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PAUL MARTIN'S DECADE OF FAILURE
This is a small portion of the speech delivered by Opposition Leader
Stephen Harper in the House of Commons on Wednesday, March 24, in answer to
the Paul Martin government's federal budget.
- - - -
Mr. Speaker, today I rise to speak to the tenth budget of a tired, old and
corrupt Liberal regime.
It is a Liberal regime mired in scandal. It is a Liberal regime wishing to
shake its past. It is a Liberal regime that cannot be trusted to manage our
public funds.
This budget tried to make one claim. It tried to say this government can be
trusted to manage public funds. But what is the reality?
We have continued record spending levels. The government has been exposed
as ripping off the taxpayer in scandal after scandal. The government has
been exposed as wasting dollars in program after program. And this budget
will change none of those things.
Ottawa remains knee deep in cash -- hidden surpluses will continue. A few
short years ago, the government had projected program spending of just over
$100 billion. This budget projects program spending well over $150 billion
- -- an increase of 50%.
There is no return of tax dollars to overtaxed Canadians and Canadian
families. There is no reduction in onerous tax levels. And the pledge to do
better in the future is empty. It is empty because this government, and
this prime minister, has had 10 years to do better.
He was the one writing the cheques for the sponsorship scandal. He was the
one writing the cheques for the HRDC boondoggle. He was the one writing the
cheques for the useless gun registry. His promises to clean up the mess are
simply not credible.
He had his chance. And he missed his chance ....
The first eight budgets of this tired, old and corrupt Liberal regime were
delivered, as Canadians know, by the current prime minister. Before turning
my attention to (Tuesday's) budget, I want to take a small detour through
some of those earlier budgets.
Mr. Speaker, in those early budgets, the prime minister, who was finance
minister at the time, took full responsibility for the spending program of
the government. The message of those budgets was clear: Your finance
minister is in control of taxpayers' dollars.
In his 1995 budget speech, the current prime minister said the following:
"The government has just introduced a new and much tighter system to manage
its spending. For the first time, departments will have to prepare business
plans for three years forward -- that transparency and that accountability
will mark a major departure from the past. Individual ministers are being
asked to alter their funding approach accordingly. They will be held
accountable for their decisions and those decisions will be reviewed
annually."
Reviewed annually, one can only assume, by the minister of finance, or at
least by Treasury Board, on which the minister of finance was the vice chair.
The year 1995 is significant. That is the year in which the Liberal
government nearly lost the country. That was also the year in which the
Liberal government decided to create a sponsorship program.
Allow me to rephrase that: The year that the Liberals created the
Sponsorship Program was also the year in which the current prime minister
put in place "a new and much tighter system to manage its spending."
Of course, most Canadians remember 1995 as the year in which government cut
billions from the health-care system.
Allow me to rephrase that: The year that the Liberals created the
Sponsorship Program was also the year in which the current prime minister
massively cut spending on health care.
The 1995 budget put forward four priorities. The very first priority was
to: Reform government programs and procedures to eliminate waste and abuse
and ensure value for the taxpayer's dollar.
This promise was repeated in his 1996 budget speech: "If there is one area
where we must never let up, it is the effort to root out waste and
inefficiency."
And in his 1998 budget speech: "The battle to root out waste and
inefficiency can never end."
Now, allow me to rephrase all of that:
The year in which the Liberals created the Sponsorship Program was also the
year in which the current prime minister first vowed to root out waste and
abuse of taxpayer dollars.
And now this budget again, tries to establish the government as "prudent
managers." The government has made a number of recommendations to tighten
spending. They want to re-establish the office of comptroller general.
Canadians rightly ask: "You mean you don't have one now?"
The answer is, no. The answer is "no" because the current prime minister
cut this office in his first budget as finance minister ....
Why should Canadians believe any of these promises when the prime minister
had 10 years -- 10 years as finance minister -- to make them happen...?
(Tuesday's) budget continues the theme put forward by the prime minister in
a speech last week. The Liberals want Canadians to believe that they
represent "change".
"Trust me," says the prime minister, usually with some reference to "high
water" and "hell."
Why should Canadians trust this Liberal government? For 10 years, it has
refused to create a genuinely independent ethics counsellor.
For 10 years, this Liberal government has failed to give its members free
votes.
For 10 years, it failed to allow Parliament to review appointments. For 10
years, this Liberal government failed to prudently spend Canadians' tax
dollars. For 10 years, this government failed to deliver municipal
infrastructure programs to adequately meet the needs of our communities.
For 10 years, this government failed to clean up contaminated sites like
the Sydney Tar Ponds.
And these are just some of the promises made by the Liberals -- made in the
first Liberal Red Book in 1993 in a book written by the current prime
minister himself.
Mr. Speaker, promises of change from this Prime Minister are no more
believable today than they were 10 years ago. He had his chance. And he
missed his chance. And that is why Canadians should not believe the
promises in this budget.
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