Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to take part in the prebudget debate. I am sharing my time with the hon. member for Leeds—Grenville.
As the member for Vancouver Kingsway, I hosted a successful prebudget consultation in my riding. I wanted to hear from British Columbians their concerns and ideas on spending the surplus. Those citizens discussed and shared what they believe the priorities should be for the next fiscal year.
A clear priority which emerged from that discussion was the need for tax cuts. However, tax cuts were not to be at the expense of important social programs such as health, education and poverty.
Vancouver also faces the serious challenge of homelessness, and many of my constituents expressed grave concerns about this issue.
I did not only listen to the people in my riding. As a member of the all-party Standing Committee on Finance I was able to hear from and speak with many Canadians from British Columbia, the western provinces and indeed across the country. In this very public consultation process we heard the needs and wishes of many Canadians.
Canadians were very clear about the direction the next budget should take. They want tax cuts and debt reduction. They want infrastructure development and improvement in all provinces. They want homelessness and affordable social housing needs to be addressed. They want the serious shortfall in core funding for universities and colleges to be reversed. Canadians, whether in British Columbia or Newfoundland, know what they want and we listened.
Members of the committee spent long and careful hours analyzing and discussing what we heard. Our recommendations, based on what we learned from the public consultations and town hall meetings held in many ridings, including Vancouver Kingsway, are found in our committee report which was tabled in the House of Commons only a few days ago.
I would like to take a moment to commend the committee chair and the members of the finance committee for their hard work and dedication over the last few months of the prebudget consultation process. I would also like to thank the hundreds of Canadians, individuals and organizations, who took the time and effort to participate in the prebudget consultation process. All made highly valuable contributions to the shaping of the committee's report and recommendations.
Tax reduction is a major part of the committee's recommendations. We are suggesting that personal income tax reform be given a high priority. Reduced personal income taxes would mean that Canadians would keep more of their hard earned dollars to invest and to spend in the economy. We want to see the elimination of the 5% personal surtax. Along similar lines, the child tax credit should be extended.
There is also a need for reduction in the business tax system. Canadian businesses are competing globally and they must be allowed the leeway to do so. During the public consultations we were made clearly aware of how badly infrastructure revitalization is needed. Comments were made by people from all regions of Canada about how roads and highways are in dire need of work.
As a nation which relies heavily on roadway transportation, whether it is the automotive industry in Ontario or supplies being transported to Fort Nelson, B.C., we must invest in infrastructure. Therefore we have recommended a $2.5 billion federal infrastructure program. Not only would such a program mark an important contribution to the well-being and safety of all Canadians, it would create hundreds of new jobs and stimulate the local economy in many regions of the country.
On the issue of homelessness and affordable social housing, Canadians are demanding action. The Minister of Labour has undertaken a national survey to identify the challenges and the—