Niagara Falls, Ontario
Check Against Delivery
Introduction
Rotary Club members; ladies and gentlemen.
I’d like to thank you for inviting me to your meeting this afternoon.
As you are all aware, on January 23, Canadians voted for change and they asked our party to lead that change.
They voted for a party that set out five key priorities for its first session of Parliament.
Not 100, not 16, not even 10 – but five key priorities in areas that are important for Canadians from coast to coast.
The 5 Priorities
These priorities are:
1. Restoring Canadians’ faith in the federal
government by introducing the most sweeping accountability measures in Canada’s history.
2. Rewarding hard work and helping Canadians get
ahead by reducing the GST.
3. Protecting families, communities and Canada’s way
of life by cracking down on guns, gangs, and drugs.
4. Giving parents choice in child care by providing
direct financial support and new child care spaces.
5. Guaranteeing timely health care services to Canadians by moving towards a Patient Wait Times Guarantee.
Delivering Results for Canadians
It’s now been four months since Canada’s New Government took office.
During the last session of Parliament, our Government made significant strides in addressing each of these issues.
We made commitments to Canadians – and we’ve kept them.
Over the past 130 days, our Government has implemented a host of new measures to clean up government and provide direct benefits to millions of ordinary, hard-working Canadians.
We have taken on the challenge of governing this country – and we have succeeded.
A quick rundown of the measures our Government has introduced clearly shows one important thing – we have done exactly what we said we would do.
Federal Accountability Act
First, we brought forward new legislation aimed at ending a culture of entitlement and making sure that Canadians receive a full account of how their hard-earned tax dollars are spent.
Indeed, the Federal Accountability Act was the first piece of legislation brought forward by our Government.
This legislation strengthens the rules and institutions that ensure transparency and accountability to Canadians.
It bans institutional and large personal donations to political parties. It ensures that positions of public trust cannot be used as stepping stones to private lobbying.
It gives increased power to agents of Parliament, like the Auditor General, to review how government money is being spent.
Federal Budget 2006
It’s no secret that Canadians are taxed too much.
We’re taxed from the time we get up in the morning until we go to bed each night.
This tax burden hurts Canadian families and serves as a disincentive for both domestic and foreign investors.
That’s why, in our first federal budget, our Government brought forward almost $20 billion in tax relief measures over the next two years – that’s more than the last four federal budgets combined.
We are:
1. Reducing the GST – from 7 per cent down to 6 percent effective July 1.
2. Providing a new $1,000 Canada Employment Credit for working Canadians.
3. Introducing a new Transit Tax Credit.
4. Providing parents with a tax credit to cover registration fees for children’s sports.
5. Assisting tradespeople with the cost of tools, and providing tax incentives to encourage more apprenticeships.
We promised Canadians that we would lower their taxes – and we delivered.
Law and Order
Canada has a reputation as a peaceful and law-abiding nation. A country where people can walk the streets of their community at night with no fear of becoming a statistic.
But lately, this hard-won reputation is under attack as a result of a number of high-profile criminal cases involving guns, gangs and crime.
At the same time, Canada is also facing external threats to our security as the menace of terrorism has drawn closer to our borders.
We recently saw the arrest of 17 individuals on terror-related charges. Allegations have surfaced of plans to attack major cities, such as Toronto and Ottawa, and to cause significant damage and large numbers of casualties.
Clearly, the time has come for action. And our Government has taken it.
To protect the Canadian way of life, we have introduced legislation to:
1. Lengthen and toughen sentences to keep violent criminals and repeat offenders off our streets.
2. Ban house arrest for serious offenders, and make them serve in prison.
3. Crack down on street racing – a reckless crime that all too often kills.
4. Protect our health against adult sexual predators by raising the age of consent from 14 to 16.
5. Scrap the wasteful gun registry to target resources on effective crime measures.
6. Provide more police to tackle crime, and make our streets safer.
Terrorism and Border Security
We are being vigilant on the issue of terrorism here in Canada. We are conducting a thorough review of our country’s anti-terrorism legislation.
We are introducing new measures to better secure our borders. We are better protecting our transportation systems by bolstering security at Canada’s airports.
And we are ensuring passenger trains, rail transit, subways and their stations will be safer.
Our Government promised to get tough on crime and combat terrorism – and once again, we have delivered.
Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative
As some of you may be aware, last week, Prime Minister Harper met with President Bush to voice Canada’s concerns on the mandatory passport issue at our borders.
The Prime Minister reiterated that our country is operating on two tracks in regard to our borders:
1. Firstly, Canada wants to cooperate with the U.S.:
We understand that the United States’ administration has put a Congressional law into place.
We’re prepared to cooperate to make it work as smoothly and effectively as possible.
We need more information and we’ve been pressing for that, and will continue to do so.
2. And secondly, Canada is encouraging the re-examination of the law.
As you know, the Senate has recently passed an amendment that would delay this process by a year and a half.
The Prime Minister said that Canada is prepared to cooperate, but he urged Congress to apply some flexibility in reaching their objectives of security.
Child Care
We are also keeping our promise to support families. We believe that strong communities – cities, towns, and rural areas – are built by strong families.
Our Government recognizes this. We also recognize that each family is unique and parents must be able to make decisions that best meet the needs of their children, particularly in the area of child care.
Our Universal Child Care Plan addresses this situation. It provides parents with direct financial support to allow them to make the child care choices that are right for their needs.
Effective July 1st, 2006, parents are eligible to receive $100 per month for each child under six to help meet the cost of providing child care, up to a maximum of $1,200 per year.
25,000 New Daycare Spaces Annually
At the same time, our Government is committed to working with community groups and non-profit organizations to create more child care spaces in Canada.
Beginning in 2007, our Government will provide up to $250 million to support the creation of 25,000 new daycare spaces annually.
Our Government promised to provide more child care choice for parents – and we delivered.
Health Care
Canadians want and deserve a health care system that is second to none in the world.
The challenge is that, too often, many find themselves waiting for critical procedures in distress, pain, discomfort and at risk to their health.
We made a commitment to improve the quality of health care in this country, and we will honour that commitment to Canadians.
We are now working with provincial and territorial governments to develop and implement a Patient Wait Times Guarantee.
Patient Wait Times Guarantee
The Patient Wait Times Guarantee will accomplish two important goals:
1. First, it will let patients know how soon they can expect to receive care, and what to do if their wait becomes excessive.
2. Second, it brings a new level of health care accountability, ensuring that patients will always receive timely medical treatment.
As we move forward, we will continue to engage the provinces and territories to establish this Guarantee to ensure that all Canadians receive medically necessary treatment within a waiting period that doesn’t pose a risk to their health or well-being.
Our Government committed to deal with the issues of health care and fiscal balance – once again, we have delivered.
Canada’s New Government – Planning for the Future
So there you have it. A focused agenda that has produced real results for Canadians. All within our first six months in office.
It’s quite an accomplishment, but the job is far from over.
In the months to come, our Government will build on these successes and seek to address other priorities that must be dealt with to improve the quality of life for all Canadians, including:
o Strengthening political accountability through democratic reform;
o Continuing to crack down on crime and combat terrorism;
o Developing a practical “made-in-Canada” plan for a clean environment; and
o Strengthening Canada’s economy to improve the quality of life for Canadians.
Conclusion
Ladies and gentlemen of the Rotary Club, just as we did in our first 130 days, we have set an ambitious agenda for the fall session of Parliament.
I appreciate being invited here to your luncheon today to highlight the commitment of Canada’s New Government in making this minority Parliament work for all Canadians.
Thank you.
