There are so many reasons to Celebrate this Canada Day!

June 30, 2008

The celebration of Canada Day allows me the opportunity to share with the citizens of Macleod some of the significant changes their Conservative Government has made for them and their families. These are changes meant to foster pride and unity in our country and reinforce that there is nothing this country can’t do if we put our minds and energy to it.

Among the accomplishments made by this Government;

• The Universal Child Care Benefit which celebrates its second anniversary on July 1. Since July 2006, this Government has provided $2.4 billion a year directly to the parents of 2 million Canadian children under six as we believe that parents are best suited to make decisions about their children;
• Seniors are living longer and healthier lives so to make certain that low-income seniors who work can keep more of their own money we’ve increased the GIS exemption to $3,500 effective July 1; and
• Budget 2008 provides the most important federally driven personal finance innovation since the introduction of the RRSP: the Tax-Free Savings Account. This flexible, registered, general-purpose account will allow Canadians to watch their savings – including interest income, dividend payments and capital gains – grow tax free!
  

I encourage you to visit http://www.budget.gc.ca/2008/mm/calc_e.html which is a user friendly TFSA calculator that will show Canadians how much they will benefit by the Tax Free Savings Account.

When we became the government more than two years ago there was not an economic plan in place. Now we know where we are going economically and we have a plan to get there. The economic plan for Canada is called ‘Advantage Canada’. I encourage those of you who wonder from time to time why government is taking certain actions or going in a certain direction to visit http://www.fin.gc.ca/ec2006/plan/pltoce.html because we use it as our prism in which to view policy ideas.

In addition to the above accomplishments, many other new laws take effect on July 2, 2008 that will better protect Canadians from people who commit serious and violent crimes. The new laws are part of the federal government’s Tackling Violent Crime Act, and amend Canada’s Criminal Code to ensure that;

• There are stronger penalties for impaired driving, and new ways to detect and investigate drug-impaired driving; and
• There is more effective sentencing and monitoring to prevent dangerous, high-risk offenders from offending again.
  

Our Government will continue to deliver on what is important to Canadians – the safety and security of their communities – because protecting society is a priority for this Government, not an afterthought.

Furthermore, on July 2nd, The Lobbying Act, as part of the Federal Accountability Act (FedAA), creates new rules to provide Canadians with better information on the activities of lobbyists. The government has managed to strike the right balance between legitimate lobbying activities and the right of Canadians to know who is lobbying public office holders.

The Lobbying Act creates the new position of Commissioner of Lobbying, which holds enhanced investigative powers and the mandate to ensure that lobbying is done in a transparent and ethical way. The Lobbying Act also requires lobbyists to publicly disclose their lobbying activities on the Web site of the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying.

All of the progress that has been made to date was not automatic nor is it irreversible but there are plenty of reasons to be confident and proud about the future of our great country. There’s nothing Canadians can’t do when we mobilize and focus our creativity and our talents.

I’m so proud of how far we have come and I am particularly proud to represent the people of Macleod, a region with a splendid heritage and prosperous future.

On behalf of myself and my wife Sandy, Happy Canada Day to all!

Have a safe, sunny and healthy summer!

Ted