Debates of March 27th, 2013

Financial Statement of Minister of Finance

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Mr. Speaker, let us review what we are doing in the new building Canada plan.

We have $32.2 billion over 10 years for the community improvement fund. It consists of an indexed gas tax fund and incremental GST rebates for municipalities to build roads, public transit, recreational facilities and other community infrastructure. We have $14 billion in the new building Canada fund. We have $1.25 billion in the renewal of the P3 Canada project fund. There is $6 billion under current infrastructure programs for provinces, territories and municipalities in 2014-15. That is a substantial amount of money going toward building infrastructure. It is amazing, because this was not done in a lot of previous governments.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I always enjoy hearing the revisionist history provided by the NDP and the Liberal Party, which voted against the largest investment in infrastructure in the history of this country with the stimulus program we brought in a number of years ago.

In Huron—Bruce we have had great success with infrastructure investments. The municipalities in my riding are now planning for the future. They are talking to architects and members of the community to come up with new ideas on what their priorities are, so I think this is well timed.

I would ask the member for Prince Albert how the Canada job grant program is going to work for him, his community and his riding. I think that is a program that will help keep their economy in high gear.

[Randy Hoback, Conservative, Prince Albert, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his excellent question, because it is very true.

All members of the Conservative government did pre-budget consultations. When I did, I talked with the business community. One thing they wanted and required was more skilled workers. They asked for assistance in getting an unskilled worker to become a skilled worker. This program is one way to do that. It would provide financial assistance for both the employee and the employer to get the worker to that next level to get a higher-paid skilled job that will take him or her through to retirement.

[James Lunney, Conservative, Nanaimo—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is a real pleasure to enter the debate on budget 2013, our economic action plan.

Before I begin, I would like to congratulate the member for Prince Albert for his excellent speech. Also, since a few moments ago members paid tribute to the outgoing leader of the Liberal Party, I would like to acknowledge the member for Toronto Centre for his tremendous contributions in the House and for his affable ways. He is a great retail politician. I think we all give him credit for that.

Speaking to this issue, I want to back up and provide some background. Budget 2013, of course, builds on the measures in the previous two budgets. We have to reflect on what happened in 2008, when we were hammered by an economic tsunami: a global economic crisis, une crise mondiale, as some would call it, beginning with the subprime mortgage meltdown and the economic collapse in the United States. The government was compelled to come up with a strategy to respond quickly to provide unprecedented economic stimulus and support for displaced workers and unemployed and underemployed Canadians and to stabilize our economic institutions. The plan worked. This economic action plan is following up on those measures. They were the right measures for the right time in a troubled period.

Since the peak of the recession, in July 2009, these measures have created more than 950,000 net new jobs, and 90% of those are private sector jobs. Canada was late, shall I say, later than our economic partners, going into the recession, and we were the first, as predicted, to come out of the recession.

Let me remind members that before the economic tsunami hit us in 2008, our Conservative government had paid down some $39 billion on our national debt. That was important. It was a wise and responsible decision. It prepositioned us to absorb the body slam, if I can mix my metaphors, of an economic tsunami, but it prepositioned us to take that better than many nations did. The outcome of our economic action plan has put Canada in the enviable position of doing much better than most developed western economies.

The evidence is that Canada's economy has expanded for six consecutive quarters. Canada's unemployment rate is well below that of the United States, the strongest showing in more than three decades. The World Economic Forum has ranked Canada's banking and monetary system the most stable in the world for the fifth consecutive year. Canada's debt-to-GDP ratio is the lowest in the G7 nations by far, at about, if I have the correct figures, 35.8%. The next closest would be Germany, at 58.4%.The average in the G7 is 80.4%. Our net debt-to-GDP ratio is the lowest of the G7, by far, and is the envy of most other nations. Finally, all the major rating agencies—Fitch, Moody's, Standard and Poor's—confirm our solid AAA financial rating.

In budget 2013, our commitment is to continue to pursue jobs, employment and economic prosperity. On the job front, the Canada job grant is up to $15,000 per person. It is $5,000 federally, matched with provincial and territorial partners and with the employer. That is to match the unemployed and the underemployed with high-demand jobs in our country. It is striking that in the past year, some 250,000 job opportunities were not filled because of a lack of skilled labour in the right place at the right time. That is a real drag on our economy. It is a missed opportunity for unemployed and underemployed people, because they lack the skills training. This budget has very targeted initiatives to create opportunities for Canadians to get the skills they need to engage in high-demand jobs. This program is expected to benefit some 130,000 Canadians.

