House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2015, with 64% of the vote.
The Economy January 27th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, what the Governor of the Bank of Canada understands is that you do monetary policy once every quarter, when he makes a monetary policy announcement.
When it comes to budgetary policy, this government does it every year based on a long-term plan. That plan has created 1.2 million net new jobs.
We are continuing to grow. We are continuing to move forward. Unlike the NDP, we are not going to write a different budget and have a different economic policy every month.
The Economy January 27th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, completely the opposite is the truth. The reality is that everybody is projecting that the Canadian economy will continue to grow this year.
What we have done is pursue a plan of balanced budgets and low taxes for families, for individuals, and for businesses. What the NDP has advocated—in fact, what it was advocating as little as just a few weeks ago—was that we impose additional taxes, regulations, and costs on the energy sector.
That shows how completely out of touch the NDP is with economic reality, which perhaps explains today the leader's attempts to flip-flop and do a deathbed conversion toward lower taxes for business.
The Economy January 27th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, I would like to answer the last question. Obviously, this year, Canadians will judge this government and all of the parties.
Canadians will decide that this government has the attitude needed to carry out a mission against Islamic State terrorists. That is the right thing to do, and we are very proud of our actions.
National Defence January 27th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, once again it is the leader of the NDP who is caught in his own contradictions.
Canadian troops, under their commanders, are executing exactly the mission that Canadians have given them, that this Parliament has given them, that Canadians expect. They are advising; they are assisting.
Guess what? If fired upon, they are going to shoot back; and if they kill some of the ISIL terrorists, Canadians are going to support that, no matter what the New Democrats think.
National Defence January 27th, 2015
Mr. Speaker, the only problem here is that the NDP does not support the military mission against the Islamic State, something that all of our principal allies and many more around the world are involved in because it involves a direct threat to this country and to the civilized world.
Our troops are there advising and assisting Iraqi forces, and they are doing an excellent job. We stand 100% behind them.
The Environment December 9th, 2014
In fact, Mr. Speaker, nobody in the world is regulating their oil and gas sector. I would be delighted if they did. Canada would be there with them. However, we will not impose unilateral penalties.
Let me be very clear on the difference with this side of the House. Our commitment to Canadians is that we will reduce greenhouse gas emissions while preserving, protecting, and growing Canadian jobs.
That is our commitment. That is what we will continue to do. We will not kill jobs and we will not impose the carbon tax the opposition wants to put on Canadians.
The Environment December 9th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, the government has been pursuing a sector by sector regulatory approach. We have integrated our regulations in the transport sector with the United States. In the electricity sector, we have been ahead of and gone much further than the United States.
I have been very clear in terms of regulating the oil and gas sector. It is something we would like to do but that we must do on an integrated basis in a continental economy.
Frankly, under the current circumstances of the oil and gas sector, it would be crazy economic policy to do unilateral penalties on that sector. We are clearly not going to do it.
The Environment December 9th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, obviously, on this side of the House, we are not in favour of a carbon tax like the NDP.
For the first time in history, we have reduced greenhouse gas emissions during a period of economic growth.
Specifically to the issue of oil and gas regulations, this government's position has been clear that we want to see oil and gas regulations on a continental basis, given the integrated nature of this industry. With the current conditions in the oil and gas sector, this government will not consider unilateral regulation of that sector.
Veterans Affairs December 9th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, nothing could be further from the truth. We have increased services for veterans and the number of service centres for them.
For example, we eliminated close to 100 positions in the veterans independence program, positions that actually slowed down payment of veterans' benefits, and we increased benefits provided to veterans through that program.
In any case, the Liberal Party voted against those benefits for our veterans. We enhanced the program and will continue to do so.
Veterans Affairs December 9th, 2014
Mr. Speaker, in fact, the truth is the complete opposite of everything the member just said. We have actually increased, by many fold, the number of service centres there are now for our veterans in our country. In terms of war memorials specifically, we have increased the funding for that for the community war memorial program, voted against by the Liberal Party. We enhanced the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, also voted against by the Liberal Party.
However, as I know, what the Liberal Party and NDP want to do is ensure that they protect those bureaucratic jobs at Veterans Affairs, instead of giving the services to the veterans. That is what we are doing on this side.