Debates of Oct. 17th, 2013

Canadian Economy

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it was actually quite astonishing to me, because I crossed this country this summer and heard from millions of people through our website and through online engagement, which continues, their frustration with finding jobs, with getting help, and with fixing the mismatch that exists between jobs without people qualified to do them and people who desperately want to do jobs they are unqualified for. I heard about the way the government has imposed upon the provinces a Canada jobs plan that is not going to work, that has been rejected by the provinces. It is based on its optimism in being able to do the one thing the government has not been able to do in its entire time in office, which is actually work collaboratively with provinces to get a deal signed.

It is absolutely ridiculous that once again, in the throne speech, the Conservatives said that they would make the Canada jobs plan work, when there is no chance of that working. There is no chance of the current government actually giving Canadians the help they need to get the jobs they need.

[Jamie Nicholls, NDP, Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the hon. member for Papineau.

I was around when the Liberals were in power in the 1980s, and I can attest that what his party did never improved the lot of 80% of the people of this country. It is clear that the hon. member for Papineau does not want to look at the past record. Let us talk about today, then.

He said that he spoke to Canadians. To which Canadians did he speak when he says he wants to open the doors to the Chinese government to buy our natural resources and allow the Chinese an agreement that would favour the Chinese government and people over Canadians?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am disturbed at the almost frightened and xenophobic tone that our question has provoked.

The NDP members should be well aware that the salaries paid to Canadians by the big exporting companies are on average 50% higher. Indeed, the Canadians who work in these companies receive higher salaries than those who work in companies that are not export-based.

We need foreign investment. The well-documented position of the New Democratic Party against international trade and commerce is very disturbing, because that is what will spur growth and boost our middle class. Their attack on international trade and commerce will make us poorer.

This is one of the many reasons why the Liberal Party knows that the NDP will never be ready to govern this great land.

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member and the leader of the Liberal Party for his speech and also for listening to Canadians, given that we have youth unemployment today that is two times the rate of regular unemployment and that we have 224,000 fewer jobs for young Canadians today than before the downturn.

After having listened to Canadians extensively from coast to coast to coast, which does the member believe would be the higher priority for young Canadians and their middle class families: jobs and opportunities for training for young Canadians, or lower cable rates?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, of course, everyone can use a break on their bills. That is certainly fine as far as it goes. However, the issue is that it does not go very far.

Our young people are spending longer and longer living in their parents' basements, even after they graduate from university, because they cannot find jobs. The government prefers to spend money on economic action plan ads advertising a jobs program that does not yet exist, and probably never will exist, rather than on financing summer jobs for students. The government's priorities are purely electoral in nature rather than actually strengthening our economy.

Young people deserve better as they look to this place for leadership. They are getting none from the Conservative government. They are very hopeful that there will be room for them in the shaping of this great country in the coming years, and I assure them that there will be.

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to participate in today's debate. Specifically, I would like to dedicate my allotted time to explaining in more detail exactly how Canadians and their families can benefit from Canada's economic action plan.

The opportunities presented by economic action plan 2013 are substantive and far-reaching, which is why I am proud to stand today to highlight how our government is continuously helping with something that is on the minds of most Canadians: jobs. Since the recession in 2009, Canada has created over one million net new jobs, nearly 90% of which are full-time and over 85% of which come from the private sector. Indeed, our unemployment rate is at its lowest level since December 2008.

However, the support to Canadians does not stop there, and these measures are designed to meet some of the real challenges facing us because of demographic change and an increasingly competitive world.

Canadian workers, for example, are among the highest educated and best trained in the world. However, Canada is facing a skilled labour shortage in key sectors of the economy. In particular, persistent pockets of unfilled positions exist for skilled tradespeople and professionals, such as electricians, carpenters, machinists, heavy equipment operators, engineers, and architects, among others.

The president of the Canadian Construction Association put the situation into perspective when he said:

Many construction firms are experiencing shortages of skilled workers today because past government efforts to align training with job market opportunities failed [....] Getting skills development right will be critical for the construction sector moving forward. With construction demand and industry retirements expected to rise throughout the decade, there is no time to waste.

