Bill C-4

Making Life More Affordable for Canadians Act

An Act respecting certain affordability measures for Canadians and another measure

Part 1 amends the Income Tax Act to reduce the marginal personal income tax rate on the lowest tax bracket to 14.5% for the 2025 taxation year and to 14% for the 2026 and subsequent taxation years.
Part 2 amends the Excise Tax Act and other related Regulations to implement a temporary GST new housing rebate for first-time home buyers.
Part 3 repeals Part 1 of the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act and the Fuel Charge Regulations .
Part 4 amends the Canada Elections Act to make changes to the requirements relating to political parties’ policies for the protection of personal information.

Making Life More Affordable for Canadians Act

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is a true honour to rise today to deliver my first speech of the 45th Parliament. I do so with great humility and immense gratitude to the people of Vancouver Kingsway for once again placing their trust in me to represent them. I want to recognize all those who stepped forward as candidates in the last election. Their commitment to public service and to our democratic process is vital to the strength and resilience of our country.

Being re-elected to serve in Parliament is an incredible privilege, one that would not have been possible without the unwavering support of my campaign team. Their hard work, passion and steadfast belief in our shared vision helped us overcome every challenge. From the bottom of my heart, I thank them. I thank the people of Vancouver Kingsway for allowing me to carry their voices, ideas, dreams and aspirations to Ottawa once again. I will work tirelessly each and every day to honour that trust and help build a brighter future for our community and for all Canadians.

I also want to express my sincere thanks to my colleagues in the New Democratic Party for the great honour of serving as our party's leader for an interim period. It is a responsibility I take on with a deep sense of duty to our country, our values and the people we serve. Finally, there is my family. As we all know in this place, none of us could discharge our duties without the love, support and understanding of those closest to us.

The New Democratic Party was built by and for working people to fight for fairness, dignity and opportunity for everyone. As leader, I will work hard to ensure the NDP remains the party that puts workers and their families at the heart of everything we do, because now, more than ever, workers need a strong voice in Parliament, one that will forcefully and effectively advocate for their rights, their livelihoods and their futures.

It is clear that Canada is at a crossroads. Many Canadians are struggling and uncertain about their and their families' futures. We are facing multiple overlapping crises that require immediate and decisive action. Fully half of all Canadians are living paycheque to paycheque, and one in four parents has cut back on their own food consumption to ensure their children have enough to eat.

Eighty per cent of Canadians now believe that owning a home is only for the rich. Among those who do not own a home, 70% have given up ever owning one. Rent prices have more than doubled since 2015. In major cities across Canada, tenants are regularly paying over 50% of their income on shelter, which is a crushing and unsustainable burden.

Canada's health care system is under serious strain, with long wait times, inadequate access to essential services and high levels of burnout among health care workers. Millions of Canadians do not have a family doctor, which is critical to accessing our health care system. Across Canada, working families are under pressure. Right-wing governments are attacking public services, undermining collective bargaining and promoting privatization.

Now we are facing unprecedented external threats. The Trump administration has launched a reckless trade war against Canada, imposing sweeping tariffs on our exports and targeting key sectors of the Canadian economy. Even more disturbing are the inflammatory and deeply disrespectful remarks suggesting Canada should be annexed as the 51st state, an affront to our sovereignty and our identity as a proud, independent nation.

At a time when Canadians are already grappling with economic uncertainty, these threats only deepen our resolve. We will not be intimidated. We will stand united as Canadians in defence of our democracy, our values and our future.

That brings me to Bill C-4, the making life more affordable for Canadians act. While it is not perfect, New Democrats will support this bill at second reading, because it contains measures that provide immediate relief to Canadians who are struggling.

The reduction of the marginal personal income tax rate on the lowest tax bracket, from 15% to 14.5% this year and to 14% in 2026, would be a step toward easing the financial burden on millions of Canadians.

The new GST rebate for first-time homebuyers, which offers a full rebate on homes up to $1 million and a partial rebate on homes up to $1.5 million, is a welcome measure for many families trying to enter an increasingly inaccessible housing market. The elimination of the consumer carbon tax provides an opportunity to create a more effective mechanism to reduce carbon and to fight climate change, in my view the defining issue of our planet and our times.

