Debates of June 7th, 2023

The Economy

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Canadian government has the lowest deficit in the G7 and the best debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7, yet Canadians are struggling. We propose to send them more direct help, including an ability to get a tax refund on tools for tradespeople, help with the Canada workers benefit, and other measures to help homebuyers.

Conservatives say no, we should be cutting programs and sending less help to Canadians during this time. It is completely illogical and irresponsible, yet they are standing up to block our budget.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is not sending any help. Everything he spends he has to take. It reminds us of when he said he was going to take on government debt so that Canadians would not have to. The Liberals are now stuck with twice the national government debt and the biggest household debt of any country in the G7.

At the time, the Prime Minister flooded the economy with cheap cash, which increased housing prices and therefore mortgage debt. Canadians now have more debt than at anytime in our history, more debt than the size of our entire economy, and they are being hit with a 19-fold increase in interest rates.

How will they ever pay their bills?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, every now and then, the Conservative leader reminds us all that he would not have been there to help Canadians through the depths of the pandemic. He would not have been there to support families or small businesses, or to get our economy rolling again.

He was part of the Stephen Harper government that let the 2008 recession linger for nine years before we recovered jobs, yet this deeper recession took two years to bounce back to full employment. We are going to continue to be there for Canadians to support them, while he is proposing cuts and less support for Canadians when they need it most.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, we were the last to go in and the first to come out of the great global recession. We left the country with a balanced budget. Housing costs were half of what they are today, not to mention that food price inflation never went above 4%. That is a far superior record to what the Prime Minister has delivered.

He has doubled housing prices, doubled the cost of a mortgage, doubled rent costs and sent 1.5 million people running to the food bank. He now proposes another $60 billion of inflationary deficits, or $4,200 in extra costs to Canadians.

Will he do what he promised to do just six months ago and give a date for a balanced budget?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, 2.7 million Canadians have been lifted out of poverty since 2015 because of the supports and investments this government made. At the same time, we have seen millions of jobs created and the lowest unemployment in generations.

We are going to continue to be there in targeted, non-inflationary ways to help Canadians while the Conservatives continue to stand in the way of more help to Canadian families that need it right now. We have an approach that is growing the economy, creating great jobs and supporting Canadians at the same time.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, there he goes again. He is totally out of touch. He says Canadians have never had it so good. Those nine in 10 young people who have given up on ever owning a home have never had it so good, says the Prime Minister. The 1.5 million who are going to food banks or skipping meals have never had it so good. Those going to The Mississauga Food Bank and seeking help with medical assistance in dying, not because they are sick but because they are hungry, have never had it so good.

What they are experiencing is the unavoidable mathematics of an inflationary government, which has spilled $500 billion of inflation on their backs. When will he balance the budget to bring down those costs?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter is we all, in this House, representing constituents across the country, know that Canadians are hurting. The difference between our two approaches is that we continue to be there in targeted, non-inflationary ways to help Canadians while Conservatives are proposing program cuts, support cuts, cuts to child care, cuts to investments in dental care, cuts to the kinds of things that are helping Canadians through these difficult times.

That is the choice Canadians are going to be making in a few years: between cuts and further responsible growth for the economy.

Democratic Institutions

[René Villemure, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, in the committee on Chinese interference, David Johnston confirmed that he based his report on incomplete information. He did not even take the time to talk to the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada or the Commissioner of Canada Elections.

He did not do the necessary work, yet he concluded that there is no need for a public inquiry.

Mr. Johnston himself demonstrated that his report lacks rigour and that his conclusions on the public inquiry must be called into question. He himself discredited his report and disqualified himself from any involvement as a result of that work.

Will the Prime Minister finally thank him and ask him to step aside?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I have already answered that question. The Bloc Québécois continues its personal and partisan attacks.

Let us take a moment to recognize all the firefighters and volunteers who are fighting forest fires in Quebec and across the country. We are currently in the worst year for forest fires, which are affecting communities and people across the country.

We will continue to be there on this Clean Air Day, ironically enough, to fight climate change and protect Canadians in every way necessary.

[Marie-Hélène Gaudreau, Bloc, Laurentides—Labelle, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is difficult to find out the truth about interference because the Prime Minister refuses to reveal it.

He is trying to lure the opposition leaders into keeping his forced secrets. In a dramatic turn of events, David Johnston admitted that he also did not have access to the whole truth before he determined that a public inquiry was not needed.

The Prime Minister has two choices. He either needs to fire David Johnston and seriously consider a public inquiry or he needs to confirm that this whole process was an attempt to hide the truth.

Which will it be?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I already answered that.

This weekend, I spoke to Premier Legault and the mayors of a number of municipalities and indigenous communities affected by the wildfires in Quebec. I want to reassure them that the Canadian Armed Forces will continue to be there for Quebeckers who are afraid for their homes, their lives, their communities and their outfitting operations.

