Bill C-78

Tax Break for All Canadians Act

An Act respecting temporary cost of living relief (affordability)

This enactment amends the Excise Tax Act in order to implement a temporary GST/HST holiday between December 14, 2024 and February 15, 2025 inclusively in respect of certain taxable supplies.

Tax Break for All Canadians Act

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Scarborough—Rouge Park, ON]

moved that Bill C-78, An Act respecting temporary cost of living relief (affordability), be read the second time and referred to a committee of the whole.

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleagues on all sides of the House, and it is great to be here this evening to make life more affordable for Canadians while we continue to grow the economy. It is great to stand up when we are going through legislation that is going to provide tax relief during the Christmas season and into Valentine's Day for the benefit of all Canadians.

As the father of a three-year-old, like many parents, when I go to the Walmart, Costco or any store to buy diapers, children's diapers will be HST-free in Ontario. As an individual who grew up in a very humble household, every dollar counts, every little bit helps and I am so proud of that.

Also, as an economist and someone who had the chance to work on Wall Street and Bay Street for a number of years, it is great to see what a number of my former colleagues and people I have known for many years are commenting on exactly what Bill C-78 is. It is wonderful to see some of the remarks. I will just read one or two and then I will get into some other comments.

Benjamin Reitzes from BMO Economics said, “We're assuming a good chunk of the stimulus cheques will be saved, but the GST/HST rebate will drive additional spending. BMO Economics is boosting Q1 GDP growth from 1.7% to 2.5%, with 2024Q4 and 2025Q2” being even bigger and having a larger impact.

Derek Holt at Scotiabank said, “That, in turn, would lift GDP growth by about two percentage points above our baseline forecast.”

The Retail Council of Canada came out with some comments about its members and what they see: “Retail Council of Canada (RCC) welcomes today’s sales tax relief announcement from the federal government. The removal of GST and HST on a sizeable list of goods will create major tax savings for Canadians, along with economic stimulus for our industry”. Both—

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

Order. There are some people talking above the hon. member. I also notice a number of people behind the curtains, speaking as well. They are just curtains, and we can actually hear through the curtains.

I would ask everybody to keep the volume down a bit so the hon. member for Vaughan—Woodbridge can get his speech done.

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I know that was not done intentionally by the hon. members.

Going back to my conversations about restaurants and the restaurant industry, the city of Vaughan is home to literally over 1,000 restaurants and food establishment services. As an individual of Canadian and Italian heritage, I am very proud of our cuisine, like all individuals in Canada, of whichever heritage we may be.

I know all the restaurants in Vaughan, especially in the January period when it is slower, are going to be benefiting from this. I think about Ciao Ragazzi, Tubbies, Perla, Osteria Gente, Via Mercanti, Giro D'Italia, Spizzico, Zafferano and all the wonderful restaurants. Their customers are not only going to benefit from the GST removal, a tax cut on the GST; they are also going to benefit on the equivalent side and get the full HST removed.

That, like I said earlier this evening, is a billion dollars just from the province side and another $600 million or $700 million, a $1.7-billion tax cut for the residents of the province of Ontario. I like tax cuts. I like reducing taxes for hard-working Canadians. I really encourage this.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am always respectful when I am speaking. I will let the others chirp over there.

This is about making life more affordable for Canadians, which we are doing.

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, we heard this speech two hours ago and I think I questioned the member across the way—

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

That is debate, but it gives me the opportunity to say to keep the volume down so the member can finish.

The hon. member for Vaughan—Woodbridge.

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, making life more affordable for all Canadians and putting out social programs is what our government has been about. It is the Christmas season, so buon Natale, Feliz Navidad and merry Christmas. It is a beautiful time of year, and Canadians are going to have more money in their pockets. That is what this government is about.

We brought in a middle-income tax cut; the Conservatives voted against it. We brought in the Canada child benefit; the Conservatives voted against it. We brought in the Canada workers benefit; the Conservatives voted against it. We brought in a national early learning and day care program; the Conservatives voted against it.

