Ted Menzies

[Infrastructure, November 19th, 2012]

I am shocked to see the hon. member standing up for my home town of Calgary, Mr. Speaker. Apparently he has actually discovered--

[Infrastructure, November 19th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, most of that is factually incorrect. The original intention of PPP Canada was to fund projects such as water, sewer, roads and bridges in this country. That was the intention all along and we think that is very effective.

Unfortunately, the opposition does not think that the private sector can take part in the economic growth of this country. Over here on this side of the House we think it can.

[Intergovernmental Affairs, November 19th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting to note that everything the hon. member reflected on is in our budget implementation bill number two, the one that those members claim is not getting adequate discussion in the House, which it is. It is in committee right now. They have indicated all along that they will vote against job creation and against the youth employment strategy to help young people get back to work. They will vote against Canadians being able to take part in this economy.

Our plan is to get people back to work and help grow the economy.

[Intergovernmental Affairs, November 19th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, as the Prime Minister has actually indicated on several occasions in the House, he meets on a regular basis with all of the premiers. That is very important, that he keeps in contact with those individuals, as he does with other leaders around the world.

I would reiterate what my colleague, the President of the Treasury Board, has said, that Canada is on track to get back to balance. That is not by accident; that is by plan. We put a plan forward to increase jobs and grow the economy, and no matter what the hecklers say from the Liberal Party, we are on track.

[Financial Institutions, November 6th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, when will the NDP ever stand up to protect small businesses? It has had the opportunity to do that time and again and has refused to do so. When we brought forward a code of conduct to do exactly what the hon. member is asking about, to make sure that businesses have choice in what cards they use and to protect their bottom line, what did the NDP do? It voted against it.

[Financial Institutions, November 5th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, as I said, we do have a code of conduct that was put in place, with no help from anyone on the other side of the House, that actually does put in a lot of protections for businesses. The debit and credit card protectors must be upfront about fees. The businesses now know that, whereas they did not before. They also have to know upfront what the rates are. Small businesses can actually cancel contracts without penalty if those fees change.

Those are common sense changes in the code of conduct, not common sense enough for dippers, I guess.

[Financial Institutions, November 5th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, imagine what a $21 billion carbon tax would add to the cost of businesses.

This is certainly something that has concerned businesses and it has concerned our government. That is why we put in place a code of conduct that, if I recall, the NDP did not even support.

We need to make sure that businesses know exactly what they are signing on to when they sign agreements with the credit card companies, as do consumers. We would appreciate a little support in the House in protecting businesses.

[Employment, November 2nd, 2012]

Indeed that is true, Mr. Speaker. Stats Canada today announced that we have more than 7,000 new full-time jobs as of last month, in fact 2,000 overall. That contributes to 80,000 net new jobs in the last three months, for a total of over 820,000 net new jobs since July 2009.

We have a plan for jobs and growth and it is working. It is helping businesses to employ more Canadians every day.

[Finance, November 1st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, indeed, financial literacy is very important to Canadians. That is why we have chosen November as the month to highlight the importance of being able to provide to Canadians a source of information so that they can make informed decisions for themselves. Unfortunately, much of the consumer protection legislation that we have put forward, the NDP has actually voted against.

Our initiative is giving Canadians better tools and more transparency when dealing with banks. We have also put in place credit card reforms to ensure that Canadians are better protected. However, as I have said, unfortunately, the NDP seems to like to vote against all of these protections.

[Foreign investments, November 1st, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, the only bizarre moves around here occur when the opposition members vote against each measure that we put in place that actually helps Canadians. Our Minister of Finance has been working hard to bring Canadians' taxes down, but every time he puts forward a policy that actually would reduce costs for businesses and Canadians, the New Democrats vote against it. That actually is bizarre.