Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for sharing her time with me today, so I can add my voice to the debate on Bill C-38, the jobs, growth and long-term prosperity act. I know this piece of legislation has had substantial debate in the House, despite the cries from the opposition that it has not. We have had extensive debate, so I will try to find a way to add my own unique perspective, although I suspect we may be going over some well-tilled soil today. I will talk about creating jobs, balancing the budget, OAS, reforms to EI and research and development.
Creating jobs has always been a priority for our government and we lead the G7. We have created 760,000 net new jobs. The vast majority of these are full-time, well-paying jobs. However, that is not enough. We are going to move forward with an enhanced labour market focus and a number of targeted investments that would help respond to the current labour market challenges and meet the longer-term labour needs.
These are some of the highlights: $50 million would be invested over two years in the youth employment strategy to help young people gain the necessary skills and experience; $6 million would be invested to expand the third-quarter project to key centres across the country to help employers find experienced workers who are over the age of 50; $21 million would be spent over two years to help unemployed Canadians find jobs more quickly. The investment would enhance the content and timelines of the job and labour market information that is provided to Canadians who are searching for employment. Finally, $30 million over three years would go into the opportunities fund to enable more Canadians with disabilities to obtain work experience with small and medium-size businesses.
In addition, we are on track and will continue to balance the budget. It is an important part, to keep tax low and keep our debt low. Over the past year, we have found fair, balanced and moderate savings measures to reduce the deficit. Overall, the savings we have found represent less than 2% of program spending and less than 0.3% of the economy. In fact, over 70% of the savings found are in operational efficiencies, such as reducing travel expenses by using virtual tools such as teleconferencing and video conferencing; reducing duplication across departments by combining administrative functions such as human resources, financial services and IT; and of course one of the things driven by the Treasury Board, replacing paper publications with online content.
We also have to look at OAS. Our government is committed to sustainable social programs and a secure retirement for Canadians. The facts on OAS are absolutely clear. The number of Canadians over age 65 will increase from 4.7 million to 9.3 million over the next 20 years. The OAS program was built when Canadians were not living the longer, healthier lives they are living today. Consequently, the cost of the OAS program will increase from $36 billion in 2010 to $108 billion in 2030. Meanwhile, by 2030 the number of taxpayers for every retired person will be down to two from four, as it stands currently. In order to ensure the sustainability of OAS, the age of eligibility would be gradually raised to 67 starting in 2023 and would be fully implemented by 2029. We have ensured that all Canadians would receive substantial notice of these changes so they could plan for their future. Despite the fearmongering we hear from the members on the opposite side, these changes would not affect any current retirees or anybody who is close to retirement. The proposed changes to OAS would put it on a sustainable path so it would be there for Canadians when they need it.
Going forward we plan to provide certainty with respect to EI premiums, because businesses need certainty, especially small businesses.
We would limit any increases in EI to 5¢ each year until the EI operating account is balanced. Once the EI operating account is balanced, any future increases would be limited to a maximum of 5¢. Small business drives the economy and it needs this certainty.
In addition, we have agreed to extend the temporary hiring credit for small businesses. This would be available to approximately 536,000 employers whose total EI premiums were at or below $10,000 in 2011. We would reduce small business payroll costs by approximately $205 million.
In addition to the legislative matters in Bill C-38, it also includes investments. There would be $74 million to ensure that EI claimants benefit from accepting work and $387 million to align the calculations of EI benefits with local labour market conditions.
We all know that to have a successful economy we have to have a competitive economy, and one of the key drivers for a competitive economy is research and development. Since 2006, our government has invested $8 billion in research and development.
In October of 2011, the expert panel submitted a report to the government with its findings on how we could improve the R and D program in Canada to help our companies grow and become globally competitive. The economic action plan begins to implement the expert panel's recommendations. We would invest $1.1 billion over five years for direct research and development support and make available $500 million for venture capital. We would also include $400 million to help increase private sector investments in early stage risk capital and to support the creation of large scale venture capital funds led by the private sector. We would invest $100 million to the BDC to support its venture capital activities; $110 million to double the supports to companies through the industrial research assistance program; $14 million over two years to double the industrial research and development internship program; $95 million over three years, starting in 2013-14 and $40 million per year after that, to make the Canadian innovation commercialization project permanent and to add a military procurement component. There would also be $67 million in 2012-13 as it refocuses on business-led, industry relevant research.
There would also be changes to the environment and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. These changes are designed to streamline projects so that we would have security and knowledge when we are moving forward with our investments. There would be time limits set for the assessments, so that businesses have certainty as to when they would be able to move forward with their projects. That would stimulate investment in this country, especially in the resource sector where we have to move forward.
There is a requirement that opportunities for public participation be provided during the assessments and that participant funding and a public registry, including an Internet site and documents, would be established.
Economic action plan 2012 proposes $50 million over two years to protect wildlife species at risk. The Species at Risk Act is one of the government's main conservation tools to protect wildlife species and maintain healthy ecosystems and preserve Canada's natural heritage.
There is so much in this piece of legislation to support. Surely there are things in the legislation that even members on the opposite side, who vote against virtually every piece of government legislation and have voted against every budget we have put forward, can find something to support and will support us on this budget.
