Evidence of meeting #85 for Finance in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was benefits.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Joe Oliver Conservative Eglinton—Lawrence, ON
Let me also say that we have eliminated the requirement to pay taxes for one million taxpayers as well. We have set up a number of initiatives—
Conservative
NDP
Pierre Dionne Labelle NDP Rivière-du-Nord, QC
Does the government not also have a role in helping the poorest members of society? Should that not be a full-time concern for the government?
Conservative
Joe Oliver Conservative Eglinton—Lawrence, ON
The government has developed policies to benefit all Canadians. We have increased the transfers to the provinces for social programs by 62%.
Conservative
NDP
Pierre Dionne Labelle NDP Rivière-du-Nord, QC
The fact is that we are seeing that 20% of Canadians, the wealthiest, will benefit 16 times more from the TFSA program than the 20% of Canadians who are the poorest. So it is a bias for the wealthy. Let's call it for what it is.
Conservative
Joe Oliver Conservative Eglinton—Lawrence, ON
The facts are completely different from what you are describing. Most of the benefits will go to Canadians. As I said, 60% of people who contributed the maximum amount to a TFSA make less than $60,000 a year.
Conservative
Conservative
Dave Van Kesteren Conservative Chatham-Kent—Essex, ON
Thank you, Chair.
Minister, it's good to be in this place to hear about the fine work of your department. I think some of us, at least on this side, are quite proud of what's happening.
I think that other than our illustrious Chair, Mr. Adler and I have been on this committee the longest, and throughout the years we've been here, we've been through some trying, difficult times. You've expressed that well. We've managed to crawl out of a deep, dark hole to the point that I would argue—and I think many of us on this side here would argue too—this is the best budget we have seen yet as a government. I'm very proud of it.
One of the things we've seen increasingly here is more organizations coming looking for help during the budget consultations, and rightfully so. We have a country in which oftentimes the federal government is moving in one direction and the provinces are moving in the other, and we start to find increasingly that it falls upon us to help, especially with things like health care. We talked about the fact that we've increased funding for that, but I think all of us would agree that when we've heard the stories from the different groups that are looking for help and when we make a recommendation to that effect, we were hoping to see something from the government that could help, especially health care.
There are many things I was happy about, but I have to tell you I was very happy to see the addition to the compassionate care benefit by this government, which benefits so many groups like those with ALS. We celebrated that yesterday.
I wonder if you could maybe take some time and tell us who would benefit most from this generous benefit.
Conservative
Joe Oliver Conservative Eglinton—Lawrence, ON
This policy is directed at families that need to take care of a member of their family who is suffering from a serious medical condition with a significant risk of death within 26 weeks and a requirement for care and support.
Supporting families and communities is a top priority for our government, and so an enhancement to the EI compassionate care benefit is important because it will provide additional financial security to Canadian workers and their families in need.
The benefits will be taken within a 26-week period once a doctor attests to the medical condition of the family member, and approximately 6,900 claimants per year would stand to benefit from the generous program we've introduced.
We want to make sure the EI program remains responsive, fair, and flexible to labour market conditions while continuing to support Canadians when they need it most. The changes really affirm the government's support for families, particularly for primary caregivers.
The NDP simply voted against almost every measure we've introduced.
Conservative
Dave Van Kesteren Conservative Chatham-Kent—Essex, ON
You talked about some of the taxes that we've cut. One that I was pleased to see was the reduction of the small business tax. Maybe you could tell us why that's important and how that's going to help their businesses grow and the economy grow?
Conservative
Joe Oliver Conservative Eglinton—Lawrence, ON
Small businesses are a cornerstone of our economy. They create jobs that support families and our communities, and that's why our budget introduces measures to allow small businesses to grow and create jobs. It's no wonder the Canadian Federation of Independent Business has applauded this measure and gave the budget an A.
The bill would reduce the small business tax rate to 9% by 2019. Using the example of a small business with a taxable income of $500,000, this tax cut and all the tax relief our government has provided since 2006 would result in a nearly 50% decrease in federal taxes, the biggest tax cut in 25 years. This is money small businesses can use to reinvest in the economy and create jobs.
But it goes further. Bill C-59 would amend the Canada small business financing program to allow more small businesses to apply for financing, and allow larger loans to be made available. It would also increase the lifetime capital gains exemption for farmers and fishermen to allow farm and fishing business owners to better ensure their financial security for retirement, by allowing them to keep more after-tax dollars in their pockets following the disposition of their property.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative James Rajotte
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. Van Kesteren.
Mr. Adler, go ahead please, for the final round.
Conservative
Mark Adler Conservative York Centre, ON
Thank you very much, Chair.
Thank you, Minister and your officials, for being here this afternoon.
I do want to begin by thanking you, and certainly your predecessor, the late Jim Flaherty, for keeping a steady hand on the tiller. We all know that we're not out of the woods yet, and that the global situation is certainly still fragile. Starting back in 2006, initially paying off $38 billion in national debt put us in good stead for future growth in our economy.
What I want to say first of all is that your riding and mine both have very high immigrant populations. We're adjacent to each other in Eglinton—Lawrence and York Centre. A lot of people come to this country for hope and for opportunity for themselves and their kids. I remember that when my dad, a holocaust survivor, came to Canada he worked hard, just as many of these immigrant families work hard, and I see it every day. They are grateful for less taxation.
You mentioned that taxes have been lowered 180 different times. An average family of four is now saving $6,600 in tax. The tax burden is the lowest in 50 years.
Could you speak to the family tax cuts? Particularly I want to ask you how many families stand to benefit from the family tax plan and what the government is doing to ensure every single middle-class family takes advantage of these generous benefits and receives more money in their pockets. We all know that middle-class people work very hard for their money, and our aim is to make sure they're able to keep as much money in their pockets as possible. Could you please speak to that?