Finance  Mr. Speaker, I am very much looking forward to presenting to this House our budget 2016 in just a few short days. I am pleased to say for the hon. member and all the members of this House that we will be introducing a budget that will make investments in long-term productivity, investments in infrastructure that can make a real difference in Canadians' lives, while increasing our growth rate in this country for those people who need to have a much better growth rate now and in the future for their families.

Finance  Mr. Speaker, I can confirm for this House that we have had a last decade of low growth. We campaigned on a promise for Canadians that we would help those Canadians who are middle class and those struggling to join the middle class, by investing in growth. We will be making investments in infrastructure at a time when interest rates are at a historically low level.

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, our plan is to make investments in infrastructure and innovation in Canada. By so doing, we will be able to increase our growth rate for the future. That is our plan, and it is the opposite of what the other parties proposed during the election campaign. They wanted to make cuts and make things even more difficult for Canadians.

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, here are the facts. We started out with a deficit. We are further in debt because of the Conservatives. Fortunately, we have a plan to help Canadians across the country by increasing the growth rate. In the future, Canadians across the country will benefit from a more robust economy.

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, we are determined to make investments that can improve the lives of middle-class Canadians and people across the country. We have made it very clear that we believe the time is right for us to make significant investments to improve the long-term productivity of this country, at a time when interest rates are the lowest they have ever been.

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, we are starting off with a deficit, the one that the Conservatives left behind. They also left us with billions of dollars of debt. Now, we have a plan to grow our economy and help Canadians across the country by increasing the level of growth for the future.

Intergovernmental Relations  Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Calgary Skyview. I would also like to thank the Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, the Minister of Veterans Affairs, and the member for Edmonton Centre. All of them have been advocating on behalf of Alberta. I was proud today to announce that we had fast-forwarded the stabilization fund for Alberta of $250 million, which is the maximum amount payable per person.

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for that very kind invitation to stand and tell people that we support innovation, because we absolutely do. We know that supporting innovation in this country is a rather complex job. It involves more than just one tool in a toolbox. We are going to make investments in basic science that will make a real difference for future innovation in this country.

Finance  Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the member opposite that something really important happened on October 19, 2015. Canadians had a choice. They had a choice between dealing with a low-growth economy and investing or making cuts so that we would actually have a more difficult situation.

Finance  Mr. Speaker, we made a promise to Canadians. We promised to be open and transparent. Yesterday, I explained that our current situation is difficult. The economy is volatile, and that is why we used a lower level of growth for next year than we did in November. It is a good starting point, and it allows us to consider how to prepare a budget for the future.

Finance  Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to answer this question. We made promises in the last election to make investments. We made promises to help the middle class. We have already moved forward. We also made promises to help those who are most vulnerable. I am proud to say that we will be moving forward with our Canada child benefit in budget 2016.

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, what I would like to announce today is that we have an absolute commitment to making our country more innovative. We have an absolute commitment to dealing with the productivity challenge in this country. We are moving forward to do what has not been done for the last decade, and that is to invest in innovators, invest in innovation across this country.

Finance  Mr. Speaker, I am not sure there was a question, but what I can say is that six months, two months, does not make a year. We looked at the entire year and we saw that the Conservatives left a deficit. In the last three months of the year, there was less revenue and more spending.

Finance  Mr. Speaker, I very much appreciate the quote because it is a quote that I stand by today. Our commitment to Canadians is to actually do something about the low growth bequeathed to us by the previous government. We are going to make investments that will make a real difference for Canada, investments in infrastructure, investments in innovation.

Finance  Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday, our budget will be tabled on March 22. We have a plan. Our plan is to invest in the middle class across Canada. Our plan is to invest in infrastructure, innovation, and the country's most vulnerable people. Our plan is to grow the economy, and we are going to start right away.