December 02, 2009

(Cambridge, On) – Member of Parliament for Cambridge-North Dumfries, the Hon. Gary Goodyear today welcomed the Government of Canada’s Fourth Report to Canadians, which highlights the progress of the implementation of Canada’s Economic Action Plan.

With ten months into the two-year plan, the federal government has already committed 97 per cent of the Economic Action Plan, adding up to 12,000 projects across the country.  

“Our Conservative Government responded to the global economic downturn by introducing Canada’s Economic Action Plan – a plan to stimulate the economy, create jobs for Canadians and protect those hit hardest by the economic downturn,” said Minister Goodyear. “Roughly 8,000 projects throughout Canada, including some right here in Cambridge-North Dumfries, are creating jobs and benefiting communities.”

Projects currently underway in Cambridge include renovations to community arenas such as the Preston Auditorium, Galt Gardens Arena, and Hespeler Memorial Arena, as well as rehabilitation work being done to the Public Works building.


Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig said the acceleration of the capital projects will have a very significant impact on the community.  “Galt Gardens, for example, is the oldest continuous operating arena in the world.  It’s a landmark that has served the community for decades and the enhancements will live on and benefit families for a long time.”

Progress on other Economic Action Plan measures were also highlighted in today’s report, efforts which are having a positive and stabilizing effect on the Canadian economy: 

• tax cuts for Canadian families and businesses
• support for Canadian workers who have lost their jobs or may face layoffs through additional Employment Insurance benefits and training opportunities and the introduction of legislation extending EI benefits to the self-employed
• support for research and advanced education by funding maintenance, repair and construction projects at colleges and universities across Canada – in fact 100 per cent of the $2 billion Knowledge Infrastructure Program fund has been committed to projects at college and university campuses throughout the country

“While the OECD recently projected that Canada will have the second strongest economic growth among G-7 countries in 2010, our unemployment rate is now 1.6 percentage points lower than in the U.S. and consumer and business confidence has recovered sharply since the beginning of the year – this is good news for Canadians,” said Minister Goodyear. “But recovery is fragile and we are not out of the woods yet.  It is critical that we stay on course and fully implement our two-year Economic Action Plan.”