Joe Oliver

[Small Business, September 15th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the newly elected member for Fort McMurray—Athabasca.

He is absolutely correct. Small business is vital for creating new jobs. That is why our new small business job credit lowers their employment insurance payroll taxes by 15%, and saves them $550 million over the next two years. Ninety percent of all companies, 780,000 companies, will benefit.

Unlike the opposition, we believe in putting more money into job-creating ventures.

[Employment Insurance, September 15th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud of what we did with small businesses, which are the generators of employment in our country.

Over 90% of small businesses, of all businesses, would benefit: 780,000 businesses and $550 million over the next two years. This is precisely what we want to do: create more jobs for Canadians from coast to coast to coast.

[Employment Insurance, September 15th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party claims to support small businesses, but it is opposed to the idea of them saving over $550,000.

It is quite remarkable that the Liberals would actually stand to talk about this issue, having raised EI premiums to $60 billion, turned it into a slush fund, and then used it for purposes other than for which it was intended.

[Taxation, June 17th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, KPMG concluded that Canada remains the most tax-competitive country in its study, with total taxes more than 46% lower than in the United States. Thanks to our low-tax plan, more businesses are investing in Canada. We have over one million new jobs since the recession.

In contrast, the opposition wants to increase taxes on business, which would hurt the Canadian economy, kill jobs, and undermine our competitiveness.

[Employment, June 9th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, it is rich for the NDP to be criticizing our government's record on job creation. New Democrats voted against every job-creating measure that our government has put forward, including freezing EI rates, providing certainty and flexibility to employers and employees, tax cuts for manufacturers to purchase new equipment and expand their operations, and $70 billion in stable and predictable job-creating infrastructure.

The NDP would instead introduce crippling new taxes on Canadian businesses and put a carbon tax on everything.

[Employment, June 9th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the member opposite is misinformed. One of the reasons the unemployment rate went from 6.9% to 7% was that more people were entering into looking for jobs. It is the exact opposite of what the member opposite asserted.

The fact is that we have an excellent job record. Individual months will vary, but the trend is clear. We are on the road to achieving our budgetary surplus. Our forecast for increased growth is continuing, and employment will continue to increase.

[Employment, June 9th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said many times, our government has achieved more in terms of job creation than other G7 countries. We lost 600,000 jobs, compared to eight million in the United States; we have recovered that and added more than 400,000 more, to a net total of more than one million.

We are doing better than most other countries. We are very proud of that performance, which is based on the sound fiscal policies of this government.

[The Economy, June 9th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, our government is on track to achieve a budgetary surplus. We have created more than one million jobs. Our debt is half that of the average of the G7, and we will continue to responsibly advocate for tax cuts for Canadian families and for hard-working Canadian workers. We will also be responsible, as we have promised, to freeze EI payments.

[Consumer Protection, June 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, I actually didn't expect to be quoted at length by the New Democrats, but I am pleased to hear that they are listening to my words. I wish they would listen to many of the things that I have already said in the House about economic growth and about low taxes.

The fact is the banking system has an ombudsman, an independent ombudsman. The banks themselves have their own ombudsperson as well to protect investors. Then of course there is recourse to the courts. Canadian bank customers, including the seven million who are getting free banking, are going to be well protected.

[Consumer Protection, June 4th, 2014]

Mr. Speaker, we have a robust ombudsman for banking and financial services in place. It is objective, it is less costly, it is less contentious, and it works. In fact, it works in the vast majority of cases. It is a system that is the envy of the world, and it protects banking customers and investments.