Peter Van Loan

[Pensions, April 2nd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, this budget is clear. It sets us on a course that ensures that the retirement allowances of parliamentarians will be brought into line with those of the private sector. That means that as parliamentarians we will be asked to make contributions equal to those of the taxpayer. That is fair to the taxpayer. That is what is required.

Certainly, when there was an opportunity to deal with these issues in the past, the Prime Minister, of course, turned down the opportunity to receive an enriched pension of the past that was offered to him by the previous Liberal government when he once again became a member of Parliament. That is in contrast to the leader opposite who, when he was in Ontario, took a big payout from the Ontario government when he retired.

[Intergovernmental Affairs, April 2nd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I understand why the leader of the third party has a hard time hearing criticism about poor fiscal management, since we all know his track record. Our plan, however, will open up new economic opportunities through new free trade agreements. When he was the Ontario premier, the member fiercely opposed NAFTA. Our economic action plan focuses on job creation. We have already created over 600,000 net new jobs. When he was premier, the unemployment rate—

[Intergovernmental Affairs, April 2nd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, this is a budget that delivers on a jobs plan for all of Canada. I can understand why the leader of the third party is avoiding that subject. This is not his kind of budget; this is a budget that does not increase taxes. When he was premier of the Province of Ontario he increased taxes 22 different ways.

This is a budget that sets us on a track to a balanced budget, to eliminate the deficit in three years. When he was premier of the Province of Ontario, he set record level deficits.

[The Budget, April 2nd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition is reading a very different budget from the one that was actually delivered in the House by the Minister of Finance last Thursday. It is a budget that focuses on the key priorities of Canadians while ensuring that we are on the path to deliver jobs.

His approach is one of increasing taxes. That is what he has asked for. He wants to make our workers less competitive than their competitors around the world.

If he wants to ask workers why they might lose their jobs, higher taxes is the number one reason why. That is why we are opposing those higher taxes. We will not agree with the opposition plan for higher taxes, bigger government and bigger deficits. That is the ticket to economic disaster for Canada.

[The Budget, April 2nd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, our economic action plan includes concrete job creation measures, such as a hiring credit for small businesses and measures to help young people acquire skills and experience through a youth employment strategy. Our strategy is clear. Our economic action plan has already produced 600,000 jobs for Canadians. Our plan is working well, and we will stay the course.

[The Budget, April 2nd, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I want to welcome the new Leader of the Opposition to his new responsibilities. We are very much looking forward to the new orange order over there. We will be expecting, though, to see some of the same things we have seen in the past, a clear contrast with the policies of this government.

Our policies are focused on job creation, economic growth and the long-term prosperity of this country so that we have jobs for Canadians, not just today and tomorrow, but indeed, for decades to come in the future. I expect they will be opposing all of those measures.

[41st General Election, March 30th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the Chief Electoral Officer said he has all the resources he needs to do his job. We commend the Commissioner of Elections Canada because he has actually come forward with his suggestions on how he can do his part, as part of a government-wide effort to save taxpayer dollars and do things more efficiently. These are the numbers that he has provided to us as part of his plan for reducing expenditures. We commend him for contributing to a government-wide effort.

[Business of the House, March 29th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, as we all know, in a little more than 40 minutes, the Minister of Finance will table this year's budget and I am sure all members are looking forward to that event.

Economic action plan 2012 will be a very strong, low tax, low debt plan that will include measures to create and secure jobs, economic growth and, most important, long-term prosperity for all Canadians.

In recognition of how important this budget will be, we have decided that we will schedule debate to follow immediately on the four following days: Friday and Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.

There may not be the same level of suspense around this vote as in previous years, but on Wednesday, all members will have the opportunity to vote for jobs, growth and long-term prosperity and support our budget. Once the opposition has seen the budget, I am confident that their constituents will expect them to do just that.

On Thursday, we will continue debate on Bill S-4, the Safer Railways Act. If we have time, we will resume debate on Bill C-15, the Strengthening Military Justice in the Defence of Canada Act.

The opposition House leader had a long list of bills on which he inquired about their status. Insofar as our legislation to improve Canada's immigration and refugee system, that has been debated now some five days in this House and we look forward to it being debated further. It is a very important bill, not just for the strength of our immigration system but also for our economy. We will continue to take steps to ensure our immigration system meets the security, safety and economic needs of Canada.

In terms of Bill C-30, I think he is well familiar that it is our intention to have that debated and sent to committee before second reading and, in so doing, being able to allow a broad ambit for the committee to consider amendments of all types. I think that responds to the particular concerns that he raised on that.

In the case of Bill C-30, Bill C-4 and the immigration bill, we can see from the program I have read that there will not be an opportunity, barring some dramatic progress on other legislation on the final day, to deal with those bills before the Easter break, so we will have to wait until after that.

[Ethics, March 29th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for Timmins—James Bay must have been on that trip because he seems to know the content of conversations that occurred, which differ very widely from anything the minister was party to. Perhaps this is the reason that party supported funding for professional sports arenas.

The fact is the minister was not lobbied. He paid his own way on the venture. In fact, this party campaigned against any funding for professional sports facilities.

[Ethics, March 29th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, I think the record is clear. There has been no undue interference in that regard. The decisions made by Human Resources Canada on where to locate its facilities are based on its needs on what is most appropriate. There has been no involvement of the minister in that regard.