July 4^th, 2002

Dear Editor:

I am writing in response to the letter to the editor that you printed, entitled “Paul Martin’s success nothing more than a myth.” While I do not usually reply to editorial commentary, given the content of the remarks, coupled with the level of related general feedback that I am receiving from local resident on the issue, I felt that it would be appropriate for me to comment. In short, the Liberal Government has prided itself on its fiscal management and as such, I wanted to ensure that the general public has accurate information concerning the national balance sheet – and the man who helped to craft it.

Firstly, the writer in the original letter claims that Paul Martin did nothing to bring order to the nation’s finances. In his words “Paul Martin was one very lucky finance minister.” What he failed to mention was that, prior to Mr. Martin, no Canadian Minister of Finance since 1969 had managed to balance the budget. Moreover, Mr. Martin also managed to balance multiple consecutive budgets, something that had not been accomplished in Canada in half a century. Additionally, I should also mention that when Mr. Martin first became the Minister of Finance, the deficit stood at $42 billion. That amount of annual overspending, when heaped upon our already massive nation debt, caused Canadian taxpayers to borrow nearly $50 billion dollars per year in interest alone. Today, due largely to the direction provided by Mr. Martin, the Government of Canada is running regular budgetary surpluses. In fact, according to the last budget, that surplus is almost $18 billion. This money, along with surpluses from the previous three years, has reduced the principal of our unmatured national debt by $31 billion. While it is true that the debt continued to grow until 1996, most people will understand that you must first stop overspending prior to paying off your credit cards. It took Paul Martin only three years to stop that overspending; an accomplishment that eluded all of his predecessors since the 1960’s. Looking at it from this perspective, I would suggest that we were very lucky to have Paul Martin as our finance minister.

Secondly, with respect to the statement “Paul Martin has achieved surpluses by cutting back on transfer payments to the provinces for health care…” This lunacy barely warrants a response. The only thing more ridiculous than this rubbish would be to suggest that it was the Mulroney government that put us on the path to fiscal well being (something that the writer did later in his correspondence). In 1993, when Martin first became Minister of Finance, the federal transfer payments to the Province of Ontario totaled $10.3 billion. Today, the annual transfer payment to Ontario totals $14.5 billion – a $4.2 billion increase in Ontario alone. This amount constitutes 20% of Ontario’s total revenues ($1,108.00 per person). While I am no economist, this seems positive to me.

In closing, I understand that there has been a great deal of media attention concerning such matters as of late. That being said, I simply feel that it is important for the Canadian people to have the facts rather than yielding to supposition. I believe the facts speak for themselves.

Sincerely,

Paul Steckle, M.P.