2010-01 (January)
Blaine Calkins MP Report
January 26, 2010
Building Canada, Protecting Families
Four years ago, Canadians elected the Conservative Party to lead our country. It was a minority government, as was the previous (Liberal) Government and the so called experts predicted that the Conservatives wouldn’t be staying around very long. Well, we proved them wrong by winning another election and now we are entering our 5th year as Canada`s Government.
Over the last four years, our Government under the leadership of Prime Minister Stephen Harper cut the GST from 7 per cent to 6 per cent to 5 per cent. We helped working families lower their tax bill by cutting income taxes at all levels. The new Universal Child Care Benefit gave parents and families real choice in childcare. We also made it easier to pay for children’s fitness programs and public transit passes with special tax credits.
Seniors are paying lower taxes as a result of our action to introduce pension income splitting and our increases to the Age Amount. We have also worked to make Canada a more attractive place to do business, by lowering our corporate and small business tax rates. As a result, Canada will have the lowest tax rate on new business investment in the G-7 this year.
Despite the relentless opposition in both the House of Commons and the Senate, we succeeded in improving our system of justice with tough new laws and penalties that fit the crimes. To help protect families and get dangerous criminals off the streets, we passed the Tackling Violent Crime Act. Children will have more protection from sexual predators because the age of protection was raised from 14 to 16.
Police and judges are now better equipped with the tools they need to crack down on drunk and stoned drivers. At the same time, we have worked to ensure that criminals who receive jail sentences pay their debt to society. Canada now has laws that prevent dangerous criminals from serving their sentences from the comfort of their own home and the process of granting criminals 2-for-1 and 3-for-1 credit for time served before trial is history. As well, we made progress on our efforts to end the wasteful long-gun registry that targets honest farmers and hunters rather than dangerous criminals.
A year ago, when the global recession was threatening jobs, livelihoods and our country’s economy, the Hon. Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance unveiled Canada’s Economic Action Plan. It has proven to be the right initiative at the right time. It helped lessen the impact of the global recession in Canada, especially in comparison to other countries, and it set us on a course for recovery.
Towns and villages throughout the Constituency of Wetaskiwin benefitted from the Economic Action Plan stimulus. Everywhere you look there is work underway to improve waste water systems, repairs to roads, bridges, rinks and walking trails. The Home Renovation Tax Credit helped homeowners, contractors and building supply companies.
Over the past year, protecting Canada’s economy has been the Government’s top priority and it will continue to be the top priority in 2010. The Budget that will be tabled on March 4th will focus on effective implementation of the Economic Action Plan and returning to balanced budgets.
In the mean time, we are continuing to consult with Canadians, to recalibrate our agenda and set new priorities. That was the purpose of prorogation, a purpose that is entirely consistent with the previous practice of all federal governments.
Over the next month, I will continue to meet with Constituents, Municipal Councils and attend events around the Riding where I hope to see you. Please contact my Constituency office for assistance or for information on federally related matters, postage free at: #6, 4612 - 50th Street, Ponoka, T4J 1S7 tel: (403) 783-5530; toll free: 1-800-665-0865 or visit my web site: www.blainecalkinsmp.ca
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