House of Commons Hansard #58 of the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was million.

Topics

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

12:55 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Royal Galipeau

The hon. member for Saint Boniface has 30 seconds left.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

12:55 p.m.

Liberal

Raymond Simard Liberal Saint Boniface, MB

Mr. Speaker, I can answer in 30 seconds.

The member mentioned $340 million. He has to deduct $170 million right off the top. The $170 million that was supposed to be taken out of a national strategic infrastructure fund was taken out of Manitoba's share of the infrastructure fund.

Once Manitobans realize they have been robbed of $170 million by the Conservative Party, absolutely, I can vote against this budget, or I can support it, one or the other. However, I can say—

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

12:55 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Royal Galipeau

We are about to resume debate. I want to commend all members of the House for keeping their questions succinct. This way we were able to put four questions.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

12:55 p.m.

Liberal

Raymond Simard Liberal Saint Boniface, MB

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I am not finished my answers and you are cutting me off. My time is not up.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Royal Galipeau

Yes it is.

The hon. member for Peterborough has the floor.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1 p.m.

Conservative

Dean Del Mastro Conservative Peterborough, ON

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise and stand in support of this tremendous budget, a budget that increases health care funding for Canadians, a budget that increases support for post-secondary education and creates a new student support program that will provide funding and grants to over 100,000 more students than currently qualify under the old Liberal millennium scholarship program. It is a wonderful new addition to the budget. It provides funding for 2,500 additional front line police officers, new support for technology development for industry that will benefit the environment and new environmental initiatives.

I want to focus my speech on what has been the focus of some national media stories, and I have even heard some disparaging remarks in the House. I want to talk about the $500 million trust fund that our government has created to support public transit and specifically the new route between Toronto and Peterborough.

First, I was never more proud than when I heard the word Peterborough in a federal budget. I do not think any government has ever mentioned the word Peterborough in a budget, certainly not the Liberal government, which was in place for 13 years. It never did anything for the riding of Peterborough, certainly not affordable housing. I heard a member speaking about affordable housing a little while ago. I have made more affordable housing announcements in two years than my predecessor made in thirteen years, not because he was not a decent man but because his government never provided him with the support for that.

The new Toronto-Peterborough passenger commuter route is a sound transportation, non-partisan project that was supported by Liberal MPs. We heard a Liberal MP say that we had stolen a bunch of Liberal ideas. I guess I am guilty of that. I will demonstrate exactly how I probably have stolen some Liberal ideas.

I refer the House back to Friday, May 4, 2001 and to a petition presented by Peter Adams, former Liberal MP for Peterborough. The petition was from citizens of the Peterborough area who wanted to re-establish VIA Rail commuter service between Toronto and Peterborough. They pointed to the environmental advantages such as reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, a reduction in accidents on highways and that it would help Peterborough become an even stronger business, tourist and educational centre. The petition had the support from the federal ridings of Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, Durham, Whitby—Oshawa, Whitby—Ajax, Pickering—Ajax—Uxbridge, Markham—Unionville and even Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington.

In a letter dated September 26, 2000, John O'Reilly, the former Liberal member of Parliament for Haliburton—Victoria—Brock, said:

You are correct in saying the commuter/tourism passenger service will benefit the region in more ways than simply providing a more efficient mode of transportation. There are several offshoots of potential employment related to VIA passenger service. I believe it is a very worthwhile endeavour and I support your initiatives. I will discuss this with my fellow caucus colleagues and garner support.

Alex Shepherd, former Liberal member of Parliament for Durham, said:

As someone who actually rode the old line, I am convinced this method of transportation is consistent with other policies such as, land use planning and environmental concerns in the GTA.

I look forward to working with your very capable Member of Parliament, Peter Adams, and groups like yourself, in an effort to turn this into a reality.

Is this not Interesting?

The current member for Pickering—Scarborough East said:

I understand the importance of this service to your community, and I am aware that many of my own constituents—particularly those in north Durham—will also benefit by the return of VIA to the Kawartha Region. As such, your campaign has my full support and I will gladly work with your M.P., Peter Adams, in ensuring your petition reaches the floor of the House of Commons.

