by other departments and agencies of the Government of Canada. Where the opportunity exists, our objective and goal is always to try to get value for the expenditures within our department. We will be vigilant in reaching that goal in the coming months and years. Again I invite the co-operation and suggestions of members opposite to make certain we abide by that objective of value for our money. Where the opportunity exists I hope they will provide us with good, meaningful suggestions.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation is another agency which comes under my responsibility. It has a historic, national and international reputation in the housing sector. Cabinet and the Minister of Finance, in view of the fiscal capacity of the Government of Canada, are giving savings to reduce the deficit in excess of $300 million.
We will be closing over 20 offices across the country. We will be cutting back on our research efforts as a national housing institution. We will be doing away with the scholarship program which has been part and parcel of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation for quite some time. If anyone were to suggest that those are not tough, difficult measures, I would think they were being less than candid with themselves and with the House.
I do want to say that the Minister of Finance has given us a balance. On the one hand we still have 600,000 units. It is an expenditure by the government of over $2 billion annually, housing one million Canadians who need the assistance of the state as they try to provide dignity and opportunities for their families and their communities. That expenditure is significant.
It is hoped that over an additional three year period we will be able to have additional savings and will be able to do some things in other sectors. However, I do not want to give a false impression to the House because it would be misleading and very unfair to suggest otherwise.
With the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, the government over a three year period will be reducing its contributions to that agency. I would like to take a moment to explain the mandate of ACOA. The mandate of the Atlantic Canada Op-
portunities Agency is to effectuate where possible economic activities in the Atlantic region.
Those of us who come from the Atlantic region, such as my colleague the hon. member for Dartmouth, will attest to the fact that economic growth in many of our communities is not what we want it to be. We are continually trying to find ways to foster economic growth. We have moved away from a previous set of targets in terms of providing grants to small and medium sized businesses. We have done away with that. We have moved to a system of repayable loans which provides more accountability for all.
There is still a lot of partnering. As an agency of the crown we can partner with the provinces, universities and non-profit organizations. This is done not for the sake of having announcements but for the sake of trying to get communities, the intellectual side, the business side and the non-profit side together, forging a coalition to try to meet the challenge of creating economic activity in the poorer regions.
Much has been said about regional economic development in the past. I am sure much more will be said by those who oppose that forum. Let it be understood that as the minister responsible for one small agency, ACOA, I believe as the red book and the 1994 and 1995 budgets have identified, that regional economies are the backbone of the nation.
There is no question there are differences between the economy of Atlantic Canada and that of Quebec. There are differences between western Canada and the Atlantic region. There are differences between Ontario and the west, be it the prairies or British Columbia. They are different. We must acknowledge that factual thing: a small population base, a widely dispersed people over a large geographical mass. It is our task not to put the blame on those that have come before us and tried to seize the moment and the opportunity by creating through partnerships something that will provide some hope and some dignity to individuals in that region of the country.
All agencies of government were asked to provide moneys to cut the deficit. Fifty person years will be reduced at the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, 15 person years at Enterprise Cape Breton. All aspects are being reviewed.
As members opposite find opportunities to either ask questions or put before me as the minister responsible, as my colleagues in the Atlantic Region do, ways in which we can improve, to cut things and to add to things, I would be happy to hear from them.
I want to make something very clear to those members who sit in the House. I make no apology to any member, any political party, and any representative of the press for standing up for a region which has historically sustained a lot of economic difficulty. As I say to my friends and as I shared with caucus colleagues, we in Atlantic Canada do not want handouts. We want a hand up. Regardless of where they live, Canadians are entitled to that kind of opportunity from the national government.
In the time that I have remaining, I want to briefly touch on the subject of the Royal Canadian Mint. Colleague opposite knows that I have umpteen different agencies for which I am responsible so I am just hitting the highlights of some of them.
With regard to the Royal Canadian Mint, I want to clarify a rumour. It was circulating in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia that the $2 coin we will be issuing will have the picture of the hon. member for Dartmouth on the coin. I want to make it perfectly clear it was a difficult decision I had to make personally, but given what I had to work with I think everyone can understand why I reached the decision I did.
Let the House be aware that the new $2 coin will save taxpayers over a 20-year period a quarter of a billion dollars.
We have gone one step further. We are looking at all of the coins and their composition. We are going to change the composition of those coins in order to reduce their cost, thereby increasing the revenues which will total almost an additional $12 million per year for the 20-year duration of an average coin. That is new revenue for the national government. It is new revenue for the purposes of writing down the deficit of the Government of Canada.
I want Canadians to know that these measures have been taken because we listened to them. I am the minister responsible for public works, government services, and a host of other agencies. I have gone before the standing committee for a record number of times for any minister; three times. I have had good questions from opposition members. I have had good suggestions from opposition members. Equally so, I have had very good quality questions and suggestions from government members. I want to thank them for their help and assistance.
I throw out a challenge to all members of the House. If we are sincere, which I take as a given, of reducing the deficit of the government in the years ahead, they should come forward with solutions. Yes, criticize too because that is part and parcel of the political process. As I have told my exempt staff as well as all of my deputy ministers, it is fine to identify problems but it is more important to identify solutions to those problems.
I know that my time has come to an end but I would be happy to attempt to answer any questions my colleagues may wish to raise at this time.
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