At a time of record youth unemployment, MP Murray noted that a single day of media monitoring could fund a summer student job for the entire summer. In 2006, the federal government supported 47,000 student summer jobs across the country. According to the government’s own estimates, this year the program will only help up to 36,000 students.

The text of MP Murray’s exchange is below.

Ms. Joyce Murray (Vancouver Quadra, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, despite their self-congratulations, the Conservatives are supporting only half of the student summer jobs they used to. Meanwhile, they are finding $3,300 a day for media monitoring of their own MPs. Each single day of monitoring would fund a student job for the entire summer. So a day spent peering over MPs’ shoulders is deemed more important than a student’s job.

    Will Big Brother please stop wasting taxpayers’ money on monitoring its own members and hire a summer student to help the Conservatives figure out how to do free Google alerts?

    Hon. Diane Finley (Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, CPC): Mr. Speaker, on top of the 36,000 jobs being created this summer through the Canada Summer Jobs program, there is more to helping young people to get a job, like apprenticeships. In fact, through our apprenticeship incentive and completion grants, there are almost 400,000 of those that have gone out to young Canadians to help them prepare for the skills and jobs that are in high demand, challenging jobs for these young people. That is really helping them.

    The Liberals should have supported those initiatives.

Text of the exchange between MP Joyce Murray and the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of the Environment can be found below.

Ms. Joyce Murray (Vancouver Quadra, Lib.):  “Mr. Speaker, I listened to the remarks of the parliamentary secretary, who mentioned “as we grow our economy” several times, but in fact the Canadian economy is virtually stalled. There is a great deal of concern right across the spectrum over how poorly our economy is doing right now.

One of the ways it is being stalled is by the hits on small businesses, which, as we know, are the job creators of Canada. My colleague from Thunder Bay—Superior North mentioned the attack on tourism and the downturn in the tourism industry. Small businesses are hurting under the Conservative government.

I would like to ask the parliamentary secretary which small businesses that the government consulted advised that there should be an extra tax on dividends, which will cost small businesses $2.3 billion over the next five years?”

Ms. Michelle Rempel (Calgary Centre-North, Cons.):  “Mr. Speaker, I disagree with the premise of my colleague’s question, in that Canada actually has a strong record of economic growth in the global context. The fact that we have created over 900,000 net new jobs in our economy since the economic downturn was deemed to have slowed down is something that our country should be quite proud of. We should be touting that.

We are attracting workers and investment to this country at greater rates than some of the developed countries are, and this is through our government’s focus on ensuring that our products have access to other markets, that we have increased trade relations and that we have a proper regulatory structure that allows for investments in major infrastructure projects.

All of these things are at the core of budget 2013. They build on our government’s track record, and yes, absolutely, we are seeing economic growth.”

Mme Joyce Murray (Vancouver Quadra, Lib.):  « Monsieur le Président, j’ai écouté les observations de la secrétaire parlementaire, qui a parlé a plusieurs reprises de faire croître l’économie, mais en réalité, l’économie canadienne est pratiquement paralysée. Partout, les gens s’inquiètent du piètre rendement économique qu’on observe aujourd’hui.   L’économie est paralysée notamment par les coups portés aux petites entreprises qui, nous le savons, sont les créateurs d’emplois au Canada. Mon collègue de Thunder Bay—Superior-Nord a parlé de l’attaque contre le tourisme et du ralentissement dans l’industrie touristique. Les petites entreprises souffrent sous le gouvernement conservateur.   J’aimerais que la secrétaire parlementaire me dise quelles sont, parmi les petites entreprises que le gouvernement a consultées, celles qui lui ont recommandé d’imposer une taxe supplémentaire sur les dividendes, ce qui coûtera aux petites entreprises 2,3 milliards de dollars au cours des cinq prochaines années. »

