François Lapointe

[The Budget, June 9th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for Vancouver South mentioned pension indexing on several occasions, saying that we should support the budget based on this issue. I would like to describe a simple scenario. A lady that I know quite well skips a meal every once in a while to save money, like many seniors in Canada. The help given to her through the indexing proposed by the Conservatives would allow her to perhaps buy a coffee or an apple instead of completely skipping a meal. If someone were to visit this lady, they could tell her that this indexing will allow her to have a coffee instead of lunch. I would like the hon. member to tell me that is the right thing to do for her.

[The Budget, June 9th, 2011]

Madam Speaker, our colleagues across the floor, the Conservatives, talk a lot about the notion of “hard working” and people who work hard. When I met several hundred small- and medium-sized business owners, it became clear that they are definitely the ones propping up the economy. Giving tax breaks to big banks is not going to prop up the economy. The owners of SMEs work very hard and they are tired. They work 16 hours a day.

Our platform included a measure to give them huge support for job creation. We talked about $3,000, $4,000 or $5,000 to allow them to create jobs and hire people, so they could consider the possibility of taking a few days off this summer. Furthermore, this kind of initiative is not very costly for the public purse, because it creates jobs and ultimately, those people will pay taxes within two or three years' time.

I would like to know how my hon. colleague can justify to small- and medium-sized business owners in his riding the fact that this government has not launched a massive hiring assistance program and is instead giving banks and oil companies tax breaks once again.