Debates of Dec. 7th, 2015

Finance

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by welcoming the hon. Minister of Finance to the House. I am sure we will have a lot of fun in the coming weeks.

The Prime Minister made two fundamental commitments to Canadians: one, that the deficit would not go above $10 billion per year; and, two, that any tax increases would be revenue neutral. Unfortunately, neither of those are true and it seems as if we are leaving those commitments in the dust. Therefore, my question for the Minister of Finance is this. How much will these broken promises cost Canadians?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure and a privilege to be here.

We made commitments to Canadians during the course of our campaign. We recognize that the economy is slowing and that it is slower than we expected. We will make significant investments in our economy through infrastructure investments. We will ensure that we reduce our net debt-to-GDP over the course of our mandate. We intend on getting to a balanced budget during the term of our mandate. We look forward to serving Canadians in this way.

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we will hold the minister to his promise to Canadians of balancing the budget by 2019. One way of balancing that budget is by increasing taxes, and indeed the government has already said it will increase taxes. However, it will not pay for what is happening on the other end of the balance. There is no revenue neutrality here.

Therefore, my question for the minister is this. As he supposedly will admit later on today that this will not work, will he now admit that increased payroll taxes, increased taxes on retirement savings, and the complex re-engineering of how children receive their support will not work either and is also flawed?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I think this will be fun.

Today we are starting with a very important part of our plan, and that is middle-class tax breaks, which is a key part of our initiative to help Canadians.

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, one thing is for sure. The current government is very good at giving out money, but is it good at growing the economy?

Today oil is at $38 a barrel. We understand that 185,000 job losses in the oil and gas sector in 2016 are possible. This affects everyone who works in that sector, including those in Alberta. Albertans are hurting, yet this sector was not mentioned even once in the Speech from the Throne. Why is Canada's economic engine not a priority for the government?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we have inherited a situation that is more challenging than was foreseen in the budget. We are looking forward to making significant investments in our economy to help the growth of the economy because we recognize the challenges that Canadians are facing across this country. We look forward to doing a better job for Canadians in the years to come.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, during the election campaign, the Prime Minister made two major promises.

First, he promised to cap any deficits at $10 billion. Second, if any taxation changes were made, they would benefit all Canadians.

Unfortunately, Canadians got a reality check today: those promises will not be kept. They were unrealistic and unfeasible.

Will the Prime Minister rise and tell Canadians directly how much these broken promises are going to cost them?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we aspire to be transparent and open with Canadians. Our goal is to give Canadians a clear understanding of the fiscal situation from which we can make investments that will make a real long-term difference for Canadians. That is exactly what we intend on doing by bringing forward our plan over the course of our budget that will show Canadians how we can improve our collective future.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, some important people were overlooked in Friday's Speech from the Throne. Among them were those who create wealth, our entrepreneurs. There was not one word about our entrepreneurs. There was no real plan to help them, to help our small and medium-sized businesses, or to help our manufacturers.

On this side of the House, we believe that our entrepreneurs are the real creators of wealth.

Why did the government neglect our job creators? Why did the government neglect our wealth creators? Why is our government neglecting Canadian entrepreneurs?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member.

We have recognized that we need to deal with all Canadians. Our goal is to help entrepreneurs, to help businesses across the country by setting forward a plan that will allow us to invest in our country so that we can make our country more productive and increase growth going forward while helping those who are struggling to get by, which is exactly what we are starting with today.

[Phil McColeman, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Liberals are already increasing payroll taxes, clawing back tax-free savings accounts, and implementing a job-killing carbon tax. They are also planning to get rid of boutique tax credits without any details of who will be affected.

Can the finance minister tell us whether he plans to eliminate tax credits for first-time homebuyers, students, apprentices, families with children in sports and arts, or all of the above?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, what we can tell the House today is that we are starting our program to help Canadians.

Today is the day we have said we are going to reduce middle-class taxes by asking those Canadians who are doing very well to pay a little bit more. This is an important first start in our tax program, a program that will make Canada a fairer place for Canadians and a better place for all of us to do business.