Mme Michelle Rempel:  « Monsieur le Président, je rejette la prémisse de la question posée par ma collègue, car en réalité, le Canada affiche une forte croissance économique par rapport au reste du monde. Le pays devrait être très fier que nous ayons contribué à la création nette de 900 000 emplois dans notre économie depuis la reprise observée à la suite du ralentissement économique. Nous devrions en être fiers.   Le pays attire plus de travailleurs et d’investissements que certains autres pays développés, et c’est grâce au gouvernement, qui veille à ce que les produits canadiens puissent atteindre d’autres marchés, qui a renforcé les relations commerciales, et qui a mis en place une structure de réglementation qui favorise les investissements dans des projets d’infrastructure majeurs.   Tout cela est au coeur du budget de 2013 et découle des mesures prises par le gouvernement. Effectivement, la croissance économique est on ne peut plus évidente. »

A copy of the exchange follows.

[English] Ms. Joyce Murray (Vancouver Quadra, Lib.):  Mr. Speaker, I listened to my colleague’s speech with great interest. I would acknowledge that, yes, there are some positives in the budget, but I do need to ask a question considering his emphasis on small business, his background in small business and his claim that this budget is about making small businesses stronger.

Could he please explain how taking $2.3 billion out of the pockets of small business owners over five years through changes to the dividend tax credit is actually going to make those businesses stronger?

Clearly, the facts would suggest that there is $2.3 billion less that those owners can utilize to invest in technology and growth for their enterprises.”

Mr. Dave Van Kesteren:  “Mr. Speaker, again I would emphasize that the best thing we can do for small businesses is lower their taxes. We have done that. We have repeated that process.

The other thing that is so important, as we often forget, is that as important as lowering taxes is, we need markets for our businesses. This government is actively engaged in opening new markets. We have a great standing relationship with the United States and Mexico. We have expanded that and we are looking at other countries in the western hemisphere, but now the most exciting thing that has happened since the North American Free Trade Agreement will be the European free trade agreement. We are very close to doing that. Just think of the possibilities that our businesses and small businesses will have when they are able to reap the benefits of a trade deal that has expanded to a huge market like that.

That is where the answer lies for success for our small businesses.”

[Français] Mme Joyce Murray (Vancouver Quadra, Lib.):  « Monsieur le Président, j’ai écouté très attentivement l’intervention de mon collègue. Je reconnais qu’il y a des éléments positifs dans le budget, mais je suis obligée de poser une question au député vu qu’il a insisté sur les petites entreprises, qu’il a de l’expérience en tant qu’entrepreneur et qu’il a avancé que le budget vise à renforcer les petites entreprises.

Le député pourrait-il m’expliquer comment les modifications apportées au crédit d’impôt pour dividendes, qui enlèveront 2,3 milliards de dollars aux propriétaires de petites entreprises sur une période de cinq ans, renforceront ces entreprises?

Les faits semblent clairs, ces propriétaires ne pourront pas investir ces 2,3 milliards de dollars dans la technologie et la croissance de leur entreprise. »

M. Dave Van Kesteren:  « Monsieur le Président, je souligne encore que nous ne saurions mieux aider les petites entreprises qu’en réduisant leurs impôts. C’est ce que nous avons fait. Nous le faisons de nouveau.   Par ailleurs, nous oublions souvent qu’en plus des allègements fiscaux, nos entreprises ont besoin de débouchés. Le gouvernement s’emploie activement à leur ouvrir l’accès à de nouveaux marchés. Nous entretenons en permanence d’excellentes relations commerciales avec les États-Unis et le Mexique. Nous avons ajouté à cela de nouveaux accords commerciaux et nous en négocions encore d’autres avec des pays d’Amérique, mais l’accord de libre-échange avec l’Europe est sans doute la perspective la plus enthousiasmante actuellement depuis l’ALENA. Nous sommes très près de le conclure. Songez aux possibilités qu’auront nos entreprises, grandes et petites, lorsqu’elles pourront récolter les bénéfices d’un accord commercial leur donnant accès à un marché énorme comme celui-là.   Voilà où se trouve la clé du succès pour nos petites entreprises. »

Text follows:

[English]
Ms. Joyce Murray (Vancouver Quadra, Lib.): 
“Mr. Speaker, ask any health professional, and they will tell you that the best way to sustain a healthy life is by integrating prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Today I am proud to acknowledge Canada’s naturopathic doctors and join them in celebrating Naturopathic Medicine Week from May 6-12.

