Ne te re neg er ee creme

ar see

page 2

 

‘THE OTHER CPRESS

 

 

An interview with Brian Mulroney.

In a recent interview with the new leader
of the Progressive Conservative Party,
we asked seven key questions, His
answers to these questions will be of
interest to every young Canadian.

Question: Mr. Mulroney, both in your
leadership ener and in your
speeches since last June, you have stres-
sed the need for improved productivity
and a serious research and development
strategy. What precisely does that mean
for Canada’s youth?

Brian Mulroney: The answer can be ex-
pressed in three words: jobs, investment,
and growth. Jobs because employment
opportunities for Canada’s 545,000 un-
employed youth can only be secured

in sectors with a real future. Investment
because research and development, that
is expenditure in new products, new
ideas, new processes, provides the basis
of tomorrow's winning sectors. Growth
because without it, there is no basis for
making our-way in the world, for tackling
the tragedy of 1.6 million unemployed
Canadians.

Question: /s there anything specific you ~

would do to get jobs for youth?
Brian Mulroney: We will provide in-

- creased incentives to employers to hire

and train young people. A Progressive
Conservative government will significant-
ly expand wage subsidy programs, such
as the career access program. We will also
substitute a program of refundable
enphiyer tax credits, to credit employers
with a portion of their income, or federal
payroll taxes, where they agree to hire
and train young people for a fixed period.
We will greatly improve existing “infor-
mation exchanges” through which young

people become aware of job opportuni-
ties. Clearly, as job displacement centers,
the Canada Employment centers are not
performing adequately. And we will insti-
tute programs specifically designed to
address-chronic unemployment which
tragically plagues certain regions of
Canada.

Question: /s our record in R & D really
so bad?

Brian Mulroney: Just look at the figures.
Under 15 years of Liberal rule, we actually
reduced our spending on R & D from

1.29 to 113 of total GNP. All of our indus-
trial competitors are spending almost
double that, while Japan has a goal of
spending ae Put & is way: ~~ is one
company in West Germany spending
more on research than all of Canada com-
bined! The Progressive Conservative
Party is committed to increasing our

R & Dcommitment to 2.5% of GNP.
We've got a lot of ground to make up in
the technology race.

Question: How does R & D relate to our
unemployment crisis?

Brian Mulroney: Someone once told me
that while love makes the world go round,
research and development makes it go
forward. The National Research Council
estimates that for every additional

one per cent of GNP committed:to R & D,
800,000 jobs are created. Look around at
the sectors which are growing: pharma-
ceuticals, computers, electronics, bio-
technology, telecommunications. These
are all sectors where the R & D component
of spending is very high. They are also the
sectors creating new jobs.

Question: Js R & D important only for
high tech sectors?

 

P.C. YOUTH FEDERATION
OF CANADA

fet

 

Brian Mulroney: On the ae R&D
is important for every sector, including
traditional sectors like forestry, mining
and agriculture. Look at how our enor-
mous productivity improvement in
agriculture has been assisted by our re-
search efforts in disease control, pes-
ticides, weather prediction and animal
husbandry. That’s why I say the real
challenge facing Canada is to apply new
technology in old as well as new
industries.

ee: You are almost calling for
shock treatment to our economy.

Brian Mulroney: When 545,000 young
people are out of work, when we have a
negative balance of trade in high tech-
nology goods of more than $7.5 billion,

I recognize a crisis at hand. We must
formulate a dramatic, innovative, and
long-term tax system to increase invest- -
ment in technology. We must assure that
meaningful jobs exist for our youth.

Question: You seem to have a personal
interest in this subject.

Brian Mulroney: Anyone interested in the
future of this country or the world at
large has to take a personal interest.
These new technologies - silicon chips,
satellite technology, biotechnology and
the like-are having a profound effect on
our society. They are both a curse and a
blessing. But I think that when ‘ can
get our government programs relevant
again, we can get el growth and jobs
for our people.

For further information about the
PC. Party or your P.C. Campus
Association phone (613) 238-6111 or write:
PC. Youth Information, Suite 200,
161 Laurier Ave. West, Ottawa,

Ontario KIP 5J2

 

Wednesday April 11th, 1984