Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to support today's motion, which condemns the many tax hikes introduced by the tired, old, weary Conservative government.
The current Prime Minister is no longer fit to govern. All he seems to do is undermine the middle class, reduce services to Canadians and maintain the tax breaks for corporations that are sitting on $560 billion of cash, while not creating jobs, not increasing productivity and not investing in new technology. That is not a vision for Canada. That is a disaster for middle-class Canadians and it is driving our economy in the wrong direction. Now we see more tax hikes in budget 2013, or as the government would like to portray, in Canada's action plan 2013.
The Minister of Canadian Heritage, who just perked up, loves to advertise, not quite as much as the Conservative Party, but he does like to use taxpayer money for action plan ads. When Canadians watch those ads, they should remind themselves that they paid for them, and they do come at a cost. Every time they see them, they should think of the increased taxes on the small things that affect them.
My colleague from Kings—Hants just outlined the 1,300 products that would increase in cost as a result. Canadians should think of the high youth unemployment in our country when they see those Canada action plan ads, the high youth unemployment that is a result of the government's handling of the economy and the job market. They should think as well of the attack on seasonal industries and seasonal workers by the increasing taxation through EI premiums on both employers and employees.
My colleague from Kings—Hants in summary basically has said that the budget increases tariffs on a host of consumer goods, imposes the GST on pay parking at hospitals and colleges, increases taxes on small credit unions and continues employment insurance tax increases on Canadian workers and employers. It is not going the right way.
The issue of the removal of the preferential tariffs is a decision the government has made in the same manner it has made most of its decisions, in secret in a sneaky kind of way. The announcement contained in the budget of March 21, 2013, on pages 134 and 135 relating to the general preferential tariff, is worth noting. The Minister of Finance, in a statement on December 21, 2012, indicated the department was accepting submissions in the consultation period concerning the issue of preferential tariffs between December 21, 2012 and February 13, 2013. The budget was presented on March 21. Who was consulted in that period? Again, Canadians have no way of knowing, no matter how one slices it, how this decision will cost them in consumer goods. How was that decision made?
Beyond the secrecy and the sneaky way of increasing taxes, let us look at the wider issue, and that is the Conservative government's record on international trade generally. Taxes and trade are part of the government's agenda. There are some key facts that we should consider.
According to Statistics Canada, our country continues to be marred by a continual merchandise trade deficit. In the most recent Statistics Canada publication on merchandise trade, which was tabled on April 5 of this year, Canada's merchandise trade deficit increased for the first two months of 2013. What is most disturbing is that our exports are 5.1% lower than in 2008, the year the global economic crisis began. This means that in spite of the rhetoric of the government, 39 of the last 51 months have seen the country marred by a trade deficit.
Prior to the Conservative government assuming office, Canada had been experiencing trade surpluses since the 1970s. According to the World Bank, since 2009 Canada had been running an ever-increasing current account trade deficit. The facts reveal that Canada, when compared to 17 of the other strongest economies, has consistently been at the bottom of the list in terms of trade performance.
A recent report from the CIBC has found that the hyper-trade negotiating agenda of the Conservative government has failed to live up to expectations. The report found that Canada remained dependent on our United States trading partner and that in spite of the Conservative government turning away from the United States toward other markets, the result was that non-U.S. trade had actually declined on a year-over-year basis.
In the past five years all of the growth in terms of exports to developing countries has been with China. The past decade has seen our exports stall while our imports have increased by 45%, which translates into what the CIBC describes as a lost decade for exports.
The government claims that it brings in trade. Some would ask why I would talk about trade when we are talking about tariffs. Tariffs and trade go together. The government claimed that 2013 would be the year of trade. However, when it comes to trade, there has been an absolute failure on the part of the government. There has also been an utter failure on the part of the government when it comes to how tariffs and taxes affect middle-class and low-income Canadians, as my colleague from Kings—Hants has outlined so well.
Just to sum up on trade, I want to quote from a business press article published in 2009 entitled “Trade deficit Canada's first since 1976”, which states:
That grim assessment was borne out yesterday in data that show Canada recorded its first trade deficit in 32 years, reflecting the sudden collapse of U.S. demand and commodity prices.
I raise that point because the government talks a line on trade as it talks a line on taxes, yet it fails when it comes to trade and taxes.
To explain specifically, budget 2013 has removed the general preferential tariff rate for 72 countries from which Canada imports goods. The GPT is at least 3% lower than the most favoured nation tariff rate, but is generally substantially lower than that on most goods. It is estimated that the increased tariffs will provide an additional $333 million of revenue per year for the government.
For the information of Canadians, the $333 million of revenue for the government, whether that is on bicycles, consumer goods, shoes and products that Canadians need and use, is revenue coming the wallets of consumers. The motion claims that the government is increasing taxes through tariff measures on ordinary Canadians, while it tries to claim otherwise.
In summary, the Conservative government is failing on the trade issue, and clearly, it is failing on one of the most important issues that affect Canadians, and that is the cost to Canadian consumers and the middle class.
