Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to make a few comments in reply to the Speech from the Throne.
As everyone in this assembly is aware, the Speech from the Throne is what I would call a broad-based agenda of the government. It is not meant to be about specific legislation or specific programs. It is the government's agenda, or vision, for the next short period of time.
I want to very clearly put on the record my vision of our country.
There is a role for a strong central government that acts on behalf of all regions and all peoples in our country. We all have a shared destiny. There is a strong role for the federal government to play in the day-to-day lives of each Canadian, no matter what they do or where they work.
When I read the Speech from the Throne, I found it contradictory. I see some items in the it that I certainly support. I believe they will foster that vision if they are implemented. On the other hand, certain statements perhaps will bring the country back, and I will speak to that.
Let me first indicate that there are a couple of items in the Speech from the Throne that I see as very much a step in the right direction.
The first one that has been talked about is the requirement for a single securities regulator. To quote from the Speech from the Throne, it states:
To further strengthen financial oversight in Canada, our Government will work with the provinces to put in place a common securities regulator.
Compared to other OECD countries, Canada, although it has an immense geography, is very small, with 34 million people. There are 13 jurisdictions. I do not believe we can continue with 13 separate securities regulators. That will not work going forward from a financial administration point of view. We will be better off as soon as we get one single securities administrator acting on behalf of all Canadians.
The Speech from the Throne talks about the need to work toward eliminating various interprovincial trade, investment and labour mobility. In actual fact, it puts a date of 2010 on this specific provision, and I support this initiative.
I urge the Minister of Finance to proceed on both initiatives. There will be objections from certain provinces with their vested interests, especially with the single securities regulator. I urge the Minister of Finance to be courageous and not back down but to move forward.
Another point in the Speech from the Throne is the whole notion of introducing legislation in the House to restrict federal spending power and I object to that.
As a member of Parliament, I do not agree with this concept. It lacks vision. The country is not about that. It is a policy statement that found its origins in the Reform Party, was copied by the Alliance Party and is here with the Conservative Party. It certainly would not be supported by the Progressive Conservative Party.
Federal spending power has been constitutionally recognized by the Supreme Court of Canada. It has been used by successive governments of different political stripes. I submit it has been used to build a better Canada. It has been used to develop and to enhance pan-Canadian values and visions. I will cite some programs as examples.
First, I will talk about the old age pension, which was a very limited amount. I believe it was enacted by former Prime Minister Diefenbaker. It was a small amount of money, but it had a tremendous influence on all Canadians.
That was followed up with the baby bonus. Again, this was a small amount of money that was universally paid to every family that had a baby under the age of 18.
This was followed up in the 1960s by the Canada Health Act. That was an immense change in the legislative framework of our country. It was not unanimous. In fact, doctors and the provinces were against it, but the government of the day was bold, courageous and had vision.
That was followed up with the Canada pension so that every Canadian, regardless of where he or she lived, would have the certain foundations of a pension plan.
The employment insurance program came next, followed by the guaranteed income supplement, so every Canadian over the age of 65 would be guaranteed a certain level of income.
The child tax credit came about in the 1990s and was especially important for low-income families that had children. Then we had the research programs that provided research, especially for post-secondary education. The list goes on and on.
These were programs and initiatives that perhaps would not have been successful or been adopted if we had this so-called restriction on the federal spending power.
This concept creates a firewall or a moat around each of our 13 jurisdictions. It causes nothing but difficulty. It certainly is not my vision of Canada and in the long run Canada will not work if it follows that concept.
It appears to me that this concept grows in what I would call good times. The economy over the last 12 years has been relatively good and the feeling has been allowed to grow that perhaps the 13 jurisdictions that comprise Canada really do not need each other. Perhaps all this talk about a shared destiny is just sentimental gibberish. It really does not affect Canadian values and vision.
Perhaps Canada can be better defined with a strict literal interpretation of the jurisdictional aspects of each provincial jurisdiction to be led by the ideology then in force by the government in power at that time. Perhaps we do not need each other, but I do not think that concept will work in bad times.
Right now our country is facing immense challenges. I would submit to the House and fellow Canadians that it is unprecedented, certainly since the depression of the 1930s. It is now a very serious issue and involves every industry, probably the automobile manufacturing industry more seriously than any other industry, but also the aeronautics industry, the forestry industry, the manufacturing industry, et cetera. From what we hear, read and see what is going on in our country now, there is a role, a very important role, for a strong central government.
Last week we had representatives from the automobile industry in Canada here. Last Thursday the association representing the automobile dealers was here. This morning's Globe and Mail talked about the forestry in B.C. Representatives are here asking for help from the federal government, and I believe the federal government has to respond. However, how will this so-called federal spending power fit in with that concept? It does not fit.
This has been allowed to grow in a restricted ideology that calls for less and less government, deregulation of every industry, whether it is the banking and mortgage industry, lower and lower taxes and blind adherence to capitalism. It allows for greed to set in and once greed sets in and is allowed to grow, we have very unpleasant repercussions. This situation should not be proceeded with and I do not think it will be proceeded with given our current economic climate.
The Speech from the Throne has some good elements that I applaud and will support, but there are some bad elements. However, in the long run, the government and this Parliament should move toward a strong central government that stands up for fairness, opportunity and respect for balance.