Debates of April 14th, 2016

Oral Questions

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I too would like to see the minister's agenda. In the spirit of equity, I will show him mine if he will show me his.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Some phrases really do not help the Speaker.

We will now have the Thursday question by the hon. member for Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston.

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON]

Mr. Speaker, everybody is waiting with bated breath for the Thursday question, but before we turn to that, I wonder if I could seek unanimous consent of the House to table the January “Fiscal Monitor” which shows that the current government received a $4.1 billion surplus for—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Does the hon. member have the unanimous consent of the House?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

No.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Let us go on now to the Thursday question. The hon. member for Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston.

Business of the House

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the government House leader could provide us with information about the agenda for the remainder of this week and for next week.

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I have good news. I have no documents to table, and thus there is no need to worry.

This afternoon will conclude the fourth and final day of the budget debate.

Tomorrow we will commence second reading of Bill C-10, the Air Canada legislation, and continue that debate on Monday.

Next week, we will have opposition days on Tuesday and Thursday. On Wednesday, we will begin debate on Bill C-14 on medical assistance in dying, introduced this morning by my colleague, the Minister of Justice.

Mr. Speaker, after discussions with all parties I think you will find unanimous consent for the following motion:

That, pursuant to Section 20 of the Freezing Assets of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development be designated for the statutory review of the Freezing Assets of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act and the Special Economic Measures Act.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Does the hon. minister have the unanimous consent of the House to move the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

(Motion agreed to)

The House resumed consideration of the motion that this House approve in general the budgetary policy of the government.

Financial Statement of Minister of Finance

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Lethbridge has three minutes remaining in her speech.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, with regard to the partnership between post-secondary and industry, and co-operative placement initiatives, I will reserve judgment until the details are further released. I support the intent of this project, because greater links between employers and post-secondary institutions are certainly needed. This would ensure that students receive the training and the skills that businesses are looking for in order to fill their current job openings. This would continue the trend of the Canada jobs grant and expand this approach to students.

However, we need to acknowledge that this budget would significantly roll back previous tax benefits to students with regard to the measures the Liberals have taken. The ending of the education and textbook tax credit would have a significant impact on young Canadians, especially as they transition to full-time employment. The education tax credit was the greatest benefit to students as they started their career in the workforce, as it significantly reduced their income taxes, typically to zero, for the first few years after graduation. Eliminating this tax credit would mean that youth would have less money in their pockets when they were entering the workforce and struggling to establish themselves.

Most alarmingly, the current government would saddle the next generation with a ginormous debt load. While this generation would dine, the next generation would be stuck with the bill. Using big government to achieve economic growth simply does not work. History has shown this over and over again, without exception.

The facts of life are simple, and in fact, they happen to be conservative. We all have basic needs: food, shelter, clothing. To purchase these things, we need an income. To have an income, we need jobs. The best way to create jobs is by cultivating an environment where small businesses will thrive, an environment where entrepreneurs are encouraged to take calculated risks to pursue innovative ideas, thus creating jobs for everyone. Unfortunately, this budget is out of step with the needs of Canadians. Interestingly, in the budget itself on page 19 the party opposite acknowledges “...that Canada is starting from a relatively strong fiscal position”. For that, those of us on this side of the House would say the government is welcome.

Canadians deserve better stewardship of this gift. Unfortunately, however, the only real changes we see in the budget before us today are poor fiscal management and obvious disregard for today's hard-working taxpayers and the generations that are to come after us.

[Matt DeCourcey, Liberal, Fredericton, NB]

Mr. Speaker, I really enjoyed the speech given by my colleague opposite.

I recall being here, working on Parliament Hill in 2005-2006, when we left the former government with a huge surplus that it ran right through quickly. I was also here at the time when the Kelowna accord was struck, and I am so proud to see the reinvestment in indigenous communities right across the country, something that our former friend and colleague Andy Scott would be very proud of today.

I am also proud of our investment in innovation and the plan we will draw up for supporting universities and university graduates.

In my riding, the University of New Brunswick, Canada's most entrepreneurial university, and St. Thomas University will be able to take tremendous advantage of this. Also, the commitments that we have started to roll out for veterans are something else that is important in the community of Fredericton and Oromocto where CFB Gagetown is located.

I wonder if the member can speak about how those investments would really strengthen our country from coast to coast. Does she understand the impact that those sorts of investments have on ordinary persons right across the country?

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, when I look at this budget, I see a whole lot of money being spent. There is absolutely no doubt about that. Unfortunately, however, it is $30 billion, which is $20 billion more than what the current government said it would spend. That is breaking a promise. That is a significant deal.

With regard to that, in the midst of all of this spending, at the end of the day someone has to pay all of that back. It will not be this present generation; it will be the next generation. This budget would not in fact be an investment in the rising generation, in the youth of our nation. This is a budget that would actually saddle them with ginormous debt and therefore actually would have a detrimental impact on their future.

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, before question period, the member for Lethbridge made a derogatory comment when she called the Prime Minister a liar.

It is a function of this House that we disagree, but I would suggest that this is unacceptable and I would request, respectfully, an apology.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I thank the hon. colleague for raising this point of order. I was not in the House at the time and did not hear such a phrase. I do not see the member standing to reply. I will review the blues and come back to the House.

Now we will go on to questions and comments.

[Ron Liepert, Conservative, Calgary Signal Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is important, as part of this budget debate, to ensure that we do remind our friends across the way of the very generous surplus that we left the Liberal government after November 1.

I wonder if the member could talk a little about the evidence that has been presented that would show that the Liberal government actually inherited a surplus and is now delivering a budget some three or four months later that has a $30 billion deficit.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it is true that the former government did leave this country with a $5 billion surplus, which is certainly remarkable and something that is noteworthy.

The way the former government did that was through prudent fiscal management and achieving a balanced budget, which then led to a surplus. Again, I would bring to the attention of members in the House that the government opposite acknowledged in its budget that it was left in a positive fiscal state.

Unfortunately, when it comes down to the “Fiscal Monitor” and accepting the report that this House would like to put on the table, the members opposite simply will not accept it. Nevertheless it does not change the fact that the former government left a $5 billion surplus.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I will be very clear, because the member wants to focus on the deficit, and provide assurances to Canadians that the reality is that there was a multi-billion dollar deficit left by the former government.

It said it was going to have a balanced budget; it did not happen. It is as simple as that. History cannot be changed by having a bunch of Conservative MPs standing up and proclaiming that there was a surplus when in fact the reality is that there was a debt.

Will the member not admit that there was actually a debt? If she does not want to do that, maybe instead of the Speaker having to review Hansard, she should just apologize for her earlier comments about the Prime Minister.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, where do I start?

The member does want assurances. At the end of the day, the assurances the member is looking for are found in a record that the member opposite and his party will not accept. Other than that, I have no further proof.

With regard to the comment, calling the Prime Minister a liar, when the Prime Minister made the promise to spend $10 billion, which has now turned into $30 billion, that was in fact untruthful. However, my comment was out of line in this House, and so I do extend an apology.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I thank the hon. member for Lethbridge very much for retracting the statement. That is very helpful to order in this place.

Resuming debate.