The budget is focused squarely on creating jobs, growth and economic prosperity. In broad terms, the EAP 2013 would have numerous programs to create jobs. It would renew the building Canada fund and would lay out the largest infrastructure funding program in Canadian history, at about $53 billion over 10 years. It would provide measures to promote our competitiveness, science and technology research, genome research, and innovation, through the Canada Foundation for Innovation, with some $225 million. That would benefit our university communities and our research communities.

For forestry there would be some $92 million for innovation in forestry. That would be very important for the coastal forest industry in British Columbia.

This budget would keep us on course for a balanced budget by 2015-2016, with diminishing deficits year by year.

There would be opportunities for apprentices. The budget would create the opportunity for apprentices to get involved in government-funded projects. For example, we would put some $258 million per year into affordable housing, and there would be incentives to encourage the hiring of apprentices so that they could advance their skill level through the journeyman level and participate in meeting the need for those skilled trades. There would be measures to match graduates with job experience, with some $70 million for internship programs.

There would also be training programs for aboriginal students on reserve and for post-secondary education. AFN National Chief Shawn Atleo has laid out an ambitious goal for education for first nations students. One of his targets is education and economic opportunities. We want to support him in helping first nations young people gain the skills to participate in the economy of tomorrow. It is the key to a better future. Some $240 million would be set aside to help first nations youth in B.C. and across Canada access the skills and training they need to participate in large economic projects, such as those in the resource sector, that in many cases are happening right in their own neighbourhoods.

The commitment to long-term, stable infrastructure is extremely important to our communities. Just in the last couple of months, we have had many announcements in my own communities. Small communities have benefited from a program called the community infrastructure improvement fund. Under that program, there were projects like one in Oceanside Place in the Regional District of Nanaimo. Replacing all the lighting in that skating arena with high-intensity lights to lower electrical use and emissions and provide better lighting at the same time.

Through the same program we had announcements in Parksville about replacing the community sports field and upgrades to improve accessibility. The Lions Club put in an outdoor adult gymnasium. Our Parksville Lions Club members are tremendous community citizens. They have run a Lions venture park there for years for children, and now they are expanding outdoor exercise opportunities for adults. I am very pleased that the infrastructure program is there to help them with that project.

Out in Ucluelet, we had announcements for the Ucluelet Chamber of Commerce through the community infrastructure fund.

The gas tax fund is important to our communities. We have had major water upgrades across Vancouver Island. I note many announcements in the Nanaimo and Parksville areas and at Qualicum Beach, with major water storage enhancement, over the last number of years.

This budget would implement pooled registered pension plans. Our colleague, the minister of state, was out in my riding and did a great job introducing that. B.C. brought in legislation to advance pooled registered pension plans.

I note that one of the members opposite talked about the previous Liberal government starting a $1 billion gas tax fund. We appreciate giving the Liberals credit for that. We raised that to $2 billion, and now we would index it to help communities come up with the infrastructure they need.

I would be remiss if I did not draw attention to the Pacific Salmon Foundation getting the $6 Pacific salmon stamp. That is all going back into community projects for the salmon enhancement project, “bringing them back, stream by stream”, working with local volunteers. The PSF has tremendous local support. I go to fundraisers for it every year. This would give it nearly $1 million more in funding for those great projects in my community.

[Hélène LeBlanc, NDP, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, listening to this speech is a little like reading a Sears catalogue; this item costs this much and that item costs that much. However, I do not see a coherent plan for infrastructure. It seems to me that a lot of opportunities are being missed here. There are no priorities. The government is doing a little of this and a little of that.

There are no priorities in this so-called plan. Moreover, this plan should include a discussion with the provinces to see how we can better invest our money in infrastructure of the future all across Canada.

Does my colleague think there is a plan behind all these infrastructure projects? Were priorities and objectives set?

