House of Commons Hansard #131 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was community.
Rona Ambrose Conservative Sturgeon River—Parkland, AB
Mr. Speaker, what the middle class is worried about is being consistently overtaxed by the Prime Minister's spending. We now have a situation where young people looking to their future, people turning 18 today, will see higher taxes until they are 56 years old.
Why would the Prime Minister continue down this path of massive deficits and massive debt, and burden the next generation?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
We made a commitment, Mr. Speaker, to invest in young people, to invest in our future. That is why historic investments in infrastructure, whether it be public transit, whether it be green infrastructure, whether it be social infrastructure like housing and child care, these are things that are going to make our country better and stronger and create more opportunities for young people in the future.
To add to the list of things that we are doing to help young people, the transforming, the strengthening of the Canada pension plan is going to leave young people better off down the line so they have money to retire, something the members opposite have always been against.
Denis Lebel Conservative Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
Mr. Speaker, we know that this reckless spending will not stop. When we oppose a budget, it is because we are looking at the big picture. The government is forcing deficits on future generations. It talked about a $10 billion deficit during the campaign, but it will be higher. We heard him answer in English, but we are going to ask him the question in French. It will be interesting.
We believe that, to cover these costs, the government will bring in a new tax on health and dental benefits. He just said something in English, but I would like to hear it again in French.
Will there be a new tax on health and dental benefits?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, as all members of the House know very well, we made a commitment to support the middle class and those working hard to join it. We have lowered taxes on the middle class and raised them on the wealthiest 1%. It was never our intention to raise taxes, as the member opposite suggested.
Denis Lebel Conservative Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
Mr. Speaker, more topics have been discussed and there has been more heated debate with the provinces in the one year that this government has been in office than there were in 10 years under the previous government.
Today, ministers from Quebec are asking the government to get its ducks in a row and start doing its job on the softwood lumber issue.
Will the government be able to work with the provinces as promised? More importantly, will it be able to sign a softwood lumber deal for our 300,000 forestry workers?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, since taking office, we, on this side of the House, have met with the provincial governments on numerous occasions to talk about many different issues. We strengthened the Canada pension plan and we created a pan-Canadian framework on climate change. We signed landmark agreements with the provinces and we are working closely with them on the softwood lumber issue in order to resolve this situation with the Americans.
Thomas Mulcair NDP Outremont, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has abandoned his commitment. He has betrayed Canadians. A political party promises something in order to get elected and to appear progressive, but then, once elected, it shamelessly breaks that promise.
I would call that a massive political deception. What does the Prime Minister call it?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, over the past year, we consulted with hundreds of thousands of Canadians to hear their views on transforming our electoral system.
It is very clear. As people in this House know, I have long preferred a preferential ballot. The members opposite wanted a proportional representation. The official opposition wanted a referendum. There is no consensus.
There is no clear path forward. It would be irresponsible for us to do something that harms Canada's stability when, in fact, what we need is to move forward on growth for the middle class and support.
Thomas Mulcair NDP Outremont, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister obviously never read the report. The MyDemocracy.ca charade did not even ask Canadians if they wanted to change the voting system. However, do members know that at almost every single one of the Prime Minister's town halls, someone asked him about democratic reform?
As the Prime Minister now fabricates evidence to claim Canadians did not want what he got elected on, what expression from Canadians would have been sufficient to get the Prime Minister to respect his own promise?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, it is very clear. There is no consensus among Canadians on how, or even whether, to reform our electoral system, and to change the mode of the election system.
That is why we are going to focus on strengthening our resistance and resilience to cyber-attacks from foreign intervenors, why we are going to be continuing to repeal the unfair provisions in the so-called fair elections act, and why we are moving forward with greater transparency and accountability on the strong rules we already have on federal fundraising.
We are moving forward in a way that will focus on the things that matter to Canadians. That is what Canadians elected us to do.
Thomas Mulcair NDP Outremont, QC
Cyber-attacks? What about attacks on truth, Mr. Speaker?
The Prime Minister is always bemoaning the fact that cynicism is the biggest problem in politics today. Promising democratic reform to get elected and then breaking that promise once in office is crass cynicism.
Is he not ashamed of himself?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, Canadians know very well that I have been wanting to reform our electoral system for a long time. The reality is that there is no consensus and no clear path forward. It would be irresponsible to hold a referendum without a clear question.
The reality is that we are going to improve our democratic system in a number of different ways, but it will not be by changing the voting system. I am not going to do something that is wrong for Canadians just to tick off a box on an electoral platform.
Thomas Mulcair NDP Outremont, QC
Mr. Speaker, when 90% of people are in favour of a more proportional system, I think we can begin to call that a consensus.
The Prime Minister made this promise hundreds of times during the election. He wrote it in his party's platform. He put it in his very first throne speech. The government promised it 1,813 times since it got elected. That is the real number.
