Good afternoon.
Unlike other presenters, I am not requesting funding from the government. Canada is at a crossroads. A major paradigm shift is essential, not only in how the federal government operates but also in the expectations of Canadians, in order to prevent an end to what we all enjoy and expect as Canadian citizens.
Our world has changed in a dramatic way. Canadians, however, still believe the federal government exists solely to provide moneys for everyone's pet project. The economic demands resulting from global warming, global terrorism, an aging population, and the possibility of a pending pandemic require a major shift in federal spending practices.
The budget deficit now projected to last several years will be difficult to pay off and will hamper the necessary spending shifts needed to address this new reality, without a total change in the way that government operates. The fact that the application for submissions to this hearing only speaks about additional spending, new ways to spend moneys we don't have, and doesn't even mention the possibility that perhaps spending less may actually be beneficial indicates how out of touch our government and politicians are with reality.
Areas where spending should occur include the historical downsizing of the federal bureaucracy. Essentially, one result of the constant expansion of the public sector is that Canadians are refusing to vote, as no party is willing to deal with the ever-increasing growth and subsequent waste of the bureaucracy. As a result, governments are being elected by an ever-decreasing fraction of the electorate.
The Canadian public considers the federal government a body that ensures the waste and bad practices of the past continue, instead of being the body providing the solution to our problems. Only the federal government could justify the spending of $3 billion in order to manage the spending of billions more in the infrastructure program. We can no longer afford this insanity, either economically or socially. Change is essential. It is time for someone to say, “Enough”.
A decision must be made to determine which body is responsible for governing Canada, the PMO or cabinet. The PMO is a control issue and it's totally superfluous. Its funding should be cut dramatically.
Major reduction in the size of cabinet is also essential to demonstrate to Canada that government is serious about cutting costs. All ministers of state should be eliminated, along with much of their bureaucracy. Necessary agencies could be combined with existing ministries. As an example, opportunity agencies could be placed with intergovernmental affairs.
Several ministries should be collapsed and placed, again, in existing ministries—heritage to citizenship, natural resources to environment, public safety and veterans affairs to national safety. Considerable downsizing of government is essential.
The tens of millions of dollars presently given away for so-called multicultural special events such as parades, fairs, and celebrations is badly needed elsewhere. It is absolute insanity that Canadians are required to wait for months for pain-relieving or life-saving operations due to the lack of funding while moneys are given away to support social activities.
Due to our aging population, the Canada Health Act must be amended to permit access to private care for all Canadians, similar to what is already enjoyed in Quebec. If we in fact are living in a free society, Canadians should be allowed to spend their own money to speed up their diagnostic or surgical operations that they choose. The only requirement necessary to preserve the concept of universality would be to require physicians to maintain their current commitment to the public system. Prohibiting them from earning an appropriate living by limiting the amount of time they can practice due to the lack of public funds encourages them to leave Canada and must end. The implementation of competition will encourage the public system to reduce waste, especially in administration costs, and improve service and access.
Governments around the world are contemplating spending billions of dollars to deal with global warming. No money should leave Canada in the insane idea that giving another country funding for carbon credits somehow will remedy the greenhouse gas issue. Credits should be only spent internally, if at all. The fact that the greatest sinks for greenhouse gas are the oceans of the world is not only being totally ignored, but they continue to be destroyed by countries around the world that use them as a disposal zone for every toxic pollutant known. It will end up destroying this planet. The entire ecosystem of the oceans is being destroyed by pollution, acidification, and warming of the water.
One possible solution would be to implement a pollution tax on all products, determined by the amount of pollution created by their production and delivery to market—and not just carbon, but all gaseous, liquid, and solid pollutants as well.
The notwithstanding clause must be enacted to correct a major error made in the sixties. Canadians should have rights. However, in return, they must accept some personal responsibilities for their actions. Rights should not be available regardless of one’s lack of responsibility. A person who commits serious crimes against the state should lose their rights. Immigrants or those allowed to enter our country as refugees must respect the laws of our society. Immigrants and refugee claimants guilty of committing serious crimes against Canadian society, for example, murder or the production and selling of drugs, should be deported immediately, as is presently done in numerous other countries. The spending of any funds to defend people who have spat on the hands of our of kindness is unacceptable. Those found guilty of entering Canada illegally should be deported immediately. The government's responsibility to protect and provide security for law-abiding Canadian citizens must take precedence.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you this afternoon.