Budget Speech 1996 - 4
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Conclusion

That concludes our description of the measures contained in this budget.

Every one of these is targeted towards a specific set of goals.

They reflect our desire to put in place the strongest economic framework possible for sustained growth and jobs.

They act on our obligation to preserve our great social programs for the next century -- programs such as Medicare and our pension system.

They are designed to help provide the next generation with confidence in the new economy -- by investing in our youth, in technology, in trade.

We spoke at the outset about the anxieties that grip our country. This budget is about doing what we can to help Canadians put those anxieties to rest.

But let us be clear. A budget is only a small part of the answer.

The full response lies in recognizing where we are in the evolution of the country, in the evolution of the world beyond our borders.

It is time to turn the page.

Because the fact is that success for countries is no different than success for families or communities or individual citizens. It is based, above all, on one thing: the constant setting of goals and the meeting of new challenges. Successful countries do more than occupy a place on the map. They live in the soul of their people -- because they are relevant to the betterment of their lives.

And so, for Canada, it is time to set goals anchored in our shared values and aspirations.

We have done that throughout our history -- in the days when we dared speak of a national dream -- and then built it; in the days when we aspired to a kinder society and then created it.

Now, it is time to move forward again -- to arrive not simply at a common understanding of what we are -- but a common vision of what we can be. Our challenge today is to make Canada a place of great expectations, a country once again where our children believe they have the opportunity to do better than their parents, a place where they can dream large dreams once more.

We must set great national challenges, not small ones -- because it is only by reaching as high as we are able that we will discover how far we can go.

Why can we not decide together that ten years hence, Canada will be regarded as the world leader in the new industries of the new economy -- in bio-technology, in environmental technology, in the cultural industries of the multi-channel universe?

Why not decide together that ten years hence increasing child poverty rates will be a thing of the past, that illiteracy will be erased from our communities and that when it comes to international tests, our students will not simply do fine -- but in fact be the very finest?

Why can we not decide together that Medicare ten years hence, will not simply survive, but be the most successful system in the world, with a record on prevention, care and cure that is second to none?

Why not decide together that ten years hence our streets will be the safest they can be -- not because we have the largest number of prisons or police, but rather because we have faced squarely the sources of crime?

These are challenges all of us must meet. They do not belong to any one of us alone. They do belong to all of us together.

If we want to open new doors for our children, there is literally nothing standing in our way.

We are a society that mirrors the diversity of an entire planet. We are already building on a great foundation. Now it is time to draw on that foundation, to write a new history ourselves.

Let us act, not as special interests, but as stewards of the national interest -- knowing that the destiny of our children is in our hands.

Let us follow in the footsteps of those who came before, who saw challenge as a rallying cry to move forward, never as an excuse to give up.

And let it be said by those who come after us, that we set the goals, that we met them together, that we propelled Canada forward into a new millennium -- still and always among the front ranks of nations.

Summary statement of transactions: Fiscal outlook with budget measures

	1993-94	1994-95	1995-96	1996-97	1997-98
	(billions of dollars)
Budgetary revenues	116.0	123.3	130.6	135.0	141.0
Program spending	-120.0	-118.7	-113.8	-109.0	-106.0
Operating balance	-4.0	4.6	16.8	26.0	35.0
Public debt charges	-38.0	-42.0	-47.0	-47.8	-49.0
Underlying deficit	-42.0	-37.5	-30.2	-21.8	-14.0
Contingency reserve	-2.5	-2.5	-3.0
Deficit	-42.0	-37.5	-32.7	-24.3	-17.0
Non-budgetary transactions	12.2	11.6	12.7	10.6	11.0
Financial requirements	-29.8	-25.8	-20.0	-13.7	-6.0
Net public debt	508.2	545.7	578.4	602.7	619.7
GDP (calendar year)	712.9	750.1	780.0	806.0	841.0
Per cent of GDP
Revenues	16.3	16.4	16.7	16.7	16.8
Program spending	-16.8	-15.8	-14.6	-13.5	-12.6
Deficit	-5.9	-5.0	-4.2	-3.0	-2.0
Financial requirements	-4.2	-3.4	-2.6	-1.7	-0.7
Net public debt	71.3	72.8	74.2	74.8	73.7

