Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Minister of Transport for his speech and for his willingness to split his time with me.
I appreciate the opportunity to stand in this House to offer a speech for the very first time since my election to this legislative body. I am humbled to serve with so many individuals from across this country who are similarly passionate about working together to build a strong Canada for future generations.
I am even more humbled to have the privilege to represent the hard-working and visionary residents of my constituency. I would like to take just a moment to thank the men and women of Peace River who have elected me their representative in this assembly. I will endeavour to work for each member of my constituency and ensure that the future is bright for the generations that will follow.
It is my privilege to serve such a hard-working people. In my riding, there are people who have built and sustained its communities. They have built an existence as latter day pioneers. We have a community comprised of farmers and ranchers, forestry workers, truckers, carpenters, oil field workers, professionals and other hard-working residents. We have families who have taken the responsibility of reaching out and building a strong community where no community existed before. There are so many in my constituency who are truly Canadian leaders.
The picture has been painted, and I think it is clear that people in my community work hard for their money and for their successes, so I will not belabour the point. I do not think there is a reasonable member in this House who would criticize the hard-working and innovative Canadians who live in this nation's rural communities, particularly those who call the constituency of Peace River home.
Yet for years, my constituents, along with many other rural Canadians, have been left out in the cold by previous administrations. I will rise and speak in support of this budget, because not only is it the first budget that we have seen in over a decade that truly respects and responds to all Canadians, but for the first time in a long time, this budget specifically responds to those who work in and call rural communities home.
For years, in budget after budget, we have seen previous governments overlook the needs and the demands of our communities. We have seen previous governments make light of our concerns by promising the world during election campaigns and then ignoring the needs of rural Canada in the years to follow, choosing rather to focus their effort and spending on sponsorship initiatives to buy the next election. Not only did they not reinvest in rural communities, but rather, they stole money from hard-working families in rural Canada to pass around in brown envelopes to buy influence among some of the country's most wealthy.
I am pleased that we finally have a budget that delivers the goods to communities like my own.
I am very supportive of the announcement in the budget for farmers. For too long, our farmers have been overlooked, overburdened and misled by the previous government. In his first act as minister, the Minister of Agriculture moved to expedite the payout of $755 million to grains and oilseeds producers. Yes, that was good news, but the budget provided much more.
In the budget, the Minister of Finance not only announced that we would meet our campaign commitment to give the industry $500 million, he announced that we would triple that investment. We not only lived up to our commitment; we did it three times over.
This budget has so much good news for farmers in the specifics, but one of the most important things the budget provides for our farmers is a positive vision for the future. Producers in my community have been looking for a government that will stand with them to help rebuild the industry to ensure that farming will be a viable option for generations. That is exactly what we have done.
As I have travelled my constituency, I have seen the effects of the red hot Alberta economy and the resulting increased growth and the demands on our communities. I am pleased to see that this government takes seriously the additional needs this change creates. This budget provides an additional $2.2 billion over five years to the municipal rural infrastructure fund. This fund will allow communities to provide better highways and cleaner water and to create an overall better place to live.
Also in my travels, there has been much discussion about our commitment to provide child care assistance to parents by way of a payment to those with children under the age of six. This budget provides a benefit of $1,200 a year for every family in Canada with children under the age of six. This will allow families to choose how to provide child care for their children rather than having the government dictate what is best for their children. This budget will create over 100,000 new day care spaces for children.
The previous government had suggested that it was building a national child care program but how can it be considered a national child care program when it leaves out entire regions, regions like my own? Children in my constituency deserve a head start as well.
Like so many other promises the previous government made, it took the Conservative government to see real, universal action.
Many of the communities in my constituency are rural. We have no access to institutionalized day care. Many of the working families in my community work shift work, part time work and seasonal work. Fathers are going in one direction and mothers are going in the other direction. It is just not possible to provide a cookie cutter system of service for people in my constituency for child care.
Residents have been telling me that they are tired of contributing their tax dollars to services to which they have no access. This government wants every child to have a head start. We will not play a game of choosing winners and losers based on where parents live and what they do for a living. Every child is important and every child deserves a head start. We promised a child care benefit in our election platform and again here we deliver.
Speaking of promises, the previous federal government had promised and promised again that it would make changes to the GST. Thirteen years later, it took our government and our leadership to finally reduce the GST. This change will benefit all Canadians and put money back where it belongs, in the pockets of Canadians.
There is more. This budget also benefits the businesses across Canada and in my community. Small and medium sized businesses employ over 58% of all Albertans. These businesses will see tax changes that will help them grow, develop and employ more Canadians.
The government is committed to Canadians at home and at work. At the end of the day, this budget is about families, families that have been overlooked, overtaxed, overburdened and underappreciated by our previous government. We have turned a new leaf and once again are appreciating and respecting the hard work of all Canadians.
Once again, I am pleased to stand in support of this family friendly, farm friendly, rural friendly and Canadian friendly budget, of which I hope to see many more.
