Mike Wallace

[The Budget, February 3rd, 2009]

The minister could be invited because money is coming from his department, so he can come, but we are asking another minister to come.

These are projects shovel ready and ready to go. This stimulus will work.

I am also excited about the southern Ontario development agency. This project will help stimulate the economy in southern Ontario over the next five years. It is much needed.

On housing, I often hear from people in my area about housing, and it is an important issue. As the GTA caucus chair, and in my own riding of Burlington, social housing has been an issue. We are spending $1 billion over the next two years on social housing and that money is being administered by CMHC. We are going to ensure that social housing renovations needed in our communities will happen. That is an important piece about which we have been hearing.

I have heard from others about green initiatives, that we are not doing anything green. That is not the case. There are $1 billion in a green infrastructure fund. If the projects have merit and they produce green results, they will be funded. We have $1 billion set aside to help develop green technology.

We have heard a lot about the home renovation tax credit. In my own riding, for example, Stats Canada did a report. It said there were about 50,000 homes in my riding. About 5% of them need repair. If we extrapolate that and if everyone does their work, taxpayers in my riding would save over $3 million in home renovations. Hundreds of thousands of dollars would be spent, stimulating the economy, on those renovations.

On the arts and culture side, I have been very active in the performing arts area, trying to develop a performing arts centre for the city of Burlington. That is happening. I am excited about the money we will spend on the arts. The other area from a local perspective is we have the Joseph Brant Museum. It is looking at expansion and it is getting ready to go.

In the action plan, the government has allocated $60 million over the next two years for local museums and local theatres. These are the kinds of programs that local groups and museums can take advantage of and make things happen for the community and stimulate the economy at the same time.

As a member of the finance committee and the finance team from the Conservative side, we had meetings with individuals before the budget was presented last Tuesday. The one thing I heard over and over again was that we needed to on the work share program. The work share program in the action plan adds 14 weeks to that program. For those who do not know, if a company reduces its workforce without laying people off, it can reduce the work week, pay employees for two or three days a week and the balance is done through EI. It is a great program and we are adding 14 weeks to that program to help companies get through these tough times and help those individuals who need those jobs.

We have reduced the taxes, which is one thing that has not been mentioned a lot. We are raising the personal amount from $9,600 to $10,320. Every taxpayer will get a tax deduction from their basic personal tax. It is money in their pocket that they can to spend to stimulate the economy. Let us be honest. What will happen is those who need the money most will take advantage of it the most. They will spend their money and that will be fantastic for their families and their communities.

I want to remind people that we are doing some work for seniors in the budget. We have added $1,000 to the age deduction for seniors. We have kept what was in the November economic update, which is the 25% reduction in the withdrawal requirements from RRIFs. It is not getting a lot of mention, but it is very important for seniors. In fact, it affects about 2.2 million seniors.

In summary, a friend of mine who is a writer and a very bright individual said in his book, “It is not what you do, but it is what you do with what you do”. In this action plan, what we are doing is making a difference for Canadians. We are not just sitting here doing nothing. We are taking action through our economic action plan. I ask everybody to consider that when it comes to the vote tonight.

[The Budget, February 3rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Simcoe North for sharing his time with me. I also thank the member for Chatham-Kent—Essex for sharing his desk with me for this speech.

Since the budget was presented last Tuesday, we have heard a lot about it over the last number of days. There has been a lot of discussions about specifics. My goal today is talk about the economic action plan that we will vote on later this evening. Based on the information I have, I assume it will pass and the government will be able to move on and deliver some of the important items in the plan.

As we all know, we are facing a very difficult time. The action plan documentation talks about what is happening in the United States in terms of its economic situation and around the world. Therefore, Canadians are not isolated in that sense. We have to meet the challenges that the rest of the world is facing from an economic point of view, and the action plan does that.

The action plan is very comprehensive. It covers a number of areas and a number of industries. It talks about people and how we will to deal with that. It talks about infrastructure. All those components put together make up an action plan that will make a difference and will be the stimulus that we and the people of Canada have looked for so our economy will move ahead.

