Lynne Yelich

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, May 30th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all remaining questions be allowed to stand.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, May 30th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, if Questions No. 249 and No. 250 could be made orders for returns these returns would be tabled immediately.

[Government Response to Petitions, May 30th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to four petitions.

[Child Care, May 30th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, for the seventh time now, the NDP has run away from this disastrous child care bill, a bill that it called its number one priority. However, this is no surprise because the bill would hurt every investment in child care implemented by this government. It would take choice in child care away from parents and from provinces. It would scrap the $2.4 billion universal child care benefit that arrives every year for two million children. It would put an end to the creation of more than 60,000 new child care spaces announced by the provinces.

I would run away from—

[Business of Supply, May 29th, 2008]

Mr. Chair, in my riding of Blackstrap, there is a concern with the rising cost of food around the world. As the minister noted, Canadians can be proud that of all the developed countries in the world Canada has been the third largest contributor to the World Food Programme over the last two years. In fact, I know it is this government's compassion for the less fortunate that has guided the minister in her portfolio.

On the topic of food aid, the minister has received a number of positive comments from organizations and individuals. Oxfam stated:

Canada is already one of the most generous donors to the WFP, and we are very pleased that Canada continues to show leadership to the world in responding to humanitarian crises as they arise.

It was the member for Esquimalt—Juan de Fuca who pointed out, after the minister's most recent food aid announcement, that:

The untying of aid is a good decision on the part of the government. Untying aid enables the World Food Programme to be able to get the best bang for the buck.

The executive director of the World Food Programme said:

This generous contribution by Canada will help protect millions of children from severe malnutrition and hunger.

I know the minister touched on the silent tsunami in her speech but I wonder if she would elaborate on what she has witnessed first-hand as she has travelled to some of the world's hardest hit countries.

[Business of Supply, May 28th, 2008]

Mr. Chair, I want to thank the parliamentary secretary for the answer and for applauding my work. My work was not easy when we had the Liberal finance minister, who was from Saskatchewan, in power. It has been great since the Conservatives have taken over and taken power. It has been even sweeter since the NDP has been out of the province.

The finance minister has provided over $1 billion in tax relief for Canadian seniors and pensioners, including doubling the pension income credit amount to $2,000, increasing the age credit amount to $5,066 and introducing pension income splitting.

In budget 2008, he announced another important tax measure for Canadian seniors regarding life income funds for which many of my constituents have long been asking.

Could the minister, in the time remaining, please update the House on the status of these two important issues?

[Business of Supply, May 28th, 2008]

Mr. Chair, it is a great pleasure tonight to rise and speak to the main estimates and about what this Conservative government is doing to effectively manage Canada's economy. Under the leadership of our Prime Minister and finance minister, we have taken many important steps to improve the quality of life for Canadians over the last two years.

My remarks and my eventual questions to the finance minister will deal specifically with the tax-free savings account.

It is clear to Canadians that this government is taking a very different approach than the Liberals. Their Liberal vision for the economy simply repeats the same broken tax-and-spend and tax again mantra of the 1970s, along with a dangerous addiction to uncontrolled spending and reckless deficit spending.

It is a tax-and-spend philosophy that is leading the Liberals to call not only for a huge hike in the GST but also for what many have stated could be the single largest tax increase in Canada's history. The Liberal leader's new regressive carbon tax represents a huge tax increase for all Canadians. It is a tax increase that each and every Canadian will feel at the pumps, at the grocery store and each and every time they heat their home.

What is worse is that these tax hikes will have the most negative impact on low income Canadians, such as seniors living on fixed incomes.

With the potential Liberal GST hike and the new carbon tax, Canadians are being threatened by a Liberal government that will reach deeper and deeper into their pockets with a regressive, punitive tax that will directly cause the price of everyday items to increase.

For instance, as farmers see their costs escalate, the result will be higher food prices. Large purchases such as a new home or a new car would skyrocket to such new heights that they would fall out of reach for some. Indeed, the prices of everything we make or buy would jump.

Both the manufacturing and the shipping of products are tied to gas prices, making the cost of the products that we export more expensive and thus less attractive in many markets. This would create a huge disadvantage for Canada's manufacturing sector, a disadvantage that it simply cannot afford at this time.

Our Conservative government disagrees with the Liberals. We believe that Canadians should be allowed to keep more of their hard-earned dollars and to spend those dollars on what is important to them and their families.

That is why we have provided historic tax relief and cut the federal tax bill for families and individuals by $140 billion. This includes lowering personal income taxes and chopping the GST by two points.

