Jim Flaherty

[Economic Action Plan 2013 Act No. 2, October 28th, 2013]

That is nonsense. That is not true.

[The Economy, October 28th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I understand the hon. member might not believe me, but she ought to believe the economists, several of whom spoke publicly after our meeting this morning and all of whom agreed with the economic projections of the government. They have agreed we have moderate, steady growth. They have agreed we have produced more jobs in Canada since the end of the great recession than any other G7 country.

I do not know where the member has been, but she has not been in Canada, obviously.

[Finance, October 23rd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the purpose of the proposal, which will have to be legislated and get the approval of the House, is to ensure that in normal economic times governments do not run the country into more public debt. What we have seen over the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s under former Liberal prime ministers is an accumulation of public debt that is massive, and we are going to pay it off.

[Finance, October 23rd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, of course, it would be a foreign concept to my friend opposite to talk to him about balanced budgets.

Let me say this. We had a balanced budget—

[The Economy, October 23rd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I have an agreement with the Bank of Canada about the use of extraordinary measures.

[The Economy, October 23rd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, I do not know why the hon. member opposite would ask the same question again. I do not suffer from amnesia, although I have some health problems.

I thank the hon. member for her question. We have a Canadian position, our own situation in Canada, and we are fortunate, in my view, because of solid economic management, which one would expect me to say, that we are not in need of such a remedy.

[Finance, October 22nd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the first question was whether the government intends to introduce balanced budget legislation and the answer is yes.

The other question was to the effect of what it would mean. Normal times are times when the government is not in deficit. This government is getting back to normal times after the great recession, the largest recession since the 1930s. We will be back in balance in 2015 and then we will keep it balanced. Governments will be expected to keep it balanced in Canada.

[Finance, October 22nd, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, it has been called different names. The most recent one was monetary accommodation. Before that, it was called quantitative easing. It is still printing money, and it still means that the next generation will pay for it, and I am not in favour of that.

[Financial Institutions, October 21st, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, we are working, as we said in the Speech from the Throne, to require more disclosure to consumers on transactions, especially on exchange fees, which are a significant challenge.

I met with the Consumers' Association of Canada. We have had further discussions on the subject. We think that there are some improvements that can be made, but we have already required clear and simple information on credit card statements, we have banned unsolicited credit card cheques, we have ensured prepaid credit cards never expire, and more.

Unfortunately, the NDP voted against each and every one of these measures.

[Financial Institutions, October 21st, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, our government believes that Canadian consumers deserve to know the real costs when they pay either with debit cards or credit cards. Given all the aspects—the consumer groups, the industry, the retail groups—it was not easy, but we came up with an agreement, an accord.

It seems to me that voluntary is better than forced when Canadians can come together and come to an agreement, including the consumer groups, and it is working.