Debates of Sept. 16th, 2014

Procedure and House Affairs

[John Duncan, Conservative, Minister of State and Chief Government Whip]

Mr. Speaker, if you seek it, I believe you shall find unanimous consent for the following motion.

I move:

That the membership of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs be amended as follows: Mr. MacKenzie (Oxford) for Mr. Butt (Mississauga—Streetsville).

[The Acting Speaker, Barry Devolin]

Does the hon. minister have the unanimous consent to move the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Acting Speaker, Barry Devolin]

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Acting Speaker, Barry Devolin]

(Motion agreed to)

Business of the House

[John Duncan, Conservative, Minister of State and Chief Government Whip]

Mr. Speaker, if you seek it, I believe you shall also find unanimous consent for the following motion.

I move:

That, notwithstanding any Standing Order or usual practices of the House, at the conclusion of today's debate on the opposition motion in the name of the member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, all questions necessary to dispose of the motion be deemed put and a recorded division deemed requested and deferred to Thursday, September 18, 2014, at the expiry of the time provided for Question Period.

[The Acting Speaker, Barry Devolin]

Does the hon. minister have the unanimous consent to move the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Acting Speaker, Barry Devolin]

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Acting Speaker, Barry Devolin]

(Motion agreed to)

The House resumed consideration of the motion.

Opposition Motion—Federal Minimum Wage

[Randall Garrison, NDP, Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today on this question because I think it is fundamental to the question of who we are as a nation. The question we are really dealing with is this. Should not those who go to work every day and work hard be able to earn enough to provide a decent life for themselves and their families? It is a simple question.

What we have seen over the last 30 years under the Liberals and Conservatives is increasing income inequality in this country, where the top are paid more and more and the bottom, those who live on the minimum wage, have had no real increase.

The Broadbent Institute, in 2012, clearly demonstrated that 14% of all income now goes to the top 1% in this country, up from only 8% in the 1980s. Therefore, the rich have gotten richer in terms of their incomes and for the poor there has been very little change, 1¢ over the last 30 years in the real value of minimum wages. What that leads to is inequality in wealth. If one does not have the income, then one cannot acquire assets.

In September, the Broadbent Institute issued a report called “Haves and Have-Nots”. I have to say that it is the shame of my province of British Columbia to be the most unequal province in Canada, where the top 10% own 56.2% of all assets, including pensions. That is 10% of the population with over half of all the assets one can own in the province, while the bottom 50%, that is half the people in my province, own only 3.1% of the assets. We clearly have a serious inequality problem in this country.

When Canadian academics like Keith Banting and John Myles have studied this phenomena of increasing inequality, they found there were two factors at work. One was the deliberate cutbacks in social spending and transfers first started by the Liberals and continued by the Conservatives. These were programs that originated in a design to help correct the market inequalities that came about. However, they also pointed to something that was even more serious, and that is the increasing divergence in family incomes and especially low family incomes for those stuck at the bottom.

I am also pleased to rise to talk about the issue today because of my own personal long involvement with this issue. As a councillor in the municipality of Esquimalt, I was proud to sponsor a living wage policy, making Esquimalt one of only two living wage communities in British Columbia, the other being New Westminster.

I have to admit that my proposal to adopt a living wage provoked a vigorous debate. Often those opponents focused on the question of who actually deserves more money. I think we are hearing a bit of that from the other side in here today, talking about people who live at home maybe not being deserving of a fair wage, that youths do not need higher wages because they are subsidized by their parents or that seniors going back to work after retirement do not need a decent wage because they are just supplementing their pensions. Though shocking, when confronted with the fact that most of the minimum wage workers are women, we get close to those old pin money arguments, that somehow women do not need to earn a fair wage because they are not really the primary breadwinners.

Opponents locally, at the municipal level, tried to focus on the minimal direct impact. Again, it is scarily consistent with what we have seen here today, both the Liberals and Conservatives are saying that there are only 400 people who would benefit from this, but what we know is that they are both deliberately misunderstanding the statistics. The number that would actually benefit from this is not those who are directly in federal employment, that is admittedly quite small, but those who are in the private sector within federal jurisdiction. We know that, of those workers, 40,000 earn less than $12.49 an hour and 100,000 earn less than $15 an hour.

I would like to take this opportunity to point out some real workers who are dealing with this.