John O'Reilly, former Liberal member of Parliament for Haliburton—Victoria—Brock, in a letter dated January 24, 2001, said:

I fully support this endeavour and have already taken the liberty of speaking with the Honourable David Collenette...Minister of Transport. I asked him to endorse the plan, as it would greatly benefit many in the Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton-Victoria-Brock regions.

Alex Shepherd, former Liberal member of Parliament for Durham, on February 6, 2001, said, “You can be assured that this is of great interest to the riding of Durham as well as that of Peterborough”.

That is pretty remarkable.

In fact, this is every bit as much a benefit to Toronto as it is to Peterborough. I have made this point before.

I should let you know, Mr. Speaker, that I am going to split my time with the member for Glengarry—Prescott—Russell.

The member for Ajax—Pickering last week was quoted in the media as saying that this is like a 64th level priority of the MoveOntario 2020 plan. That is news to me. Maybe the member should look into the MoveOntario 2020 plan. He just might find out that this route is described as hub number five. It goes directly through his riding. I suppose if he lived in his riding he might know that it is of interest to the people in Ajax—Pickering, but he is kind of busy digging into personnel files, trying to dig up dirt and being a major part of the Liberal rat pack. He really does not care that much about his constituents and finding out that this is a major issue in the northern part of his riding.

I would like to talk a little about what this means. The Places to Grow Act, which of course is an Ontario Liberal government document, identifies Peterborough and the Durham region as rapid growth areas under the greater golden horseshoe. The re-establishment of commuter rail between Toronto's Union Station and Harper Road in Peterborough will provide significant environmental, recreational and social benefits to all communities along the route.

The Havelock sub-route operated by Kawartha Lakes Railway and owned and operated by CP Rail is a critical spoke to hub five in the province of Ontario's 2020 MoveOntario plan. This investment into public transit will support healthy future growth of all communities along the route while combating a growing traffic congestion problem in the greater golden horseshoe region, which is expected to grow by an additional 3.7 million people over the next 30 years alone.

Since the rail line was terminated in 1990, the population that would be serviced by this line has grown by more than 320,000 people. This places us among the fastest growing areas in Ontario, in Canada and indeed in all of North America.

These facts tell us that this is a critical piece of economic infrastructure. This is short line rail that will not only serve as passenger rail but also will support freight traffic and contribute substantially to reductions in greenhouse gases, smog and vehicle traffic on Toronto highways.

One-way service from Peterborough to Toronto will provide for rush hour travel times of less than 90 minutes. In fact, we are looking at about 84 minutes from Peterborough to Toronto at the height of rush hour. There is no other way to do this. There is no other way to get people there.

In October 2007, I wrote and released a 43 page commuter rail report. It took hundreds of hours of work. I presented it in the presence of my local community leaders, media representatives and my local member of the provincial parliament, Jeff Leal, who is a member of Dalton McGuinty's government. Indeed, he is the parliamentary secretary to the new department of Indian affairs. All voiced their support and promised to work toward this eventuality.

That eventuality became a reality with last week's budget and the commitment by the federal government that we are going to create this trust and provide the support. I would like to say a little about what others are saying about this.

For example, Durham regional chairman Roger Anderson said that the proposed train line would pick up commuters from his region. He went on to say, “Anything that alleviates congestion in downtown Toronto is a good thing”.

The president of Trent University, Bonnie Patterson, said:

While it's true that the restored rail link will have important benefits for local businesses and the environment, it will also directly impact the Trent University community in many positive ways. Dean Del Mastro is commended for his role in securing--

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:05 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh!

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:05 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

Order. Order. The hon. member made a mistake. I am just going to remind him, and I do not need help from all the other members, that even when referring to himself the member should use riding, name or title.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:05 p.m.

Conservative

Dean Del Mastro Conservative Peterborough, ON

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Bonnie Patterson says that the member for Peterborough:

--is to be commended for his role in securing one of the largest federal investments in the Peterborough region in our history.

From Fleming College, a letter states:

On behalf of Fleming College, I would like to extend our thanks and appreciation for your efforts to establish a new high-speed commuter rail link between Peterborough and Toronto, as announced in the federal budget.

