Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today on behalf of the constituents of Fleetwood—Port Kells to participate in the debate on the 2009 federal budget.
The comprehensive action plan contained in this budget would stimulate economic growth, restore confidence and assist Canadian workers and families during a period of global recession.
Our government is proposing temporary and effective economic stimuli to help Canadians deal with today's short-term challenges. These investments would ensure that Canada emerges from this global downturn even stronger.
Canada's economic action plan would provide nearly $30 billion in support to the Canadian economy this year. That would include almost $12 billion in new infrastructure stimuli. That is money above and beyond our government's current record $33 billion infrastructure program. It would mean more money for, among other things, roads, bridges, railroads, ports and border crossings.
There would be $20 billion in personal income tax relief; $7.8 billion to encourage housing construction, including money for social housing and aboriginal housing; $8.3 billion for the Canada skills and transition strategy, including improvements to EI and more funding for skills and training; and $7.5 billion to support businesses and communities across Canada.
When combined with our recent tax cuts, the economic action plan in this budget is estimated to boost the real gross domestic product by 2.5% and create or maintain 265,000 jobs by the end of 2010.
With this stimulus plan Canada will emerge from this worldwide recession with a more modern and greener infrastructure, a more skilled labour force, lower taxes and a more competitive economy.
These are extraordinary times, and extraordinary times demand extraordinary measures. Canadians find themselves in the midst of a global economic slowdown with daily economic news such as: banks struggle under the weight of bad debt; commodity prices collapse; and manufacturers and retailers shed jobs.
The United States economy, the world's largest economy, shrank by 3.8% in the fourth quarter of 2008 and it lost 2.6 million jobs last year. The European Union says it is facing a deep and protracted recession, that the economies of the 16 nations will shrink by 1.9% and 3.5 million jobs will disappear in 2009. The financial system collapsed in Iceland and its economy is predicted to shrink by 10% this year. In Asia, Japan announced that industrial output, consumer spending and employment are all sharply down, as its manufacturers lay off thousands of workers.
Overall, the economic situation in Canada remains better than most other major industrialized countries. Thanks to the early action of our government, Canada is better positioned to cope with the global economic crisis than other countries. Since forming the government in 2006, we have brought the national debt to its lowest level in 25 years, paying down $38 billion in debt. We reduced the overall tax burden to its lowest level in nearly 50 years. Also, we introduced an expenditure management system to review every penny spent on federal programs, initiatives and agencies to ensure value for taxpayers' money.
Still, while we are better prepared than other countries to weather the storm, further steps must be taken to protect the Canadian economy and Canadian workers and families across Canada.
Weaker U.S. and global demand, combined with the ongoing global financial market turbulence and lower commodity prices, will have a negative impact on the Canadian economy as we move forward.
Dealing with the economic downturn requires thoughtful consideration and consultation. We undertook the most comprehensive prebudget consultations ever. We engaged in an open and public discussion with individuals and groups across the country about what steps we should take so that the Canadian economy would benefit.
The Prime Minister, the finance minister and individual MPs listened to the people throughout Canada. We established a non-partisan economic advisory council of eminent Canadian business leaders for advice. We invited leading representatives of the other political parties to face-to-face meetings. The finance minister had round table discussions with business leaders, economists, academics, industry leaders, community and labour organizations, and government leaders from all provinces and territories. All of this was done as we prepared for the earliest federal budget in modern history.
From all of this consultation, emerged Canada's economic action plan. As the world struggles with the effects of the global recession, we are ensuring that the future belongs to Canada. Our plan will provide almost $30 billion in support of the Canadian economy this year.
This stimulus will also bring many benefits to British Columbia. Budget 2009 provides B.C. with its share of $4.5 billion over two years for infrastructure projects such as roads, water and sewer system upgrades. It also accelerates payments of up to $75 million over two years for additional infrastructure projects. The plan provides the people and businesses of B.C. with tax relief of $3 billion over the next five years and provides billions to keep EI rates low for 2009-10.
There is also action to stimulate housing construction by providing billions to build quality social housing, stimulate construction and enhance energy efficiency. The real renovation tax credit will provide up to $1,350 per homeowner, which will benefit B.C. homeowners by up to $419.2 million over two years.
There are also measures to improve access to financing for businesses to obtain the resources they need to invest, grow and create new jobs, and give consumers the adequate financing they need.
As well, budget 2009 includes action to support businesses and communities during this global recession, with $7.5 billion in extra support for sectors such as forestry and manufacturing, as well as the regions and communities that depend upon them.
B.C. will also benefit from specific initiatives including an additional $81 million over the next two years to accelerate the cleanup of federal contaminated sites, a share of $2 billion to support deferred maintenance and repair projects of post-secondary institutions, $80 million to modernize and expand border services facilities, including the Pacific Highway, and $40 million over two years to support tourism, including the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.
In addition to those measures, B.C. will continue to receive historically high and growing federal transfers in 2009-10 that will total $5.3 billion, an increase of $200 million from last year and a $503 million increase over the former Liberal government.
What is more, B.C. will see growing health and social transfers to help the province pay for vital health care, educational and social services for families that depend upon them.
Our government's economic action plan responds to these historic times by providing significant stimulus to the economy to help protect and create jobs, to support families by cutting taxes and to prepare our country for success in the years ahead with meaningful investments.
While Canada is coping with a global economic downturn, our plan will ensure we emerge even stronger as the economy recovers. The targeted and temporary measures will build on Canada's long term strengths while helping address short term challenges.
With our action plan, Canada and B.C. will emerge from this global recession with better infrastructure, a more skilled labour force, lower taxes and a more competitive economy. This is a plan Canadians wanted and this is a plan that will create and maintain jobs for today and tomorrow. It is a plan that is good for Canada, good for B.C. and good for my riding of Fleetwood--Port Kells.