House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2011, with 45% of the vote.
Victoria Harbour May 14th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, if the member from Vancouver Island had talked to her colleague, the New Democratic member for Victoria, she would know that I have worked with her very closely on this issue.
In fact, it is not the Government of Canada that makes this determination. It is both the city and the province. The one narrow area where the federal government is involved is with respect to the Navigable Waters Protection Act, and it is a very limited approval.
Taxation May 14th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, like the member for Wetaskiwin, I was shocked to hear the Liberals bragging about their sorry record. Let us look at their record with raising taxes. Between 1993 and 2000, Liberal governments increased taxes 63 times. Personal income taxes were increased 27 times. Business taxes were increased 23 times. CPP premiums were increased seven times.
After witnessing all of this from overseas, no wonder the self-described tax and spend Liberal leader wanted to come to Canada and raise taxes further. When he wanted to search for a team that could raise taxes—
Ethics May 14th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, our friend from Winnipeg Centre has certainly demonstrated why this week in Parliament in The Hill Times newspaper he was named the most quotable member of Parliament. I am very pleased on behalf of all members of the government caucus to congratulate the member opposite.
The Economy May 14th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, the real priority is to create jobs so that families can provide for themselves and increase their standard of living. Liberals know this only too well.
Let me read another quote, “Corporate tax cuts are one of the best strategies to attract investment and help manufacturers battered by the high Canadian dollar”. Who said that? It was the official spokesman for the Liberal Party on taxes, the Liberal member for Markham—Unionville. He was right then. This is one of the reasons that Liberal MPs should have been allowed to speak at their policy conference.
The Economy May 14th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, let me inform the member opposite of a great quote from a great thinker on tax cuts. He said:
Our leader has stressed...the importance of deeper corporate tax cuts as a primary means of achieving the investment, the rising living standards and the jobs, jobs, jobs that we all want for ourselves and our children.
Who said that? The official spokesman for the Liberal Party on taxes, the member for Markham—Unionville.
The Economy May 14th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, it is funny. The Liberal Party had a conference in Montreal, a policy conference, a thinkers' conference, but it did not allow Liberal MPs to speak. The Liberal leader would not allow his Liberal MPs to speak.
Had he done that, he would have heard some great quotes from the Liberal critic for finance, the member for Markham—Unionville, who has said in the past that corporate tax cuts create jobs, that cutting taxes on new investment is the best way to get the economy going. He was right then and he is right now.
The Economy May 14th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, our number one goal, our number one objective as a government here in Canada is to create jobs, to create more hope, to create more opportunity.
Just 15 months ago we came forward with Canada's economic action plan. One of the centrepieces of that is tax reductions, to make Canada a magnet for jobs, investment and opportunity. Just last month we got some good news that 108,000 jobs were created in this great country. There is no doubt that corporate tax cuts on the job creation sector was a major part of that.
Ethics May 13th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, the best way to handle this is to turn the matter over to an independent authority to be able to look into these allegations and make the best determination. That is the right thing to do. That is the appropriate thing to do. That is the ethical thing to do. As usual, the Prime Minister did the right thing.
Ethics May 13th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, there are so many falsehoods in that question by the member opposite that I do not even know where to begin to answer it.
What I can say is that serious allegations were brought forward to the Prime Minister. He did the right thing. He immediately referred those allegations to the relevant authorities so that they could determine the best way to handle them. That is an open and transparent and high ethical standard. The Prime Minister did the right thing.
Ethics May 13th, 2010
Mr. Speaker, in our parliamentary system of government, the Prime Minister makes the determination as to who has the privilege to serve the Canadian people as a member of the cabinet. This Prime Minister has set a high standard, both ethically and in terms of the professionalism, for the conduct of his ministers.
It is a great privilege to serve as a minister of the Crown and I think the Prime Minister reminded us all of this when he made recent changes to his ministry.