[James Lunney, Conservative, Nanaimo—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Speaker, this is not the first infrastructure program we have rolled out for the provinces. In fact, in 2007 we had the largest infrastructure program in Canadian history, $33 billion over seven years, which is now being replaced by a $53-billion program over 10 years.

We are used to working with our partners, the provinces, the territories and the municipalities, in determining their priorities. From Ottawa, we cannot tell people where the best investments are.

The gas tax fund in British Columbia, by the way, is managed by the UBCM, the Union of British Columbia Municipalities. It collectively manages that fund. It gets together and talk about how that money will be invested in communities across the area, the municipalities appeal for those funds and they come up with great solutions that help in our area.

I will read a quote for the member's benefit. I think she would be very pleased to hear this:

The Canadian Urban Transit Association...today applauded the federal government's Building Canada Plan as a major step for planning and developing public transit in Canadian communities....We're really pleased to see this kind of commitment for public transit infrastructure...Never before has a federal government invested so much in public transit...This budget provides a solid—

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Order, please. Other members still need to pose questions.

Questions and comments, the hon. member for Westmount—Ville-Marie.

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Westmount—Ville-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, listening to my hon. colleague, everything is sweetness and light and everything is exactly what all Canadians want.

However, there is always a price to pay for these things. Since the government came into power in 2006, by this summer it will have added close $160 billion to the debt. The debt is something that, unfortunately, we cannot hide. It is not going to go away. It is going to have to be paid back at some point.

What does my hon. colleague think a government should do with respect to addressing the debt that will be passed on to our children and our grandchildren and that now exceeds $600 billion?

[James Lunney, Conservative, Nanaimo—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Speaker, as I started my remarks, I talked about how we paid down $39 billion on the debt. Many of the members of the opposition have said that we squandered a surplus. We cannot pay down debt until we balance the budget.

What we are doing through the great work of the Minister of Finance and Minister of State for Finance and consulting with Canadians across the country is moving toward balanced budgets by maintaining the transfers to the people who depend upon them, the provinces for the social programs they require, for health care, and they are being increased as promised. We are also maintaining transfers to individuals and we are moving toward a balanced budget on target for 2015 through these very prudent measures that are included in budget 2013.

[Ryan Leef, Conservative, Yukon, YT]

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with our hard-working member from Calgary Centre.

I will start my remarks today with a great quote from our Prime Minister when he was up in the Yukon territory this summer. He said, “that great national dream—the development of northern resources—no longer sleeps. It is not down the road. It is happening now”.

Economic action plan 2013 and this year's budget is a direct reflection of those comments and sentiments and is our government's focus on the north as a priority.

I would like to highlight the fact that this year's budget, economic action plan 2013, has a direct line item to support Yukon College's Centre for Northern Innovation in Mining. Our government and our Prime Minister recognize that mining and responsible resource development in the north will provide that vital opportunity for people of the north. It will create Yukon jobs for Yukon people. This technical and trades facility investment will allow Yukoners to stay at home while they study. It will allow them that critical opportunity to access the kinds of jobs that will be available for them in the job market. It will give them the opportunity to come out of school and go right into the workforce. What we heard time and time again, as we did consultations across the territory, was that the jobs were there and Yukon people wanted access to those jobs. However, they needed the training where training was not available.

My hat is off to the great folks at the Yukon College and the Yukon government, who have worked in close partnership with us to ensure this becomes a reality and to our government for recognizing those priorities of the territory by making this a specific budgetary priority.

The other thing we heard clearly from our students who were looking forward to opportunities in the workforce was that they wanted to be able to take advantage of not just jobs in the unskilled portion of the labour market, but they wanted opportunities at the semi-skilled, skilled and highly-skilled levels of the economy, which is booming in Yukon right now.

This is a direct opportunity to provide that for Yukon people. It is not just Yukon people for Yukon jobs. It will be highly-skilled and semi-skilled jobs for Yukon people, keeping people right in our territory to study for their career path and opportunity. This is wonderful news in the budget. I am looking forward to the future and seeing the development of Yukon College's Centre for Northern Innovation in Mining. The people in our communities will be able to take full advantage of this and they certainly look forward to it.

