Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to rise today to speak to budget initiatives that will have a positive effect on my constituents, the people of Compton—Stanstead in the Eastern Townships. Compton—Stanstead is a wonderful region that extends from Lake Memphremagog to Mont‑Mégantic. It shares a border with the United States and includes a good part of the city of Sherbrooke.
It is a very diverse region. I have travelled around my riding in recent weeks, and many people have had good things to say to me about the budget. They are very optimistic about this budget and they are grateful for what it will do for communities in our area.
Border communities are so close to the United States, and the people there are concerned about the economic uncertainty resulting from our relationship with the U.S. That is creating instability for businesses and for families living on both sides of the border. People really want to see initiatives that will make us a little less dependent on the United States. They want to see more economic activity in Canada and they want people who are still struggling with the inflation we have been experiencing in recent years to have a little breathing room. I think that, in this budget, people are seeing measures that will help us protect ourselves, become more resilient, increase our development and support the population.
That is what I am hearing back home, and I am happy about it. I am also very pleased with the investments made possible in my region. Businesses will be able to keep growing because of what is in the budget. For the next few minutes, that is what I want to talk about. I want to talk about investments that are important for our businesses, such as issuing government contracts, developing new markets, launching major projects and investing in the defence sector. For individuals, we have announced income tax cuts. We are also going to make it easier to access benefits, reduce certain fees and help improve access to housing. In addition, we are going to help municipalities invest in housing and infrastructure in collaboration with the Government of Quebec, of course.
In my view, this budget tackles current economic challenges while laying the foundation for the future. The goal is to become increasingly resilient and to be proactive in dealing with the challenges that will arise in the future, because we know that we are facing a profoundly changing and increasingly uncertain world. This calls for certainty and long-term projections. I think the investments in the budget will enable us to work for a long time and develop our economy, as I said earlier. With this budget, our government is choosing economic resilience, productivity and Canadian sovereignty.
I would like to begin by talking about people. The people in my region are very happy that we are cutting taxes for 22 million Canadians. For a couple, that is a saving of up to $840 with a simple tax cut on the lowest tax bracket. This is a measure that people back home are very happy about. It allows for some breathing room, so to speak, in budgets that are sometimes very tight. We are also going to eliminate the GST for first-time homebuyers on homes up to $1 million. Where I come from, this measure will benefit most first-time buyers. For many young people, this investment will make home ownership more accessible.
Unfortunately, my region is also one that has lost some of its vitality. In some places, there are larger pockets of poverty. We are going to make benefits automatic for lower-income individuals. This measure will target people who think they are not entitled to government benefits because, with no tax to pay, they do not file their tax returns. These people are missing out on important benefits like the Canada child benefit. They may be missing out on the Canadian dental care plan or seniors' benefits. Automatic tax filing will enable these people to receive financial benefits that will help them make ends meet.
We are also going to work to reduce certain banking fees. In some cases, we are seeing a rapid rise in banking fees. We are going to bring down some of these fees, a measure that will also be very welcome.
The mayor of Martinville will be very pleased to note that we are working on cellular connectivity. Michel-Henri Goyette is a key partner when it comes to cellular connectivity in the regions.
We are making investments, and we will continue taking action to expand cellphone coverage.
The CRTC says that 99% of Canadians are connected to the cellular network. That would mean that the other 1% all live in my riding. However, some of my colleagues from the regions might disagree. Everyone thinks their riding has that 1%.
In short, we must continue to improve cellular connectivity in the regions, and that is what this budget does. New steps are being taken to provide cellular connectivity to the people in my region. I see this not only as an economic issue, but also as a safety issue, because emergency services must have access to cell service in an emergency situation. It is also a simple matter of fairness between people in the regions and people in urban centres, who generally enjoy much better access to cellular services.
I would also like to talk about what this budget is doing for businesses. That is where the largest share of investment is going. I have had many telephone conversations with people from chambers of commerce and business owners who are very pleased with what the budget has to offer. This budget will really help them make investments to increase productivity through the productivity superdeduction. Businesses will be able to reduce or write off all of their investments right from the first year. This will make Canada extremely competitive with other G7 members because it already has a very advantageous tax regime in this area. Canada is enhancing its position through this accelerated investment incentive.
Many large projects have also been launched. Although no major project is coming to Compton—Stanstead, the investments will create opportunities for many small businesses in regions like mine that are located outside major urban centres to partner with projects associated with the large investments that will be rolled out in the coming years. This is somewhat similar to the buy Canadian policy. Ensuring that the Canadian government becomes the top client for Canadian businesses or includes them in its contracts will give local businesses access to this type of contracts.
The budget is doing the same thing with defence procurement. Procurement in general and defence procurement in particular will provide contract opportunities in regions like mine. I was with the Minister of Government Transformation, Public Works and Procurement just two weeks ago and we met with some 40 business representatives from the Eastern Townships, from large businesses like Cascades and BRP to many smaller businesses like PPD Group and Laboratoire M2. We discussed how to ensure that small and medium-sized businesses in the regions can avail themselves of these contracts. The discussions were very meaningful and rewarding for the entrepreneurs, who will be ready to participate as soon as the government unveils the contracts. Businesses will be ready to participate in and benefit from these investments, which will boost the economy and create good, well-paying jobs in my neck of the woods. That is great news for people in my riding. We had a great meeting.
Late last week, my colleague from Brome—Missisquoi, my colleague from Sherbrooke and I met with people from three niche manufacturing sectors that are very well represented in our region. They operate in what I would call “primary” sectors, namely rubber, textiles and electronics. We met with around 60 entrepreneurs from across Quebec, and the discussions we had with all of them were similar. The people on the ground say that they are very pleased with what the government is doing to support economic growth in our region.
I had a very fruitful discussion with the new mayor of Sherbrooke, who was my predecessor in this place. I want to take a moment to congratulate Marie‑Claude Bibeau on being elected mayor of Sherbrooke. I had an excellent discussion with Ms. Bibeau about the investments that the government plans to make to help the municipalities build housing and establish community centres and sports facilities.
There are some really significant investments. I hope we will reach an agreement with Quebec quickly so that money can go out to support the municipalities.
I believe that our budget will meet the needs of the people of Compton—Stanstead and people throughout the Eastern Townships. I look forward to the opposition supporting us in implementing the budget.