Let me clarify. It means that they joined this committee around the same time. In our experience, we've seen nothing but the blocking of their own legislation and other heavy-handed things that, of course, as the official opposition on behalf of Canadians, we won't let happen in this committee.
I want to address things that my colleague Ms. Dzerowicz brought up because I think it's very important, and these are some important issues that Canadians and Canadian businesses are facing as well.
When we talk about Canadian businesses, in this expensive, costly, photo op budget by this Liberal-NDP government, they're claiming that they're going to give back carbon tax rebates to businesses. These businesses have been waiting for more than five years for this—more than five years. They took this money, and emissions went up under this pretense that somehow it would fix the environment, which it didn't. Chrystia Freeland said that businesses would somehow be better off, that the environment would be better off and that Canadians would be better off, but none of those things happened. Not a single one of those things happened.
In fact, Chrystia Freeland's own environment department admitted that they don't even keep track of the emissions that are tied in with the carbon tax scam. It's a total scam. There is nothing that ties in both things, because they know it's just like Justin Trudeau and not worth the cost. That's why. That's why they don't keep track of it. They take more and more from Canadians and now, supposedly, they're supposed to be the heroes of small businesses that have suffered with higher taxes, labour shortages and all sorts of pain, which they've inflicted on not just the business owners but the workers of those businesses as well.
I want to address that. What a common-sense Conservative government would do is not take the money in the first place. You wouldn't need these phony rebates if you didn't take the money away in the first place. Chrystia Freeland has on multiple occasions come to this committee, just like the Parliamentary Budget Officer, and refused to answer what the Parliamentary Budget Officer has confirmed on multiple occasions: that most households are worse off when you factor in the economic and fiscal impacts of the carbon tax. That is exactly what the Parliamentary Budget Officer said.
Then when you have Chrystia Freeland brag, day in and day out, with the falsehood that somehow this carbon tax is supposed to make life better for Canadians, it's false. The Parliamentary Budget Officer said so himself. He proved that this carbon tax scam is not worth the cost, and emissions went up once again. In fact, it's so bad that Canada's ranking on the climate change index fell from 58 to 62. Can you believe that? However, the carbon tax went up. Can you believe that? It's crazy. I know, Chair. It's crazy that you could raise the carbon tax and fall in the climate change index. Would you believe that? That is the record of nine years of this government and their failed policies.
What did that do? Chrystia Freeland would tell you that Canadians have never had it so good. Well, this carbon tax scam is responsible for two million Canadians going to a food bank in a single month and a million more projected this year. There are families making decisions that they've never had to make before. There are moms who go to the grocery store and spend double the time because they have to pick up food and think twice about whether they can afford this. They're having to skip meals. Can you believe that? Canadians are having to skip meals in this country.
My family came here as immigrants, like many others. There are many people who grew up here all saying the same thing. This is not the same Canada that we knew, because after nine years of this government, Canada is broken. Despite what the Liberals might try to sell you, it's just like their carbon tax scam. It's just a scam. In fact, 400,000 people left this country last year, and the high cost of living was their number one reason. That never used to happen to us, and it's stuff that we've never heard before. After nine years of this government, that's the reality of Canadians today.
Canada used to be a place people wanted to come to. They could afford a home. They could run a good business. There were safe streets. They could send their kids to walk alone to school. None of those things are possible anymore after nine years of this government.
This is the Canada that Chrystia Freeland is bragging about, saying after nine years that Canadians have never had it so good. You don't have to look very far. You just have to go to some of the streets of our bigger cities to see the crime, chaos, destruction and what high-cost, high-deficit governments do to their citizens.
Can you believe that we live in a country right now where there are teachers and nurses living in their cars because, after nine years of this government, supported by the NDP, they can't afford rent because it has doubled? Mortgages have doubled. In fact, Canadians can't renew their mortgages because of the high interest rates. That's the Canada we live in.
When we talk about food banks, there's a phenomenon that we've never seen before. Double-income families, sometimes with two members who earn a good living, can't afford to eat, heat or house themselves anymore. That wasn't the promise of Canada. That wasn't the Canadian dream that was promised to those people who came here, who left everything behind to come here for a better future. They were promised they could afford to buy groceries, to heat their homes and to live in a home, all at the same time. However, after nine years of this government, supported by the NDP all along the way, this is the reality of Canada. The Canadian dream is broken. The Canadian dream has turned into a nightmare for many people we've talked to.
