The Conservatives, when they were in power, put in place the infamous Harper tax haven treaties, which the PBO tells us cost over $30 billion each and every year. I think, Mr. Chair, you and I would probably agree that the Liberals should have ended those practices, but they've kept them, which has led to a tremendous fiscal problem that is still unresolved.
However, the Conservatives, when they were in power, gave $116 billion in liquidity support to Canada's big banks. They doled out billions of dollars every year to oil and gas CEOs, and that amount, over that dismal decade of the Harper government, was about $100 billion. In short, Conservatives themselves are responsible for about half the structural deficit that we have in our country, so when Conservatives talk about fiscal management, there's only one way to put it: Conservative fiscal management is an oxymoron. They are absolutely terrible at managing money. They throw money at lobbyists and at corporate CEOs, but they don't throw money at people, and this is why I'm opposing CPC-13.
What are they proposing here? They're proposing to move from what is very clearly stated in the bill, which is the purpose and the principle of providing universal coverage of pharmaceutical products across Canada. Instead, they want to put in the weasel words “make progress on providing universal coverage of pharmaceutical” products.
They have no hesitation about massive subsidies to the corporate sector and corporate lobbyists, but when it comes to people who are struggling, like my constituent Amber, who is paying $1,000 every month for her diabetes medication, Conservatives say, “Whoa. No, we can't afford that. We can't afford the things that actually benefit people.”
This is a ridiculous amendment and it shouldn't have been tabled, but I understand the Conservatives just want to block this bill. Fortunately, with the House motion, within the next half-hour we will actually move to consider these amendments that Conservatives have been blocking for the last five hours and we'll be able to get this bill through this committee.
I find it passing strange that the Conservatives don't even understand their own lamentable history when it comes to managing money and paying down debt. If they want to inform themselves, I would suggest, through you, Mr. Chair, to the Conservative members of the committee that the fiscal period returns issued annually by the ministry of finance actually show which governments are best at managing money and paying down debt. Every single year over the last 40 years, NDP governments at the provincial level have been the best. If you look at the fiscal period returns, you'll see that compared to Conservative governments and Liberal governments, the NDP is best at managing money.
There's a simple reason, Chair, and it is that NDP governments put people first. We would put pharmacare before massive bailouts to the banks. We would put in place dental care rather than the splurging on oil and gas CEOs that we saw under the Conservatives. Rather than putting in place a structural deficit of $30 billion a year through the infamous Harper tax haven treaties, we believe that money actually needs to go to people to make sure they have an adequate income, affordable housing and all those things that most Canadians agree should be the priorities of any government.
I take absolutely no lessons from the Conservatives. They are horrible at managing money, and their track record shows it.