Stephen Harper

[Employment, April 15th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, there are labour shortages in some parts of the Canadian economy. That is why, for example, the government has introduced the Canada jobs grant in the budget. It is also why we are reforming the temporary foreign workers program to make sure it sticks to its purpose, which is to provide temporary help when there is an absolute skills shortage, but the leader of the NDP can explain why in some regions of high unemployment his members are writing to the government asking for temporary foreign workers

[Employment, April 15th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, there are certain cases in Canada where there are absolute shortages of workers, and the temporary foreign workers program exists for those circumstances and not for other circumstances. We have been very clear that we will make sure the program is reformed so it cannot be misused in any such way. However, I would point out that I have in my hand letters from not fewer than eight NDP members of Parliament asking the government to approve additional temporary foreign workers for their ridings.

[Employment, April 15th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, it is clear that using this program to replace Canadian workers is wrong. The government did not have such information.

Obviously we are going to investigate the matter, but as we have already said in the budget, we intend to reform this program.

[Employment, April 15th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, as we have already indicated in the budget, we intend to reform this program. Obviously the purpose of this program is not to replace Canadian workers. The government will reform the program as promised.

[Elections Canada, March 28th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the reality is that we just received the report from Elections Canada yesterday.

The recommendations will be considered when we carry out our comprehensive reform of the system.

When it comes to electoral fraud, it is important to remember that the $40 million that the Liberal Party stole from Canadian taxpayers has still not been recovered.

[Elections Canada, March 28th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, it was only yesterday that the Chief Electoral Officer tabled his report with various recommendations on these matters. These recommendations will be strongly taken into account as the government moves forward in the not too distant future with comprehensive reforms on these matters.

[Elections Canada, March 28th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, about robocalls, it is in fact the Liberal Party that is the party actually convicted on this matter. As concerns this, the government—

[International Co-operation, March 28th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the government always wants to ensure that all times our taxpayer money that is used for foreign aid and development is used effectively. In this case, this organization spends less than 20% of the funds that we send on programming. The rest goes to various bureaucratic measures. That is not an effective way to spend taxpayer money. Through fast-start financing and other means, we are making positive contributions to deal with these problems around the world.

[Ethics, March 28th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, the member knows very well that the Public Service Commission reported on this and found no wrongdoing by any political minister or staff. In fact, the government has followed all the recommendations of the Public Service Commission.

Let me return, for a moment, to taxes. I think what is particularly shameful about the NDP's approach is that the only time it stands up for taxes is when we are trying to close corporate loopholes and are trying to make sure that Canadian companies have a level playing field with producers from China. Only then does the NDP stand up. This high-tax policy is exactly the opposite of what Canada needs.

[Taxation, March 28th, 2013]

Mr. Speaker, this government has lowered taxes by over $3,000 for every Canadian family and household, yet every time we have done that, of course, the NDP votes against it. The NDP wants a $10 billion increase in the GST, $20 billion in carbon taxes, and $30 billion in additional taxes for job creators and employers. What is amazing is, still, all of those taxes would not pay for all of the spending promises made by the NDP.

The reason Canada has such strong job creation and economic performance is we do exactly the opposite of the economic policies--