I think that if the Liberals and the NDP started talking to their constituents, they would realize the pain that it causes. Mr. Jivani clearly outlined what was happening in Mr. Turnbull's own riding. This wasn't a reality before. It is now, yet virtue signalling and being woke is more important to this Liberal-NDP government than actually helping out Canadians.
This budget, this $40 billion of new inflationary net spending, does nothing to help Canadians out. In fact, everyone has seen high interest rates. The Governor of the Bank of Canada has been here multiple times and talked about higher rates for longer, and that's the pain that Canadians have to feel. When asked, he says that this government's fiscal policy and his monetary policy are rowing in opposite directions. It is a factor in why interest rates can't come down.
That's why when people are renewing their mortgages, sometimes they're renewing at double or triple the rate. That's why Canadians are now living in their cars, living under bridges and in tents. There are tent cities all across this country like we've never seen before.
That's just nine years of how broken Canada is under this Prime Minister with the help of the NDP, who, by the way, keeps the Prime Minister in his place out of greed for their own leader's pension. That's what this is all about.
This budget is no different. It's going to keep this Prime Minister in longer, causing more pain for Canadians. Canadians don't see hope right now at all. A year and a half is a long way to an election. That's why our leader called for a carbon tax election. If the Liberal-NDP government is so sure of their carbon tax scam, why not pause it?
By the way, before the Liberal-NDP government jacked it up by 23% on April 1, 70% of Canadians, including seven out of 10 premiers, said to spike the hike and not to raise the carbon tax. However, government members did what they always do. They want to inflict as much pain on Canadians as possible to raise the price of groceries, gas and home heating even more. They refused to listen to Canadians, and they jacked it up, knowing that a million more Canadians would visit a food bank on top of the two million who visited a food bank in a single month, despite all of that.
When they talk about fairness, Canadians clearly see that it's not what they're talking about. It might be fairness for the government to collect more from Canadians, but for everyday Canadians, there is no fairness whatsoever.
My colleague, Ms. Dzerowicz also brought up money laundering. I'm appalled that she would even bring that up after last week when Conservatives, with our Bloc colleague, forced a meeting last Friday on money laundering.
Once again, the Liberals, along with Don Davies from the NDP, chose to block that very important motion brought by my good friend and great colleague Adam Chambers. We could have been studying this money laundering issue. It's massive. In fact, it's so big and so important, that Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance wrote to this committee—to you, Chair—on October 6, 2023.
She wrote, “Dear Mr. Fonseca: I am writing to request your assistance with the fourth five-year parliamentary review of the proceeds of the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA).” This letter goes on to say that the last review of the PCMLTFA was completed in November 2018.
This review takes place every five years. It's already over what it needs to be. She literally.... Maybe she was just doing this out of formality, but we take that seriously because there have been three different banks that have been allegedly caught up in money laundering. The most recent was TD Bank. This was the reason we wanted to call that meeting, which was blocked, once again, by Mr. Davies, Mr. Turnbull and his crew of Liberals.
There was a headline that says,“TD Bank could face more severe penalties after drug money laundering allegations, says analyst. Bank could face worst-case scenario after report connects TD to illicit fentanyl profits”.
Another headline is “TD probe tied to laundering drug money, says Wall Street Journal. Court documents and sources reveal investigators found evidence of a drug-money-laundering operation”. Another is “TD bank hit with $9.2 million penalty for failing to report suspicious transactions. Canada's financial intelligence agency fines TD as bank faces further compliance probes in the U.S.”
My question is, what do these Liberals and Mr. Davies have to hide? Why did they block a common-sense Conservative motion from going through? In fact, it's a very good motion.
I'll read it in. It's from my friend, Mr. Chambers, from Tuesday, March 19. It says:
...pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and with regards to section 72 of the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act, the committee undertake a study to review the Act and the current situation regarding money laundering and terrorist financing in Canada. That as part of the study the committee calls the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance for no fewer than two hours, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada no fewer than two hours, the Minister of Public Safety no fewer than two hours, the Minister of National Revenue no fewer than two hours, department officials for the departments of Justice and Public Safety, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the Canadian Border Security Agency, the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments, the Cullen Commission Lead Counsel, Royal Bank of Canada, TD Bank, Bank of Montreal, Scotiabank, CIBC, National Bank, the Ontario Securities Commission and other witnesses as submitted by the members of the committee. That the committee take no fewer than ten meetings for this study and that it report its findings to the House.
What I don't understand was why, even though the Minister of Finance has been asking for this—