I would be remiss if I did not talk about another thing our government responded quite well to, and that was what Yukon people wanted out of the exploration, mining and resource development boom of our territory. They wanted to ensure they would see some rewards out of the exploration and resource development that was going on. This past summer, our Prime Minister signed a historic resource revenue sharing agreement with the Yukon territory that would allow the people of Yukon to see greater benefits from resource extraction in the territory. Again, that is another signal that our government understands the needs of the north. It understands the benefits to the people and the reasonable requests that the great folks of the Yukon territory have when it comes to labour market opportunities.

We are certainly seeing that through the lower than national average unemployment rate and the vitality and growth of our communities. Right now, it is a wonderful part of our country to be in. Certainly all signs are indicating, as the Prime Minister put it, that the north's time has come.

The other thing I want to highlight is we have maintained our commitment from the 2011 campaign. I remember clearly telling the great people of Yukon that we were going to focus on returning Canada to balanced budgets. We were going to do so in two key ways. First, we would not raise taxes for Canadian families. Second, we would not cut the transfer payments to the territories and balance our budgets on the backs of the provinces and territories through transfer payments.

Once again, we have not only maintained that commitment, we have actually increased the transfer payments to the provinces and territories. Our territory has certainly benefited from that. This year's payment is $861 million, up from $809 million last year. Our social transfer payments have increased. Our health care transfer payments have increased.

Why is that important? It is important because it allows the territory and our municipalities the ability to control their own path forward and to control their own destiny. They can make longer term plans for what they want to achieve as a territory, in partnership with their municipalities and the great communities that exist in Yukon. It also allows them to meet their education and health care targets and their social and environmental responsibilities.

I know the people of Yukon and the Yukon government certainly appreciate our commitment to ensure that the transfer payments to the territories are not cut, as we have seen under previous Liberal governments.

I can highlight those quickly. If we look at past transfer payments, I did highlight that the grand total this year was $861 million, of which $817 million was through the territorial formula financing program. When we reflect on that, it is an increase of $316 million from what we received under previous Liberal governments.

The health care transfer gives $32 million to the territory. That is an increase of almost $10 million, or 43% more than what we received under Liberal governments. Our Canadian social transfer is an increase of $10 million, or 32%.

In all areas, our government has maintained its commitment not to balance the deficit and not to bring us back to balanced budgets by slashing transfers to the territory. That is certainly a significant step forward.

We are maintaining our commitments. We are not raising taxes on Canadian families and we are achieving a return to balanced budgets by 2015. We are working hard at that and we are well on our way. That is great news to celebrate.

When we did consultations across the territory this summer, I was happily joined by several ministers. I did a number of consultations on my own as well. We certainly heard from community to community how popular the building Canada fund was and how important it was to ensure the territory was surviving through the global economic crisis that we saw in the 2008 recession. We heard consistently from our folks in Yukon that they wanted the return of the building Canada fund.

We now have the building Canada fund back at record levels. It is the largest and longest infrastructure fund that the country has ever seen. I know our municipalities are going to be very happy about that. It is something for which they lobbied hard. It is something they encouraged us to keep. They encouraged us to keep the name. They liked it so much and it reflected what they were trying to achieve.

The municipalities are all celebrating the indexing and the permanency of the gas tax fund right now because these things will allow our municipalities to make core plans and project their destiny well into the future, beyond the nose of a mandate for tomorrow and beyond a one-year budget cycle. This is allowing our municipalities, our towns and our communities to project well into the future.

There are a whole host of other things contained in the budget from which Yukon and our nation will benefit. I obviously do not have time to get into all of those things, but I did want to highlight that. I wanted to highlight some of the key things of which we were asked.

The new roadmap reflects a commitment that will increase the vitality of Canada's official language minority communities. It helps strengthen linguistic duality. Canada's two official languages are an integral part of our history, our culture and our national identity. I am proud of our Franco-Yukon community.

I am proud of the contribution that our Francophone community makes to the vibrant culture of the Yukon Territory. It is important to me that we continue that road map, which is something that was defined as extremely important to the Francophonie of the Yukon. I am glad that is contained within this budget as well.

I look forward to celebrating all the good news in budget 2013, the economic action plan, throughout this year, as we move forward and secure Canada's and the Yukon's long-term future for jobs, growth and long-term prosperity.

