House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2011, with 78% of the vote.
The Budget March 12th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, I will assure the hon. member that no such thing has happened. We are in the process of working on the budget.
My hon. colleague from the NDP very inappropriately pointed out that the Minister of Finance is not here with us today. I would ask him to stand in his place and apologize because we actually know what the finance minister is doing.
Employment March 12th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, if there is any explaining to be done in the House it would be by the NDP and that member for voting against every initiative that we have put forward to help Canadians, initiatives that have actually helped over 610,000 Canadians since July 2009. That is an important policy we put forward.
We are actually working on a budget. I am not sure they understand the issues around a budget, but we are working on a budget and it will once again focus on jobs and the economy.
Employment March 9th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, once again, I would remind the hon. member that we will come forward with economic action plan 2012 that will be focused on jobs and growing the economy. It is a continuation of our previous economic action plans that have actually shown results. More than 610,000 net new jobs, 91% of those are full-time jobs. That is important to Canadians.
We continue to be concerned about youth unemployment and will continue to work on that with the support, we would hope, of the opposition parties.
Employment March 9th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, as we have said many times in this House, we remain focused on jobs and the economy. As a result of this, we continue to have the strongest job growth numbers in the G7. In fact, over 610,000 new jobs have been created since July 2009, 91% of which are full-time jobs.
That brings me to the comment about last month. Last month alone, 9,000 net new long-term jobs were created.
We will continue this in economic action plan 2012.
Employment March 9th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, the fact is that since the end of the recession in July 2009, there are over 610,000 more Canadians working than there were before. We are always making sure that the policies we put in place will help create more jobs. If we listen to what the opposition brings forward, that would mean higher taxes. Those higher taxes would kill jobs.
Employment March 9th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, we are all troubled when we hear that more Canadians lost their jobs last month. The thing to remember is that a plan is required to get that job growth back on track, an economic action plan, and we will be putting that forward.
We do need to remember that just last month there were 9,000 net new long-term jobs. That is important to Canadians. There are 9,000 more Canadians who are working today. That is a good number and we should be happy about that.
Employment March 9th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, very soon we will have a budget tabled in this House, economic action plan 2012, that will continue to support jobs and growth of the economy in this country. The only thing that really concerns me about this is the pattern of the opposition voting against it. Every time we bring forth an economic action plan, the opposition members vote against it and then they stand in the House of Commons and ask for another one. Are they going to vote against it again?
Intergovernmental Affairs March 7th, 2012
Speaking of irresponsible, Mr. Speaker, it was very irresponsible of the NDP to vote against the last two budgets when we put in place policies that reduced costs for families, that increased transfers to provinces.
The average family of four has $3,100 more dollars in its pocket than it did when this party came to government. That is important to Canadians. So is the fact that more than 610,000 Canadians are working now who were not working at the end of the recession.
Intergovernmental Affairs March 7th, 2012
Mr. Speaker, the only irresponsible choices in this House have been that the NDP has voted against every policy we put forward to reduce taxes for Canadians.
It is rather ludicrous that the member would stand up and suggest that Ontario is not getting its fair share. In fact, it is getting 77% more federal transfers than it did under the old Liberal government.
Employment February 17th, 2012
Madam Speaker, I am certain that I have never been accused of being a cheerleader.
However, I am actually a cheerleader for the Canadian economy, because it is something to be very proud of. It is the envy of the world right now. The reason is we have put forward two consecutive budgets that are focused on jobs and growing the economy, two budgets which the opposition voted against. Then those members have the audacity to stand up and ask where the job plan is. It is the same plan they voted against.