Roy Cullen

[Interparliamentary Delegations, May 12th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to present a report, in both official languages, of the Canada-Europe Parliamentary Association. It is a report of the delegation to the Fourth Annual Conference of the Parliamentary Network of the World Bank which was held in Athens, Greece on March 9 and 10, at which time we were participating in a dialogue with Mr. Wolfensohn of the World Bank and Mr. Horst Kohler of the IMF.

[Paul Kipin, April 10th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, on April 5 Etobicoke North lost one of its most energetic and committed citizens. Paul Kipin gave most generously of his time and talents to better our community, and he made a difference.

Paul's overriding passion was to build bridges between people of different race, colour, religion, and ethnic origin. In this work he was very active on the Etobicoke Multicultural and Race Relations Committee for many years. He served as director of communications for the Etobicoke Chamber of Commerce and chair of the Rexdale Community Development Committee.

I had the great honour last November to present to Paul, on behalf of Her Excellency the Governor General of Canada, the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal in recognition of his many years of community service.

Paul was a printer by trade and was very active in Liberal Party politics. He was our resident photographer and frequent provider of signs, newsletters and a continuous stream of communications products.

I wish to extend my condolences to Paul's beloved wife Jacqueline, their children Paula and André, his surviving brothers Pete, John and Nick, and his sister Mary. Paul Kipin was faithful to his family and to his community, and he was a good friend. He will be missed.

[Supply, April 8th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I wonder if you could please record me as voting against that motion.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2003, March 27th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I had addressed the issue with respect to the CHST, I am sure not to the satisfaction of the member opposite, but he also talked about the sponsorship program.

Everyone in the Chamber is very concerned about that particular situation. The Minister of Public Works and Government Services has taken some very aggressive and assertive action to change that program, to bring more of the program in-house and to make sure taxpayer dollars are spent more wisely. That was a case of where the money had not been spent wisely. Unfortunately, that happened. The government has addressed it and we will have a very sound program moving into the future.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2003, March 27th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member from the other side of the House very much for his comments.

With regard to the amount that was transferred to the provinces under the Canada health and social transfer, when our government faced a deficit in 1993 of $42 billion, everything was on the table. Everything had to be reduced or the government was faced with a very serious dilemma. In fact the amount that was cut from direct government programs, forgetting the transfers to the provinces, was significantly more than the cuts that were made to the provinces. The provinces were also given much lead time so they could adapt to those changes.

Once we returned to surplus, the Canada health and social transfer was increased significantly. As I said earlier, it is $35.8 billion in this budget over the next five years.

The other point I should highlight is that the Province of Quebec for example receives equalization. The equalization that the government pays to the provinces is approximately $10 billion a year. Of that $5, billion goes to the province of Quebec.

A message was delivered by the Usher of the Black Rod as follows:

Mr. Speaker, the Honourable Deputy to the Governor General desires the immediate attendance of this honourable House in the chamber of the honourable the Senate.

Accordingly, the Speaker with the House went up to the Senate chamber.

And being returned:

[Budget Implementation Act, 2003, March 27th, 2003]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to participate in the debate today on the budget implementation act 2003. This bill, once enacted, will implement the measures of the budget that was delivered by the finance minister in this chamber on February 18. That budget built on the very fine work of the former finance minister, the member for LaSalle—Émard, as he built the economy into a sound footing. We got our government books back in order and eliminated the deficit. This budget builds on those successes and the contribution of all Canadians in dealing with a very serious fiscal situation which we encountered when our government came into office in 1993.

For example, by paying down roughly $46 billion or $47 billion on the debt, our debt to GDP ratio has fallen to 46.5% from a high of roughly 71% not too long ago. This will go to 40% within the next two to three years. That is saving Canadians $3 billion a year in terms of interest costs. The $3 billion is an annual annuity and those moneys can be reinvested in other priorities.

This budget does just that, $3 billion for example in sustainable development initiatives and in the environment. It also builds on the $100 billion tax cut that was brought in the budget 2000 and the mini budget of the same year. It also introduces some new tax measures which I will touch on later.

Economic growth in Canada is the best in the G-7 and is predicted to be the best in the G-7 again next year. Of course, it depends to some extent on the economy in the United States and the war in Iraq. We wish our American friends the very best of luck and the very best in terms of results in the war on Iraq. That will have economic consequences as well but so far the Canadian economy is predicted to grow at a very fine rate again this coming year.