How can Canadians trust anything the Prime Minister has to say after he has so blatantly and intentionally betrayed his own word?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
To the contrary, Mr. Speaker. We spent a year listening to Canadians, talking with them, hearing from a broad range of youth, seeing the firmly-held views that a number of people feel on that, and understanding that there is no clear path forward. There is no consensus. A referendum would be a bad idea. Moving forward on a divisive policy would be a bad idea.
The fact of the matter is that I am not going to do something that is wrong for Canadians just to tick off a box on an electoral platform. That is not the kind of prime minister I will be.
Candice Bergen Conservative Portage—Lisgar, MB
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister was clearly not prepared for the new U.S. administration, nor was he prepared for how new policies in the United States would affect our economy.
Now that our largest trading partner is committed to lower taxes and fewer regulations, the Liberal government needs to show Canadians that it is able to adapt to the new U.S. reality.
When will the Liberals acknowledge that their tax and spend policy is making Canada sorely uncompetitive, and putting Canadian jobs at huge risk of heading to the United States?
Bill Morneau LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, we came into office with a plan to focus on growing the economy for middle-class Canadians, for people who are feeling truly anxious about the prospects for themselves and their children.
We have moved forward on that plan by reducing taxes, and by making investments in the long-term future of our country.
We are going to maintain our plan to grow our economy. We are going to continue to engage with our partners in the United States to make sure that we have a strong and effective relationship with the Americans as we move forward on executing our plan for Canada.
Candice Bergen Conservative Portage—Lisgar, MB
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals seem to have their collective heads in the sand. In order for Canada to remain competitive with the United States, we need lower taxes across the board, and a regulatory process aligned with our neighbours. By refusing to deal with this new reality, and instead adding more taxes to families and businesses, the Liberals are costing Canadian jobs.
Can the Minister of Finance tell us if there is any element of his fiscal policy that he is willing to change in order to respond to the new reality in the U.S. policy?
Bill Morneau LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, we want to be clear. We know that engaging with our neighbours to the south is critically important for our economy. We will do that while protecting the interests of Canadians.
We will focus on how we can grow our own economy, so that Canadians can have good jobs. We will focus on making sure that middle-class Canadians have tax rates that are lower than they were during the term of the previous government, so that they can have enough money to pay for the needs of their children.
We are focused on an economy that will be strong for Canada, and will deal with global situations as they arise.
Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
Mr. Speaker, on December 5, I rose for the first time in the House to ask the Liberal government to not move forward with the Liberal tax on health and dental benefits. It took about a dozen questions, which he never answered, for him to finally see the light.
Other problems remain. When we left office, we left the house in order and a surplus of about $2.9 billion, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, who we should respect. However, if nothing changes, the Minister of Finance is talking about balancing the budget in 2055.
What is the government's serious plan to avoid this disaster?
Bill Morneau LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, the facts are very important.
After 10 years, we started out with a very low growth rate. We started out with more debt because of the previous government. That is the truth.
We are now making investments in our future in order to improve our economic growth. We have cut taxes for the middle class. That is our program for improving our situation and the future of our country.
Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
Mr. Speaker, the truth is that we left the house in order with a $2.9-billion surplus. The truth is that the current government did away with quite a few tax credits that helped families directly, such as the tax credits for sports, the arts, textbooks, and post-secondary education.
With the new budget just weeks away, can the Minister of Finance tell us whether he is done with taking tax credits away from Canadian families?
Bill Morneau LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, once again, facts really matter. The situation is clear.
We introduced the Canada child benefit to make sure that 9 out of 10 Canadian families with children have more money in their pockets, an average of $2,300 after taxes. That is the truth. A family with less money or a single woman with a child who earns $30,000 per year will get, on average, $6,400 more. Canadian families really are better off with our government.
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON
Mr. Speaker, last month, a disabled grandmother told the Prime Minister, as she broke into tears, that she did not know how she was going to continue to pay her hydro bill, which was over $1,000 a month. A new carbon tax now will make it more expensive for her to heat her home.
Yesterday, the Minister of Finance confirmed that he did not know what the middle class was. His budget says that the median income, though, is $50,000 a year in Canada. The Liberal Party promised it would not raise taxes on the middle class or those working to join it.
Can the Liberals confirm today that no one earning less than $50,000 a year will be asked to pay the Liberal carbon tax?
Bill Morneau LiberalMinister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, we are pleased to talk about the situation of middle-class Canadians and those families who are struggling to get into the middle class because we know that we have helped them in many ways since we have come into office by lowering their taxes: an individual, out of those nine million, has saved $330 on average; a family has saved $540 on average.
More importantly, we have helped them in other ways. We have helped students, as the Prime Minister mentioned, to have a better situation. When they have debt, students can wait until they have $25,000 to pay it off. We have helped seniors by increasing the guaranteed income supplement.
We know Canadians are better off today than they—
