Debates of Feb. 1st, 2016

The House resumed from January 29 consideration of the motion that Bill C-2, an act to amend the Income Tax Act and of the amendment, be read the second time and referred to a committee.

Income Tax Act

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Saint Boniface—Saint Vital.

I rise in the House today support of Bill C-2, an act to amend the Income Tax Act, or as I prefer to call it, an act to finally give a helping hand to middle-class families and those hoping to join the middle class.

Our government believes in listening to the people. For years, Canadians have been telling us one thing loud and clear: they need a hand. Middle-class families have increasingly been struggling to make ends meet. Too many families are having to make difficult choices: should they pay the rent or put food on the table; should they save money for their children's education or save for a secure and comfortable retirement; do they buy a new suit for their job interview or a birthday present for their son. These are not easy choices and they are causing stress and hardship for so many families.

I have the privilege of representing the riding of Scarborough Centre. We are a community of middle-class families. Scarborough families are exactly the sort of families that we need to be helping. We need to help families like one I met when knocking on doors in Scarborough last summer. I spoke with a mother outside her door in an apartment tower who told me how her husband was working full time at a warehouse and she worked nights in the service industry. They hardly got to see each other. Still, each cheque did not go quite far enough. She was trying to find a second job so they could keep up with the bills. However, she was worried about who would take care of her two young daughters while she was away. Like so many families I met, they are struggling with bills that are always going up and income that is not keeping pace.

Middle-class families are the backbone of our country. These are hard-working families willing to put in the long hours and make the sacrifices necessary to build a better life for their children. They value hard work and are instilling those values in the next generation. However, middle-class families have gone without a raise for too long. It is time we take action to help them.

I was honoured to stand with the Prime Minister at a grocery store in the Leaside neighbourhood of Toronto last fall when he promised the first act of a Liberal government would be to lower taxes for middle-class families. I am pleased to say, that promise made is a promise kept. That is Bill C-2.

As of January 1, nine million Canadians will be receiving tax relief. Bill C-2 amends the Income Tax Act to reduce the second personal income tax rate from 22% to 20.5%. It also creates a new personal marginal tax rate of 33% for taxable income in excess of $200,000. What does that mean? It means that in order to help those who need help the most we are asking the wealthiest to give just a little more.

We are also reversing the previous government's costly and misguided plan to nearly double the annual contribution limit for tax-free savings accounts. Raising the limit would only help the wealthiest Canadians at a cost of several hundred million dollars over the next five years, while doing nothing to help middle-class families. There are not many families in my riding who could afford to make the maximum $10,000 annual contribution to their TFSA, not when many are more concerned with paying the rent. In fact, in 2013, just 6.7% of eligible Canadians made the maximum TFSA contribution.

Our government was elected to help those who need help the most, and that is exactly what we are going to do.

Our tax changes will benefit over nine million Canadians in 2016. A single person will see an average annual tax savings of $330, and the average couple will save $540 every year. That is money that will help families pay the rent and buy groceries, and it will make it a little easier to put some money away for the future. It is a helping hand for those who need it the most.

Over the holidays I had the opportunity to visit the Scarborough branch of the Salvation Army, and the Dorset Park Community Hub in my great riding of Scarborough Centre. I saw so many young families visiting the food banks. I saw mothers pushing their children in strollers who needed help to put food on the table, and workers and volunteers struggling to keep up with the demand. It makes one's heart break to think those young children would be going hungry.

This is Canada. We can do better, we must do better, and we will do better. Bill C-2 and our middle-class tax cuts are just the beginning. There will be much more to come when the Minister of Finance brings the next budget to this House. A key element will be the new Canada child benefit, which will deliver targeted help to those families who need it the most. When fully implemented, the Canada child benefit will help nine out of 10 Canadian families, and lift hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty. Canada needs a healthy and prosperous middle class. When the middle class succeeds, we all succeed. We are blessed to live in one of the greatest countries in the world. We are blessed with a population that is educated, hard-working, and industrious. If we give them the opportunity to succeed there is nothing they cannot do.

