Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time this afternoon with my friend and colleague who I sit with on the Standing Committee on Finance, the member for Hull—Aylmer.
Before I begin my formal remarks, I want to discuss the concept of pensions in Canada. I had the pleasure of working in downtown Toronto for a number of years. I have an economics and finance background. I sat on the CICA user advisory council panel, which is the chartered accountancy panel, and provided continuous feedback for a number of years.
I also was a pension analyst at a ratings agency. I helped put together the annual study on pensions in Canada, how solvency ratios and pensions were performing, and what the coverage ratio was. With respect to pensions, we noticed over a number of years that the defined benefit pension plans of many firms were becoming fewer and fewer for various regulatory and economic reasons.
It was this government, under the current finance minister, the member for Toronto Centre, who, working with the provinces, achieved an enhanced Canada pension plan. The prior government was unable to achieve that in 10 years. This is important. If we look at the Canada pension plan, it is transferable, indexed to inflation, people can move it from one job to another, it goes to all Canadians, and it is actuarially fully funded. It was our government, under this minister, that achieved that result. That is remarkable. That speaks not only to the character of the finance minister, but to him as an individual. He understands complex issues with respect to finance and economics based on his career. It also speaks to his ability to bring the provincial and territorial ministers around the table to reach an agreement for an enhanced CPP that will benefit millions of Canadians today and tomorrow. It will benefit my children and all of the children in this entire country. We should be proud of that.
When we talk about pensions, I know that members have thrown about words like “defined contribution plans”, “hybrid plans”, “target benefit pension plans”, “RPPs”, and “RRSPs”. We will have that debate. I would have that debate all day if I need to, with everyone here, all my colleagues. However, when it comes to the facts and substance, it was this government that sat down with the provincial and territorial finance ministers and got the job done. We need to be proud of that.
Before I go into my formal remarks, I had the pleasure to host the finance minister this summer in my riding of Vaughan—Woodbridge. We had a great tour of an apprenticeship program. We met with the carpenters union in my riding. We had a tour of its facility and saw the great work its members are doing in Ontario and across the country. We also had a chance to meet with the local business owners. We heard the praise from local business owners about what we are doing for the economy, how we are investing in infrastructure and the middle class, and creating good jobs that will provide the benefits for my kids and for future generations. That is the finance minister I know, a finance minister who cares deeply about what is going on in our economy and about the future of all Canadians.
I am pleased to rise today in the chamber to speak on the recently concluded consultation that our government undertook regarding tax planning using private corporations. However, before I speak about our plan to make our tax system fairer, I would like to talk about what has brought us to this point.
Since we formed government about two years ago, we have always been clear about our priorities. We said that we would strengthen and grow the middle class. That is why our first priority was to make our tax system fairer by raising taxes for the top 1%, so we could cut them for nine million Canadians, providing over $20 billion of tax relief over a four-year to five-year period. That is why we introduced the Canada child benefit, the CCB, lifting hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty and making a difference for millions of families across this country. By investing in our people and our communities, we have made important strides toward a fairer Canada, a better Canada.
Today the Canadian economy is resurgent. Everywhere we look there are positive indicators that tell us that the wind is in our sails. Since the fall of 2015, 400,000 new jobs have been created, most of them full time. That is a great thing. Our economy is now growing faster than any other G7 country.
However, we know that as our economy grows, we need to ensure that all of the benefits of economic growth that accrue are given to every Canadian, so that all Canadians feel they have a stake in this economy and this country, and that their standard of living is rising. All Canadians, not just the wealthy few, should experience the benefits and opportunities that come with an economy that is firing on all cylinders. Therefore, we cannot be indifferent when we find instances within our federal tax system that give some people an advantage and that others cannot access—