At Fleming, we are drawing more and more students from the GTA and beyond. The rail link will provide a new transportation route and much-improved access to the College for our students from the Toronto area.

I could go on about this for an hour. I have built a sound business case for this. It is non-partisan. It services more Liberal ridings than Conservative ridings. This is a great news story for Ontario. It is a great news story for Canada. It is environmental and it is economic. I stand in this place, I fight for my community and I fight for Canada.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:10 p.m.

Liberal

John McKay Liberal Scarborough—Guildwood, ON

Mr. Speaker, that is one more of those Conservative promises that does not get kept, sort of like accountability and transparency. What is the price of a vote?

I want to know from the hon. member whether he agrees with the statements of his hero, the finance minister, who said that “if you're going to make a new business investment in Canada, and you're concerned about taxes, the last place you will go is the province of Ontario”.

Does he agree with that statement? Does he have any idea of what effect that would have on any potential investments from around the world? Does he have any idea of the effect on Ontario? Does the member understand, in the remotest sense of the word, how the financial capitals of the world will read the statement by that irresponsible finance minister? Does he understand?

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:10 p.m.

Conservative

Dean Del Mastro Conservative Peterborough, ON

Mr. Speaker, not only do I understand it, but I agree 100% with it. That is why I have encouraged the Liberal premier, Dalton McGuinty, to get rid of job-killing taxes in the province of Ontario: so that we can start attracting employment in Ontario. We should be moving away from the retail sales tax and moving to a value added tax immediately. We should be getting rid of corporate surtaxes. We should be reducing the taxes on manufacturing in our province.

That member can stand in this place, support high taxes in Ontario and support job-killing taxes, but I will stand in this House and defend jobs in Ontario. I will defend taxes that will create investment in Ontario. He can defend Dalton McGuinty. I will not.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:10 p.m.

NDP

Dennis Bevington NDP Western Arctic, NT

Mr. Speaker, I listened with interest to my colleague's speech about new investment in Peterborough. My goodness, I thought, this is really quite something, in that the member is admitting that good planning and investment in public infrastructure will drive businesses forward.

Yet at the same time, his government has taken the irresponsible step of reducing the revenues of the federal government so that the kinds of investments that he is talking about for his particular community cannot be spread across the country. In my constituency in the Northwest Territories, we desperately need roads, transmission lines and better airports, all the things that must be made with public investment, but the finance minister has given all the money away. How am I supposed to come up with the dollars for my riding that his Minister of Finance has so graciously given to Peterborough?

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:10 p.m.

Conservative

Dean Del Mastro Conservative Peterborough, ON

Mr. Speaker, let me say for the member that I understand the difficulties in creating infrastructure in Canada's north, but our government does too. We are working to provide things like high speed Internet in Canada's far north in the Arctic. We have created the building Canada fund, which provides base funding to all regions in the country. Over and above that, it provides funding on a per capita basis.

The building Canada fund has $33 billion over seven years to support Canada and to support the creation of economic infrastructure that creates jobs, is good for the environment and puts Canada on a sound footing moving forward. It attracts investment. Quite frankly, I am more proud of it than almost anything else our government has created.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:10 p.m.

Conservative

Gary Goodyear Conservative Cambridge, ON

Very briefly, Mr. Speaker, I have to tell the hon. member that I completely agree with him in his assessment of Ontario. Ontario is my province and I am quite scared by what is going on in the provincial government of Ontario, which is destined to force this once great province into becoming a have not province.

I do remember that in the last budget the federal government gave the premier of Ontario some $95 million for child care spaces. The premier of Ontario chose to pass on only $25 million of that money. I would appreciate a comment on that lack of accountability on the part of the premier of Ontario.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:15 p.m.

Conservative

Pierre Lemieux Conservative Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON

What happened?

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:15 p.m.

Conservative

Gary Goodyear Conservative Cambridge, ON

Also, I hear the Liberals say that these were their ideas. I totally disagree with that. Could the member tell me, if these were the Liberals' ideas--we know they were not, but if they were--why did they not get it done?

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:15 p.m.