We brought in a Canadian dental care plan, and over 21,000 individuals in my riding are already benefiting from it. We have not even offered it yet to 18- to 65-year-old Canadians, which will happen in 2025. Almost three million Canadians from coast to coast to coast are using this program, and over a million Canadians who have visited an oral health care provider have been provided $710 on average. There are seniors in my riding, across the city of Vaughan, who have not gone to the dentist in over 10 years because they could not afford it and now they are going. That is progress.

Let us be straight. Every Canadian needs to know that the party opposite will cut those programs. Every senior needs to know that the Conservatives will attempt to cut those programs. The Conservatives have indicated it. This is not a personal comment; this is a policy comment. The Liberals reduced income taxes for some, and we raised them for the wealthiest in this country. The Conservatives voted against that.

We must continue to help Canadians. Christmastime is coming, and in a few weeks, Canadians will gather with their families and their loved ones. They will go to church, like me, and do other things. Our Jewish community will celebrate Hanukkah. They are all going to be talking about how our government is saving them money.

The Liberals also want to introduce the working Canadians rebate for hard-working Canadians, and we will do it in the coming months. It is tax-free help because we know Canadians have been through a lot: the global pandemic, global inflation, a war in Ukraine, the events in the Middle East and a changing of administrations south of the border. There is a lot of uncertainty.

The one certainty Canadians can count on is a government that always has their backs, every day and every hour, and, with no pun intended, a government they can trust and have faith in and that keeps its word in what it will do and implement. For our hard-working seniors, that means a 10% increase in old age security for almost four million seniors. The retirement age was raised in Davos, Switzerland, when it was announced many years ago by a former Conservative government, from 65 to 67—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

I know we have been here for a long time today and I know we have a lot of craziness going on tonight. Let us just bring debate on the bill back to the issue at hand.

The hon. member for Vaughan—Woodbridge.

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I was saying that the former leader of the opposite party, who was in Switzerland, raised the retirement age from 65 to 67. There are bricklayers, electricians and labourers who work a very long time. Those extra two years of work are laborious. That is not fair to them. That is not fair to Canadians. It was not fair.

When we got elected, we promised we would return it, and we did. That is approximately $17,000 more in the pockets of retirees today than there was nine years ago. The opposition party, which was in government at the time, raised the retirement age without consultation, without doing it in this country, while it was overseas, just like that. We returned it. That is leadership.

On the middle-class income tax cut, literally billions of dollars will be returning to Canadians because we cut that middle tax bracket from 22% to about 20.5% in year one. We did that. On the Canada child care plan, $10-a-day day care is saving parents in my riding, including myself, and I am blessed, over $10,000 of after-tax income. We can do the math of what that means for before-tax income. We have continued to invest, and we will continue to invest.

There was a chart out the other day showing that rental construction in this country is booming right now. It is outpacing population growth because of the policies we have implemented. Going into Christmastime, in a few weeks, when we all get to spend time in our communities with our residents and our families, we should go to our local restaurants.

There are over 5,000 hard-working Canadians in Vaughan—Woodbridge right now who work for restaurants. They and their employers are going to see an uptick in business. Restaurants Canada has applauded this. It was there the day of the announcement because it is a great thing to do, and it is going to carry them over into January, which is a tough period for many businesses because of their seasonality. That is great news.

The Province of Ontario has signed with us for the national school food program, much like it did for the early learning and national day care plan. Again, they have joined us to provide tax relief to the residents of Ontario and to the wonderful citizens I am blessed to represent in the riding of Vaughan—Woodbridge. This is something we should applaud. This is progress we should applaud. Hard-working Canadians go to work every day, and they deserve a break.

We need to meet Canadians where they are today. As a son of very humble immigrants who came to this country and worked very hard at a pulp mill and a fish plant, I can say that every little bit helps. Every little bit helps all the time, and that is where we are at. The residents in my riding can put their trust in me. They have, and they will because we keep our word.

There is an old hockey adage from a few years ago where Patrick Roy was getting murmured out by another hockey player, and Patrick Roy said he puts his two rings in his ears, so he does not listen to the noise. I will not listen to the noise.

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I was taking some notes while the member for Vaughan—Woodbridge was speaking, and I find it quite ironic because we hear the same crap. Can I use that word?

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am sorry. We hear the same lies over and over—