Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining me here today. First off, I would like to congratulate the Canadian Club on its 110th birthday.
Ladies and gentlemen, as you know, Canadians have said consistently that their top priority for the Government of Canada is the economy and, as a result, our government has listened, is focused and is delivering on key issues for the Canadian economy for the benefit of all Canadians.
Taxes today are at the lowest point that they have been in almost 55 years. We've lowered taxes in every way that the federal government collects taxes. As you know, the government lowered the GST from 7 percent to 6 percent and then from 6 percent to 5 percent, and we've also lowered income taxes. We've lowered taxes on small business. We've lowered taxes on investment. As a result, the World Economic Forum has recognized Canada as a key place in the world in which to do business.
We've increased the personal exemption on paying taxes to begin with, moving tens of thousands of Canadians, particularly fixed-income Canadians and low-income seniors, and we've removed them from the tax rolls altogether. We've also announced a series of tax credits like the film and video tax credits to spur growth in Canada's creative economy. We have tax credits for students who are going back to school, the arts tax credit for kids, and the tax credit on monthly transit passes to encourage the use of public transit. We also have the sports tax credit to help kids with enrolment into community sports programs, and we have a new adoption tax credit to help ease the cost for parents who choose to grow their families by opening up their homes and hearts to a new member of the family through adoption.
Taken together, these tax relief measures put money directly into the pockets of Canadians, so they can invest in the economy. And, by the way, this is not a small amount. Taken together, the average Canadian family today has over $3,200 more in its pocket than it did back in 2006. And a recent OECD study found that Canada's tax policies are now the most competitive in the world.
So what have been the results for Canada of this new approach? Well, the International Monetary Fund and the OECD both project Canada's economic growth to be among the strongest in the G7. KPMG has again ranked Canada as the most tax-competitive economy among mature markets. All of the credit rating agencies—Moody's, Fitch, and Standard and Poor's—have affirmed Canada's AAA credit rating yet again. Since 2006, including the depth of the recession and the massive dip as a consequence of the global recession, the Canadian economy has created 1 million net new jobs. Over 90 percent of those jobs are full-time, well-paying jobs, and these are the best job numbers in all the G7. Canada is the only country in the G7 to have more than fully recovered all of the business investment that was lost during the recession.
This is a record that Canadians have confidence in and that our government is indeed very proud of. In comparing the Canadian dynamic to others in the world, Warren Jestin, the chief economist for Scotiabank, said recently, "Canada is the best place to be."
And if you're wondering about Canada's deficit, we're on track to balance the budget in 2015. I'm also pleased to report that Canada's debt-to-GDP ratio is the lowest of all G7 countries and will continue to be so because we've controlled government spending and the Canadian economy is continuing to grow.
But you know, successful government policy on economics needs to be much more broad-based than that, and we're tackling that challenge. We've expanded our ports by investing the best technology and infrastructure possible and, as a result, Canada's exports are growing. We've also had the largest investment in infrastructure in Canada's history, the Building Canada Fund, which we're renewing in next year's budget with more funding and more investment in infrastructure across this country.
We also want to get products to market, and signing the Beyond the Border agreement with President Obama was the biggest step in trade liberalization that we've seen since the FTA and NAFTA. We're moving forward on the second bridge crossing between Windsor and Detroit, and exports to the United States are going to continue to grow as the American economy continues to grow. And of course, we're investing in Canada's shipbuilding industry.
Because of all of these policies taken together—taxes, controlling spending, key investments in key industries—Canada is seen around the world as a safe, responsible country in which to invest. Forbes magazine has ranked Canada as the best place in the world for businesses to grow and create jobs, and two weeks ago, for the sixth year in a row, the World Economic Forum ranked Canada's financial system as the safest and soundest in the world.
Not long ago, in an interview on CNN, Tom Donohue, the president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said, "The great Canadian miracle is something we [in the United States] should follow." So we're making the right choices and we'll continue to focus on policies and proposals that will contribute to creating jobs and growing the Canadian economy.
But it's essential that all levels of government work on this together. As elected officials, we cannot spend all of our time talking about how we spend the wealth of taxpayers. We need to spend more time thinking about and talking about how to create wealth for taxpayers. If all of our time in Parliament and all of our time across the country is spent talking about creating more opportunities to spend money rather than creating more wealth for taxpayers, I think Canada will very soon see ourselves slipping behind.
There's a reason why we want to create wealth for taxpayers and grow the Canadian economy. We want to keep the economy moving forward so we can have meaningful programs for us when we need them the most.
But we do have concerns about the economy. As Jim Flaherty has said, debt-to-personal disposable income ratio in this country is too high, and this is in spite of the fact that we've lowered taxes so consistently and in spite of the fact that we do have a tax-free savings account. Still, personal debt is rising too high. So we need to keep taxes down as a government. We need to grow our economy, and we need to support key industries so that we can indeed defend the interests of all Canadians.
Our auto industry is central to Canada's economic health, and it's an industry that has extraordinary challenges in its rear-view mirror, but it does face challenges going forward. Tomorrow, I'll be in Oakville with Minister Lisa Raitt and Premier Kathleen Wynne to make an announcement on the next steps that our government is taking to support Canada's auto industry.
