House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2011, with 58% of the vote.
Automotive Industry November 26th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, the question posed relates to the availability of credit. As the member will know, in Bill C-50, which the opposition for the most part voted against, we provided the Bank of Canada with additional powers in order to provide liquidity in the system. We have also taken some extraordinary steps as a government in the past number of weeks to ensure adequate liquidity in the system so that not only can credit be available, but that it can be available on reasonable terms.
Finance November 25th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I know an NDP government would want to run the banks in the country, which would be some day for Canadians if we had the NDP running our banking system.
We encourage and insist on competition in financial services in Canada, as I wrote to the federally regulated financial institutions last week. There are more than 200 of them on the RIFF issue.
There is lots of room for Canadians to decide whether their particular financial institution is giving them a good deal or not and I encourage them to shop around.
Finance November 25th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, fortunately, we not only have the soundest financial system in the world, according to the World Economic Forum, we also have competition. We have banks with different interest rates. We have credit unions and caisse populaires in the same business. I encourage Canadians to shop around for the most favourable interest rate.
The Economy November 25th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, fiscal discipline is an oxymoron coming from a Liberal member. In the last year when the Liberals were the government, 2004-05, they increased spending by 14.5%. Now they come to this place and talk about responsible spending. They do not know the meaning of the words.
The Economy November 25th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, Canadians expect the government to be fiscally responsible. Therefore, we created the expenditure management system. We are looking at every expenditure, every program, every initiative of the Government of Canada and the Government of Canada's agencies. We started that work last year.
We are going to add to that work a review of corporate assets of the Government of Canada with the same test, that is, does the asset or program still fulfill a need for the people of Canada or does it not? That is simply responsible government that Canadians expect of their government.
The Economy November 25th, 2008
As I say, Mr. Speaker, we acted in advance in 2006-07 with these various measures.
The member opposite should not talk down Canada. Our car sales are up in Canada. Our home business is solid. We even had one of the Canadian banks yesterday do an equity issue in Canadian markets successfully. That is how solid our system is.
I call on the hon. member to stand up for Canada and stop bad-mouthing Canada.
The Economy November 25th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, let me comment on and explain what we have done in terms of tax reform in the country.
The GST reduction is permanent. The income tax reductions are permanent. The business tax reductions are permanent. Some more tax reductions come into force next year in 2009. This is a permanent stimulus to the Canadian economy, not temporary like the Americans have done.
I urge the hon. member to stand up for Canada and vote in favour of some of these measures.
The Economy November 25th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I know the member opposite should be aware of what we did because he was here in the House last year and he voted against it. Now he talks about stimulus for the Canadian economy.
Where was he when we were voting on the GST reduction to leave more money in the hands of Canadian families? He was here and he voted against it. Where was he when we were reducing taxes for small businesses to stimulate the Canadian economy? He was here and he voted against it. Where was he when we were reducing personal income taxes? He was right here and he voted against it.
That is 2% stimulus, much more than the Americans have done, much more than the other G-7 countries have done so far.
The Economy November 25th, 2008
In fact, Mr. Speaker, our government has made record expenditures in the area of science and technology. We have a science and technology strategy. These types of spending programs will continue because they are a stimulus to the economy, just as our tax reductions are a stimulus to the economy.
We will stay on track there because we want to protect Canadians, Canadian families, individuals and businesses, through this time of serious economic downturn.
The Economy November 25th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate some of the suggestions that have been put forward in the proposals brought forward by the Bloc. As I say, I hope other members in the House and other parties in the House will similarly bring forward constructive suggestions.
We will review all suggestions as we prepare budget 2009.