[Jonathan Tremblay, NDP, Montmorency—Charlevoix—Haute-Côte-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I do not know what reason we have to be proud of this government, which has been running a deficit since 2008, despite many promises to balance the budget. The Conservatives keep putting it off, and now it has been put off until it is time for the next election in 2015, which is a bit suspicious.

In his latest budget, the Minister of Finance has once again shown us that he is abandoning the regions and economic development. My Conservative Party colleague may not agree, but the Conservatives decided to cut the budget for the Economic Development Agency for the Regions some time ago.

They are currently cutting labour-sponsored funds. In Quebec, venture capital is derived mainly from these funds, which are essential to economic development.

Will the hon. member admit that the minister made a big mistake and ask him to reverse his decision to eliminate these funds?

[Ryan Leef, Conservative, Yukon, YT]

Mr. Speaker, I do agree with my hon. colleague that I do not agree with him.

The member asked what we have to be proud of, and so I will read a couple of things that we have to be proud of.

Here is a quote from the National Association of Career Colleges:

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 training that they need to access jobs that are in demand now, and will be in the future. [...] The 2013 budget introduced by this government will benefit Canadian job-seekers as well as employers seeking qualified and skilled employees.

I am proud of that. I am proud of the third-party endorsement for this bill, which has been like no other.

I did not get to touch on housing, which is obviously important to the north, and we have a record investment in that.

Here is what Habitat for Humanity has to say:

The Harper government's renewed investment in affordable housing comes as great news for low-income families looking to buy a safe, decent and affordable Habitat home and for young Canadians who receive apprenticeship training on Habitat build sites, developing trade skills that lead to good jobs.

The list goes on and on. I have never seen third-party endorsement so significant for a budget, as we have for economic action plan 2013. I am certainly very proud of that.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I want to provide comment in regard to health care.

When we think of health care in Canada, former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney almost destroyed the national health care plan because he was prepared to allow tax point transfers as opposed to providing up-front cash. It was Prime Minister Chrétien who instituted guaranteed cash allotments, and yes, there was a bit of reduction. However, Paul Martin established a health care accord that guaranteed annual funding increases to health care.

Today, because of Liberal administrations, we have the highest number of cash dollars going to individual provinces. On the other hand, the current Conservative government, in dealing with health care services, refuses to meet with the premiers across this country to come up with a new health care accord.

The member asks for relevance. It was this member who talked about health care and now he has to answer a question regarding it. The question is: When is the Conservative government going to have a new health care accord to assure Canadians that the government is prepared to continue to have annual increases in the financing of our national health care program?

[Ryan Leef, Conservative, Yukon, YT]

Mr. Speaker, I always appreciate my hon. colleague's interventions.

I do remember the Liberal government's leadership. I remember that it cut transfers to the territories. We were laying off doctors and nurses. I remember that quite well. Our government is not putting the territory in that position.

My hon. colleague asked when our leadership is going to meet with the premiers.

I can say first-hand that the Prime Minister of our country meets directly with the premier of my territory. I have been present when he has done that. The ministers are in and out of my territory all the time meeting with the territorial representatives and ministers there. They are meeting with the premier. The premier has been here with his ministers as recently as this year. The relationship between the territorial government and our government is tremendous. They are talking about the health care transfers.

Again, I mentioned that the health transfer has an increase of $10 million, which is 43% more than that of the Liberal government in less than six years—

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

We have reached the end of the time provided for questions and comments in this particular round.

Resuming debate, the hon. member for Calgary Centre.

[Joan Crockatt, Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I am rising today in the House of Commons as the member of Parliament for Calgary Centre to talk about something that matters to every Canadian and every Calgarian, and that is opportunity. Our budget, economic action plan 2013, paves the way for every Canadian woman, man and child to have a bright future filled with opportunity. That is something we prize as Conservatives and something we prize in Calgary. We get it. This budget gets it. Canadians get it.

This is a budget that has an $18.7-billion deficit on the road to being balanced in 2015. Some in my riding would like us to go even further, faster, and that is because Albertans have seen very positive benefits from balanced budgets. A balanced budget is what boosted Alberta from the economic doldrums of the 1990s to become the economic engine of Canada. It is what took Saskatchewan from being a have-not province to prosperity, with the highest growth rate in the country. Today, it is enticing kids to come home, to live, work and raise their families again in Saskatchewan. That is why our government will balance our budget in 2015.

