House of Commons photoLost his last election, in 2019, with 34% of the vote.
Petitions May 8th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, I have a petition to file today, signed by many people from across the province of Saskatchewan, about the rights of farmers, particularly farmers of small farms.
The petitioners call upon Parliament to enshrine in legislation the inalienable rights of farmers and other Canadians to save, reuse, select, exchange and sell their own seeds.
Taxation May 7th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, now the government is taking its financial advice from a guy who once said that a payoff to Mike Duffy was an honourable thing to do.
A better plan is bolstering Canada's middle class. We can do that by cutting their tax rate right across the board to save middle-class families billions of dollars. A better plan is one clean, simple, tax-free child benefit, one that is progressive and fair, providing more support to every middle-class family and all those working so hard just to get there.
Why is the Conservative government so against fundamental fairness?
Taxation May 7th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, the late Jim Flaherty dismissed income splitting for the wealthy as too expensive and fundamentally unfair. Unfair, because it provides nothing to a single mom at the poverty line, but it gives $2,000 to families with incomes of over a quarter of a million dollars.
If we could trade that unfairness for a better plan, one that is being acclaimed as powerful, progressive, fair, transparent and efficient, one that fights poverty and improves middle-class incomes, why would we not make that trade? Jim Flaherty would have.
Taxation May 6th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, I am the one member of this House who actually balanced a budget.
These guys inherited 10 Liberal balanced budgets and created $150 billion in new Conservative debt. This government is a fiscal fraud.
Now the Conservatives are punishing single moms and dads, who can never qualify for income splitting, but they are gifting a $2,000 tax break every year to those earning a quarter of a million dollars.
Why are Conservatives against a tax cut for the middle class, across the board, and why are they against a better child benefit, more generous and fair?
Taxation May 6th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, if we focus on the middle class and all those working so hard just to get there; if we focus on fairness and growth and giving everyone a decent chance to succeed; if that is our objective, then Canada should have a bigger and better child benefit, one that is clean and simple, fair and tax free across the board, one that provides more help to nine out of ten Canadian families, middle and lower income families, the ones that need that help.
It is basic common sense. Why is the government against it?
Taxation May 5th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, just repeating a falsehood does not make it true. Canadians are mocking this minister. They do not believe a word he says.
He cannot justify why this tired government is against a big middle class tax cut. He cannot justify why it is against a better child benefit, bigger, fairer, absolutely tax free for every middle-class family and all those trying to get there.
He punishes single moms and dads, but gives a $2,000 tax break to those earning a quarter of a million dollars. Why?
Taxation May 5th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, only a third of Canadians can afford a TFSA. Fewer than a quarter of that third can afford to max out. It is a tool focused on 8% of Canadians. The other 92% are no where close.
To help them, the vast majority, to help nine out of ten Canadian families, why not cut the middle class tax rate right across the board? Why not give those families a bigger child benefit, clean, simple, fair, tax-free, right across the board? Why not?
Taxation May 4th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, he just makes it up. It all depends on one's conception of fairness.
The government's $2-billion tax break pays a nice bonus to some families with incomes over $200,000, but 86% of Canadians can never qualify. A family with a single mom or dad gets nothing. A double-income family, where the breadwinners are two teachers at typical average salaries, can never qualify. Why not have one larger, fairer, non-taxable child benefit and cut the tax rate across the board on middle incomes?
Taxation May 4th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, it is clearly possible and desirable to have one comprehensive and better Canada child benefit, one that is more fair and more generous than that which exists today, one that supplies a bigger, rock-solid monthly cheque, absolutely tax free, to all middle-class families and all those working so hard just to get there. But the government is preoccupied with benefits to high-wealth households, which means that those in the middle and at lower-income levels get short-changed. Why not fix that? Why not be fair?
The Economy May 1st, 2015
Mr. Speaker, the government brags about stale job numbers that are three and four and five years old, nothing more recent.
Job growth and job quality have been dropping. In all of last year, there were just 121,000 new jobs in the whole country. That is down 60% from two years ago. Job quality is at a 25-year low, and economic growth is pathetic. In fact, the economy has grown only once in the last four months.
Why is the government's plan such an utter failure, and why does it not have a job creation target?