Debates of May 30th, 2016

Finance — Main Estimates 2016-17

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, we had the opportunity to travel across Canada in pre-budget consultations. My parliamentary secretary went coast to coast, as did I, to listen to Canadians. We heard from Canadians in rural environments that one of the critical things they needed in order to be part of the modern economy, to provide opportunities so that their children do not necessarily need to go to big cities to get jobs was strong broadband; the opportunity to connect to the Internet in a way that could enable them to be part of the global community.

Therefore, we put in our budget $500 million over the next five years to enhance our broadband capacities across the country. We know that this will help people in rural communities to connect, whether with medical providers, business opportunities, or just generally allowing them to be part of the global community. This means that they have opportunities where they have grown up, to actually find a way to build a business, and to lead their lives in a way that is consistent with the way other Canadians lead their lives.

We believe this is a very important measure. It is part of our strategy to engage rural Canada while we also focus on how we can help in the urban centres.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Chair, I would like to seek unanimous consent to split my time with the member for Milton.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Does the hon. member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan have the unanimous consent of the committee to split his time?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

There is seven and a half minutes each, or approximately that. You can split the 15 minutes.

The hon. member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Chair, is it the view of the minister that child care is a form of infrastructure?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, I am pleased to say that providing services for child care, investing in facilities for child care, is most certainly part of infrastructure in our estimation.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Chair, is there anything that the government does that is not infrastructure?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, I am pleased to say that our tax cut for the middle class, reducing the taxes of nine million Canadians, is most certainly not infrastructure.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Chair, that is an absolutely ridiculous response and I would appreciate it if members did not cut into my time with applause.

Is there anything that the government does in terms of the services it provides that the minister does not define as infrastructure?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, yes.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Chair, I appreciate that substantive answer.

There are some other things I want to address. I have here Question No. 94, an Order Paper question that deals with the expenses associated with ministerial travel. The minister went to New York, brought three political staffers with him, and each of them charged about $4,000 for a round-trip flight to New York. There were two public servants on the same flight and each of them charged about $1,000 for a round-trip flight. I do not know how one gets a round-trip flight to New York for about $4,000.

I wonder if the minister can explain why it costs so much more to move political staffers than it does to move public servants.

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, like ministers of finance before me, I believe it is important that we travel not only across Canada to tell Canadians about our budget but abroad so that we can talk to people who might actually invest in our country, so that they can understand why we are doing things that are making a difference in this country.

Therefore, like previous ministers of finance, we have travelled abroad. We have brought the Canadian message. What I can say that is hugely positive is that unlike previous ministers of finance, we have been extremely positively received by the international community. It recognizes that what we are doing is making a real difference for growth in this country.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Chair, the record will show that the minister chose not to answer my question. I was hoping he would be as open about expenses as he is when he is talking about his personal life.

I want to ask the minister this. Does he believe that Canada should ever balance its budget?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, we have made a decision that our priority is to invest in growth in this country. We know that getting to balanced budgets over the long term can only be achieved if we are able to grow our economy to make a real difference for the future of Canada. That is, in fact, our priority. We are moving forward with those investments. We know it is the right thing for growth in our country.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Chair, could the minister answer at least one question tonight?

Does the minister believe that the Government of Canada should ever balance the budget at any point in the future, yes or no?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, I want to be clear. Our priority is to make investments in growth in this country. We know that after a decade of low growth, the right path is to make investments. It is a path that has been confirmed to us by outside intervenors, by economists outside of the country, economists inside of the country. We know it is the right path. We know it will make a difference for this generation and for generations to come.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Chair, I will give the minister one more chance. To be clear, I will repeat the question. I think it was very clear.

Does he believe that the Government of Canada should ever, at some point in the future, balance the budget, yes or no?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Again, Mr. Chair, I will say that our priority is investments. We intend on balancing the budget. That may take a while as we are going to make investments in order to make sure that we do what we promised Canadians we would do, and that is to focus on how we can grow the economy, how we can make their lives better both today and tomorrow, because we know that they are seeking a better situation for their children than they have today.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Chair, if the government intends to balance the budget at some point in the future, could the minister give us a ballpark of when he intends for that to happen?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, I am pleased to say that we presented to Canadians our budget 2016. In that budget, we told Canadians in an open and transparent way what we intend to do in order to manage the economy. We showed them that we are trying to improve their lives today and what we are going to do in order to improve their lives tomorrow by making investments in infrastructure and innovation that are going to put us in a better situation in the future.

We know that is the right thing to do and we are looking forward to implementing our plan on behalf of Canadians.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Chair, I think we will get through these seven minutes without hearing any answers, but I will continue in the hope we will get some.

The minister has claimed that Canada had low growth over the last 10 years. Could he name a G7 country that had higher growth than Canada over the last seven years?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Chair, I can name a country that had better growth in the previous 10 years before that last 10 years, and that is Canada. Canada in the years before the Conservatives came into power had better growth.

When the Conservatives came into power, growth was slower. We are trying to deal with that. We are trying to actually make investments so we can improve the growth rate in the future. That is what we are doing for Canadians.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Chair, I think the record will again show that the minister chose not to answer the question.

I wonder, though, if he wants to refer to a previous time period. I will just ask him this. Is he aware of the 2008-09 global recession, yes or no? Does he think stimulative economic policy was appropriate during the global recession, yes or no?