Ralph Klein, who is much thought of these days, started Canadians down this path by rejecting tired recipes for economic disaster. As John Maynard Keynes pontificated, when times are bad one borrows, and when times are good one pays back. However, that never works. Our Conservative government's action plan keeps Canadians firmly on the path to jobs, growth and long-term prosperity. It is a common sense budget with time-tested techniques that work, regardless of what people hear from the opposition.

While the NDP is for carbon taxes, we are for cutting taxes. While the opposition claims to stand up for workers, we are the party that has created nearly a million jobs. While the NDP would introduce a $21 billion carbon tax, we have cut taxes 150 times since 2006. In fact, we have left the average Canadian family with $3,300 more in their pockets than when we took office. Where the Leader of the Opposition goes to Washington to, guess what, sabotage trade and attack our industry, we are taking the most ambitious approach to trade that this country has ever had, seeking 66 free trade deals around the world. It is clear that the results are in.

I am happy to say that under the leadership of our Prime Minister, Canada has the best economy, the best growth record and the best job record in the G7. While people in Europe, Greece and Cyprus are racked with uncertainty because of the very fragile financial situation they are in, Canadians see a future that is laden with opportunity that is waiting to be seized. However, we realize that more needs to happen. There are still Canadian citizens in my riding who are without work. We get that. This budget gets that. Canadians get that.

Let us hear what is being said about the Canadian jobs plan. Engineers Canada stated, “The steps the federal government is proposing will ensure that Canada has the talent it needs to drive our economy”. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce stated, “The measures...are a significant step forward in the federal government’s attack on Canada’s skills challenge”.

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation applauds the government's plan to overhaul job training and to keep a lid on spending. It stated, “It's good to see Ottawa getting training money directly in the hands of young workers so they can land a good-paying job”. Finally, Christopher Smillie of the Canadian Building Trades of the AFL-CIO, who represents 200,000 workers, stated, “This budget is kind of Nirvana for a group like ours that represents these skilled workers.... It's...[a] common-sense approach”.

Where should we look when we want trustworthy information on the budget? Do we look to the reckless attacks of the opposition or instead to the honest, non-partisan comments of people like Smillie, who stand for hard-working Canadians and are excited about the new opportunities that this budget promises? There is a simple reason the skills training has been so well received and that is because it started with Canadians. We listened to what they said.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce saw a massive skills shortage looming due to a demographic shift caused by retirements. In my own riding, during pre-budget consultations the Calgary chamber, seniors groups, corporations and even the volunteer sector made it clear that the number one issue they saw facing Canada was the skills shortage.

We heard these warnings, and we have acted. The Canada jobs plan will offer opportunities for more carpenters, electricians, plumbers, pipefitters, welders and others. It was same story that we heard from coast to coast to coast. Calgarians' concerns are the same as Canadians' concerns.

We get that. The budget gets it. Canadians get it. That is why our Minister of Finance has been acting so decisively. We are introducing the Canada jobs grant that provides $15,000 per person in combined federal, provincial and employer money to help as many as 130,000 Canadians get job skills that are actually in demand. What a shock. It is employers not the government who decide the skills that are needed. We are lowering barriers to get apprentices accredited, boosting apprentices on federal projects, and giving unemployed aboriginal youth a leg up to get the training they need for a brighter and better future.

For under-represented groups in the workforce, we are introducing a $40 million-a-year opportunities fund for persons with disabilities.

As Conservatives, we believe in creating opportunity for Canadians. Our goal is a sustainable economy, not band-aids that mask what needs to be done to keep our country moving forward. We get it. This budget gets it. Canadians get it.

Finally, in the area of the environment, our government knows that to preserve the richness of opportunity we have now for future generations, careful stewardship of the natural environment is vital. Conservatives, like most Canadians, are environmentalists but we are not radicals. We recognize that the environment and the economy work together to produce our high standard of living and it is only with a strong economy that we can stand strong in protecting the treasure that is Canada's natural world. The environment and the economy are not at war. When one thrives, so does the other. This has been clearly in evidence for the past seven years of Conservative leadership.