Clearly, with thousands of jobs available across Canada that are going unfilled, Canada's growth prospects are being restricted. In fact, CIBC World Markets stated in a report in December 2012 that 30% of businesses in Canada—

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

The hon. member for Vaudreuil-Soulanges is rising on a point of order.

[Jamie Nicholls, NDP, Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I take umbrage with a comment made by the member for Papineau when he used the term “xenophobic” to characterize me and my comments. As someone who has lived and worked overseas, in many countries for many years, I am certainly not an individual who would encourage xenophobia. I take umbrage with the comment made by the member for Papineau. I find the term “xenophobic” a personal insult and slight on my character and I humbly ask you, Mr. Speaker, that the member for Papineau withdraw his comment from the record.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on the same point of order. I am sure the member is aware that when someone raises a point of order, he or she should be raising it relatively soon after it occurs. If members want to wait 10 or 15 minutes, half an hour or whatever—

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

Order, please. First, I would like to take this opportunity to remind all hon. members that when they are speaking in the chamber, they are to make comments directly to the Chair rather than their colleagues. In the past this has been overlooked and from time to time members slip into this habit, but there are some in this place who do it repeatedly and constantly. If that is the case in future, those members will be interrupted at that point and whatever they are saying will be terminated.

Second, with regard to the point of order that has been raised, the Chair will take it under consideration and will return to this matter, if necessary.

To address the specific point raised by the member for Winnipeg North, he is correct that there is an issue of timeliness, but it would be taking that argument to its extreme to suggest that less than five minutes is in fact too long to bring this matter back before the House.

With that, I will resume debate with the hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance.

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, North Vancouver, BC]

Mr. Speaker, in fact, CIBC World Markets stated in a report in December 2012 that 30% of businesses in Canada were facing a skilled labour shortage.

Furthermore, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce also pointed out that the skills shortage was the primary issue for its members.

Therefore, to help Canadians connect with available jobs, economic action plan 2013 sets out a three-point plan to address these challenges.

First, it introduces the new Canada job grant, which provides $15,000 or more per person, combining federal, provincial, territorial and employer funding. Once fully implemented, it is expected to provide nearly 130,000 Canadians each year with access to training at eligible institutions, including community colleges, career colleges and trade union training centres.

The CEO of the National Association of Career Colleges recognized the importance of these efforts when he said:

Thanks to the reforms proposed in this budget, including the new Canada Job Grant, an increased number of unemployed and underemployed Canadians will be able to obtain the training that they need to access jobs that are in demand now, and will be in the future

Second, our plan will create opportunities for apprentices. Supporting apprenticeships is a critical component in addressing Canada's work shortage because they allow students to learn skilled trades while gaining paid on-the-job work experience. Our government recognizes the value of apprentices, which is why we have invested nearly $2.7 billion per year since 2006 to support skills and training programs and have made support for apprentices and the employers that hire them a priority. It is evident in programs like the apprenticeship and incentive grant, the tradesperson's tools deduction and the apprenticeship job creation tax credit, to name a few.

In order to reduce the obstacles to the recognition of skilled trades and to improve the opportunities available to apprentices, our government will work with the provinces and territories in order to harmonize the requirements for apprentices and examine the use of practical tests as an evaluation method in targeted skilled trades.

This will ensure more apprentices complete their training and encourage mobility across the country. In addition, economic action plan 2013 announces that our government will support the use of apprentices in federal construction and maintenance contracts. We will also ensure that funds transferred to provinces and territories through the investment and affordable housing program support the use of apprentices. As part of the new building Canada plan for infrastructure, the government will encourage provinces, territories and municipalities to support the use of apprentices in infrastructure projects receiving federal funding.

Finally, economic action plan 2013 will also support labour market participation and a more inclusive skilled workforce with a range of measures that provide support to groups that are under-represented in the job market, such as persons with disabilities, youth, aboriginal people and newcomers, to help them find good new jobs.

I will give a few specific examples of some of the initiatives that will help make this three-point plan a reality.

To begin, our Conservative government recognizes the contributions persons with disabilities can and do make to the economy. That is why economic action plan 2013 will enhance skills training opportunities for Canadians with disabilities through a new generation of labour market agreements for persons with disabilities. These agreements will be introduced by 2014 and are designed to better meet the employment needs of Canadian businesses and improve the employment prospects for persons with disabilities.