Conservative

Dean Del Mastro Conservative Peterborough, ON

Mr. Speaker, I will answer my colleague's second question first. I would propose that like many things it is a Liberal record of shame, with a lot of promises made and very few things actually delivered.

With respect to child care, it is a provincial jurisdiction, but our government did provide all provinces, including Ontario, with significant new funding for child care on top of creating direct support to parents with the universal child care benefit and the child tax credit. Dalton McGuinty should invest that money in child care.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:15 p.m.

Glengarry—Prescott—Russell Ontario

Conservative

Pierre Lemieux ConservativeParliamentary Secretary for Official Languages

Mr. Speaker, it is a great honour and privilege to rise in this House today to speak about our latest Conservative budget.

In addition to being a responsible, prudent and well balanced budget, which reduces debt and helps Canadians, several good initiatives in this budget were very well received by the constituents in my riding of Glengarry—Prescott—Russell. They include real measures for business, agriculture, infrastructure and, naturally, families and seniors, the very foundation of our society and closest to our government's heart.

Before going into the details, allow me to mention once more some of the initiatives taken by this Conservative government since coming to power just two years ago.

We kept our promise made to Canadians to reduce the GST from 7% to 6% and then to 5%, and we did so ahead of schedule. We reduced taxes by cutting personal income tax rate from 15.5% to 15%. Furthermore, the basic personal exemption was increased to $9,600 and will rise to $10,100 in January 2009. A new $2,000 child tax credit will result in savings of hundreds of dollars for millions of Canadian families.

Corporate income tax rates have been cut drastically and will move from 22% to 15% by 2012, giving Canada the lowest federal corporate tax rate of all G-7 countries.

We reduced taxes for small business to 11% one year earlier than promised. Once again, these initiatives will give Canada one of the most competitive corporate tax rates in the world. In total, more than $200 billion has been invested in tax cuts since our government came to power.

Our Conservative government realizes that the months and years to come are full of uncertainty. For that reason, the theme of the budget is responsible leadership. It is vital that we proceed with a sense of caution and responsibility. This budget encourages Canadians to do the same. I am referring to the new tax-free savings account. For the first time in Canada's history, Canadians from all walks of life will have the opportunity to save their hard-earned money, which has already been taxed, without being penalized.

That does not mean that we will no longer do things to help Canadians. As I was saying, the people of Glengarry—Prescott—Russell are big beneficiaries of the priority spending announced in this government's budget. One of these priorities is infrastructure. I was very pleased to see in the previous budget the introduction of the building Canada fund, which is a $33 billion fund for infrastructure. During the past year, this program has helped finance a number of infrastructure projects that are resulting in a better qualify of life for the people of my riding, from Hawkesbury to Clarence-Rockland and everywhere in between.

In addition to this historic building Canada project, which was part of the previous budget, this new budget does even more to meet the infrastructure needs of my constituents by making the gas tax fund permanent. This will bring in millions of dollars annually for the municipalities, which will help them to better plan and finance their infrastructure work in the long term.

A large part of my riding is also dedicated to agriculture, and there is something in this budget for that as well. Since 2006, this Conservative government has taken direct action to help farmers. In fact, we have provided $4.5 billion in additional funding to farmers. This is funding above and beyond the annual funding provided to farmers.

We all remember the hardship felt by our cattle producers during the past few years and now more recently by our pork producers, which is why the government is accelerating programs designed to help them in their time of need. One new measure being introduced in this budget is a $50 million fund to be delivered to hog farmers to reduce the overstock that is currently putting pressure on the hog industry. This investment should translate into a 10% reduction, which is welcome news for the struggling producers of my riding. In addition, our Conservative government is delivering real support by making up to $3.3 billion available in loans to help producers weather current storms and adjust to new market realities.

Our government has listened to producers. We have worked with producers and now we are delivering for producers.

On the issue of seniors, there is no doubt that they are the big winners in this budget. In fact, even the Globe and Mail on Wednesday named seniors as being among the biggest winners. This is because our government has shown tremendous leadership and initiative by allowing pension income splitting for seniors and pensioners, something which has never been done before. We are also raising the tax exemption for income earned under the guaranteed income supplement from $500 to $3,500, a sevenfold increase. Seniors asked for this and we are delivering.

