George S. Rideout

[Petitions, February 4th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, as is my obligation under Standing Order 36, I present a petition dealing with language and referendum.

[Pre-Budget Consultations, February 1st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question. It highlights a number of points without going to great lengths in order to permit other questions.

In his second question he is talking about harmonization. As we look at the overlap occurring in government we are presented with an excellent opportunity to start to harmonize the tax system, harmonize the regulations, harmonize in a number of areas. If we did this, we could really do some very good things.

I am saying that maybe we can look at opportunities which will see the federal government getting out of certain taxing areas and the provincial government taking over. He mentioned the forestry industry and forestry in general. I have to wonder whether we need two departments, a federal department of forestry and a provincial department of forestry. In that sense, maybe we have to look at a more efficient way of dealing with those types of circumstance.

All resource based industries create a large amount of employment. I do not think there is any question about that. The issue is what is the best way to make our forestry industry competitive. It will mean, in all candour, more mechanization. More research and development will take place in that area so we can compete on a world-wide basis.

We have to look at ways to better utilize our forests. We must create a larger forestry industry and create employment that way rather than just creating employment and making our forestry industry, in effect, uneconomical. We have to find the right balance.

I thank the hon. gentleman for his suggestions. I am sure the Minister of Finance will respond to those as well.

[Pre-Budget Consultations, February 1st, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise in the House and be given an opportunity to expound on one's views.

This is a particularly unique circumstance to have an opportunity to talk about the budget and the process in advance of the budget. Usually we were taken by surprise and then had to react afterwards. I congratulate the Minister of Finance and the government for having the courage of its convictions to make Parliament a working Parliament rather than a rubber stamp.

I think the budget process also provides an opportunity to re-evaluate how government works. It is not just numbers. It is the whole concept of what government is all about. As I listened to the debate today I heard a lot of really good ideas, some good suggestions, some crazy ones, but all in all some good suggestions as to how we can make government work better.

I do hear from the Reform Party this idea that cuts are the only answer; the only solution is to cut, cut, cut. There are other opportunities available to us. My colleague from Dartmouth alluded to it.

We have to re-invent how we run government. We also have to look at the top line of the balance sheet once in a while to see how we can make the country more productive, the economy more productive, and thereby make government more productive with an inflow of revenue.

In my view, the critical role of government is summed up in a recent publication entitled "Re-Inventing Government". It makes a point which I think is something we should consider. It states: "The word governance is from a Greek word that means to steer. The job of government is to steer, not to row the boat. Delivering services is rowing; government is not good at rowing".

What we have to do is provide the general direction, the guidance, the approach. I am going to talk about a few of those things and some of the concepts that may be a little unique or may not.

For an Atlantic Canadian this is a crazy thing to say, but I think we have to look at the idea of getting out of the grant-giving business and government's role in trying to foster economic growth by grants, loan guarantees, interest deferments and things of that nature. If the enterprise cannot stand on its own without those supports it is going to die soon after they run out.

We have to take a look at how we do government.

The government should reassess its mission and look at the best way to fulfil that mission. All governments must work together to eliminate overlap.

We see a lot of duplication between the provinces and what we do. That is one of the areas we have to look at in re-evaluating government and reinventing it.

We have to look at some things here on the federal scene that perhaps will make a difference. We have to make government more competitive. Perhaps we should force government departments to bid on work that they now get automatically because they are government. Let government departments compete with the private sector and see whether we can get a better bang for our taxpayers' dollars.

We should also take a look at the budget and ask why we tolerate this incessant spending from February to the end of March: "Make sure that all of the money is gone. We don't want one penny left in our budget". Perhaps we should put into the system a rule that says: "If you don't spend all the money in your budget this year you can still keep it. You will be responsible for justifying where you're going to spend the money but you don't have to blow it all in February and March. It will still be available to you next year".

As we look at expenditures and the Auditor General's report which criticizes how the government spends money, the directions in which the money goes and how we have one boondoggle after another, perhaps for a change we should also ask the people the government serves whether they were served properly. If they were not, then maybe we should start re-evaluating what government is doing and perhaps the people who are doing it.

I think it would be interesting to know what the satisfaction level is with the clients of the government, namely the citizens and the enterprises, those that are dealing continually with government and those only once in a while. Rather than looking at the dollars and cents and where we could cut all the time, perhaps we had better look to see whether we actually do deliver a good service.

We have to start investing in our small and medium sized businesses and look at new ways to do things. I previously said that I think we should get out of the grant business. That is a process that we will have to wean parts of the country off. In the long run if we set up venture capital systems throughout Canada that will be the best system.

I want to offer an example of one that can work, in my view. It is going to require some tax changes and it is going to require some courage, but it is one I think we can use as a model proposed by an entrepreneur in Moncton, Dick Carpenter. He has suggested that we put together a meeting place for people who want to invest money, people who have ideas but need money to get started because the financial institutions will not finance them. What we want to do is set up a situation in which the people who want to loan money will receive a tax credit.

That requires a change in the tax system for provinces and for the federal government. Those funds that would be introduced into the system of venture capital would also be shored up by agencies like ACOA or western diversification. Therefore the person who makes this investment in the venture capital organization would not run the risk of losing everything. There would be the benefit of a tax credit and a shoring up of part of their investment by ACOA. What that will do is make ACOA a backstop rather than leading the process. In my view, that is a way for us to proceed.

I am very limited in time, so I want to move very quickly to another area of interest to me and that is in my role as Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources.

What we do not realize in this country because we are always tied into new knowledge based technology and all of those exciting things that go with it, is that the resource industries of this country provide a million jobs and affect about 500 communities of this country. In 1992 natural resources accounted for 14 per cent of the GDP and generated $69 billion.

If one looks at the statistics, the trade surplus that we talk about in international trade, is in large part supported by the natural resources sector. The foundation of the economy of this country over the last 100 years is still there providing that foundation.

We have to be sure, in the changes that we make in the budget and in the directions that we proceed, we remain world competitive. We acknowledge the environment, safeguard our natural resources and the way that we utilize those resources so that we are providing sustainable development. We also have to stop, and stop quickly, the flow of capital out of this country to other countries. Canadians are not investing in our natural resources. They are investing in the natural resources of other countries.

We have to change the tax system to allow Canadians to invest and re-invest in the natural resources of this nation. At the same time we have to put those dollars and cents into research and development relating to natural resources so that we can market that technology in the rest of the world.

Again, we have to look at fine-tuning our tax system so that research and development by the private sector is encouraged through the benefits of tax credits and those types of things.

Rather than focus entirely on cuts and on the negative, let us focus on the positive. We have a great country with great resources and a great knowledge base. We have an opportunity to move into the 21st century as a dynamic economic force. If we sit with the naysayers who say: "No, we cannot; we must cut; we are going to fail", then we are going to fail.

I believe in this country. I believe that this budget process is going to put us on the right course.

[Speech From The Throne, January 27th, 1994]

Ask him to withdraw. That is shameful.

[Petitions, January 20th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, second, it is my obligation to introduce certain petitions pursuant to Standing Order 36 dealing with language and referendums.

[Petitions, January 20th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, it is a pleasure to introduce a petition from

the workers at Base Moncton who are petitioning the government to maintain the depot facilities that are there.