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers is seeking a first contract with a company called Adecco, which employs people in the customs centres in Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto. The original contract offer from this private sector employer in the federal jurisdiction is $11.66 an hour by 2017. Therefore, it is not true that this is window dressing. There are more than 100,000 Canadians who would benefit from an increase to $15. That is a lot of people for whom this would make a real difference in their lives.

The question of what is a living wage was also raised locally. Why do we talk about these very large numbers? Some of the Liberals have been asking us today who we consulted with. There has been a broad-based popular movement in British Columbia and other provinces led by community social planning councils who sat down with business, labour and poverty advocates to determine what it takes to support a family.

In greater Victoria, the figure they came to, including business involvement, was that it required $18.93 per hour to provide the basics of food, clothing, shelter, child care and transport, and nothing else: no holidays, no savings for retirement, no savings for kids' educations, no servicing credit cards, and nothing if one has to deal with disabilities or elder care. That is $18.93 per hour when the minimum wage is $10.25. Therefore, more than double the minimum wage is what is required to live with the dignity that people who go to work every day and work hard deserve in this country.

Who earns the minimum wage? It is the same argument today that I heard at the council level, that it is really not very many people and they are mostly young people. The first thing we have to recognize is that it is disproportionately women who earn minimum wage. There are more than one million minimum wage earners in this country and over 60% of those are women. Only a total of 4.3% of men earn the minimum wage, but 7.2% of women workers are at the minimum wage. That rises to 24% of women in the age group between 15 and 24, so one-quarter of young women work at the minimum wage.

A lot of these jobs involve things that we traditionally regard as women's work, so someone who is a cleaner, does cooking or does serving. If they do that at home, their contribution to the economy is not recognized at all, but if they do it in paid work, they get low pay because we think of that as women's work. It does not matter if it is actually a women doing the cleaning or not. Everybody who does cleaning in this country tends to be paid at the minimum wage level.

Youth make up another large group. It is true that over half of all the minimum wage workers are young in this country. That is over 500,000 people. We heard a lot of moralizing about whether youth actually need a living wage or not, the conclusion being that they tend to live in their parents' basements and are subsidized by their parents, forgetting that youth are trying to get a start in life, trying to pay for their educations. They are not all lazy slackers living in their parents' basements by choice. Some of them are forced to live there because they have no other alternative.

As one young woman who testified at our hearings in Esquimalt said, she was still looking for that store that had a student price for milk and a minimum wage price for eggs. They pay the same prices the rest of us pay while earning only a minimum wage.

Most surprising to me, which I learned when I was working on this at the council level, was that workers over the age of 55 make up nearly 10% of all minimum wage workers. That means there are over 100,000 Canadians over the age of 55 working full time and living in poverty; 4.5% of women over 55 who work earn only the minimum wage, and 3.6% of men.

The other argument we heard, and it was just repeated in this chamber and it was repeated at the municipal level, is the false job losses argument. It has been made here today and I am sure we will hear it again and again. Most businesses are in a situation where labour is only one factor in their costs. High rents, high credit card transaction fees, and a host of other costs, not just labour, determine what prices they have to charge in the market.

The real world simply does not support the theory that there will be youth job losses or job losses of any kind. In fact, in the last year, 13 states in the U.S. increased their minimum wages, five through legislation and eight through indexing. Job growth was 1.8% in the 13 states that increased their minimum wage, and 1.5% in the 37 states that did not increase their minimum wage. Therefore, there is higher growth in jobs with a higher minimum wage.

As for wages, let us look at the other part of it. People say it will reduce hours and people will take home less money in the end. In those 13 states in the U.S., wages grew by 1%, and in the 37 states with no increase, 0.1%, so 10 times the wage growth in those states that increased the minimum wage.

What happens if we keep the minimum wage below a living wage? Who actually picks up those costs, because these people are still alive and they are still getting by? Obviously they are costs borne by the workers in terms of living in substandard housing, suffering poor health, or facing poverty in retirement because they are unable to save. However, the public also picks up a lot of those costs, in effect subsidizing those low wages through increased demand for social housing, increased demand for provincial social services.

Charities and faith communities have assumed a large part of those costs in running food banks and shelters, and of course kids pay a big price. British Columbia has the highest child poverty rate at 18%, and one-third of those kids living in poverty are living in a family where at least one parent works full time.

