House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 59% of the vote.
Natural Resources February 17th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, two weeks ago, Denis Coderre was not speaking for Quebeckers when he opposed energy east. According to a new poll, Quebeckers consider pipelines to be the safest means to transport oil. Fifty-nine per cent would prefer to buy their oil from western Canada.
The Atlantic, the west, Ontario, and now Quebec support energy east. Will the Prime Minister understand that and support that project for Canadians?
Natural Resources February 17th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, a new poll released yesterday showed that the vast majority of Quebeckers support transporting oil products via pipeline. Furthermore, 59% of Quebeckers would rather purchase oil products originating in western Canada.
My question is very simple. Ontario, the Atlantic provinces, the western provinces, and Quebec all support the energy east project. Will the Prime Minister finally get behind it?
Finance February 16th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, I am disappointed because this government has already broken three important promises it made to Canadians and future generations. This government is in denial. The Liberals do not want to acknowledge that they are borrowing money at the expense of future generations. They do not want to admit that they are spending money that they do not have and living beyond their means. They believe that they are going to create wealth by spending money they do not have. Actually, it will be business people who create wealth by making investments.
Will this government stop being stubborn and balance the books as quickly as possible for the benefit of future generations?
Finance February 16th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister celebrated his first 100 days by spending more money that he does not have, specifically $319 million on young people. It is an entirely hypocritical gesture, since those same young people will be forced to pay for this deficit spending in the very near future.
Will the Minister of Finance keep his promise and make sure he does not put future generations in debt, and will he ensure that our young people can live within their means and not put them into debt with future taxes?
Taxation February 4th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, middle-class Canadians need Liberal governments to get out of the way and not raise their taxes. That is simple. If it keeps raising taxes, there will be less revenue and fewer jobs.
When will the finance minister realize that taxing Canadians is not a solution for prosperity in this country?
Taxation February 4th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, yesterday, we learned that after campaigning on a tax increase for the province's well-heeled citizens and then raising their taxes, the Liberal government in New Brunswick is realizing that this is not working and that the government coffers are bare. You cannot create wealth by raising everyone's taxes.
Why is this government being so stubborn? Why is the Minister of Finance bent on raising Canadians' taxes?
Business of Supply February 4th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, the member is absolutely right that the Minister of Finance has the responsibility of being transparent to the House and also to tell us the truth. We asked him what the deficit would be, and he said that the end of the fiscal year would be in a couple of weeks from now and that he could not answer that simple question.
As a member of Parliament, usually in the past when we were asked that question and the former minister received a question like that, we were very transparent with Canadians and the numbers were there.
However, what is amazing right now is that the minister does not want to look at the facts. The facts are the facts: the Liberals received a surplus of $1.1 billion from the former government, and now they are trying to say no, no, it is not a surplus. It is a surplus and maybe we will have a deficit because the minister does not want to act and the Liberals cannot control spending, which is the most important thing.
Business of Supply February 4th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, my colleague, the former parliamentary secretary to the minister of finance, just confirmed to me that this is one of the first times in Canadian history that the Standing Committee on Finance is not conducting public consultations across Canada. It is now conducting consultations over the Internet. That is all well and good, but it is also important for parliamentarians to question people who appear before the committee. It is very disappointing to learn that the Standing Committee on Finance did not come together to hold consultations. There was no committee meeting, no report. Parliamentarians did not get a chance to talk to stakeholders, which is very disappointing.
Business of Supply February 4th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, I will share my time with my colleague, the member for Battle River—Crowfoot. I thank all the members who are in the House today to debate the motion before us, which is on an important subject.
I am disappointed to see that my government colleagues and my New Democrat colleagues are planning on voting against this simple motion, which thanks public servants for their independence and expertise in conducting a financial analysis of government data.
We commend their expertise, because last November, they confirmed that for the period from April 1 to November 30, we left a $1-billion surplus to the current government.
I was disappointed to hear the Minister of Finance say earlier that it was, in fact, a deficit. Facts are facts and truth is truth: at the beginning of November 2015, the government inherited a $1-billion surplus from the previous government.
What did the Minister of Finance do with that surplus? He claims to have done an economic update, and with some economic growth projections, he will end up with a deficit at the end of this fiscal year.
What we are telling the Minister of Finance is that he has the power and all the freedom he needs to balance the budget by March 31 because the government does not have a revenue problem—it has a spending problem.
The minister is in charge of spending. When the economic update came out in November, the government could have made decisions to ensure that the surplus it inherited from the previous government would still be a surplus on March 31. It could have made the tough decisions that needed to be made instead of putting future generations in debt.
During the election campaign four years ago, we told Canadians that we would balance the books by 2015. We had to make tough choices and major decisions to do that. We also told Canadians that we would not balance the books on the backs of the provinces by cutting transfers. We also told Canadians that we would not balance the books by raising their taxes. We did not raise Canadians' taxes; we actually reduced them.
We also told Canadians that we would look in our own backyard and continue to control our spending in order to balance the budget. As the former minister of small business and tourism, I had to make some tough decisions and, yes, make cuts in my department. All of my cabinet colleagues had to do the same thing, in order to ensure that we would not leave structural deficits for future generations.
