(Ottawa) June 13, 2011 – Brant MP, Phil McColeman, today rose to deliver a speech on the Federal Budget and the Next Phase of Canada’s Economic Action Plan in the House of Commons.

The following is the text of his speech:

Mr Speaker,

As this is my first time rising in this place since the election, I wish to begin by offering my sincere thank you to the good people of the Brant Riding for returning me to this house for a second term as their Member of Parliament.

I look forward to making their needs, and their priorities heard as we move our region and our country forward.

I also wish to offer my congratulations to all members of this house on your successful election or re-election. As a two-year veteran I am still in awe of the history and tradition of this hallowed place; a feeling which I am sure all of our new MP`s are still experiencing.

Mr. Speaker, On May 2nd Canadians elected our Government with a clear mandate to make their jobs, and the families that depend on those jobs, our top priority.

And through this Budget, we are keeping our commitment to Canadian voters by doing just that.
We are proposing a prudent, low-tax plan to protect and create jobs; secure Canada's economic recovery; and improve the well-being of Canadians over the long-term.

Since the global recession began, Canada has performed well.
We were the last developed nation to be plunged into the global recession, and we were the first to emerge back out of it;

Our banks did not fail; our countries finances are in order; and our economy has now grown for seven consecutive quarters.

Just last week we received more good news that our economy created over 22, 000 new jobs in May; and has now created over 560, 000 net new jobs since July of 2009.

Mr. Speaker; today, the Canadian economy stands as a beacon of hope and opportunity amidst a world of uncertainty.

However, our Government is mindful of the fact that many dangers remain in the global economy, and that our economic recovery here in Canada is still fragile.

That is why our Government if focused on completing Phase Two of our Economic Action Plan; a plan focused on the priorities of Canadians that will help keep our impressive economic recovery on-track.

Our Plan is one that does not raise taxes on the businesses that create jobs; instead; our plan lowers their taxes.

Lower taxes on our “Job Creators” will produce huge investments in new business, expansion of existing enterprises, and high-paying, secure, full time jobs.

Not only this; there is also a good case to be made that corporate tax reductions will produce an actual growth in revenue to the Government.

This is the principle that if you sow abundantly you will reap abundantly.

You see, expanding our economy with new industry and new jobs, we have more prosperity, more people paying taxes and more revenue.

And we know that corporations in reality do not pay taxes; they pass along costs to consumers in the price of their products. And when taxes are too high, businesses cut jobs, go-out of business or re-locate to a more friendly location.

By implementing the next phase of Canada’s Economic Action Plan, Canada will be the friendly location.

To illustrate; when Canadians go to the grocery store; if the grocer is paying 40 percent corporate tax, it is the consumer that will be paying when they check out at the cash register. If the Grocer’s tax is 25% - it is Canadian families that will save and Canadian workers who will benefit.

I would invite opposition members to reconsider their position against these tax cuts, and join us in creating a tsunami of Investment and opportunity in Canada.

Locally, I have seen the benefits of our low tax plan to create jobs.

Just last year, the Vice President of a Brantford company; Brant Screen Craft; wrote to a local paper to explain why his expanding company, which had first considered re-locating to Michigan, chose instead to purchase a new plant in Brantford and create 50 new jobs locally.

He said it was the low-tax plans and programs legislated by our Conservative Government that were the deciding factor to instead expand in Canada.

It is a story of how our low-tax plan has worked to help grow the Canadian economy and make Canada the most attractive destination for job creators to invest.

But Mr. Speaker, our plan goes much further.
•    In our budget, we are proposing to create a hiring credit of up to $1, 000 to encourage small businesses to create jobs.

•    Manufacturers in my riding are pleased that we are also proposing to extend the Accelerated Capital Cost Allowance to help them make investment in machinery and equipment.

•    Having seen how local companies and their employees have benefited from our programs to help businesses keep workers, I am pleased to see that we are enhancing and extending the Work Sharing program; the Wage Earner Protection Program; and the Targeted Initiative for Older Workers.
•    The Next Phase of Canada’s Economic Action Plan also takes further steps to reduce costly and inefficient red tape; which was a major concern expressed by local employers at a Brant Economic Consultation Roundtable Discussion, held earlier this year.

Our Budget also provides important measures to support Canadians and their families, including:

A new Children’s Arts Tax Credit, a new Family Caregiver Tax Credit, an Extension to the EcoENERGY Retrofit Program, and enhancements to GIS to support seniors.

And I know personally that Brant County Fire Chief Paul Boissonneault, the second vice-president of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs, is pleased that he and his fellow colleagues who bravely serve our community will now receive a Volunteer Firefighters Tax Credit.

Parents and students in my riding, where post-secondary institutions are growing and driving the renewal of our local economy, are pleased that our budget makes further investments in Innovation, Education and Training.

Since 2006, our Government has provided much needed support for Canadian students.

We have invested more than $10 billion annual in students and education, including more than $3 billion in transfers to the provinces for post-secondary education and over $7 billion in direct support to students and their families.

We have also introduced a variety of programs and incentives, which included creating a Textbook Tax Credit to help students with the costs of their textbooks.

In this Budget, our Government plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in research and development, higher education and new technologies.

We are extending tax relief for skills certification for Skills Certification Exams and Doubling the In-Study Income Exemption, from $50 per week to $100 per week, benefitting over one hundred thousand students.

It is why the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada endorses our budget and claims, and I quote, that:

“This Budget represents tremendous progress for the University sector: more funding for the research councils, promotion of international educational marketing, additional support for students, and a range of measures to foster innovation and research.”

And Mr. Speaker, through this Budget our Government is Preserving Canada’s Fiscal Advantage.

Today, Canada has the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio in the G-7 – By Far – and in the Next Phase of Canada’s Economic Action Plan we will keep Canada on track to balance the federal budget.

We are delivering savings from the 2010 strategic reviews, closing tax loopholes, and launching a one-year, Government-Wide Strategic and Operating Review.

Mr. Speaker, as I have said, Canada’s economy is fast becoming the envy of the world, and our Conservative Government is focused on keeping that progress on-track.

Our plan so far has worked to help Canada emerge from the global recession, and it has worked to support the local economy in my riding. That is why I am hopeful the opposition will come to support this budget and the important measures that it contains.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, I would like to extend an invitation to entrepreneurs world-wide to call me. I will give you a personal tour of our beautiful industrial parks in Brant where we haveplenty of fully-serviced land, access to utilities and transport routes, and a hard-working labour force ready to go to work.