This is not a trivial motion. It is not a housekeeping motion. It is motion about who we are as Canadians and whether we really believe that those who go to work and work hard deserve a living wage.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member's comments. There is a great deal of merit to many of the comments. I was interested when he made reference to Victoria and that living wage. He suggested that close to $19 is what it would take to have a livable minimum wage in Victoria.

Where did they come up with the $15? Is that something that was based on B.C.? Where did the $15 rate come from, as opposed to what he was suggesting, which is that a more appropriate amount might be closer to $18 or $19 an hour?

[Randall Garrison, NDP, Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC]

Mr. Speaker, there has been a nationwide campaign for raising the minimum wage across the country to $15 an hour, so it is not just an idea we suddenly had in the middle of the night. It is something people have been calling for and working for across the country.

I know that a figure of $18.93 sounds large, but again, as I stressed in my speech, that is just the amount for food, clothing, shelter, transportation, and child care. That is the amount each parent in a two-parent family would have to earn so that a family of four could live beyond poverty and participate in our society in the most basic way.

Yes, it sounds big. What we have said, as far as this motion is concerned, is that we would start with a raise to $12 and phase it in to $15 over five years. The economists show that when we do that, there is no effect in terms of job losses.

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Labour and for Western Economic Diversification]

Mr. Speaker, again, I thank my colleague for his passion and his desire to see people living on a good wage. However, again, I have to say that we have used a very blunt instrument with unintended consequences, when other options would probably be more effective.

I have a couple of questions. The member talked about hundreds of thousands of people, and certainly both the Liberals and Conservatives have referenced the numbers that we believe would be impacted, and they are certainly significantly low. Could the member give the reference in terms of hundreds of thousands and where that is actually coming from?

The other piece is that the literature I have read has consistently talked about the negative impact. This is from economists across the country. Many studies have said that actually we could be hurting the people we are intending to help the most in terms of job availability. Could the member speak to those issues?

[Randall Garrison, NDP, Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. parliamentary secretary for her questions. She and I have always had good exchanges.

With respect, the difference between the numbers you are talking about and we are talking about is that you are talking about those people who work directly in the public sector. What we are talking about is those who work in the private sector, which is federally regulated.

When it comes to the job impacts, I know that you are citing some studies, primarily the Fraser Institute study, I suspect, but let us actually look at what economists have said.

David Card and Alan Krueger, in a basic study in the United States, said, “We find no indication that the rise in the minimum wage reduced employment”.

Most recently, John Schmitt, of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, said:

The employment effect of the minimum wage is one of the most studied topics in all of economics.... The weight of that evidence points to little or no employment response to modest increases in the minimum wage.

It is an unfounded fear that jobs would actually disappear. The data I cited in my speech show that U.S. states that raised the minimum wage had a net increase in their gross domestic product and a net increase in their employment.

[The Acting Speaker, Barry Devolin]

Before we resume debate, I just want to remind all hon. members to address all of their questions and comments directly to the Chair. I know it is the first week back after the summer, but the Chair would appreciate the members' co-operation in this regard.

Resuming debate, the hon. member for Don Valley West.

[John Carmichael, Conservative, Don Valley West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to respond to the motion proposed by the hon. member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie in regard to minimum wages. Today I would like to reassure the hon. member that our government's top priority remains focused on creating jobs and economic growth while ensuring that all Canadians have the opportunity to share in the benefits of a strong economy.

Contrary to what the official opposition may believe, most Canadians are becoming wealthier. The median net worth of Canadian families has increased by 45% in real terms since 2005. The federal tax burden is now the lowest it has been in 50 years. Now more than one million low-income Canadians have been removed from the tax rolls and do not have to pay federal income tax.

Canadians in all major income groups have seen increases of about 10% or more in their real after-tax, after-transfer income since 2006. Income inequality has not increased in Canada since 2006, and the share of Canadians living in low-income families is at its lowest level in three decades. Clearly, these actions are paying off for Canadians, including those with lower incomes.

Given my limited time today, I would like to focus members' attention on what our government's economic action plan has done to reduce taxes for Canadian families since we took office in 2006.

