Pre-Budget Consultations  The elimination of services or a degree of them is obvious. The conversion from consumption to investment is somewhat more complex. It seems clear that if people are not going to be engaged in work, they should ultimately be trained or retrained in order to regain entry at a higher level than when they left. If for some reason this is not possible these people should be supported based on the degree of their commitment to undertake work directed at the improvements to their communities.

Social Security System  We cannot stimulate employment if our systems do not reward effort and offer incentives to work. The social security action plan will also propose clear options for redefining and redistributing work to ensure that more Canadians have jobs.

Social Security System  Canadians do not lack dignity and they do not lack initiative; they lack jobs and hope. It is odd and perhaps it is as clear here as in anything else, why the government is not focusing on job creation. I think we have five policy debates of a general nature, ensuring that all members of Parliament can communicate their views to the government on specific matters of policy.

Social Security System  My colleagues before me have addressed some of the problems with the traditional income security program. I want to speak today about health care and health care spending. Let me make it clear at the beginning that the Reform Party favours the preservation of adequate health services for Canadians. We believe that no Canadian should be denied health care for financial reasons.

Social Security System  What I want to say with regard to the member's first question is that with job creation I think it is very clear. Job creation is a goal towards which the government is working at this time. Job creation has been the focal point of our Prime Minister's speeches. That is why we have been elected, all of us who considered in detail the Red Book of our party which says that job creation is our primary responsability.

Social Security System  The regions of Quebec are emptying faster because they are in a vicious circle of impoverishment. I want my position on the fight against poverty to be clear right from the start. As an Official Opposition critic and member of Parliament, I will make every effort to speak on behalf of those who are not here but whose hopes and future depend on the work done in this House and, in the end, on the vote of the majority.

Small Business  We announced at that time a joint program to aid the agri-food processing industry of western Canada to develop its export markets in the United States. That is a clear example of working with industry, working with a province, getting good value for our money and creating jobs for westerners.

Indian Affairs  Mr. Speaker, I am repeating myself. It should be clear that Canadian skies are not up for negotiation. That is part of the Canadian umbrella. That is part of what we are talking about: self-government negotiations within one Canada. I have said that the skies of Canada are open to all nations, all reserves and all Canadians.

Social Programs  One is to achieve more effectiveness, more efficiency in the delivery of programs, to end duplication, to overcome a lot of overlap and to find better ways of delivering dollars to those who need them. Those are clear ways in which money can be saved but that is not the only objective. The real objective and the real saving comes when we can get the three million Canadians who last year had to depend on some form of unemployment insurance or social security to find a good job, to have some hope and to have good training.

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, our position has been very clear. Whether we are talking about different ways to close the loopholes in our tax system or about subsidies to corporations or individuals, the watch word is fairness. And that will be the purpose of this budget.

Social Security System  We want to ensure basic security for those in need; redefine the roles and responsibilities between governments; improve efficiency; strengthen the co-operative nature of all levels of government; and we want to design new and improved ways of delivering our services. The challenge is great, but let us make it very clear from the start that it is not merely a challenge for members on this side. Essentially today we have begun a process of positive change for all Canadians. We hope and trust that members of the opposition will take the opportunity to participate, whether through parliamentary committees or in their own ridings, seeking input from their own constituents to participate in redesigning the social security system of this country.

Social Security System  You have to understand that if hospitals have to provide services without having the funds to do so, they have to find solutions that I would say are creative, although they are, in a way, creating a two-tier system of health care, whereby those who can afford it get the results of their tests fast, while others have to wait for them. This is unfortunate, but it is the visible, clear and immediate result of the cuts made over the last 10 years or so. Will things change? I dare think they will. Excuse me, Mr. Speaker, how much time do I have left? About a minute, two minutes.

Social Security System  By my calculations and from the admissions of members opposite this broadening of the tax base can perhaps add, at most, $5 billion a year to the revenue of the federal government which has a $40 billion plus deficit and 60 per cent of government spending, excluding interest costs, going toward the cost of social programs either in direct payments to people or transfers to provinces. It is very clear that we must examine our social program spending in a real and basic way. The root of the problem is the enormous and increasing debt of the country, a debt with interest payments eating up the amount of tax dollars available for social programs.

Social Security System  Today, because it is facing a chronic deficit, the federal government is trying to make the provinces pay the bill without giving them the money needed to fund these programs or reducing its taxes to clear the tax base to the benefit of the provinces. It has chosen to attack the poor on the back of the provinces. It will be the provinces and not the federal government that will attack the poor.

Speech From The Throne  In its brief to the Bélanger-Campeau Commission, the Quebec section of the Canadian Manufacturers Association wrote: "The confusion caused by this duplication leads to a massive waste of energy, time and resources and creates a permanent climate of uncertainty, while industries expect their government to maintain a stable climate and establish clear rules so that they can make plans for their development." Madam Speaker, it is not only the waste of public funds, which is itself a serious problem. Our businesses' competitiveness is being undermined because they must work their way through a bureaucratic maze.