Mr. Speaker, with your approval, I would like to split my time with the hon. member for Burlington.
I rise today to address the motion presented by the member for Markham—Unionville. The motion of the member for Markham—Unionville starts off rather well; it is surprising, but it does start off rather well. As I was reading this motion over initially, I was actually rather proud of him, at the start.
He advocates the lowering of taxes. This government, under the leadership of the Prime Minister and the finance minister, has lowered taxes by a whopping $41 billion.
My colleague calls for a reduction of the debt. Our government has managed to pay down an astounding $27.4 billion in less than two years.
Also, and in a fashion that only a Liberal could in this place, he calls for increased funding for programs like education and infrastructure, but we all remember, and this is what makes this so striking, that his Liberal government was the one that gutted the social transfer in the early 1990s. The Liberals are the only ones in this House who have ever taken a penny from these important programs, and in doing so often have set federal-provincial relations so terribly back to dangerous levels.
If the member does not believe me, maybe he should talk to some of his current Liberal colleagues, such as the Liberal member for Kings—Hants, who once said that the Liberal government created a “tremendous vacuum in funding for universities throughout the country”, or the Liberal member for Newmarket—Aurora, who remarked that it was the “lack of federal leadership that has made post-secondary education the poor second cousin in public policy and the country will pay a price for that lack of vision”.
Is that the proud Liberal record on supporting post-secondary education that the member is talking about? Under the Liberals, Canada, despite the hard work of its citizens, began lagging behind many nations in the world in social and economic categories.
We are not making those mistakes. If the member opposite had read the budget or Advantage Canada, he would have seen that this government is involved in the most ambitious infrastructure initiative in Canada's history. It is no wonder the Canadian Urban Transit Association said our recent actions represented “welcome new investment in Canada's infrastructure”, or why the NDP premier of Manitoba, Gary Doer, called our infrastructure initiative “a very positive announcement”.
Under the Liberals' watch, the bridges became unsafe and the roadways were not maintained, yet they call upon this government to do even better. And that we are doing, and that is the best that can be done.
That is rich, but from my hon. colleague's motion it is clear that he is unfamiliar with budget 2007 and Advantage Canada, so let us take some time to highlight some of the work our government is undertaking to provide Canadians with an entrepreneurial advantage, a knowledge advantage and an infrastructure advantage. Hopefully this will serve to enlighten and make sure none of my learned colleagues in this House make the mistake of supporting this motion.
Last fall we launched a long term economic plan for Canada called Advantage Canada. It was designed to improve our quality of life and to make Canada a world leader for today and for future generations. Advantage Canada promotes five competitive economic advantages that we need in order to succeed in today's global economy: a fiscal advantage, a tax advantage, a knowledge advantage, an entrepreneurial advantage, and an infrastructure advantage.
I will talk about the last three advantages and how they help create the right conditions for Canadians and Canadian businesses and organizations to thrive.
Canada's entrepreneurial advantage is about putting in place the conditions for our businesses and entrepreneurs to invest, creating more and better jobs. This includes improving regulatory efficiency and reducing red tape and efforts to create a more competitive business environment. Strong and effective regulations safeguard Canadians and help preserve the environment. Overlapping regulations and unnecessary regulatory requirements put Canada at a competitive disadvantage.
We are committed to increasing market competition. A competitive marketplace meets the needs of consumers by providing them with more choices at lower prices. It also spurs investments by firms as they adjust to meet evolving consumer demands.
On July 12, 2007 we launched an independent competition policy review panel. The panel is studying Canada's competition and investment policies and will report by June 2008 on how these policies could be strengthened, helping ensure that Canada is well positioned to compete globally and attract investment.
We have also placed a priority on further strengthening Canada's economic union to better position our companies for success in the fiercely competitive global economy.
We are also working to help create a knowledge advantage for Canada. First and foremost this means building the best educated, most skilled and flexible workforce in the world.
The government has taken action by introducing a new labour market training architecture that will help Canadians get the training and skills upgrading they need and that employers want. In particular, the government has allocated $500 million per year to address the gap in labour market programming for those who do not currently qualify for training under the employment insurance program.
Building a knowledge advantage also means creating more effective linkages between immigration and future labour market shortages. This is why in budget 2007 we invested $1.3 billion over five years to help improve the economic and social integration of immigrants. We are making it possible for foreign students trained in Canada and skilled temporary foreign workers to apply for permanent residence without leaving the country.
Just as important, we are strengthening post-secondary education and making it more affordable for students and their families. We will increase support for post-secondary education by $800 million per year starting in 2008-09 through the Canada social transfer. This will bring total cash support for post-secondary education to $3.2 billion per year and it will grow by 3% per year thereafter. This significant increase in support will allow provinces and territories to invest according to their priorities in building a stronger and more affordable post-secondary system and ensure that it contributes to Canada's future economic success.
We are increasing by 1,000 the number of scholarships available to our best graduate students so that they can acquire the advanced skills so important to our companies.
To compete and win in the global economy, Canada must also be a leader in generating and applying new knowledge, research and technologies. This is why we have released a comprehensive science and technology strategy. The strategy recognizes the important contribution that all sectors of Canadian society can make by creating and using knowledge to address challenges and pursue new opportunities.
Canada is starting from a strong foundation of knowledge. For example, we are the G-7 leader in terms of research taking place in our public sector as a share of our economy. The strategy commits to maintaining this leadership position and building on it to create economic and social benefits for Canadians.
In budget 2007 the government put in place significant investments to strengthen our capacity for world leading research and translate it into competitive advantage. In particular, we have provided $350 million over three years to support centres of excellence in commercialization and research. These centres place Canada at the leading edge in key areas of research, including health, energy, the environment and information communications technologies. Together these measures will help ensure that Canada has the skilled workforce and the supply of new ideas necessary to compete in the rapidly changing global economy.
Through our building Canada plan we are taking decisive action in order to create an infrastructure advantage. This includes a federal investment of $33 billion in Canada's infrastructure, an unprecedented amount.
The significant stable and predictable funding for municipal infrastructure is being provided through an extended gas tax fund and maintaining the increased rebate in the goods and services tax that municipalities pay. The government is moving forward on implementing its infrastructure initiatives quickly in cooperation with provinces and territories. This is paving the way toward realization of key infrastructure projects.
As we can see, today's motion is based on such a flawed premise that the government will not be able to support it. It is likely even too far gone for a friendly amendment, so my friend may wish to consider changing his motion to more represent reality. For example, in the opinion of this House, the Liberals did not get it done. They may even wish that--