We also realize that with the increased life expectancy of Canadians, many seniors are willing to stay in the workforce longer and continue living as productive members of our society. Previously these seniors were penalized. By permitting phased retirement, we are giving older workers the choice to stay in the labour market.

As for RRSPs, we are also increasing the age limit for converting them from age 69 to age 71.

My constituents in Glengarry—Prescott—Russell welcome the additional fiscal measures taken by this government regarding the effort of tackling crime and bolstering our security.

In addition to making a giant leap in the right direction with the passage of Bill C-2 just last week, budget 2008 calls for a significant investment toward the creation of a new police officers recruitment fund. By allocating $400 million toward the recruitment and training of new police officers, our government is planning on assisting municipalities with the hiring of an additional 2,500 police officers throughout the country.

I can already hear the NDP, a party which opposes our efforts to better protect Canadians by getting tough on crime, complain that there is too much of a focus on correction and not enough of a focus on prevention. Allow me to respond that this is simply not the case.

The fact is that we are dramatically increasing the funding toward the national crime prevention program. This budget is investing an additional $60 million over the next two years, essentially doubling the annual funding, which currently stands at $33 million. These funds are used by the national crime prevention strategy in partnership with community groups designed to help vulnerable families and children determined to be at risk of later engaging in criminal activity, including gang or drug crimes.

As the Parliamentary Secretary for Official Languages, I am very pleased to see in budget 2008, that our Conservative government intends to go beyond its previous investments by developing a new action plan for official languages, since the current five-year action plan is coming to a close this year. The priority of the government's new action plan will be to protect and promote linguistic duality across the country.

As a member of Parliament who represents a riding with a very large official language minority community, I very much appreciate the work that has been done by Bernard Lord and, now, by the hon. Minister of Official Languages to ensure that the necessary measures for ensuring the vitality and development of these communities will be included in a new action plan.

In closing, this budget is fabulous news for the people of Glengarry—Prescott—Russell and Canadians across the country. It is a responsible, well-balanced budget that respects its commitments to Canadians and will help our country to move forward in the year to come.

I want to thank the hon. Minister of Finance for his work and the consultations he held to produce budget 2008.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:25 p.m.

Bloc

Paule Brunelle Bloc Trois-Rivières, QC

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Chambly—Borduas.

I am pleased to join the debate here today on the budget, although we are unhappy that, with this budget, the Conservative government passed up an opportunity to help the manufacturing and forestry sectors. Here are some figures.

Since January 1, 2003, Quebec has lost 151,000 jobs in the manufacturing sector. In Quebec, in 2007 alone, the manufacturing sector lost 49,000 jobs. In November 2007 alone, that is, one month after the Minister of Finance's economic statement, 11,700 jobs were lost in the manufacturing sector, which represents 71% of jobs lost in this sector in all of Canada in November 2007. In 2007, 90,000 jobs were lost in the manufacturing sector in Canada, of which over half were lost in Quebec.

Must I remind the House that Quebec will receive only a meagre 22% of the assistance offered by the Conservatives' aid package? Quebec represents 28% of all jobs in the manufacturing and forestry sectors in Canada. This amounts to 51%, if we take the job losses, and therefore the needs, into account. This demonstrates how much this major crisis in the manufacturing and forestry sectors is affecting us. In short, of the 51,000 manufacturing jobs lost in nearly five years in Quebec, most of them, 56%, have been lost since the Conservatives came to power only 21 months ago.

Indeed, since the Conservatives came to power, one in every seven manufacturing jobs has been lost in Quebec. Since April 2005, including related activities such as logging and transportation, the forestry industry has lost 21,000 jobs in Quebec. The wood products manufacturing sector alone lost 12,700 jobs last year, including 5,800 in the paper subsector. It was just as bad in 2006. In fact, the situation is only getting worse and worse. According to industry analysts, this year is shaping up to be even worse than previous years.

The forestry industry is extremely important to Quebec. Quebec has 88,000 jobs in forestry, sawmills and pulp and paper plants; 230 cities and towns depend primarily on the forestry industry, and 160 cities and towns depend exclusively on it. Nearly half the forest communities in Canada are in Quebec. The forestry industry is a key reason for settlement patterns in Quebec.

