Ted Menzies

[Credit Card Interest Rates, February 5th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for once again raising the same issue that has been answered many times in this House. We are also very concerned about it. Our Minister of Finance has spoken to many of the lending institutions to raise that issue.

However, if the hon. member would wish to pass this on to his constituents, there is actually a group set up to listen to these complaints. It is the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada. It is available to all members and all Canadians online. He could help his constituents instead of asking questions to give them an answer.

[Employment Insurance, February 5th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I guess this reflects once more that some people actually have not read the budget because that is in the budget. We will be working with the opposition that is going to help us get this budget bill through.

This is all dependent on getting this through Parliament. We recognize that there are two opposition parties that will not help us get this through. They do not care about Canadians losing jobs. We are going to work together in this House to make sure that we get this budget bill passed and we can actually help Canadians.

[Taxation, February 5th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure how he brought that around to unemployment, but he seems to be able to do that quite capably.

We continue to crack down on tax problems that face this country. We want to make sure that everybody pays their fair share. We are improving tax information exchange. We are providing more resources to Revenue Canada to make sure that taxes are collected and collected fairly all across this country.

[Taxation, February 5th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, this government wants to ensure that everyone pays their fair share and, in reference to the previous question, everyone receives their fair share. We took the recommendations of this expert panel that consulted across this country on what is fair for taxes and what makes Canadian companies competitive. The Bloc fails to recognize that we are in a global economy. We compete internationally and we want to make sure that our businesses can continue to compete internationally.

[Taxation, February 5th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, the only scandalous thing here is the fact that the Bloc Québécois members can do nothing more than stand in this House and complain about an expert panel, where they could have contributed when it actually mattered. Instead of howling in here, perhaps they should have presented their opinions to this very impartial panel that actually worked for free.

[Public Works, January 30th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, in the spirit of working together, I see everyone is enjoying a laugh today.

I might remind the hon. member that this has happened in cases before where the potential sale of assets was booked in a previous budget. In fact, that happened with Petro-Canada under the Liberal government.

This government, for the first time in 15 years, has actually undertaken a review of whether or not all of the assets of this government need to be owned by government. It is only common sense. We are dealing with taxpayers' money.

[Equalization Payments, January 30th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, my apologies to the hon. member. I guess it just proves that I need to spend more time in Newfoundland and Labrador. My apologies for that.

In fact, the transfers continue to climb for Newfoundland and Labrador, as a matter of fact, $372 million this year alone through the Canada health transfer. That is an increase of $11 million. The Canada social transfer which is $164 million on top of $3 million last year. However, let me quote Premier Williams: “The have-province role in fact means more money for us. We receive less money from—”

[Equalization Payments, January 30th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, I know the hon. member from western Labrador is representing his constituents by asking that question. Let me state the facts. This government continues to respect the Atlantic accords. In fact, Newfoundland and Labrador will receive a projected $1.2 billion in offset payments between 2009-10 and 2011-12. This $1.2 billion is on top of the $2 billion upfront payment for Newfoundland and Labrador in respect of the 2005 accord.

[The Budget, January 30th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, it is the job of members of Parliament in the House to put Canada first. We will do that but not to the detriment of any individual province. We will treat all provinces and territories equally. That is why we continue to increase health transfers by 6% and social transfers by 3% to all provinces and all territories.

[The Budget, January 30th, 2009]

Mr. Speaker, speaking about logical solutions, that is why this government decided to put an end to fiscal imbalance. That is why we put a solution in place to fix equalization. Quebec's increase in equalization this year alone is 37% above where it was in 2005.

The government refuses to treat any province or any territory any differently than it does all of the rest.