Mr. Chair, keeping taxes low and supporting families has been a cornerstone of our low-tax plan for jobs and growth. Since 2006, our government has introduced significant broad-based tax cuts that have benefited Canadian families. For example, we have delivered on our commitment to reduce the goods and services tax to 5% from 7%. We have increased the amount that Canadians can earn without paying federal income tax. We have reduced the lowest personal income tax rate to 15% from 16% and increased the amount of income that individuals can earn before facing higher tax rates by increasing the upper limit of the two lowest personal income tax brackets.
We have introduced a tax-free savings account, which is an increasingly popular way for Canadians to save for their goals and their future.
Canadian families are also benefiting from the introduction of the child tax credit, the children's fitness tax credit, and the children's arts tax credit.
Indeed, Canadians at all income levels are benefiting from tax relief introduced by our government, with low- and middle-income Canadians receiving proportionally greater relief. Benefits for low- and middle-income Canadians delivered through the personal income tax system and support for families with children have also been increased and enhanced.
Our government has introduced the universal child care benefit, which provides $100 per month to families for each child under the age of six.
We have introduced and enhanced the working income tax benefit, lowering the welfare wall and strengthening work incentives for low-income Canadians already working while encouraging other low-income Canadians to enter the workforce.
We have increased the amount of income that families can earn before the national child benefit supplement is fully phased out and before the Canada child tax benefit base benefit begins to be phased out.
We have maintained the GST credit level while reducing the GST rate by two percentage points, translating into about $1.2 billion in GST credit benefits annually for low- and modest-income Canadians.
As a result of the tax relief provided by this government since 2006, more than one million low-income Canadians have been removed from the tax rolls.
Overall, this government has cut taxes for an average family of four by close to $3,400.
We have been able to accomplish all of this while still being frugal with taxpayer dollars by paying down $38 billion on the national debt before the recession, the lowest level in a quarter of a century. We have lowered the government debt to the lowest debt in the G7.
For the first time in Canadian history, the direct spending program has fallen for three consecutive years by over $5 billion since 2009-10, and we are freezing the government's operating budget again.
We are the only G7 country to have recovered all of the business investment lost during the recession. Moody's, Fitch, Standard and Poor's have reaffirmed our AAA rating, but there is more work to do. Of every government revenue dollar, 11¢ goes to service the debt. We are committed to reducing the debt-to-GDP ratio to 25% by 2021, ensuring that future governments will have to mind the taxpayers' dime as we have through the introduction of balanced budget legislation.
Most importantly, Canadians across the country can count on our Conservative government to keep their taxes low while continuing to examine ways to provide further tax relief for Canadian families.