Raymonde Folco

[Liberal Government, June 2nd, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, on the first anniversary of the second Liberal mandate and of my election in the riding of Laval West, I would like to present a outline of our achievements.

Not long ago, we inherited from the previous government a deficit that was a staggering $42 billion. This year, our government balanced the federal budget for the first time in close to 30 years.

In early 1994, the unemployment rate was 11.4%. Since then, it has come down by three points. Indeed, in April of this year, it fell to 8.4%, its lowest level in almost eight years.

Not long ago, the issue of Quebec's linguistic school boards remained unsolved. Thanks to our government's effective dialogue, a quick solution was found, to the satisfaction of Quebeckers.

Not long ago, the transfer of manpower training was an issue that could not be resolved. Now, the Liberal government—

[Canadian Armenian Community, May 28th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I am greatly honoured to day to raise in this House to draw attention to the 80th anniversary of the first republic of Armenia on May 28, 1918.

Although the first republic was short lived, it achieved a first election in 1919 that was universal and by secret ballot and granted the right to vote to adults of both sexes, including minorities, it established a university and schools were subsidized by the state.

I invite all members of this House to join with me in celebrating this anniversary with the Canadians of Armenian origin in my riding of Laval West and everywhere else in Canada.

Let me take this opportunity also to express my hope that the ties between Canada and Armenia will continue to grow and prosper in the years and decades to come.

[Luigi Giordano, May 13th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to rise in this House today to congratulate Luigi Giordano, a resident of my riding of Laval West who operates a restaurant in Sainte-Dorothée.

Mr. Giordano has just been awarded the title of Olympic official, class 3, world class by the International Amateur Athletic Federation. According to our sources, Mr. Giordano is the first Canadian to be so honoured, and all of us in Laval are proud of it.

Laval is the second largest city in Quebec, and this is not the first time that our community brings honour to Canada. Indeed, Tania Vicent, a bronze medal winner at the Olympic Games in Nagano, is also a resident of my riding and she was the guest of this House a few days ago.

These citizens of Laval West make us proud, and we wish them every success.

[Linguistic Minorities, May 11th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, the Reform Party's new Canada act fizzled with its proposal to give the provinces full responsibility over linguistic matters.

The Reform Party members fail to understand the fact that a united Canada requires a policy on minorities that has been approved and explained by Parliament and a federal government concerned about francophone communities outside Quebec.

Assuring groups of Acadians and francophones outside Quebec that they can always count on the Government of Canada to defend their culture and their identity is a mark of respect for them.

[Human Rights, May 6th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, the recent expulsion of two young Quebec women from Chiapas, Mexico, illustrates once again the need for ongoing dialogue with the Mexican government on human rights.

What specific measures does the Minister of Foreign Affairs intend to take to express Canadians' deep concern that the government of Mexico respect fundamental human rights?

[The Late Robert De Coster, May 5th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, we were sad to learn of the death April 30 of Robert De Coster, following a long illness.

Mr. De Coster was a high ranking and respected official in the Quebec public service in the 1960s. Among other things, he was the deputy minister of industry and trade in the 1970s and responsible for setting up the Quebec Régie des rentes and the Régie de l'assurance-automobile.

More recently, Mr. De Coster had the job of analyzing the work of the Montreal urban community police and of Urgences santé as a consequence of the tragic events at the École Polytechnique in Montreal. He served as chairman of Sidbec-Dosco and honourary chairman of the board of the Laval University hospital.

An accountant by training, he also served as vice-president of the Caisse de dépôt et placement and he will leave his mark in the annals of Quebec public administration.

We extend our condolences to his family, his relatives and his friends.

[Work Related Accidents, April 28th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, each year, the lives of thousands of Canadian families are shattered overnight because of a work related accident. Too many families have to live through these tragedies that involve huge social and economic costs for our society.

We will never overstate the need for governments to make sure that occupational health and safety legislation and regulations are strictly enforced. In a society such as ours, this great number of work related accidents is downright unacceptable.

Our challenge is to ensure healthy and safe work conditions for all Canadian workers.

Why do we not establish as a goal in our society a rule of zero tolerance for work related accidents in order to show greater respect for the dignity of millions of Canadian workers?

[Supply, April 28th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I will respond to that comment by saying that poverty is a very serious issue and a basic concern of our government.

I will repeat what I have already said. Let us not forget that, thanks to our budget, 400,000 people will not be paying any taxes next year. Those are the very people referred to by the member, that is people with extremely low salaries.

I would also remind the member that our fundamental task and our first priority this year has been to reduce the deficit. Not only have we reduced it, but we have eliminated it completely. It was a monumental task, and I am very proud of our achievement. We would like to do more—

[Supply, April 28th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, I will answer the member's question. What surprises me in her criticism is that she does not seem to understand the role played by the Government of Canada.

The role of the government is to help people. How does it do that? It does it mainly through its budget. The budget is the most important element because, as we all know, it controls the allocation of moneys to the various departments.

What I have tried to demonstrate in the speech I just made in this House is how our government is responsible, how it pays special attention to the poorest, to young Canadians who need money to pursue their education. As a government, it is our responsibility to meet the needs of young people and low income families, those with very low salaries, and that is exactly what I have tried to demonstrate.

[Supply, April 28th, 1998]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise today in response to the Bloc Quebecois motion.