To our way of thinking, the budget was supposed to make up for the many weaknesses in the Conservative aid package. I would remind hon. members that Quebec will receive $216 million over three years, which is clearly not enough to meet industry needs.

For all these reasons, the budget was an opportunity for the federal government to recognize this major crisis in the manufacturing and forestry industries and demonstrate its sensitivity to the workers and all the communities affected. But this government's laissez-faire attitude and ideological obstinacy are undermining Quebec's whole industrial base. That is why the Bloc Québécois will vote against this budget.

The Bloc Québécois is certainly not alone in voicing these criticisms, which are the criticisms of Quebeckers. We have only one purpose: to defend Quebec's interests. Quebeckers have unanimously spoken out against the Conservative budget. Nothing for Quebec, lots for Ontario and the rest to the debt: those are the three pillars on which this budget is based.

Here are some reactions from Quebec to the Conservative budget. Jean-Luc Trahan, CEO of the Quebec manufacturers and exporters association, had this to say:

We said that these measures [the throne speech, the October economic statement and the aid package] were not enough, and we still feel that way...The budget shows that manufacturers and exporters are not among the [federal] government's priorities.

Avrim Lazar, president and CEO of the Forest Products Association of Canada, said this:

The forest products industry is facing the worst economic conditions it has seen in many decades...[the federal government ] is not doing its part.

Marta Morgan, vice-president of the Forest Products Association of Canada, said this about extending the accelerated capital cost allowance treatment for three years:

This is clearly not enough. We were hoping for more aggressive tax measures.

The Quebec federation of chambers of commerce said:

Not only did it [the government] not answer the call, but the financial aid sharing formula is still based on the provinces' demographic weight. This hurts Quebec, because the economic weight of its manufacturing sector is more significant. It is also very disappointing to see that the [government] is providing $250 million for an innovation fund for the automotive industry, which is primarily present in Ontario, while not giving one penny to other manufacturing and forestry industries in Quebec.

Guy Chevrette, the president and CEO of the Quebec Forest Industry Council said:

—the [Conservative] government has just thrown in the towel and wants market forces to clean up the forestry industry—

Quebec's Minister of Finance, Monique Jérôme-Forget, said:

Despite this very problematic environment for economic growth, you will understand that, of course, I am very envious of the federal government's $20 billion margin, over three years .... Because ... I find myself with a $200 million margin, perhaps a little more, if I include the one time [payment] of $216 million that it made to the manufacturing sector.

She also said that she was hoping to get more money for older workers because, in her opinion, the current aid is inadequate. And then Radio-Canada added this:

It is the same thing regarding the forestry and manufacturing sectors, since the moneys allocated are those that had already been announced by the Harper government in January. And [according to the minister], Quebec was expecting to get more.

The Bloc Québécois had made a number of demands. We asked that a loan and loan guarantee program be created to help businesses modernize their production equipment. We asked that the accelerated capital cost allowance for production equipment be extended. We asked that the research and development tax credit be made refundable, so that all businesses could take advantage of it, even if they are at the development stage or are experiencing problems, and are not yet turning a profit. We wanted the government to reinstate the Technology Partnerships Canada program, through which it invests in industrial research and development. Finally, we wanted the government to increase the budget of the program focused on small and medium businesses.

The Bloc Québécois also asked for the establishment of a program to support energy and ethanol production with forest waste, which is a state of the art technology. We also wanted an income support program for older workers, and we asked that the employment insurance program be improved.

Now let us take a look at what is in the budget. In its unanimous report submitted in February 2007, the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology asked the government to extend the accelerated capital cost allowance for production equipment and rolling stock. This is the only one of the many recommendations that the committee included in its voluminous, unanimously adopted report that the government chose to follow. Yet even this measure's effectiveness is limited. It is a tax cut, so it will help only those companies whose financial health is good enough to pay taxes. The capital cost allowance was announced last year for a two-year period, so the measure was already in place for 2008-09. The budget announcement will not come into effect until next year. This year, we get nothing.