I should have said at the outset, Madam Speaker, I am splitting my time with the member for Ottawa Centre.

We have made major investments in health care, $34.8 billion over five years. Our economy has created 564,000 jobs in the last year, the best again in the G-7. Unemployment, although we never like any unemployment, is at 7.4%. Although there are inflationary pressures, and inflation has risen somewhat, we still have a relatively low inflation rate. We also have good monetary policy that will manage that situation going forward.

One thing that the proposed budget implementation act will implement is the new Canada health transfer and Canada social transfer which will replace the existing CHST. The existing CHST was introduced by our government and it replaced established programs financing and the old CAP program. Now we are making another change. This is to ensure that the health funds are segregated, that there is a greater accountability in what the provinces do with the moneys that are transferred to them for health care.

As part of this transfer this new money for the provinces, the $34.8 billion over five years, there will be a greater accountability to Canadians on what the provinces do with that money. Frankly, I think we are moving to the day perhaps, and there have been pressures already from the post-secondary education stakeholders, to have segregated funds of that new transfer for post-secondary education. We have seen a deterioration there as well in terms of rising tuition fees and students with increasing debt. The provision that starts the process where the funds are segregated in the first cut. The health care funds will be separate and then the social funds will include post-secondary education and other social transfers.

We cannot forget also the tax points and the direct delivery that the government provides through Health Canada and other agencies and foundations.

The value of this most recent initiative is that the Government of Canada has said it wants to target certain health care initiatives like home care and prescription drugs. These are two areas that are growing considerably and need to be managed better. Home care can be a very effective, lower cost alternative to institutional care. To this point in time, the provinces have been slow to put the community care into the system. This targets those funds and says that we want to have more home care. It is a lower cost alternative and actually has a better patient care result as well.

We have also indicated that we are going to be putting more funding into equipment. This budget would implement $1.5 billion that would go into a trust to be used for acquiring diagnostic and medical equipment. I am assured by the government that this time around this fund will have a greater sense of accountability. We heard stories about lawn mowers being acquired under the previous $1 billion fund. In any large organization or fund there will be the odd story and the odd case of mismanagement. I am assured that this time around there is a much stronger regime to ensure that those accountabilities and funds are targeted and will go to the right places. I am very encouraged by that.

This proposed budget implementation act also implements important changes to the Canada Student Financial Assistance Act. One particular aspect is very relevant in my riding, where I have a large number of convention refugees, many from Somalia. A lot of the young people are now at an age when they need to go to college or university. They were unable to access the Canada student loan program. This budget and this act would change that so those who had the convention refugee designation would be eligible to apply for Canada student loans. This is a major step because many of the refugees in my riding and their children were unable to receive a decent education, and this deals directly with that. I am very happy that is part of the budget implementation.

The budget implementation act also would implement a number of very important changes in the Employment Insurance Act. One particular aspect is the introduction of compassionate care benefits. These new provisions pay up to six weeks of special benefits to claimants who provide care or support to a gravely ill family member. Many of us in the chamber and many people across Canada have faced the situation of someone being gravely ill, either dying or in a very precarious position, who seek the support of their family members. Many family members work and this provides an opportunity for family members to support the ailing member of the family. That is a very positive thing.

The budget also sets the premium rate for the year 2004 at $1.98. Since the government launched this program, every year for the last seven or eight years it has reduced the employment insurance rate. That has saved employers and employees about $9 billion since we started this program. The Minister of Finance has also indicated his intent to come up with a new rate setting process, one that is more transparent and reflects the true cost of insurance. That has to be looked at over a business cycle because we do not want to be in a situation where we have to go back and increase the rate if the economy moves into a slower pace of growth.

That is a very important announcement and one that I think helps to clarify for many Canadians the fact that there is no employment insurance fund. I believe it was in 1984 or thereabouts when there was an employment insurance fund and it was in a deficit. At that time, under the previous administration, the government was in deficit. The auditor general said that the unemployment insurance fund, as it then was called, needed to be consolidated with the consolidated deficit of the government to paint a truer picture. Therefore the fund at the time was consolidated in with the consolidated accounts of the government.

