Mr. Speaker, just over a year ago Canadians voted for change. They recognized that the previous government was stale, that it had no vision and that it could not measure up to the expectation of Canadians.
Under the Liberal rule, Canada's manufacturers were competing with an anchor around their necks, high commodity and energy prices and increasing competition from low cost countries. Worse still, their government was not listening. Leading voices in industry, academia and labour, as well as business analysts were sounding the alarm of a crisis in our manufacturing sector, a call for help that went unheeded, like the calls from the member's constituency.
Canada's new government has stepped up to the plate and hit the ball out of the park. We delivered on the right conditions for manufacturers and Canadians to succeed on the world stage.
We started with our tax reduction measures in budget 2006. We eliminated the capital tax, reduced corporate and small business tax rates and confirmed the elimination of the corporate surtax, allowing Canada to regain a solid 5.1% statutory tax rate advantage over the United States of manufacturing income by 2010. That budget included 29 tax cuts, a clear signal that this government was serious about creating a supportive business environment that promotes competitiveness and innovation.
In November we announced our strategic economic plan. Advantage Canada goes to the heart of addressing manufacturers' concerns. Simply put, this plan focuses on five advantages that will help firms, including manufacturers, succeed in global markets.
There is a tax advantage that will continue to reduce taxes for all Canadians and establish the lowest tax rate on new business investment in the G-7. There is a fiscal advantage that will eliminate Canada's total government net debt in less than a generation. There is an entrepreneurial advantage that will reduce unnecessary regulation and red tape and lower taxes to unlock business investment. There is a knowledge advantage designed to create the best educated, most skilled and most flexible workforce in the world. There is an infrastructure advantage that will create a modern world-class infrastructure to ensure the seamless flow of people, goods and services across the country and across our borders.
We did not stop there. Budget 2007 delivers on the commitments that we set out in Advantage Canada. Most notably manufacturers will now be able to write off over an accelerated two year period all manufacturing and processing machinery and equipment bought before 2009.
Budget 2007 is touted by eminent Canadian business leaders and by manufacturers themselves as a winning budget for manufacturers. This comes after last year's budget was recognized as the best budget for manufacturers in five years.
Together, Advantage Canada and our budget measures add up to a foundation to establish a more competitive business environment, one that will help Canadian manufacturers become more agile, assist them in capitalizing on their knowledge advantage and ensure that they can compete in global markets.
Canadian manufacturers are responding already by investing in innovation and in the skills of its workforce. This government values the manufacturing sector. We will continue working with the industry to ensure the success and stability of Canadian workers, and the Canadian industry.