Mr. Speaker, as a member of the Standing Committee on Finance, I have had the opportunity and privilege over the last few months to hear from many well-informed Canadians representing various organizations, associations, groups and individuals during the prebudgetary hearings. I am pleased to reflect in my comments some of the important issues that these presenters were able to bring to our attention.
I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to also give voice to other Canadians who may not have had the same type of access to the finance committee as our presenters, yet who have contacted my office regarding the budgetary priorities they believe should be front and centre in budget 2005.
I doubt that there has ever been a time when every party, including the government, has agreed with the finance committee's final report. The budget report process is important for this very reason. It allows each party to take the opportunity to bring their issues to the budget debate, representing different viewpoints. The hope is that each will be listened to carefully by the finance minister.
The response to this report and its supplementary and dissenting opinions will also say a lot about this government and, in particular, the finance minister and the Prime Minister. Will they take the opportunity to gather the valuable ideas presented and table a budget that is reflective of what Canadians want and in so doing harness the potential of our country?
My hope is that the government will listen to Canadians like those who appeared in front of our finance committee, who work in the public health care system and for advocacy groups and who have completed years of research on taxation and its impacts on all areas of public policy.
Will the government ignore these great ideas brought forward by great Canadians and table a budget that is hijacked by polling results and directed by politics instead of policy? Ultimately it is the actions of the finance minister which will direct the economic and social interests of our country.
As a younger Canadian, I can think of no greater gift that this minority Parliament can give to the next generation than a budget that supports them as they prepare to compete in the global marketplace and build strong families and communities here at home.
As previous speakers from the official opposition have said, it is time to leave mediocrity behind. It is time to discard the adherence to a political mythology that results in short term electoral gain but dismisses the long term needs of Canadians. It is time to present a budget that showcases Canada to the world, a budget that shows we are finally serious about economic strength and fiscal responsibility.
Many of my colleagues have spoken about what such a Canada would look like, with a focus on innovation, productivity, quality of life, lower taxes, an improved pan-Canadian economic picture, sound environmental policies, and what improved fiscal relations would mean for rural Canadians and for people in Newfoundland and Labrador as well as Nova Scotia.
These ideas are all found within the Conservative Party supplemental report. I hope that the finance minister takes the time to reflect on our suggestions and consider them carefully.
Today I am going to limit my comments to two issues: a move toward rectifying the fiscal imbalance and finding a spending balance that recognizes the federal government's actual priorities and a sincere move toward measured debt repayment.
Recommendation 6 of the committee's report affirms a commitment to continue ongoing discussions toward rectifying the fiscal imbalance. This is a compromise position, but ongoing discussions have done nothing to solve the fiscal imbalance. In fact, these discussions have exacerbated the problem by suggesting that it does not exist.
Provinces unanimously recognize that the federal government takes up too much tax room and collects more taxes than it needs to fulfill its constitutional obligations. It uses the excess moneys it collects to intervene in provincial jurisdiction and set provincial policy priorities.
This problem is confirmed by the fact that governments in Alberta and Newfoundland, as well as the Quebec Liberal Party, have each written reports for their own provinces on a way to see greater autonomy within Confederation and a better rebalancing of the federation based on their concerns over loss of provincial fiscal and constitutional power.
The fiscal imbalance is the very reason that the premiers have set up the Council of the Federation and it is the reason they joined together and derailed the Prime Minister's agenda at the September health conference and the conference on equalization.
While the Liberal government fails to recognize the fiscal imbalance, ironically it is the Liberal members of the finance committee who have indirectly recognized it through their recommendations in their dissenting report.
For example, let us look at the Liberals' push for a national day care program. The members suggest that we need to start this system to stop child poverty.
Everyone in the House knows that a national day care program will not solve child poverty. As long as productivity is low, as long as unemployment is high, as long as taxes are high and as long as there is a shortage of affordable housing, there will be child poverty in this country.
Next we see that the Liberal members would like to see increased funding for emergency shelters for women and children who have experienced domestic violence.
Everyone in the House would like to see this sort of funding, but then again, everyone in the House would like to have seen this funding since 1995, when the Prime Minister gutted social transfers to the provinces, which then had to cut funding to programs such as this or download this funding to municipalities.
As someone who has spent a great deal of time supporting victims of domestic abuse either through volunteer efforts or through fundraising, I can tell members that women's shelters are in desperate need of funding.
But few people in this House trust this government or this Prime Minister to follow through on these priorities. After the Prime Minister's transfer cuts it was these very sorts of programs that suffered, so it must be somewhat difficult for the Prime Minister to have his own finance committee members repudiating his efforts of a decade ago.
So yes, there is a fiscal imbalance, and the Liberal Party recognizes it every time it attempts to correct the Prime Minister's financial record with the provinces by intervening in their jurisdiction with new programs to solve old problems.
I would also like to talk a little about debt reduction. As a younger Canadian I think I approach this issue differently than some others in the House. We know the debt is too large. We know that we have to get rid of it. Ultimately, having a large debt does not just inhibit our generation's ability to provide tax relief, social programs, a robust military and, most important, a trustworthy trade and investment climate; it also inhibits the ability of future generations.
I have received letters from many young Canadians, as I know the Prime Minister has, regarding the size of Canada's debt and the problems it poses for those 40 and under. We are currently paying for deficits and interest from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Without a significant move to rid ourselves of debt today and over the next 10 to 20 years, we will continue to pay that interest, alongside the acknowledged increase in social spending and a reduced income tax base when baby boomers retire.
That said, we still do not have a plan for putting our fiscal house in order. We need a systematic, measured method for repaying debt. Instead, what we have seen is an on-again, off-again inclination toward reducing the debt when it suits the government's political interests.
The government reports inaccurate surplus forecasts, every year coming in with a surplus that is far beyond the predicted one, as a result of overtaxing Canadians. Last year it was a $9.1 billion surplus and this year it will likely be upwards of $11 billion. This is unacceptable and imposes insurmountable challenges for provinces in their attempts to set their own budgets and make long term plans.
I started this parliamentary session by noting that this was a government with no vision for tapping into the economic and social potential that the country holds. In the last four months I have had the privilege of hearing from Canadians across the country in prebudgetary hearings, and I have had the opportunity to work alongside my learned colleagues on the finance committee, who bring vast experience to this debate.
This minority Parliament has a choice. We can provide Canadians with a budget that sets into motion a focused and exciting plan for our country and focuses on policy as opposed to politics. Canada can do better. Canadians deserve better. I urge the government and the finance minister to consider carefully and implement the suggestions of Canadians from across the country as submitted by the Conservative Party.
