Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise in the House on behalf of the constituents of Crowfoot and to speak against the opposition motion that has been brought forward to the House today. This motion is sponsored by the Liberal finance critic who consistently fails to recognize the strength of the Canadian economy.
Our economy is rock solid. In fact, Canada is the only G-7 country with budget surpluses and a falling debt burden. Employment is up, unemployment is at a record low. Taxes are lower for families, individual Canadians, as well as for businesses. In short, the future looks bright.
No doubt some of the hon. members across the floor may be asking themselves how this Conservative government has accomplished so much in such a short time. I will tell the House how we have done it. We have done it because, through the Prime Minister and the finance minister, the government has brought forward a plan and it has stuck to the plan. I am talking, of course, about Advantage Canada, this government's long term economic plan for Canada's future, a plan that is built on the foundation of solid fiscal management with the aim of achieving key advantages for Canadians.
What do these advantages entail? They include a tax advantage toward which we have already realized significant results; over $41 billion worth of tax cuts over three years for individual Canadians and businesses.
Over the summer, throughout my constituency of Crowfoot many people would stop by my vehicle when I was on the main streets of different communities to share their views and opinions about the performance and the direction that this Conservative government was going. They encouraged me to take the message back to Ottawa and to our Prime Minister that they wanted us to continue to reduce taxes because, in their opinion and in my opinion, we still pay too much in taxes.
I assured my constituents that we would continue to reduce taxes for all Canadians. We are about to establish the lowest tax rate on new business investments of the entire G-7 nations.
Advantage Canada also has a fiscal advantage. It makes debt reduction a priority. I had the opportunity of speaking on that earlier today. This is a priority for a lot of members of Parliament on this side of the House who came here believing that the close to $600 billion debt was far too high. We will continue to reduce Canada's debt load because it is a debt that will be a burden to our children and grandchildren. In fact, our plan is to eliminate Canada's total government net debt in less than a generation, and we are well on our way to accomplishing that.
As the Minister of Finance pointed out, we have reduced the federal debt load by more than $27 billion over the last two years. That amounts to $1,100 for every man, woman and child that the national debt was reduced over the term that this government has been in power.
Let us not forget our tax back guarantee, a guarantee that provides a direct benefit to Canadians by dedicating all interest savings from the federal debt to further reduce personal income taxes. To date, we have provided Canadians with over $1.5 billion in personal income tax relief as a result of paying down the debt and as a result of the tax back guarantee.
The third component of Advantage Canada and one that has not had a lot of recognition here today is the commitment to create an entrepreneurial advantage. To that end, the government is reducing red tape for businesses to help create an environment for Canadian businesses to prosper. There is still work to do but our commitment is firm.
For example, the government is committed to its goal to reduce the paper burden on business by 20% by November 2008.
Our government has also set its sights on building a knowledge based advantage. This includes implementing a labour market training system that ensures Canadians get the training and the skills they need to get a good job, a job with a future.
In short, we want to help the country create an education system that brings forward the most skilled and most flexible workforce. If we are to be productive and competitive in a world with a global economy, we need to recognize that our labourers need to be top skilled labourers, and they are that.
Finally, the Advantage Canada plan will create an infrastructure advantage. We have spoken about infrastructure a fair bit today, a modern, world-class infrastructure Canadians can be proud of. In order to complete on a global scale, we need to build the modern bridges, the roads and the gateways necessary to get our goods to the market.
Contrary to what some in the other parties realize, our markets are not just domestic markets. Our markets are around the world, whether it be agriculture or whatever, and we must be certain that the products get to market.
Where do we go from here?The Speech from the Throne laid out a very clear direction in which we would go, a plan that we have committed to. We have said that we are committed to working with other Canadians to build a nation that is a model for the rest of the world. To meet this commitment, the Government of Canada's vision for Canada has five core priorities: first, strengthening Canada's sovereignty and place in the world; second, strengthening the federation and our democratic institutions right here at home; third, providing effective economic leadership for a prosperous future; fourth, and one on which I receive calls in my riding every day, tackling crime and strengthening the security of Canadians; and, fifth, ensuring that our environment is looked after, improving the environment for the health of all Canadians.
The throne speech that was delivered only a little over a week ago highlights our commitments to support a wide range of economic activity across the country.
Today, when I read the motion put forward by the opposition across the way, there was not one mention of agriculture. We hear very little from the opposition, from the Liberal Party or from the NDP, about agriculture.
The throne speech recognizes the importance of the agricultural sector in Canada. We have listened to the ideas and concerns of farmers. We have listened to the stakeholders and we have listened to the consumers.
At their meeting in June, the ministers of agriculture endorsed growing forward, a policy statement incorporating a bold, market driven vision for Canada's agriculture, agri-food and agri-based products industry. It will guide the development of federal-provincial-territorial programming in the industry. This program is a collaborative, forward focused vision for a profitable and competitive agriculture sector.
Much can be accomplished in agriculture and Canada's agriculture industry will benefit from this government's promotion of, for example, the biofuel initiative that we have put forward.
We have seen and we see now commodity prices at close to, not an all-time high but a remarkable level of dollars for the product that we are producing. Canola is at over $9 a bushel. Wheat is starting to creep its way up. Barley is at $2.50 a bushel, which does give concern to the feed industry, but there is an optimism out there that I have not seen for years, an optimism that producers can continue to have because we have a government that is listening to the concerns of the agricultural community. We realize that we must have strong, solid trade around the world which is why we have ongoing trade negotiations.
This not just talk. This is a government that takes action and we have taken decisive action to build on the foundations of our successes.
As I said, our economy is strong, the fiscal fundamentals are in place and we have an ambitious plan, Advantage Canada, that will take us where we want to go. We have chartered a prosperous course for Canada's future and we will stick to it.