Finance Committee on May 7th, 2024

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

No. We will get that sent to you.

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Wetaskiwin, AB]

Okay. The gist of it, though, is that there's a subamendment to suggest that Mark Carney ought to appear before the committee as the former—

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

No.

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Wetaskiwin, AB]

Is that not the subamendment?

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

No, that is not the subamendment. We are on MP Morantz's subamendment on the programming motion.

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Wetaskiwin, AB]

All right. It suggests that Mark Carney come before the committee as the former governor of the Bank of Canada—

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

We're working on that subamendment. That's what we're doing.

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Wetaskiwin, AB]

—having been pretty outspoken on some of the measures in the budget.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

We will have that sent to you right now. It will go to your P9.

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Wetaskiwin, AB]

Thank you. I appreciate it.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

MP Hallan, go ahead.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

It's more important than ever that we get down to the business of this committee. Carbon tax Carney has been okay to appear at a Senate committee. We can't confirm whether he flip-flopped on the carbon tax scam or not, so there's another question I'd love to ask carbon tax Carney while he's here: Do you agree with Chrystia Freeland and Justin Trudeau on their path to quadrupling the carbon tax scam that's made the cost of gas, groceries and home heating expensive already? They want to quadruple it. This is all a path to quadrupling it. Does carbon tax Carney agree with that plan?

When he becomes the coronated Liberal leader, does he want to continue the destructive path of the carbon tax scam? That's something that I, along with all Canadians, would like to know. Does carbon tax Carney want to continue the destructive path of high deficits and the debt that this Prime Minister has put us on? In fact, the Prime Minister has put more debt on Canadians' heads than every single prime minister before him combined. That's what led to 40-year highs in inflation and the most rapid interest rate hikes seen in Canadian history. That has led Canadians to be the most at risk in the G7 for mortgage default. Is carbon tax Carney in agreement with the Prime Minister that this is the path he wants to follow when he becomes Liberal leader? Maybe that's why Mr. Turnbull blocked our motion. Maybe that's why he started this filibuster. He wants to protect carbon tax Carney.

This is important more than ever. There are a lot of questions we want to ask carbon tax Carney. Does he agree with Justin Trudeau and the finance minister on a lot of these failed policies, including the failed drug policies that we've seen ravage the country and that are in this budget? The finance minister admits that this is the path they want to continue down, this destructive path that we've seen ravage our streets and tear families apart. That's the record after nine years of this government. These are some of the most important questions that we would like to ask of him. Carbon tax Carney also knows, as he knew back then, about the deficits. I think he made some type of comment about the federal budget not being focused enough on growth.

Let's not forget that he's not the only former Bank of Canada governor who commented on the budget. David Dodge, who's a proud Liberal and admits that he's a proud Liberal, is a former governor of the Bank of Canada. Before the budget came out, let's remember what he said. He said that this is the worst budget since 1982. So it's not just carbon tax Carney, the former governor of the Bank of Canada; it's also David Dodge. They are both Liberals who have said that this is the worst budget.

We agree. We fully agree that this is a bad budget because it will do nothing to help with the supply of homes. It's a photo-op budget. What we've recently seen is $4.4 billion in bonuses going to CMHC for not building any homes. It gives this government an opportunity to fly coast to coast on taxpayers' dime and be in front of reannounced projects so they can look like they're trying to solve the housing issue, when what they're really doing is creating more bureaucracy, not more homes.

That's clear to see, as this year, Chrystia Freeland's housing department said that housing starts will go down. Last year that was also the case, and it will be next year. The shortfall is more than five million homes, yet this government says that the budget is about fairness. There is nothing fair about losing an entire generation's dream of home ownership. After nine years of this government, supported by the NDP, the dream of home ownership for younger generations is dead. Unless you have the bank of mom and dad, in this country, you will never be able to own a home. That is the reality of this government, yet, including with this budget, they've bragged about $89 billion committed to housing, only to double housing costs. Can you believe that? That's the record.