However, let us be clear: This bill, while helpful, can and should be improved. The biggest benefits of the tax cut would go to higher-income earners. According to David Macdonald, senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, 98% of those making over $129,000 would benefit, while only 14% of those living in poverty would see any gain at all. In fact, the average benefit for someone living in poverty would be just $11 a year. For the middle 30% of Canadians, the average benefit would be $151 a year, but for the richest among us, the average benefit would be $310 a year. Ultimately, only 1% of tax filers would reap the full hypothetical benefit of $412 per person that the Liberals touted in the last election when they proposed this tax cut.

More troubling are the unintended consequences of this tax measure: It would reduce the value of critical tax credits. This is because many non-refundable tax credits, like the Canada caregiver credit, the age amount and the disability tax credit, are calculated as a percentage of the lowest federal income tax rate. When that rate is reduced, the dollar value of these credits also decreases. This is not just a technical oversight; it would hurt the financial security of some of the most vulnerable people in our country.

The National Disability Network has raised the alarm, warning that more than 900,000 Canadians who rely on the disability tax credit and the medical expense tax credit could be negatively affected. For many low- and modest-income individuals with disabilities, this tax cut could actually function as a tax increase. These are people who already face higher daily costs due to disability, costs that are not optional. Reducing their tax credits or increasing their overall tax burden is not tax relief; it is a step backwards. That is unacceptable, and I call on my colleagues to work with New Democrats to fix it.

New Democrats will work to fix these flaws. We will propose amendments at committee to ensure that no one, especially those living with disabilities, is left behind. We will work to protect the value of these essential credits so that affordability measures reach those who need them most.

I am also hearing from constituents who will not qualify for the GST rebate on their new home purchase simply because of the closing date of their transaction. New Democrats will also propose amendments to address this gap.

I hope that my colleagues on all sides of the House will examine these flaws of the bill and, if satisfied that they exist, join me and my New Democrat colleagues to pass these constructive amendments to improve this bill and, I think, address the real objective of it, which is to give all Canadians a break at this time, a time that is so difficult for so many of them.

Canadians are looking to this Parliament for leadership. They are looking for unity. They are looking for action that matches the scale of the challenges they face. Bill C-4 is a start, but it is not enough. New Democrats will support this bill at second reading, because Canadians need help now, but we will not, should not and cannot stop there. We will push for improvements not only to this bill but to every other aspect of life that will help address and improve affordability for Canadians. Whether that is help with grocery prices, help with utility prices or help with home affordability prices, all of these areas are in crying need of assistance for Canadians who live in every community, every province and territory, and every corner of our great country.

Let us work together to fight for fairness and to help raise the living standard of every Canadian in our country. We will continue, as New Democrats, to work together with our colleagues and stand up for working people in every corner of this country to realize their dreams.

[Kent MacDonald, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite for his support of this bill.

We have heard the opposition call for the removal of the industrial carbon price. I would like to hear the member's views on that. The party on this side of the House thinks that we have to charge heavy polluters, which is why we are maintaining that part of the bill. Could he give his views on that?

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, that was a thoughtful question.

As I said in my speech, I think the climate crisis is the defining issue of our times. There are thousands of issues in politics, but some are existential, and the climate crisis is one of those. I think it is incumbent upon us as a Parliament to take effective measures that reduce Canada's carbon emissions in an effective way and meet the international obligations that we have committed to in treaty. That means looking for every single mechanism that we can to reduce carbon in a way that protects our planet and our environment and operates in a fair manner.

New Democrats believe that the price on pollution is one measure in that regard. I think it is also time for us to explore other mechanisms, like the cap-and-trade system, which has worked well to reduce the sulphur dioxide problem in the Great Lakes. As well, we need to work with industries to make sure that we can adopt technologies so that industries can start making the reductions in carbon that are so necessary to protect our planet.

[Helena Konanz, Conservative, Similkameen—South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I think we all agree, at least on this side of the aisle, that this bill does not go far enough in a lot of its policies.

I want to ask the member this. How does Bill C-4 address the multiple tent cities that have been created over the last 10 years in communities across Canada because of Liberal policies?

