Madam Speaker, I listened this morning as the chairman of the finance committee delivered his prebudget speech. Once I had listened for awhile I had no doubt that it was written by the finance minister's office, much in the same way as the activities of the finance committee and the witnesses that were called were organized by the finance minister's office.
As I listened to his report I wondered what finance committee he was travelling with. I was also on that finance committee and on most of the things that he was saying this morning I was hearing quite the opposite. As we travelled across the country we heard a loud and fervent cry for tax relief from average working Canadians, small businesses, professionals and large businesses. Everyone out there wants tax relief. The government has been the instrument that has led them to seek tax relief because over the last five and a half years the government has increased taxes somewhere in the range of 36, 37 or 38 times in the billions of dollars.
While the Minister of Finance stands and crows about balancing the budget which is not true, and I will talk about that next, for any increase in revenue he has just pulled his magic tax lever and the money has just flowed out of the pockets of working Canadians. The average Canadian family has seen their household disposable income decrease by over $3,000 since 1993. What kind of treatment is that for hardworking Canadians who are trying to have a better standard of living for themselves?
I want to set the tone by laying out exactly where we stand as Canadians in the tax system with which the government has burdened us compared with some of our neighbours, in particular our G-7 partners.
The personal income tax burden on Canadians is a full 56% higher than the other members of the G-7 countries. The corporate income tax burden in Canada is 9% higher than the average of our G-7 partners. These are countries that we compete with. Canada also has the highest property tax burden in all the OECD countries. Of the 33 countries, Canada ranks highest in property taxes.
In 1996 the average Canadian family paid a total tax bill of $21,242, 46% of their gross income. This is more than they pay for food, shelter and clothing combined which is around $17,000. Picture it. The average Canadian family with a couple of kids, a house, a mortgage, a steady job sees $21,000 a year go out in taxes and about $17,000 go out in shelter, food and the basics of life. That is disgusting for a country with the potential that Canada has.
Over the last five and a half years there have been wage increases for Canadian workers. They have worked hard for them. Their companies have worked hard to improve their bottom line and they have rewarded their employees.
What happened to those wage increases because of the Liberal government's tax policies? The government has taxed back over 150% of any wage increases that the average Canadian worker got. Imagine. If workers got a $100 increase, the government taxed back $150. If they got $1,000 increase over the last five and a half years, the Liberal government taxed back $1,500. If they got a $10,000 increase over the last five and a half years, the government taxed back $15,000. How do we get ahead in this country when we have a government that wants to rip out of our pockets not only what we get in a wage increase but more. It is a sad situation.
It is clear that Canadians need tax relief. There is no doubt about it. As the committee travelled across the country we heard the call for real tax relief, not just tinkering around with the surtax like the Liberals have done in the past. Canadians want real tax relief, something they can hold in their hands.
I said earlier that we should not believe the finance minister when he talks about balancing the budget. The fact is that this finance minister may say he has a balanced budget but the money he has used to make up that budget is the EI surplus which he has taken out of the pockets of working Canadians. He has used the pension funds of the federal civil service. He has taken that and has put that against the deficit. All he has done is borrowed within the family and he says he has a balanced budget. He does not have a balanced budget. He is still about $16 billion or $17 billion short.
If the economy takes a downturn in the next couple of years, those EI funds are going to be needed. Where are they? They are in new spending programs the government has introduced, $3 billion last year and another $3 billion this year. What ever happened to the promise by the government and the finance minister to hold the line on spending? No new spending. It just ain't true.
Let us talk about the EI fund. There is about $20 billion in EI surplus. Before the Christmas break we talked about how the EI commission has said that a $15 billion surplus would be fine. It would provide not only sustainability for the fund but also a rainy day fund in case the economy took a dramatic downturn.
It was also said that any finance minister who really cared would probably want to return the $5 billion or $6 billion excess in the form of premium reductions to the people who were paying it. Has that happened? I do not think so.
The finance minister continues to rape and pillage the EI surplus fund, to build his surplus to fund his increased spending programs, to enhance his opportunity to become the leader of the Liberal Party. One has to wonder whether the finance minister has the best interests of Canadians at heart or his own best interests at heart.
Earlier my colleague from Macleod talked about the crisis in health care. We have a crisis. Over 180,000 people are on waiting lists.
This is a true story from my riding. A neighbour of mine had been experiencing some severe chest pains and shortage of breath for a number of months. He went to his doctor who tried to get him to a specialist in Vancouver. Of course there are no specialists in Prince George, we cannot afford it. He went to a specialist in Vancouver and had an angiogram. It was determined that he has one artery completely blocked so an angioplasty cannot be done.
The next option is a bypass. In the old days a single bypass was a routine procedure. These days there is no money for a single bypass. Two, three or four bypasses are needed before someone can get into the operating room. That man was sent home in pain, in the same situation he was in when he went to Vancouver. He was told “We cannot do anything for you. Get another artery clogged and maybe we can look at you”.
That is the state of health care in this country. It is because the Liberal government has ripped the heart out of health care. Since 1993 it has taken out over $7 billion. When is it going to put something substantial back and help Canadians who have serious health problems?
