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> INTRODUCTION
> 
> The Taxpayers' Budget is the Reform Party's alternative to the budget
> offered by the Chr�tien government. Reformers believe that our budget
> incorporates the wishes and aspirations of Canadians expressed since
> we began work on The Taxpayers' Budget early in the summer of 1994. We
> have consulted with Canadians from coast to coast by way of town-hall
> meetings, questionnaires, petitions, and by participation in the
> country-wide hearings with the House of Commons Standing Committees on
> Finance and Human Resources Development.
> 
> Above all, Canadians told us that the budget must be balanced, that
> social programs need to be redesigned and that government should be
> made smaller. Social policies should protect those most in need. The
> Taxpayers' Budget incorporates what Canadians advise and presents a
> practical vision for the future.
> 
> In four sections we present our Jobs Plan, our Social Vision, a
> specific set of spending reductions designed to eliminate the deficit
> in three years and proposals for a Taxpayer Protection Act to prevent
> future governments from running persistent deficits.
> 
> The Taxpayers' Budget is more than a numbers exercise. It is the first
> step toward offering Canadians a new vision of government operations
> and social services for this decade and the twenty-first century.
> 
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> 
> 
> Personal Security for Canadians
> 
> Canadians like all people long for personal and economic security.
> Governments have responded by providing social insurance programs that
> protect individuals against the vagaries of permanent disability,
> unemployment, sickness and poverty, particularly in old age.
> Governments have also adopted policies with the intention of
> increasing employment. They have subsidized training and investment.
> 
> Government programs achieved only limited success. Some Canadians
> enjoy greater security and some benefit from training and investment
> subsidies. Today, however, unemployment and welfare dependence are at
> record levels. The health care system shows many shortcomings. Most
> important, a fiscal crunch of crisis proportions threatens the very
> ability of the government to continue with existing social programs in
> the future.
> 
> Reform maintains that these problems require a fundamental
> re-examination and re-study as to the usefulness of social and subsidy
> programs. It is time to define a less ambitious role for government.
> Government must accept that the private sector is the best creator of
> jobs and economic growth and should limit its role to creating an
> economic climate that is friendly to growth, investment and job
> creation. Governments should adopt the view that the individual, the
> family and private charitable and community organizations are best
> equipped to provide income security and to administer social services.
> Government should limit its provision of social security to only the
> genuinely needy, the mentally and physically disabled and low-income
> senior citizens.
> 
> Policies formulated on these principles would result in elimination of
> the present fiscal crunch, in lower unemployment rates, in more rapid
> economic growth and in genuine personal security.
> 
> In Part I of this report, we present Reform's vision of the new role
> for government with an analysis of the causes of the present, high
> unemployment rates. We draw on a number of recent studies from
> Canadian government agencies, private institutes and international
> organizations.
> 
> Part II presents Reform's ideas on what shape a new social security
> system should take. This vision would be put into effect only after a
> discussion thrown open to all Canadians.
> 
> Part III presents Reform's detailed recommendations for dealing with
> the present, fiscal situation. We discuss the need for fiscally
> conservative estimates of revenues and expenditures, the merits of
> establishing a contingency reserve and the rationale for holding the
> line against any further taxation.
> 
> Part IV outlines a plan for reducing the federal deficit to zero in
> three years. It includes specific proposals for spending cuts which
> rely on the detailed examination of spending categories by Members of
> the Reform Caucus. The principles underlying the cuts were obtained
> from broad consultations with Canadians.
> 
> We encourage you to take this Taxpayers' Budget, compare it with the
> Chr�tien government's Budget and decide for yourself which budget is
> best for Canada and Canadians.
> 
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> 
> [Image] hermae@parl.gc.ca