Unlike the official opposition, Canadians know that when it comes to tax reduction, the Conservative government has a long-standing record of outstanding achievement. Since 2006, Canadians have benefited from significant broad-based tax cuts introduced by our government. These tax reductions have given individuals and families more flexibility to make the choices that are right for them. These initiatives have helped build a solid foundation for future economic growth, more jobs, and higher living standards for all Canadians.

The evidence is clear, even if some other hon. members steadfastly choose to ignore it. An average Canadian family of four will pay close to $3,400 less in taxes in 2014.

Under our government's long-term agenda to keep taxes low, significant broad-based action has been taken to reduce taxes for all Canadians. This includes a reduction in the GST rate to 5% from 7%; an increase in the amount that all Canadians can earn without paying federal income tax; a reduction in the lowest personal income tax rate to 15% from 16%; and the introduction of the tax-free savings account, or TFSA, a flexible, registered, general purpose savings vehicle that allows Canadians to earn tax-free investment income to more easily meet their lifetime savings needs.

Our government has also introduced a number of targeted tax reduction measures. For example, we have helped families with children by introducing the child tax credit, the children's fitness tax credit, and the children's arts tax credit. We have introduced the registered disability savings plan to help individuals with severe disabilities and their families save for their long-term financial security. We have enhanced support for caregivers to infirm, dependent family members by introducing the family caregiver tax credit.

We have provided additional annual targeted tax relief for seniors and pensioners by increasing the age credit and the pension income credit amounts, raising the age limit for maturing savings in registered pension plans and registered retirement savings plans, and introducing pension income splitting.

We have provided further support to students and their families by exempting scholarship income from taxation, introducing the textbook tax credit, and making registered education savings plans more responsive to changing needs.

Last, we have introduced the public transit tax credit to encourage public transit use.

At the same time, we have increased and enhanced benefits for Canadian families and individuals by introducing the universal child care benefit, introducing and enhancing the working income tax benefit, and increasing the amount of income families can earn before the national child benefit supplement is fully phased out and before the Canada child tax base benefit begins to be phased out. Last, we have maintained the GST credit level while reducing the GST rate by two percentage points.

Mr. Speaker, I neglected to mention that I will be sharing my time today with the member for Willowdale. I apologize for the delay on that.

In total, our government will have provided almost $160 billion in tax relief for Canadian families and individuals over a six year period ending in 2013-2014.

As all members of the House can see, if they choose to do so, our government is committed to lower taxes for all Canadians. Our recent budgets have built upon our record of supporting families and communities while establishing a path for returning to balanced budgets.

Economic action plan 2013 introduced enhanced support for Canadian families by keeping taxes low; better recognizing the costs of adopting a child; helping to lower the price of consumer goods; better protecting financial consumers, including seniors; and promoting low-cost and secure pension options.

It also introduced measures to support communities by investing in quality affordable housing, honouring our veterans, improving the health of Canadians, supporting our arts and cultural community, and creating the largest and longest federal investment in job creating infrastructure in Canadian history.

Economic action plan 2014 continues to focus on controlling spending and using every tax dollar as efficiently as possible. We will enshrine our responsible, prudent approach in law with the introduction of balanced budget legislation. Balancing our books, as all business leaders know, gives us greater flexibility to respond to the unforeseen. It would enable us to reduce the burden placed on future generations and would promote investment by keeping taxes low.

Let me conclude by saying that I am very optimistic about our prospects as a nation. The Canadian economy continues to expand, enjoying one of the strongest job creation records in the G7. Over 1.1 million more Canadians are working now than at the end of the recession, with the vast majority of new jobs being full-time, high-wage, private sector positions.

However, while all our jobs and growth performance is encouraging, we still have work to do. I believe that economic action plan 2014 is the way to go. If we hold to the course we have chosen, our future looks bright. I am eager to see this progressive agenda unfold and the positive impact it will have on our country and jobs and growth, which is why I cannot support the motion.

[Dennis Bevington, NDP, Northwest Territories, NT]

Mr. Speaker, this has been an engaging debate today, on all sides. That is something we appreciate after coming through last year, when the New Democratic Party had to usually carry the ball here when it came to making speeches.

The point I want to make, very quickly, is that there is an inequity that has occurred with the minimum wage across Canada. Over the last 40 years, we have seen a zero increase in the real wages for minimum wage. In that same time, the average real wage increase for the rest of Canadians was over 15%. What has happened is that the minimum wage workers have lost position in society over the last 40 years in comparison to other workers, yet they make up a large and very important part of our workforce.