Every day, thousands of Canadians depend on the services of naturopathic doctors. As primary health care practitioners, they use a blend of conventional, traditional and natural medicine to deliver an individualized and collaborative approach to health care.   Throughout this week, naturopathic physicians will be stepping out of their clinics and spending time in their communities teaching others about the value of naturopathic medicine. In my home province of British Columbia, we are also celebrating the 90th anniversary of naturopathic medicine as a licensed health profession in our province.   On behalf of my Liberal caucus, I thank these dedicated doctors for all they do to support the health needs of all Canadians.”

[Français]
Mme Joyce Murray (Vancouver Quadra, Lib.): 
« Monsieur le Président, le premier professionnel de la santé venu vous dira que la prévention, le diagnostic et le traitement sont les trois clés d’une vie en bonne santé. C’est avec fierté que je rends aujourd’hui hommage aux médecins naturopathes du Canada et que je me joins à eux pour célébrer la Semaine de la médecine naturopathique, qui se tient du 6 au 12 mai.   Chaque jour, des milliers de Canadiens reçoivent les services de naturopathes. Ces praticiens de première ligne combinent les médecines conventionnelle, traditionnelle et naturelle en une approche personnalisée et collaborative de la santé.   Toute la semaine, les naturopathes sortiront de leur clinique et iront dans la communauté expliquer les bienfaits de la naturopathie. Dans ma province, la Colombie-Britannique, nous célébrerons aussi le fait qu’il y a 90 ans que la naturopathie y est reconnue officiellement comme une profession de la santé.   Au nom du caucus libéral, je remercie ces médecins dévoués pour tout ce qu’ils font pour la santé des Canadiens. »

OTTAWA – Conservative cuts to tourism have cost Canadians jobs and seriously impacted our country as a global travel destination, said Liberal Small Business and Tourism critic Joyce Murray today.

“The Canadian Tourism Commission’s annual report confirms that the Conservative government’s repeated budget cuts and policy blunders have cost Canada thousands of jobs and compromised the success of Canada’s tourism industry,” said Ms. Murray. “Under the Harper Conservatives, Canada’s share of global tourism is declining significantly while the world market is growing exponentially.”

Over the past decade, and as outlined in the Canadian Tourism Commission’s Annual Report 2012, international tourism receipts have doubled from roughly $500 billion to over $1 trillion. Yet during this same period, Canada has alarmingly dropped from the 7^th most visited destination globally to 18^th, while the average number of annual visitors has fallen from 20 million to 16 million. Meanwhile, by next year the Commission will receive only $58 million in funding – a 23 percent cut to its base funding in the past two years alone.

“Tourism is an $80 billion industry here in Canada and, directly or indirectly, supports almost 10 percent of all Canadian jobs,” said Ms. Murray. “With so many middle-class family incomes and youth jobs at stake, the Conservatives failure to support tourism demonstrates tremendous economic incompetence.”

-30-

Contact:

Jeff Guignard
joyce.murray.a1@parl.gc.ca
613-995-1640

Text follows:

[English]
Ms. Joyce Murray (Vancouver Quadra, Lib.):
“Mr. Speaker, almost one in 10 Canadian jobs are tied to tourism. Yesterday, the Canadian Tourism Commission confirmed that international visits to Canada have plunged under the Conservative government. We used to be the world’s seventh most visited country. We have dropped to 18th. The government’s mismanagement is costing middle-class jobs and businesses right across Canada.

Why is the government spending millions promoting its own failed economic policies to Canadians, while slashing the budget for promoting Canada to potential tourists abroad?”

Hon. Maxime Bernier (Minister of State (Small Business and Tourism), CPC):
“Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to tell my hon. colleague that I recently had the opportunity to travel to India with the Canadian Tourism Commission. I saw Canadian exporters selling their goods to Indian buyers and inviting them to come to Canada. I can say that the number of foreign visitors, especially from India, is on the rise, as is the number of visitors from China.

