Russ Hiebert

[The Budget, March 24th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I find it fascinating that the opposition is focusing on the fighter jets issue. As I mentioned in my comments, it was the Liberal Party that invested $100 million in this project in 2005, a project that we are now proceeding with. That party is now thinking that we should throw that $100 million away and proceed with who knows what. The opposition does not provide any solutions to that question.

It is clear that our forces need upgraded jets. The current fighter jets are beyond the life expectancy of their use and we need to proceed with something more.

Further, as my colleague notes, the opposition had supported the purchase of those jets just two years ago.

The member also talks about tax cuts, corporate tax cuts in particular. As a member of the finance committee, I found it fascinating to hear from so many experts who came to speak to us that corporate tax cuts are really transferred to individual Canadians. If taxes go up, those increased taxes are passed along to Canadians. If taxes go down, generally those taxes are reduced for Canadians.

I am not sure why he is opposed to tax cuts for Canadians.

[The Budget, March 24th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to address the budget, our Conservative government's sixth budget since forming office.

I am well aware of the burning desire of the Liberal- NDP-Bloc coalition to plunge this country into an unnecessary election, no matter the cost.

However, the instantaneous rejection of this budget by the three opposition party leaders is nothing short of irresponsible. In a time of continuing global economic uncertainty, especially following the disaster in Japan and the upheaval across much of the Arab world, the economic recovery is still fragile.

The opposition leaders are showing reckless disregard for the Canadian economy by their knee-jerk reactions. I was appalled, in particular, by the Liberal Party's response to our budget. The Liberal Party's focus on the spending for new jets for our Royal Canadian Air Force and on prisons was both shallow and ill-considered.

Of course, there is no spending for new jets in this budget and there will not be until 2016 when we start to receive the new jets. And the cost of purchasing those jets is spread over the lifespan of the jets, which is 20 to 30 years.

I should also note that it was the previous Liberal government that set us on the path to purchasing these jets in the first place by spending $100 million on developing them. The current Liberal leader seems to think we should just throw away the $100 million. I do not think that is a good idea.

With respect to prisons, our government has provided detailed cost estimates to Parliament for housing the expanded prison population that may result from our tougher sentencing legislation.

While Liberals have focused on the modest increased cost for prisons, they have completely and totally ignored the cost to Canadian society of allowing repeat and violent offenders to quickly resume their lives of crime through early release.

They have forgotten the costs to the victims of crime, the property owners, women, children, seniors, and others who will be prey to rapists, murderers, fraudsters, and drug dealers.

The cost to Canadian society of a revolving-door liberal criminal justice system is at least an order of magnitude higher than the cost we will incur by ensuring criminals serve sentences proportionate to their crimes.

It is clear to me that in their blind pursuit of power, the opposition parties have forgotten about listening to Canadians.

We began preparing for this budget many months ago. We listened to thousands of groups and individuals from across Canada. I consulted widely in my community. The finance committee, of which I am a member, held hearings in my riding to hear from local groups and individuals.

Earlier this year I hosted a Canadian first, the first ever live telephone town hall meeting with the finance minister. Thousands of my constituents were able to participate, and provide their feedback and input into our budget.

Our Conservative government has listened to the people of Canada. This budget reflects the needs and concerns of Canadians during this time of economic recovery. We heard some clear messages from Canadians. We heard that despite our solid job creation numbers, over 480,000 new jobs since July 2009, we need to continue with our job creation efforts.

We heard that since our infrastructure spending is winding down, it is now time to get spending down and our budget back in balance. We also heard that some groups in Canadian society, such as low income seniors or families caring for an infirm loved one, need more support.

This budget reflects the comments, suggestions, concerns, and needs we have heard from Canadians over the last several months.

I would like to focus many of my remarks on the positive initiatives we have taken in this budget. As I mentioned earlier, our focus is on jobs and growth. One key to jobs and growth is lower taxes. We are continuing to reduce taxes for families and small businesses in this budget. I am particularly pleased with the incentives we have created for small businesses in my community to hire new workers.

The budget provides for a one time credit of up to $1,000 to small businesses which hire new employees. This new credit will be available to approximately 525,000 employers, reducing their 2011 payroll costs by about $165 million.

My riding has one of the largest populations of seniors in Canada. Canadians from across the country like to retire in the temperate climate of our beautiful west coast community. However, some seniors face financial challenges, and our Conservative government has taken steps in the budget to support them.

Our top-up to the guaranteed income supplement will provide up to an extra $600 a year for low income single seniors, and up to $840 more for low income couples. This measure will support 680,000 lower income seniors across Canada.

I am also pleased with the tax credits for families. The children's arts tax credit will allow parents to claim costs of up to $500 per year related to activities such as piano lessons and art classes. This new tax credit builds on the success of our children's sport tax credit, and I believe it will be popular and be used by millions of families.