That fund does not exist any more. In fact seven out of the last ten years or thereabouts that the employment insurance notional fund has actually been in deficit. The Canadian taxpayers have subsidized or supported that deficit in the notional employment insurance fund. It is true that over the last few years the surplus has grown quite considerably.

However I notice there is some business in the Senate and presumably I will be able to finish my remarks when we get back.

[The Budget, February 25th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, in the excitement of Diana Krall, who is from Nanaimo, recently receiving those awards, perhaps the member has lost sight of some of the major elements of the budget. I can understand that because I am equally proud of what she has accomplished.

First, with this budget, the Minister of Finance has continued the work previously done and has continued with the policy of putting in the contingency of $3 billion a year. Also prudence has been built in; $1 billion for the first year, then building to $2 billion. When we get to the years three, four and five there will be a flexibility of some $5 billion.

The surpluses are based on consensus view of economists on the growth that will occur in Canada. Those economists are looking at the scenarios in the U.S. economy. The consensus view takes out the economists who say that the growth will be very high and it eliminates the views of those economist who indicate the economy will perform at a lower rate. Therefore it is a consensus view taking into account the performance of the U.S. economy with a lot of prudence built into the budget.

[The Budget, February 25th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, maybe the member for Souris--Moose Mountain has a different understanding than I do of the data and the statistics. My understanding is new jobs created are net new jobs. Therefore the story in Canada on the job growth numbers has been an absolutely amazing. One could quibble over the numbers I suppose, but the jobs that are reported are the net jobs created.

Canada has outperformed the United States significantly and indeed all the OECD countries. In most cases these are full time jobs.

The economy is going on all cylinders: 3%, 3.2%, 3.5%. We have something for which to be very thankful. We have this kind of economic growth and the economy is creating these jobs irrespective of the mixed results in the U.S. economy. Often follow the U.S. lead, but in this case we have been outperforming the United States. I think that is good news for all Canadians.

[The Budget, February 25th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, I listened to the remarks by the member for Stoney Creek and wanted to get into the issue of customs unions, but I will leave that for another day. I am very pleased to enter the debate on the budget that was presented by the Minister of Finance on February 18.

Some of the very positive aspects of the budget need to be restated and reinforced. This is the sixth consecutive balanced budget by the government. Canada is the only country in the G-7 that is projecting surpluses for the next number of years. That is after contingencies and prudence being built into the budget forecasts.

Our economy is outperforming the United States and many of our trading partners. In 2002, 560,000 were created, more than any other G-7 country. The fiscal actions, which were started by the government and the former minister of finance in 1995 and earlier, are really paying off for Canada. We are seeing surpluses and economic growth which in 2003 is projected by a group of independent economists to be around 3.2% and in 2004 to be 3.5%. We have reduced the federal debt by $47.6 billion, which is saving the federal treasury about $3 billion a year in interest costs. Those funds can be redeployed for higher priorities. Our debt to GDP ratio is down from a high of close to 71% to 46.5% in 2001 and 2002 and it will sink below 40% over the next four to five years. The standard of living in Canada has grown faster than any other G-7 country.

These matters have been stated before, but they need to be restated in my view because we are living in some very fortunate times. Because of that the government, can spend on the priorities that Canadians have identified such as our health care system.

One aspect of the budget that we need to be careful about is the effect of the multi-year funding that goes out beyond year two into years three, four and five. Of course it is not a precedent to have multi-year funding. We have had it before. There are economic circumstances internationally. There is some uncertainty with the state of the U.S. economy. There is the geopolitics of a potential conflict in the Middle East. We need to be very prudent about projecting expenditures and committing to expenditures too heavily beyond year two and into years three, four and five.

I should add that the Minister of Finance has continued the previous practice of building a lot of prudence and contingency into the budget numbers. While our expenditure is up 11%, or $14 billion over the last year, as my colleague highlighted, much of that is in health care, defence spending and priorities that Canadians have told us should be on the top of the list. Even with that additional expenditure, federal program expenditure is still at a level of about 12% in relation to the GDP or the size of the economy. That is still at a low since after the second world war and is much lower than the 16% of program spending in relation to GDP which existed in the early 1990s.

This year alone new health care expenditure will be $5.1 billion and the government will reallocate $1 billion per year from existing spending. In other words all departments will be asked to revisit their current spending and policies and challenge whether it is relevant to move forward. In total $1 billion will be reallocated to higher priority spending from lower priority spending. The government has indicated the need for an ongoing examination of all non-statutory programs in the government on a five year cycle, which I totally agree with and support.