This government was elected on a plan to grow the economy, and we have already started. With the changes to Bill C-2, a fair tax system, which asks the wealthiest among us to pay just a little more while giving help to families who need it the most, is being delivered.

With the upcoming Canada child benefit and our historic investments in transportation and social infrastructure, we are laying the foundation for economic growth and a stronger economy that will allow every Canadian to reach his or her potential to build an even stronger, more prosperous country.

I encourage all hon. members to join me in supporting this important legislation and middle-class families. Let us ensure that Canada's middle class gets the help it deserves.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Madam Speaker, with the so-called middle-class tax cuts, the extra tax on the wealthiest does not begin to cover what it would cost the the nation as a whole. In fact, in the hole is where we would be. That means the government would have to take money from the rest of us, including the middle class, in order to make up the difference.

My question is this. As my colleague is from Ontario, she would know that the $6.34 increase that this would amount to would not even begin to cover the increase in hydro tax. Could she explain how that $6.34 after it is taxed back would really make a difference when we would have to pay more because of it?

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Madam Speaker, the tax cuts that we have proposed for Bill C-2 have already started helping nine million Canadians, and together with the Canada child benefit will help nine out of 10 Canadian families.

I am proud to stand with a government that is there to help middle-class families. We are just asking the wealthiest people, 1% of Canadians, to pay a little more.

[Matthew Dubé, NDP, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's comments about the people in her community who need this. She keeps going on and on about how the rich will pay more, but despite the Liberals' promises, the people who need it the most—those who earn less than $45,000 per year—will not see a penny.

During the election campaign, the Liberal Party accused us of dishonesty and said that a federal minimum wage would not help many people. That same Liberal Party promised middle-class tax cuts and more cash in middle-class pockets. The truth is that a vast majority of Canadians identify as middle class and yet will not get a penny because they earn less than $45,000 per year. The median income is around $33,000 or $36,000 per year.

Can my colleague tell me why her party is not supporting the NDP proposal to put a little more cash in those people's pockets, not just the pockets of those who earn between $90,000 and $150,000 per year?

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Madam Speaker, I would advise the hon. member that it is important to look at our government's agenda to support middle-class families and grow Canada's economy in its totality.

These tax changes and the coming Canada child benefit will benefit nine out of ten Canadian families. According to the parliamentary budget officer, more than 315,000 children will be lifted out of poverty.

Historic infrastructure benefits are coming. By investing in transit, we will make it easier for families without a car to get to work. Investments in social infrastructure are coming. New senior centres, community centres, and child care facilities will help ensure families can go to work knowing their children and their elderly parents are cared for.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, I think it is very clear. Never before, at least from my perspective, has a Prime Minister been so committed to assisting the middle class.

Contrary to what the Conservatives and New Democrats might want to talk about, the reality is that the middle class in Canada is a focus of this Liberal government.

The member has already talked about the child benefit program, which will enhance the wealth of the middle class. The tax cut in this legislation will enhance the wealth of the middle class. Would she not agree that the Government of Canada, more so than in the last two decades plus, is actually seeing the middle class as a strong component, and that by enhancing the middle class, we will have a healthier economy in the long run?

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Madam Speaker, yes, I agree. The middle class in this country has been ignored for a very long time. We all have to recognize that the middle class is the backbone of any economy. When people in the middle class have more money in their pockets, they will spend that money to invest and grow the economy.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to add my voice to today's discussion on the government's middle-income tax cut, which we introduced in December 2015.

Before I touch on the legislation, I will begin by taking a few moments to extend my congratulations to the Minister of Finance and his parliamentary secretary for pursuing one of the most comprehensive pre-budget consultations in recent history.

