Debates of March 9th, 2016

Natural Resources

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, tonight, the Prime Minister is going to be in Washington with his pals at the Center for American Progress. While energy workers continue to lose their jobs across the country, they will be watching the Prime Minister sip champagne.

Let us be clear. This is the group that is responsible for the president's rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline.

Will the Prime Minister use his special new relationship and publicly state in Washington that he supports Keystone, and ask the president publicly to reverse his decision on Keystone?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, few relationships matter as much to Canada as a good relationship with the United States of America, for jobs, for economic growth, for trade purposes, for building the kinds of opportunities that Canadians truly need right across the country.

For 10 years those relationships had been strained and now we are pleased to re-engage on a broad range of important files to build the kinds of opportunities for all Canadians that we know people need.

The Economy

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, while the Liberals will be celebrating with American organizations that are actually determined to kill Canadian jobs, the finance minister back at home keeps racking up the bills. The Prime Minister broke his promise to limit borrowing to a modest $10 billion. Economists are now saying the Liberals will add $150 billion in debt over the next four years, but it will have virtually no impact on growth.

The Prime Minister was left with a surplus. Now that we all know his borrowing will not create jobs and growth, why is the government so determined to bury Canadians in debt?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, for 10 years Canada saw lower growth than it needed to because we had a government that was focused on giving tax benefits to the wealthiest and not helping the middle class succeed, not creating the kinds of investments in infrastructure, in our communities, and indeed for Canadians who needed help. That was actually necessary for our economy.

That is why we put forward a plan to invest in the future of our country, and to help middle class Canadians and those working hard to join it. In two weeks, all members in the House, and indeed all Canadians, will be able to see the budget that will make that happen.

[Rona Ambrose, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, in fact, our government left the country with the highest growth in the G7 and the lowest taxes in 50 years.

The Prime Minister needs to understand that Canadians did not actually sign up or vote for this mountain of debt. Not only did the Prime Minister mislead Canadians on these Liberal spending habits but he has absolutely no plan to pay it back, other than raising taxes.

When will the Prime Minister realize, like all Canadians, he has to live within his means and he has to pay this money back?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians were faced with a choice in the last election between policies that had failed to create the kind of growth and opportunities that people needed right across the country against a vision that was actually proposing to invest in our future, to put money in the pockets of the middle class and those working hard to join, and investing in the kind of infrastructure that our communities need to create jobs now, and to create growth in the medium and long-term.

That is the kind of budget we are going to put forward in two weeks. That is what Canadians have been waiting 10 years to hear.

Forestry Industry

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after years of complacency by the former Liberal government, in 2006, our Conservative government signed a softwood lumber agreement with our American partners. At the time, companies were paying up to 37% in export duties, and billions of dollars, money that belonged to Canadian companies, was being hoarded in the United States.

Can the Prime Minister promise that when he goes to Washington he will ask President Obama not to waste any time signing an agreement that will allow the forestry industry to continue to grow and provide jobs in every region of Canada?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, Canada-U.S. relations were so bad in recent years that this former government was unable to reach a new agreement when the old softwood lumber agreement expired.

It was up to us to take over this file, and I talked to President Obama about it at the first opportunity I had to sit down with him. We are working on this file, and we hope to have good news for Canadians in the weeks and months to come.

Finance

[Denis Lebel, Conservative, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would remind the House that the former international trade minister had made a lot of progress on this file. I hope this situation will be resolved quickly.

During the election campaign, the Prime Minister talked about small deficits, slight deficits. We left a balanced budget for this fiscal year; the numbers are there. For the current year, there was an operating surplus. The Liberals cannot even tell us what their operating deficit for the current year will be, not to mention that TD Bank forecasts $150 billion in deficits on account of the Liberal government's management.

When will the Prime Minister bring our country back to balanced budgets?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the former Conservative government inherited a $13-billion surplus, which it spent even before the global recession hit in 2008.

We inherited a deficit, and we promised Canadians that we would invest in communities and growth and help the middle class and those working hard to join the middle class. That is precisely what we are going to do. On March 22, we will present our plan for that in the budget.

Taxation

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, I asked the Prime Minister about the recent deal that the government made with millionaire tax cheats. He responded that all Canadians should pay their taxes “in the future”. To those currently filling out their tax forms, it is a bit of a surprise to learn that this was not the case before, and that the government lets multi-millionaire tax cheats off the hook with no penalty whatsoever.

I will ask the Prime Minister again. Will he conduct an investigation and put a stop to these sweetheart deals for multi-millionaire tax cheats?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, this government believes in a level playing field where all Canadians pay their fair share of taxes and are treated equally under the system. Our government came to power with a pledge to strengthen efforts to combat international tax evasion and avoidance.

The CRA is pursuing this matter before the courts and it intends to pursue it to the fullest extent possible because that is what this government and, indeed, all Canadians expect.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is not pursuing this matter before the courts and that is the problem. It is letting them off the hook with no fine, no penalty, and no interest to pay.

