Debates of April 30th, 2015

Consumer Protection

[Joe Oliver, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we are the only government that has stood up for consumers by lowering taxes and putting more money back in their pockets. We have taken action to improve low-cost bank accounts and to expand no-cost banking options for more than seven million Canadians. We have introduced a debit card and credit card code of conduct. Our government believes that with better information, Canadian consumers can make informed choices which will be in their interests.

[Annick Papillon, NDP, Québec, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to set the record straight. Under the Conservatives, Canadians are working more, but a majority of them are living from paycheque to paycheque and are not in a position to save.

Although Canadian banks are earning record profits in the billions of dollars, they are not satisfied and always want more. Now, customers will be charged fees to pay their mortgage, and transactions are costing all Canadians more and more. Enough is enough.

Will the Conservatives finally stand up for the middle class and hold their banker friends accountable?

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Order. This is the second demonstration. We are going to run short on time.

The hon. Minister of Finance.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Order. We are going to run out of time. We are just about of time now, actually.

The hon. Minister of Finance.

[Joe Oliver, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we have provided more protections than ever for bank customers and we have done more than any other government. We will continue to help consumers in the future, thanks to our credit rating. What is very important is that we have lowered taxes to the levels they were at 50 years ago. That is what benefits families the most.

Employment

[Peggy Nash, NDP, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we just learned that 1,000 GM workers in Oshawa will be losing their jobs. We know that manufacturing sector output slowed in February for the second consecutive month. Instead of taking action to support the manufacturing sector, the Conservatives are authorizing a $500 million-plus loan to help Volkswagen create jobs in Mexico.

Why are the Conservatives not helping Canadian manufacturers create jobs here?

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, our thoughts are with the workers and their families in Oshawa during this very difficult time.

However, the member has it all wrong. This support is about creating new jobs and export opportunities within Canada. This is an interest-bearing loan, not a grant or subsidy. In fact, this loan will actually open the door for Canadian manufacturers to export their products to global companies.

Sadly, the opposition parties want to raise taxes. They want to abandon manufacturing. That is something this government will not do.

[Peggy Nash, NDP, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Mr. Speaker, clearly, the Conservatives have failed to build a balanced economy. Manufacturing output has slipped for the second month in a row, and workers are paying the price.

We have lost more than 400,000 good manufacturing jobs under the Conservatives' watch. Now GM has just announced that 1,000 jobs will be lost this year in Oshawa. What is the Conservatives' response? Give money to a German company to build cars in Mexico

Just where is their auto manufacturing strategy, and when will the Conservatives help the workers and families hit by massive job losses in manufacturing?

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, there is no government that has done more for the manufacturing sector than this Conservative government. The results speak for themselves. The programs that she refers to, since 2003, financing agreements like this one have generated almost $49 billion of business and sales for more than 5,000 Canadian companies.

Unlike the opposition parties, we will not abandon our manufacturers and we will certainly not tax them to death like the NDP wants to.

[Mylène Freeman, NDP, Argenteuil—Papineau—Mirabel, QC]

Mr. Speaker, more than 1,000 aerospace jobs have been lost in my riding in the past few years, and now, in Mirabel, we have learned that another 300 Bell Helicopter workers are being laid off.

When will the Conservatives realize that there needs to be stable investment in the aerospace sector in order to create well-paying jobs in Mirabel and Montreal?

[Ed Holder, Conservative, Minister of State (Science and Technology)]

Mr. Speaker, we are dismayed by this terrible news for the employees and their families. We know that this decision affects the international operations of Bell Helicopter, not just its operations in Canada. We do not comment on private sector decisions. The Canadian aerospace sector remains solid and is still one of the most innovative in the world.

Taxation

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

Mr. Speaker, according to Quebec's finance minister, Quebec will lose at least $65 million a year because of the increase in the TFSA limit. The minister was clear about this Conservative measure: “If it were up to me, I would not have made that decision.”

Does the minister realize that his measure will benefit the wealthy and hurt Quebec? Will he help the middle class and withdraw this measure that helps only the wealthiest Canadians?

[Joe Oliver, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the tax-free savings account, or TFSA, is an excellent way for Canadians to save money to buy a house, educate their children or build a nest egg for retirement.

That is why 11 million Canadians have a TFSA. The vast majority of those Canadians have a low or average income. Fully 60% of the people who contribute the maximum amount to their TFSA earn less than $60,000 a year. It is incredible to think that the Liberals and the NDP would cancel the increased TFSA contribution limit and deny the middle class and seniors this opportunity to save money.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I guess we know why the Minister of Finance could not answer the question on how many jobs the budget would create. It was the wrong question. The better one is this. How many jobs would this budget destroy in Canada?