I would also note that the government is introducing a new accelerated capital cost allowance measure for oil companies. This accelerated capital cost allowance measure applies to oil companies that invest in carbon capture and storage.

The government announced the end of the accelerated capital cost allowance for the tar sands, then turned around and reintroduced it for oil companies that invest in carbon capture and storage, and that is in addition to the $250 million in subsidies for carbon capture and storage projects. Instead of putting an end to these kinds of gifts for oil companies, as the Bloc wanted, Ottawa is introducing new ones.

The budget provides $250 million in subsidies over five years for investment in research and development, but only for the auto industry. There is nothing at all for Quebec's leading sectors even though the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology asked the government to support research and development in leading sectors. Several industrial sectors are concentrated in Quebec, including environmental technologies, the pharmaceutical industry, reproduction technologies, advanced transportation and new materials. All of these businesses would have benefited from renewed federal investment in research and development.

Ottawa decided to support just one: Ontario's auto industry. We think that is an outright insult.

The government has also made minor changes to tax credits for research and development, which is not a bad thing, but it is not much. It is a kind of administrative fine-tuning, not a brand new measure.

I see that my time has expired. In short, this failure to do anything for the manufacturing and forestry sectors is a tragedy. This budget does not give us our fair share—

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:35 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Speaker Conservative Andrew Scheer

The hon. member for Chambly—Borduas for questions and comments.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:35 p.m.

Bloc

Yves Lessard Bloc Chambly—Borduas, QC

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to congratulate my colleague from Trois-Rivières for her speech, which wonderfully illustrated the Bloc's position on the budget. I would like to ask her about something she did not have a chance to discuss, which is the problem we now have in the House of Commons with the position of the other parties, in particular that of the Liberal Party.

What does she make of this position? Most speeches in this House are along the same lines as the arguments of the Bloc Québécois, that this budget does not benefit the forestry and manufacturing companies, workers, and so on. But this party is prepared to vote in favour of the budget.

What does she think about that?

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:35 p.m.

Bloc

Paule Brunelle Bloc Trois-Rivières, QC

Mr. Speaker, I have trouble understanding the Liberal Party's reasons. I think the worst part about the fact that the Liberals are voting for this budget is that they gave up very quickly, thus losing out on any bargaining power and pressure that existed before this budget was tabled.

I will remind members that there is still time for the government to change, and instead of putting everything towards the debt, the government should help the manufacturing and forestry companies. They must absolutely not put $10 billion towards the debt this year. If there is an industry in crisis, the government should intervene and resolve the problem.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:35 p.m.

Bloc

Yves Lessard Bloc Chambly—Borduas, QC

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to take part today in this very important debate concerning the economic life of many communities in Quebec and in Canada. My colleague from Trois-Rivières was eloquent. We must intercede en masse to make the Conservative government rethink its position with regard to the use of the surplus. My colleague indicated that the surplus for the current year alone totals over $13 billion and is estimated at $8 billion for next year. That means that more than $21 billion over two years could be used to boost the economy in troubled sectors, as indicated earlier by my colleague.

What is wrong here is that these choices are guided by values that are not our own, that are not the values of Quebeckers. The Conservative values are based on a culture of war, a petroleum culture and a nuclear culture. Very significant budget items reflect these political choices, which in turn are accompanied by a series of secondary choices that shape the overall budget. I will try not to repeat my colleague's remarks because she provided a very descriptive analysis of the situation. I will seek to describe the political situation.

In ridings represented by Conservative MPs in Quebec, constituents often turn to us. This happens in ridings represented by Liberals as well, but in the past few months, this has occurred particularly in ridings represented by Conservative MPs, where people feel abandoned. In ridings represented by Conservatives, people feel abandoned.

Recently, on January 8, to be more specific, I was in the riding of Mégantic—L'Érable with my colleague from Richmond—Arthabaska. We were there at the request of the workers. They told us that even when they call on their MP, he does nothing for them. They asked us to come see them and explain why the programs that existed before have been dropped and why they no longer receive any help today. They no longer get any help because of the cuts that were made in employment insurance. Older workers no longer get any help because in 1997, the Liberals eliminated the program for older worker adjustment, known as POWA.

