House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2011, with 78% of the vote.
Finance March 5th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, thank you for allowing me once again the opportunity to remind hon. members that the finance minister actually did his duty to Canadians, stood in this House and voted in favour of the budget. The Liberals de facto supported it.
Let us not forget all of the things that were in this budget. It was to provide impetus to Canadians to regain employment, to maintain a strong economy. The finance minister and the Prime Minister have this country on track.
Finance March 5th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to once again remind the Liberals that the tax fairness plan that this government put in place was actually supported by a good number of Canadians. In fact, it was even supported by some Liberals who actually wrote to the Auditor General.
The comment of the member for Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel is, and I quote, “fair assumption that there are going to be challenges to the treatment of income trusts”.
I quote the member for Scarborough—Guildwood, “That made it clear that Liberals had been planning to announce the tax on income trusts”.
The Budget March 5th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, absolutely not. Let me tell the hon. member about some of the things that this budget will do.
We are in the second longest period of economic expansion in our history. The budget that we passed yesterday, with the help of the Liberals by the way, will continue on that solid road of growth. We will be the only G-7 member with an ongoing budget surplus and reduction in total debt burden.
It is this government that is providing the economic stimulus to create more and more jobs in this country.
The Economy March 5th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind all members of this House that there are 755,000 net new jobs in this country. We are tired of the opposition and the Bloc saying negative things about our economy. This economy is strong and it is because of this government that it has gotten there.
I would like to take the opportunity to thank the Liberals for their support last night in passing this budget.
The Economy March 5th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague's question gives me the opportunity to remind him that in last fall's economic statement we sensed that there could be economic troubles on the horizon, so that is why we put in place $60 billion in aggressive action. We cut corporate income taxes. We cut personal income taxes. We lowered the GST, unlike the Liberals, who would like to raise the GST.
The Budget March 4th, 2008
Mr. Speaker, I will take one moment to congratulate the new government in Alberta. It was a pretty exciting win we heard about. It is one more reason to celebrate the longevity of Conservative governments not only in Alberta, but we are certainly looking forward to longevity of Conservative governments on the federal scene as well.
I listened very intently to the hon. member for Don Valley East. She talked about how we have not paid down the debt. Thirty-seven billion dollars is what we have paid down to date. As far as the guarantee to pay down at least $3 billion, if we average this year, which is aggressive but doable, with the next two years' debt reduction, we are still well over an average of $3 billion a year. Once again, the member made a pretty hollow argument.
I happened to be on a television panel on Friday afternoon with the hon. member from the opposition. She talked about the same false suggestion about the surplus that was handed to the Conservative government. She spoke at that time as if it were her money. I suggested that was the difference between Conservatives and Liberals. We think it is actually taxpayers' money.
I would like the hon. member to please bring us up to speed. I am uncertain after last night whether or not she is supporting this budget or whether she intends to vote.
Mr. Speaker, again, we do recognize the need of workers and communities dependent upon traditional industries, such as manufacturing and forestry, as they face global economic turbulence and are feeling the impact of challenges. However, it is important to remember the Canadian economy, especially Quebec's, remains vibrant outside of the traditional industries.
In 2007, Quebec showed solid economic vigour, with job growth at 2.4%, far above the national average, which also represented the province's best showing in over five years.
Quoting from an article in the February 9 issue of the National Post, one can begin to get the sense of the evolving Quebec economy:
Notice the transformation of Quebec. It's manufacturing sector may be withering away but big gains in other areas like construction, transportation, warehousing and accommodation have spurred a tumble in its jobless rate to a 33-year low of 6.8% in January. That is a tremendous drop from the peak of 9.7% in August, 2003.
Claude Picher in La Presse has noted this transformation in his recent article “La légende des McJobs”, making very similar observations. This new job growth is good for Quebec and all Canadians.
Mr. Speaker, this Conservative government fully understands the very real needs of workers and communities that are feeling the impact of economic challenges.
While the Canadian economy remains strong, we are mindful of the challenges before us: global uncertainty, volatile markets and the difficulties confronting some of our traditional industries such as manufacturing and forestry. This is exactly why we have aggressively moved to support Canada's and Quebec's traditional industries.
Budget 2008 continues to build on the significant pre-emptive steps taken in the 2007 fall economic update and during winter 2008 to lower taxes for people and businesses, pay down debt, and provide targeted support to struggling communities.
To date, we have introduced $9 billion in tax relief, mostly broad-based for manufacturers and processors, and that will be by 2012-13.
