Ecclectica » A Liberal Vision for Equality of Opportunity

by The Honourable Stéphane Dion
Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada

Stéphane Dion

Canada is a compassionate country, and our compassion is our strength. I want Canada to lead the world in combining economic growth, social justice and environmental sustainability, for the benefit of every single Canadian.

That's why I'm a Liberal.

The Conservatives instinctively view social programs as a burden for the economy. The Conservatives' second budget, tabled March 19, 2007, was a tremendous wasted opportunity for the Conservative government to deliver on much-needed programs and services for our society's most vulnerable. At the opposite extreme, the NDP never really understood the market economy. Liberals wanted both – economic prosperity and social justice. Not only did we want both, but we knew that the best recipe for a strong economy is to enable people to use their talents and their skills, with the help of intelligent social policy. To help them be healthier and better educated, and thus stronger players in the economy. As a result, the economy is strengthened, creating more capacity for programs that contribute to social justice. Call it the Liberal virtuous circle.

We achieved this, through employment insurance, through old age security, through the Guaranteed Income Supplement, through Medicare. We created the Student Assistance Plan and the Canada Child Tax Benefit, and we reformed the Canadian Pension Plan to make it affordable. And we did it in the last decade, with fiscal discipline, because we want to invest for the future. It's why we need fiscal discipline – in order to be a generous country.

Now, some may think we no longer need to fight for social justice. After all, the books are balanced. The unemployment rate is at its lowest level in 30 years. Inflation is low. Canada still is one of the fastest-growing economies of the G8 countries, thanks to thirteen years of sound Liberal management and the hard work of Canadians.

Yet so many Canadians remain bound by the chains of poverty. Yes, we have made progress. In 1996, 16% of Canadians were living in poverty and today that figure is down to 11%. But that is still one person out of ten – and that is one too many. If it were not for social programs, and the help of the government, since the 1980s, 40% of families with children would have seen their income fall.

That is why it is so important to keep the safety net and to improve it. Our economy will have more part-time workers, contract workers, seasonal, self-employed workers who are more likely to have lower wages, no employer pension, health or dental benefits. And especially no pension: in an aging population, to have a growing part of your population with no pension plan is dangerous for the social fabric of the country. Today, one person out of ten is 65 years or older. In 2021, one Canadian out of five will be 65 years old or more. If these people don't have a strong pension plan, one out of five, it will be a great problem for Canada.

Today, one Canadian out of two expects to work past the age of 65 in order to have enough money to live on. We need to reform our pension plan, and our tax system, in order to help Canada cope with an aging population. And that's what I would do as Prime Minister.

Nor can we pause in our battle against child poverty. We have decreased the percentage of children in poverty. But we still have one million children in poverty in Canada. That means, for Canada, 17% of children live in poverty. But if you look at aboriginal children, it's 40%. For new Canadians, 40% of children live in poverty.

If we wanted to be sure that no child lives below the poverty line, it would cost $5.5 billion to give all the children in Canada – with their parents – a decent start in life. The next GST tax cut that Mr. Harper has promised would cost $5.5 billion. I will not make that cut. I will invest in the child tax benefit and the other social programs, to lift the children of Canada out of poverty.

Speaking of families, Canada is one of the countries with the least-developed early learning and childcare program. In 2006, the Conservatives promised 125,000 new child care spaces over 5 years. Fourteen months into its mandate, there have been zero spaces created in the past year. What's worse, the so-called Universal Child Care benefit – neither universal nor child care – is fully taxable, and the government will rake in an average of $400 per family thanks to this. The 2006 Child Care Plan was a complete failure. We Liberals want to correct that. And we will. We will bring the Dryden Plan for Childcare back for Canadians.

