Little room to support jobs at this time of need

Submitted by
Ken Boshcoff M.P.

When the Conservative Government came to power two years ago, they inherited the strongest fiscal position and the strongest employment growth among G7 nations. With so much money, Prime Minister Harper had an opportunity to make smart investments and wise tax cuts to strengthen productivity and better prepare the country for the uncertain economic times that we now face. Instead, the Government’s record is one of wasted opportunity and foolish initiatives.
In the past 24 months, the Government has been on a $25 Billion spending spree that has done little to improve the lives of Canadians. Despite all this extra expense, Prime Minister Harper has actually reduced numerous services and supports – eliminating the $9.7 million Canada Volunteerism Initiative; slashing $18 million from literacy support programs; reducing FedNor’s annual funding by $6.4 million; and, cancelling the Court Challenges Program.
Investors from across the country will long remember the Conservative Government’s broken promise on income trusts that caused $25 Billion of Canadians’ hard-earned savings to go up in smoke in a single day.
Economists have publicly questioned the Conservative focus on reducing the GST instead of providing personal income tax relief that would do more to increase productivity and competitiveness. The two point GST cut is hugely expensive – costing some $12 Billion per year. At that price, Canadians could have instead benefited from both a full 2% across the board cut to personal income tax rates and a $2 Billion per year boost to the GST credit for low income Canadians who do not pay income tax.
Canada now faces economic uncertainty in the wake of the slowdown south of the border and we find that the fiscal cupboard is nearly empty. The poor choices they have made over the past two years leave the Government with little room to support jobs and the economy at the moment of need.
The Liberal record on the economy is clear – we cleaned up the $42 Billion deficit left by Brian Mulroney, presented eight consecutive balanced budgets, shaved $63 billion off the debt, and implemented more than $150 Billion in tax cuts. On the contrary, the Conservative record leaves much to be desired.