The 2016 pre-budget consultations began when the Minister of Finance held a Google hangout with eight Canadian universities on January 6 to get the views of students and faculty on how to best grow the economy. On January 11, the minister and his parliamentary secretary struck out on a six-day tour in an effort to speak to as many Canadians as possible. They hosted upwards of 26 separate meetings and round tables with stakeholders and Canadians across the country, beginning in Halifax.

In addition to these meetings, the minister spoke to full-capacity crowds at the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, the Montreal Council on Foreign Relations, and the Surrey Board of Trade, with a total attendance of well over 1,500 people.

For those Canadians who have not been able to make it out to meet the minister and the parliamentary secretary personally, they can continue to share their ideas and comments through various online channels, such as the Your Money Matters Facebook page and hashtag #pbc16.

Through our pre-budget consultations, we are engaging with Canadians, looking for input on how the federal government can best support the middle class and those working hard to join it, meet infrastructure needs and help grow the economy, protect the environment and meet local needs, as well as ensure that the most vulnerable do not get left behind. It is an ambitious list, to say the least, but one that respects Canadian values of honesty, hard work, and fiscal prudence.

I would like to thank all those who have and will contribute to the pre-budget consultations, whether in person or online. This input will be vital to ensuring that Canadians can direct and focus the decisions that our federal government can make. More importantly, Canadians will be able to see their contributions when the 2016 budget is tabled.

I want to assure Canadians that we are listening and we hope that this renewed interest by Canadians will make a better country for all of us; for our families and for our communities. We are hearing that Canadians want to push forward with our plan to grow the economy, strengthen the middle class, and help the vulnerable.

We have a clear mandate, and expectations are high. First and foremost, we are here to serve Canadians. They expect us to implement our ambitious economic agenda. They want a government that is open to the world. They want a more transparent government.

No one will be surprised to hear me say that the economy is going through a very difficult period. However, in the face of this real challenge, there is also real opportunity to put in place the conditions to create long-term growth that will create good jobs and help our middle class—the lifeblood of our economy—prosper. The plan for growth is more important now than ever.

The good news is that we have a plan to grow the economy, and we have already begun to implement the plan: we introduced the middle-class tax cut in December and tabled Bill C-2.

As of January 1, the middle-class tax cut is putting more money in the pockets of nine million Canadians each year. We are focused on smart investments that promote economic growth while maintaining a commitment to fiscal responsibility. We will improve economic prospects for our middle class, which is the backbone of our economy. We simply cannot call ourselves prosperous as a country if our middle class is struggling. This is why Bill C-2 is so important to Canadians.

I will now touch on the specifics.

Our middle-class tax cut and accompanying proposals would help make the tax system fairer by reducing the second personal income tax rate to 20.5% from 22%; introducing a 33% personal income tax rate on individual taxable income in excess of $200,000; returning the tax-free savings account, TFSA, annual contribution to $5,500 from $10,000; and reinstating indexation of the TFSA annual contribution limit.

We expect nine million Canadians will benefit from the reduction of the personal income tax rates, which are to take effect on January 1 of this year. Single individuals would see an annual tax reduction of $330 per year, and couples would see an average tax reduction of $540 every year. This measure would put more money in the pockets of Canadians to save, to invest, and to grow the economy.

In addition, the government is introducing a new personal income tax rate of 33% that would apply to individual taxable income in excess of $200,000. This means that only Canada's top income earners are expected to pay more tax as a result of the government's proposed changes to personal income tax. As with other bracket thresholds, the $200,000 threshold would be indexed to inflation.

Finally, the government is returning the tax-free savings account annual contribution limit to $5,500 from $10,000 effective January 1 of this year. Returning the TFSA annual contribution to $5,500 is consistent with the government's objective of making the tax system fairer and helping those who need it most. When combined with other registered savings plans, a $5,500 TFSA annual contribution limit would permit most individuals to meet their ongoing savings needs in a tax-effective manner. Indexation of a TFSA annual contribution limit would be reinstated so that the annual limit maintains real value over time.

Finally, let me quickly review some of the other measures that are included in today's legislation.