When you think about how far we've come, from the depth of the recession and the terror that was seen in the auto industry to where we are today, we've come an incredible long way. By working together, there's a great deal to be confident about with regard to our auto industry, and this sector will indeed continue to grow in Canada.
In the aerospace sector, I was indeed very pleased to see the successful flight of Bombardier's CSeries jet. This is a truly important moment for Canada. By entering a niche market in the aerospace industry with a sticker price that is 20- to 25-percent lower than that offered by Airbus and Boeing, with a 25 percent lower maintenance cost than similar jets, and by using green technology, this jet will do tremendous things for Canada's aerospace industry and create jobs all across this country.
So we want to see them do well and continue to grow, and there's bright, bright lights on the horizon in that regard. Beyond the CSeries, two weeks ago, in Montréal, I announced a new Technology Demonstration Program. Canada has some brilliant minds and some incredibly talented people. We're great at inventing things and coming up with fantastic ideas, but seeing those products be fully realized in the marketplace to the full benefit of the Canadian economy is not something that we are great at and we need to do better at.
This is a program that's long been hoped for and we've now delivered on it. And we're going to be delivering on other recommendations that were made in the Emerson report to make sure that the aerospace industry goes forward. And not only aerospace, but also the space sector, because we want to build on the extraordinary success of commander Chris Hadfield in his leadership of the International Space Station.
Building on the leadership of commander Hadfield and also the new leadership at the Canadian Space Agency with retired general Walt Natynczyk, who after 38 years of distinguished service in the Canadian Armed Forces is now the head of the Canada Space Agency, we are inspiring a whole new generation of Canadians. I've known Walt for years: he's a smart and ambitious guy. He's got a talented team around him, and I know that the Canadian Space Agency will move forward under his leadership.
On telecommunications policy, our government has indeed been aggressively pursuing policies that deliver more choice, lower prices and better services for Canadian consumers. Well before this summer's public debate on wireless policy, our government introduced measures to create more choice in the market and to defend the interests of consumers. We removed barriers to foreign investment. We listened to local governments, to new entrants and to consumers, and we extended mandatory rules for tower sharing and roaming. We established spectrum auction rules to ensure new wireless entrants and regional providers have access to prime spectrum. We've also released a policy on the transfer of spectrum to support competition, and we set conditions as part of the auction so that wireless services are delivered to rural Canadians in a timely way. In fact, with regard to the 700 megahertz auction, we have the most aggressive timelines for the rural deployment of spectrum anywhere in the world.
Our government's telecommunications policy was not created overnight. It is the result of long-held conversations that began over five years ago and continue today. All players—industry, consumer groups, other levels of government and everyday Canadians—contributed to the development and implementation of our policy. It is designed to benefit Canadians and to benefit Canadian consumers, and it will continue to achieve that goal.
Since 2008, average wireless prices across Canada have dropped by almost 20 percent, while jobs in our wireless sector have increased by almost 25 percent. Yesterday was the deadline for submissions for those wanting to participate in the upcoming spectrum auction. Applications are being processed by my department, and the list of those applicants will be published on Monday.
We believe Canadians deserve more competition. We believe Canadians deserve more choice. Through these measures and a number of others, we're putting consumers first and we are just getting started.
In the months ahead, we will continue to move forward on a path that ensures that consumers' interests are at the core of not only our telecommunications policy but also of other government decisions.
In the past, we have passed legislation on anti-spam. We have the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act, and we have truth in airline pricing and truth at the pump legislation and regulations that we've moved forward on. As the minister who is responsible for copyright, I put forward legislation that was technologically neutral, a notice-and-notice regime not a notice-and-takedown regime.
Time and again on all these files, we've ensured that there was a lens of the consumer interest that was taken into account in the development of our policy and that will continue.
So in a broad base, ladies and gentlemen, when you look at the Canadian economy, you see the lowest taxes in over 55 years, lowest debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7, key investments in the auto sector that are seeing benefits, the aerospace sector is moving forward, the CSeries jets, and other investments are moving forward. Schools are growing with applicants who want to be involved in an industry that clearly has a bright future in Canada. We're moving forward as a country and we're getting stronger, and we will continue to focus on the economy as a government.
You know, as we move forward to our 150th birthday in 2017, we have a great deal to celebrate as a country. Almost 150 years ago, nobody thought this country would survive. It wasn't even really news in London at the time of Confederation. This country has been a survivor. People said this is a country that's not going to survive—a tiny population, systemic divisions across this country, east and west, north and south, protestant and catholic in the early days—this is a country that is not going to make it.
And here we are now, standing as leaders in the world, economically, standing as leaders in the world in how we can progress as a country, respecting our differences, working together and building a strong and healthy country. So as we go towards that 150th birthday in 2017 on a lot of issues—whether it's spectrum auctions, tax policy or economic development—this is a country that can get through these divisions as we work together and build towards our 150th birthday.
I have every confidence that in going forward, we will have a great celebration in 2017 with a country that is more prosperous, more united, more diverse and more celebratory of all those great things that made this country strong.
To the Canadian Club, I want to thank you as an institution of which there are far too few in this country, that invites people like me, like you, to come together in a place in spite of sometimes large differences on public policy, in sincerity, and that provides an opportunity to get together and talk about public policy, to have a forum to discuss these things.
I thank you for 110 years now of service to this country, and I thank all of you for your attention on all these files and I wish you all a great day.
Thank you.
