Preston Manning

[Government Expenditures, March 9th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Prime Minister.

Dr. Donald Savoie, an economist who has studied the politics of public spending in Canada over the past 20 years, has reached this conclusion: that major efforts at government cost cutting are almost never successful unless they are fully and vigorously backed by the leader of that government.

In light of that conclusion, would the Prime Minister care to retract or to modify his comments made in Alberta last week to the effect that there will be no further spending cuts in the next three years other than those announced in the 1994 budget?

[Employment, February 24th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the red book and the throne speech promised jobs. Yet the budget predicts that unemployment will fall from 11.2 per cent last year to 11.1 per cent this year, a drop of only one-tenth of 1 per cent.

Will the minister acknowledge that this is not good enough, that the job impacts of the budget presented on Tuesday are negligible in 1994-95 and therefore unacceptable to unemployed Canadians.

[Employment, February 24th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the minister's reply is simply too vague, particularly on an issue of such personal importance to millions of Canadians.

In the name of those Canadians my question is: Does the minister have specific targets for reducing unemployment in 1994-95, public sector targets, private sector targets or national targets, and if he does, can he tell us what they are?

[Employment, February 24th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I am wondering what happened to our resolve to conduct ourselves a little differently than in the past.

My question is for the Minister of Human Resources Development. The premier of Quebec announced that it was the objective of his government to reduce unemployment in that province by 1 per cent this year.

Does the federal government have an unemployment reduction target for the country as a whole and, if so, what is it?

[The Budget, February 23rd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I have a further supplementary question for the Minister of Finance.

The budget is completely silent on strengthening the ability of Parliament to control government overspending. Can the minister tell the House whether he favours strengthening Parliament's ability to control overspending through the passage of sunset clauses, spending limits, freer votes on estimates and other measures of that kind?

[The Budget, February 23rd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the minister for part of his answer. My supplementary question is for the same minister.

The minister's budget bears some resemblance to the first Clinton budget in the United States which also included a new spending package combined with a cost-cutting package. When the Clinton budget got to Congress it scrapped the new spending proposals and applied the savings to the deficit to the benefit of the American economy.

Would the minister be willing to scrap or at least defer for a year or two his new spending proposals of $1.7 billion so as to get greater cost and deficit reduction in 1994-95?

[The Budget, February 23rd, 1994]

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

The budget presented by the minister yesterday will add $100 billion to the federal debt over the next three years. Many members on this side of the House are deeply concerned that the budget simply does not address the deficit and debt problem.

If this House, through its committees or the consideration of estimates, were to put forward further proposals for further reducing the deficit in 1994-95, would the minister be open to adopting such proposals?

[Provincial Byelection, February 22nd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I know that the Prime Minister is concerned about this issue. Therefore, I ask what specific steps, and I stress specific, will he take between now and the upcoming provincial election to sell Canadian federalism in Quebec?

[Provincial Byelection, February 22nd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I have a supplementary question for the Prime Minister.

When Quebecers vote for sovereignists, does the Prime Minister believe-we are seeking the advice of the Prime Minister-they are rejecting federalism in principle or are they simply rejecting the kind of federalism offered by traditional federalist parties?

[Provincial Byelection, February 22nd, 1994]

Bonaventure has been considered to be the most federalist riding in Quebec. With a provincial election looming on the horizon, does the Prime Minister acknowledge the need for a new and more vigorous strategy to increase support for federalism in Quebec?