The bill proposes to change the current flat top taxation rules applicable to trusts to use the new 33% tax rate. It proposes to set the tax on split income to the new rate of 33%. It would amend the charitable donation tax credit to allow higher income donors to claim a 33% tax credit on the portion of donations made from income that is subject to the new 33% marginal tax rate. Finally, the bill would increase the special refundable tax and the related refund rate imposed on the investment income of private corporations to reflect the proposed new 33% personal income tax rate.

There has never been a better time to make targeted investments to support economic growth in this country. We are confident that our plan will accomplish this, and that is one reason why I am optimistic about our prospects going forward. Given that, I encourage all members to support this legislation.

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Madam Speaker, the Liberals ran on a promise that there was going to be a revenue-neutral change. They were going to take from the rich and give to the middle class. It has become clear that this revenue-neutral change is going to be anything but. It shows poor math. We are looking at $1.4 billion, give or take—quite a few hundred million dollars. This is not temporary stimulus. It is not something that will happen just one time. It would add to the structural deficit of the government.

Does the member believe it is fair for his grandchildren to pay the Liberals' debt, which they will accumulate, for a tax cut that was given based on poor math?

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

Madam Speaker, that is quite interesting coming from a member of a government that ran seven consecutive operating deficits in a row.

The Liberal government ran on a plan to help our middle class. This is the first step of that plan, a middle-class income tax cut. The plan includes an enhanced, more generous, and tax-free Canada child benefit, which would raise 300,000 children out of poverty, which is excellent. The plan includes a 10% increase to the guaranteed income supplement. This would give one million of our most vulnerable seniors up to $1,000 more each year. I am very proud of this initiative.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Madam Speaker, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, it is estimated that 17.9 million Canadians who will file income tax returns in 2016 fall within the first tax bracket of $45,282 or less. They are going to get nothing out of this tax break.

What do the Liberals define as the average income for the middle class? How do they classify those Canadians earning less than $45,000? I would like to hear from the hon. member.

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

Madam Speaker, it is certainly not up to me as an individual to define who is middle class and who is not. However, I can give the member some facts. Canadians who earn between $45,000 and $90,000 in 2016 would receive a 7% reduction on the taxes they pay. Their tax rate would fall from 22.5% to 20.5%, a 7% reduction. That would put $350 in the pockets of nine million Canadians in 2016.

In addition to that, we would roll out a more generous, targeted, and tax-free Canada child benefit that would raise 300,000 children out of poverty, an initiative that the NDP did not support.

[John Oliver, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

Madam Speaker, I want to congratulate the hon. member on his address.

The previous government's plan to nearly double the contribution limit to the tax-free savings accounts would have helped Canada's wealthiest save more, while costing the federal treasury several hundreds of millions of dollars over the next five years—tens of billions of dollars over the longer term—while only 6.7% of eligible Canadians were able to make the maximum contribution in 2013.

Could the member share with us the fairness of the Liberal plan for the tax free savings account?

[Dan Vandal, Liberal, Saint Boniface—Saint Vital, MB]

Madam Speaker, the member is absolutely right that the range of people who would benefit from the doubling of the TFSA contribution limit was simply not wide enough.

We proposed a plan based on a middle-income tax cut; we proposed a plan based on a more generous, enhanced, and tax-free Canada child benefit; and we proposed a plan that included a 10% increase to the guaranteed income supplement, which would benefit a million older Canadians. On October 19, 2015, Canadians endorsed that plan.

[Kevin Sorenson, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise in the House to speak on behalf of my constituents in Battle River—Crowfoot. Battle River—Crowfoot is a new constituency. The boundaries changed in the last election, and I am fortunate enough to represent a new northern section. I want to thank them for their support in the last election. I pledge to work very hard for them in Ottawa.

I also want to thank my election campaign team and long-term supporters. In six elections, they were ready to campaign and help out, not just in my riding but around the country. Obviously I want to thank my family. I want to thank my wife Darlene and our children, Kristen and Ryan, and Kristen's husband Matthew for their love and support over the many years of doing this. I know all members know that without the support of their families and those they love most, they would be unable to do this. Whether it is my immediate family, my parents, or others, I want to thank them.

