Paul Martin

[Research And Development, June 7th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member simply ought to listen to what was just said. The fact is our capital gains taxes in Canada are now lower than in the United States. In the year 2004 our corporate taxes in Canada will be lower than in the United States, including capital taxes.

We have brought in the rollover, the angel provisions, specifically designed to help us in the new economy and we are now ahead of the United States. The hon. member ought to wake up and smell the roses.

[The Prime Minister, June 7th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, it is a wondrous thing to see the Alliance finally beginning to wake up. The whole issue of the firefighters was brought to the government's attention by members of this caucus.

We have had extensive meetings with committees of the firefighters. We are looking very seriously at their situation as a result of the members of this caucus. The Alliance was no where to be seen.

[Highways, June 4th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member will know that under the government we have now embarked upon our third infrastructure program. Under the leadership of the President of the Treasury Board and the Minister of Transport we are investing very heavily, and will continue to do so, in our highway transportation system.

[Highways, June 4th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned before, we receive funding from a number of sources and we invest it. More than likely the answer to the hon. member's question is that we put it into health care.

[The Economy, June 4th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, if we look at what was done in budget 2000, after a long delay brought in by the previous government we reindexed all the benefits in the Canadian benefit system. The prime beneficiaries of that are Canadian seniors and those who are on fixed incomes. The question is: Why did the Alliance vote against that?

[The Economy, June 4th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, what I will certainly admit is that according to the most recent numbers real personal disposable incomes grew by 5.4% and are now at a record high.

At the same time I will admit that the real gross domestic product in Canada grew at an annualized rate of 2.5%. That is twice the rate of growth in the United States, and that benefits all Canadians including our seniors.

[Transportation, June 4th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member knows the Canadian government, as do other governments, receives its sources of funding from a series of taxes. Those taxes are then spent in terms of the Canadian priorities.

Those priorities are very clear. The Minister of Transport has just outlined what is a very aggressive and a very imaginative program of the Canadian government, working with the provinces and with the municipalities to do so, in the same area as the Minister of the Environment has demonstrated.

We are doing it in a wide range of areas, working with the municipalities in terms of the environment and in terms of climate change as the Minister of Energy has outlined. The fact is we do receive money—

[Minister Of Finance, May 30th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the best thing to do is to go over my schedule.

I got there late on a Friday evening, and attended a few functions. On Saturday morning, after breakfast, I had a meeting with the president of a very important manufacturing company from the Hamilton region; later, I met a number of citizens who had particular issues.

Afterwards, I met with a local farmers' association, tobacco producers who were experiencing problems. Finally, I attended a meeting on major policies, before heading back to Montreal.

[Taxation, May 29th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member knows that numbers such as the ones he has just cited have always existed. There is a running number because it really depends upon how much investment individual corporations made over what period of time. Oftentimes the reason that taxes are not being paid is that they have made very large investments for the future.

The fact is that corporate income taxes are the fastest growing section of our income tax take.

[Taxation, May 29th, 2001]

Mr. Speaker, as a number of provinces have already indicated, unless there were a very large decrease it would not make any difference given the volatility of the price. That would require action by both levels of government and the majority of provinces have said exactly that.