House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2011, with 78% of the vote.
The Economy April 2nd, 2009
Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member is failing to recognize the fact that there is only one party in this House of Commons that actually put forward a plan to deal with these difficult economic times. This is a worldwide recession, and as I just quoted, we took pre-emptive action starting as early as the fall 2007.
We waited, we waited, and we waited for the opposition to put forward a plan. We are still waiting.
The Economy April 2nd, 2009
Mr. Speaker, why on earth would he ask a question like that when in fact we took early pre-emptive action?
I will quote from something else that I assume the hon. member has not yet read. It is the 2007 fall economic statement. It is probably right underneath that budget in that stack of unread books. It reads:
Given this global economic uncertainty, now is the time to act. Our strong fiscal position provides Canada with an opportunity that few other countries have—to make broadbased tax reductions....
That is what we did but I think they voted against that too.
The Economy April 2nd, 2009
Mr. Speaker, the only ones late in this session are the NDP members. They still have not read the budget and probably have not yet read the declaration that Canada signed on to this morning. This is a G20 joint declaration which states that non-cooperative offshore tax havens will be named and shamed if they do not agree to international rules. Is that not clear enough, or should I take it over so he can read it?
G20 April 2nd, 2009
Mr. Speaker, I have to reject the premise of that. I will quote from the IMF report. It states:
The mission supports the large, timely, and well-targeted fiscal stimulus in Budget 2009. The stimulus package is appropriately sized—well above the Fund’s benchmark of 2 percent of GDP. It is also prudently based on a worse economic outturn than private sector forecasts.
How can anyone in the opposition say that we have not done enough?
The Economy April 2nd, 2009
And that was plain speak, was it, Mr. Speaker? I noticed that he had a little trouble getting that out.
The Prime Minister has been very clear that we put in place an economic action plan that was necessary for Canadians. Not only will it stimulate the economy but it will put money in place to retrain those who are unfortunate enough to lose their jobs.
We have extended EI by five weeks, which is very important for those who have lost their jobs. That will help bridge them through to where they can maybe find some new employment. That is critical to this government. Those people are important to us.
The Economy April 2nd, 2009
Mr. Speaker, that is an absolute false statement. The Prime Minister said the very same thing in this House as he said in London today, as has the finance minister. They have said that the stimulus that we have put in place, which is very substantial, is larger than most OECD countries and G7 countries. The Prime Minister again today reiterated, “If we need to do more, we will”.
Finance April 1st, 2009
Mr. Speaker, that brings to mind the question whose side is that hon. member on, because we actually put in a number of suggestions in the budget that we are willing to do to protect consumers. That hon. member voted against the budget. We want to require a minimum grace period on new purchases made on credit cards. He and his party voted against it. As a matter of fact, they never even read it.
Taxation April 1st, 2009
Mr. Speaker, it is nice to have a cheerleading section, but let me answer the question.
We are cracking down on tax havens. In fact, it is a topic of discussion at the G20, as we speak. We are working with other countries to make sure that we provide protection for taxpayers, so taxpayers are taxed on an even basis, whether they are in the country or whether they are in another country. We are providing more resources to National Revenue to make sure that it is able to police these transactions.
International Monetary Fund April 1st, 2009
Mr. Speaker, I suppose that would have been part of the plan in the prebudget consultations that the Liberals actually never delivered to the finance minister, how they plan to help people in other countries less fortunate than ours.
As I said in this House yesterday, we continue to support countries that are less fortunate than we are. We continue on our track to double aid to Africa.
We have developed programs in South America with our partners down there, not only in promoting trade with those countries but in development projects there and around the world.
G20 April 1st, 2009
Mr. Speaker, I do not think you would ever hear a Conservative admit that.
Our Prime Minister and our finance minister are participating in the G20 meetings. We have other ministers at G8 meetings simultaneously. This Conservative government is actually putting us back on the international stage and showing leadership, leadership that we have not seen for many years coming out of Canada.
In fact, we co-chair with India the most important committee in the G20. We are leading all around the world.