Economic Action Plan Helps Strengthen the Federation

From : Hansard (at 1655)
Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Address by the Honourable Josée Verner
Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs,
President of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and
Minister for La Francophonie, CPC)

House of Commons, Ottawa
January 29, 2009

Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by thanking my colleague, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance.

There are several reasons why I wanted to take part in this debate on our government's economic action plan. Naturally, I wanted to take part as Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, but also as minister responsible for the Quebec City region. I would also like to congratulate my colleague, the Minister of Finance, on the outstanding work he has done over the past three months.

I am proud to have the opportunity to talk about our plan, which is made up of five important components for Canadians: home purchase and renovation, better roads, better bridges and new jobs; not to mention tax cuts, job protection and help for Canadians looking for new jobs, and assistance for research and development in leading-edge sectors and for extending high-speed Internet across the country.

A number of aspects of this debate bear directly on the effectiveness and the strengthening of our federation.

More than three years ago, our government adopted the open federalism approach, which respects provincial jurisdictions and recognizes the strengths of all the regions and their contributions to our country. Our economic action plan is in keeping with that openness to the provinces and territories.

Open federalism is based on the idea that our federation is not static, but is constantly evolving in order to respond to the changes and the realities of the 21st century.

This new approach enables the federation to take on the challenges facing the provinces and territories. Open federalism pays off for all Canadians. Managing intergovernmental relations therefore plays a critical role in keeping our federation running smoothly.

I do not need to reiterate the magnitude of the economic and financial challenges we are facing. The Minister of Finance covered that very effectively in his speech, as did other hon. members.

It is in that spirit of consultation and cooperation that our government plans to take on the greatest challenge we face today: strengthening our domestic economy. To that end, we have put in place a process to promote united action. The approach highlights the key role that intergovernmental relations play within our system of government.

We have held extensive consultations with individual Canadians, the provinces, the territories, municipalities large and small, aboriginal communities and many other stakeholders.

On December 17, the Minister of Finance met with his provincial and territorial counterparts in Saskatoon. Then, on January 16, I had the pleasure, along with the Prime Minister, of again meeting with the provincial premiers and the territorial leaders to find some common ground on how to stimulate the Canadian economy.

During that meeting, the political leaders of this country agreed to work to implement a number of these measures, their primary objectives being to strengthen the national economy through new, significant investments, ensure continued access to credit. and protect pension plans in Canada. In order to help workers and the unemployed, they agreed to amend two chapters of the agreement on internal trade, which will facilitate full labour mobility.

They agreed to take immediate action on infrastructure and to accelerate project financing for the 2009 and 2010 construction seasons.

Our economic action plan offers a concrete follow-up to the measures agreed upon by the premiers and the territorial leaders on January 16 to make significant new investment through budgets in order to support the economy in the short term as well as prepare it for long-term challenges.

With the budget presented by the Minister of Finance, our government has committed firmly to this path and we hope that our partners will do the same given the results of the meeting with the premiers and the territorial leaders.

Indeed, I am pleased that we already have the support of a number of provinces, including British Columbia. Premier Campbell has described our action plan as positive, laying the foundation for a more productive and competitive future and creating and maintaining jobs in Canada.

Canada's economic action plan will stimulate the economy by pursuing the following goals: investing immediately in infrastructure; cutting taxes and freezing employment insurance contributions; stimulating housing construction; improving access to financing and strengthening Canada's financial system; introducing measures to help Canadians; and supporting businesses and communities.

As a minister from Quebec, I would like to draw attention to certain advantages to my province in this economic action plan.

In 2009-10, Quebec still benefits from sizeable federal transfers which will continue to grow in the long term.

There is a provision for a total of $17.6 billion for 2009-10, that is $700 million more than last year and an increase of close to $5.2 billion since 2005-06. This increasing long-term support helps to ensure that Quebec has the necessary resources to provide essential public services and contributes to the achievement of shared national goals, particularly in the areas of health care, post-secondary education and other important components of Canada's social safety net.

This overall assistance includes such things as $8.3 billion through equalization, or an increase of $3.5 billion; $5.7 billion through the Canada health transfer, or $196 million more than last year; $2.5 billion through the Canada social transfer, which is over $373 million more for Quebec.

Moreover, Quebec will receive $116 million for worker training as part of a commitment to provide $500 million in new funding to the provinces and territories each year starting with 2008-09.

Since it has been in place, this government has provided Quebec individuals and businesses with $40.1 billion in tax breaks.

During this fiscal year, and the next five, the additional tax cuts set out in our economic action plan will provide individuals and businesses in the province with tax breaks of $4.2 billion, for example in the form of income tax reductions, help for families with children, an age credit and a temporary home renovation tax credit.

Quebec will profit from $1.9 billion in improved employment insurance benefits, and $4.5 billion to maintain the low level of EI contributions in 2009-10 country-wide.

The province will receive its share of the $4.5 billion over two years earmarked for infrastructure projects, particularly improvements to the road system in the greater Quebec City area, and to various water and sewage systems.

Other initiatives are specific to the province. The Coast Guard will receive 98 new vessels and will see renovations done on another 40. This initiative will benefit Quebec City, the site of the regional Coast Guard centre for the province, as well as Davie shipyards, where some of the work can be carried out.

Another two million dollars will make it possible to draw up plans for the future of the Quebec City Armoury.

Some $12 million will be invested in 2011-12 and 2012-13 in infrastructure in order to boost tourism by promoting international cruises on the St. Lawrence and Saguenay Rivers.

Beyond the important measures it contains, I believe the real significance of this budget is greater than the economic benefits it will generate.

That brings me back to the idea I expressed at the beginning of my speech. This economic action plan is a tangible example of our willingness to work together with our partners in the federation to take on the daunting challenges of these turbulent times.

It is based on our government's close consultations with all sectors and in all regions of the country. It reflects our determination to face adversity with confidence and optimism without losing sight of the difficult task that we are already tackling and will see to the end.