Debates of April 3rd, 2017

Financial Statement of Minister of Finance

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

Mr. Speaker, those were a lot of flowery words. There are a lot of flowery words in the budget as well. It is quite painful to actually go through it and think about the implications of the government's budgetary policy: more high deficits, no control on spending, no recognition of the reality that ultimately we have to pay for all the things the budget talks about.

I want to ask a specific question, because we heard a lot of generalities. One of the weirder things about this budget is that on page 64, it is getting tough on volunteers. It is trying to combat this scourge of people volunteering in the form of so-called unpaid internships. This budget talks about trying to eliminate unpaid internships unless they are part of a formal education program.

I want to ask the member if he has ever had unpaid volunteers in his office, and if he has, if he will repent right away.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, first let me address the member's comments with respect to the whole fiscal aspect of governance.

I like to believe that history, which is fairly factual, will demonstrate that the Liberal Party of Canada while in government has demonstrated more fiscal capabilities than have the Progressive Conservative Party and today's Conservative Party. That can be best illustrated by indicating that when former prime minister Harper actually became prime minister, he inherited a multi-billion dollar surplus. Even before the world recession kicked in, he turned that surplus into a deficit situation. He never returned Canada to a balanced budget, contrary to what many of the Conservatives would like to tell us.

With respect to internship programs, I think whenever and wherever we can look at having interns in a paid position, that is a positive thing, and I am sure the member would agree.

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, in July 2015, the Liberal Party was campaigning on balancing the budget. In September 2015, the leader of the Liberal Party then told Canadians that if elected, a Liberal government would run three modest $10-billion deficits and then balance the budget in year four. In 2016, the Liberals got into power and we see six straight deficits, starting with about $30 billion in the first year alone. Now the finance department is saying that at this rate, we may never balance the budget until 2050.

Canadians know that the Liberals promised that the 2015 election would be the last one under first past the post, and they have abandoned that position.

They also told Canadians that we needed to borrow money to build infrastructure. They got into office, and now they are telling Canadians we are going to have to sell public infrastructure, such as ports, airports, etc.

During the election campaign, they attacked the New Democrats' child care plan for being not ambitious enough. They got into power and now they are going to spend a fraction of what the New Democrats were proposing to spend.

When the hon. member says that the Liberals campaigned on real change, did he really mean that the Liberals were going to change all of their positions once they got into government, which is what they have done?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I am a bit surprised that the member would ask a question on anything related to the balancing of books given what the NDP's commitment to Canadians was. I am not too sure in terms of where the New Democrats stand today on the issue of balanced budgets, but what I do know is that Canadians understood that the government needed to be able to invest in the economy and needed to invest in Canadians. That is what the Prime Minister said and reflected during the last election campaign. We made a commitment to do just that, to invest in Canada.

The New Democrats on the other hand said something to the effect that no matter what the circumstances, they would balance the budget. Had they actually prevailed, heaven forbid, and formed government, what would they have cut? Where would the billions of dollars have been saved? Day after day, I hear New Democrats say to spend more and more. I never hear them say to cut from here or from there. They are inconsistent with what they said during the last election campaign when they pledged that they would have a balanced budget. That was highly irresponsible. I do not think there would be a credible economics professor in our land who would say that it was a responsible commitment that the New Democrats made.

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I think it was Andrew Coyne of the National Post who appropriately coined this budget as “bafflegab and buzzwords”. Ironically, he wrote that before he heard the hon. member speak today. I find it kind of humorous, as do the New Democrats, that the Liberals are actually questioning the need to balance budgets. I want to remind the member again that when the Liberal Party ran on balanced budgets, the Liberals said that they were going to run modest budget deficits, but they also said that the budget would be balanced by 2019. As it stands today, my 13-year-old will be 52 by the time the Liberals balance the budget. Hopefully, they will not be in power by that time.

