It is hoped the recent visit of President George W. Bush will prompt an inquiry by our parliamentarians about our economic competitiveness vis-à-vis the United States. In some areas, such as balancing the budget, Canada is ahead by a country mile, but in others, like competitive tax levels and job creation, we lag well behind.

Even as monster-deficits are piled up by lawmakers in Washington, Ottawa must continue to be fiscally responsible by not running deficits. Whether or not the U.S. Congress reduces spending, Canada must press ahead and build on the successes of the past decade; that is to say a string of balanced budgets, the positive impacts of the 2000-2004 tax relief plan, and less debt.

The federal government must become more aggressive in reducing Canada's $501-billion debt by including a repayment line-item in each budget. Despite repaying some $61-billion of debt over the last seven years, debt interest payments still consuming approximately $38-billion a year or almost 18 cents of each tax dollar - which is the federal government's single largest expenditure.

The next federal budget should include a mandated debt repayment, beginning at 1% of revenues and rising to 5% of revenues by 2010. This will guarantee a debt repayment of $2-billion next year above the contingency reserve fund, and $11-billion in 2010. Such a policy will require Ottawa to control expenditure growth and live within budgets, something not happening now.

In the March budget, the Martin government said it would hold program spending growth to 3.1% this year. Yet in November - only 8 months later - it was revealed program spending will grow by 6.5% - more than a two-fold increase over what was budgeted. Increasing spending at such a pace is neither sustainable or responsible.

The Canadian economy is healthy yet our high standard of living is falling behind other nations, and unemployment rate remains stuck above 7%. Improvements will only come with changes to Canada's regulatory and tax regime. Our tax burden is still too high, it saps productivity, deters wealth creation, and remains a visible competitive disadvantage. So how can Ottawa correct this

Multi-year surpluses are the result of a structural level of over-taxation levied on Canadians by Ottawa. Finance Minister Ralph Goodale recently forecast the budgetary surplus will be $8.9-billon this year. Last year it was $9.1-billion, two years ago was $7.2-billion, and $7.0-billion three year ago. Government spending restraint is not the cause of today's big surplus announcement - program spending has grown by 6% a year since 2000 - but high taxes are.

Ottawa must use the surpluses to dramatically lower income taxes paid by Canadian families. To fuel job creation, payroll taxes need to be reduced. The over-taxation of Canadian workers and employers through the Employment Insurance (EI) program now stands at $46-billion, which according to government actuaries and the auditor general is three times higher than necessary to operate the program. This inequity can be reduced by lowering and harmonizing the EI tax.

Ottawa continues to dole out some $4-billion a year in corporate welfare to business - profitable or not - despite overwhelming evidence, at home and abroad, that demonstrate such policies are more destructive than helpful to economic growth. It is a fool's errand for public servants to pick market winners. The government should stop subsidizing businesses and instead use those resources to lower taxes on all businesses to promote greater economic competitiveness.

Lower taxes combined with responsible spending and debt reduction is the best recipe to make us a more prosperous and competitive nation. These policies will help create the pro-growth economy necessary to reduce Canada's high unemployment rate, leave more money in taxpayers' pockets, and improve the country's investment climate.