We are debating the Liberal government's destructive tax plan for all Canadians, including the middle class. It tears down many of the efforts that were developed to help families and workers, to ensure that taxes remained low for all Canadians, that there were balanced budgets, and that jobs were created for Canadians. These measures are affected by part of Bill C-2. The former government ensured that economic growth for Canada's economy was a priority.

I neglected to inform you, Madam Speaker, that I will be splitting my time with the member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke.

Since this bill was tabled in December of last year, we are very aware that the numbers of the Liberals simply do not add up. The Liberals' assault on higher income earners will not work. This is a tax hike on those who traditionally create jobs and grow our overall economy. It is a tax increase on professionals and on the educated. It is a tax increase on those who work hard and succeed.

By increasing taxes on job creators, we would be discouraging their success and jobs for Canadians with the passage of this bill. Canada's higher income earners would immediately launch many measures to protect themselves from paying such high taxes. The Liberals will not realize the rise in tax revenue that they are counting on to finance their small increase in benefits to the middle class on which the bill is supposed to deliver.

Not only are the high income earners going to task their accountants with pursuing and implementing measures that will ultimately prevent them from paying higher tax increases, but some of them will abandon their lucrative endeavours in Canada to reduce their incomes so they do not have to pay the increase. They will move their projects, in some cases offshore, Canadians will lose jobs, investors will follow these business leaders to their new locations, and Canada will lose investments.

We have seen this under former Liberal governments. When I ran in the elections in 2000 and 2004 as a new young MP coming in, like many here today, the top issue of the day was what we called the brain drain. We asked ourselves what we would do to bring back Canada's young, to bring back those who had moved to the states or Europe with their potential futures. What would we do to solve the brain drain? Economists are again predicting significant brain drain from Canada as the result of Bill C-2.

The federal government will not have the tax revenues to fund the schemes put forward by Bill C-2. The worst part of Bill C-2 for my constituents is the reduction of the annual contribution limit for the tax-free savings account, from $10,000 at its previous level to $5,500 starting January 1 this year.

Right now many families are experiencing the pain of unemployment. Many of my constituents work for companies that service the oil patch, and their lives are being disrupted. Households are being disrupted. Savings are being used in an attempt, in some cases, to save family homes, or to make the next payment.

TFSAs have been a very effective tool for all Canadians, young and old. Tax-free savings accounts are being cashed in by many constituents of mine in Alberta right now. Families are using their tax-free savings accounts to try to reduce their economic vulnerability to the oil price and also, in some cases, to their pending unemployment.

Meanwhile, the Liberal government is refusing to help get our petroleum products to seawater ports so we can export our products to our customers who are waiting and wanting to buy our products. When that happens, unemployment climbs. We are seeing that right now.

Any family that is not suffering significant loss of jobs is looking to save whatever amount of money it can. Families are saving now for the coming hard times they know will happen under the Liberal government.

The Liberals have promised numerous budgetary deficits that will expand our nation's debt and ultimately lead to higher taxes. In other parts of Canada, places not yet suffering from the downturn in the oil patch, some Canadians are still managing to put money into their retirement funds.

Many Canadians are saving as much as they can. Many Canadians are simply trying to park their savings, because they know that the downstream effects of the current downturn in Canada's energy sector will soon hit them in their pocketbooks.

We found out just a couple of days ago that Japan adopted a negative interest rate policy. Now where money is being held in the bank, it is now looking at ways of taxing it. In an uncertain climate there, people are sitting on their savings.

The loss in federal revenue from the oil patch in the coming years is going to affect Canada. Make no mistake, it will affect how the Liberal government will operate. It will affect how the Governor of the Bank of Canada sets rates. It will affect all Canadians, in the rural parts of Canada, in big cities, and in the remote areas of Canada.