We need to think as well about the working poor – people that are working, even though it might cost them less to be on welfare. It would cost less because they would have benefits if they were on welfare – and they wouldn't have to pay so much for their work clothes, their transportation and so on. We need a working income tax benefit, to help the working poor to have enough to stay off welfare, and to help the people on welfare to climb over the welfare wall and get a job. In 2005, the Liberals proposed just such a plan, before the Conservatives came to office. We proposed $2.25 billion over five years for a working income tax benefit to help the working poor.

Mr. Harper cut something very important to many of you: students' access to affordable postsecondary education. The previous Liberal government was planning to invest $3.1 billion over 5 years for financial assistance. The Conservatives have cut these key investments by 70%. The 2007 budget doesn't put a penny in the pockets of Canada's under-graduate students. There's money for Canada's top 4,000 graduate students, but the vast majority get nothing at all. The Conservative budget also cut $970 million from the Indirect Costs of Research program, which provides support to Canada's universities.

This Prime Minister put at risk the homelessness fund, Supporting Community Partnerships Initiative (SCIPI), by letting it run out of money in March and causing organizations working for the homeless to shut their doors. He starved the Affordable Housing Program by spending only $800 million of the $1.6 billion passed in the 2005 budget. He cut the program that was helping poor homeowners to cut their heating bills by making homes more energy efficient.

The list goes on. Mr. Harper is eradicating women's equality programs. He cut the budget of Status of Women Canada by 43 percent only to replace some on the funds a year later. And he removed equality as the main goal of the Women's Program at Status of Women Canada.

Harper cut the Kelowna Accord, a $5.5 billion accord to assist Aboriginals with housing, education, health care and water quality. The Conservative budget provided no clear vision for improving the lives of Aboriginal Canadians, instead offered a hodge-podge of measures, with only a small amount of funding.

He reneged on his commitment not to tax income trusts, causing a loss of $25 billion, devastating the savings of hundreds and hundreds of Canadians.

And he did it all with a surplus of $13-billion, leading a minority government. Imagine what he would do with a majority, and if economic growth slowed?

Stephen Harper devastated programs to help the most vulnerable, despite the fact that he is sitting on a surplus. Why? Because of ideology.

Stephen Harper thinks that the government should play the smallest role possible in the lives of Canadians. And if that means that people get left out – people with lower incomes, or women, or newcomers to Canada, or aboriginals – so be it.

I want equality of opportunity for all Canadians, and a federal government that is there to help realize that equality.

I believe in a strong, just society, strong public health care, equality for all, respect for human rights and a Charter of Rights and Freedoms that protects all Canadians including all minorities from prejudice, racism, and inequality. I believe in an independent judiciary that is respected around the world. And I believe in shared wealth, and an obligation to help make our world better through foreign aid and peacekeeping.

We need more social justice, not less. A more compassionate Canada, not a more selfish one.

It is clear that Prime Minister Harper wants to shift our culture toward a social-conservative model of government. This is the wrong direction for Canada.

He came to government with a $13 billion surplus, but he still cut $1 billion worth of programs. Programs for women's rights. Programs for adult literacy. What kind of a Prime Minister cuts funding for programs that teach adults how to read?

And he's running to the old and wrong-headed belief that the markets can take care of everyone.

When Canadians choose their next federal government, they will have a clear choice between two very different visions and understanding of the country.

Stephen Harper thinks that childcare comes in the form of a cheque. That social policy is for activists, not governments. That people are better off on their own without a safety net.

The Liberal Party will talk about the challenges facing our country and how we can govern for all Canadians. My Three Pillars approach of combining economic prosperity, social justice and environmental sustainability is about making sure we make changes today so our children do not pay the price of our inaction tomorrow.

We will argue that there cannot be true prosperity without social justice; that good social policies make for a stronger economy.

Canadians deserve to know that their federal government will be there when they need help. And they deserve a federal government willing to help them.

I have this great ambition. I want us to tear down barriers, to welcome the talents and skills of all Canadians. Canada has always been a compassionate country. Instead of turning our backs on that ideal, we need to take it further, to meet the challenges of this century. That's the Liberal vision, and that's what you can expect from a Liberal government.

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