As has been stated by other members of the House, and by the finance minister, we are in a pretty good position in comparison to our colleagues around the world. Whether it is the United States or the European countries, we are in a very good financial position. Our banking system is solid. There are some issues obviously that we need to deal with and that is what the action plan does.

I want to speak about a few things that perhaps have not received a lot of attention in the last week, but they are in the action plan. They are important, not just to me as the chair of the GTA caucus, but also the member for Burlington, which is an urban area in southern Ontario.

First, I have been actively promoting transit and municipal infrastructure since I came to Ottawa in 2006. This action plan deals directly with those issues.

There are $4 billion worth of infrastructure stimulus allocated in the budget. I do not want to just talk about the numbers. I want to talk about what it means to my community and the communities in the GTA.

We are facing a very difficult time in getting goods, services and people, the labour aspects, to and from work. The quality of life sitting on QEW is diminished every day as more and more people use their cars to get to and from work. The transit system is good, but it could be better. The moneys we have put forward in the infrastructure stimulus has a two year limit, so the money has to be spent and has to move. It is in partnership with our provincial counterparts. We also have the accelerated payments of $1 billion that have already been announced. These are important investments in infrastructure that will help both the municipalities and the transit systems, an area where we think that money should be spent.

We have heard from opposition members that the municipalities do not have the money. I can list quotes from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario or the Federation of Municipalities. They are all in favour of what we are doing.

I had consultations in my riding and as a member of the finance committee, we met every week prior to the budget being presented. We talked to different individuals and groups. We are talking about what we call shovel ready projects, projects that municipalities or the provinces are ready to move on. They have budgeted and approved those budgets. They are ready to go.

On occasion, we will hear from somebody from a municipality who perhaps would like something but it is not ready. That could happen in the future, but there are hundreds of projects across the country. In my riding I can name two or three projects that were approved last night in the capital budget. They are ready to go, ready to happen. They are shovel ready. In fact, I have a project that is coming up at the end of March—

[The Budget, February 3rd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member from the Liberal Party for his comments on the economic plan that has been set out in budget 2009. I appreciate that he will be supporting the budget later this evening, that he does recognize that there is movement forward, and that it is important to provide stimulus in the economy.

He made some interesting comments about EI. He thought that we have done some good things in terms of the work-sharing program and the extension of the benefits by five weeks, but he thought we could do more.

Maybe I am wrong, and I would be happy if the member could correct me, but my understanding is that when the Liberal Party was the government of Canada, the two-week waiting period was there and the mishmash of the different criteria that applied to different provinces was there. Why did members of the Liberal Party not fix it when they were in power?

[Canada-EFTA Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, February 2nd, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I was in my office listening to the presentations from my friends from the New Democrats. I welcome the member for Welland. To give them a little sense of my understanding, in the last two years I have done a study in the port of Halifax, Quebec City, Toronto, Hamilton and St. Catharines. I have been on the seaway. I have been on the Welland Canal. I have been to the port of Vancouver and I have been at the port of Prince Rupert.

This free trade deal is about a 25% duty that will be phased out over a 15-year period, not overnight. Nothing changes in the first three years and then it is a gradual removal over 15 years. If one looks at how much money the Canadian shipbuilders have invested in Norway over the last number of years, it is $16 million. It is like an oil change. One tanker is worth $130 million.

There has not been a tanker built in Canada for the Great Lakes system since 1985. Those skills have gone over there. However, we have a robust shipping business in our country. Our shippers need product that is more environmentally sensitive to be able to move product from A to B. It is a good deal for Canada and it is a good deal for us to have these free trade agreements with different parts of the country.

The members like to talk, and I hear it all the time, about a combined ACCA, or accelerated capital cost allowance, and a combined SFS to make it more economical for a shipper to buy a foreign ship. When I was in Quebec City, the biggest ship owner in Canada was there, and it had put out for purchasing. It could not get anybody to buy. It is paying the 25%, which cannot be financed. What difference does that make in terms of actual cost to a $130 million vehicle?

