Mr. Marwan Tabbara (Kitchener South—Hespeler, Lib.)

Mr. Speaker, over the past three and a half years, our government's policies have been very beneficial for my riding of Kitchener South—Hespeler.

The Canada child benefit has supported more than 20,000 children, who have received a total of $246 million in tax-free benefits. Our middle-class tax cut saved 2,800 of my constituents an average of $1,000. Our housing plan funded the building and repairing of 1,440 homes and subsidized 2,240 units. Our doubling of funding for the Canada summer jobs program provided jobs for 658 people. We lowered the small business tax from 11% to 9%, saving an average of $7,500 for small business owners. When we doubled the gas tax transfer, Kitchener and Cambridge gained more than $11 million. That was on top of the $118 million for infrastructure funding that went into transit, water facilities and roads.

I am looking forward to returning here in November to continue the hard work for Canadians.

Mr. Marwan Tabbara (Kitchener South—Hespeler, Lib.)

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member mentioned that there will be zero emissions in 2050. I know that the Waterloo region has taken some steps in order to get to zero emissions. We have had the construction of a building.

Can the member elaborate on what our region is doing? We are an innovative region and we are committed to zero emissions as well. Can he comment on that?

Mr. Marwan Tabbara (Kitchener South—Hespeler, Lib.)

Mr. Speaker, earlier this week, the member for Milton was forced to delete a tweet that suggested that there is no link between climate change and extreme weather patterns, completely disregarding science that shows that climate change is real. This was so predictable, considering the 10 years of Harper Conservative cuts and the muzzling of scientists, resulting in scientists protesting the death of evidence on Parliament Hill.

Can the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Science and Sport please explain the importance of science and evidence-based decision-making?

Mr. Marwan Tabbara (Kitchener South—Hespeler, Lib.)

Mr. Speaker, last month, the OECD ranked Canada number one in the world in attracting entrepreneurs, thanks to policies such as the Atlantic immigration pilot, the global skills strategy and the rural and northern immigration pilot. We know that we have historic low unemployment rates and have added over a million new jobs to the Canadian economy in less than four years.

Can the parliamentary secretary update this House on how Canada can maintain its competitive edge?

Mr. Marwan Tabbara (Kitchener South—Hespeler, Lib.)

Mr. Speaker, the opposition has said that we gave up on auto, but I want to mention to the opposition that we have invested, particularly in my region. As the member for Sydney—Victoria has mentioned, we have made investments in Michelin Tires Canada, and in Toyota, specifically in my riding, we have invested $110 million in Toyota in the auto sector. This supports 8,000 jobs in southwestern Ontario and has created 450 new jobs.

I want to ask the member how this investment in auto helps not only my riding but all of Canada. Also, Jerry Dias from Unifor said that “The auto industry should be absolutely thrilled” with this new NAFTA.