Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to present at the second reading of Canada's economic recovery act, an act that would implement key parts from budget 2009, Canada's economic action plan and other important initiatives.
Earlier this year, we were in the midst of an unprecedented economic uncertainty, both here and, more intensely, abroad. As the President of the United States soberly noted in January, “all of the indicators show that we are in the worst recession since the Great Depression,”.
A little over eight months later, nearly everyone would concede that because of our economic action plan and our work with our international partners, great progress has been made in combatting this unprecedented global recession here in Canada and around the world.
However, while the Canadian and global economies are entering a period of fragile and tentative economic recovery, there is more to be done. Now, more than ever, our government must stay focused. We must stay on course.
As the G20 leaders declared in their recent joint statement:
A sense of normalcy should not lead to complacency.
The process of recovery and repair remains incomplete. ... We cannot rest until the global economy is restored to full health, and hard-working families the world over can find decent jobs.
While the Liberal opposition is playing political games and is obsessed with forcing yet another election, our government recognizes that Canadians expect more of their elected representatives, especially now. That is why we are focusing on the economy. That is why we are bringing forward legislation like the economic recovery act, legislation that would help to promote the economic stability needed for a sustained recovery and legislation that Parliament should support.
We have been clear that our Conservative government is ready to do whatever is necessary during these tough times to protect Canadians. That is why we introduced the economic action plan, a plan that will provide the largest fiscal stimulus boost in the G7 as a percentage of our economy and among the largest in the G20.
Our plan is helping to ensure that Canada handles the fallout as well as any country. Our plan is building our economy, maintaining and creating jobs, lowering taxes and much more. Our plan is working, keeping Canada in among the strongest economic positions in the world. It is not only our government saying it. Non-partisan, independent and well-respected global institutions are also saying it.
These institutions include the IMF, which, in its recent fall World Economic Outlook, proclaimed, “Not only will Canada experience one of the smallest drops in all of the G7 in 2009, Canada will be the fastest growing economy among G7 countries in 2010”.
The OECD praised our plan declaring:
Canada's fiscal stimulus package should have a relatively large effect in stemming job losses. ...because the size of the fiscal package was reasonably large....
The economic recovery act is an extension of this plan, as it includes many of its key provisions as well as many other important measures. Among the key provisions legislated through the economic recovery act is the home renovation tax credit, which a recent Globe and Mail editorial called “one of the more successful of the government's stimulus measures, helping create demand for services and supplies”.
Through this temporary tax credit, we are providing an estimated 4.6 million Canadian families with up to $1,350 dollars in tax relief on eligible renovation projects undertaken before 2010. The home renovation tax credit's popularity is driven by its effectiveness as everyone from the home renovation and construction industry, to retailers, home hardware stores and lumber producers, to manufacturers, suppliers, carpenters and roofers are benefiting as a result, helping protect and create jobs and helping fuel the economic recovery.
Canadians from all regions are seeing first-hand that the home renovation tax credit is working. I would like to take a moment to share with the House a small sample of the feedback we are hearing and what this has meant for communities and businesses across our country. Hopefully Liberal members who voted against the home renovation tax credit will listen to these words and reconsider their opposition shown toward the economic recovery act.
In British Columbia, listen to a recent Richmond Review column:
Spend a few minutes marching up and down the aisles of Home Depot, and you'll notice it's not easy.
Customers have been clogging the store, pushing around orange shopping carts as they pick up everything from hot water boilers to light fixtures to new tools to air conditioners and sheets of plywood, and renting equipment for do-it-yourself home renovation projects.
It's a sign the economy is recovering.
Peter Simpson, chief executive officer of the Greater Vancouver Home Builders' Association, said there's no question that the federal government home improvement tax credit has been a huge success.
Simpson said that the home renovation industry has been booming of late....
The good news has spilled over from big box retailers like RONA and Revy to shopping malls, were consumers are purchasing accessories like towels, curtains and furniture as a facelift to their homes.
Listen to what we have heard from retailers, industry associations and economists, retailers who employ thousands across Canada.
Home Hardware has heralded the credit, noting:
What we are hearing from our dealers right across the country is that people are definitely taking advantage of this opportunity to invest in their homes.
Home Depot Canada remarked:
Since the HRTC was announced, we have seen an increase in interest from our customers, specifically in regards to smaller home improvement projects.
Indeed, as CIBC World Markets economist, Krishen Rangasamy, observed, the home renovation tax credit is having a measurable positive impact on retail sales, noting:
That [credit] definitely is having an effect. Since this home renovation tax relief became available, you've seen sales in that particular category increase....
What about industry associations? Listen to the Building, Industry and Land Development Association. They have also applauded the home renovation credit, pronouncing:
There's no question that the renovation tax credit has been the most effective stimulus spending initiative the federal government brought forward last January. The tax credit is spurring economic activity while helping to combat the underground economy....
I am hopeful that our Liberal colleagues listened to that small sampling of words of those Canadians in support of this important tax credit. Words they have likely heard time and time again from their own constituents in the past months. I hope my Liberal colleagues will listen to what it has done to fuel our economy and reconsider their decision to vote against it and against the economic recovery act.
If not the home renovation tax credit, what about other measures in this important bill they would be voting against? What about the first-time homebuyers tax credit? This credit would provide up to $750 in tax relief to help first-time homebuyers with the costs associated with the purchase of a first home, a move announced in our economic action plan that the Canadian Home Builders' Association welcomed as it would help employment and give Canadians greater confidence in their economic prospects, remarking, “the first-time buyers tax credit is a practical measure that will help first-time buyers with their closing costs”.
A move that is getting results as demonstrated in the continuing strength in existing home sales, sales that largely reflect the entrance of first-time homebuyers into the market, spurred on by the first-time homebuyers tax credit as well as another important aspect of our economic action plan. Specifically, an increase to $25,000 in the amount first-time homebuyers can withdraw from their RRSPs to purchase or build a home. This was the first increase in this limit since 1992. Taken together, as previously mentioned, these measures are getting results.
The following is a National Post article from April. It reads:
Rock-bottom interest rates combined with some relief from Ottawa to pull the housing market out of its tailspin, industry experts said Wednesday....
“Interest rates and government stimulus are what's helping right now” said Ron Lawby, president of Century 21 Canada LP.
Specifically, two measures introduced within the federal budget's stimulus plans are bringing buyers around; an increase in the allowable withdrawal from registered savings plans for first-time buyers to $25,000 from $20,000; and a tax credit of $5,000 home buyers may count against their incomes.
“It really is first-time buyers," Mr. Lawby said.
Or more recently—