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economist suntribune parliament hill thursday oct 3 2002 ltfe cant afford throne speech alliance by kathleen griffin staffwriter costly social programs hinted at in prime minister jean chretiens throne speech monday are feel good vague ideas that canadians cant afford and border on irresponsibility says a local canadian alliance riding association president theyre the same old promises hes made before but he hasnt said where the funds are going to come from or who will be saddled with raising it said markhams richard van seters hes left an awful lot lacking these are feel good things making promises he wont even be able to keep the speech delivered by governor- general adrienne clarkson promised to tackle child and aboriginal poverty revitalize the health care system form a plan to ratify the kyoto accord and upgrade municipal infrastructure it could cost billions and while mr chretien has been accused of intending to spend his way into a lasting legacy mr van seters said his only legacy will be his failure to reduce the national debt which stands at close to 550 billion we still have enormous debt that has not been tackled and those con cerns have been totally ignored hes giving money to the african nations when we are paying 30 cents on every dollar to pay the debt its irresponsible but oak ridges liberal mp bryon wilfert disagrees he said mr chretien doesnt have to create a legacy with social policy his governments success in eliminating the deficit has already done it deficit eliminated i dont understand all this talk of his wanting to leave a legacy mr wilfert said from ottawa wednesday the lega cy of this prime minister is the fact hes eliminated a 425 billion deficit and has tabled five consecutive balanced bud gets this government has built its repu tation on that mr van seters dismissed that notion crediting downloading to the provinces as the real way recent budgets have been balanced and warned new policy initiatives will be bad news for an alreadyoverburdened taxpayer but mr wilfert insisted the federal government will not go into the red to realize mr chretiens social agenda and reminded his constituents the speech is a plan a blueprint of intentions not a done deal the throne speech outlines the governments goals its a skeleton if you will the real meat the real flesh will be in the budget he said adding the gov ernments sixth budget will likely be tabled in february if everything was implemented tomorrow we couldnt afford it mr wilfert noted the words long term appeared a lot in the speech longterm aims longterm objectives but if we dont have our fiscal house in order im not prepared to go into debt some elements of the plan could be a boon for york region one of canadas highgrowth areas especially if new federal dollars for infrastructure health care and affordable housing actually materialize my major focus will be on infra structure and a health care system we can maintain and afford mr wilfert said there are important strategy ini tiatives that will go to safe efficient and environmentally responsible trans portation health care is a concern for all canadians and its not simply about money its how its utilized our concern is more accountability and transparen cy but everything will be shaped within a fiscal context mr van seters pointed out border security immigration issues and canadas position on the us conflict with iraq were completely ignored by the prime minister in the speech nothing was addressed about the farmers plight out west either he said hes obviously trying to cater to ontario where his regional government lies its really an ontario government hes giving money to the african nations when we are paying 30 cents on every dollar to pay the debt its irresponsible concerns about canadas eroded military were not mentioned specifical ly but the speech contained a passing reference to the fact canadians expect their soldiers to be properly equipped defence minister and markham mp john mccallum was unavailable for comment on this issue according to his ottawa assistant randy milek mr wilfert pointed out the govern ment has committed to a review of defence policy which could include the reprioritizing of existing funds and he added the next prime minister who will take office after mr chretien retires in 17 months is not bound by initiatives laid out this week in any case the new prime minister can retain this or that or not and a lot of these issues need consultation with the pri vate sector the provinces and munici palities attempts to reach vaughan-king- aurora mp maurizio bevliacqua for his impression of the throne speech were not successful 6425111 mrfiafia 85267 1 1 steam 1 l00se rugs r br0adl00m yjgffnjr uph0 3m scotchquard www wh 1 tts mi n 1 eg o lfcom 18 hole outdoor minigolf haunted barn thurs fri 49 pm weekends 10 am 9 pm open till halloween cedar grove meditative labyrinth rouge river walking trail to book enquire about a birthday party or private 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