Absolutely. Thank you, Chair.
Colleagues, anyone who talks to Canadians today hears the pain that Canadians are feeling. Canada feels more broken than ever before. The Canadian dream, whether you're an immigrant to this country or you've lived here your whole life, has turned into a nightmare. That Canadian dream includes things like owning a home or owning a business.
Eight years of failed economic policies by this government and out-of-control deficit spending have given Canadians 40-year highs in inflation and the fastest interest rate hikes seen in Canadian history. This government has put more debt on Canadians' heads than every single government before it combined and made interest rates go up at the fastest.
Recently, Desjardins said that Minister Freeland would miss her deficit targets. This means the debt will only grow. The pain will only get worse. It was the Governor of the Bank of Canada who said at this committee that interest rates would have to “stay higher for longer”. This is the pain we're seeing across the country. On two separate occasions, the Governor of the Bank of Canada confirmed that this government's fiscal policy and his monetary policy, with which he is basically trying to tame inflation, are rowing in opposite directions. It's because this government continues to spend money recklessly, making interest rates stay higher for longer.
We also know that Canada's GDP per capita is contracting. That means Canadians are getting poorer. They're not getting ahead, even though they're working harder than ever before. Rising taxes, like the carbon tax scam, have contributed to unaffordability and rising prices. Gas, grocery and home heating costs have all gone up and continue to go up because of the carbon tax. On April 1 this Liberal-NDP government plans to hike the carbon tax by 23%.
We know that 70% of Canadians don't want the carbon tax. We also know that 70% of premiers have now asked this government not to hike the tax. One of those premiers is the Liberal Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador. Even he is calling on this Liberal government to not hike the tax.
The Governor of the Bank of Canada has also said that getting rid of the carbon tax would put a huge dent in inflation: 0.6% of the top-line inflation number can be taken off overnight by getting rid of the carbon tax, which hasn't helped the government meet any of its emission reduction targets and has only made life more expensive for Canadians. Getting rid of that tax and bringing down inflation could also help the Governor of the Bank of Canada lower interest rates faster.
The carbon tax has also contributed to the two million people we see going to food banks in a single month in Canada, something that I don't think anyone could have imagined was part of the Canadian dream. Two million Canadians are going to food banks because they just cannot afford food any longer. This government, with the support of the NDP, still wants to hike the tax on food. Second Harvest recently estimated that on top of the two million Canadians, another million people will go to a food bank this year. The reality is that a third of those people who are going hungry are children.
Because of the dramatic rise in the price of gas, groceries and home heating due to the carbon tax, more people are at risk of mortgage and credit card delinquencies. We know that after eight years of this government, mortgages and rents have doubled. More and more of Canadians' paycheques are going toward shelter costs, sometimes up to 70%, because of the rise in mortgages and rents.
We know that there's a housing shortage. This government is great at photo ops and announcements but not at making sure that homes actually get built. The housing minister, Sean Fraser, also admitted that their programs don't actually lead to homes being built, yet they keep shovelling out more money. This is adding to the debt that's keeping interest rates higher for longer.
We also know now that Canadian business insolvencies are surging. Business owners and workers are at risk now of losing their paycheques. That's what brings us here today. Equifax recently reported that mortgage and credit card delinquency rates are soaring while bankruptcies are also on the rise. Mortgage delinquency rates are up more than 50% across Canada and are up 135% in Ontario and 62% in B.C.
There's a significant jump in this number from prepandemic levels. The rise in mortgage and credit card delinquencies is significantly affecting younger Canadians. We know that nine out of 10 young people in this country have given up on the dream of home ownership. It's impossible, and those who are lucky enough to have realized that dream are living a nightmare today because it's impossible for them to make payments due to high interest rates staying higher for longer.
We also know 70,000-plus mortgages are being renewed every single month at a minimum of double the rate because of high interest rates caused by this government's high-inflation spending. Equifax found that credit card balances are growing primarily from reduced payment levels, especially among younger mortgage borrowers. Canadians now owe nearly $1.80 for every dollar they earn. This is why Canadians are now the most indebted households in the entire G7 and why the debt level on households is bigger than Canada's entire economy. Household debt servicing ratios are at all-time highs. The cost-of-living crisis is driving Canadians to use credit cards or borrow money just to make ends meet.
As reported by the superintendent of bankruptcy, the number of filings has risen 23%. In Ontario, they've spiked by 76.5%, and they're at 46.5% in B.C. Now Canadians are the most at risk in the G7, according to the IMF, for a mortgage default crisis. They cannot keep up with payments and the renewals, which are more than double the rate in most cases.
Conservatives believe it is time that the government take this issue seriously and bring back some common sense. Canadians could lose their homes or their ability to borrow or qualify for credit, and the economy could suffer dire consequences. If there are significant bankruptcies or Canadians are unable to pay their mortgages, this country and the economy will be at risk.
That is why common-sense Conservatives are calling the Minister of Finance to appear to outline why the government has let it get this bad and what their plan is to fix it. How and when will they fix the budget, and what is the plan to get back to balanced budgets so that inflation and interest rates come down and Canadians don't have to worry about losing their homes?
Thank you, Mr. Chair.