Mr. Speaker, we have heard it said “May you live in interesting times”. I suggest that all members present today would agree that we do indeed live in interesting times.
Right now, we in Canada live in one of the most secure, well off, stable countries on the face of the earth. On the national level, we all work diligently to develop programs and initiatives that effectively address issues concerning health care, education and homelessness, to name but a few.
Similarly, at the international level, societies around the globe are compelled to come to terms with and seek solutions to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, clandestine and state terrorism and devastating living conditions among two-thirds of the world's population.
In the face of these domestic and international challenges, I stand before the House with hope and with confidence. My confidence stems from an understanding of the strengths of Canadian politics while my optimism stems from Canadians themselves.
Yes, we have gone through a change in government, a process not without its challenges, but the government has done it. We have changed leadership, we have changed cabinet and now we have presented changes in how we want to do things. We will demonstrate to the Canadian public that we are going to produce the government that is needed for the beginning of the 21st century. We have the people, we have the resources and we have the will.
The Prime Minister said it best most recently at the world economic forum in Switzerland. He spoke about the future of Canada and said:
The domestic political process is open and full of energy. It is about making the right choices among competing interests in priorities, choices which reflect the way ahead. Debates and trade-offs occur--in our Cabinets, in our Legislatures, in our town halls with our citizens. Eventually decisions are reached.
That is what I enjoy most in this role: this process of debate about choices, not only with my colleagues in Parliament but with the many citizens in our communities. We all need to discuss the way ahead.
So much is going on for us as Canadians. It is important to me to be part of a government that leads in the global campaign to provide affordable medicine to Africa in the fight against HIV and AIDS. It is important to me to be part of a government that upholds the principles of medicare. It is equally important to me that our medical system responds to the changing realities of science, demographics, technology and the global challenges of diseases such as avian flu and SARS. That is why it is so important that Canada is part of the global emergency preparedness network.
I fully support the creation of the new Canada public health agency which will ensure the threat of infectious diseases is met quickly, efficiently and appropriately as these new and dangerous diseases surface in Canada and around the world. The establishment of the new infectious diseases control lab is a very important initiative. I would suggest, humbly and strongly, that the best possible location in the country for this lab is indeed in Winnipeg where those at the microbiology lab responded so brilliantly to the SARS threat earlier this year.
It is also important to me to be part of a government that looks ahead with regard to our seniors. In the past six months I participated in a task force on seniors. The issues, challenges and opportunities facing public policy makers and those interested in an aging population became clear: access to health care, transportation, elder care, ageism, income support and housing.
As I move around my community of Winnipeg South Centre I see 85 year old women looking after 81 year old men. I see 70 year old children looking after 92 year old parents. This concerns me. What will happen when one of them is no longer healthy? We need to look at the future of health care and the elderly.
Our challenge as politicians is to continue to uphold the principles of medicare that were developed by our parents. We owe them nothing less.
The organization of communities and cities because of shifting demographics will become increasingly important. It is important to develop the strategies and tools to deal with our generation getting older.
It is very important to me to be part of a government that looks ahead and recognizes that a good education is an essential ingredient of a vibrant, healthy community and country. To me it is particularly important that we work toward reducing student debt. I have heard far too many stories of crippling student debt, not only in my riding but across the country. I believe that it is time we worked with the other levels of government to develop a comprehensive plan that helps the students, their parents and the educational institutions.
On Monday the government did just that and announced that new incentives will be forthcoming to assist low income families to begin investing right from the birth of their children for their long term education. The new learning bond announced by the Prime Minister will help low income families begin the necessary savings for their children's post-secondary education.
I applaud the government for taking the initiative to provide starter grants for low income students to help cover first year tuition costs. This is a tremendous move in helping students access education.
The modernization of the Canada student loans program is a welcome acknowledgement of the importance of access to educational opportunities of all young people, whatever their economic background.
The Prime Minister has also set out on a rather unique path to engage our youth. When the Prime Minister returned the doll, Flat Mark, which we have all heard so much about, and when he spoke to the students, he said:
What Flat Mark has done is he has brought to Ottawa, to the nation's capital, to the government, this idea from you about how important it is that government look at new ideas, that they look at things differently and that government learn from people.
I am sure those children will remember the story of Flat Mark throughout their lives.
I believe that as politicians today we have a singular responsibility. The challenge we all face will be to safeguard the hard won financial and economic gains that have been accrued by Canada since we first balanced the budget in 1997 and paid down millions of dollars in debt.
Having said that, it is critical that we acknowledge the importance of the start we give our children, the access to education we give our students, the support we give to families, the health care we give to all our citizens, the openness we have to immigrants and refugees, the commitment to ensure gender equality and the hope that we give to those less privileged.
We need cooperative government, we need to end the blame game and we need a new approach to intergovernmental relations.
Some 80% of Canadians live in urban settings. We have heard much in recent days of the new deal for cities, of crumbling infrastructure and fiscal shortfalls. Those are very important issues. Now, the government has started the process of renewal. The results are immediate. As of February 1, the GST rebates began to accumulate.
I believe that my home city of Winnipeg is on the cusp of renewed greatness. We have new developments throughout the city and to me this is what government is all about. We need to continue to deal with the issues of the day. They are not unimportant, but we have to move ahead.
Winnipeg is home to one of the largest aboriginal communities in all of Canada. I visited many aboriginal based projects in Winnipeg and elsewhere in the country. In Winnipeg we have programs of gang members building and rebuilding their community and creating homes. I visited a grassroots drop-in centre in Regina. Not long ago I had the pleasure of helping open the first aboriginal sweat lodge in Winnipeg. The activities of MaMaWiChita and Urban Circle are models of urban service development.
What I see when I visit these various projects is certainly not despair. I very much welcome the important expansion of the urban aboriginal strategy announced in the throne speech.
I welcome the opportunity for all levels of government and urban aboriginal and Metis people to work together. It is critical that all levels leave behind the jurisdictional wrangling within governments and between governments that prevent all the good work being performed by the various agencies that I spoke of earlier.
It has been said, “Every once in awhile the door opens to let the future in”. Today the door is open. It is an opportunity for all Canadians to go through it together.
In closing, I offer to the House the wisdom of Yogi Berra who once said and I quote:
You got to be careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not got there.
The throne speech laid out where we are going. I look forward to the implementation of all of the initiatives put forward for the benefit of all Canadians, so that we can indeed get there.
