House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2000, with 51% of the vote.
The Budget February 19th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, there have been cuts in several tax measures. We have cut $100 billion over five years, including cuts in EI rates.
We have now reduced the EI premium rate for the tenth time. Next year and in 2005, there will be a totally transparent process for setting the rate for the following years.
The Budget February 19th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, there are many things in the budget for ordinary Canadians, for children living in low income families and children with disabilities. We have developed a program to help those who must look after seriously ill parents, children or family members.
I think that Canadians will benefit greatly from the measures introduced yesterday.
The Budget February 19th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, one of the functions of government is to make choices and we did make choices yesterday. The largest single increase in any departmental spending was in the defence department. An $800 million increase was made in a department that was receiving about $12 billion a year.
I only take from the member's intervention that he suggests that less money should be given to poor kids and more money should be given to the military. Less money should be given to the environment and more money should be given to the military. Less money should be given to health care and more money should be given to the military.
The Budget February 19th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, I think once again the hon. member has a strange view of the Canadian Constitution.
What we have done is we have established over the last nine years a practice of investing in municipal infrastructure with the cooperation of the provinces and municipalities. In doing that, we have set the bar for provinces to make the necessary investments that they should be making in the case of municipalities which are clearly within their jurisdiction.
What we have seen in each province is a response to that, which has seen the money we have put in leveraged again and again into increased projects that would otherwise--
The Budget February 19th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, only the NDP pretends that $3 billion is a pittance. Not only that, it is an investment on top of the $5 billion that was in the last two budgets for infrastructure, all of which is not yet spent. It is on top of the money that we have put into housing, increased in this budget. It is on top of the money that we have put into children living in poor families, most of whom live in cities. It is on top of the money that we have made available for projects related to climate change, much of which will benefit people living in cities and there is more.
The Budget February 19th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, I consulted with people across Canada, in every region.
And what I heard from these Canadians were the priorities that we chose: health care, children, especially in low-income families, the environment and climate change. These are the investments that we made, an innovation. And we responded directly to what the public wanted.
The Budget February 19th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, I am glad the hon. member raised the question of employment insurance premiums.
When the Liberal government was elected in 1993 the premiums were $3.09 and scheduled to go up to $3.30. Instead, nine consecutive times we have reduced employment insurance premiums. The 10th time was yesterday when we set a premium rate for next year of $1.98. That is progress in employment insurance.
The Budget February 19th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, I just wish to draw to the hon. member's attention that the difference in tax paid by a typical two earner family of four with a combined income of $60,000 this year is a saving of $1,395, a saving of 24%. For a one earner family of four with $40,000 in income, it is a saving of 44%. Those are the ordinary Canadians. That is the tax relief they are experiencing.
The Budget February 19th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, there are a billion examples like that because the result of the reallocation exercise is a reallocation of spending of $1 billion in 2003-04.
The Budget February 19th, 2003
Mr. Speaker, he is wrong. Personal income tax cuts have been implemented and they continue to be enjoyed year after year by Canadians.
Unlike the Leader of the Opposition, I spent the last several months hearing from Canadians about what they wanted to see in the budget and I can tell him that we responded to that. We responded to their demands to see more money for health care, more money for children living in poverty, more money for homelessness, more money for affordable housing, and more money for the environment. Those are the priorities of the government.