Our strong, stable, national, majority Conservative Government is continuing to deliver results for families, seniors, and businesses thanks to your support and trust. I am proud that our government remains focused on what, I am confident, is most important to Canadian families – job creation and economic growth.
As the global economy continues to recover, Canada has emerged in one of the best economic positions in the industrialized world. Last year we implemented the Next Phase of Canada’s Economic Action Plan and its job creating initiatives such as the Hiring Credit for Small Business, the simplification of customs tariffs to facilitate trade and lower administration costs for businesses, a permanent $2 billion annual investment in the Gas Tax Fund for municipalities and elimination of mandatory retirement.
The result has seen Canada as having the strongest job-growth in the G-7, with nearly 600,000 net new jobs created for hard-working Canadians since July 2009. Canada continues to garner international praise for our strong economic policies and in fact, influential business magazine, Forbes, ranked us as the best country in the world in which to do business. The World Economic Forum ranked our financial system as the soundest in the world for the fourth consecutive year.
While that’s positive news, too many Canadians are still looking for work and the global economic recovery remains fragile, as demonstrated through sovereign debt concerns in Europe and continued muted economic growth in the US.
Recently, Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, provided our government’s Economic and Fiscal Update. Based on these findings, our government pledges to continue to take targeted action to support jobs and economic growth. Minister Flaherty also stressed that while we are on track to eliminate the deficit in the medium term, we are not immune to the challenges facing the global economy. Our next budget will therefore be very important to our future.
That is why I am asking for your input and personally inviting you to submit your suggestions on what you would like to see in Budget 2012. In particular, I would like your feedback on:
- How can we best protect and create jobs?
- How do we best secure Canada's economic recovery?
- How should we balance the budget over the medium-term?
- How do we improve the well-being of Canadians?
- What your top priorities are for Newmarket-Aurora.
Please take a moment to let me know how you want your federal tax dollars spent, and the priorities you would like us to focus on going forward. You can do so by completing my pre-budget survey located on my website at www.loisbrown.ca or simply by sending me your thoughts and suggestions. You can submit your feedback by email to Lois.Brown@parl.gc.ca, by fax to 905.953.7527, or by mail and in person to 16600 Bayview Avenue, Suite 206, Newmarket, Ontario, L3X 1Z9. I will be personally delivering all input received to Minister Flaherty. Suggestions heard at my past pre-budget consultations, such as the workshare program as one example, have been implemented.
You deserve a voice in deciding the future direction of our country and I hope you consider joining this important process. With your participation, we can help ensure the priorities of our community are heard loud and clear.
