Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak in support of the government's budget bill. I would first like to say a few words about Jim Flaherty, who passed away just two months after delivering the budget.
At the very start of his budget speech on February 11, Jim quoted Canada's first budget speech from 1868. In that speech, then-minister of finance John Rose said:
....we ought to be most careful in our outlay, and consider well every shilling we expend.
It is lucky for Jim that his predecessor did not mention pennies, but I digress.
To continue, Jim Flaherty was a mentor and a boss before we became parliamentary colleagues three years ago. He was also a friend to me and my family for many years. .
Like many members of this House, I had been working toward becoming a member of Parliament for some time before finally succeeding, and like many members, I had disappointments and setbacks along the way. Jim was always there with words of support and advice. It is hard to accept that I will not be able to call on him for his thoughtful and wise point of view, but his values and personality were so strong it should be easy to guess what he would have thought about almost any problem or situation. I know that I will always try to make that guess before I make any political decision in the future.
As many noted in the days following his untimely death, Jim's last major accomplishment before leaving cabinet was presenting this budget. Probably the best known feature of budget 2014 is that it forecast a return to a balanced budget next year. That is a tremendous accomplishment, given where we were five years ago. However, the budget contains many initiatives whose benefits will stretch well beyond 2015. I would like to speak to a few of these initiatives that will benefit individuals, families, and businesses in my riding of Mississauga South.
Over my three years as the MP for Mississauga South, I have come to know my riding very well. We have beautiful residential areas, lush parks, and attractive shopping districts. We have families of every size and type. We have people from every culture and religious background. We have seniors and disabled people.
Many of my disabled constituents want to work or need to work, but everyone knows that it can be difficult for the disabled to find and keep employment. Budget 2014 has help for disabled workers. It introduces a new generation of labour market agreements for persons with disabilities. Over the next four years, the government will provide $222 million annually through these transfers, to be matched by provinces and territories to better meet the needs of persons with disabilities and employers.
Mississauga South has a very large population of seniors. While some are happily retired, others are looking for work or are planning to return to the workforce. Budget 2014 renews and expands the targeted initiative for older workers for a three-year period, representing a federal investment of $75 million to assist unemployed older workers.
Many parents in Mississauga South have children who are in university or college or who are getting ready to go. I happen to be one of them. Budget 2014 will eliminate the value of student-owned vehicles from the Canada student loan program assessment process to better reflect the needs of students who commute or work while studying.
Small and medium-sized businesses are Canada's largest employers. Job seekers in my riding will be knocking on the doors of those businesses in hopes of getting a job. However, government red tape and paperwork will make it harder for small businesses to expand and hire more people. Budget 2014 will build on the work of the Red Tape Reduction Commission by reducing the tax compliance and regulatory burden for small and medium-sized businesses.
Real estate prices have risen astronomically in the greater Toronto area over the past 30 years. When our parents and grandparents tell us what they paid for their homes in the 1960s and 1970s, we laugh. Well, they laugh, and we silently pray that we will be able to pay off our mortgages before we retire. What they paid for a bungalow or semi-detached house would barely pay for a minivan or SUV today.
The family home is a major asset for most couples, and often a heavily leveraged one. Canadians looked south with horror when the U.S. housing market collapsed five years ago. In the years since, this government has paid very close attention to ensure that Canadians are protected from such a collapse happening here.
While it is fun to sit around the dinner table and imagine how much our houses might be worth, those dreams must be rooted in the reality of what an actual buyer can afford in a down payment and ongoing mortgage payments. Budget 2014 includes measures to increase market discipline in residential lending and reduce taxpayer exposure to the housing sector. High mortgage payments mean that most families are taking a closer look at all of their other monthly bills.
That is why we also took steps to increase competition in the wireless sector, which has reduced wireless rates by 20%. Budget 2014 continues this commitment to keeping the cost of wireless services fair. This budget includes steps to lower wholesale roaming rates within Canada and would give the CRTC the power to impose financial penalties on companies that did not comply with the rules.
While Canadians do not envy the way their house prices fell so quickly in the United States, they do like the prices in American stores. They wonder why Canadian and American consumer goods prices remain so far apart, when the Canadian and American dollars have been so close in value. Budget 2014 also introduces legislation to prohibit unjustified cross-border price discrimination to reduce the gap between consumer prices in Canada and the United States.
I am grateful for the opportunity to speak to the budget bill. It continues the prudent management that has defined our government's economic action plan. It will bring real benefits to the constituents and communities of my riding of Mississauga South.
These benefits will help Canadians plan for a bright and secure future, a future that will be deficit free this time next year. The promise of a balanced budget is a fitting legacy of our friend Jim Flaherty, and just one of many.
I am proud to speak in its favour today and will be happy to take questions.
