Ted Menzies

[Tax Harmonization, November 16th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, that is pretty harsh language and I will not repeat that kind of language because I know you do not accept that, but it is a little rich coming from the member and her party to pretend to be standing up to protect citizens against taxes when they have, in fact, voted against every tax cut that we have put forward in this House, including such an emotional issue as guide dogs for the blind. The NDP voted against that and many other tax cuts in this House.

[Economic Recovery Act (stimulus), November 6th, 2009]

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. At the risk of sounding repetitive, the hon. member is talking about the Parliamentary Budget Officer. If he has read Bill C-51, he would know that the Parliamentary Budget Officer is not even referenced in it.

With all due respect, I wonder if the hon. member has even mentioned Bill C-51 in his comments. There is some relevance. Is it because the Liberal Party has no position on the bill? Is that why those members are skirting around it, not even speaking to it or against it?

[Economic Recovery Act (stimulus), November 6th, 2009]

What happened last month? Where were you last month?

[Economic Recovery Act (stimulus), November 6th, 2009]

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I think we had a discussion earlier today about relevance. We all know that at third reading, the speech one gives must reflect a certain importance and at least a semblance of relevance to the piece of legislation we are dealing with. Therefore I will leave it up to you, Madam Speaker, to advise the hon. member that he might even reflect on what we are dealing with here today rather than ranting about who knows what.

[Employment, November 6th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, let me answer that with a question. What kind of help is it when the NDP votes against every tax cut that we provide for Canadians?

We tried to give a tax cut to those who provide service through guide dogs for the blind. The NDP voted against that. We tried to put forth tax reductions that would leave more money in Canadians' pockets so they could help recover from this worldwide economic recession. The NDP members continued to vote against that. I do not think they have any credibility standing up and talking about taxes in this House.

[Employment, November 6th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, all hon. members in the House have heard our Prime Minister and our finance minister remind us day after day that this will be difficult. There will be job losses. There will be gains. We will see positive numbers and negative numbers. Unfortunately, today we saw negative numbers.

We need a clear, entrenched economic recovery in Canada and abroad, mostly in the United States, our largest partner, before we will see a true and strong recovery.

[Employment, November 6th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, in answer to that question, our economic action plan is working. Canadians have been telling us that what we have put into this economy, the economic action plan is making sure that the jobs we have remain secure. We are creating new jobs.

It is always unfortunate when we see the number of lost jobs, like we did today, but I would remind the House that in the last two months we actually had an increase in jobs. Did we hear a question? Did we hear any concern from those hon. members? No, but as soon as we hear some sad news, they seem to be all over it.

[Economic Recovery Act (Stimulus), November 6th, 2009]

Madam Speaker, I am glad my hon. colleague from Scarborough—Guildwood begged forgiveness near the end of his speech because he needs to do that.

I know the Speaker listens intently to all speeches in the House but, Madam Speaker, as you and I know at third reading one is supposed to speak somewhat about the bill being debated. I did not hear a word in there that actually addressed Bill C-51.

I would ask, with all due respect, to either approve his forgiveness or not, whichever the Speaker sees fit, because I do not think his constituents will forgive him. He stood in the House and voted against the economic recovery act. Now he will have to go back and explain that. He referred to me going back to my constituents. I am going back proudly to say that I am standing up for Canadians and I am ensuring that they have all the tools available to them to withstand this economic downturn.

He talked about job losses. The United States lost 190,000 jobs last month. He says that he is worried about our jobs. Absolutely, we are worried about the jobs we lost in Canada, but did it help that when he and his party, just this week, voted against extending EI?

Now I am not speaking to the bill, but I have to ask if the member knew anything that was in that bill. We have seen both sides of it. In the House he voted against it and he supported us at committee. I wish him all the luck in the world when he goes home this week.

[Economic Recovery Act (Stimulus), November 6th, 2009]

Madam Speaker, I do need to recognize the hon. member's work. He is doing whatever is within his powers to make sure that those people who were unemployed in his region may actually have an opportunity at some new jobs and actually see some stimulus money going into that community.

That is partnership. That is working as a member of our government. That is working with us to make sure that his constituents receive the support that they need and they deserve.

[Economic Recovery Act (Stimulus), November 6th, 2009]

Madam Speaker, that question does not surprise me at all because I believe, in the debate on the first budget bill, I had the same question from the hon. member. I respect his tenacity.

We have made no decision at this point as to whether or not it will be extended. It is tremendously successful. It has instilled confidence in consumers, in homeowners, the likes of which we have not seen before.

Canadians are concerned. They are very concerned about this economic recession, about the impacts to their livelihoods, about their jobs. We need to be able to make sure that we can quickly pass this bill through this House and deal with it at this point. Soon we will be looking forward to a new budget coming up.