News and Information from Peter Kent

Dear Residents of Thornhill,

On Thursday, November 8, Minister Flaherty gave us an update on Canada’s Economic and Fiscal Projections. While the global economic recovery has slowed, and Canada is not immune to international developments, we have much to be proud of and we can look forward with optimism and hope.

As you know, Canada weathered the global economic recession better than most other industrialized countries. We are the only G-7 country to have recovered both all of the output and all of the jobs lost during the recession.

There is still great uncertainty globally; the key near-term risk is the sovereign debt and banking crisis in Europe.

The deterioration of the global economic situation is being felt on Canadian employment, which remains almost unchanged since July 2011. However, almost 600,000 more Canadians are working today than when the recession ended, and the unemployment rate has declined to 7.3 per cent, down significantly from a peak of 8.7 per cent during the recession.

In light of all this, the Government has increased our adjustment for risk in the near term which is applied for planning purposes to the average private sector forecast for nominal GDP.

We are committed to implementing the Next Phase of Canada’s Economic Action Plan to support jobs and growth.  Thornhill families can look forward to benefiting from a variety of programs, including ecoENERGY Retrofit – Homes grants, benefits for students and apprentices, and our crime prevention strategy; a full list can be found at www.actionplan.gc.ca.

Building on the Next Phase of Canada’s Economic Action Plan, we are reducing the maximum potential increase in Employment Insurance (EI) premium rates from 10 cents to 5 and temporarily extending the enhancement to the Work-Sharing Program. We are also following through on the deficit reduction action plan in order to achieve at least $4 billion in ongoing annual savings by 2014–15. These savings will support the Government’s commitment to return to budgetary balance over the medium term.

The Government will continue to monitor closely the global and Canadian economic situation. If the economy weakens significantly, we are prepared to respond, as necessary, in a flexible and measured manner to support Canadian jobs and growth.

Moving forward, we will maintain focus on the Next Phase of Canada’s Economic Action Plan. Our focus has and will always be on improving the well-being of Thornhillers and all Canadians over the long term. We will do this by securing the recovery, eliminating the deficit and investing in the drivers of long-term economic growth.

Best regards,

Hon. Peter Kent, P.C., MP - Thornhill