[Consumer Product Safety, January 29th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians want to know that the products they buy for themselves and for their children are safe.

Could the Minister of Health tell the House what action the government has taken to strengthen consumer product safety?

[The Budget, January 28th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the leader of the NDP talks about trust and confidence in the government and the motion in front of the House. I recall that during the election he talked about working together and making this place work. How does he let us know as members of Parliament that we have confidence and trust in him if he is one who will claim weeks before a budget is even presented that he will not support it without reading it? Where is the confidence on the part of members of Parliament and Canadians for a leader of a political party who has made up his mind that he and his party are taking a position on a policy piece that they have not even seen, read or have any idea of what was going to be in it?

We have asked for specifics about what NDP members would like to see in the budget. I can say as a member of the finance committee that there were no specifics from them. I would ask the member, where is our confidence in him and his ability to lead?

[The Budget, January 28th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the comments from the leader of the Bloc. However, I want to take this opportunity to make sure that members of the House understand the actualities in terms of equalization payments which were discussed during his presentation.

The budget, on pages 189, 190 and 191, talks about equalization payments. The total in transfer payments is $49.1 billion, of which $22.6 billion is the health transfer which has a 6% increase built in and will continue in this budget, and $10.6 billion is the social transfer which has a 3% increase and is continued in this budget. This leaves about $14 billion for equalization payments. This is based on a formula that was agreed to by all the provinces. In that formula there are increases in equalization, including for Quebec.

The table on page 190 of the budget indicates how Quebec has done with respect to equalization. In 2006-07 it was $5.5 billion. It went to $7.1 billion the next year. In 2008-09 it is $8 billion and in 2009-10 it is $8.3 billion. Increases are happening in equalization. That formula is in place. It is happening in this budget. Quebec is getting its fair share. In fact, the next province closest in equalization payments gets $2 billion, not $8.3 billion.

With all the information that he has been provided, all the commentary from the Quebec business leaders, Quebec chambers of commerce, Quebec arts groups and Quebec mayors, why is the Bloc leader not supporting the budget? It seems that the people of Quebec support the budget.

[The Budget, January 28th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the member opposite for his appointment as Leader of the Opposition.

I appreciate his comments regarding the good things in the economic plan put forward by us, but I have a specific question about the dates in his amendment.

I am a Conservative member of the finance committee. One of the dates he has indicated for the last allotted day in each supply period is March 26.

Could I assume then that, based upon March 26 coming relatively quickly, we will get the same support at committee from Liberal committee members to ensure the budget bill gets through committee quickly and back to the House, so we can meet the dates he looks for in the amendment?

[Economic and Fiscal Statement, December 3rd, 2008]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate the speech from my colleague across the way. I do not agree with the speech, but I appreciate the member taking part in the debate.

Part of the speech was about leadership. The Bloc has made an agreement with the New Democratic Party and, I would say, the leaderless Liberal Party. She talked about leadership at a time of economic instability, and here is a leader of the Liberal Party who got the worst return at the polls, worse than any other Liberal Party leader has gotten not just in this century but in the last century, the worst in the history of that party. There is no leadership.

They signed a deal with a leader who knows he is only going to be there for three months at the maximum. The leader's own party wants to throw him out. The Liberals know that he is leaving.

The member talked about instability. I want to quote what was in the newspaper:

with political instability, especially in these tough economic times, I think people are going to shy away from investing in Canada for a little bit until things get sorted out.

What they are proposing provides more instability in this country. Is that not going to affect the investment in all of Canada, including Quebec?

[Economic and Fiscal Statement, December 3rd, 2008]

Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the hon. member this. There was a blog posting by the member for Toronto Centre, which states:

[The NDP leader's] positioning is not principled. It is aimed at advancing his own political ambitions, even if, time and again, that means real setbacks for the people he claims to be helping. Thankfully, there are many...who see through this tactic, and know how short-sighted and counterproductive this approach really is.

Is this not really what the member's leader has done in signing a coalition with the leader of the Liberal Party supported by the separatists?