Mr. Speaker, it is disappointing that the member opposite does not understand the problem at hand. It is also disappointing that she does not truly acknowledge that this is a global recession, one that started beyond our borders.
As RBC chief economist, Craig Wright, has noted, this was not a made in Canada recession.
Or, to quote her own leader speaking at the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce just last week, “I have never blamed the Prime Minister for causing this recession. I'm partisan, but I'm not stupid”.
What is more disappointing is that the member will not admit that Canada entered this downturn in a very strong position, something that will ensure we exit it in a stronger than most position.
If the member does not believe me, maybe she should listen to the overwhelming majority of experts, experts like BMO Capital Markets chief economist, Douglas Porter, who recently declared, “Canada did go into this downturn with almost pristine fundamentals and...I think that those pristine fundamentals do suggest that Canada will hold up a little bit better than other economies and probably will emerge a little bit stronger than other economies”.
However, we must also recognize that, despite our strengths, Canada has not been immune from the global downturn and will continue to be affected.
This will be an extremely difficult year for many Canadians. We regrettably have seen and will continue to see sizeable job losses.
While we sympathize with Canadians, we believe Canadians want more from their government than merely sympathy. They want action.
Clearly, a recovery in the global economy, especially the United States, is a necessary requirement for a sustained recovery, which is why we are working with our international partners to help facilitate that.
The finance minister was in London recently with his G20 counterparts for that very reason, and the Prime Minister will continue that work at the upcoming G20 leaders' meeting.
In the interim, we will do everything necessary to help the Canadian economy. After the most exhaustive prebudget consultation with Canadians ever, we introduced the earliest budget ever: Canada's economic action plan, a plan to support job creation now while laying down the groundwork for long term prosperity by: first, reducing personal income taxes permanently; second, supporting businesses through targeted tax measures and investments; and, third, investing in major job creating projects that will improve our roads, highways, bridges and public transit, as well as improving access to financing for Canadian individuals and businesses, investing in electronic health records that will reduce errors and save lives and providing new support and skills training for the unemployed, including five extra weeks of EI.
This is a real plan. Canadian businesses, premiers and public interest groups have all supported our plan, as well as Parliament endorsing it.
It was also endorsed by the IMF, which called it “large, timely, and well-targeted fiscal stimulus...appropriately sized--well above the Fund's benchmark of 2 percent of GDP”.