Also the new family caregiver tax credit will be available to people who care for infirm, dependent relatives like a spouse and minor children. We have also introduced new measures to help students. In particular, the in-study income exemption will be doubled from $50 per week to $100 per week, allowing approximately 100,000 students to earn this income tax free while pursuing their education.

We are offering help to home owners, with a $400 million extension of the eco-energy program to encourage home renovations that reduce electricity and heating costs, and we are making permanent the $2 billion federal contribution to the gas tax fund, which funds our municipal infrastructure. These are funds that our city governments can count on for repairing our streets and sidewalks.

We have also increased funding for health care. This matters to my constituents in British Columbia. We are providing almost $3.8 billion for health care in B.C., an increase of $216 million over last year.

Finally, because our budget sets us on a path toward the elimination of the deficit and toward a surplus, Canadians can look forward to additional tax relief, hopefully soon. Indeed, my private member's Motion No. M-638 suggests that we make income splitting for families with children a priority as the budget comes back into balance.

The early analysis of people outside Ottawa is positive. The finance minister of British Columbia has endorsed our budget as good for British Columbia. The hon. Kevin Falcon said that he was encouraged by Ottawa's latest plan to reduce the federal deficit by a quarter this year and to continue progress until Canada is back to balanced budgets by 2015-16. He continued that the corporate tax cuts committed to by our Conservative government would combine with provincial rates to give B.C. the lowest corporate taxes of any jurisdiction, not just in Canada but among the G7 industrialized countries by next year. Let me repeat that. In B.C., thanks to our tax cuts and the tax cuts of the provincial government, we will have the lowest corporate taxes of any jurisdiction in the G7 next year. He also said that the investment incentives we had provided in the federal budget would help Ridley Terminals expand its capacity to ship B.C. coal and minerals overseas.

Jayson Myers, president of the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, said:

If the budget is defeated, it's a real concern for manufacturers.... This two year write-off [for investment in machinery and equipment] comes to an end at the end of this year and that extension is essential if we are going to keep investment going in the sector. It would be nice to have a little bit of certainty that companies would be able to take advantage of that over the next two years.

Craig Alexander, the TD Bank's chief economist, remarked that if we are investing in roads, bridges, et cetera, we want know that the government funding is going to be there and, therefore, that it is actually a very positive thing that the government has decided to make the gas tax transfer to municipalities a permanent transfer.

Further, he stated that:

I think in general it’s a business-friendly budget because of the extension of the accelerated capital cost allowance for machinery and equipment investment. As an economist, I like it particularly because one of the core challenges facing Canadian businesses is productivity growth.

Craig Wright, RBC's chief economist, says that our projections are conservative and that we can expect to make good on our deficit-cutting projections.

Tom Courchene, an economist at Queen's University, said:

The budget looks after what falls under the federal jurisdiction in an excellent way. It’s a continuation of the action plan and its keeps Canada being in the forefront of nations in terms of the recovery from the financial crisis.

That is what others across Canada are saying, with their messages of confidence about the steady hand we have applied to managing the nation's finances.

I would encourage my fellow MPs to consider whether this sensible and prudent budget is really an issue over which to plunge our nation into an unnecessary election.

[Income Splitting, March 9th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, in a few weeks, the House will be debating my private member's motion on income splitting, Motion No. 638.

Our government has cut taxes for families by an average of almost $3,000 annually but taxes are still the biggest single expense families face. I am proposing that, as our budget comes back into balance, the government give priority to income splitting for families with children. Income splitting would ensure fairness for families, as all families earning the same income would pay the same tax, regardless of the individual spousal income. Research estimates that income splitting will save 2.3 million Canadian families over $1,000 annually. That is more money Canadians can use for children's sports, summer camps and to save for post-secondary education.

I believe providing families with greater financial freedom through income splitting would create a brighter and more prosperous future for our nation. Canadians can learn more at my website www.familyincomesplitting.com.

[Interparliamentary Delegations, March 2nd, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 34(1) I have the honour to present, in both official languages, three reports from the Canadian branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, one dealing with the 56th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in September 2010, one dealing with the bilateral visit to the Seychelles in September 2010, and one dealing with the International Parliamentary Governance Seminar in November 2010.

[Finance, February 18th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, while the Liberals launch a tour to promote their Liberal leader's reckless $6 billion tax hike, our Conservative government is standing up for lower taxes at home and abroad.

On the global stage we are fighting a global financial transaction tax on Canadians. This tax would hit Canadians in their wallets, taking their hard-earned money out of our local communities to fund an unprecedented global tax.

Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance please tell the House what our Conservative government is doing to oppose reckless tax hikes?

[Justice, February 17th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians right across this country were stunned when David Chen, a store owner from Ontario, was prosecuted for defending his own store from theft. The Prime Minister indicated to the House that the government would be looking at reforms to ensure that this did not happen to other honest Canadians.

Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice please update the House on the legislation that was introduced this morning?