I also want to remind the hon. member that his party is going to be incurring $1.5 trillion in additional debt. How can the Liberals justify that?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the cumulative debt that Stephen Harper put on Canadians was in excess of $150 billion, billion with a capital B. When Stephen Harper took office, as I indicated earlier, he inherited a Liberal surplus of billions of dollars. I find it very difficult to appreciate advice on balancing budgets coming from the Conservative Party given its track record on the issue. The only governments that have ever balanced a budget in the last 30 or 40 years have actually been Liberal governments, consecutively, and that is the truth. It is difficult to answer a question about the need to balance budgets when the Conservatives, in particular Stephen Harper, never really experienced a balanced budget.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the member mentioned the importance of parliamentarians speaking up for their constituents, and that it is not Ottawa speaking to constituents but constituents speaking to Ottawa. I would like to give a message to the hon. member from the residents of Foothills and many others in Alberta. To eliminate the Canadian exploration expense, the Liberals are basically destroying the energy sector in Alberta. In eliminating the tax deferral for grain farmers, they are destroying the agriculture industry in Alberta. On the carbon tax, the residents of my constituency of Foothills were very clear. Ninety-five per cent of those who responded to a householder that I put out did not support a Liberal carbon tax. I want this message to be very clear for the Liberal government.

The member also mentioned that the Liberal government is not going to be making a dime off of the carbon tax. I would like to say that the Liberal government is charging GST on the carbon tax, so it is making money off of it. Is that right?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I will reinforce what we have been able to accomplish. I pose the question to the members across the way. In terms of pipelines, which are so critically important to the Prairies, how many inches of pipeline did the Conservative Party produce that actually took it to tidewater? There was none, zero pipelines. Within 18 months, our government has been able to get some pipelines approved which are going to guarantee tens of thousands of jobs for the Prairies, and in fact, all of Canada. Many jobs will be created in the province of Ontario and other jurisdictions as a direct result of a government that was able to get the job done. The Conservatives were not able to get the job done.

The member made reference to the issue on wheat. Those members need to ask themselves what the wheat farmers had to say when the Conservative Party decided to attack the Canadian Wheat Board. I know what the prairie residents were saying, but I am not too sure if the member across the way does.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member forSalaberry—Suroît.

Fundamentally, budgets are about priorities and what our priorities are speak a lot about who we are, what we stand for, and what we value. The Liberal government was elected on an ambitious platform that promised “real change”. It has been almost a year and a half, and what have we seen? It is post-election and the rhetoric is still in full flight.

However, when it comes to matching the action to the rhetoric, unfortunately, for many hard-working Canadians, especially those struggling to make ends meet, budget 2017 falls short, way short.

After studying the budget documents, I will venture to say that what budget 2017 really offers to Canadians is a healthy dose of cynicism. Why? While the government is making grand statements about promising X millions for the next five years for this and Y million for the next 10 years for that, when we look at the details of the budget, we often will see these announcements have no funding attached to them in this fiscal year 2017-18.

In many instances, the money does not even flow until the pre-election period for 2019. Most glaringly, budget 2017 offers many zeroes for this budget's fiscal year under program spending that would help low-income and middle-class Canadians, while leaving expensive and regressive tax breaks for wealthy CEOs and giveaways to large corporations untouched.

Here is a short list of zeroes in budget 2017 for this fiscal year: working together to tackle homelessness, zero; improving air quality for Canadians, zero; targeting housing support for indigenous peoples not living on reserve, zero; supporting families through early learning and child care, zero; improving indigenous communities, zero; accelerating the replacement of coal generated electricity, zero; veterans emergency funds, zero; veterans and family well-being fund, zero. Instead of going after tax loopholes taking advantage of only by the few wealthiest Canadians, the government chose to eliminate the public transit tax credit.

One of my constituents, Kalev, wrote to me saying:

I am a constituent in your riding, renting a house with my partner...and three friends, all of whom work and/or go to school full time. I also work full time as a lawyer.

We gave birth to our son in late September, and it has been a wonderful, if challenging, experience. We have been fortunate to have the support of my [partner's] mother, who is able to assist two days a week, to give [my partner] a break and a chance to catch up on the precious little sleep available to new parents.

However, come summer, [my partner's] mother will be leaving the country to spend time with her own ailing father and [my partner] will need to get back to her graduate studies. To do this, we anticipate needing at least part time child care assistance, and let me tell you, the availability of these services is scant to non-existent.

