Industry committee  Thank you for the question. It's an excellent question. I can start off by saying that small business is implicit throughout the entire budget. I've made the statement time and again that it's important that we recognize that middle-class Canadians are small business owners

The Budget  . Middle-class Canadians were doing all the right things—studying hard, working hard, and making a real contribution to the Canadian economy—but their hard work was not paying off in higher incomes. We in the Liberal Party said that was not fair. Canadians agreed and voted in favour

Industry committee  . SMEs account for about 40% of GDP. They are the backbone of our economy. When small businesses succeed, middle-class Canadians succeed, and that's what our economy needs. We are boosting funding to the industrial research assistance program, which helps SMEs access technical

The Budget  Madam Speaker, in the case I was referring to was just the average of the families. My colleague might be referring to who we consider middle class Canadians. The middle-class tax cut applies to the tax bracket between $45,000 and $90,000. In terms of just simple math, those

The Budget  . All these things make the lives of common people better and livable. I represent the riding of Brampton Centre. It is part of the GTA and comprises hard-working, middle-class Canadians. Quite a few of my constituents work in downtown Toronto and nearby areas. When we travel

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, once again, we have lowered taxes on small businesses; we have lowered taxes on middle-class Canadians. We are working with Canadians to ensure that we have a strong economy and that we create jobs. Budget 2016, which I encourage the member to read in its entirety

Taxation  Mr. Speaker, we know that the vast majority of middle-class Canadians pay their fair share of taxes, but that some wealthy individuals hide their money in offshore tax havens to avoid paying taxes. On Monday, the government committed to doing more to fight tax evasion. Can

The Budget   has to support middle-class Canadians and Canadians who are working very hard to join the middle class. To do this, budget 2016 provides for total funding of $3.4 billion over two years for social infrastructure, that is, affordable housing, early learning and child care, cultural

The Budget  . When we have a solid middle class working and contributing to our economy and communities, everyone benefits. We are putting money back into the pockets of middle-class Canadians. We are making it so that more parents can afford to put their kids in sports and arts through

The Budget   in Brampton about the budget provisions that would help them most. The residents of Brampton consistently tell me they are appreciative and supportive of the investments our government is going to make that would help middle-class Canadians succeed. These are investments that would

The Budget   fitness credit if they have a couple of kids. They would lose another $3,000 or more, if they think about income splitting, then maybe $200 more for CPP increases, and another maybe $100 for EI. That means that all of these middle-class Canadians will be paying about $3,500 or more

The Budget   of that fulfillment of the commitment to helping young Canadians succeed in their studies. We understand that the middle class is struggling. Middle-class Canadians have not been able to get ahead. They are not able to assist their children in post-secondary education. They are not able to save

Finance   to struggle. The need for more inclusive growth is not new. It has long been understood that a strong economy starts with a strong middle class. When middle-class Canadians have more money to save, invest and grow the economy, everyone benefits. With budget 2016, our government seeks

The Budget   break is a real shell game. The hon. member talks about the $40,000 range. In fact, there is evidence to suggest that the ones who will benefit the most from the middle-class tax break are actually upper-middle-class Canadians. In my response to the middle-class tax break, I used

The Budget   to pay more. We now know that this is not the case as taxpayers will have to dish out an additional $8.9 billion over the next six years, and hard-working middle-class Canadians will ultimately have to shoulder this massive burden. The Liberals promised Canadians they would not run