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I think the short answer is that this bill does very little, if anything, to address the homelessness issue in this country. It does give some targeted relief to someone who can afford to buy a home up to $1.5 million, but that is not going to address the tens, maybe hundreds, of thousands of Canadians who are living homeless or couch surfing across this country, especially young people. I think one of the primary goals of this Parliament, from all sides of the House, should be to tackle the housing crisis.

It is unacceptable, in a G7 country, that Canadians would not have a dignified, secure, affordable place to call home. To me, that is a promise of this country. Every Canadian should have access to that. We should address that issue with everything we have in this House.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate my colleague on his election and on his first speech in the House in this new Parliament.

The Bloc Québécois also considers it important to fight inflation and protect consumer purchasing power. This bill eliminates consumer carbon pricing.

Both the government and the Parliamentary Budget Officer were very clear: More than 90% of Canadians were receiving more money from the rebate than what they were paying, and less fortunate and middle-class Canadians were receiving even more than what they were paying.

I would like my colleague to explain how he thinks supporting the elimination of carbon pricing will improve the cost of living.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague asked an excellent question. I think I saw the carbon tax in this House reduced to what I would call nursery rhyme politics. It was used as an affordability issue, and most Canadians, frankly, were left underinformed about how the carbon tax worked and what its benefits and costs were. The truth is that this is where we are at right now. The carbon tax has been eliminated because people think that this will help save them money.

It is our job as parliamentarians now to put our nose to the grindstone, find other effective ways to reduce carbon, and also address the very serious affordability issues that are affecting Canadians from coast to coast to coast.

[William Stevenson, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time.

It is with the deepest humility and honour that I rise in this chamber as the member of Parliament for Yellowhead for my maiden speech. It was a privilege to witness His Majesty King Charles III deliver the throne speech in the Senate chamber.

However, a throne speech is more than who delivers the words. It is a promise made by the Liberal government to Canadians. The promise to make life more affordable for Canadians needs to be our immediate focus. This was the number one concern I heard from voters during the last election.

The removal of the consumer carbon tax was the first step in addressing the economic disaster the Liberal government created over the last lost decade. The industrial carbon tax must also go. Millennials and gen Z cannot afford the costs of home ownership.

There is a meagre attempt made in Bill C-4 to gaslight Canadians by saying the Liberals are eliminating the GST for first-time homebuyers on new homes, but it would impact such a small segment of the market, that proposed changes would not create any real change at all. The proposal included in the bill would help fewer Canadians than what our party campaigned on during the last election, and the Liberals actually want to cap this in six years' time, whereas we would have made it permanent.

The Liberal government copied our Conservative policies, but only in half measures: the reduction in personal income taxes was less; the proposed GST rebate on new homes is less; and the impacts of this bill do not go far enough when addressing the affordability needs of Canadians today.

It is an honour to represent the thousands of people who call Yellowhead home, and I am committed to doing everything I can to help make life affordable for my constituents. As a father, I want to ensure the future generations can continue to call Yellowhead the best place to live, work and raise a family.

I can confidently say that we live in the most beautiful riding in the entire country. At more than 83,600 square kilometres, Yellowhead is bigger than the province of New Brunswick and the entire country of Ireland. It stretches from the Rocky Mountains following the Cowboy Trail, from the Willmore Wilderness area and Grande Cache in the north to Kananaskis country in the south, and everything in between, including Canada's crown jewels, Banff National Park and Jasper National Park.

My riding consists of many communities made up of hard-working Albertans, including Springbank, Rocky View County, Banff, Canmore, Exshaw, Dead Man's Flats and the Bow Valley. Going north on the Cowboy Trail, there is Waiparous, Cremona and Sundre. We have the hidden gem of David Thompson country, which includes Clearwater County, the Municipal District of Bighorn, Caroline, Rocky Mountain House and Nordegg. Even further north, there is the Yellowhead County, the namesake for my riding. There is also Edson, Hinton, Jasper, Grand Cache and the parts of the Municipal District of Greenview. Last but not least, we have Mountain View County, Rocky View County, Carstairs and Crossfield, where I, along with my loving wife Bev, have raised my two incredible daughters on our farm near the hamlet of Madden.

