Speech

From the Prime Minister's Web Site (http://www.pm.gc.ca/)

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PM Unveils New Community Development Trust

January 10, 2008
Fredericton, NB

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Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen.

Thank you Minister Thompson for your kind introduction,

And for all the great work you and your fellow New Brunswick MPs are doing for this province and our country.

And I see one of those MPs, Rob Moore from Fund-Royal, is also here.

And thank you Ross Creelman, President of Marwood Limited, and your staff for hosting us today.

And of course greetings as well to Premier Graham, who will address you all in a few minutes.

And thanks to everyone for joining us today for this important announcement on employment, communities and the economy.

As long as Canada has been a country – long before Confederation in 1867 – our economy has been vulnerable to fluctuations in international markets.

Being a resource-rich, open-trading nation is mostly a blessing.

Our bountiful natural resources have helped us build one of the most prosperous countries on earth.

But we have had to endure many regional and sectoral boom-and-bust cycles along the way.

Recently, we have been enjoying one of the strongest periods of economic growth in Canada's history.

The national unemployment rate stands at its lowest level in over 30 years.
We are the only G7 nation reducing its debt levels.

We are moving toward the lowest business tax regime in the major industrialized economies.

So the fundamentals of our economy have been very strong.

But we cannot completely insulate ourselves from the current volatility in the world economy.

Certain regions and certain sectors have been experiencing significant difficulties.

Hardworking Canadians in communities like Dalhousie, Bathurst and Miramichi here in New Brunswick have already been hard hit by layoffs in the forest industry.

A sector hit particularly hard by the turmoil in the U.S. housing market.

They're not alone.

In communities across Canada, people who work in vulnerable sectors like fishing, tourism and manufacturing are facing similar challenges.

In last fall's Throne Speech, we recognized the need to take additional action to stand up for workers and communities in those traditional industries that face significant challenges in the current global economy.

Today, we are delivering on that commitment.

I am pleased to announce that our Government is establishing the Community Development Trust to help vulnerable regions and laid-off workers adapt and prosper in challenging times.

This is a major new national initiative under which our government will support provincial and territorial efforts to build a stronger, more prosperous future for communities and workers who have been hurt by current economic volatility.

Aimed at single-industry towns facing major downturns, or regions hit by layoffs across a range of employers,

The Community Development Trust will support a wide variety of initiatives from coast to coast to coast, including job training and skills development to create opportunities for affected workers, community transition plans that foster economic development and create new jobs, and infrastructure development that stimulates economic diversification.

The total value of the Community Development Trust will be one billion dollars.

It will be activated by joint announcements with each province and territory.

It will be financed through a one-time allocation from this year's surplus and is therefore dependent on passage of the budget this spring.

Today's announcement builds on a number of initiatives undertaken by our government over the last two years, including improvements in the equalization program, designed to plan our national economy and protect it against global market volatility.

These initiatives include the forest industry support package announced in Budget 2006, the acceleration of capital cost allowances for manufacturing in Budget 2007, the additional, broad-based business tax cuts in the fall economic statement, and the substantial increases we have made in federal support for skills training, infrastructure and science and research funding, often through transfers to the provinces.

In this regard, I should note the substantial increases that will occur again this year in equalization payments to a number of the provinces that have been hit hard by the problems in forestry and other industries.

This is how equalization is supposed to work, how the enhanced equalization program this Government introduced in the last budget is supposed to work.

New Brunswick will be among the biggest winners from that new arrangement in the coming year.

So, my point is, our Government has been prudently and carefully taking steps to prepare Canada for the uncertain times ahead.

I am especially pleased to launch the community development trust here in New Brunswick because it complements Premier Graham's vision of economic self-sufficiency for the province.

Premier Graham's government has identified several measures that fit very well with the aims of the Community Development Trust.

I have a list of some of those measures, but I will let the Premier speak to them himself.

Working together, Ottawa and New Brunswick – and all the provinces and territories – can turn the economic challenges we face today into economic opportunities for all Canadians tomorrow.

No other nation on earth is as rich in economic potential as our Canada.

We have the resources the world wants and needs; we have the skilled people assembled from all the nations of the earth; and we have a democratic and enduring federation whose governments are all focussed on making Canada stronger and better.

And that's what today's announcement is really all about.

Thank you.

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