Erin O'Toole

[Housing, December 15th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, in Canada, young people have always had the opportunity to have a prosperous future, but under this government the dream of young workers becoming homeowners no longer exists. Their dreams have been crushed. Young people are worried about their future.

Why is the government shattering young people's hopes of buying a starter home?

[The Economy, December 15th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, every bag of groceries is costing Canadians more and more. Many are checking their receipts for errors. No, there are no mistakes; it is just inflation. It is a reality that affects every Canadian family.

What will it take for the Liberal government to fix this problem and help families make ends meet?

[The Economy, December 15th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, the family grocery bill is going to be $1,000 higher next year for Canadian families, for seniors on fixed income. The Prime Minister has their backs? He is failing them. If they want to dine out, it is just as bad. Even that great Newfoundland institution, Mary Brown's, is raising the price of the Big Mary Monday by 25% because of rising food costs.

How many Canadian families will have to pick between heating and eating this winter because the Prime Minister does not think about monetary policy?

[The Economy, December 15th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has their backs. In 30 years, he has given them the highest inflation rate since the Bank of Canada has been targeting inflation. Gas is up 43% alone.

The Prime Minister likes to blame global supply chains. He does not seem to realize that he is responsible for road, rail and pipelines between Fort McMurray and Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. At least he would be responsible if he could ever get a pipeline built in our country.

How much longer is the Prime Minister going to ignore the cost of living crisis hitting Canadian families.

[The Economy, December 15th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are paying more for food, more for gas and more for housing, and the Liberals either do not know or they do not really care. Housing is up 25%. At the same time, more and more Canadian families are vulnerable to interest rate hikes. The cost of living crisis is at its worst in 30 years.

Why is the Prime Minister trying to fix his budget problem by creating a household budget problem for Canadians?

[Economic and Fiscal Update 2021, December 14th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, I agree with the hon. member that there is no question there is a housing crisis in Canada right now, particularly an affordable housing crisis, a first-time homebuyer crisis, a crisis of homelessness and opioid addictions. I agree with her. The only party that does not seem to acknowledge that fully is the Liberal government that has completely ignored the issue in a major way in the fall economic statement.

I would also invite the member and all Canadians to look at the great program Conservatives ran on in the election. We talked about the million new homes in our plan. We are more ambitious than just building 500,000 units. We had a plan to dedicate 15% of federal properties to accelerate the building of homes, including affordable homes. We were going to tie federal infrastructure investments to density. We had a “for indigenous, by indigenous” policy in our platform.

I am very proud that we were the only party to really represent the crisis that is being faced at all levels right now in terms of people at the margins, first-time homebuyers and many seniors. As I said, half of Canadians 30 and younger are giving up on home ownership and the government is giving up on them. Canada's Conservatives will never give up on home ownership for Canadian families.

[Economic and Fiscal Update 2021, December 14th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are here for all Canadians and all Quebeckers.

It was a serious mistake to not say anything about the labour shortage in the Speech from the Throne. There is a crisis in Quebec and throughout the country. We proposed policies to address the labour shortage, speed up the process for foreign workers and provide training in partnership with the provinces.

In my speech, I talked about Beauce Atlas, a company in Beauce that is dealing with a labour shortage. It is now the victim of another crisis because of the Buy America policy in the United States. No action has been taken with respect to steel or aluminum and we are now seeing the effect of tariffs on our businesses. Competition is fierce for our businesses in Quebec and across the country.

Only the Conservatives will be there for Quebec businesses, Quebec families and Quebec seniors. We are here for the well-being of all our citizens.

[Economic and Fiscal Update 2021, December 14th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians who might watch the debates in Parliament know that there is another inflation in the last few months in this Parliament. It is the inflated word count by that member, and the inflated amount of outrage manufactured, fiddling while our economy burns.

Let us talk about who stepped up at the beginning of this crisis. It was the Conservatives who asked for the border to be controlled when the pandemic first broke, two months before the government did. It was myself who, two months before the government acted, spoke about the EI system and said the military had to help our health care system. It was the opposition who said a 10% wage subsidy would not save a single job. It was our shadow minister of finance who said let us save as many jobs as possible and not have people not work.

We will always put the health and well-being of Canadians first, but right now, the cost-of-living crisis, the housing crisis and the inflationary crisis facing our country hardly warrants a mention by the finance minister. I would ask that hon. member to raise his voice tomorrow in caucus and stop neglecting Canadian families in the cost-of-living crisis we are facing.

[Economic and Fiscal Update 2021, December 14th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has proven her government has no economic plan for our country. That is how I started my response to last year's economic update and, unfortunately, the exact same thing rings true today.

Today, the Liberal government shared a snapshot of Canada's economic position. The minister is actually hoping to fool Canadians into thinking everything is fine. After shutting down an economy for over a year and spending half a trillion dollars, of course one will see some growth and some employment gains. What the minister neglected to point out is how the government's mismanagement has led our country and Canadian families to the edge of an economic cliff. Inflation, in fact, is helping to fudge the Liberal numbers while hurting families and seniors across this great country. “Just inflation” is good for the Prime Minister's budget but bad for Canadians' budget.