Already, after three or four months, Canadians have no faith that the government will help the people in business in Canada's once-prosperous sector. They know about the coming hard times their families will suffer during the failure of the Liberal plans. They know they will see massive amounts of tax dollars that the federal government does not have being spent on misguided efforts, job creation efforts, and token attempts at diversifying local economies. The way the Liberals will deliver on those is yet to be seen. We are still waiting for a budget.

All I know is that Canadians are disappointed with a lack of action from the government. Many Canadians know that the Liberal government is in serious trouble. Based on Finance Canada's estimates, the new Liberal tax plan amounts to an average of an $6.34 per week for those individuals who qualify. Canadians feel betrayed; $6.34 to the middle class, and yet taxing those who are job creators.

We know this small tax break is not enough to stimulate our economy. Nor will throwing money at the middle class stimulate growth and innovation. It does not help create jobs. We have not seen anything from the government that is going to help with innovation, investing back into companies, or anything that is going to help create jobs.

Our Conservative government reduced taxes more than 140 times. This modification to the income tax rate that the Liberals are bringing forward is not significant tax relief and it comes with a high price tag in deficit financing. The policies of the government will be economically destructive. We know it will be for many decades down the road.

The Minister of Finance has already conceded that this tax plan is not revenue-neutral. In Bill C-2, it will plunge the Government of Canada further into deficits and debt. I guess that is what the Liberals deliver on. This is debt that will eventually put our social programs at risk, a debt that our children and our grandchildren will have to pay off. This bill fails.

Consequently, in representing my constituents, I will be voting against Bill C-2.

[Fayçal El-Khoury, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Madam Speaker, I am puzzled. The member says that this government is attacking those who have higher revenue and that this will disrupt the creation of jobs. The opposite is true. He knows very well that our massive investment in green infrastructure, in technology, and in social housing is what will stimulate the economy and create jobs. That is exactly what this government will do.

[Kevin Sorenson, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Madam Speaker, we have an oil sector that is reeling under added environmental red tape. We have an oil sector, one of the largest contributors to our economy, struggling under a New Democratic Party in Alberta. We have a sector that is the job creators. The hon. member tells the oil sector that it should not worry about it, that the government will invest in green energy. That is not much solace for the people who are left with house payments and are now on the unemployment line.

That is wonderful. The former government invested in that, as well. However, I guess it is the Liberal way to turn its back on the gas and oil sector, the energy sector, and say, as the member said, that it will invest in green energy and social housing to help people when they are unemployed.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Madam Speaker, I welcome my friend back. I very much echo his sentiments and words to our families and supporters who enable us to be in this place and to speak on behalf of the good people in our constituencies.

It is somewhat ironic to hear Conservatives criticize and lecture Liberals about running big deficits and debts. The Conservatives left government having run more than $150 billion in the hole and all we got for it was a loss of half a million manufacturing jobs in Canada. Canadians will continue to pay that bill for a while.

He has some notion or obsession, as the Conservatives did, around the doubling of the TFSA. It was commented on by Joe Oliver, the former finance minister, because we know that doubling balloons the cost to government by multiple billions of dollars within 15 years. When asked, the former finance minister said that it was not for us to worry about, that it was for the prime minister's granddaughter to concern herself with. The former finance minister sometimes struggled with metaphors. The point is that to suggest that we throw the cost down to future generations is a responsible thing for government to do seems the very opposite of the definition of “conservative”, that they should only pay as they go. This is coming from a government that broke with its own traditions and ballooned the debt. Maybe its tradition is to balloon the debt as was done under Mulroney and others.

How can the Conservatives possibly attempt to make this the point of the dagger when arguing against the Liberals? Is the projected debt the Liberals are going to run not high enough, or is it—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

Order, please. The hon. member for Battle River—Crowfoot.

[Kevin Sorenson, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Madam Speaker, from 2006 to 2008, the Conservative Government of Canada paid down the national debt, paid down just under $40 billion. We lowered the GST. We lowered taxes so investors knew that Canada was the place to do business.