We also believe that the federal government should undertake measures to assist Canadians to save, helping to make it easier for them to invest in their retirement or make those larger purchases of life, such as a new home.

In pursuit of this objective, budget 2008 unveiled the creation of the landmark tax-free savings account.

It was a little over 50 years ago on March 14, 1957, that then finance minister Walter Harris, a lawyer from southern Ontario with a record of balanced budgets and who ran for the leadership of a major political party in Ontario, stood up in the House of Commons to announce a new tax plan to help Canadians save.

At that time, the initiative was greeted with polite applause and passing interest as a measure mainly aimed at assisting those without workplace old age benefits to retire comfortably. From its humble beginnings, the registered retirement savings plan would go on to become an indispensable part of fiscal planning for every Canadian.

And for that, along with his military service in World War II, we thank and we pay tribute to Walter Harris. In the city of Oshawa today, the Walter E. Harris Public Elementary School bears its name in his honour.

Now let us fast forward to the present day and another lawyer from southern Ontario, another finance minister with a record of balanced budgets and another politician who has run for the leadership of a major political party in Ontario.

On February 26, 2008, our current finance minister, the member for Whitby—Oshawa, would stand in the same chamber Walter Harris did over half a century ago to announce the single most important personal savings vehicle since the RRSP of 1957.

Described by the C.D. Howe Institute as a “tax policy gem” and by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business as an “inspired measure”, the tax-free savings account will allow Canadians to set aside money in eligible investment vehicles and watch those savings grow tax free for a lifetime.

The tax-free savings account can be used to purchase a new car, to renovate a house, to start a small business or for retirement. In other words, this is tax-free money for what matters to individual Canadians.

An important feature of the tax-free savings account is that Canadians from all income levels and all walks of life can benefit. Starting on January 1, 2009, Canadians aged 18 and older can save up to $5,000 every year in a tax-free savings account.

While contributions will not be deductible for income tax purposes, investment income, including capital gains, earned in the tax-free savings account will not be taxed, even when withdrawn. Funds can be withdrawn from the savings account at any time for any purpose, tax free.

Naturally, not everyone is able to save each and every year. The new savings account is flexible, allowing for a lifetime of savings. Those who cannot contribute $5,000 in a given year will be able to carry forward their unused contribution room to future years. In addition, Canadians may want to use their savings and the full amount of withdrawals, to be put back into the tax-free savings account in the future.

The Liberals across the floor must like it because this is the quietest they have been all evening.

We believe that within the next 15 to 20 years over 90% of Canadians will hold all of their financial assets in tax-efficient savings vehicles, either through existing tax-deferred plans or this new savings account. This is a significant achievement as our population grows older, and it will provide a lasting legacy for the generations that follow.

Couples often save and plan together, so Canadians can contribute to their spouse's or common-law partner's tax-free savings account depending on the spouse's or partner's available room.

Some people ask how the tax-free savings account is different from the RRSP. The basic difference is that an RRSP is intended primarily for retirement. We might say that the tax-free savings account is like an RRSP, but for everything else in our life.

The benefits of saving in a tax-free savings account are evident. Because capital gains and other investment income earned in the tax-free savings account will not be taxed, the person contributing $200 a month, for example, to a tax-free savings account for 20 years will enjoy additional savings of $11,045 compared to saving in an unregistered account.

And the tax-free savings account provides benefits for seniors. It will provide seniors with a tax-free savings vehicle and meet ongoing savings needs, something seniors have only limited access to once they reach age 71 and are required to begin drawing down their registered retirement savings. Seniors are expected to receive one-half of the total benefits provided by this savings account.

One of the best features of the tax-free savings account is that there is no impact on income tested benefits. As our government did with the GST cuts, we have taken the interests of low income Canadians into account.

There will be no federal clawbacks resulting from the tax-free savings account. This means that neither income earned in a tax-free saving account nor withdrawals will affect eligibility for federal income tested benefits and credits such as the guaranteed income supplement and the Canada child tax benefit.

For people with low and modest incomes, this will improve incentives to save. In fact, it is estimated that in the first five years over 75% of the benefits of this savings account will go to individuals in the two lowest income tax brackets.

In closing, Canadians will benefit from this in many ways, but perhaps more importantly, it provides Canadians with the ability to start saving early for future needs. It is not a surprise that Canadians are excited. In my remaining time, I would like the finance minister to speak to the reaction that he has heard on this fine initiative.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, May 16th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I ask that all remaining questions be allowed to stand.

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, May 16th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, if Question No. 201 could be made an order for return, this return would be tabled immediately.

[Questions on the Order Paper, May 16th, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, the following questions will be answered today: Nos. 235 and 243.