We will be there to continue working hand in hand with the provincial government on the priorities of Quebeckers and Canadians who are watching their country burn. We are fighting climate change and we are talking about real issues.

Housing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of this Prime Minister, our families' level of household debt is the highest in the G7.

According to the International Monetary Fund, Canada runs the highest risk of mortgage defaults among all of the world's advanced economies. The Prime Minister is increasing interest rates with his inflationary policies that are forcing the Bank of Canada to raise its rates.

What is he going to do to reverse his inflationary policies and lower the interest rates before Canadians lose their homes?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada is in a responsible tax situation, but Canadians are suffering.

What the Conservative Party is proposing is austerity and cuts to programs that serve and help Canadians who are suffering in order to preserve the federal government's fiscal capacity, but preserve it for when?

Canadians need help now. That is why we are investing in helping families, helping seniors and helping workers.

We will continue to be there for people in a responsible way, not an inflationary way.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, we do not need another drama performance, because at the end of the day, when theatrics collide with mathematics, the math always wins. After eight years of the Prime Minister, Canadians have a stock of combined debt that is bigger than our entire GDP. In fact, we are the most indebted families of any country in the G7. The IMF says that Canada is the number one at-risk country for mass mortgage defaults.

Will he reverse his inflationary and high interest rate policies before people go broke?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I have answered this question a few times, but the Leader of the Opposition continues to ask it because he refuses to go outside and see what is actually happening in Canada.

Forest fires are raging. It is the worst year on record for forest fires already. The fact is they are going to get worse in the coming years because climate change is real, and yet the Conservative Party continues to stand against the climate action we have been taking and stand against the investments we are making to support families and to support first responders. They continue to stand against help for Canadians who are losing their homes, losing their families, losing their—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. Leader of the Opposition has the floor.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, has he really sunk to the low of exploiting these fires for political gain to distract from his inflationary and high interest rate policies? Is that what it has come to? Is he so ashamed of his economic policy and record—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I am going to have to interrupt this, because I am getting noise from both sides.

I know the member can handle it, and he does it well, but I want to hear what is being said and I am sure both sides want to hear what is being said.

I ask him to start from the top, please.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has just lowered himself to the worst depths. To try to distract from his disastrous economic record, he is now using the forest fires to change the channel. This is even lower than I would have expected from him.

Canadians are going to sit down tonight to discuss how they are going to move into a small apartment because they are going to have to give up their homes after his inflationary policies have driven up interest rates on Canadian mortgage holders, who have record debt.

Will the Prime Minister keep the promise he made six months ago to balance the budget and bring down inflation and interest rates before folks go broke?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I have answered that question a dozen times. For the Leader of the Opposition to consider the forest fires that are taking people from their communities and destroying their homes are a mere distraction and not top of mind for people from coast to coast to coast is shameful. The fact of the matter is he does not have anything to say about that because he refuses to put forward any real plan to fight against climate change and he does nothing but fight against our plan to fight climate change. If he has a better plan, let him say it, because we have been waiting a long time for it. He has no plan to fight climate change. He still questions whether it exists while Canada is burning.

The Environment

[René Arseneault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Mr. Speaker, Canada is known for its rich biodiversity. However, both here at home and around the world, climate change crises are jeopardizing global biodiversity.

It is Canadian Environment Week, so could the Prime Minister tell us what our government is doing to protect Canadian fauna, flora and biodiversity?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Madawaska—Restigouche for his important question and his hard work.

Canada is committed to the goal of conserving 25% of our land and oceans by 2025 and is working to conserve 30% by 2030. The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework is a major victory for the planet and for all humanity.

Since 2015, our government has been working tirelessly to conserve approximately 300,000 additional square kilometres of land. Protecting species at risk is a job that has only just begun.

Housing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has caused the mortgage crisis we now face. Back in 2021-22, he flooded the economy with cheap and excessive cash that went into the mortgage system. It bid up the price of housing. House prices had doubled under his leadership and then Canadians were forced to take on massive, and in some cases, million-dollar, mortgages in order to buy a home.

He promised them that rates would be low for long but then his deficits juiced inflation, which pushed up interest rates and now, over the next three years, many of those same families will face 40% increases in their mortgage payments.

How is he going to save their homes now that he put them in peril?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, 2021-22: what was happening around then? What was happening in 2020-21?

It was the investments we made to help Canadians get through the pandemic, investments we made to support small businesses, to support our frontline health workers, to ensure that we got through this extraordinarily difficult time in one of the best situations with some of the fewest deaths of all of our peer countries, and the Conservative Party continues to say it would have done far different.

It would have allowed people to be more vulnerable. It would not have been there to support Canadians—