In 2008, the world went into the largest recession since the Great Depression. Around the world governments were investing in infrastructure and stimuli. Our government did the same. With great pride, we invested in infrastructure in our cities and rural areas. Although the member talks about unemployment, 1.1 million net new jobs were created from 2009 to 2015.

It was a massive recession worldwide. It did not start in Canada or begin because of what happened here. However, the government responded.

With respect to the tax-free savings account, we all know, including the finance minister, if we read his book, that the third pillar of pension funds and personal investments for their pension and that is what we need to improve. That was why we brought forward the tax-free savings account. That was why we brought forward the pool registered pension plan. That was why we brought all these measures forward. Through CPP, OAS and GIS, that pillar is strong. We want to ensure—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I want to remind members that if you want to participate, you are to stand up to ask the question and to be respectful when someone else is speaking. I could see that there were many people who wanted to ask questions, so I would remind people to try to keep your questions brief, as well as the answers.

Resuming debate, the hon. member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Madam Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to rise on this occasion as the member of Parliament in the 42nd Parliament of Canada. The people of Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke have my sincere gratitude for giving me the honour and the privilege of being their representative in this sixth consecutive election.

Now that the election is over, I renew my pledge that I never forget the people who made this possible, the good people of Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke. They can be assured that I will continue to fight for the issues that they tell me are important. As always, I am their servant.

There are many individuals to whom I owe a great debt of gratitude for the confidence they have placed in me, for their hard work, and for the long selfless hours they put in to build a winning streak that has become our standard for successful campaigns.

For the many newly elected MPs who are not aware of the history, the Ottawa Valley became the eastern beachhead of democracy in the year 2000. That marked the beginning of meaningful change as Canadians entered the 21st century, and from the period 2006 and on, a period that will be fondly remembered as the good old days of responsible leadership while today's Conservatives take a short break from government.

I extend my heartfelt thanks to our entire campaign team, my spouse Jamie, and the many hundreds of volunteers who demonstrated what a truly grassroots campaign Ottawa Valley style is really all about.

Before I begin my comments regarding Bill C-2, I want to make it fundamentally clear that the Conservative Party I am proudly a member of stands for lower taxes and less government interference in the daily lives of Canadians. The best anti-poverty program is a job. We do not create employment by taxing, borrowing, and spending more than we can afford.

My constituents support lower taxation. They sent me to Ottawa to reduce government and to fight for lower taxes. Bill C-2 is about a misleading campaign promise that was presented to a distracted public as reducing taxes at the expense of raising taxes for others, when in fact all this does is raise taxes for everyone.

In the case of this so-called middle-class tax cut, it was claimed during the last election that taxes would be reduced on the middle class by asking the wealthiest Canadians to pay more. Canadians have since learned that higher taxes for the wealthiest Canadians will not begin to pay for this campaign promise that is the basis of the legislation before us today. The promise was made without even the most superficial analysis. It was made to get elected.

More from the wealthiest does not go far among the rest of the population. The middle class will end up paying for its own tax cut, plus the interest on billions borrowed to cover the tax change, and to cover successive deficits that were promised by the Liberals, a promise they intend to keep, and more, and that should be meant to be broken.

The mark of Liberal generosity is with other people's money. Deficits are just deferred taxes, which is our children's financial inheritance. The irony is that ample evidence shows that government loses revenue when it targets individuals who can afford to pay for avoidance, including by moving their financial affairs to places like Bermuda, which was the tax haven of choice of the last Liberal prime minister before the current occupant.

The legislation before us today, being introduced as the first finance bill in the opening session of a new Parliament, and before the federal budget, when these tax measures could easily have waited to be included in the next federal budget, is intended to fulfill a signature campaign promise. I get that.