Canadians are living through a cost of living crisis. We hear that all across the country people are living through an inflation crisis that the finance minister predicted a year ago would be deflation; she was wrong on all the fundamental projections upon which the cost of living is based.

Canadians, new families and seniors are struggling with a housing crisis across the country, and the Liberal government is now focused on making life more expensive for Canadians. It plans to tax the sale of homes, including colleagues' homes. On January 1, 2022, it is going to start raising taxes. While the Liberals have no plan for our recovery, they certainly have a high-tax, high-debt agenda, and that is the last thing Canadians can afford right now.

During my response to the Speech from the Throne last month, I spoke about Peter from Nova Scotia, who owns a boat charter and lobster eatery in Peggy's Cove. Small businesses like his are struggling with rising costs. They are struggling to make ends meet, and they are going to be struggling to pay the government's new payroll tax.

I spoke about Clifford from rural Alberta, who felt completely left behind by the Liberal government. Clifford is a senior on a fixed income and he is struggling with rising prices. Gas is up; food is up; home heating is up. Everything is going up except his benefits.

Do the Prime Minister and the Liberal finance minister know about the real struggles these Canadians are facing? Are they listening? Sadly, Canadians like Peter and Clifford, like millions of Canadians across this country, are being left behind by a government that is continually out of touch. That is why the Conservative opposition will be here to be a voice for the millions of Canadians being left behind in the Liberal economy.

Canadians are under increasing pressure. Their paycheques are not keeping pace with the rising cost of living. Average salaries are increasing by about 2%, while inflation is increasing by almost 5%. This means that the average family has had a 3% drop in salary this year alone.

Canadians are getting priced out of their own lives. Merry Christmas from the Liberal government.

To cope with rising home prices and stagnant wages, Canadians have been piling on more and more personal debt in recent years. Now many Canadian families have their finances close to a breaking point. Is the government listening? Twenty-seven percent of Canadians say they are insolvent and cannot pay all monthly bills and debt payments as costs are going up. Half of Canadians say they are $200 or less away from financial insolvency each month. Canadian household budgets are fragile. When we see increases of 20% to 30% for gas, fuel, rent or food, that crisis is out of control. Thirty-five percent of Canadians are concerned that future interest rate increases could drive them toward financial bankruptcy.

The Bank of Canada recently said that interest rates will go up next year. Some experts expect rates to be increased five times or more next year. In The Globe and Mail, the head of C.D. Howe had a column that warned about this, called “Brace for impact: Rate hikes are coming”. He said, “Investors, homeowners, businesses, and our big-borrowing governments need to get ready,” as interest rate increases are coming. This is at a time when the government is starting the new year by raising taxes on Canadians on January 1. Happy new year.

This is why inflation matters. This is why monetary policy matters. This is why the budget, job creation, our competitiveness, trade with the United States and our economic future matter. By 2023, the Prime Minister will have doubled the national debt, spending more than all previous prime ministers combined. That is astounding, and there is hardly even a notice from a Prime Minister who thinks that budgets balance themselves and might think that Canadians' credit card bills do the same. That is not the case.

We have a government coming out of COVID that spent more per capita than all our allies and has some of the worst results. In today's fall economic statement, cleverly snuck in just before the Christmas break, the Minister of Finance bragged about how Canada's deficit numbers are better than expected, so let us take a look at that. We know the Minister of Finance has already been flagged for a misleading video on Twitter. Maybe we should look at the numbers behind her claim.

Inflation is boosting the Liberals' tax revenues. If they raise the general price level by almost 5%, that boosts GST revenues by 5%. Our deficit numbers are smaller because their inflation is higher. When the shadow minister for finance asked a simple question of the Minister of Finance on this issue, namely how much more revenue the government has collected from driving up inflation, she would not answer the question. Canadians are paying the price. Inflation may look good to pad the Liberals' budget, but it makes it impossible for Canadians to meet their budgets.

Inflation is rising by almost 5%, the highest in 18 years, and the Bank of Canada is warning that it will get even higher in the months ahead and stay that way through parts of next year. For families with tight budgets and seniors on a fixed income, these are alarming numbers. Our country is drowning in the rising waters of debt that is being fuelled by inflation and by ideological policies that are driving away investment and making Canada one of the last places people will come for their economic recovery. Now we are watching the consequences of the government's decisions in real time.

Heating our homes as we head into the Christmas holiday will be more expensive, with natural gas prices up nearly 20%. Filling up a car to go visit grandparents on Christmas Eve will be too, with gas up almost 42%. Even the cost of that big breakfast on Christmas morning will be higher, as eggs are up 7.4%, juice is up 5%, jam is up 8% and bacon is up 20%. We are almost losing our appetite with the rising inflation.

However, the Liberals' lack of action on competitiveness and supporting Canadian workers is the real canary in the coal mine for our economy.

Canada is bleeding capital investment. More investment and production are going to the United States and overseas. This means that we are becoming even more dependent on foreign countries and on foreign supply chains that are not choosing to get supply to Canada but to themselves.

