39th PARLIAMENT, 1st SESSION
EDITED HANSARD • NUMBER 019
CONTENTS
Tuesday, May 9, 2006

Mr. Ed Komarnicki (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, CPC): Mr. Speaker, I have the opportunity to continue my remarks from yesterday, when I closed my remarks by saying that this is not a budget that defines the Prime Minister or the government, but a budget through which the Prime Minister and the government define the kind of Canada we want to see, the kind of Canada for which people have been asking for a long time, people who were not being listened to. What Canadians have been asking for is finally being reflected in what we see in the budget.

Also of interest, I mentioned the other day that it was refreshing to see the May 3 editorial page in the Regina Leader-Post in Saskatchewan indicating that the federal budget “keeps promises”. It is one thing to make promises and quite another to actually carry them out and put them into effect. I think members opposite were somewhat surprised to see many of our campaign platform promises appearing in the budget. I do not think they expected us to keep our promises, as this budget reflects.

This government promises and delivers. The budget itself shows that we are prepared to spend $20 billion in tax relief over the next two years, more than the last four Liberal budgets combined. As was mentioned previously, this will remove 655,000 low income Canadians from the tax rolls altogether.

When we look at the cumulative effect of the budget on ordinary working families, we find that significant dollars are being returned to the pockets of taxpayers. Taxpayers have been much overburdened over the last number of years with the many taxes collected from them, taxes that found their way to the previous government.

With respect to the GST reduction of 1%, anyone who spends $10,000 on consumer goods will end up saving $100. A family spending $30,000 on a family car or a minivan will save $300. A young family buying a home for $150,000 will save somewhere between $960 and $1,200.

On top of this, a Canada employment credit is available to everyone, with $500 now and then $1,000 as of January 1, which is another $150 saving.

The budget provides a reduction in the lowest tax rate from 16% to 15.5%. Again, a simple calculation shows $150 more left in the pockets of ordinary Canadians. As well, an increase in income that can be earned without paying federal tax results in more dollars being kept by ordinary people.

A family with three children under six years of age with a stay at home mom will receive $3,600 per year. That is quite a significant amount.

When we start adding up all of the benefits portrayed in this budget, we see that they add up to thousands of dollars.

If someone wants to register a child in a sports program, which happens throughout all communities in Saskatchewan, and rural communities in particular, they can deduct about $75 from taxes.

That is not all. If mom or dad wishes to become a skilled worker, each is eligible for a $1,000 grant for the first and second year of an apprenticeship program. In years one and two of an apprenticeship program, that amounts to $2,000.

If someone needs to buy tools for their employment, there is an additional exemption of $115. This budget allows for a 100% capital cost allowance on tools purchased. This has been increased from $200 to $500, for another $45 saving.

A student in a post-secondary education program will receive an $80 net tax deduction for textbooks.

If mom or dad use the transit system, there is another $150 or an $80 a month tax credit.
This budget allows a young couple purchasing furniture worth $20,000 to get a $200 saving.

I am sure I have missed some of the many tax benefits for ordinary Canadians allowed in this budget, but the savings amount to thousands of dollars being put back into the pockets of Canadians. This is long overdue. It is time that we respected the taxpayer. This budget reflects that. It gives some relief to taxpayers who have been overburdened over the last number of years.

I would also like to take a moment to talk about our farming community. The Liberal opposition members, when in government, were a lot on promises and hot air, but were cold hearted, callous and uncaring when it came to the farming community. In particular, they designed a CAIS program that has been a bane and a problem for farmers and farming communities for years. Farmers who have retired and do not now farm have been able to receive thousands of dollars under the program, yet young farmers just getting into farming have received very little. There have also been differences between neighbours with CAIS, with some receiving payments and others getting none.

CAIS is a program that does not take into account falling commodity prices. They have been falling year after year and the program simply reduces the margin. It does not take into account the effect that falling commodity prices have on inventory valuations, thereby causing an additional loss of money for our many farmers in Saskatchewan. As well, the rising costs of production are not addressed.

Perhaps the sorest point of all is the clawback provision that was in existence for any government payments that were made, including the grains and oilseeds program. They were clawed back for any overpayments out of the CAIS program. It has been an administrative nightmare, with farmers receiving money on the one hand and having to pay it back on the other hand and not really knowing how the problem is to be addressed.
We find the one thing that CAIS has done, perhaps, is provide jobs for people administering the system. It certainly has not provided the money at the farm gate for the farmers and the farm families who require it.

The CAIS program has 2003, 2004 and 2005 issues that are being addressed as we speak. The farmers operate on a seasonal basis, planting a crop and harvesting a crop. Things have to be determined within that cycle, not over many years. What we find is a system that is too complex. Farmers are losing hope and even the accountants are getting gun shy in terms of trying to come up with what the farmer may expect.

In many respects in my province, CAIS is looked at by many as the laughingstock of government programs, except that it is not very funny. There are many auctions happening in my constituency, more than I have seen in all of my lifetime. This is not something that is particularly appreciated by the farming community, which is going down and is losing the hope that it needs to succeed.

The Liberal opposition members opposed the budget. I wonder what it is in the agricultural part of it that they take issue with. I looked at the budget itself, which states that it “will provide an additional $500 million per year for farm support and to work with farmers” and other partners toward securing “a more prosperous future for this sector”. We promised in the campaign that there would be $500 million to deal with disaster relief and we have delivered that $500 million. On top of that, we have put in an additional $1 billion to address farmers in transitional programming.