The Quebec government is now speaking out against the Conservatives' plan to give billions to the wealthy through a major expansion of the TFSA. It has warned that this scheme will drain provincial budgets by hundreds of millions of dollars and grow to billions as the wealthy hide more and more of their money. Meanwhile, middle-class and working-class Canadians work hard just to get by and will have to work even harder to pay for these giveaways to the wealthy.

Why are Conservatives forcing working and middle-class Canadians to pay for their trickle-up economics?

[Joe Oliver, Conservative, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, it is quite remarkable that the opposition does not understand that if the private sector keeps the money, the money is not lost. The money goes to investment and savings, savings for education, retirement and for a first home.

Here is a little more information, if the facts mean anything to the opposition. Half of TFSA holders earn less than $42,000 a year and 600,000 seniors with income below $60,000 are currently maximizing their TFSAs.

The Economy

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Mr. Speaker, new GDP numbers confirm what the Bank of Canada was saying, that Canadian economic growth is atrocious. The fact is that it has not grown at all in 2015. In fact, it has shrunk. The manufacturing sector has been hit particularly hard, with its output declining by almost a percentage point in February, following a decline in January.

When Canadians needed a plan, the Conservatives delayed presenting a budget. With all the extra time to prepare the budget, why did the minister not present us with a plan for jobs and growth?

[Ed Holder, Conservative, Minister of State (Science and Technology)]

Mr. Speaker, I have a few facts for the member opposite and for the House.

Both the International Monetary Fund and the OECD are projecting that Canada will have the strongest economic growth in the G7 in the years ahead. In addition to that, for the seventh straight year, the World Economic Forum has ranked Canada's banking system as the soundest in the world. Our net debt to GDP ratio remains among the lowest, and organizations like Bloomberg ranked Canada as one of the most attractive places in the world to do business.

Maybe those members should factor that in their questions.

[Scott Brison, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Mr. Speaker, just to be clear for the record, that question was for the Minister of Finance to answer.

Today, GM has cut 1,000 jobs in Oshawa. Today, there are 160,000 fewer jobs for young Canadians than in 2008. The percentage of people unemployed for over a year has doubled since 2008. CIBC says that the quality of Canadian jobs is at its lowest in 25 years.

With Canada's job market so weak, how can the Conservatives pretend everything is fine, and why do they refuse to present a real plan for jobs and growth?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Minister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, we have a real plan: tax cuts, trade and training, which has created 1.2 million net new jobs in Canada. One of those job-creating tax cuts is the reduction in the small business tax rate.

We all know that small businesses are the major drivers of job creation, but the Liberal leader announced that he would raise taxes on small businesses if he ever got the chance. This is the same leader who thinks that budgets balance themselves. Small businesses know better and that is why they support our government, our tax cuts, and ultimately they will support us in the next election.

[Ralph Goodale, Liberal, Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the budget notwithstanding, the Canadian economy is in obvious trouble.

It shrank in January, worse than first reported. February was flat. Oil and gas have tumbled. Manufacturing was supposed to pick up the slack, but it is dropping too. U.S. growth was supposed to pull Canada along, but that is not happening either. A thousand more jobs are gone today at GM. Thirty-five per cent of Canadian families are carrying debt ratios over 200%.

Why did we waste two months for a pointless budget with no plan for growth and not even a basic job creation target?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Minister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have a one-point plan for the economy, and that is to raise taxes on the middle class. We learned last week from the Liberal leader that they propose to raise taxes on small businesses.

Canadians know that budgets do not balance themselves. Hard work and discipline balanced our budget, and now we will help families balance their budgets by reducing their taxes with a total of $6,000 in tax savings for the average family of four. We have reduced taxes; the Liberals would raise them.

Seniors

[Irene Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, a new report from HSBC shows that 60% of Canadian seniors will only semi-retire or never retire at all.

The reality is that more and more Canadians cannot afford to retire. They have faced decades of income inequality and are consequently saddled with record levels of debt.

When will the Conservatives listen to our calls for a national seniors strategy and adopt the NDP's plan so all seniors, the people who built our country, can retire with dignity?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Minister of Employment and Social Development and Minister for Democratic Reform]

Mr. Speaker, let me share one idea that would help seniors with their retirement.

A Tax-Free Savings Account...can help you while you work towards your short and long-term financial goals. A TSFA is a flexible registered savings account: investment income, including capital gains, earned within the account is not taxed; and withdrawals are tax-free.

Who said that? It is the NDP member for Ottawa Centre advocating the tax-free savings accounts. Now the New Democrats say they want to get rid of it. Which is it?