Jim Flaherty

[Questions on the Order Paper, October 27th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to supporting a strong and sustainable forestry sector by continuing to position Canada as a leader in new forest technologies, products, and markets.

What is more, we understand the importance of private woodlots to Canada’s forestry industry success and sustainability. That is why our government provided $100 million over four years to establish the next generation renewable power initiative to support the development, commercialization and implementation of advanced clean energy technologies in the forestry sector. This initiative, announced in budget 2010, will help create a more sustainable forestry sector while contributing to Canada’s global leadership as a clean energy producer.

Indeed, the Forest Products Association of Canada welcomed this and other forestry-related initiatives in budget 2010, declaring “from a forest industry perspective, the government has its priorities right: investing in green jobs of tomorrow… The next generation renewable power initiative leverages the industry's ability to make a significant contribution to Canada's vision of becoming a clean energy superpower. This is a win for the environment, economy and the next generation work force”.

Budget 2010’s forestry-related initiatives built on our government’s strong record of recent support for the forestry sector, including: $1 billion for the pulp and paper green transformation program to incent pulp and paper mills to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and become leaders in the production of renewable energy from biomass. This will position mills to improve their competitiveness and create and sustain jobs; $80 million for the transformative technologies program that is administered by FPInnovations, a not-for-profit forest research institute that focuses on the development of emerging and breakthrough technologies; $40 million for the Canada wood, value to wood, and North America wood first programs to help forestry companies to market innovative products internationally; $10 million to support large-scale demonstration of Canadian-style use of wood in targeted off-shore markets, and non-traditional uses of wood in domestic markets; and $40 million to develop pilot-scale demonstration projects of new products for use in commercial applications.

Furthermore, Export Development Canada has provided close to $30 billion in financial services to Canadian-based forestry companies since 2008 and the Business Development Bank of Canada has provided $300 million in loans to Canadian forestry companies over the same period.

Woodlot owners also specifically benefit from numerous tax measures that recognize woodlot owners' special circumstances.

If the woodlot is managed as a business, woodlot owners benefit from cash basis accounting, which allows woodlot owners to claim an immediate deduction in respect of the purchase of goods and the cultivation of trees which will not be consumed or harvested until later. This creates a tax deferral advantage where the woodlot owner is effectively able to deduct such expenditures against income from other sources.

If the woodlot has been managed in accordance with a prescribed forest management plan, woodlot owners also benefit from a deferral of capital gains tax when a woodlot is transferred to a child.

If the woodlot is not managed in a businesslike manner, woodlot owners may benefit from capital gains taxation rates on the harvesting of trees.

[Bank of Canada, October 27th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the Bank of Canada must follow the conflict of interest guidelines for its employees and I am assured that it has done so in this case.

[Bank of Canada, October 27th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the Bank of Canada makes its own hiring decisions. The bank is obliged to follow the conflict of interest guidelines. The person in question has severed his ties with the private sector.

[Government Spending, October 27th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, this is how much respect the Liberal finance critic has for taxpayers' money. He said neither the Liberal caucus nor the Liberal Party “has ever encountered a problem that they did not believe to be best solved by throwing copious quantities of taxpayers' money at it. They are tax and spend-aholics”.

That is what the Liberals are. They are tax-and-spend Liberals who will drive this country into deficit in a structural way.

[Government Spending, October 27th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the member, who is the finance critic for the Liberal-led coalition, when asked whether he would repeal the GST reductions in Halifax said, “Absolutely yes”. That is the party that would raise the GST by two percentage points and whose leader describes himself as a tax-and-spend Liberal.

We do not need any lessons from the Liberals about spending in Canada.

[Government Spending, October 27th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, as members know, the IMF and the OECD praise this government and the fiscal situation that Canada is in: the best fiscal situation in the G7. This hypocritical point that the member opposite raises, after voting for the economic action plan in the best interests of the country, and to stand here now and say that the stimulus plan has not saved hundreds of thousands of jobs is outrageous.

[Bank of Canada, October 27th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the Bank of Canada makes its own hiring decisions and is obliged to follow the conflict of interest guidelines.

I can add that the person in question has severed his ties with the private sector.

[Bank of Canada, October 27th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, the Bank of Canada makes its own hiring decisions and is obliged to follow the conflict of interest guidelines.

[Pensions, October 26th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, we are committed to ensuring of course that Canadians have the best retirement income system possible.

We have talked and listened to Canadians carefully. Pension jurisdiction in Canada is shared by the federal government with the provinces. In fact, the federal jurisdiction is only about 10% of pension plans in the country.

We continue to work together and we are working toward the next meeting of ministers of finance in December.

[The Economy, October 26th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's economic action plan is getting results, more than 420,000 net new jobs since the end of the recession. Both the IMF and the OECD project Canada to have the strongest growth in the G7 over the course of this year and next, applauded by the OECD and applauded by the IMF.

Finally and very importantly, may I applaud the new mayor of the great city of Toronto, Rob Ford.