CANADA House of Commons Debates VOLUME 138 Ï NUMBER 104 Ï 2nd SESSION Ï 37th PARLIAMENT OFFICIAL REPORT (HANSARD) Friday, May 16, 2003 Speaker: The Honourable Peter Milliken CONTENTS (Table of Contents appears at back of this issue.) All parliamentary publications are available on the ``Parliamentary Internet Parlementaire´´ at the following address: http://www.parl.gc.ca 6359 HOUSE OF COMMONS Friday, May 16, 2003 The House met at 10 a.m. the priorities of Quebeckers in the budget, in addition to those of Canadians. Until now, we have not been very mistaken on the priorities given Prayers to some budget items, but that the government has not been able to follow up on in the many successive budgets since 1994. I will get back to those priorities for Quebeckers and Canadians. Ï (1005) [Translation] In addition, let me point out a certain exercise the Bloc Quebecois has been engaging in twice a year since 1995. It involves a very BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE sophisticated device, but one which has become very familiar to The Deputy Speaker: Pursuant to Standing Order 81, it is my most taxpayers, namely a calculator, a little pocket calculator on duty to inform the House of the motion to be addressed Monday, special this week or $3.95 at Jean Coutu. Taking the figures for May 26, during consideration of the business of supply. government revenues and expenditures—in the first quarter, for [English] example—we simply extrapolate, using the rates of growth provided by the major financial institutions. This could be the Mouvement It reads: Desjardins, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the Bank of That this House, acknowledging that health issues transcend political borders as Montreal, the Royal Bank or Wood Gundy—any of the outfits who seen with the recent outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, SARS, express deal with economic growth. its support for the admission of Taiwan as an Observer to the World Health Organization and call upon the government to actively urge other member states and So, we simply extrapolate with certain adjustments that come non-governmental organizations to support this goal. from our observation of the trends in budgetary revenues and This motion standing in the name of the hon. member for expenditures year after year. As for the state of public finances, in Kootenay—Columbia is votable. Copies of the motion are available calculating the budgetary surplus—something the former Finance at the table. Minister and potential successor to the current Prime Minister made forecasting errors about, in the size of the surplus and deficit, at the beginning, of around 200% per year, on the average—we have every reason to be proud, because our forecasting errors are around 3 to GOVERNMENT ORDERS 4%, which is the margin of error one usually expects when making this type of forecast. [Translation] And yet, it was the $3.98 pocket calculator and a few connections, BUDGET IMPLEMENTATION ACT, 2003 especially in the major financial institutions, that enabled us to get The House resumed from May 14, 2003 consideration of the these results. I am always shocked to see the forecasts and results motion that Bill C-28, an act to implement certain provisions of the from the Minister of Finance, year after year. He must be doing this budget tabled in Parliament on February 18, 2003, be read for the on purpose, presenting us with such fantastical figures as those he third time and passed. has been dealing in since 1995. Mr. Yvan Loubier (Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, BQ): Mr. Speak- It began with the hon. member for LaSalle—Émard as finance er, I am pleased to speak on the most recent budget brought down by minister and continues with the current finance minister, who is also the Minister of Finance. hoping to become Prime Minister. I wonder whether or not being There would be a lot to say about this last budget, but I will try, in able to count is a prerequisite to standing for election as leader of the the next 20 minutes, to stick to the basics and to the most Liberal Party of Canada, that is as a potential Prime Minister. fundamental aspects of the Minister of Finance's presentation. Moreover, the first sizeable deficit leading to debts that accumulated year after year within the federal public service was created by the First, let me tell the House that, since 1994, every year, before the current Prime Minister, who was once, himself, Minister of Finance. budget is brought down, the Bloc Quebecois holds some consulta- It makes one believe that history repeats itself with all these tions with the Quebec people to complement the ones made by the successions, that is, succession as finance minster and succession as Standing Committee on Finance, to determine exactly the needs and Prime Minister, too. 6360 COMMONS DEBATES May 16, 2003 Government Orders The same thing happened again this year. My colleague, the paying income tax only on earnings over $43,000. That is a huge member for Joliette, who still uses the pocket calculator bought at difference. Jean Coutu for $3.98, was right on in estimating that the surplus for the 2002-03 fiscal year would be somewhere around $10 billion. It Does this mean that the federal government is taking too much tax so happens that we have just been told that, indeed, the surplus for money from a middle income family of two adults and two children? the fiscal year ending March 31, 2003, would be just over $10 It should not be taking as much, particularly from a family like that billion. with an income of $23,000. It makes no sense. When my colleague took over as finance critic, I gave him the The federal government is amassing huge surpluses. It is a matter pocket calculator, and it is still working just fine. We have been of billions, whereas the forecast was—how convenient—a maximum using the same $3.98 pocket calculator since 1995. of $4 billion. It is the same every year. Does this also mean that what Ï (1010) the Minister of Finance has been doing to the employment insurance fund—theft, pure and simple—with the federal government's How can we obtain such accurate results when, just a few months blessing, every year for the past six years, is unjustified? Mosat ago, the Minister of Finance was telling us that the surplus for the definitely, because this is theft, since the federal government does previous fiscal year would be around $3.5 billion or $4 billion? He not contribute a cent to that fund. The money in it comes from the was wrong again. It is not $3.5 billion or $4 billion, but $10 billion, workers and the employers, who pay into it in order to insure those just as we had predicted. who had the misfortune to lose their job, not in order to line the What does that do? What it does is that the government, which pockets of the Minister of Finance. should be addressing the real priorities of Quebeckers and Does this mean that there is not only no ethical justification, but Canadians, is not meeting these priorities, claiming as an excuse probably no legal justification as well. The CSN has a case before that it does not have the money to do so. That is what we are seeing the courts at the present time. Does this mean that not only is it year after year. unjustified on these bases but also unjustified on the very basis of the Since memory is not infallible, when the Minister of Finance federal government's arguments, which are that we would be running opens his mouth and says that we must be careful because the a deficit again if not for the surplus? That is not true. surplus will not exceed $2 billion, $3 billion or $4 billion, people Ï (1015) believe that they do indeed have to be careful. We are always afraid of going back into a deficit, and rightfully so. With a $10 billion surplus, the government would not have needed to steal this year's forecast surplus of $4 billion from the employment If anyone is being responsible about the management of public insurance fund. It also means that more than only 39% of EI funds, it is the Bloc Quebecois. It is the only party that told the applicants could have qualified for benefits. That figure is quite low. former Minister of Finance, some five years ago, it would support It means that 61% of applicants who have lost their jobs or who are anti-deficit legislation, balanced budget legislation, requiring him to in regions with seasonal employment and who have to cope with the be accountable. It is a matter of being accountable for the infamous gap could have collected employment insurance. However, aboriginals. It would perhaps be a good idea to include the because of the Minister of Finance's greed, and the government's management of public accounts too. The system is far from being as greed, and because of the lack of expertise in managing public transparent and as accountable as we are being told. finances, which are being hoarded year after year, these people are The Bloc Quebecois is responsible with regard to the management still being refused EI. The same will hold true for this year. of public funds. But being responsible does not mean accumulating astronomical surpluses. Does the House know what an astronomical Incidentally, there is a protest movement that is starting up again surplus is? It means that the federal government is taking more across Quebec, and we hope that it will catch on in the Maritimes money from taxpayers than it needs to face its challenges and and the rest of Canada.