The Economy  Mr. Speaker, before the seals become too excited, they should realize that The Economist magazine says much of the credit for the fiscal surplus is due to structural changes made by the Conservative government in the early 1990s. Let us face it. The real heroes are ordinary Cana

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, what Canadians will see this afternoon in this budget is not necessarily what they will get. The Minister of Finance may have black ink on his hands but Canadians are still covered in red ink. Personal debt is up. Personal savings are down. Personal bankruptcies are

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, when we hear the finance minister talk about debt reduction he sounds like a used car dealer. No money down, no payments this year. That is his commitment to debt reduction. It is not a genuine commitment, and we know better. Canadians are wondering what the Ministe

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, yesterday Canadians were waiting to see this imaginary surplus. Instead they had to witness the tax and cut Liberals become the tax and spend Liberals. The surplus has disappeared. The Minister of Finance may be able to hide the surplus from ordinary Canadians, but

The Budget  Madam Speaker, today I will be splitting my time with the member for Madawaska—Restigouche. When I heard the comments earlier and the buoyant optimism of the member for Thornhill about the budget and I heard the comments from the member for Acadie—Bathurst about the pain and suf

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, there seems to be some confusion. Perhaps I was wrong when I said that Russell MacLellan did not stand up in this House for Nova Scotia because he did. He stood up to vote for cuts to health care and education in Nova Scotia. He stood up to support Bill C-68. That ce

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, when the government talks about establishing floors for health care I would like it to understand that health care in Nova Scotia is subterranean. It has not reached the floor. It is still in the basement. The fact is that this government continues to cut cash trans

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, the fact is that seven provinces will be receiving less in cash transfers for health care and education according to the finance minister's own staff. Every maritime government has spoken out against this except for one. That is the Prime Minister's gofer in Nova Sc

The Budget  Madam Speaker, the hon. member brings an interesting perspective on the issue of fiscal policy to this House. As he mentioned, he was elected in 1972, I believe. The process of deficit reduction has taken 15 years. Those are not my words. Those are the words of the Leader of the

Health  Mr. Speaker, I would like the Minister of Health to listen to the words of an innocent hepatitis C victim, a constituent of mine, Connie Lake. Connie told me: “I just wish they would put an end to the games they are playing with the compensation. I am so disappointed in this Lib

Supply  Madam Speaker, I always enjoy listening to the erudite and lucid remarks of the hon. member for Vancouver Quadra. Coming from Nova Scotia, the cradle of higher education in Canada, education is very important to me and to my constituents. I would like to ask the hon. member abou

Pensions  Mr. Speaker, the CPP fund is predicted to grow from $6 billion to $26 billion by 2007. Raising the foreign content rule will increase investment returns on this fund and benefit all Canadians. Even the Conference Board of Canada feels that the foreign property rules will make Can

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board  Mr. Speaker, the other chamber is currently holding hearings on Bill C-2 and the appointment process to the CPP investment board. The appearance of non-political appointments to this investment board is paramount to the integrity of the board itself and to Canadians' trust and co

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, Moody's, the firm that sets international credit ratings, has expressed fear that the government will start indiscriminate Liberal spending yet again. Despite the claim of a balanced budget, Canada's credit rating is two levels below that of our international tradin

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, I am surprised the minister did not mention the Canadian dollar, which has shown some upward movement recently. The fact is that the only upward movement in the dollar is due to leadership, but not the leadership on that side of the House. The Prime Minister's idea