Thank you, Mr. Easter. I'll speak to sustainable financing.
Sustainable financing means that you are going to put government money towards something that is already being financed in the marketplace right now. In Canada, the financial markets show no dearth of financing for sustainable projects at this point in time. There are several funds in the market with money in their hands waiting for the right projects. Having a new fund financed by the government—i.e., by the taxpayers of Canada—to put more money into those projects is completely worthless at this point in time.
I'll second what my colleague Mr. Poilievre said, which is that the Canada Infrastructure Bank exists, but it isn't necessary with billions of dollars sitting on the sidelines waiting for the proper investments and the right risk-return scenarios. There is very much money invested at a low rate of return for Canadians for actual projects that make sense across this country.
There's no definition on “sustainable finance”. It is the flavour of the day: How do we get more money out of government in order to do our pet projects?
I would speak strongly against this proposal from the finance industry perspective, but I would also speak strongly in favour of Mr. Poilievre's replacement motion to really look at what Canadians want to see here, which is where all this money is going. They see it going, and it's advertised where it's going—$50 million here, $40 million there—yet the government will come back at tax time and say they need to raise taxes. They need to find more ways to take money from small business owners and doctors and teachers and everybody else throughout this piece here, including capital gains exemption and what is called “tax equity”, although most people wouldn't call it tax equity.
That whole pulling in of money is what seems to be jading people the most. They see the government throw it out the door with abandon to all these corporations that merely have really good friends who are lobbyists.
I've spoken against the motion on the table and I've spoken for what I think is a great alternative motion.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.