Paul Martin

[Canadian Pension Plan, September 26th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, the member should get his facts straight. First of all those numbers that the member has just quoted are garbage. Second of all why does he not deal with the real numbers? Why is he afraid to stand up here and explain to the Canadian people that if 9.9 is a gouge, then what is 13 percent which his party has talked about?

In this House when it came time to debate the MP pensions, the Reform Party's solution was to increase MP salaries to $150,000 a year. Why does he not stand up and say that?

[Canadian Pension Plan, September 26th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, the Reform Party obviously does not like the Canada pension plan. Its members made it very clear that they would see it destroyed.

The question that I would simply ask is what would the Reform Party replace the Canada pension plan with? What they have presented so far, their super RRSP would bring in a rate of 13 percent, roughly 4 percent and 5 percent higher than the premiums that we have agreed to with the provinces, including I might point out the province of Alberta.

[Taxation, September 26th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, this government has made it very clear from the beginning that it is our intention to bring in tax relief.

If the hon. member will take a look at what we did in previous budgets he will see very clearly that we have begun the process of tax relief, is a welcome change I must say after 10 years of tax increases from the Tories.

We have very clearly reversed the trend of constant tax increases by the Tories. We are very committed to tax decreases, which will be evident in subsequent budgets as well.

[Speech From The Throne, September 25th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, with respect to seniors benefits we are under great consultation now with seniors right across the country.

The fact is that 75 percent of Canadians will do better. Nine out of ten senior women will do better. We are bringing in these fundamental changes so that middle income and low income Canadians can be assured of a decent retirement.

I would ask the hon. member to hearken back to the last time there was reform, when the Conservative Party sought to bring in pension reform on the backs of the lowest income earners, on the poorest in the country. We will not do that.

[Canada Pension Plan, September 25th, 1997]

Quite the opposite, Mr. Speaker. The chief actuary has said that as a result of the actions taken by ourselves and the provinces, as a result of the fuller funding, as a result of some of the changes to the benefits, in fact we have now preserved the Canada pension plan for future generations of Canadians, for those who will receive disability pensions which they would not receive from the Reform Party, for those who would receive maternity benefits which they would not receive from the Reform Party.

In fact we have put in place along with the provinces one of the most modern and one of the most progressive retirement systems in the world. Canadians are very proud of it and the Reform Party should be too.

[Canada Pension Plan, September 25th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, some time ago the chief actuary projected that unless the federal government and the provinces did not come together to deal with escalating premiums, he projected that they would have to go to over 14 percent in order to preserve the Canada pension plan, that in fact financial chaos would ensue. As a result of that, together with the provinces—let me be very clear—the federal government put in place a plan for more funding. Yes, it will take the premiums to 9.9 p. cent. That is substantially lower than the 13 percent recommended by the Reform Party.

[The Debt, September 25th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, if anybody is going to make up with anybody, perhaps the hon. member might make up with his leader whom he consigned to the scrap heap of history yesterday.

Let me be very clear. We are going to balance the budget in 1998-99. There are going to be surpluses. We are going to be in a position to cut taxes. We are going to reduce debt and we are going to invest in the future of Canadians. We will set this out in the budget and in the interim between now and then in the fiscal update we are going to consult with Canadians as to their priorities.

[The Debt, September 25th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, it is axiomatic and very clear that in every budget the government accounts for government spending. I can assure the hon. member that I will do that.

The Leader of the Opposition drew the comparison between the Tories and the current government and asked what some of the differences were. There are a multitude. There is another difference. I believe that the then minister of finance, Michael Wilson, wanted to cut the deficit but he did not get the support of his prime minister, and I did.

[Speech From The Throne, September 24th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, I suggest that the hon. member across the way, where he was before the election, compare the first Campeau budget tabled when the Parti Quebecois took office in Quebec with the forecast now being made by Mr. Landry.

He will see that, thanks to federal activities and initiatives, the amount available to Mr. Landry to help the disadvantaged is $1.5 billion higher than originally planned by Mr. Campeau. I do hope the PQ government will use this money to help the most disadvantaged in Quebec.

[Speech From The Throne, September 24th, 1997]

Mr. Speaker, because of the efforts made by this government, and indeed all Canadians, in terms of putting our fiscal house in order, the government can now afford to provide assistance to society's most disadvantaged, namely poor children.

In fact, our intentions were not expressed only in the throne speech. Judging from recent budgets and the actions taken by my colleague, the Minister of Human Resources Development, and by other colleagues regarding the child tax credit, internship programs and all this government has put in place for the poor in this country, it is very clear that what our government intends to do is to help Canadians, not to divide them.