I'm not sure how that's something to brag about, but time after time we see Chrystia Freeland stand up in the House of Commons and tell Canadians, including young ones who can't afford a home, that they've never had it better. The reality is that Canada is broken, broken in every way, and this Liberal-NDP government broke it. It's clear to see.

I have never seen so much pain and suffering from everyday Canadians, or from newcomers who came to this country, like me. They ask, “Why did we come here? What did we leave everything back home to come here for? This is not the Canada we were promised.” The people who were born and raised here say that this is not the same Canada either. It is hard to find anyone who would say, “Raise the cost of my gas, groceries and home heating even more, even though you haven't hit a single emissions reduction target, emissions have gone up and you've lied about putting more back in our pockets than what we have to pay into the carbon tax scam.” I haven't met a single Canadian who is thanking this government for that. That is not to mention that on the climate change index, we fell four places. It's embarrassing.

This Prime Minister has found every way to embarrass Canada on the world stage, not just one way, and this budget does more of that. It's an embarrassing budget. It's embarrassing that this government would say that this is about fairness, but ensure that a young person will never be able to afford a home. An entire generation of homeowners is gone. That is what this budget is about.

Nothing in this budget will help the two million Canadians going to a food bank—nothing. One in five Canadians is skipping meals. One-third of those two million people going to a food bank are children. That is the record of this Liberal-NDP government, yet according to them, everything is fine. It's all good. They say, “You've never had it better. Just keep your mouth shut and let us do whatever we're doing.”

If anyone in the opposition speaks up about it, they will be called all sorts of names. Anyone who calls the Liberals out and voices the emotions of Canadians today will all of a sudden become racist and misogynist, because they're so desperate. This budget, it's clear to see, doesn't help any of those people. However, if you criticize the budget, all of a sudden the Liberals and the NDP, the left, will, as is typical, go to their attacks of racism and sexism because they can't defend their record. This budget is more of the same old reason why Canadians can't afford to live here anymore. More and more Canadians are choosing to leave. There is nothing in this budget that would help anyone who wants to stay in Canada.

You hear stories about $200 going a long way at the grocery store. You could basically fill up your trunk with that years ago. In 2015 and previously, with $200 you could fill up the trunk of your car, but $200 today doesn't even cover the front seat of your car. That's because of the carbon tax scam and the lack of competition. The Liberal-NDP government drove out all sorts of investments in all sectors, which made the cost of everything go up, yet they still want to quadruple their carbon tax scam and are proud to do it.

I have more to say, but because I see a lot of my colleagues are excited, I'll turn the floor over to the next speaker and I'll ask to be put on the list again, Mr. Chair.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

As the next speaker, I have MP Turnbull, and then it's MP Thompson, MP Goodridge—who is not here any longer—MP Morantz and MP Hallan.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Thanks, Chair.

I think this is about 5.5 hours now of Conservative filibustering. Let's review what's going on for Canadians at home. Yes, I'm sure they're all watching.

A couple of weeks ago we tried to have a subcommittee meeting to work out an agenda for the rest of May and June until the House rises for the summer. Obviously we had a good debate in that meeting. I won't discuss anything about the meeting, but certainly the outcome of it was pretty apparent to the committee: We could not achieve consensus around that set of priorities, even though we had a fulsome discussion.

The Conservatives were the ones who would not support any form of programming motion with an agreed set of priorities. Even though, I will say quite openly and honestly, we really tried to achieve consensus, we found that the Conservatives, as we see here today, were not really interested in working collaboratively.

They said that they opposed our budget before it was even released, so do they really want to study the budget? I would argue that what we're seeing here today is the exact opposite.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

I have a point of order, Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

There's a point of order.

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Thanks for giving me a break. I appreciate that.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

You need a break already.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

You're not sitting as a member right now.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

I'll raise a point of order, even if I'm not subbed in, Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

You have not been subbed in.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

I'm an associate member and I have a point of order.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Have you been subbed in, MP Genuis?

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

I don't know, but I have a point of order and I'm an associate member. I claim my rights as an associate member of this committee, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

You have not been subbed in. We'll continue.

MP Turnbull, continue, please.