As I said, a good part of the additional spending in the budget is in health care, over $34.5 billion over the next five years. I congratulate the government for insisting on accountability measures because Canadians deserve to know where their health care dollars go and the kind of outcomes they achieve in Ontario compared with Yukon and Prince Edward Island. Canadians expect to know what has been achieved in terms of waiting lists, et cetera.

Also, the government insisted on targeted funding. I am glad to see some money attached to home care because this is a lower cost delivery mechanism. For example, in my area 20% of acute care beds are occupied by people who should not be there. They should be in home care, but none is available. We need to begin dealing with this. The budget and the agreement call for targeted funding for home care, so the provincial governments will have to move in that area, which will be very positive. It is a lower cost alternative and it is better in terms of patient care as well.

I am very pleased also to see that $320 million over the next five years has been dedicated to affordable housing. That is in addition to the $600-odd million that was announced previously. In my riding of Etobicoke North we have many individuals who are well exceeding the 30% rule of thumb of a percentage of their income being dedicated to rent. We need to move on affordable housing.

The government is also committing resources to the homeless as well. In my riding of Etobicoke North we have started a little ad hoc committee to see if we can identify some affordable housing projects and move them forward. We want to see if we can increase the inventory of affordable housing there.

The budget builds on the need for investments in research and innovation, more money for the granting councils and the Canada Foundation for Innovation. These are important because we have to keep investing in our future. Research and innovation are the areas where the best value can be added. That is where the high paying and good jobs will be in the future.

We have also committed more money to the Canada student loans program and to the Canada graduate scholarships program. These investments in people will definitely pay off in the future. I am glad to see the government is investing in people.

Small businesses are the engine for job growth in Canada. We see some very positive measures in the budget. In fact, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business has been very laudatory about the budget and what it does for small business. For example, it increases the small business deduction limit to $300,000. It eliminates the federal capital tax starting first with small and medium sized enterprises. That is a very progressive step. The capital tax is a regressive tax and basically taxes investment. Resource sector taxation will be improved. The rate will go down to 21%. I am looking forward to the technical paper that will spell out those changes in more detail.

With regard to EI premiums, the savings to employees and employers over the last 10 years by reducing EI premiums is close to $10 billion. The minister has also indicated that he will continue the work started by the former minister of looking at the rate setting process. We need to move to a more insurance based type of funding mechanism.

Venture capital will be helped. The Business Development Bank of Canada will receive $190 million to assist with investment in new ventures.

Poor and low income Canadians and families will benefit. More money will be put into the national child benefit program. When implemented, the first child will be eligible for $3,243 per year. That is a very generous sum and a positive development.

With regard to immigration, $41 million will be added over two years to attract new skilled immigrants and help them integrate into the Canadian labour market. My riding of Etobicoke North has a very large population of new Canadians. We need to help them integrate better into the workforce.

The government has indicated it will put some resources behind helping new Canadians receive recognition of their foreign credentials. There are many people with Ph.D.s and masters degrees from foreign countries driving taxis because their foreign credentials are not recognized. The government will put in $13 million over the next two years for this initiative.

The Canada Student Financial Assistance Act is to be amended to include eligibility for convention refugees. In my riding of Etobicoke North that will be very good news because we have many young people coming of age. They have not been able to access these loans.

On balance it is a good budget with more investments in Kyoto, the environment and infrastructure. However we need to be mindful of the need to be prudent and to be cautious moving forward.

[Canada Elections Act, February 17th, 2003]

Mr. Speaker, if that amendment were put forward it probably would be defeated at committee.

The reality is that all parties need political financing. We could take the proposition to the next step and say that if we were to reduce political expenses generally, then perhaps we would not need to look to the taxpayer to subsidize some of these expenses. Some of that might make sense.

We have these huge campaigns where a lot of money is spent. I think there is a fine balance between communicating with Canadians so they understand fully the different platforms and the different positions being proposed by different political parties, and a lot of the hoopla where parties all have to do the same type of expenditure just to keep up with the Jones. If they do not do it they will be at a disadvantage.

I think that is a question that could be discussed if the government proceeds with this type of legislation. Even if it were to increase the limits, which I am not sure it will do, there would still be some shortfall that would need to be either financed or some cutting back on--