Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 21, 2001, Winnipeg, Manitoba A6 special report Macii 2001 exclusive interview with Paul Martin Riding downturn Martin says Canada is set to weather global storms in a fifth floor parliament Hill office two stories directly above that of prime minister Jean Chretien sits the Sec Ond most powerful Man in the Walls of Paul Martins suite include Campaign posters of his Paul Martin Paul Samyn who fell Short in his quest for the prime ministers As Well As a framed copy of the Liberal red Book that Martin co helping propel the grits to Power in seated in a chair by a wearing the relaxed 62yearoldfinance minister discussed the country economic fortunes with free press National reporter Paul Samyn yesterday an abridged version of that exclusive interview follows Kaffl outstandingly value never met a Road it didst go where you when you cry is ready with its advanced 4wheel drive system plus Standard Antilock driving Confidence in a East handle and four different cry models to choose instant picnic anyone rvs rear cargo floor flips up to form a nifty with a Handy deep storage Well 2001 cry sex amazing Road adventures Start rvs sex is As comfortable As it is features include Doc 16valve engine Abs dual front air bags sri keyless Remote entry 4speed automatic transmission Power locks mirrors of free air conditioning cruise control Alloy wheels cd much cry sex Model rd185ie shown Purchase lease includes freight taxes extra per a month 2001 More Comfort and More versatility and Confidence theres simply More for your Money at Birchwood Honda Centre 1401 Regent Winnipeg 6616644 Manitoba Winnipeg Honda 3021 Pembina Winnipeg 2619580 Birchwood Honda West Portage Al the perimeter Hwy Winnipeg 8882277 dealers 1st Honda Steinbach 18004878341 de Horta built without Compromise q people Are looking at the mar people Are looking at people Are looking at All sorts of Dis i want to Start off by Are you sweating yet if when does a finance minis Ter begin to sweat a i think it is a permanent state of when times Are you want it to and when times Are you obviously dont want it to be there Are going to be ups and and what is important for a Bountry is to be Able to ride through the downturns in order to take advantage of the we were not in that position in 198990 and we saw what we had a much worse As an than in the United we Are in a position now to be Able to ride through what is happen ing globally because this is not just the United this is Japan As and we Are in a position to ride through this better than the vast majority of other coun and that is what i really want to focus q so your message to canadians then is do not we will be All right a my message to canadians is that there Are few other economies that Are More integrated into the world Economy than the Canadian and we Are therefore going to be and we Are by the slowdown in the United states and by whatever happens but we Are in a better position than we have been in decades to weather this storm and i feel very confident about where this country is going and where we Are q you would have been Able to give some indication of what the country was facing through the Wol you take economic action this be it tax spending or the debt the problem is not in the problem is in the United the problem is in a first of i Start working on my next years budget probably two weeks after the last so i really started working on the octo ber update probably last which is Why we were ready to go in and what we did in october is the budget that we other Wise would have provided in q but you we rent calling it a budget Back the potential of deflation in you have a major slowdown in the United As a result of which people Are going to what they think is the strongest which is the and every other currency is being affected by but the Canadian you less than anybody the important thing is the Cana Dian less than you if we were to take All kinds of precipitous which is what Previ Ous governments have done in the i will Tell you the net result in order to cover a Short term problem could have Lon term Conse just take a look at what happened in Canada because governments did not do the right thing in 198889 and How our recession was so much deeper and More harm Ful to the problem is not in Cana the problem is in the United the problem is in Japan and it Doest seem to me to make any sense for us to take action which would Hurt us in the medium and longer term to affect a consumer in the United states or to affect a banking Regula Tion problem in q is your tax plan still sustainable despite the slow Down dare i a recession a i knew there was going to be a i it didst take a stroke of Genius to know there was going to be a slowdown As the United states was in the Middle of a 10year period of everybody knew at some Point it was going to slow but nobody knew so essentially what i have done in every one of the last four of five budgets i have provided substantial prudence Reserve to cover that slowdown when it every year it didst come and every year people of my look at again you thank god i did because right now when we came out with the octo ber we basically have the reserves in there to protect our spending programs and to protect our tax a it was called the economic except take a look largest debt pay Down in Canadian Eljie largest tax cuts in Cana Dian largest invest ment in children in Canadian the largest invest ment in health care in Cana Dian so it May not have been a but let me put it this there have been very few budgets we have seen since confederation which were As significant As what was done in the great advantage of doing it in october was that tax cuts and the stimulus from the spending were Able to come in the first of january As opposed to which would have otherwise been the we have taken that action but that Doest mean there int further those tax cuts Are just now begin Ning to wend their Way through the Economy and they Are going to become much More substantial in july when the Al payments and the cup payments Are not required and when the health care spending will Start to so essentially the thing is very Well and now monetary policy is playing its role with the cuts by the Bank of Canada a couple of weeks so i Tell you we Are not sitting we Laid out a plan to Deal with this and it is dealing with there is no other country that has taken the amount of stimulative action for its Economy than Canada q so that Cushion is enough to ride out even a recession it will certainly ride out what the world has to us this q Are you going to have to scale Back at All any of your spending promises from the red Book or the throne speech lease and finance offers Are from Honda Canada finance abased on a 2001 cry Model rd18s1e per month for 48 total lease obligation of includes Down documentation registration tire Battery 48 monthly payments and related Down payment or equivalent Trade is initiation required of includes Down first monthly registration Security Deposit of Zero Down payment plans also pm allowance exceeding License and insurance Are option to Purchase at lease end for plus dealer May for reported by offers end March As reported by Canadian manufacturers in Calendar year i v q at this you dont see the need to take any other action from a Fis Cal standpoint a i think it is very important to let this action take the tax cuts have not yet begun to take their i billion is the effect of the tax cuts in the first it is just so much More than the Ameri cans Are it int a question of saying do you see the need to do it is very important to take a look at the magnitude of the actions we have there is no other country that has taken the amount of stimulative action for its Economy than q but i am sure people will look at the Dollar and minister or prime something needs to be a but something has been Pou cannot divorce Canada from the this is a global you have a major banking crisis with y a everything that we have everything in the red has been provided for in our project we May have to look at the timing but that is not a this year As we go out in further the timing of some of that May have to be looked but we Are not going to have to Ratchet q can you do major spending at a time of economic downturn a it really depends on the nature of the i think there is certain spending that you have to i mean with you cant in my Opin turn the education spigot on and that does too much Long term damage to the q is part of your your Long that we will be in a better Posi Tion to make the right decisions in a budget this fall a my concern is not the Stock mar my concern is Canadian families and i want to make darn sure that whatever i do benefits those Canadian not Over two but Over two and not Only Over two but Over 20 i want to make sure that two years from now that this country is a hell of a lot my concern is not the Stock my concern is Canadian families q what is your View of the Western Canadian especially Manitoba a the mood in Western Canada and the mood in Atlantic by the is really quite certainly that is what i got from the finance ministers in both the areas where problems in the Economy Are concentrated Are not in West Ern they Are South Ern that is where the problems q did the economic Down turn in any Way affect the amount of Federal Aid to Farmers a i think that the government made a decision and Lyle Vanclief has responded to we Are very concerned about Farmers and we Are very concerned about next but we have put Over billion Back into farm incomes and that is a lot of t ;