John Manley

[Taxation, June 4th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I would be very pleased to meet with Ms. Marois and to discuss the fiscal situation in Quebec and in the other provinces.

The provinces have the same ability to raise taxes as does the federal government. It is up to her to decide on the level of taxes and spending in the province of Quebec.

[Infrastructure Program, June 4th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I hope to have cabinet approval shortly for both the strategic infrastructure program and the border infrastructure program so that we can begin to deal with local authorities on appropriate projects.

I want to assure the hon. member that I consider the situation at the Windsor border to be one of the critical issues that needs to be dealt with in both the areas of border and strategic infrastructure. It is the place at which 25% of our trade crosses. We will be looking at it and we need the support of local authorities to do so.

[National Revenue, June 4th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, as I said, we will look very carefully at it, but as the hon. member knows, the provinces themselves are in the habit of collecting overpayments whether they occur on welfare, workers' compensation or other payments to their citizens. These things happen occasionally and it is regrettable, but nevertheless it needs to be dealt with.

To suggest that this is a pattern of mis-administration when each year's accounts had been audited by the auditor general is quite an exaggeration.

[National Revenue, June 4th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member will know that the auditor general released her report on those years in which the overpayments occurred just yesterday. We are going to look carefully at her report and give it the consideration that it deserves prior to taking any decisions with respect to the overpayments.

[The Economy, June 4th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, if I have not taken a decision on whether I will visit the finance committee in June, I clearly have not taken a decision on when the next budget will be. The member will find out in due course, but I do want to acknowledge his invitation to seek opportunities to draw to the public's attention the excellent economic performance that we have had.

I know that yesterday the markets were very stable. We have seen confidence in international markets in this government. The opportunity to appear before a delegation of international bankers to draw to their attention our excellent economic performance was certainly welcomed by me.

[The Economy, June 4th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I know that the member wants to be precise in his terms and therefore I am sure he will agree that the financial update has always been given in the fall.

I have not taken a final decision on whether I will appear before the finance committee before the end of June, but he should know that the results we are seeing, particularly looking at the first quarter of this year, are more positive than we were expecting, quite frankly. I think Canadians will be pleased by those results.

[Housing, June 4th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, it is a little hard to understand the point. I thought that in the first question she was criticizing us for signing the agreement with Ontario which will see $245 million of federal money flow to the province of Ontario for affordable housing. In addition, that money will be matched by provincial and municipal funding, doubling the amount that is available to deal with the shortage of housing in Ontario.

We have come a long way since last fall with the increased funding for affordable housing and homelessness. This of course will not solve every problem in the country, but it is a very important step forward in dealing with those critical problems in Canada's cities.

[Housing, June 4th, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, we have made great progress in working with the provinces and the municipalities in dealing with some of the urban needs. Many of these were indicated in the Prime Minister's task force on housing.

That includes $2.05 billion in the Canada infrastructure program. We have $2 billion in the strategic infrastructure program, $600 million in the border infrastructure program, $783 million approximately in the homelessness program. Between homelessness, affordable housing at $680 million, and infrastucture, we have made substantial contributions to the needs of municipalities. We will continue to do so.

[Cabinet Ministers, June 4th, 2002]

I will quit my job at Tim Hortons.

[The Economy, June 3rd, 2002]

Mr. Speaker, I have never believed that. What I can say is that we do know that tax rates have been sharply decreased in Canada. Again, I was very happy in the speech today to be able to underline the comparative advantage that our tax rates give us in relation to those rates that exist in the United States, both capital gains rates and corporate tax rates, as well as personal tax rates.

We now have a competitive advantage in Canada. That will continue.