We asked the Canadian Tourism Commission to focus its efforts on these emerging markets because people who come to visit Canada from those countries stay longer and spend more money visiting the wonders of Canada.”

[Français]
Mme Joyce Murray (Vancouver Quadra, Lib.):
« Monsieur le Président, près du dixième des emplois au Canada sont liés au tourisme. Hier, la Commission canadienne du tourisme a confirmé que, sous le gouvernement conservateur, le nombre de visiteurs étrangers a plongé. Le Canada était au septième des pays les plus visités au monde. Il a reculé au 18e rang. La mauvaise gestion du gouvernement coûte cher tant du point de vue des emplois de la classe moyenne que pour les entreprises.

Pourquoi le gouvernement consacre-t-il des millions de dollars à la promotion auprès des Canadiens de ses politiques économiques ratées tout en amputant le budget de la promotion du Canada auprès de la clientèle touristique à l’étranger? »

L’hon. Maxime Bernier (ministre d’État (Petite Entreprise et Tourisme), PCC):
« Monsieur le Président, je suis heureux d’annoncer à ma collègue que, récemment, j’ai eu la chance d’être en Inde avec la Commission canadienne du tourisme. J’ai vu les exportateurs canadiens vendre leurs produits aux Indiens et les inviter à venir visiter le Canada. Je peux dire que le nombre de visiteurs étrangers, surtout indiens, est à la hausse, de même que le nombre de visiteurs chinois.

Nous avons demandé à la Commission canadienne du tourisme de se concentrer sur ces marchés émergents, parce que les gens qui viennent visiter le Canada séjournent plus longtemps et dépensent plus d’argent au pays pour visiter les merveilles du Canada. »

The text of MP Murray’s speech can be found below:

[English]
Ms. Joyce Murray (Vancouver Quadra, Lib.):
“Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to have an opportunity contribute to the debate on Bill C-60, which is a budget implementation bill, and to provide my comments.

It is difficult, really, in the time available to do justice to a bill like this, because once again we have a bill that has a huge variety of measures. Some of them are new policy measures and some of them are not even in the budget speech. To actually do justice is very difficult.

What I would like to do is think about how this bill contributes to a sustainable future for our country and the opportunities and freedoms that we enjoy today. How does this bill help our children and their children in the future to enjoy those same kinds of opportunities and freedoms?

I want to start by saying that one of the things that is important for the health and well-being of society over time is transparency and honesty in government policy and government measures. One of the reasons the Liberals will not be supporting this bill is the tax increases, but beyond that, it is because of the lack of transparency in terms of these tax increases.

We call them “stealth tax increases” because the government continues to deny that it is increasing taxes, while it is absolutely clear that with this budget implementation bill the government is actually increasing net taxes over the coming five years.

In fact, in each and every year, the net impact on middle-class Canadians would be higher taxes. By the end of five years, $3.3 billion more would be coming out of Canadians’ pockets through this net increase in taxes. We cannot support a budget that would do that.

I want to focus initially on the impact on small business. Like the speaker before me, I am from a small business background. In fact, I spent 25 years building a business into another category, as a mid-sized business. I know the challenges of small business, especially in securing capital for their growth and in securing investment to upgrade and update their equipment.

What small businesses do is utilize the retained earnings of that business itself, and in many cases they utilize the paycheques or savings of the business owners. That is why this dividend tax credit was so important to small business owners: they could use those funds to help grow their businesses when the market was not available to them as it is to public corporations.

That is why it is so mystifying to me that a government that claims to be pro-business and that claims it wants to make a healthier economy is side-swiping the very people — small business owners and their employees — who are so critical to achieving that goal.

This change to the dividend tax credit for small business is only one of many ways in which small businesses are paying for some of the Conservative government’s mismanagement of budgets and unaccountable spending.

It is also surprising to me that large corporations have enjoyed an approximately 7% reduction in their corporate taxes under the current government, yet the small business rate has only dropped one percentage point in that time. In the meantime, $600 million a year, each and every year for the past three years and going forward, is loaded onto businesses for an EI payroll tax increase.