The government has also indicated that it will replace the Canadian agricultural income stabilization program, CAIS, and it is in the process of doing that.

It is also providing funding to shift the inventory evaluation under the CAIS program to make the program more responsive. Farmers lost thousands of dollars in that regard. The government is putting place a deeper coverage with respect to many issues such as the declining balances. It also talks about a cover crop protection program for those who have been flooded out. It seems that a program like that should have been in existence for a very long time, but it has not been.

I would say that even at a start under this budget farmers are already better off. The minister has indicated there will not be any more clawbacks and there will not be any interest on overpayments on the CAIS program until January 1, 2007.

There are also initiatives on the biodiesel and biofuel side, which will transform the prairie agricultural industry as we know it.

What are other Canadians saying about the budget? There was a poll done recently by Ipsos-Reid. It said that the numbers of people who like the budget are double the numbers of those who do not. In Quebec there is a positive response of 60% and in Alberta 67%. Mr. Wright, the senior vice-president of Ipsos-Reid, said, “The Harper government has really hit a home run with this budget”.

There are many people who have said that this budget is a budget that is accepted by all Canadians. A COMPAS Inc. poll found that Canadian CEOs give the budget an overall score of 76%, and it was stated that this budget is “far more popular than the recent budgets of by Alberta Premier Ralph Klein, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, or former prime ministers” the hon. member for LaSalle--Émard and Jean Chrétien. That is quite a remark.

Another newspaper in my circulation area said this, “Virtually every Canadian will see some benefit from the new Conservative government's first budget”. Every Canadian will receive something, said the newspaper, adding, “The bottom line on this budget is that [the] Prime Minister...has delivered on all his election promises...”. It states that he has established the most important factor for Canadians, the “trust factor”.

I would say that it is refreshing to see that. It is refreshing to see promises being kept and implemented in the budget.

Mr. Michael Savage (Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, I would like to talk about two issues in the budget that concern me most. One is the inherent unfairness of it in giving an advantage to those who spend, those who make more money. The budget documents themselves even tout the savings on a $350,000 home. There are probably ridings in this country that do not have even one $350,000 home.

I want to talk about the other aspect of it, which is that the measures in it are the triumph of politics over policy, of show over the activity that would improve Canada's economy. We know now that the issue for Canada and the world is that the world is changing, with emerging economies now spending money on innovation and technology.

According to the budget documents themselves, Canada has done a remarkable job. We now lead the G-7 in investment in research at the university level. It is all very important, but this budget hardly mentions this at all.

The second part of university and post-secondary education overall, including community colleges, apprenticeships and skills upgrading, which are very important, is putting money into post-secondary education for Canadians who can least afford it.

In the economic update introduced by our government last November, we dedicated $2.2 billion over five years for students most in need, for aboriginals, low income Canadians and persons with disabilities, and another $265 million specifically to help disabled people get into the workforce. There is nothing in this budget to address that.

I wonder if the member would agree, first, that the government haa role to play in assisting those most in need to get post-secondary education and, second, why that would not be mentioned in the budget.

Mr. Ed Komarnicki: Mr. Speaker, the budget does refer to education. It indicates that students will not be taxed on the scholarships, bursaries and other income they have. They will get the tax credit. Parents will be able to earn greater income, with students being able to access funding that they otherwise would not have been able to access.

We have $100 million earmarked for research and development. There are transfers to the provinces. The budget talks about the fiscal imbalance that the Liberal government has created. It has taken millions and millions of dollars out of the provinces, out of provincial jurisdiction, thereby causing a significant problem for the students of this country.

The Conservative government will rectify that problem and actually put some money in the hands of the provincial governments so they can actually provide better education for the children who are growing up in their provinces. Let me tell the member that when we have strong families actually able to make a living, they will certainly be able to stand behind their students and they will do far better in terms of supporting students than they have been able to do under the previous Liberal government.

[Translation]

Mr. Richard Nadeau (Gatineau, BQ): Mr. Speaker, I salute my colleague from Souris—Moose Mountain.

First of all, the Bloc Québécois finds it interesting that the fiscal imbalance should be addressed in this budget. You will recall that the previous government did not even want to utter those words, even though the Bloc Québécois, the opposition at that time, had made a very eloquent demonstration of this fiscal imbalance on the basis of the Séguin report.

That being said, there is still one thing that bothers me. That is the question of employment insurance. In that connection, I would like to ask him the following question.

What is the hon. member’s position on the creation of an independent employment insurance fund managed by workers and employers, who would ensure that we never again see the astronomical sum of $48 billion scattered elsewhere in the federal budget instead of being returned to the people who, at some point in their careers and lives, need to receive employment insurance benefits?

[English]

Mr. Ed Komarnicki: Mr. Speaker, there is no question that under the previous Liberal government $50 billion had been collected from workers and employees, to a great extent, and used for general revenue purposes. The hon. member will understand that we looked at that specific issue very closely. I think the Prime Minister addressed it in the House. It is part of the whole issue of the lack of funding by provinces and specific groups.

I can say with respect to the issue relating to fiscal imbalance that this budget has targeted provinces in a way that they have not been targeted before, particularly with infrastructure. When we look at the number of dollars going back into communities, we see that it is significant. It is in the billions of dollars. It is infrastructure in many respects that has been eroded in the province because of the dollars that have been taken from the provinces by way of revenue. They were not able to provide those services.

These are all issues that the Conservative government will be looking at. Indeed it will.