Under the Conservatives, our economy has proven itself more steady and resilient than any of the G7 nations. As it has flourished, we have protected more natural parkland than any government in Canadian history. These are areas like Sable Island, the Nahanni and the boreal forest.

We are the first government in Canadian history to actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and we are halfway to our goal of reducing emissions 17% by 2020. Under the previous Liberal government, gas emissions actually increased by a staggering 30%.

The economic action plan maintains our momentum. It includes commitments to supporting environmental management and green tech. Environmental funding in this budget includes: $248 million to strengthen the Meteorological Service of Canada; $20 million to conserve ecologically sensitive land; $4 million for more responsible marine management; support for community partnerships to conserve fisheries habitat; renewed funding for Sustainable Development Technology Canada; restoring bridges in national parks; protecting against invasive species; and tax support for clean energy generation through the accelerated capital cost allowance.

Were these just empty gestures? Not according to Sustainable Development Technology Canada. Its president, Vicky Sharpe said:

The investment announced....will continue Canada's leadership in commercializing innovative clean technologies, supporting a thriving part of Canada's economy....

She said that the moves will help them continue innovating, bringing in as much as $62 billion and 126,000 jobs by 2020. Wow. That says it all. That is environment and economy working together.

To conclude, it is time that the opposition myths that pit the environment against the economy are put to bed. Let us start seeing the environment and the economy as partners in making Canada a land of opportunity for future generations. Our government's recipe for success is low taxes, job creation and protection of the environment. We get it. The budget gets it. Best of all, Canadians get it.

[Linda Duncan, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her first speech on the federal budget.

When I hear about the commitment of the government to the environment and to a clean energy future, I practically choke. It has come to my attention just this week that even the Alberta minister of the environment had to go to the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment and beg the federal government not to downgrade the standards for coal-fired power plants.

As the member is from Calgary, she well knows that the oil and gas sector has spoken out very loudly in favour of the federal government coming on board with a Canadian energy strategy. The premier of our province has called for the support of the federal government to the Canadian energy strategy. We see nothing in this budget even recognizing the fact that Canadians want that and nothing for the program that all Canadians have asked to come back, as the member claimed that she was consulting her constituents, on the eco-energy home retrofit program.

I am wondering if the member could again stand up and defend the great commitment of the government to the desire of Canadians for a clean energy future.

[Joan Crockatt, Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, because the member is from Alberta, I am sure that she is all too familiar with the position of her own party that the energy industry in Alberta is a disease, when the whole sector has a very proud record of environmental achievement. We are exporting environmental technologies from Canada. We have some of the best environmental technologies on the entire planet. We are proud of that.

It is absolutely deplorable that we hear day after day in the House from this party that our energy industry is not measuring up to high environmental standards. That includes our pipelines and our west coast tanker traffic. It is time we started getting some good information out to the public.

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

Mr. Speaker, in response to the remarks by my colleague, it is dishonest for the government to claim credit for the decrease in Canada's greenhouse gas emissions. The biggest credit for change in greenhouse gas emissions must go to the recession that started in 2008-09, which has decreased manufacturing across the country. Credit should go to provincial governments, such as the Government of Ontario and the Government of Alberta. The member's own province of Alberta has put a price on the emissions of fossil carbon. Credit has to go to municipal governments. The member's own city, Calgary, has taken many actions for which it could commend itself. Therefore, the economics of natural gas versus coal have changed.

The member must, to be honest, admit that the government cannot claim credit for the decrease in greenhouse gas emissions in Canada.

[Joan Crockatt, Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, government does not always have to do everything. Government leads the way. Our approach is different from the Liberals and the NDP. They want high taxes, high spending and bloated government. We believe that we show the way for industry and individuals to make better quality decisions.

This question about greenhouse gas emissions comes from the party that saw its emission levels increase by 30%. All the while, it was trying to tell the Canadian public that it adhered to the Kyoto accord. Our government has actually decreased emissions while growing the economy in a global recession and creating almost a million jobs. That speaks for itself.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment]

Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to ask my colleague, who has a neighbouring riding, about the importance of the energy sector to our economy, as opposed to my other colleague from Alberta who fails to understand the importance of that, both to her riding and to the Canadian economy as a whole.