Small businesses account for 42% of private sector GDP. That is an enormous part of our economy, yet we are undermining those enterprises’ ability to invest and grow their businesses.

Between 2001 and 2005, Canada’s small and medium-sized enterprises created 467,708 jobs. That is almost half a million jobs.

What is the comparable figure under the current Conservative government? Between 2006 and 2010, under the Conservatives, the overall net number of jobs created by small and medium enterprises was negative 10,831. We are seeing a government that is failing the small and medium business community.

Here is a snapshot. In 2005, Liberals helped small businesses create almost 40,000 net jobs. In 2011, small businesses created 21,000 net jobs.

It is the government that has been failing small businesses, and this particular bill, Bill C-60, this budget, is a huge extra hit on small businesses. Certainly, that is not something we can possibly support.

Let us take a look at some of the other impacts of this bill on sustainability.

However, before I do that, I do want to acknowledge that there are elements of the bill that I think are positive and that I support, and certainly the Liberals support.

With respect to social sustainability, we support enhanced allocations for our veterans by putting an end to the deduction of disability payments, and we are indexing the gas tax fund by 2% a year.

Indexing the gas tax would certainly be helpful in my community of Vancouver and my riding of Vancouver Quadra.

As for economic sustainability, I support the measures to fight tax evasion, because no one likes cheaters. It is important to have measures in place to stop people from cheating.

Furthermore, the tax credits for mineral exploration will be very important to my province, British Columbia. As for the environment, the bill includes a $20 million investment in the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

That $20 million to Nature Conservancy of Canada is one small amount of funds. It is so woefully small.

In terms of sustainability, that is $20 million to one organization, when the government has cut hundreds of millions from Environment Canada, Parks Canada and climate change. The Experimental Lakes Area is just one example of so many program cuts. This is a government that, unfortunately, is untruly claiming that it is at a certain level of reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, whereas it is on track to actually having higher levels of greenhouse gas emissions than in 2005, while the Conservatives’ target is 17% below.

I think everyone should take notice of what the Keeling curve is telling us today. Now, the Keeling curve is the world’s longest unbroken record of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. This record, which is from a facility operated at the Mauna Loa Observatory near the top of a volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii, shows that carbon dioxide has been increasing steadily from values around 317 parts per million, when Dr. Charles D. Keeling began measurements in 1958, to nearly 400 parts per million today. That means that we are coming close to the level that this world saw in the Pleistocene era, at a time when the Arctic was 10° hotter than it is today and the rest of Canada was 6° to 8°.

We have an emergency with respect to climate warming, and the government is not only ignoring that, not only not funding anything to deal with that, but is in fact pretending it is accomplishing advances that it simply is not.

In conclusion, some of the important elements of social, democratic and environmental sustainability, as well as business sustainability, that I would like to see are not in the bill. In fact, the key measure that jumps out from the bill is a woeful attack on small businesses through a massive increase in their costs. That is money taken out of their pockets that they need to expand and update their enterprises.”

A copy of the exchange between MP Joyce Murray and MP Stephen Woodworth follows.

[English]
Ms. Joyce Murray (Vancouver Quadra, Lib.):
“Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the member for Kitchener Centre. Having been there not that long ago, I know that small business is a very important part of the economy in his riding. I would like to know whether the member has described for the businesses in his riding, especially, small- and medium-sized businesses, how $2.3 billion would be taken out of their pockets because of the increased tax on dividends. Has he done that? Has he had a response to that move in this particular budget? I would love to hear what they had to say about that.”

Mr. Stephen Woodworth (Kitchener Centre, CPC):
“Mr. Speaker, I suppose the best thing I can do to respond to my colleague’s question, and I thank her for it, is to provide her with the reaction of the group that, in my view, most closely reflects the views of small businesses across Canada, and that is the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. It said this about the budget:

The skills problem leads our Top Ten list of critical barriers to Canada’s competitiveness. It’s showing up all across the country, in every industry…. We are pleased to see the government is moving to [confront it] and to include business directly in the [solution].

