Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives boast that they are the party of fiscal responsibility, but let us look at some facts. The facts show otherwise. The government gets a failing grade on practically every aspect of economic management, or should I say mismanagement, and the most recent budget does nothing to clean up the mess the Conservatives have made of our economy.

Unemployment has increased 9% under the government. The youth unemployment rate is double the national rate. Canadians are struggling to support themselves and their families. Canada is 20th in the OECD for job creation. Meanwhile, the government refuses to roll back its job-killing payroll tax hikes. The current freeze on EI premiums means little when the Conservatives have inflated the rates for so long. They are balancing the budget on the backs of hard-working Canadians and small businesses.

Budget 2014 did not just fall flat on job creation. It failed to invest in the services that are the most important to Canadians. With the aging population in Thunder Bay—Superior North and across Canada, our health care needs are increasing. Yet somehow we see no investment in health care in the budget.

The Thunder Bay Regional Health Science Centre recently broke the record for overcapacity and was in gridlock for five straight weeks. We are headed for a crisis as the Conservatives sit on their hands. They are burying their heads in the sand with their refusal to adequately fund health care, and it is compromising Canadians' right to universal health care.

It is not just health care that is in danger. The Conservatives have also neglected the retirement security of our seniors. They have balked at much-needed pension reform and even blocked consensus on the matter. We see no plan to protect Canada's seniors, who have worked hard for so many years only to be abandoned by their government in their old age. Why is the government leaving our retirees financially insecure?

In my riding, it seems that the Conservatives have made it an obsession to shut as many vital services as possible. They have slashed local Veterans Affairs, Citizenship and Immigration, Canada Revenue Agency, and Marine Communications and Traffic Services offices, and they have cut jobs across the board in Thunder Bay and all regions. Northwestern Ontarians pay taxes just like the rest of Canadians, but they are forced to bear a greater burden of taxes, as large multinationals pay less than half the U.S.A. rate.

Declining services are not the only problem. The Conservatives may go on and on about reducing the national debt, but they are the ones who have added $123 billion to the debt since they took office. That is a 25% increase. Is this what debt reduction looks like? It is clear that the Conservative government is misrepresenting the facts.

What is even more important is the Conservatives' ignorance of the needs of ordinary Canadians, whose personal debt has gone up 26%. Canadians simply cannot afford it. The average cost of a house has risen 52%. It costs an average Canadian homeowner over $400,000 to buy a small house. How are Canadians supposed to put roofs over their heads?

Canadians need more than empty promises from Conservatives. They need real fiscal responsibility that puts Canadians first. The Conservatives talk a lot about their so-called economic record, but all we can see are deep service cuts that hurt hard-working Canadians and increased debt.

Bruce Hyer

Transcript

Adjournment Proceedings

Discussions (0)