Madam Speaker, I am pleased that the member for Terrebonne—Blainville has given me this opportunity to explain our government's recovery plan.
I could not help but notice the difference between our party and theirs. She talks about more meetings, discussions and debates; we actually prefer action, and that is what we have done.
The Canadian economy is emerging from one of the worst economic crises that we have seen since the Great Depression. It is obvious that Canada's recovery is the strongest among all the G7 countries. In other words, the targeted measures in the first phase of our economic action plan are working, and we are on the right road.
That is not to say that the economic problems other countries are facing will not have repercussions on our own economy. The recovery is still fragile.
The best protection against poverty is a strong economy, not more meetings and more discussion, and the best guarantee of a strong economy is job creation. That is why jobs and the economy are going to continue to be our priority.
We want the best for our fellow Canadians. We are investing in programs to promote growth and create jobs, programs such as the one-time hiring credit for small business.
We are investing in programs for Canadian families. We provide over $14 billion per year in benefits for families with children.
We are investing in programs for caregivers. For example, we estimate that more than 500,000 caregivers will benefit from the family caregiver tax credit.
We are investing in programs for the working poor. We provide over $1 billion per year in the working income tax benefit, which helps to ensure that low-income Canadians are financially better off when they get a job.
We are investing in programs for our seniors, who have worked hard to build our country. For example, budget 2011 increased the guarantee income supplement for seniors who have little or no income, and that will benefit more than 680,000 seniors.
We are investing in programs for Canadian workers who have been laid off with measures such as the targeted initiative for older workers, which has helped close to 16,000 people.
We are investing in programs that promote education and skills training, because those are the key to economic independence and prosperity for everyone.
We are looking for ways to harmonize these investments with balanced budgets, yet without imposing a tax hike on hard-working Canadians.
The unfortunate thing is that the member opposite and her party have opposed virtually every one of these initiatives.