Preston Manning

[Interest Rates, March 23rd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, it is the degree of conservatism that we are particularly worried about.

Just last week the minister's parliamentary secretary answered a question on rising interest rates by saying: "The outlines in the budget were done very conservatively. These types of considerations, that is higher interest rates, were taken into account".

Does the finance department actually have in place a contingency plan for dealing with the impact of higher interest rates on the budget as the minister's parliamentary secretary has implied?

[Interest Rates, March 23rd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, my question is also for the Minister of Finance.

The minister's budget projects a bank rate of 4.5 per cent, a long term bond rate of 6.4 per cent and interest costs of $41 billion this year. It also predicts a 1 per cent rise in interest rates will add about $1.7 billion to the deficit.

Today the Bank of Canada rate is already half a per cent higher than projected and rising interest rates are mainly due to higher interest rates in the United States over which the government has no control.

Will the minister today acknowledge that his estimates for next year's budget deficit are simply too low? Just acknowledge it so that the House can get on with addressing the real problem that represents.

[Government's Credit Rating, March 22nd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, it is not how members of this House, either on this side or that side, react to the government's signals. It is how the money markets react and that reaction has been negative.

Increasing scepticism that the federal government is not really prepared to come to grips with the deficit problem is now leading to concerns that the government may attempt to inflate its way out of a portion of its debt and cause interest rates to rise, the bank rate today rising from 4.25 per cent to 5 per cent.

Will the minister assure the House that the government will resort to deeper spending cuts before it will allow inflation rates to rise above present levels?

[Government's Credit Rating, March 22nd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I have a supplementary question.

Surely the finance minister is not suggesting that this downgrading was done lightly or frivolously. Surely members across the way know that the eyes of investors and borrowers are on the frontbenches of government, looking for signs as they are worried about the government's fiscal situation.

Is not the minister concerned that this downgrading could be the beginning of a trend and what steps is he taking to prevent downgrading of all of Canada's outstanding debt?

[Government's Credit Rating, March 22nd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, last week we asked the Prime Minister if he would respond to the falling dollar and rising interest rates by making a stronger commitment to deficit reduction.

The Prime Minister refused to do so and now just yesterday, as has been mentioned, the Dominion Bond Rating Service downgraded its credit rating on the federal government foreign currency debt.

The DBRS said in making its downgrading that the federal government policies are not stringent enough to get the government out of the debt trap and if it wants a better rating it will have to include some meaningful spending reductions in the 1995 budget.

Is the Prime Minister now prepared to direct the finance minister to bring forward a stronger deficit reduction program before the government's credit rating is further downgraded?

[Aboriginal Self-Government, March 17th, 1994]

The member for Swift Current-Maple Creek used that term to describe someone who did not believe in political correctness. The hon. member used that term to denounce someone as a racist and an ignoramus.

The minister apologized for calling Reform supporters Indian haters a few weeks ago. Just one day ago he called a fellow member a redneck. The minister's words provide no assurance.

What concrete thing is the minister going to do to demonstrate his intent? Will he apologize in writing? Will he go outside the House with the member for Athabasca and apologize in front of the cameras? Will the minister resign?

[Aboriginal Self-Government, March 17th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the minister for that assurance.

As the minister knows the Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees everyone: aboriginal, non-aboriginals, Reformers, even the member for Athabasca, freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression.

How tragic it would be if a House which professes a profound respect for the charter would become the place where anyone who questions language policy is accused of being anti-Quebec, where anyone who questions immigration levels is denounced as being anti-immigrant and where anyone who questions a non-existent aboriginal policy is denounced as anti-Indian.

Why should Canadians believe any of the minister's assurances regarding respect for the charter when he denounces members of Parliament who disagree with him as racist and rednecks.

[Aboriginal Self-Government, March 17th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development.

The minister has been consistently unable to define the government's vision of aboriginal self-government except to refer to vague generalities in the red book. I ask the minister, whatever new order of government is negotiated with aboriginals, can he assure the House that the spirit and the letter of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms will be respected?

[The Economy, March 16th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister mentions the budget but the budget is part of the problem. The fall of the dollar and the rise in interest rates for whatever reasons call into question the most basic assumptions in the budget.

Will the Prime Minister as a bare minimum direct the finance minister to prepare a fiscal contingency plan including a moratorium on all new spending programs to increase international confidence in the Canadian dollar?

[The Economy, March 16th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, there is nothing new and nothing substantive in what has been said. All of this was said before and yet investors and lenders are not reassured.

Will the Prime Minister say something more substantive? Does he or does he not have a contingency plan to deal with foreign perceptions of political and financial instability in Canada?