Mr. Speaker, I stand by my statements.
As I was saying, when the labour items in this budget were first presented, Mr. Ken Georgetti, who is the president of the Canadian Labour Congress, stated that he was “pleased with announcements in the budget about extending work sharing programs, EI pilot projects, support for laid-off older workers, and improving wage protection for laid-off workers”. That is high praise for those elements of the budget.
I would like to take this opportunity to commend my hon. colleague the Minister of Finance for the increase in support for seniors and families in this budget as well.
This government recognizes that Canada's seniors helped build and make this country great. That is why the next phase of Canada's economic action plan is continuing to support seniors by enhancing the GIS, extending the new horizons for seniors program, eliminating mandatory retirement and more.
Since 2006 the government has provided over $2.3 billion in annual tax relief to seniors and pensioners. Since 2006 the Conservative government has made families a priority.
We reduced the GST from 7% to 6% to 5%. We introduced the children's fitness tax credit, and due to our strong record of tax relief, total savings for a typical family, such as one in my riding of Halton, are over $3,000.
In budget 2011 we have added a new children's arts tax credit. We have added the extension of the eco-energy retrofit homes program. We are helping full-time students to earn more money without affecting their loans and giving them a break on certification fees.
Our government introduced yesterday the next phase of Canada's economic action plan to ensure that Canada remains one of the world's top performing economies.
Today, with the support of budget 2011, the labour program will continue to focus its priorities on protecting Canadian workers and employers, and on strengthening labour management relations while playing a leadership role in intergovernmental and international labour affairs.