Debates of May 5th, 2016

Canada Post

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, we promised to consult, reflect, and show that we understand that Canadians expect better service for less. That is exactly what we promised to do. We halted the installation of community mailboxes. We are working with Canadians and an independent panel, which will hold open consultations to ensure that Canada Post provides the best service to Canadians.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Actually, Mr. Speaker, when the Prime Minister was fishing for votes in our big cities, he solemnly promised to restore home mail delivery, no ifs, ands, or buts. Now he says that home mail delivery will not be restored.

I have an honest question for the Prime Minister. If the previous government had done that, if—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Geoff Regan]

Order, please. I want to hear the question. The hon. member for Outremont.

[Thomas Mulcair, NDP, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, to the Contrary to the Liberals, we're always honest.

I have an honest question for the Prime Minister. If the previous government had done that, what would he have said? Would he not have said that they were lying?

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Geoff Regan]

I would ask the member to be judicious with his language.

The right hon. Prime Minister.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians expect good-quality service from Canada Post. That is exactly what we are offering.

That is why we committed to stop the implementation of community mailboxes, and why we committed to working with Canadians to ensure that they get the service they need and they want at an affordable price. That is exactly why we are putting the time in that the previous government did not to talk with Canadians, to look at the changing world of delivery of mail and services, and to ensure that they get the right quality.

That is what we committed to throughout, regardless of the fabrications the member opposite might make about what I said or did not say.

[The Speaker, Geoff Regan]

I want to point out to the hon. member for Outremont that although I know we have debates and disagreements in this place, I do not think he would want to do this when someone else is speaking to suggest that he does not want to listen.

That is not the kind of respect that he wants to show, I know.

Finance

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, continuing on the theme of broken promises, it has been six months of disappointment from the Liberals, fiscally, as well.

Since they have come to office, they have broken three key election promises: number one, that the tax plan would be revenue-neutral; number two, that the deficits would be no more than $10 billion; and number three, they said that they were going to balance the budget by the end of the mandate.

After six disappointing months, can the Minister of Finance, despite the Prime Minister's gloating in the House today that “we keep our promises”, tell Canadians which one of these broken promises he is most proud of?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to speak for a moment on what the members on the other side of the House might be doing right now.

They want to balance the budget on the backs of Canadians. What exactly would that mean? That would mean that right now we would be making cuts to services, cuts to Canadian families that would make their lives more difficult.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Geoff Regan]

Let us have a little order. We all want to hear the member speak. We all want to hear everybody speak when they have their turn. Otherwise, we could have a very short question period.

The hon. Minister of Finance.

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Toronto Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, balancing the budget on the backs of Canadians means cuts to Canadian families, hurting Canadian families today. It means not investing in the future and getting to a lower growth rate.

Canadians were hopeful and optimistic. They made the choice to invest in Canadian families today with the Canada child benefit, and they made the choice to invest in Canadians tomorrow through investments. The future of Canada is going to be brighter because of the very hopeful optimistic choice they made.

[Lisa Raitt, Conservative, Milton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are actually concerned by the attitude that the Minister of Finance has been demonstrating in the last number of days.

This week alone, he is denying a surplus that he inherited from us. He is also mocking us openly, saying that we are stuck in this whole balanced budget thing. Then he introduced a bill that actually repeals legislation which would make balanced budgets a law.

The minister said earlier this week that his kids and his grandchildren will be better off, but what part of sticking our kids and our grandchildren with debt and deficit is actually going to allow them to be better off?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I like to remember the most important promise that we made to Canadians. We are going to achieve a better future for Canadians.

What we are doing with the measures in our budget is that we are going to achieve a better future. We put, in our budget, measures that will lead to 0.5% faster growth this year; 1% faster growth next year. The parliamentary budget office and the Bank of Canada have confirmed that our measures will in fact grow the economy. That is what we are trying to achieve. That is the legacy for our kids and for our grandkids.

Small Business

[Alice Wong, Conservative, Richmond Centre, BC]

Mr. Speaker, for two days, the parliamentary secretary has accused small business owners of being tax cheats.

She is not alone. The Prime Minister has said small businesses are just a way to avoid taxes. Just today, a Liberal member said in the House that the small business tax rate does not matter.

When will the Liberals reverse their broken promise and bring the tax rate to 9%?

[Gudie Hutchings, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business and Tourism]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for the question because we know that there is a loophole that allows some to use the tax rate to get out of paying the personal income taxes the rest of us pay all year. But we do understand small business and I understand small business and we know they need a robust economy and they need strong consumers.

With our middle-class income tax cuts, the child benefits, the investments in infrastructure, in broadband, in incubators and accelerators, in tourism marketing, the list goes on, absolutely all of it helps small and medium-sized businesses.

Infrastructure

[Dianne Lynn Watts, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives renewed the PPP Canada funding by providing $1.25 billion over five years as part of the new building Canada plan. Infrastructure projects worth over $100 million were required to go through a P3 screen to maximize the value of taxpayer dollars. But late last year, the Minister of Infrastructure announced that this screening requirement would be removed. Why are the Liberals getting rid of all the taxpayer safeguards?

[Amarjeet Sohi, Liberal, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities]

Mr. Speaker, the reason we have removed the P3 condition is to allow the local economy and local governments to make their own decisions on how they procure infrastructure. Furthermore, it also allows them to tap into federal resources at a larger amount, at 50% of the project costs. Under the previous government, they only qualified for 25% of the funding because of that particular condition. Our plan will deliver more for all Canadian communities.

[Dianne Lynn Watts, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

Mr. Speaker, first the Liberals removed the requirement for the P3 screen, then they transferred responsibility from the Minister of Finance to the Minister of Infrastructure, and now they introduced Bill C-15, which gives the infrastructure minister the power to sell off shares and assets of PPP Canada.

Something here does not add up. Are the Liberals intending to shut down PPP Canada and sell off its assets in order to pay for their out of control spending?

[Amarjeet Sohi, Liberal, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities]

Mr. Speaker, P3s are a valuable tool that we respect, but we also respect the ability of the local governments to make their own decisions. We trust them to make their own decisions, unlike the previous government which imposed certain procurement processes on municipalities. We heard from municipalities. We heard from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. We heard from big city mayors and they all support our decision to remove the P3 condition so that they are allowed to make their own decisions.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we often hear the minister say that municipalities should be free to make their own decisions. In Quebec, they have to go through the Government of Quebec. At present, there has been no reply. Not one project has started. There will be no work done this summer.

I completely agree with my colleague: P3s are another example of the government's inability to take action that will create jobs.

Do the Liberals want to sell the assets of PPP Canada to pay for their out-of-control spending? Yes or no?

[Amarjeet Sohi, Liberal, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities]

Mr. Speaker, let me share some information with the House. Despite allocating almost $2 billion for Quebec in 2014, the previous government delivered zero dollars.

We are committed to delivering that money to Quebec along with new money under public transit, under green infrastructure, and social infrastructure. We are here to support communities. We are here to support—

[The Speaker, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Berthier—Maskinongé.