Madden is home to my local Lions Club, where I have been a member for more than 20 years, and I want to congratulate its members on the great work they do. I have a long history in this area, since my family homesteaded near Crossfield in the 1880s.

Yellowhead is also located on Treaty 6, 7 and 8 lands and includes the indigenous peoples of the first nations of Bearspaw, Chiniki, Goodstoney, O'Chiese, Sunchild First Nation, as well as the people of the Métis nation of Alberta.

These communities in Yellowhead make Alberta and Canada such an incredible place to live, work and play. Every year, millions of people travel from around the world to come see the breathtaking nature Yellowhead has to offer. Our riding is an economic powerhouse, with businesses both big and small employing thousands in the agriculture, forestry, mining, energy and tourism sectors.

I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to each person who helped me get elected, from those working behind the scenes on the campaign, to the volunteers who were at the doors putting up signs.

I want to thank Kalee, Linda, Sadiq, Leigh, Paul, Colleen, Roland, Ralph, Bruce, Jeff, Gordon, Glen, Dino, Judy, Barry, Angela, Patti, Barb, Peggy, Carole, Bob, Jim, Nancy, Rob, Curtis, Tony, Dale, Doug, Wally, Sue and so many more. Their hard work and dedication did not go unnoticed, and I deeply appreciate everything they did and continue to do.

Of course, I especially want to thank my family, my daughters Ashley and Emily, my parents Mary, Mike, Ross and Margaret, and my nephews. I thank them for their unwavering support. They are what truly fuels my dedication to this role. I could not have done it without them, and I am incredibly grateful for their patience and support.

I especially want to thank my wife Bev. We first met at a political event for my MLA Carol Haley in Crossfield, where Stockwell Day, then the provincial treasurer of Alberta, was our guest speaker. Since then, Bev has been by my side through everything for the past 26 years. I would not have made it here without her love and support. I thank her.

I also want to acknowledge my predecessors who represented the people of Yellowhead and the communities within Yellowhead's new boundaries. The Right Hon. Joe Clark was the first member of Parliament to serve for Yellowhead in 1979. He also served as prime minister. There have been many members since him who have served my riding with dedication and integrity, including Jim Eglinski, the Hon. Rob Merrifield, Gerald Soroka and Cliff Breitkreuz. I am also proud to be serving many of the communities that were previously represented by Louise Feltham, Earl Dreeschen and the late Myron Thompson.

I would be remiss not to mention my current colleagues who represented parts of the new Yellowhead riding in previous parliaments, including the member for Foothills and the member for Airdrie—Cochrane. I look forward to working closely with them.

As a chartered professional accountant, I look forward to using my 26 years of public practice experience with personal and small business tax to help shape reforms to the tax system. We need to ensure that our nation's tax system works for everyday Canadians and not against them. As a proud Conservative, I stand for the principles that have long guided our party: free enterprise, individual liberty and the rule of law. I believe in a small government that serves the people, not one that grows at their expense. Canadians deserve low taxes, fiscal responsibility and the unwavering protection of their rights and freedoms, including property rights.

In Yellowhead, we understand the value of hard work. Our communities are built by farmers, ranchers, energy workers, outdoorsmen, forestry workers, small business owners and tourism operators. We understand what true stewardship of our natural resources means for responsible resources and conserving our beautiful lands and wildlife, yet too often rural voices are overlooked and policies are crafted without consideration for the impact on their way of life. This must change.

It is my priority to advocate for the rights of Alberta and provinces, develop the resources, oppose any regulations and taxes that would harm rural Canadians and support the agriculture sector, which is facing rising costs and federal overreach. I will advocate for our veterans to give them the respect and support they deserve after they have dedicated their lives to our country, and I will protect the rights of responsible firearms owners, hunters and sports shooters, by opposing the unrealistic overreach restrictions that have been imposed on them over the last decade.