Direct budget savings

	1994-95	1995-96	1996-97	1997-98	1998-99	Cumulative effect on net debt
	(billions of dollars)
1994 budget	1.5	8.0	10.9	11.9	12.6	44.9
1995 budget	5.0	10.6	13.3	13.8	42.7
Total	1.5	13.0	21.5	25.2	26.4	87.6
1995 Employment
Insurance reform [1]	0.7	0.8	1.5
1996 budget	0.0	0.2	1.7	1.9
Total	1.5	13.0	21.5	26.1	28.9	91.0
of which:
Expenditures	0.7	10.6	18.9	23.3	25.6	79.0
Revenues	0.8	2.4	2.6	2.8	3.4	12.0
1 Savings for 1996-97 were included in 1995 budget savings. Note: Table shows net savings from deficits that would have otherwise occurred in the absence of direct measures in the budgets. Numbers may not add due to rounding.

The revenue outlook

	1993-94	1994-95	1995-96	1996-97	1997-98
	(billions of dollars)
Personal income tax	51.4	56.3	60.5	63.5	67.2
Corporate income tax	9.4	11.6	14.4	15.1	16.0
Employment Insurance
contributions	18.2	18.9	18.5	18.8	19.5
Excise taxes and duties
Goods and Services Tax	15.7	16.8	17.2	17.9	18.7
Customs import duties	3.7	3.6	3.0	2.8	2.5
Other excise taxes	7.3	6.7	7.3	7.6	7.7
Other tax revenues	1.6	1.8	1.9	1.9	2.0
Total tax revenues	107.3	115.7	122.8	127.6	133.6
Non-tax revenues	8.7	7.6	7.8	7.4	7.4
Total budgetary revenues	116.0	123.3	130.6	135.0	141.0
Per cent of GDP	16.3	16.4	16.7	16.7	16.8

The outlook for program spending

	1994-95	1995-96	1996-97	1997-98	1998-99
	(billions of dollars)
Major transfers to persons
Elderly benefits	20.5	21.2	21.9	22.8	23.8
Employment insurance	14.8	13.5	13.8	14.2	14.5
Total	35.3	34.7	35.7	37.0	38.3
Major transfers to other levels of government [1]
EPF/CAP - CHST	18.8	18.5	15.0	12.5	11.8
Equalization	8.5	8.7	8.8	9.2	9.6
Transfers to territories	1.2	1.2	1.1	1.1	1.1
Other fiscal transfers	0.0	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0
Alternative payments for standing programs	-1.8	-1.9	-2.0	-2.1	-2.2
Total	26.7	26.6	23.0	20.6	20.2
Subsidies and other transfers
Business subsidies	3.7	2.9	2.0	1.6	1.5
Indians and Inuit	3.7	4.0	4.3	4.3	4.4
International assistance	2.9	2.2	2.2	2.1	1.9
Science and Technology	1.0	0.9	0.9	0.8	0.8
Canada Infrastructure Works	0.4	0.9	0.5	0.1	0.0
Other	8.3	6.6	5.7	5.1	4.6
Total	20.0	17.6	15.5	14.0	13.3
Crown corporations	5.0	4.4	4.2	3.9	3.8
Defence	10.7	10.3	9.8	9.1	8.5
All other spending	21.0	20.1	20.8	21.4	21.4
Program spending	118.7	113.8	109.0	106.0	105.5
1 Through to 1995-96 includes Established Programs Financing (EPF) and Canada Assistance Plan (CAP). Beginning in 1996-97, refers to the Canada Health and Social Transfer (CHST).

 

Total entitlements under the EPF/CAP and CHST	29.4	29.7	26.9	25.1	25.1
Total entitlements for major transfers to other levels of government (CHST,Equalization and transfers to the Territories)	38.3	38.8	36.0	34.4	34.8

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