Jason Kenney

[Employment, February 4th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, sometimes the NDP's hypocrisy really is breathtaking. This is the party that demanded that we give permanent residency to every single temporary foreign worker in Canada, which would imply, by the way, doubling Canadian immigration levels. Canadians do not support that.

However, there are about 1,000 temporary foreign workers in Alberta with pending permanent residency applications who are about to fall out of status. We are just going to allow them to stay in Canada until a decision is made on their permanent residency applications, which is exactly what the NDP asked us to do.

Why can the socialists never take yes for an answer?

[Employment, February 4th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, our plan has resulted in one of the best job creation records. We have developed, with the creation of 1.2 million net new jobs, one of the best economic growth records of any of the major developed economies.

I do not know what the NDP is suggesting. Obviously we are all concerned for the employees of Target, but is the NDP suggesting that the taxpayers should subsidize this failed American retail outlet in Canada? We do not believe so. To the contrary, we believe we should continue reducing taxes to create economic growth and to create jobs rather than adopting the NDP approach of higher taxes, reckless spending, and bigger debts.

[Employment, February 4th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, as I said, we obviously continue to provide access to the employment insurance program and the training programs that we have enhanced.

We will soon be launching a new job bank that will better match unemployed workers with employers who are hiring. We are working with the provinces to ensure that training programs are better aligned with the labour market.

Ultimately, we must continue to reduce taxes in order to create jobs and stimulate economic growth.

[Employment, February 4th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, we are obviously all worried about the number of people who have lost their jobs with Target after two years of failure by this American company in Canada.

We have contacted employees to provide all the services they need, including employment insurance, obviously, training programs and job notifications.

We will continue to help unemployed workers while creating jobs with our low-tax policy.

[Employment, February 2nd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, our jobs plan has resulted in one of the best employment records in the developed world since the global downturn. I will give the House a couple of examples: 500,000 apprenticeship grants that we have delivered, totalling over $700 million; the apprenticeship job creation tax credit; the tradespersons' tools tax credit; supporting Red Seal harmonization across the country; the new job bank; job alerts; micro-loans for foreign-trained professionals so they can get their credentials recognized; the targeted initiative for older workers; enhancements in aboriginal training programs, and on and on.

[Employment Insurance, February 2nd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, the hon. member is absolutely wrong.

On the contrary, we continue to ensure that employment insurance is accessible to those who need it and have worked for a certain period of time.

In fact, 86% of workers who pay into employment insurance have access to the program, which means that the vast majority of those who paid premiums qualify for and receive benefits.

[The Economy, February 2nd, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is completely wrong, and he knows it, about that figure. He is also wrong, as the Liberal Party always has been, about taxes.

This government believes that allowing families to keep more of what they earn helps economic growth and helps job creation. The record is clear, which is why Canada has had one of the best economic growth records in the developed world since the global economic downturn and one of the best job creation records, with over 1.2 million net new jobs created.

If we followed the Liberal plan, with higher taxes, reckless spending, more deficits, and a growing debt, we would go in the wrong direction. We will not do that.

[Employment, January 28th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, the results are clear. Canada has one of the best job-creation records in the developed world, with the creation of some 1.2 million net new jobs since the global downturn. We of course regret when anyone loses a job, but the EI system is there for those individuals. In fact, 86% of unemployed people who have paid into the system access EI. We are working with the employees at Target to ensure that they get their claims treated in an accelerated fashion.

At the end of the day, none of those people would be helped by the NDP policy of higher taxes, reckless spending, and huge deficits, which is a recipe for jobs being killed, not created.

[Employment, January 28th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, we have given employers some breathing room by reducing their taxes to one of the lowest rates in the developed world. That is one of the reasons why about 1.2 million jobs have been created since the global recession.

We continue to lower the tax burden on small businesses, which are major job creators, by reducing EI premiums. We are making significant investments, through various employment funds, to help business owners provide more training, for example.

We remain focused on job creation.

[Taxation, January 27th, 2015]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Don Valley for his question and his support for tax fairness for families. The package introduced by our government of course will focus benefits, two-thirds of them, on low- and modest-income families. One hundred per cent of families with kids under the age of 18 will benefit, with an average benefit of nearly $1,200 a year. A family earning less than $30,000 will receive an average benefit of over $1,200. A single parent with two kids, earning $30,000, will receive over $1,500 in benefits.

This is one of the largest and most significant tax benefits for Canadian families ever. It will strengthen families. It will help parents with the cost of living. We are proud of our family tax cut.