Economic action plan 2013 also recognizes the importance of engaging with employers that are committed to promoting the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the workplace. That is why it provides an investment to support the creation of the Canadian employers disability forum as recommended by the Panel on Labour Market Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities.

The forum, an initiative led by a number of Canadian businesses, including Loblaw Companies Limited, will be managed by employers for employers to facilitate education, training and sharing of resources and best practices concerning the hiring and retention of persons with disabilities. Under the leadership of the forum, employers will help to promote and further the invaluable contributions that persons with disabilities can make to business.

In addition, in order to help more persons with disabilities acquire the experience they need to participate fully in the labour force, we are going to modernize and expand the opportunities fund for persons with disabilities in order to find demand-driven training solutions for these Canadians and to make it more responsive to labour market needs.

However, there is still more to come.

Economic action plan 2013 also extends the enabling accessibility fund on an ongoing basis at a level of $15 million per year to support capital costs of construction and renovations related to improving physical accessibility for persons with disabilities through projects with demonstrated community support, including workplace accommodation.

However, we are not the only ones who think these initiatives will help persons with disabilities find employment. In fact, the Council of Canadians with Disabilities, CCD, also agrees. According to the CCD, it was pleased to see that economic action plan 2013, “continued support for Canadians with disabilities through extension of the Labour Market Agreement for Persons with Disabilities, and the fact that the Enabling Accessibility Fund and the Opportunities Fund have been made permanent programs”. It goes on to say that it is “pleased to see the creation of a Canadian Employers’ Disability Forum that will seek greater engagement of the private sector in expanding employment opportunities for Canadians with disabilities”.

The praise does not end there. I think the Canadian Association for Community Living has it right when it openly supported our government's plans, saying:

Budget 2013 sets the right tone and target for people with disabilities...We know the tremendous potential that exists throughout this country to enable the 500,000 working-age Canadians with intellectual disabilities to join and help build Canada’s labour force.

Economic action plan 2013 also proposes strategic investments that target youth at different stages of their educational and early labour market careers. Providing young Canadians with the information and opportunities to make smart education and employment choices is essential in securing Canada's long-term economic prosperity. Indeed, economic action plan 2013 promotes education in high-demand fields by reallocating $19 million over two years to inform young people about fields of study that will help them get in-demand jobs, including science and engineering, mathematics and the skilled trades.

This also confirms our government’s commitment to Pathways to Education, a non-profit agency that provides a wide range of types of support to students from low-income communities, including tutoring and mentoring, in partnership with the private sector, other levels of government and community organizations.

Early support for high school students has been shown to drastically increase post-secondary education prospects for young people and ultimately employment. Since 2001, more than 1,000 students have graduated from the program, with 73% pursuing further studies. Because the transition to a first job can be challenging, economic action plan 2013 also provides support for an additional 5,000 paid internships for recent post-secondary graduates, ensuring they get valuable hands-on work experience to ease this transition.

Our investments in Canada's youth are also evident in the $330 million per year for the youth employment strategy to help young Canadians get the skills and work experience they need to transition to the workplace and the ongoing summer jobs program, which is an extremely popular program in my home riding of North Vancouver.

In addition to providing support for Canadians with disabilities and today's youth, our government is providing support to Canada's young aboriginal population as well. While young aboriginals are under-represented in both the labour market and in post-secondary institutions, there is tremendous potential for long-term success and economic prosperity.

That is why economic action plan 2013 invests $241 million over five years to improve the on-reserve income assistance program to help make it easier for first nations youth to find the skills and training needed to secure employment.

We are also going to work with the first nations to improve this program in order to ensure that young recipients who are in a position to work are encouraged to take the training required to find a job.

The new first nations job fund, totalling $109 million over five years, will fund the provision of personalized job training to these recipients. Economic action plan 2013 also confirms our government's commitment to consult with first nations across Canada on the development of a first nations education act.

At the same time, it proposes $10 million over two years to Indspire to provide post-secondary scholarships and bursaries for first nations and Inuit students. Led by Roberta Jamieson, Indspire has a proven record of success, providing scholarships to over 2,200 aboriginal students annually and raising significant support from a range of corporate donors to help support student success.

