Mr. Speaker, I rise today to make some comments about the federal budget. Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to congratulate the federal government on balancing their budget. We understand that it is not an easy task as we have had to do the same thing. However, I would like to categorically state that this is not the time for major tax cuts, neither is it the time to pour major dollars into the social programs.
Mr. Speaker, this country still owes over $900 billion, and the only reason, I feel, that we have been able to make substantial gains in the past year is because of low interest rates. Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada must keep interest rates low. The banks make billions of dollars every year and Canadian citizens do not need to continue subsidizing the banks. What we need to do is close the loopholes for companies who have not paid income taxes for several years, decades in some cases, I understand. I understand that the federal Finance Minister has moved cautiously in several areas, for instance, in the area of education, which as you all know, I am considerably interested in. There will be money going to help students who owe money after graduation from post secondary institutions. There is also a northern economic development plan. Hopefully, this will assist us in developing a secondary diamond industry. There is also a child tax benefit which we have discussed here earlier and this will assist the poorest people who need it the most. There is also a moderate tax benefit for low and middle income families who also need this. I think that there could have been employment initiatives and it would have been nice to have something in the health care area, since we have such substantial costs in health care, travel costs and forced growth.
Overall, it was a good news budget, but I reiterate, Mr. Speaker, that this is not the time to begin dancing in the streets. This is not the time for major tax cuts or major spending. We still owe over $900 billion, and because of that, Mr. Speaker, I understand that 40 percent of our national revenues goes to pay the interest on the national debt. Once we get rid of that $900 billion debt or a substantial amount of it, then we can do our dancing, then we can cut our taxes by 20 percent and still pour money into social programs and we could still regard ourselves as the best country in the world to live in.
Mr. Speaker, at this time, we cannot hand out rewards before they are earned. Thank you.
--Applause.