Mr. Speaker, I heard the member say that never have we seen a government invest so much and receive so little, or at least he could not remember a time.
I can certainly remember a time. It was the former government. The Conservatives were renowned for saying that they were doing so much but were actually doing nothing. That was obvious in our communities. I remember being mayor of Kingston, and John Baird showed up, because they did not have anyone to come to Kingston, so they said, “Let's send a Queen's grad. That must mean something”. He showed up and dragged our municipal politicians to a bridge owned by the federal government just to announce that it was going to be repainting the bridge. It was taking care of its assets.
This government is actually investing in things that matter. It is building new infrastructure networks to grow our economy to see Canada develop and become a nation that can effectively trade and have new commerce opportunities.
The member opposite talked about an environment for businesses to thrive. This government lowered the small-business corporate tax rate to 9%. This government announced in the fall economic update measures to allow businesses to depreciate assets not only over a shorter period of time, but in some cases, in the year in which the expense is made. That is about creating an environment. For the member to stand up and say that this government is not creating an environment for businesses to thrive is disingenuous at best.