Mr. Speaker, I am going to be splitting my time with the hon. member for Medicine Hat today.
I am so pleased to have the opportunity to rise on behalf of the citizens of Winnipeg South Centre and speak to my colleagues in the House of Commons about the economic action plan 2013.
As a chartered accountant, I am very proud to be part of a government that gives Canadians sound fiscal planning, job creation and economic growth.
As a mother, I am very grateful for the government's direction on long-term prosperity. We must always be mindful of how our spending affects future generations. We need to be responsible and ensure that our children start their lives without their futures mortgaged because of irresponsible tax and spend government. We have to ensure we do the best job possible for our children. It matters for their future.
Our government is acting to ensure that our children enjoy a prosperous future in Canada. On October 22, the hon. Minister of Finance tabled the economic action plan, part 2, Bill C-4. The bill provides support for job creators. It respects taxpayers' dollars and it closes tax loopholes to combat tax evasion and make it fair so when people are paying their fair share of taxes, they know someone else is also doing the same.
We made promises to Canadians to follow through and we are acting on those promises, the ability to ensure that we are delivering for Canadians, not dithering and talking about it.
Regarding the economic action plan of March 13, I would like to recap a few things regarding the economy, job creation and particularly tax cutting that we have already done for Canadians. Our budget laid the groundwork to reduce taxes for hard-working families, to reduce taxes for hard-working businesses that are creating jobs for hard-working families and to lay the groundwork for long-term prosperity.
We all know and have seen daily in the newspapers that by implementing Canada's economic action plan, Canada has experienced one of the best economic performances among the G7 countries, both during the global recession and throughout the recovery.
Canada has the lowest overall tax rate on new business investment in the G7 and our net debt to GDP ratio remains the lowest in the G7 by far, at 34.6%. I want to ensure that people realize what an accomplishment that debt to GDP ratio is, because our closest colleague is Germany at 57.2%. In fact, the average in the G7 is well over 90% net debt to GDP ratio, so Canadians can and should be extremely proud of the efforts that this government has made to put us on a firm fiscal framework.
At the same time, we do not presume that we are out of the woods yet. We know the economy remains fragile and we are taking actions to ensure we are well protected. That is why we have created jobs. We have created more than one million net new jobs since the depths of the global recession in July 2009 and the vast majority of those jobs are full-time and in the private sector.
The unemployment rate is at its lowest level since 2008 and it is significantly lower than the United States.
We have extended the enabling accessibility fund by providing $15 million a year in perpetuity. It is permanent funding to support community projects that improve accessibility, remove barriers and allow Canadians with disabilities to participate fully and contribute to their communities.
As well, economic action plan 2013 delivers a new building Canada plan that will provide over $53 billion in predictable infrastructure funding. That is the largest and longest federal investment in job creating infrastructure in all of Canadian history.
We have introduced the accelerated capital cost allowance for new manufacturing machinery and equipment by increasing support to manufacturers. Just the two years of extension puts $1.4 billion in the pockets of job creators, businesses that are making those important investments to get Canada working.
We have added $1 billion to the strategic aerospace and defence initiative. As a member of the aerospace caucus, I feel it is very important to underline that 40 businesses with over 5,500 employees working in Manitoba will benefit tremendously from those investments.
Cutting taxes is what we do. We have colleagues in the NDP and Liberal Party who want to increase taxes. Our Conservative government believes in low taxes and leaving more money where it belongs, in the pockets of hard-working Canadian families and job-creating businesses.
As a proud Manitoban, I have never encountered an individual who wanted to pay more taxes. Recently, we have seen the anger of people who would much rather have a dollar in their pocket to spend on their children than adding 1% to the PST in the province. We are not just talking about cutting taxes, we are actually doing it.
Since 2006, we have cut taxes 160 times, reducing the overall tax burden to its lowest in 50 years. That tax reduction work has put $3,200 on average more in the household account, in the personal income, of an average family of four. As a mother of an average family of four, I am very grateful. Parents know how to spend the money. Moms know how to spend the money.
We are a government that is reducing the tax cost to all families and ensuring that families have more money. We have done that by increasing the amount that Canadians can earn without paying any tax. We have reduced the lowest personal income tax rate to 15%. We have introduced pension income splitting for seniors. We have introduced tax-free savings accounts, which is the biggest tax free personal saving vehicle for Canadians since the introduction of the RRSP. We have cut the GST.
Just on that point, I saw an interesting quote that our colleague, the hon. member for Markham—Unionville, made on raising the GST. He said, “It's an option. All I can say is that it is consistent with our approach”. This is a tax option and an approach that is consistent with the Liberal approach. The Conservative government lowers taxes.
We are so proud that the Prime Minister signed the CETA agreement. That will make an enormous difference. It is another accomplishment that adds more than $1,000 on average to the average taxpayer's income.
Not only will the agreement contribute to our significant economic well-being, we are a government that is committed to ensuring we are focused on job creation, economic growth and long-term prosperity, long-term prosperity not just for our generation but for all the generations to come. Our government is absolutely focused on this expenditure. We are doing that with Bill C-4.
We are making the right choices. We are making the hard choices. However, we are being responsible and ensuring that we will have a firm framework for all Canadians in the future.