We are also providing $1 billion for the community development trust to help provinces like Quebec assist in one-industry towns facing major downturns, communities plagued by chronic high unemployment, or regions hits by layoffs across a range of sectors such as manufacturing and forestry.
In budget 2007, we brought in a $1.3 billion temporary accelerated capital cost allowance for investments in machinery and equipment. In budget 2008, we extended that measure three years on a declining basis, which will provide the manufacturing and processing sectors with an additional $1 billion in tax relief.
University of Manitoba economics professor John McCallum, has applauded this initiative, noting, “Anything that is an incentive to invest in assets that make manufacturers and others more competitive is a good thing. This budget does that--”.
We are further supporting Canada's job creators by increasing the capital cost allowance rate 10% for buildings used in manufacturing and processing and to 55% for computers. Budget 2008 additionally provides greater accessibility to the enhanced scientific research and experimental development tax incentive program and additional funding to improve the administration of this program.
In budget 2008 we are also extending the targeted initiative for older workers to 2012, providing $90 million to a federal-provincial employment program that provides employment activities for unemployed older workers in vulnerable communities in order to encourage workforce participation.
We are also bringing forward numerous measures to specifically assist the forestry sector, such as: providing $10 million over two years to Natural Resources Canada to promote the forestry sector in international markets, investing $127.5 million in the forest industry long term competitiveness initiative to support innovation and assist the forestry sector to shift toward higher value products to tap into new markets, establishing a $25 million forest communities program that will assist 11 forest-based communities to make informed decision making on the forest land base, concluding a softwood lumber agreement, and restoring access to the U.S. market resulting in over $5 billion in duty deposits returned to Canadian producers.
Mr. Speaker, while budget 2008 provided significant support for the forestry sector, since taking office, we have already provided numerous instances of initiatives directly benefiting the sector, including: concluding a softwood lumber agreement, restoring access to the U.S. market and resulting in the return of over $5 billion in duty deposits to Canadian producers; investing $127.5 million in the forest industry long term competitiveness initiative to support innovation and assist the forestry sector to shift toward higher value products to tap into new markets; and, establishing a $25 million forest communities program that will assist forest based communities to make informed decision making on the forest land base.
Clearly, through those actions and budget 2008, this Conservative government is signalling its support for Canada's forestry sector.
Mr. Speaker, I will respond to the accusations of my hon. friend from Thunder Bay—Rainy River that the community development trust will not be effective in helping his constituents and many others.
Canada's forest industry is a key component of our economy, and our Conservative government's actions through budget 2008 demonstrates our support for it. While Canada's overall economy remains robust, we acknowledge rising challenges facing certain sectors, ranging from global economic turbulence to a weakening American dollar.
Budget 2008 builds on an aggressive pre-emptive action taken both in the 2007 fall economic update to reduce the tax burden for businesses and earlier this year to support struggling communities and workers.
Since forming government, we have brought forward significant broad-based tax reductions that will deliver over $9 billion in tax relief for manufacturers and processors by 2012-13, including the extended capital cost allowance for new manufacturing equipment announced in budget 2008.
Budget 2008 further provided greater accessibility to the enhanced scientific research and experimental development tax incentive program and additional funding to improve the administration of the program.
In addition, we are providing $1 billion for the community development trust to help provinces and territories assist one industry towns facing major downturns, communities plagued by chronic high unemployment or regions hit by layoffs across a region of sectors such as manufacturing and forestry, especially in northwestern Ontario.
We introduced Bill C-41 to quickly implement the important initiative, and I am pleased that it received unanimous all party support for royal assent.
Budget 2008 also announced $10 million in funding to promote Canada's forestry sector in the international markets as a model of environmental innovation and sustainability. The Forest Products Association of Canada applauded this measure noting that the budget:
—recognized that Canada is a world leader in the manufacturing of high-quality, environmentally sustainable forest products, which will be in high demand as the middle classes in Asia grow and consumers insist on planet-friendly products.
Also of interest to northern Ontario is the provision in budget 2008 to extend the mineral exploration tax credit, an incentive available to individuals who invest in flow-through shares that are used to finance mining exploration, intended to assist companies raise capital for exploration.
Also related to the mining industry was the $34 million provided for geological mapping to support economic development.
It is little wonder that the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada thanked the Conservative government for such measures, measures which will “Canada remains a world leader in mineral exploration”.
Even the member from Thunder Bay—Rainy River liked the aforementioned aspects of budget 2008, noting that he “likes that there is positive news for the mining sector in the region”.
I accordingly would hope that the Liberal member would stand up and vote in favour of budget 2008 and its positive news for the Thunder Bay—Rainy River region.