Indeed, Jamieson herself recognized the significance of this investment by saying:

With the federal government’s commitment of $10 million and its endorsement of Indspire's plan to match the funding with investment from the private sector, we'll be able to provide a total of $20 million in new funding for students.

Through this new investment, Indspire can provide scholarships to thousands of young people from first nations and Inuit communities, helping them to achieve their full potential and strengthening aboriginal communities throughout the country.

However, there is still more. Economic action plan 2013 also proposes $5 million over five years for Cape Breton University's Purdy Crawford Chair in Aboriginal Business Studies to encourage business studies by aboriginal students. This initiative will help build a brighter future for aboriginal youth and help to promote independence and economic self-reliance for aboriginal communities.

Every one of the initiatives that I have outlined so far will help connect Canadians with high quality jobs, improving not just their personal circumstances but also supporting their families, communities and the Canadian economy.

There is something else that our government has been doing since 2006 that helps to keep our economy strong as well, and that is keeping taxes low. The opposition might be interested to know that since 2006 we have cut taxes over 160 times, reducing the overall tax burden to its lowest level in 50 years. In fact, we have cut taxes in every way government collects them: personal taxes, consumption taxes, business taxes, excise taxes and much more. Overall our strong record of tax relief has meant savings for a typical family of four totalling over $3,200. This includes cutting the lowest personal income tax rate to 15%; introducing pension income splitting for seniors; reducing the GST from 7% to 5%; introducing and enhancing the working income tax benefit; introducing the tax-free savings account, the most important savings vehicle since RRSPs; reducing the small-business tax rate from 12% to 11%; and more.

It does not stop there. In economic action plan 2013, we extended and expanded the hiring credit for small business, helping an estimated 560,000 employers and saving them about $225 million in 2013 alone.

It is clear that our government has a plan to keep Canada's economy strong. Indeed, it is our economic leadership that helped Canada emerge from the worst economic recession since the Great Depression better than most other countries in the world. Not only does Canada have the best job creation record since the depth of the global recession, with over one million net new jobs created, but the IMF and the OECD project that Canada will have among the strongest economic growth in the G7 in the years ahead.

The primary responsibility of all nations is to balance efforts made in support of job creation and economic growth, while fulfilling their commitments to reduce the deficit and return to a balanced budget in the medium term.

Indeed, this is what Canada has done and what we will continue to do. In fact, the Vancouver Board of Trade recognized this balance by saying:

The government is demonstrating a commitment to returning to a balanced budget in the short term, but at the same time, supporting economic growth and job creation.... Given the state of the global economy—where we are seeing recessions, drops in national and sub-national credit ratings, and out-of-control deficits—we are truly fortunate in Canada to be contemplating balanced budgets, receiving AAA credit ratings, and growing our GDP.

It is unfortunate that the NDP and the Liberals do not share this view. While we are building a stronger Canadian economy and returning to balanced budgets, the Liberal leader openly admits he does not have a single idea on the economy and the NDP leader keeps pushing higher taxes and big spending schemes. We have a different route and we are going to take that route.

[Peggy Nash, NDP, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I noticed in the throne speech that there was no mention of pensions even though lack of retirement security is a reality for far too many Canadians, especially young Canadians.

The Minister of Finance promised that over the summer he would meet with provincial ministers to decide on a plan for increasing the Canada pension plan and the Quebec pension plan. Why did the Minister of Finance break that promise?

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, North Vancouver, BC]

Mr. Speaker, helping seniors is one of our top priorities. After all, it was seniors who helped build the country called Canada that we enjoy so much today. We are enhancing pensions. In fact, we have introduced the pooled pensions, which will be available for people in the private sector. This is an enormous achievement considering that nothing had been done in this regard by previous governments. We will continue to do what is necessary to make sure that our seniors have the support they need. For example, income splitting for seniors was also introduced by our government and is a tremendous savings for seniors when they are paying taxes. We will continue to introduce measures such as this to help our seniors.

[Ted Hsu, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague spoke about the youth employment strategy in his speech. I am glad that he spoke about this program, which was introduced under a Liberal government. As I said earlier, since the spring of 2006 the number of youth who have been helped by this program has decreased by 48%, so that is not consistent with the claims that my hon. colleague has made. I am wondering if he could comment on that.

