Joe Oliver

[Employment, November 5th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP has been voting against every job creation measure for youth that we have put forward. They include: investing $330 million per year through the youth employment strategy; supporting more paid internships for our recent post-secondary graduates; helping young entrepreneurs, as I mentioned, by investing more in the Canadian Youth Business Foundation; and more.

The opposition would introduce crippling new taxes, which would kill all the job prospects for youth and all Canadians.

[Employment, November 5th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, Canada will remain one of the G7 countries with the lowest rate of youth unemployment.

Since 2006, our government has helped six million young people acquire skills, training and employment. The economic action plan will help young people learn skills and help young entrepreneurs.

[Manufacturing Industry, November 5th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the government is focusing on what is important to all Canadians: jobs and economic growth.

More than 1.1 million net new jobs have been created since the recession. The IMF and the OECD both predict that Canada will be among the G7 economies with the strongest growth in the coming year. The economy is in good shape.

[Consumer Protection, November 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure why the NDP members are opposed to a 10% reduction in credit card fees. This is promised by Visa and MasterCard, which represent over 90% of the market. Let me quote from the Retail Council of Canada. “[T]his is an important first step towards ending the escalation of credit card fees”, according to Diane Brisebois, chief executive of the council.

This is a very good measure.

[Consumer Protection, November 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, these commitments represent a significant reduction for merchants, and, we hope, for consumers too.

The government is very much supporting the agreement and the CFIB applauds the end of the credit card arms race. It said, “Canada’s small business community is hailing new commitments that could bring an end to ever-increasing credit—

[Taxation, November 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, single-income families will benefit from the new family tax credit. The increased and expanded universal child care benefit will benefit every family with children under six and families with children from six to under 18. There will also be an increased child care expense deduction, and of course, there is the doubling of the children's fitness tax credit. Every one of the more than four million families with children will benefit from these great measures.

[Taxation, November 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, again, it is a question that is based on a false premise.

Every single family with children under 18 will benefit from these tax breaks. The majority will go to low- and middle-income families. Also, 25% of the benefits will go to families earning less than $30,000. The average cash in their pockets will be more than $1,200. This is a very progressive measure.

[Taxation, November 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, we are providing, through our family tax plan, benefits to over four million families. The NDP and the Liberals would rather give funding to large bureaucracies. Every family with children will have more money in their pockets to spend on their priorities as a family. These benefits are widespread and the large majority will go to low-income families.

Our government is fulfilling its promise to balance the budget. We are now in a position to fulfill our promise to help Canadian families balance theirs.

[Taxation, November 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, that was such a grab bag of questions. Let me focus on the issue of youth unemployment, which was raised.

Under our Conservative government, Canada will continue to have one of the lowest youth unemployment rates in the G7. Since coming into office, we have helped 2.1 million youth obtain jobs, training and skills. However, we recognize more has to be done, and under our economic action plan 2014, we will help young Canadians get the skills they need for in-demand jobs, help young entrepreneurs start more businesses and support paid internships.

[Seniors, October 29th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, our government has, over the years, reduced taxes for Canadians to the point where they are lower than they have been in the last 50 years. We will continue in this next budget, because we are expecting a surplus, to reduce taxes further for hard-working Canadian families, including seniors.