As our nation turns the corner on the global recession, our government will continue to make jobs and growth our top priorities.
Finding the best approach to economic recovery has been the subject of much debate, not just here in Canada but around the world. Some nations have run up massive debt loads, leaving future generations to pay their bills. Some have advocated crippling tax increases that punish taxpayers, slow growth, and kill jobs.
Our government has taken a different approach.
We created a plan to control spending and keep taxes low. We stuck with this plan, and now we’re seeing the results.
Almost every week, new data comes in confirming that our low-tax plan is working.
For example, a recent New York Times analysis shows that middle incomes in Canada have surpassed those in the United States for the first time, putting Canadian median incomes near the top of global rankings.
The research, based on the well-respected Luxembourg Income Study Database, shows that the median per capita income in Canada rose by nearly 20 per cent between 2000 and 2010. The study also found that median after-tax income in Canada has never been better and was higher than any of the other countries surveyed, which included the United States, France, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
This data confirms our government’s position that low taxes result in economic growth and job creation that benefits Canadian families who work hard and play by the rules.
Under our government, the typical family is now paying nearly $3,400 less in taxes than they did in 2006. Since the depths of the recession in July of 2009, our country leads the G-7 in job creation, with more than one million net new jobs.
As a direct result, our government is poised to balance the federal budget in 2015, with a $6.4-billion surplus expected in 2015-16.
Clearly, our low-tax plan is working. This is no surprise; history teaches us that high-tax jurisdictions inevitably decline.
I believe the great British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill put it best.
He said, “I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.”
Here in Canada the evidence is in: Keeping taxes low works for families.
Job-killing tax increases and massive structural deficits do not.