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, North Vancouver, BC]

Mr. Speaker, helping youth find jobs is a top priority of the government. That is why we have dedicated $330 million to help train youth to find new jobs. We have also enhanced the apprenticeship training program, the internship program and the summer jobs program. We are creating new training opportunities so that young people can get that first job or if they already have a job, they can go to a higher paying job after they get retrained with new skills.

[Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet, NDP, Hochelaga, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I listened to the throne speech. I have spoken to the minister about the end of the long-term agreements between CMHC and groups like co-operatives many times. Many of these agreements are expiring soon. People could end up on the street if the agreements are not renewed. There is absolutely nothing about this in the throne speech. There is not much about housing in general. What will be done for these people? Why is there nothing in the throne speech about this?

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, North Vancouver, BC]

Mr. Speaker, CMHC has been and continues to be an extremely important vehicle for people buying homes. It provides them with mortgage security and mortgage guarantees and it will continue to serve these important purposes. At the same time, household debt is of concern to this government, which is why we have reduced the period that mortgages can go to 25 years. We have also enhanced the program and will continue to do so.

[Joan Crockatt, Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I am the member for Calgary Centre and my constituency had the unfortunate circumstance of having Canada's largest natural disaster this summer with the flood. I noticed a comment in the throne speech indicating that our government will continue to support the citizens of Lac-Mégantic and affected communities in Alberta as they move forward. I am wondering if I might receive some information on that, please.

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, North Vancouver, BC]

Mr. Speaker, disasters like what happened in Calgary with the flooding and the terrible disaster in Lac-Mégantic concern Canadians greatly. As the Governor General said yesterday in the throne speech, we will continue to support our fellow Canadians with additional federal funds as well as support from the communities.

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Mr. Speaker, with youth unemployment being almost two-and-a-half times higher than regular unemployment, the delta between youth unemployment and regular unemployment is the highest it has been in about 40 years. With there being almost 250,000 fewer jobs for young Canadians than before the downturn, why is the government more focused on giving cheaper cable TV rates to young Canadians than actually getting them off the couch and out of their parents' basements and into the workforce?

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, North Vancouver, BC]

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned earlier, youth unemployment is a big concern for our government. That is why we have taken significant measures to help youth find that first job. We have enhanced the apprenticeship system and the internship system. We have also enhanced and increased the summer jobs program.

One particular investment that we have made as well, which I would like to highlight, is the Aboriginal Mine Training Association. I went to one of its graduation ceremonies in Vancouver this summer. I can tell you it is a tremendous success, ensuring young aboriginals have the opportunity to increase their skills in the mining sector. They have been able to increase their average incomes from $13,000 to $50,000 a year, almost quadrupling their average annual income as a result of this program, which we put in place to help train young aboriginals to get better jobs.

[Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet, NDP, Hochelaga, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the answer I got to my previous question had nothing to do with the question I asked. I will try again.

I mentioned the long-term agreements between CMHC and groups—for example, co-operatives—that will be expiring soon. The government has not yet renewed these agreements. As I was saying, groups of people could end up on the street very soon.

I would like to know why the Conservatives have no plan to fix this problem.

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, North Vancouver, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I correct my colleague opposite. We have in fact renewed the affordable housing agreements and we will continue to support affordable housing.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Minister of State (Western Economic Diversification)]

Mr. Speaker, over the course of the summer I had the chance to consult with over 125 different stakeholder groups in western Canada. One of the things we heard about in these consultations was the need for government support around innovation and ensuring we have an innovative economy for long-term economic growth. Certainly this is something that WD Canada has had a strong track record in supporting, as has our government. I wonder if my colleague could talk a bit about why innovation is important to the Canadian economy and how our government will continue to support this very important agenda.

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, North Vancouver, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for that excellent question. Of course, innovation and research are extremely important to the Canadian economy today and also in the future. That is why we are supporting advanced research. We are providing increased funding for research through the federal research granting councils, colleges and polytechnics, and Genome Canada. We are supporting business innovation by helping businesses invest in innovation, making them more competitive and creating more high-paying jobs in Canada. We are enhancing Canada's venture capital system by fostering entrepreneurial talent and ideas, promoting an entrepreneurial culture in Canada and supporting youth entrepreneurship.