Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise today in support of our government's bold and responsible economic action plan 2012 and, in particular, Bill C-38, also known as the jobs, growth and long-term prosperity act.
Budget 2012 sets out a prudent and long-term plan to ensure the future prosperity, health and retirement security of all Canadians. I would like to take this opportunity to highlight a few of the many provisions of budget 2012 which are particularly important to the people I represent in the city of Mississauga.
While budget 2012 includes dozens of important new measures to create jobs and growth and ensure long-term prosperity, the budget is also remarkable for what it does not do. What it does not do is raise taxes. Unlike the budgets of many of our largest trading partners, such as the United Kingdom, our government is not raising taxes on hard-working Canadian families, seniors and job creators. We are, in fact, keeping taxes on individuals and job creators to the lowest levels in over 50 years.
Not many years ago, Canada had the unenviable reputation of having some of the highest personal income tax and business tax rates in the industrialized world. Those punishing rates of taxation had the effect of driving business investment and jobs out of Canada and penalizing workers and families.
Since 2006, our government has reduced taxes through measures such as the GST by 2%, targeted tax relief for families, workers and small business people, and introduced income splitting for seniors. By reducing the federal corporate tax rate to 15%, we have made Canada a very attractive place to invest and create jobs. This rate compare favourably to business tax rates in the United States and Europe.
Through these measures, we have reduced the federal tax burden on the average family by $3,100 each and every year. The money saved through these tax reductions is providing Canadians with more choice, enabling them to save more for their children's education and their own retirement, and to care for their families and pursue their dreams.
Our government is committed to keeping taxes low. We know that the world is an increasingly competitive place in which to create jobs and conduct business. In addition to keeping taxes low and ensuring that our workers have the best education and skills, our government understands that in order to succeed, Canadian businesses need to innovate.
Mississauga is home to some of the most technologically advanced and innovative companies in the world. Our government has made significant investments in the University of Toronto, Mississauga campus, and the new Mississauga campus of Sheridan College, through the infrastructure stimulus fund. These investments will ensure that our young people and older workers have the knowledge and skills to create the world-leading technologies, services and innovations of the future.
I am pleased to see that, through budget 2012, the government is taking further action to support innovation in Canada. For example, we are providing $400 million to increase private sector investments in early-stage risk capital and to support the creation of large-scale venture capital funds led by the private sector.
We are providing an additional $100 million to the Business Development Bank of Canada to support its venture capital activities; an additional $110 million to the National Research Council to double support to companies through the industrial research assistance program; $95 million over three years and $40 million per year thereafter to make the Canadian innovation commercialization program permanent; $37 million to the granting councils to enhance their support for industry and academic research partnerships; and $500 million over five years to the Canada Foundation for Innovation to support advanced research infrastructure. These measures will help to foster scientific research, innovation and commercialization.
Our government also understands that most Canadian jobs are created by small and medium-sized enterprises. These businesses are nimble and efficient. They employ millions of young and new Canadians in places like Mississauga.
In addition to reducing small business tax rates to the lowest levels in decades, our government is continuing to support small business in budget 2012, by investing $205 million to extend the hiring credit for small business to help small businesses defray the costs of hiring new workers.
The budget also provides an additional $50 million over two years to the youth employment strategy to assist more young people in gaining tangible skills and experience. Last year alone, this investment helped 70,000 Canadian youth gain valuable work experience and skills training.
One of the most intractable issues for new Canadians is the struggle to have their foreign credentials and work experience recognized in Canada. Our government tackled this issue in 2009 by providing funding to develop the pan-Canadian framework for the assessment and recognition of foreign qualifications. Budget 2012 identifies six more occupations including physicians, dentists, engineering technicians, licensed practical nurses, medical radiation technologists and teachers for inclusion in this process. This process would allow many more foreign-trained doctors to qualify to practise medicine and begin to care for the tens of thousands of Canadians who are searching for a family doctor. I am proud that our government is making real progress on this issue.
Our government has made historic and unprecedented investments in Canadian infrastructure under the building Canada fund, the permanent municipal gas tax fund and the infrastructure stimulus fund. Mississauga has received substantial funding of important infrastructure projects under these funds. Budget 2012 would additionally provide $150 million over two years for a new community infrastructure improvement fund to support repairs and improvements to existing community facilities and $105 million to support VIA Rail Canada's operations and capital projects. People in Mississauga will benefit greatly from the creation of Canada's first national near-urban park in the Rouge Valley in the GTA.
We are all aware of the global concerns regarding the size of sovereign national debts and relative national fiscal capacity. We have witnessed the turmoil in Greece and draconian measures required in many European countries to put their fiscal houses in order. Canadians know that our economic and fiscal fundamentals are relatively strong. They also understand that governments, like households and businesses, must balance the books. That is why our government is committed to returning to balanced budgets at an appropriate rate as the economy continues to recover from the global economic crisis. Our government is not reducing transfers to persons, including those to seniors, children and the unemployed or transfers to other levels of government in support of health care and social services. In my view, the modest reductions in operating expenses set out in the budget are necessary, reasonable and responsible.
As members know, politicians and governments are continually criticized for short-term, myopic thinking. Canadians want us as legislators to foresee future problems and devise plans to protect our prosperity against the negative impact of those long-term liabilities. In budget 2012, our government is looking more than 10 years down the road and putting in place today pragmatic measures to protect the retirement benefits of future generations. These are not easy decisions to make but they are prudent and, in my view, they are the right decisions for Canada. Budget 2012 charts a bold, visionary and safe course for our nation's future. It is the right plan for the people of Mississauga and it is the right plan for Canada.
For all of these reasons, I urge all of my hon. colleagues in this chamber to support Bill C-38.