Further to the lack of availability, the cost of even part time care...is likely to reach $1000 a month...I am astounded, given that most of our lawmakers are parents themselves, that such a thin and inefficient system is in place to provide families with young children the support they need to get back to work, contributing to the tax-base and to their own well-being.

The Prime Minister was out self-promoting what a great job he was doing in child care. Let us be clear. Even though the situation is urgent for families like Kalev, budget 2017 provides exactly zero dollars in new funding for child care spaces. What is more, future funding for child care over the next decade is nowhere near adequate to fill the need for child care spaces, never mind that child care costs have risen by more than 8% in the last two years and could reach as high as $1,600 a month per child in some cities. Real change he says? Not.

Let us turn to another area.

Canada is one of the only developed nations with a universal health care system that has no pharmacare plan. Despite promises of real change, the Liberal government has stuck to Harper's health budget plans and the meagre investment of over five years to lower drug costs is completely inadequate. Recent studies have shown that over 8% of Canadian seniors are not filling prescriptions because of the cost. It is important to know that this is not a phenomenon only experienced by older Canadians. I have met some of those individuals. Some are cutting their pills in half so they can “stretch” their medication. Others are taking their pills on alternate days.

I have met people with diabetes who are not using the strips to regularly check their blood sugar. Why? Because the strips are not covered by pharmacare and they cannot afford to buy them.

The lack of universal drug coverage puts the costs of many prescription drugs out of reach for too many Canadians.

Marianne wrote to me about someone with Parkinson's disease who is spending $6,000 a year on drugs. Marianne tells me, “He's now 70 years old, and still working full time because he feels the cost of the drugs prevents him from being able to retire. At the same time, the stress from work is contributing to the progress of his disease. It is heartbreaking to watch this, and it's difficult to believe this is happening in Canada.”

This is the reality on the ground for people who cannot afford their medication, but it does not have to be this way. If we ended tax giveaways to the ultra-rich, we could invest in a national pharmacare program. A national pharmacare program is better for patients and it keeps people out of the emergency room and long-term care beds. By the way, the cost of one night in a hospital in B.C. is approximately $1,500. It is estimated that a national pharmacare program costs $6 billion annually. Can we afford it? We can. If we choose to reduce the corporate welfare to big corporations with the corporate income tax, we could more than pay for a national pharmacare program.

I will now turn to another key issue.

Despite grand pronouncements of a new nation-to-nation relationship, the Liberal government has utterly failed to deliver for Canada's indigenous peoples in budget 2017. Most pressing are the needs of indigenous youth. Despite the fact that the House unanimously voted for the NDP motion on child welfare that called for an immediate injection of $155 million to ensure the government complied with a ruling by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, just like the Harper administration the Liberal government continues to discriminate against indigenous children. Budget 2017 does not provide a dime to address this unacceptable injustice.

Dr. Cindy Blackstock made it very clear when she said:

There’s nothing new in the budget for First Nations children and their families, in child welfare, or their implementation of the Jordan’s Principle...even though they’ve been found out of compliance with legal orders to stop that inequality.

It’s a moral issue: is Canada so broke that the finance minister and the Prime Minister have made a deliberate choice to discriminate against little kids?

Vancouver East has the third largest urban aboriginal population in Canada, and we care deeply about the plight of indigenous, Métis, and Inuit peoples on and off reserves.

This comment from Christine in my riding is not atypical:

My heart breaks when I think of Aboriginal people who are so desperate that they feel their only option is to end their own life - as a representative of East Van, I hope you will speak up and urge the government to send the assistance that is needed now, and continue the long-overdue work at stabilizing long-neglected Aboriginal communities.

On behalf of my constituents, I ask the Liberal government why big corporations are allowed to stash almost $40 billion in offshore tax havens so they do not have to pay their fair share of taxes, which results in a loss of $7 billion in taxes each year and we cannot find $155 million so indigenous children have the same access to education as non-indigenous children? What kind of people are we and what kind of world do we live in?

I would be remiss if I, as the representative of Vancouver East, did not touch on the missed opportunity to start a national housing strategy.

While the parliamentary secretary for housing promised $20 billion for housing over 10 years during the election campaign, let me point out that the government actually only plans to spend $8.3 billion over that same period, less than half of what it promised. To make matters worse, 90% of that funding will not actually be spent until after the next election.