We did our job, and I am proud to have reduced the small business and tourism budget by 20%. On a percentage basis, that was the largest cut made by the government of the day, although, certainly, that department's budget is quite small. Nevertheless, it was still 20%. That was money that the Canadian Tourism Commission used to promote Canada abroad and bring visitors to Canada. Despite that 20% cut, the commission was efficient. It maintained its promotion programs abroad and changed its way of doing things. It did as we asked; it was very thrifty and found ways to save money.
The people at the Canadian Tourism Commission, now known as Destination Canada, did a good job, and the statistics are there to prove it. The numbers for 2015 show that there was a 10% increase in international visitors as compared to 2014. The commission continued to hold targeted advertising campaigns in various countries, including the United States, India, and European countries. Tourism increased even though the commission's budget was smaller. The commission was able to make that happen within its budget. There was also an 8.4% increase in international visitors as a result of the investment that the commission made. I trusted the managers at the Canadian Tourism Commission to make the right cuts and to use the money they had to promote Canada in order to continue to attract international visitors. That is what they did.
All my colleagues from other departments did the same thing. We kept our promise to Canadians and we can be proud of the $1-billion surplus that we delivered last November.
I am very disappointed to see that this government plans to stimulate the economy by spending money that we do not have. Canadian families know that, when they are strapped for cash, they should not start spending more and living beyond their means. They know that, in times like that, they have to make tough choices, cut back on their spending, and save for a rainy day. They are responsible people.
What does the government do when times are tough and economic growth is at only 2%, 3%, or 4%? It says that it is going to spend to stimulate the economy, when its credit card is already maxed out.
A maxed-out credit card means that it is time to start repaying debts. That is what the government should be doing. It should be leaving money in the pockets of Canadians to stimulate the economy. That will help them spend more and allow entrepreneurs to invest. Instead, the government is taxing Canadians, and future generations will have to pay off that debt.
Today, while the interest rate is quite low, 10¢ out of every dollar that Canadians pay in taxes to the Government of Canada is used to pay the interest on the debt. However, everyone knows that the interest rate will go up in a few years because it is at a historic low. It cannot remain artificially low. When it increases, the cost of the interest on the debt will be even greater to the government. The cost could increase to 12¢ or 15¢ out of every tax dollar.
Today, the interest the government pays annually on the debt represents the entire budget for the Department of National Defence. That is a lot of money. That is why the government needs to manage this responsibly, continue to have a balanced budget, avoid burdening future generations with debt, and certainly lower taxes. Parliamentarians are not the ones who create wealth. Canadian business people create wealth.
Let us help entrepreneurs to be productive by lowering their taxes, signing free trade deals to help them export their products to other countries without tariffs and quotas, and by cutting red tape. There is still quite a bit of inefficient federal red tape. Entrepreneurs end up spending more time filling out government forms than doing what they do best, and that is working for themselves and creating wealth and jobs.
Let us not forget that since people who create wealth have to pay taxes, this also helps the Government of Canada. Government spending is not going to stimulate the economy, but fiscal responsibility and lower taxes will.
As I only have two minutes remaining, I will close by saying that the current Minister of Finance's approach has failed around the world. Consider Greece, which failed to stimulate the economy by spending. Today it is bankrupt. We do not want structural deficits, but that is where the government is headed. This year's deficit will exceed the estimated $10 billion, and a deficit will be posted next year and the year after that. We will have to live with structural deficits, which will hurt the Canadian economy.
I encourage the minister and the government to vote in favour of the motion and to adopt a responsible economic policy.
Business of Supply February 4th, 2016
Mr. Speaker, it is only today that the Minister of Finance is telling us that he was handed a surplus by his officials, as well as a $1 billion surplus by our former government last November. He then prepared his economic update.
When he prepared his economic update, those same officials told him that if he did not do something, there would be a deficit by the end of the fiscal year. The minister chose to do nothing, because he controls spending. He may not control revenues, but he does control spending and he could have closed out the fiscal year with a surplus.
Therefore, the deficit at the end of the fiscal year is his responsibility. When he was preparing his economic and fiscal update with his officials, despite the numbers presented to him, he chose to do nothing and did not make the cuts needed to have a surplus.
We, the Conservatives, left him with a surplus last November. He did nothing and now we are heading toward a deficit, which is his fault. He cannot point the finger at Canada's economic situation, because he controls spending. The Treasury Board controls spending. If the minister had wanted it, he could have had a surplus at the end of the fiscal year.
I have a question for the minister. Why burden future generations with debt? I would remind him that the government does not invest money, it spends money. Business people invest money. The government is currently spending money that we do not have at the expense of future generations, saying that we should take advantage of the low interest rates to borrow money.
The minister does not seem to realize that interest rates are at a historic low and that they will go up. As things stand, 10¢ out of every dollar that Canadians pay in taxes is used to pay the interest on the debt, a sum that represents the entire budget for the Minister of National Defence.
We have to stop increasing the debt and start balancing the budget for the good of future generations and the economic prosperity of the country.