As a responsible firearms owner, a sports shooter and a hunter, I would like to highlight the six shooting ranges in Yellowhead and how proud I am of their ongoing efforts to ensure that responsible firearms owners have a place to call their own. Firearms are part of our heritage. They help people like myself put food on the table, and they are the backbone of numerous international renowned sporting events.

I want to reassure the constituents of Yellowhead, as well as all Albertans and Canadians, that I will continue to defend the rights of firearms owners. I will work with groups such as the Canadian Coalition for Firearm Rights and the Canadian Shooting Sports Association to ensure these rights continue to be respected. Responsible firearms owners have faced unbelievable pressure and uncertainty under the Liberal government, which has continued, over the last lost decade, to impose outrageous restrictions that do nothing to improve public safety.

As I take my seat in the chamber, I do so with a clear purpose to put Canadians first, defend their values, build this country and ensure Yellowhead has a robust voice in shaping Canada's future to make our country the best place to live, work and raise a family.

God bless Yellowhead. God bless Alberta. God bless Canada.

[Wayne Long, Liberal, Secretary of State (Canada Revenue Agency and Financial Institutions)]

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the member opposite. As I have said before, I encourage the member to enjoy every minute in the House. It is a privilege for all of us to be here.

I also have a little bit of advice for the member, though. When we start naming names, as I have learned, we always leave one out, and we always hear about it when we are done our speech. All in all, that was a great speech.

We are a government of action. We are a government that is cutting taxes. We cut the tax for 22 million Canadians, have permanently cut the carbon tax and also cut tax for first-home homebuyers.

I would like to know what the member thinks about those bold moves we have made as a government, and I thank him in advance for his support.

[William Stevenson, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

Mr. Speaker, as a CPA who has dealt with a lot of taxes for the last 26 years, I have witnessed many occasions when the government makes a big announcement, just like a lot of these ones here. They make a lot of hay out of how much it will change things, but in the end, it really makes little difference.

On the GST, if the Liberals actually have some stats on how many people are new homebuyers who are buying a brand new home, I am sure they would find that it is very few. The effect they are touting is not going to be very effective.

[Andrew Lawton, Conservative, Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I send my heartfelt congratulations to my colleague in the House. My riding does not have the Rockies, which my colleague's does, but we do have a significant agricultural base, as I know his does.

In his remarks, he mentioned farmers in his riding. I was wondering if he could speak to the connection he has to that and what he brings to this chamber now as he takes a role as MP.

[William Stevenson, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I think I stated in my speech that my family has actually homesteaded in Alberta since the 1880s. After I finished my university degree, I moved to the family farm and raised cattle for 10 years.

At a certain point, I moved to being just an accountant, but I know and appreciate the hard work of the farmers who live off the land and take all of their income from the land, and how hard it is for them, so I can have that appreciation. Also, over the last 26 years, I have been doing taxes for a lot of my local farmers, so I can appreciate everything that they have to offer our communities.

[Guillaume Deschênes-Thériault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Mr. Speaker, in the last election, Canadians made it clear that they want us to take concrete action to help them with the cost of living. With Bill C‑4, we are delivering by lowering taxes, eliminating the GST on the purchase price of a first home and eliminating the consumer carbon price.

Will my colleague work with us to do what Canadians have asked us to do and meet their expectations quickly? Will he commit to working with our government to get these measures passed before the summer?

[William Stevenson, Conservative, Yellowhead, AB]

Mr. Speaker, with my 26 years in public practice, I have seen a lot of tax changes that had very little effect. I intend fully, over the next Parliament, to help in whatever committees I can to encourage meaningful tax changes. Bill C-4 has a few that are starting, but they are a long ways from actually having an effective change for individual Canadians, so I think we have a long way to go. This has just barely tipped the iceberg, and I hope that we can have lots of co-operation to make further cuts to benefit Canadians.

[Rhonda Kirkland, Conservative, Oshawa, ON]

Mr. Speaker, first, I want to congratulate the member for Yellowhead on his election win.

A member opposite mentioned something about permanently cutting the carbon tax, but of course not the industrial carbon tax. It is certainly just the consumer carbon tax. The member opposite did not answer, so maybe the member can.

Do we think the industrial carbon tax is going to be passed down to consumers, or are the big emitters just going to pay for it themselves?