By accepting this motion, by re-establishing a minimum wage that is reflective of the conditions other workers come under, we are creating equity in the country that needs to be there. Would my colleague not agree that equity is an important principle that guides our fair and honest country?

[John Carmichael, Conservative, Don Valley West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question and congratulate him on his new official riding.

Yes, I do agree that equity is important, but it is also important, as we have heard today in debate among all parties, that the numbers in question are somewhat dubious. In fact, one of my colleagues' colleagues on the opposite side, for lack of a better term, agreed that this motion was purely symbolic.

We, as a government, are in support of provincial jurisdiction, which has the authority over establishing minimum wage, as I have seen in my own province. The new government in Ontario has recently established new guidelines for minimum wage. That is its jurisdiction, and we endorse and support that as its responsibility. To that end, we believe that is the route the federal government must take in order to support our provincial cohorts.

[Adam Vaughan, Liberal, Trinity—Spadina, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I listened to the member's statement and my mind rolled over numbers that put a completely different picture to it.

In the very city that the member opposite represents, the waiting list for public housing has practically doubled since the current government took office and the number of children living in poverty has increased. The member's statement today, in fact, explained exactly how government policy from across the House is plunging seniors and people with disabilities who live in co-operative housing into poverty as rent subsidies disappear as a direct result of decisions by this government. Poverty is on the rise in the very city the member represents.

The concern I have is the perception that somehow a tax cut for a person earning high wages suddenly creates income or opportunity for people who are struggling. I recognize that the members opposite do not want to measure these things, but the measurements are there.

How does that work? Can he please explain it to me?

[John Carmichael, Conservative, Don Valley West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for the question. This is my first opportunity to welcome him to the House.

Yes, we both come from Toronto in Ontario, where these are significant issues. As my colleague, the parliamentary secretary, alluded to earlier, we would all like to eradicate poverty. We would all like to find solutions to that issue that will help those in need, but at the end of the day we have to do it through incentive and opportunity. We create jobs. We create economic growth.

In answer to my colleague, an apprenticeship incentive grant is an opportunity for apprentices to increase their skill set and help them improve their ability to not only earn a wage but earn a higher wage. That is the important piece of this puzzle, and that is what this government clearly sets as a standard.

[Chungsen Leung, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary for Multiculturalism]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise in the House and also to be the last speaker on this issue of minimum wage.

We have heard today about our government's outstanding record of achievement with respect to creating jobs and economic growth. I would like to dedicate my time to exploring in more detail how we are building on these results by helping to connect Canadians with available jobs.

Despite our excellent employment performance, our government is constantly looking for ways to make it even better, and we find it unacceptable that many Canadians are out of work or underutilized at a time when skills and labour shortages are emerging in certain sectors and regions. Indeed, many employers agree with us and continue to identify the shortage of skilled labour as an impediment to growth. In fact, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce lists skills shortages as the number one barrier to Canada's competitiveness.

Faced with this challenge, we have taken effective and concrete action to support the development of a skilled, mobile, and productive workforce.

To begin, let me go back to budget 2007, when our government introduced the working income tax benefit, or WITB. The WITB fulfilled our government's commitment to help make work more rewarding to low-income Canadians already in the workforce and increased the incentive for other low-income Canadians to enter the workforce.

Economic action plan 2009 went even further by effectively doubling the benefits provided under the WITB. Today this initiative is making a real difference in the lives of Canadians. It has lowered the welfare wall so that low-income individuals now keep more of their earnings. In 2013, over $1.1 billion in WITB benefits were provided to individuals and families.

Recognizing that families are the cornerstone of our society, economic action plan 2011 took action to further reduce the tax burden on hard-working Canadian families. In doing so, we recognized that some families need additional support. For example, many Canadians have assumed added responsibilities in caring for infirm parents or other family members. These family caregivers make special sacrifices, often leaving the workforce temporarily and forgoing employment income.

In support of these families who care for infirm dependants, economic action plan 2011 introduced the family caregiver tax credit, which came into effect in 2012. This 15% non-refundable credit on an amount of $2,058 in 2014 provides additional tax relief for caregivers of all types of infirm dependent family members, including, for the first time, spouses, common-law partners, and minor children.

