Jobs and Economic Growth Act  Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate my colleague from Alfred-Pellan on his excellent speech. He touched on the most important points in the budget, including the issue of low-income households, which is of particular interest to me. The government is concentrating more and more wealth in the hands of a few.

Jobs and Economic Growth Act  Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question regarding the federal government's commitment to social housing. It is precisely one of the shortcomings I mentioned in my speech on the budget. The Canada Housing and Mortgage Corporation has a surplus of about $8 billion. However, there is no commitment on the part of the government to build new social housing units after reaching agreements with the various provinces.

Jobs and Economic Growth Act  Mr. Speaker, it is with great pleasure that I rise today to participate in this debate on Bill C-9 to implement the budget tabled in the House a few weeks ago. First, I will address the title of the bill. I have been in this House for 13 years, and this kind of bill is usually called a budget implementation bill.

Jobs and Economic Growth Act  Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to question the member. I listened to his speech with great interest. One of the enactments in this 800-page bill is to enact a new payment card network, to regulate national payment card networks and give broader oversight powers to the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada.

Jobs and Economic Growth Act  Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie. Members know that the Bloc Québécois has already voted against the Conservative government's budget because, once again, it does not meet the economic, social, environmental and financial needs of Quebec.

Jobs and Economic Growth Act  Mr. Speaker, I think our leader was very clear that we were going to just freeze it. He could not have made it any clearer. I know there is direction from the Conservative government to keep reducing from 18, as he pointed out, down to 15. That is not what our leader said. He said that we will leave it at that level.

Jobs and Economic Growth Act  Mr. Speaker, I listened very carefully to the reply by the hon. member. I am wondering if he is aware of the work by an organization called NESCAUM, the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management. Based on its empirical studies, it has shown that the one key trigger for investment in clean technology is not lower taxes.

Jobs and Economic Growth Act  Mr. Speaker, the question allows me to go back and remind Canadians that there was a formula between 1993 and 2006 that worked for Canadians. There was job growth and economic prosperity. We eliminated the deficits and lowered the debts. We somehow found a balance. As we were generating those surpluses, we were doing it in a balanced way.

Jobs and Economic Growth Act  Mr. Speaker, as I said in my remarks earlier, it is sneaking in new rules in the budget legislation. Those are not my words. Those are words printed by the pundits and the media. In essence, this is a tactic or strategy of the government. It is always sneaking things in. That is why two out of three Canadians in two elections did not vote for those people.

Jobs and Economic Growth Act  Mr. Speaker, the speech by my hon. colleague from Scarborough Centre was very passionate. I hope he keeps that up when it comes time to vote. He spoke about the isotopes produced by the CANDU reactor and accused the other government, the government opposite, of wanting to sell its CANDU reactor.

Jobs and Economic Growth Act  Mr. Speaker, when it comes to voting for the budget, one thing I will guarantee this gentleman and one thing I will guarantee Canadians is that I will not use emotion to vote for this budget, but I will use logic. I will vote against this budget and my party will vote against it in a responsible way because the last thing our country today needs is to be put into election chaos.

Jobs and Economic Growth Act  Mr. Speaker, the one point I will agree with the member on is that we certainly do not need, nor do we want, a majority Conservative government in this country because of what will more than likely happen if one ever comes about. The corporate tax issue and the Liberals' position on it is certainly one that I am a bit confused about.

Jobs and Economic Growth Act  Mr. Speaker, this budget implementation bill sees the Conservatives, with the culpable complicity of the Liberals, completing the theft of $60 billion from the employment insurance fund. It is that which gave them the fiscal room to provide the $60 billion in corporate tax reductions.

Jobs and Economic Growth Act  Questions and comments, the hon. member for Hochelaga.

Jobs and Economic Growth Act  Madam Speaker, yesterday during this debate, I had the opportunity to ask a question of the hon. member for Macleod, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance. I asked him what he thought of the bill introduced by his Minister of Finance, Ontario's former finance minister, to abolish corporate law and financial advisor positions, among others, and eliminate any future career prospects for many students in faculties of commerce both in Quebec and Alberta.