[The Economy, February 10th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal tax hike plan is worrying more and more Canadian businesses. Businesses both large and small know that Liberal tax hikes will stifle economic growth and slow job creation. Despite what the Liberals would have us believe, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business is very worried about the Liberal tax hike plan. It knows it is entrepreneurs and businesses, and not governments, that create the long-term high paying jobs on which Canadians depend.

This is what the CFIB had to say about Liberal tax hikes: “As to any confusion over CFIB's support of continuing the corporate tax cuts, we unequivocally support them! The plan should be continued”. It then states: “--we considered them a done deal, not subject to change”.

I say to the Liberals that their tax hikes are bad for the economy and will kill jobs. Only the Conservative government has a credible plan to grow the Canadian economy and support job growth.

[Business of Supply, February 8th, 2011]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate this opportunity to stand up against the Liberal tax hike proposal.

With the global economic recovery still very fragile, our government remains focused on ensuring that Canada offers the right environment to attract the business investment necessary to create more and better paying jobs, thereby improving the living standards of all Canadians.

The Liberal leader and some of his colleagues do not favour delivering the tax relief introduced by our Conservative government and passed by Parliament in 2007 to help businesses create jobs.

I find the Liberals' call today for a tax hike intriguing given their previous statements on the importance of providing tax relief for job creators.

The Liberal member for Kings—Hants used to understand the importance of tax relief when he said:

—the best way to develop and grow employment in Canada, particularly in terms of the new economy and the knowledge based industries, is not by pouring government money into specific businesses... Instead it is to reduce the tax burden—

That is exactly what we are trying to do.

I will spend the little time that I have today providing, the facts the Liberal Party is trying to ignore.

Let us be clear. Our Conservative government believes in lower taxes. The Liberals believe in raising taxes and higher taxes for families, seniors and businesses, higher Liberal taxes that will set families back, kill jobs and harm Canada's economic recovery.

Our Conservative government's tax cuts for businesses will do what the Liberals' call for higher taxes cannot, and that is to decrease the cost of business capital and increase the rate of return on investment. With more money available through lower taxes, businesses will be able to invest more in research and development, high tech, and productivity improving machinery and most important of all, in workers.

That is why since 2006 our Conservative government has implemented substantial, broad-based tax reductions that support investment, job creation and growth in all sectors of the economy.

Business taxes have been reduced from more than 22% in 2006 to 16.5% this year, and are on the way to 15% in 2012, as already agreed to by this Parliament.

However, business tax relief is just one of the tax relief measures we have introduced for the benefit of hard-working Canadians trying to make their businesses a success. There have been many others. For example, the federal capital tax, a particularly damaging tax for business investment, was eliminated in 2006. We have also reduced the tax rate applying to small business income to 11% in 2008. The amount of small business income eligible for this lower tax rate was increased to $500,000 from $300,000.

I see that my time is quickly coming to an end, so let me wrap up with a few concluding remarks.

Generating sustained increases in our standard of living may not be simple, but if we want higher wages, more jobs, and a higher standard of living, we need the business investment that results from the government's tax relief for job creators.

Canadians do not want dangerous new government spending commitments this year that would only trigger higher taxes, kill jobs and reverse Canada's fragile economic growth.

Under the leadership of our Prime Minister, our government will continue to focus on protecting the financial security of hard-working Canadians and their families and on keeping taxes low.

As Conservatives, we believe that this approach to encouraging business investment is the best way to create a brighter future for all Canadians. It is what Canadians expect of us and what we must deliver.

Accordingly, I would urge members to vote against this motion.

[Pensions, December 15th, 2010]

Mr. Speaker, I continue to hear from constituents about Bill C-428, the private member's bill from the Liberal member for Brampton—Springdale.

My constituents are outraged about a Liberal bill that would raise taxes to give a pension to someone who has only been a resident of Canada for three years. They want to know how the Liberals could justify raising taxes to give a pension to someone who has done little or nothing to earn it.

While the Liberals will have to answer for this in the next election, the Conservatives already have good news for Canadian pensioners. Our Conservative government's Bill C-9, which passed in July, reforms our pension system and has made the retirements of millions of Canadians more secure. Now employers can contribute more to workers' pensions and pensions are better protected in law.

While the Liberals are busy scheming to raise taxes, the Conservatives are working hard to improve the lives of Canadian seniors.

[Afghan Children, December 9th, 2010]

Madam Speaker, I would like to express deep concern over cases of sexual exploitation of boys in Afghanistan, particularly the practice of bacha bazi.

A few minutes ago, the international human rights subcommittee passed a motion condemning bacha bazi and asking our government to call upon the Afghan government to help protect vulnerable boys.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs has recently raised concerns with the Afghan ambassador about this illegal exploitation.

Afghanistan has enacted laws to address children's rights and criminalize sexual abuse.

Canada now calls upon Afghanistan to continue to strengthen its laws and to ensure that they are fully enforced in order to protect Afghan children.

We are proud to invest in the future of Afghan children through development programming in education and health as part of our mission in Afghanistan.