For the next few minutes, I will be emphasizing that, in its latest budget, our government has taken effective, targeted action to maintain and improve the situation of low and middle income Canadians.

The 1998 budget marks the beginning of a broad based tax relief effort comprised of two major initiatives and designed to maintain targeted relief for those who need it most and in areas where the greatest benefits will be achieved.

Over the next three years, the measures contained in the budget will translate into $7 billion in tax relief benefiting mostly low and middle income taxpayers.

Relief will be small at first, as the fiscal dividend it comes from will itself be small. We will not make tax cuts that risk compromising neither the fiscal health we have just restored nor the priorities identified by Canadians, including health care, education and public pensions.

That is why, in accordance with this country's priorities, the government will start by reducing the taxes paid by those who can least afford them: low and middle income Canadians.

The first of the two broad based tax relief initiatives consists in increasing the non taxable income of Canadians who earn a small income. Currently the basic personal exemption is $6,456, while the married exemption and the equivalent to married exemption cannot be more than $5,380.

The budget provides for a $500 increase of these amounts for low income Canadians, as a result the amount of income taxpayers can receive on a tax-free basis will be increased by $500 for a single person earning less than $20,000, and by $1,000 for families earning less than $40,000.

This measure, which is to come into force July 1, 1998, will take 400,000 low-income Canadians off the tax rolls and reduce taxes for an additional 4.6 million Canadians. The income tax relief will amount to $85 for single taxpayers, and to a maximum of $170 for families.

Moreover, the budget provides for the elimination of the 3% general surtax for Canadians with incomes up to about $50,000. This surtax, a tax on tax created in 1986 to help reduce the deficit, will be lowered for Canadians with incomes between $50,000 and around $65,000.

As a result of this measure, which will come into force on July 1, 1998,, close to 13 million taxpayers will pay no federal surtax in 1999, and another one million Canadians will see a significant reduction in their surtax liability.

These two measures provide for a very progressive distribution of tax relief since the biggest tax relief, as compared to current taxes, will go to taxpayers with the lowest income. For example, singles earning $30,000 a year will see their tax burden reduced by 3%, while singles earning $50,000 a year will receive a 2.4% tax reduction.

A family with an annual income of $30,000 will get a 31% reduction, while for a family earning $50,000 taxes will fall by 3.3%. As a result, a family earning $30,000 will see its total federal income taxes falling to about $300 or about 1% of its income.

True to previous budgets, the 1998 budget provides for targeted tax relief for those who need it most.

Under the Canadian Opportunities Strategy, for the first time ever, interest payments on student loans will be deductible.

This measure will be extended to all students and will benefit more than one million people. For example, for a student with a typical debt, this measure will mean a federal and provincial tax reduction of almost $530 the first year and of up to $3,200 over a ten year paydown.

The budget also proposes several measures that will allow Canadians to improve their qualifications, for instance the extension of the education credit to part time students. A part time student taking two eligible courses will be able to save $120 in taxes. This measure will reduce the costs associated with education and will facilitate continuing education for over 250,000 part time students.

In recognition of the expenses associated with education and to promote continuing education, the government will now allow part time students to claim the child care expense deduction. This measure, which will affect about 50,000 part time students, will allow a parent with two children who is taking two courses to save about $550 in taxes.

Together, these two measures will more than triple, from $300 to almost $1,000 a year, the tax savings for a typical part time student with two children.

To support continuing education, the budget also proposes to allow Canadians to make tax free withdrawals from their RRSPs to finance full time education and training.

Taxpayers will be able to withdraw, tax free, up to $10,000 a year, without exceeding $20,000 over a four year period. To preserve their retirement incomes, taxpayers will have to reimburse these withdrawals over a ten year period.

Support measures for families are also included in the budget. For example, there is an increase of the child care expense deduction from $5,000 to $7,000 for children under age 7, and from $3,000 to $4,000 for children aged 7 to 16. A parent with two preschool children will have his or her taxes reduced by $1,600. This measure takes into account the child care expenses paid by full time working parents and will benefit 65,000 families with children.

The 1998 budget contains another family support measure. It adds $850 million to the $850 million increase in the child tax credit announced in the 1997 budget, to come into effect in July 1998. This will be introduced in two stages. The first calls for $425 million more per year, starting July 1999, and the second the identical amount in July 2000.

The government also plans a credit for natural caregivers, which will decrease the combined federal and provincial tax by $600 for those taking care of an aged parent or a disabled relative. Some 450,000 natural caregivers, who would not normally be eligible for the disabled dependent credit, will benefit from this assistance. In addition, a GST and HST exemption will apply to expenses incurred in providing temporary assistance to a person whose self-sufficiency is limited through disability.

In order to encourage the hiring of young people aged 18 to 24, employers will pay no EI contributions for new jobs created for young people in 1999 and 2000.

I would like to add, before closing, that I will share my remaining time with the minister.

Along with the reduction in employers' contributions to employment insurance, which have been dropped to $2.70 per $100 of insurable earnings since January 1, 1998, this measure marks an important step in facilitating job creation for young Canadians.

In order to treat self-employed workers and limited companies more fairly, the budget proposes that Canadian self-employed individuals may, starting this year, deduct their contributions to health and dental insurance plans from business income.

In closing, I would like to add that globalization definitely poses considerable challenges to our society. The technological progress of the past two decades outstrips that of the entire last century. The 1998 Liberal budget reflects this phenomenon by proposing targeted tax relief and by building a solid economy—