That is just one example of the many good things that are said across the country by small business in relation to this budget. I could give quotes from the Canadian Home Builders’ Association and the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association. Canadian building trades unions, in fact, have said some great things about this budget.

In all respects, I think my colleague would find that small business is solidly behind the government in this budget.

[Français]
Mme Joyce Murray (Vancouver Quadra, Lib.):
« Monsieur le Président, j’aimerais poser une question au député de Kitchener-Centre. Pour y être allée il y a quelque temps, je sais que la petite entreprise joue un rôle important dans sa circonscription. J’aimerais savoir si le député a expliqué aux petites entreprises de sa circonscription, surtout les PME, comment elles seraient délestées de 2,3 milliards de dollars, en raison de la hausse de l’impôt sur les dividendes? L’a-t-il fait? A-t-il eu des échos de cette mesure qui est proposée dans le présent budget? J’adorerais savoir ce que les entrepreneurs ont dit à ce sujet.

M. Stephen Woodworth (Kitchener Centre, PCC):
« Monsieur le Président, je remercie la députée de sa question et je suppose que la meilleure façon d’y répondre est de lui faire part de la réaction de l’organisme qui, à mon avis, reflète le plus fidèlement le point de vue des petites entreprises de tout le Canada, c’est-à-dire la Chambre de commerce du Canada. Voici ce qu’elle a dit à propos du budget:

La pénurie de compétences figure en première place de notre liste des 10 obstacles à la compétitivité du Canada. Ce problème touche toutes les industries d’un bout à l’autre du pays. [...] Nous sommes heureux que le gouvernement prenne des mesures pour s’y attaquer et qu’il fasse directement participer les entreprises à la solution.

Ce n’est qu’un exemple des nombreux commentaires positifs formulés par les petites entreprises du pays au sujet de ce budget. Je pourrais citer l’Association canadienne des constructeurs d’habitations et l’Association canadienne des restaurateurs et des services alimentaires. Même les syndicats canadiens du secteur de la construction ont dit de très bonnes choses à propos de ce budget.

À tous les égards, je pense que la députée constatera que les petites entreprises appuient sans réserve le gouvernement et ce budget. »

The text of MP Murray’s question is below.

Ms. Joyce Murray (Vancouver Quadra, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, there is yet another new hidden tax increase on middle-class Canadians—a new tax on group life insurance premiums. The premiums may be paid by the companies, but the tax goes directly onto employee paycheques.

    The Conservative government has already raised income taxes, raised EI premium taxes, raised taxes on dividends, but this is really going too far. It is taxing the insurance on workers’ potential dismemberment or death.

    In the frenzy of tax increases, is there nothing the government will not tax?

“Each May Canadians are proud to celebrate Asian Heritage Month, a month dedicated to recognizing the rich and diverse history of Canada’s Asian heritage communities and the important cultural, social and economic contributions their members have made to Canada. Canadians have celebrated Asian Heritage Month since 2001, when it was first established by Liberal Senator Vivienne Poy, the first Canadian of Asian descent to be appointed to the Senate of Canada.

“As 2013 has been designated the Year of Korea in Canada, there is the special opportunity to celebrate the culture, history, and contributions of Canada’s Korean community.

“Members of the Asian Canadian community have shaped Canadian society in fundamental ways, and as the Canadian gateway to Asia, Vancouver has a special role in Canada-Asia social, cultural, and commercial exchange. The many and varied events celebrating Asian Heritage Month in Vancouver, including the Canada Asia 2013 Conference, and the 16th Annual explorASIAN Festival, signify the important relations between our city and Asian Canadian countries.

“I look forward to taking part in these events, and commend the Vancouver Asian Heritage Month Society (VAHMS) and the Asia Pacific Foundation, for their hard work and effective leadership in hosting these significant commercial, educational, and cultural events in our great city.

“I encourage all those in Vancouver and across the country, to participate in local Asian Heritage Month events, and to join me in celebrating our nation’s vibrant Asian Canadian community.”