Mr. Speaker, I listened to the member's presentation on Canada's road to economic recovery. Could he comment on the comments of some Canadians and some Canadian organizations with regard to the budget?
I refer to Mr. Glen Hodgson, the chief economist at the Conference Board of Canada. He is quoted as saying, “As a package, it's a clever package and hopefully it will win the support of the House”.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business said, “CFIB was pleased to see the government acknowledge its sector by raising the small business corporate income tax threshold to $500,000 from $400,000”.
The Forest Products Association of Canada commented:
The government has clearly heard the message and embraced our vision of becoming the producers of the best quality, most innovative and greenest forest products in the world. And it understands that in order to get there Canada needs to attract investment and secure the jobs of nearly 300,000 skilled Canadians forest workers and the communities they work in.
Finally, the chief economist of the RBC Global Asset Management said:
I think there is a message for Canadians that we're cutting taxes, doing the right thing by improving access to credit for the financial system…I think overall again very important initiatives taken here to put a floor under this recession which is currently enveloped in Canada
Could the member comment on those remarks and some others that he has heard?