To further help caregivers, economic action plan 2011 removed the $10,000 limit on the amount of eligible expenses a taxpayer can claim under the medical expense tax credit for a financially dependent relative.

We also established the registered disability savings plan, or RDSP, based on the recommendations of the 2006 expert panel on financial security for children with severe disabilities. The RDSP is designed to help individuals with severe disabilities and their families save for their long-term financial security.

Since its implementation in 2008, our government has made a number of improvements to the program. For example, to make sure that RDSP beneficiaries with a shortened life expectancy can access their savings, economic action plan 2011 provided them with more flexibility to withdraw their RDSP assets without requiring the repayment of Canada disability savings grants and Canada disability savings bonds.

In 2011 our government launched a review of the RDSP to ensure that RDSPs are meeting the needs of Canadians with severe disabilities and their families. Based on the feedback received during the review, economic action plan 2012 announced a number of measures to improve the RDSP.

These measures provided greater access to RDSP savings for small withdrawals, gave greater flexibility to make withdrawals from certain RDSPs and ensure the RDSP assets were used to support a beneficiary during their lifetime, enhanced flexibility for parents who save in registered education savings plans for children with disabilities, introduced greater continuity for beneficiaries who cease to qualify for the disability tax credit in certain circumstances, and improved the administration of the RDSP for financial institutions and beneficiaries.

More than 81,000 RDSPs have been opened since they became available in 2008. Thanks to a measures like the RDSP, our government is making sure Canadians with disabilities get the support they need.

Let me now say a few more words about the government's tax reductions for seniors and pensioners. On this subject I once again have plenty of material to draw from.

Our government increased the age credit amount by $1,000 in 2006 and by another $1,000 in 2009. We doubled the maximum amount of income eligible for the pension income credit to $2,000. We introduced pension income splitting and increased the age limit for maturing pensions and RRSPs to 71 from 69 years of age. As a result of these actions, seniors and pensioners are receiving about $2.8 billion in additional annual tax relief.

Overall, actions taken by this government have substantially increased the income seniors can earn before they are required to pay income tax. In 2014 a single senior can earn at least $20,054 and a senior couple at least $40,109 before paying federal income tax.

Seniors and those who support them may also take advantage of tax credits, such as the disability tax credit, the medical expense tax credit, the caregiver credit, and the family caregiver tax credit, which, as I have mentioned, was introduced in economic action plan 2011 and came into effect in 2012.

In the same year our government enhanced the guaranteed income supplement, the GIS, for those seniors who rely almost exclusively on their old age security and the GIS and may therefore be at risk of experiencing financial difficulties. The measure provided a new top-up benefit of up to $600 annually for single seniors and $840 for couples, and is improving the financial security of more than 680,000 seniors across Canada.

Finally, let me add that new measures we have introduced recognize that the health of the Canadian economy ultimately depends on providing opportunities for a high quality of life for all Canadians. That is why economic action plan 2014 continues to implement the government's plan for jobs and growth by connecting Canadians with available jobs through helping them to acquire the skills that will get them hired or help them get better jobs; fostering job creation, innovation, and trade by keeping taxes low; reducing the tax compliance burden; continuing to provide Canadian businesses and investors with the market access they need to succeed in the global economy; and supporting families and communities by taking additional steps to protect Canadian consumers, keeping taxes low for families, and improving the safety of Canadians.

Keeping taxes low is an important element of our economic action plan. It helps Canadians succeed in the global economy through the creation of high-quality jobs and greater opportunities for success.

Economic action plan 2014 is the next chapter in our government's long-term plan to strengthen the Canadian economy in an uncertain world and create jobs and growth while keeping taxes low for families and businesses and balancing the budget in 2015.

Taken together, the measures our government has introduced since 2006 and those in economic action plan 2014 will continue to keep taxes low and help Canadians succeed in the global economy, creating jobs, growth, and long-term prosperity for all Canadians.

In the deliberations prior to my speaking, we talked a lot about the macro aspect of the minimum wage. A $5 increase over the Canadian average of $10 or $11 means a 50% increase. Divided over the five years that are recommended, that is a 10% increase a year. That is quite significant.

Let me address this issue from a micro point of view and as a former business owner for 20 years. If the minimum wage were to increase by 10% a year, I would not hire additional staff. I would not pass it. I would have to keep my costs down to run my business.