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House Hansard - 59

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 27, 2022 02:00PM
  • Apr/27/22 7:23:53 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the pressures created by supply chain disruptions and by the shift from buying services to buying goods are real. We are monitoring that situation very closely. As it relates to inflation, there are other structural costs that make life less affordable for Canadian families, and chief among them are housing and child care. That is why our government has a robust national housing strategy and a child care plan that is covering Canadians from coast to coast to coast. The average Alberta family will save $5,600 this year. I would like to thank the hon. member for raising the question of inflation and its impacts on small businesses. It is an important issue that is top of mind for our government. In fact, the issue was top of mind when the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister presented the federal budget a few weeks ago: our plan to grow our economy and make life more affordable. Our government understands that the current inflation crisis is making it harder for Canadians and small businesses across Canada to make ends meet. Increases in prices for a variety of goods are a global phenomenon driven by the unprecedented challenge of restarting the world's economy, as well as the instability of global markets as a result of President Putin's barbaric invasion of Ukraine, which has jolted commodity markets with a surge in prices particularly for oil, natural gas and wheat. Even in that context, I would point out that Canada's inflation is lower than that of the United States, as well as the averages of the G20, the Eurozone and the OECD. Our government is taking meaningful actions to make life more affordable in this country and to support small businesses as they grow. For example, in budget 2022 our government is proposing to cut taxes for growing small businesses by phasing out access to the small business tax rate more gradually, with access to be fully phased out when taxable capital reaches $50 million rather than $15 million. It would deliver an estimated $660 million in tax savings over the 2022-23 to 2026-27 period that could be reinvested towards growing and creating jobs. This is concrete support for Canadian small businesses, and there is a lot that we can be proud of in our budget. As well, our government has cut taxes for the middle class while raising them for the top 1%, and we are working to address housing affordability. We have now signed agreements with all provinces and territories to implement a Canada-wide $10-a-day community-based early learning and child care system that would make life more affordable for families, create new jobs, get parents back into the workforce and grow the middle class, while giving every child a real and fair chance at success. As we can see, our government is already working hard to make life more affordable for Canadians and to help small businesses make ends meet.
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