Thank you, Madam Speaker. I rise today, before we begin consideration of the budget on Monday, to bring to the Members' and Ministers' attention a number of concerns I have on the subject of a balanced budget. All of us, as Members of this Legislative Assembly, are aware of the serious shortage of social housing in some of our communities. As all of you also know, this shortage, by the very nature of the problems encountered by the individuals and families affected, contributes to the high costs of social and medical programs. This is an old problem. It is not going to go away. We have to deal with it.
Madam Speaker, the need for adequate housing is not the only priority this government faces in allocating its funding. Along with the age-old problems, which I will not repeat here, we face other new demands upon our finances. Issues that will have to be dealt with in the coming years include shelters for abused women and children, possible restitution for children abused in residential schools, salaries for care givers, gender equality and job equity for government employees.
Madam Speaker, some of these issues, such as pay equity, cannot be avoided. Sooner or later, this government is going to have to pay the piper. Where will this money come from? What programs or services are going to suffer? Sometimes, Madam Speaker, spending money on specific problems is the only way to deal with the larger picture. If we spend, for example, money now on women's shelters and public housing, we would be saving money on social programs in the long run. By helping the victims of abuse now, we prevent their children from becoming abusers themselves.
The business incentive policy and the negotiated contracts are like this. We may pay a little extra to get the job done, but we are helping the unemployed pay their own way.