It was former Ontario Conservative Premier Mike Harris who set the bar when it comes to keeping one's election promises, so I understand that a political party does not want to be accused of lying to get elected, which is what a government is doing when it breaks its promises. For the Liberal Party, it would seem, then, that there are two types of campaign promises: those made to get elected and those meant to be broken.

I actually had an individual who worked for a major Canadian chartered bank tell my office that he believed that once elected, the Liberal Party would do what it had always done and break election promises it had made to appeal to those confused between election promises made to get elected and election promises made to be broken. He could not believe that the Liberals would attack the middle class by tampering with TFSAs, which, in his professional estimation, were better than RRSPs as a savings instrument, particularly for seniors, and certainly for young families aspiring to be middle class and saving for their first home.

If the debate about Bill C-2 is actually about helping the middle class, there are many other campaign promises that should be broken.

A measurement of a vibrant middle class in a society is home ownership. A recent study by the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis has identified those under the age of 45, families with two income earners, who cannot find affordable housing without a long commute as being those most under pressure.

I know a dual-income family in Toronto where both spouses are lawyers, and they are shut out of the housing market, where a starter, fixer-upper home costs $1 million in the neighbourhood where they rent.

TFSAs are being used by young families to save for their first homes. Housing is a need, just like food or water, and if we need it, there is a greater and greater pressure on us to get it, regardless of the cost.

What is occurring at the moment in places like Toronto and Vancouver is not sustainable. The fear in places like my riding of Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, in eastern Ontario, is that eventually, the dream of home ownership that has died in the big cities will start to die in areas like ours, smaller local areas, and that rising taxes, electricity costs, transportation, and other big city problems will also contribute to barriers to home ownership locally.

Take away the dream of home ownership in Canada and we take away the middle class. It is no secret in Ontario that this province is struggling because of a misguided energy policy that has caused the exodus of jobs, fleeing some of the highest electricity prices in North America, to U.S. border states. Lower electricity prices will spur economic activity. Lower energy costs are good for consumers and manufacturers.

Where there was once a burgeoning middle class based on blue collar manufacturing jobs, the decision, in the words PMO principal secretary Gerald Butts puts in the mouth of the Prime Minister, to transition away from manufacturing jobs has cost the middle class dearly in Ontario.

I urge members of the Liberal caucus and the rest of Canada to pay attention to Ontario's problems. The same people who ran the corrupt McGuinty provincial government have fled the sinking provincial ship and are now backroom operators in Ottawa, and they promise to take the entire country down the same deficit-spending, tax-the-rich, let-them-eat-cake attitude that is so toxic in Ontario today.

Focus on the one thing that would really improve the economy and help the middle class: create employment. Avoid the incessant talk about the environment. The greed energy act in Ontario, which was brought in under the guise of helping the environment, caused the loss of tens of thousands of jobs, of good-paying jobs, in Ontario's manufacturing sector.

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Niagara Centre, ON]

Madam Speaker, I thank the member for a speech that I am sure we are all going to remember.

The current government will strengthen the middle class. We made ourselves very clear during the campaign and in the comments made today. It will benefit nine million more Canadians, who were abandoned by the previous government.

In tandem with these investments, our government would invest in infrastructure and the economy. It would therefore create jobs and new economies and would sustain this and future generational assets by contributing to municipalities the needed funds, which would offset property taxes and water and sewer rates for the middle class. In tandem with the cuts we are speaking of within the bill, we would also be contributing to the economy with residual benefits for other levels of government to offer those savings to the middle class.

How would the member come up with ideas to contribute to overall middle-class savings and more prosperous times for the nine million middle-class Canadians who were abandoned by her government?

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Madam Speaker, our Conservative government left a surplus, and in less than a month, on his very first road trip to the UN, the Prime Minister spent more than double that surplus. What Canadians have seen is a spend-crazy Prime Minister who has spent through the first surplus in his first days of government.

The contortions we hear from the government benches about the deteriorating condition of finance in Canada makes them worthy of the circus this Parliament will become if we do not start having an adult conversation about the economy, minus the selfies.