Canadians are sick of this flim-flammery that allows multi-millionaires to avoid paying taxes and to be coddled by the government.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister could not even tell us whether he disagreed with this deal.

I have a very specific question for the Prime Minister. Can he confirm that this is the one and only time that the government has offered this kind of sweetheart deal to millionaires? Yes or no? Are there other similar agreements?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, this government believes in tax fairness. We believe that all Canadians should pay their fair share of taxes and should be treated equally by the federal tax system.

Our government came to power with a pledge to strengthen efforts to combat international tax evasion and avoidance. The Canada Revenue Agency is pursuing this matter before the courts, and it intends to pursue it to the fullest extent possible. That is what Canadians expect from this government and the CRA.

Social Development

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is such a good reader, but he is not answering my questions. He read the same thing twice, but that is not the question. Have there been other times, yes or no?

Yesterday, I asked the Prime Minister about the government's promise for affordable, high-quality, flexible, and fully inclusive child care. It is at page 20 of his platform in case he has not been able to find it.

Instead of giving us another talking point, could the Prime Minister simply tell us what is the government's budget for that specifically defined child care plan the Liberals boasted about in their platform?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, in our platform we put forward an ambitious plan to invest $20 billion over the next 10 years in social infrastructure. In order to do so, we would work with provinces and municipalities to identify their concrete needs and respond to them. We put that forward in total respect of provincial jurisdiction.

The member opposite put forward a plan that would have cut $18 billion from the federal budget right now to reach balance at all costs. That is not how we help families. That is not how we help people with the costs of child care.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, if the Prime Minister were really sincere about corporate tax fairness, he would start by reducing and getting rid of the cuts to corporate taxes that the Conservatives brought in with the Liberals' complicity, as they voted for the Conservative budget.

Our seniors should never, ever have to choose between paying for their groceries, their housing or their medication. The Liberals promised, and I quote, “to immediately [boost] the guaranteed income supplement...by 10%”.

Five months later, nothing has changed and seniors continue to suffer.

What exactly did they mean by “immediately”?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are very concerned about the plight of our seniors. That is why we promised to boost the guaranteed income supplement for our most vulnerable seniors by 10% in our election platform.

In addition, as part of our infrastructure investments, we promised to create housing for our seniors. These are all things that we can promise and we can do, because we told Canadians that we are going to invest in communities.

The opposition member, who unfortunately promised to balance the budget, would have slashed $18 billion, which needs to go to our seniors and all Canadians, instead of making the investments they need.

Finance

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Haldimand—Norfolk, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are borrowing money they do not have, to spend on pet projects we do not need. They are throwing fiscal responsibility onto the spending bonfire. With $150 billion expected in borrowing, a balanced budget under the Liberals is nothing but a pipe dream.

When will the Liberals realize that we have to pay this money back and that borrowed money is not free?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we have a fundamentally different approach. We have an approach for growing our economy. That is what Canadians voted for on the 19th of October, and that is exactly what we are going to be delivering. We are going to invest in innovation, we are going to invest in productivity, and we are going to invest in infrastructure. We are going to invest in the middle class for this country.

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Haldimand—Norfolk, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the previous government went into deficit to fight the biggest financial crisis since the 1930s and then balanced the budget without raising taxes. The Liberals are spending money they do not have, to fight a recession we are not in. They have already slashed tax-free savings accounts, and now they are jacking up payroll taxes.

How high will taxes go to pay for risky Liberal deficits?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, as the OECD and the IMF said, there has never been a better time to invest in the economy. Canadians know that, when interest rates are low, that is the time to invest.

As we went from coast to coast to coast in this country, the Minister of Finance and I, we listened to Canadians, and what Canadians told us is to invest in the economy, invest in the middle class, and invest in infrastructure, and that is exactly what we are going to be doing.

The Environment

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is another week and another broken promise. In Paris, the Prime Minister promised he would give Canadians a climate change plan within 90 days. Last week in Vancouver, the 90 days were up. What happened? There is no plan, just a plan to have a plan. Surprise, surprise, he also threatened to hammer the provinces with a carbon tax grab.

As the Prime Minister wines and dines in Washington, as investors flee Canada, and as Canadians lose thousands of jobs, will he now admit that he is in way over his head?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, I think Canadians are incredibly proud of the work this government has done on climate change. If we look at the progress that has been accomplished in the last five months, we see we have a historic international deal in which Canada played a critical role, and we have an arrangement that has been agreed upon by all provinces and territories to develop a pan-Canadian framework. That is real progress. We are going to Washington this week to actually make further progress on a continental basis.

My goodness, relative to the last 10 years of inaction under the Conservatives, this is real change.

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, broken promises are not in Canada's best interests. Canadians are losing jobs, Liberal deficits are skyrocketing, balanced budgets are out the window, and now the Prime Minister has picked a fight with the provinces by threatening a harmful carbon tax. Contrary to what the Prime Minister and his parliamentary secretary just said, there is no deal, no climate change plan.

What happened to the new relationship with the provinces that was promised? Why have the Prime Minister's sunny ways turned into gloomy days for Canada?