Mr. Speaker, let me correct the record right off the bat.
It is this country and it is this government that has put forward an environment that has led us to have the absolute best job creation in the G7 since the end of the recession in July 2009. There is no better. When a member of the Liberal Party talks about the economy and taxes, it is bewildering to me because this is the government that has led Canada to being a leader in job creation. It has led Canada to be recognized by other countries as one of the best places to invest and do business. Frankly, when we talk about taxes, it is this government that has lowered taxes in over 150 ways.
I need to also correct the record about the EI account. It is the Liberal Party when it was in power that took almost $60 billion of employers' and employees' EI funds to fund their own slush fund. The Liberals withdrew that money, put it into general revenues, and distributed it out in the form of contributions and whatnot. It was absolutely the wrong thing to do and employers and employees have been complaining about it ever since. For any Liberal to stand in this place and criticize this government for the wonderful economic record that we have, and to criticize us for EI changes to replace the $60 billion that they took from the account, is hypocritical.
Now let us address some of the taxes that I mentioned earlier, the 150 taxes that have been lowered, because in this budget there is no raising of taxes and there are no hidden changes to affect businesses. Businesses are very much in line with our low-tax plan, including the reduction of the GST that we saw go down from 7% to 6% to 5%, which the Liberals have indicated they will raise should they come to power. Small businesses agreed with our reduction of corporate taxes, which the Liberals have stated very clearly they will raise if they come to power. Businesses also agree with our plan to grow the economy without raising taxes on Canadians, without reducing transfers to provinces, and to do so in an environmentally friendly way.
We are the party that has led our environment portfolio to successes like a 35% reduction in GHG. Under the Liberal watch, it went up more than 30%. Not only that, our economy is growing while we are lowering GHG emissions. That party is saying as soon as it has the opportunity it will impose a carbon tax, which would further complicate measures for our small businesses.
This is a matter of tremendous importance not only to small businesses but to families alike. Through the decreases in taxes, through the elimination of many of those taxes that were really harming our families, now an average family of four keeps $3,200 in their pockets.
We have more to do, absolutely, but we will take no lessons from the Liberal Party that saw a decade of darkness for our military and increases in taxes to all Canadians because of its cuts to transfers to provinces. We will continue on our low-tax plan and do it with tremendous pride.