We cannot always answer these requests, but from time to time we do meet with the people. On January 8, I went to the riding of Mégantic—L'Érable, represented by the Secretary of State (Agriculture), with my colleague from Richmond—Arthabaska. Dozens of workers explained their situation to us. We held a press conference to outline the problems these workers are experiencing and the solution that should be found and recognized in the budget, the one that has just been brought down. In the days that followed, the Secretary of State (Agriculture), the Conservative member for that riding, said the following in the press:

We will work swiftly and enthusiastically with Quebec to support the vulnerable communities and laid-off workers through this new major national initiative to help them build a better future.

People were starting to be happy. They thought good things were coming with a statement like that. Immediately thereafter, the Conservative member called on my colleague from Richmond—Arthabaska, who can back me up on this, and said, “I invite the Bloc member [from Richmond—Arthabaska] from a neighbouring riding to do the same”. He wanted people to be positive about the upcoming budget, which they were. He added:

This will certainly do more for the voters than the recent activities in my riding of Mégantic—L'Érable involving a useless press conference.

He called it “useless”.

He said it is useless to describe the workers' circumstances and ask for help for them because their industry is in crisis.

The Secretary of State added:

Fortunately, they have a government that is delivering results so as the turn today's economic challenges into opportunities for tomorrow and make Quebec and Canada stronger and more prosperous in the long term.

That is what he said in response to our press conference. He called it useless, as though what these workers are going through had no importance or meaning. If he says that what we did was useless, then he should also say the same thing about the statement by Quebec's finance minister, because she said exactly the same thing we did. Here is what she said.

The government likes to make a big show of saying that it is speaking on behalf of the workers in the industry, the people who are going through the crisis. But the government's values are not the values embraced by the people we represent. The hon. member should go and tell the workers and the companies—

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:40 p.m.

An hon. member

—that they are useless.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:40 p.m.

Bloc

Yves Lessard Bloc Chambly—Borduas, QC

—that they are useless.

The minister said exactly what my colleague from Richmond—Arthabaska said: that the new federal budget does not reflect Quebec's priorities.

He said that the budget had to reflect Quebec's priorities. I was there when he said it. She said that the budget does not reflect Quebec's priorities. At a press conference, Ms. Jérôme-Forget said:

I am disappointed... With $20 billion worth of room to manoeuvre, the minister...had plenty of opportunity to announce new support measures for the forestry and manufacturing industries

That is what my colleague said. Was what she said useless? If it was, then he should say so again today, here in the House, and he should say so in his riding and the other ridings where he goes around posturing. The minister added that despite that, the federal minister had “made choices” that did not meet the needs expressed by the Government of Quebec. That is what she condemned.

It is not just the Bloc that is saying so. My colleague who spoke before me mentioned that all the industry stakeholders and major players in Quebec had spoken out against this budget and had said that it did not represent Quebeckers' economic or social values.

Let us now take a look at older workers. We met with about twenty of them when we travelled there. The hon. member can attest to that. They told us that they had been abandoned. They asked what would happen. We told them that the state, the federal government, had set up a training program to encourage people to rejoin the labour force. If we take a closer look—and this is where the government is investing even more—we realize that this is not a problem, because older workers are willing to back to work when there is work is available, and when they can do the job and have the proper training to do it. Then, there is no problem.

However, what do we tell those for whom there is no work available, and those whose basic training does not allow them to retrain for existing jobs in the riding, in the constituency? Are we going to have to endorse the Conservative government's position and tell these 55, 57 or 60 year old people to move to Alberta? They have families. Are we going to tell them to sell their houses or whatever, move to Alberta and work there for next to nothing? In Alberta, those who earn good salaries are workers who are qualified, who have proper training.

There are still 880,000 people in this country who rely on food banks. About 14% of them are workers, and the highest rate of workers relying on food banks is in Alberta. Why? Because these people were uprooted and made to work for a pittance. This is merely displacing poverty.

Such is the situation presented by this budget, and this is what the Liberal Party supports, along with the Conservatives. It is shameful. To vote with the Conservatives on their budget is to support war, oil and nuclear weapons. It is to support ideas that kill.