This is a government whose only record achievement beyond debt is record failure in negotiations with the United States. It has failed energy workers, it has failed forestry workers, it has failed farming families, it has failed auto workers and, with buy American, it is failing every supply chain in manufacturing, including steel and aluminum, across this great country. It is failing millions of Canadians. It is no wonder President Biden said that Canada under this Prime Minister is his “easiest” relationship. It is easy for the U.S. to win under this government.

Businesses are grappling with a dire labour shortage. Everyone can see it, except the Liberals.

My question is for the Prime Minister. Does he have a plan and concrete solutions that will solve the labour shortage crisis?

As always, the Prime Minister refuses to listen. It is time for the Liberal government to tackle the labour shortage affecting Quebec and all of Canada. That is why he must make it easier for immigrant workers to enter Canada, invest in specialized training programs and encourage people to embrace the trades. He must also offer incentives to employers and employees, as this will encourage people to return to work.

Time is running out. Business owners are out of patience, and so are we.

Business investment declined by an average of 1% every year from 2016 to 2019, reaching a 25-year low as a percentage of GDP, and that was just before the pandemic. Canadian factories are operating with the lowest levels of capital investment in 35 years, which will lead to lower productivity, fewer jobs and lower wages. Businesses across Canada, but particularly in southern Ontario, are investing and creating jobs, but Michigan, Pennsylvania and Ohio are moving to a more competitive, less burdensome regulatory environment where they do not see payroll taxes going up the first of the new year and where they see incentive and opportunity as opposed to being held back by ideology.

The saddest part is that we are losing an opportunity to build the future economy. Canada should be booming, firing on all cylinders, investing in new technologies, innovating and providing upward pressure on wages because of growth. We can get back to building prosperity and great jobs for Canadians, but the Liberal government, it is clear, has no plan to make that a reality.

The Conservatives believe in a Canada where everyone has the chance to work hard, everyone has the chance to own a home and everyone has a chance to build this country up and give it to their children for a successful future. However, half of Canadians under 30 are giving up on owning a home. That is a failure of leadership of epic proportions. Nationwide, the average price of a home has jumped by $54,000 in just the last few months, up 30% and worse. According to RE/MAX last week, real estate prices are expected to surge another 9.2% next year.

Do we really want to be the country where young people, a generation of them, are giving up on the idea of owning a home? Do we really want to be increasingly a nation of part-time and contract jobs, and no long-term jobs with growth potential for all Canadians? The government is giving up on the next generation of Canadians.

For those who already own a home, the Liberals are going to tax the sale of it. They are slowly coming after Canadians' home equity under the guise of a solution to the housing crisis they have presided over in the last five to six years.

This tax targets hard-working Canadians who want to use the sale of their homes to fund their retirement. Simply put, this tax deprives them of their hard-earned savings.

The government's solutions will only make the housing crisis worse and will attack people as they approach retirement. The Conservatives have pressed for concrete actions to address our housing crisis, build more homes and return the dream of home ownership to millions of Canadians. Unlike the Liberal government, we are not giving up on Canadians under 30.

What we see in another hollow economic statement released on the eve of a Christmas break is empty promises, massive debt, higher taxes and no real economic plan. The finance minister is not telling Canadians the real story. Inflation is hurting Canadian families but helping Liberal finances.

The Conservatives will continue to be a voice for the millions of Canadians being left behind by the Liberal government. We are going to fight to build more housing, tackle the cost-of-living crisis and hold the Liberal government to account for giving up on the next generation. We are going to build a plan to restore Canadian prosperity and make Canada an economic powerhouse.

Right now, Canada should be focused on proposing solutions to lift up Canadian families with great jobs and rising wages. We need to build a dynamic economy that benefits people in all sectors of our economy and in all regions of the country. From the resources in the ground to the ideas in our heads, we need Canada to build, discover and strive. We need a generation of Canadians who want to win, not settle for second, third or 10th best.

It is time to simplify the tax system and cut red tape. It is time to make Canada the best place in the world to invest, create, develop, build and start a business.

We will make Canada a country with the most innovative economy in the world, a country with ultra-competitive tax rates, a country with incentives for innovation and an advanced research agency focused on the private sector and the economy of the future.

Let us provide financing and investment capital to small businesses so they can flourish. Let us build world-class infrastructure all across this great country, not fund more bureaucratic programs. Let us also be proud of our resource sector and the millions of direct and indirect jobs from it. It is the only thing really driving our current account balance, and the Prime Minister and his ideological ministers want to end it. Our energy is the most ethical, our critical minerals are the most accessible and our commitment to emission reduction and indigenous participation is the most reliable in the world.

It is time for a new approach, not more empty words and failed promises. It is time to create a dynamic and more prosperous Canada, one that grows, that strives, that wins. It is time to stop being happy with last place. It is time to stop being happy with record debt, higher taxes and more government intervention.

Canada's Conservatives are here to build. We are here to hold up. We are here to win. We are here to fight for our children's future.

[The Economy, December 9th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians deserve the truth. Prices are going up but wages are stagnant. Inflation is out of control and the Liberals are doing nothing. Canadian families are watching their grocery bills get higher every week. The necessities, like food, are not affordable.

Why are the Liberals doing away with the Bank of Canada's 2% inflation target?