Mr. Chairman, I would like to make some general comments before we get into the details of the budget. I totally agree with the report that was produced by the Standing Committee on Finance. There are a number of recommendations in the report that I fully support. With regard to the issues that are raised in the overall section of the committee's report, I would like to re-emphasize that the government was aware of all these outstanding issues that were identified in the Standing Committee on Finance report. The government was trying to resolve these issues with Ottawa on an issue-by-issue basis. Then the package approach was suggested. In yesterday's Minister's budget address, there was no mention of the package approach suggested by the standing committee. I am curious as to why this overall package was not developed and proceeded with, with the new government that is in place now.
Mr. Chairman, the other issue that I wanted to comment on is in the area of our accumulated surplus. For the last ten years, our government has been managing our affairs very well. We have been tough with our programs and services in terms of controlling our costs, but not at the expense of our agreement that we have with Ottawa. If our true costs are not reflected in our budget, then how can we go, on the other hand, and negotiate with the federal government saying, here are our true costs. For instance, for Social Services, we know for a fact, Mr. Chairman, that, because of our limited resources, the true cost is not reflected in our government. We know that if you take the Department of Social Services as an example, if you break it down even further, just look at the drug and alcohol program, we know that there aren't enough resources. That is why we are having problems at the community level in terms of their funding for drug and alcohol programs. I can use a number of examples. That is what I am saying. If we don't show our actual costs, how could we go to Ottawa and say, here are our costs, and negotiate a proper agreement with Ottawa. I am questioning that whole area of our true costs.
Because we have been controlling our costs, it may hurt us when we are negotiating with the federal government. That is why I think the package approach would benefit more because we can wheel and deal. We can give a little here or gain here, but, overall, you may come out ahead. I agree that the strategy of putting the package together would have been better for the government to pursue, but it doesn't seem like that is going to be the case, as outlined in the Minister's budget address yesterday. I have some concerns there. In the long run, we are just fooling ourselves, because our true costs aren't reflected. There are many programs within this government where the true costs aren't reflected because we are controlling our costs. That is an area that I have concerns in, Mr. Chairman.
Generally, I agree with the comments and recommendations that have been produced by the standing committee. I commend the chairman and the deputy for producing this report. I think it is well done and I agree with the comments. Mahsi.