Over the past few months, our Conservative Government has continued to deliver the real results that Canadian families have come to expect. As 2009 comes to a close, I’d like to take the opportunity to point out some of the initiatives this Government has put in place to respond to the real priorities of Canadians.
Clearly, the economy has been and will continue to be our main focus. While our Government has been acting to keep Canada on the right track for a strong recovery, the situation is still very fragile, and we must expect that the effects of this global downturn will last into 2011. Recently, our Government delivered the Fourth Report to Canadians which outlined how Canada’s Economic Action Plan is continuing to take Canada through the global economic crisis.
Here are just a few of our accomplishments for Canadian families over the past few months:
We’re taking action for Canadian workers and their families by:
- Delivering our Economic Action Plan which has resulted in 12,000 projects across the country, and 8,000 projects having already begun.
- Committing 97 per cent of our Economic Action Plan.
- Offering self-employed Canadians additional security through voluntary access to special benefits in the Employment Insurance system including maternity, parental, sickness and compassionate care benefits.
- Providing long-tenured workers who lose their jobs with additional Employment Insurance support by increasing the benefits they are eligible for by up to 5 and 20 weeks.
- Helping keep more Canadians on the job, as well as helping more companies keep their experienced workers, by extending work-sharing agreements by 14 weeks to a maximum of one year.
- Providing up to two years of Employment Insurance benefits through the Career Transition Assistance initiative.
- Extending the Wage Earner Protection Program
- Provided apprentices the $2,000 Apprenticeship Completion Grant for those who completed their training in 2009.
- Invested $55 million in the Canada Summer Jobs program to help young people find summer employment.
- Delivered more permanent tax cuts for Canadian families and businesses (such as increasing the basic personal income tax amount), allowing individuals to earn more income before paying federal income tax.
- Increased again the Age Tax Credit for seniors by $1000, raising it to $6,408.
- Introduced a First-Time Home Buyers’ Tax Credit and a Home Renovation Tax Credit
- Increased the amount of small business income eligible for the reduced federal income tax rate of 11 percent from $400,000 to $500,000.
- Cracking down on identity theft by making important changes to the criminal code to put in tougher penalties on those who steal personal identification to commit fraud.
- Stopping criminals from exploiting loopholes in the justice system by ending the practice of getting 2-for-1 or 3-for-1 credit for time served either before or during their trial.
- Protecting our vulnerable children and cracking down on child pornography by making it mandatory for Internet and e-mail service providers, as well as social networking sites, to report suspected child pornography being delivered through the Internet.
- Ensuring that criminals who commit multiple murders do not receive volume discounts by ending the practice of concurrent sentencing for criminals found guilty of murder.
- Protecting Canadians from white-collar criminals by creating a 2-year mandatory minimum sentence for those who commit fraud over $1 million and requiring courts to examine restitution for victims where possible.
- Ensuring that criminals serve the sentences they have been given by stopping the practice of Accelerated Parole Review for those who have only served one-sixth of their sentences, and ending the practice of full parole after they have served just one-third of their sentences.
- Working to keep at-risk youth away from a life of crime by investing in locally developed programs such as helping the St. Leonard’s Society of Toronto implement the Stop Now and Plan (SNAP) program, which are aimed at tackling the roots of crime.
- Increasing the amount the Business Development Bank can distribute in support of small and medium-sized enterprises.
- Providing a two-year, 100% Capital Cost Allowance rate to allow businesses to invest in computers to modernize their capabilities.
- Extending the temporary 50% straight-line accelerated Capital Cost Allowance rate to encourage businesses to invest in better manufacturing equipment.
- Letting business focus more on success and less on paperwork by fulfilling our commitment to reduce the paper burden for businesses by 20%
- Expanding international business opportunities through the negotiation of Free Trade Agreements with the European Free Trade Association and countries like Jordan, Colombia, Peru, and Panama.
- Opening doors for Canadian business in China with the opening of six new trade offices.
- Providing new pathways for business in India by rebuilding the Canada-India trade relationship, and taking action such as opening a trade office in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, in addition to Canada’s existing seven trade offices in India.
- Opening up new opportunities for young people to gain valuable international work experience through Youth Mobility Agreements with Poland, Spain and Slovenia.
- Introducing tough new legislation on consumer product safety, important legislation that has been gutted and delayed by an unelected Liberal Senate.
- Defending Canadian families against unfair financial practices by introducing a new Code of Conduct for the Canadian Credit and Debit Card Industry.
- Taking action to protect the safety of Canada’s food supply by implementing the recommendations of an Independent Investigator, providing for improved coordination between the federal government and the provinces when a crisis arises.
We’re delivering the right tools and support for our brave men and women of the Armed Forces by:
- Providing new and improved infrastructure and services to meet the challenges of the 21st century with long overdue renovations at CFB Wainwright, CFB Kingston, CFB Greenwood, CFB Gagetown, CFB Trenton, CFB Cold Lake and CFB Esquimalt.
- Delivering better training for Canadian Forces mechanics and pilots of the C-130J Hercules aircraft by building a new Air Mobility Training Centre at 8 Wing, CFB Trenton.
- Working to deliver better healthcare for men and women of the Canadian Forces with new healthcare centres at CFB Kingston and CFB Greenwood.
- Preserving Canada’s lakes and rivers through clean-up projects in the Great Lakes, the Detroit River, the Niagara River, the St. Lawrence River, Lake Winnipeg and Lake Simcoe.
- Working with President Obama on a Clean Energy Dialogue between Canada and the United States to share technology, ideas, research and development on issues like carbon capture and storage.
- Ensuring communities have the tools and training they need to adapt to a changing climate by investing in programs that focus on the impact of climate change on community infrastructure and planning.
- Taking action to protect the poorest and most vulnerable from rapid changes in the price of food with a new Canada International Food Security Research Fund.
- Recognizing Canada’s role in helping relieve the effects of drought in Sub-Saharan African nations with a $30 million contribution to the World Food Programme.
- Helping to fight the devastating effects of earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis in the Philippines and Samoa with important contributions to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent.
- Protecting honest farmers and hunters by supporting legislation that will scrap the failed long-gun registry once and for all.
- Ensuring continued access to rural postal delivery with a new Service Charter for Canada Post which protects postal service to rural regions.
- Increasing real capacity in the meat packing industry for beef and pork farmers with a $50 million investment in the industry.
- Standing up to Iran’s dangerous agenda by staging a walkout of the Iranian President’s speech last September at the United Nations.
- Rebuilding the Canada-India trade relationship that had deteriorated under the Liberals by signing important trade agreements on the Prime Minister’s recent trip.
- Taking part in an important state visit to China and building important relationships with one of the world’s economic powerhouses, while ensuring that a frank dialogue on fundamental values like freedom, human rights and the rule of law is maintained.
- Playing a key role in institutions like the G8, the G20, the Asia Pacific EconomicCooperation Summit and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
- Announcing that Canada will be hosting the important G8 and G20 summits in 2010.
I would like to wish you and your families a wonderful Christmas and all the best in the New Year.
Sincerely,
Leon Benoit, MP