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government is now admitting its tax plan does not add up. It will have to make changes. The new government's plan gives maximum benefit to wealthy Canadians while giving nothing to nearly 70%. The NDP has proposed constructive change to ensure benefits go to 90% of Canadians.

Will the minister work with us to help millions more by fixing the government's plan and making the tax system more fair?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the hon. deputy on his election.

Our plan, when looked at in totality over the coming months, will show that nine out of 10 Canadian families will be better off through the course of our mandate, through our projections, because of our changes.

We will also raise 315,000 Canadian children out of poverty. Our plan will start by reducing taxes and move forward to help Canadians across this country from coast to coast to coast.

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, that being the case, under the Liberals' fiscal plan, people who earn a median income do not get anything. However, those who earn between $89,000 and $200,000 will receive the maximum tax cut.

Does the minister believe that people who earn a median income are not part of the middle class or will he agree to work with the NDP in order to ensure that 90% of the population gets something out of this?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we are looking forward to working together with all of our colleagues in this House in trying to come up with policy that best helps Canadians move forward.

Our plan enumerated during our campaign will help nine out of 10 families to be better off. It will raise 315,000 children out of poverty. We know that we can start with a tax cut for Canadians in the middle class so that they will have more money to help our economy, and then we can move forward with other initiatives that will help other Canadians even more.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have admitted that their campaign promise to bring 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada by year's end was not within their ability to achieve. The governments of Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan require exit permits to be issued to refugees before they can come to Canada.

Given that there are only 24 days left for the Liberals to meet their diminished refugee target, can the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship tell the House exactly how many exit permits have actually been issued by these governments for refugees coming to Canada since November 4?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate my colleague for her re-election and her rise to the noble post of immigration critic in the opposition.

I would simply say that we have pursued a totally open communication policy with Canadians. From the beginning, we have said that yes, there are issues surrounding exit permits from Lebanon. We are also dealing with Jordan and with Turkey. We are working extremely hard on the ground to secure those exit permits so we can—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. The hon. member for Calgary Nose Hill.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, given my colleague's focus on rising to the occasion, I would say that sunny ways have actually met reality here. Given that there are only 24 days left before the end of the year, could the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship please inform the House, since he was not able to answer that question on exit permits, how many Syrian refugees have been identified for resettlement to Canada, the exact number, and how many Canadian permanent resident visas have actually been issued to Syrian refugees since November 4? There are only 24 days left.

[John McCallum, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to answer that question because when I ask provincial immigration ministers how many refugees from Syria their province could receive, we know that we are oversubscribed. If we take all the numbers presented by every provincial minister, that number exceeds 25,000. Those people are not here yet, but it is a huge indication of early support and enthusiasm from our provincial governments, which spreads across the whole country.

[Bob Saroya, Conservative, Markham—Unionville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, even the Liberals' diminished refugee targets will require significant resources to be achieved. We still need to process applications in the other immigration streams including refugee claims from other parts of the world, spousal applications, and visitor visas.

Could the minister explain how diverting human resources to process Syrian refugee applications will impact other areas of our immigration system?

[John McCallum, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I asked my department this question and I was a little bit sceptical when I was told it would have no impact on refugees from other countries. I persisted and officials explained to me that while some resources are being diverted to the Syrian cause, no resources are being diverted for other refugees. I can say very clearly, other refugees will not be affected by the Syrian case.

International Development

[Deepak Obhrai, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is vital that our government provide assistance to Syrian refugees, but security on the ground is key to provide aid to those vulnerable people. Our Conservative government understood this importance of both engaging ISIL militarily and providing aid, but the new government has decided to sit on the sidelines on one flank, making it even more dangerous for the people still in the camps.

Will the Minister of International Development explain the logic of helping the victims of war while not engaging the aggressor?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Minister of International Development and La Francophonie]

Mr. Speaker, last week we said that we would contribute $100 million in humanitarian assistance on the ground to help the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees prepare a larger number of refugees. In addition, $90 million has been allocated to helping the refugees who are currently living in camps in neighbouring countries.