I wonder what my colleague's constituents think about the Liberal government's best idea for the environment being dogging Kyoto or the fact that we are the first government to publish standards for coal-fired electricity. Also, I wonder how her constituents feel about the leader of the NDP's anti-jobs trip to the United States.

As well, how does the budget positively impact both her constituents and mine?

[The Deputy Speaker]

I am sorry, we are out of time.

Resuming debate. The hon. member for LaSalle—Émard.

[Hélène LeBlanc, NDP, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I was born 55 years ago today.

I was born in a Canadian society that had made choices such as the choice to have an accessible universal health care system and a pension plan so that our seniors could live in dignity. It was a society that had chosen to have an employment insurance program to help workers who lost their jobs. It was a society in which people could still live in safety and prosperity, knowing there were social programs in place to meet their needs.

Canada chose to have these programs for the past 55 years and even before that so that we could have a society where no one would be abandoned.

It is now 2013. What is the government doing to this Canadian society where no one was abandoned?

Last Thursday, the Conservative government tabled its 2013 budget, whose title, “Jobs, Growth and Long-Term Prosperity”, is misleading. In fact, this budget contains very few new measures. Instead, it is merely a government public relations exercise.

The Conservatives chose to go with an austerity budget rather than invest to truly address Canada's current economic challenges. This insipid budget speaks of a tired government that has run out of ideas. This budget is all talk and no action.

When I talk to people in my riding, they share their concerns. They are concerned about pension reforms, not only for themselves, but for future generations. They are concerned about the employment insurance reforms. They are seeing the social safety net that they could rely on in tough times unravel more and more. They are concerned about the cuts to health care and about this government's constant attacks against environmental protection.

I am just as concerned about the Conservative government's decision to keep making devastating cuts to health care programs, pensions and employment insurance.

I would like to move on to co-operatives, a subject that is very important to me. Last year we celebrated the International Year of Co-operatives. The Conservatives took the opportunity to cut the co-operative development initiative and dismantle the Rural and Co-operatives Secretariat.

Hidden in budget 2013 is a measure that will harm caisses populaires and credit unions, and that is the elimination of the tax credit for those institutions, which are in fact the economic driver of a number of regions in Canada, even Canada as a whole.

Again, this measure illustrates the not-so-hidden intentions of this government to undermine the co-operative movement in Canada. The shift of responsibility for co-operatives to Industry Canada, in response to the report by the Special Committee on Co-operatives, still has not produced any meaningful results.

When will this government stop attacking the co-operative movement and when will the Minister of Industry do his job?

I would now like to move on to the aerospace industry. Last spring and fall, in my role as the industry critic, I met a number of players in the aerospace industry and I visited a number of businesses. Their message was clear: the aerospace industry is at a crossroads and needs a clear sign from the government, namely a predictable, long-term vision of federal programs to allow Canada's aerospace industry to be competitive.

Budget 2013 responded in only a limited way to the recommendations of the Emerson report and did not give that clear sign that this government is serious and committed to recognizing the aerospace industry's strategic importance to Canada.

When Chris Hadfield took command of the international space station, the government, after dragging its feet for more than a year and almost jeopardizing Canadian satellite expertise, finally released funding for the RADARSAT Constellation program.

However, there are serious questions being asked about the future of the Canadian space program because the government continues to deprive the space agency of the funds it needs and the direction that would allow Canada to excel in this sector.

I recently went to Windsor, Ontario, the heart of the auto industry. Workers are worried about the future. A number of plants have closed their doors, which has led to many job losses. Over the years, this sector has been neglected by successive governments, and it is only when confronted by a crisis that the government reacts.

Since 2007, the NDP has been proposing a national strategy for the automotive industry in order to maintain and increase the number of well-paid jobs.

In closing, I would like to point out once again that this budget is an empty shell that has no vision for the future of Canada. This is not a bold and innovative budget. In fact, this budget resembles the government: it is a dull, tired budget mired in an ideology that will lead Canada to a dead end.

[The Deputy Speaker]

It being 5:45 p.m., it is my duty to interrupt the proceedings and put forthwith every question necessary to dispose of Ways and Means Motion No. 15.

The question is on the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

No.