NEWS RELEASE

February 19, 1997  For Immediate Release

BUDGET BOTTOM LINE SHOWS WHY CANADIANS ARE WORSE OFF NOW THAN IN 1993

"National debt up 21%; personal taxes up 40%; health/social transfers cut by 40% - and fewer jobs."

Ottawa - Garry Breitkreuz, MP for Yorkton-Melville, expressed his disappointment with the Liberal budget brought down yesterday. "I feel sorriest for the young people who will have to pay for a government who prefers to play politics rather than play fair. Young people get hit with a quadruple whammy of ever increasing debt, ever increasing taxes and user fees, ever decreasing government services and benefits, and fewer jobs," said Breitkreuz. "Our children will be paying for these Liberal and Tory mistakes for decades!"

The Liberals' own budget documents show the government's real record since they took office. The Liberals will have added $111 billion to a national debt which is now nearing $600 billion. The Liberals pay more than $45 billion a year just for the interest on the debt - the single biggest government expenditure - bigger than all transfers to the provinces and unemployment insurance together. The Liberals will collect $30 billion more in tax revenue. Increased tax revenues have accounted for 92% of the Liberal deficit reduction. Despite this, the Liberals are going to put us deeper and deeper into debt for at least the next three years. If this was the bottom line for any business, the bank would be foreclosing," said Breitkreuz.

If this is a good news budget, why do we not feel better? Here's why:

•  $3.2 billion in program cuts announced in previous budgets come into effect this year
•  The Liberals have hiked taxes 36 times since taking office in 1993 - $24.5 billion since 1993/94
•  The Liberals are trying to balance the budget by increasing taxes
•  Canadians pay an average of 23.3% of personal income in direct taxes
•  The Liberals have increased CPP premiums by 73% and cut UI premiums by 10%
•  A worker making $35,000 a year will see Canada Pension premiums increase by $690 a year
•  The Liberals collect $5 billion more a year in UI premiums than they pay out in benefits
•  Real disposable income for an average family of four has fallen by $3,000 since 1993
•  The Liberals have cut almost $7 billion in health and education transfers to the provinces
•  Personal and business bankruptcies break new records every year
•  For the past 76 months the unemployment rate has been above 9% - the worst government record since the depression.

"And, that's why Canadians feel worse off than they did in 1993," reported Breitkreuz. "The government is still funding unwanted and unnecessary programs like bilingualism, multiculturalism, special interest groups, and handouts to corporations even though most Canadians oppose them. The sad fact is the government spends more than $45 billion a year in interest on a national debt - a debt that is still going up. This is $45 billion that can't be spent on essential programs, reducing taxes and creating real jobs."

-30-

For more information please call:

The Office of Garry Breitkreuz, M.P.

Yorkton: (306) 782-3309

Ottawa: (613) 992-4394