Thousands of Canadians across the country are struggling to find affordable housing, and this is a real problem in my riding, yet the Liberal government continues to kick the can down the road, making grand promises that are actually contingent on it winning another election.

Casey from my riding wrote, “If you don't want to build enough good, safe, community oriented, integrated subsidized housing, then why do you keep the CPP and welfare rates so low that we can't afford to live?” That is a good question.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Mr. Speaker, I listened to the member's remarks. Having listened to some of the debate today, it is interesting to note that earlier a member of the NDP talked about the deficits the Liberals were running. The Conservatives have talked about the deficits. We do not want to run a deficit forever.

However, when that member got up, all she talked about was spending. We have to recognize in the House that not everything is done in the budget. To the point the member made on health care, we are in fact making progress on the health care issue in terms of the discussions and agreements we have developed with the provinces.

On seniors' housing, that is part of the agreement where the federal government has targeted money for the housing sector. Also rather than giving the money to the provinces for them to spend, the federal government has actually targeted that spending to go to mental health.

The last point I would make is on the national housing strategy. As the chair of the finance committee, and I agree with the member, there is a huge concern there. We do need a national housing strategy.

However, the budget goes some distance. It is not going to get there in a day, but we have laid out a long-term plan in the budget to reaching a national housing strategy. Would the member not agree that progress has been made in the budget for Canadians?

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the member misses the point entirely.

My colleague, the member for Vancouver Kingsway, raised the issue of the broken promises, and that is the point. The government continually breaks promises.

It made these grand promises during the election, saying that it was for real change. Then after the election, it was like it was all forgotten. The Liberals break election promise after election promise. That is the reality. Electoral reform comes to mind. Even on the issue around spending and the deficit, the Liberals promised during the election that they would balance the budget in the third year after the election. Of course we now know that is not the case. That is the point.

In my speech I raised the issue of spending. Urgent spending is needed now by Canadians, by people who are homeless. If we look at the budget document, on page 151, it lists all the many zeroes, some of which I cited. Why do I say we need to spend now? Because people are desperate. That is the reality.

I did not just talk about spending. I talked about where we could find the money to fund these programs, which the Liberal government refuses to acknowledge, and that is to take the money from the ultra-rich, from the tax breaks and tax havens, from the big corporations that are reaping and getting corporate breaks from this government and the previous government. That is how we can fund these programs.

[Anne Minh-Thu Quach, NDP, Salaberry—Suroît, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her very clear and impassioned speech on areas where investments need to be made. I wonder if she could talk about what is missing from the budget for young people, who are the future of our nation, and why we should invest in them.

The government has also not made any investments in drug prevention programs, mental health care, or prevention of sexual violence against women and girls and other sexual abuse. How can the government abandon those young people?

The government is also abandoning first nations youth, as my colleague mentioned. They are suffering. We should be giving those young people the best possible chance to thrive and get involved in their communities as engaged citizens.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is rather shocking, looking at budget 2017-18, that with the opioid crisis going on in our communities, the government is refusing to acknowledge it and declare a national health emergency. People in my riding are dying.

The Prime Minister came to Vancouver East, did a photo op, and then he left. Where is the emergency funding for this in budget 2017? There is zero, no money attached to it.

I find it absolutely shocking. Why are we not calling shame on the government? I ask the Liberals members this. When you have overdoses in your ridings, what do you do? Are you calling for your government to put the money where it is needed?

In addition to that, it is not only about the emergency programs that are needed, but the government is actually reducing funding for treatment. How is that possible? How is that real? How is that real change?

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Before we go to resuming debate, I bring to the attention of hon. members the long-held practice that we have in the chamber of trying to avoid the use of the words “you” or “yours”. Members should direct their comments and questions to the chair. That keeps the debate in the House less personal, and frankly directed in a way that supports good comportment across the House.

Resuming debate, the hon. member for Salaberry—Suroît.

[Anne Minh-Thu Quach, NDP, Salaberry—Suroît, QC]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I must say that I am very disappointed with budget 2017, which the Liberals recently tabled. It does absolutely nothing to reduce the inequality between the poorest and most disadvantaged members of our society and big business, banks, and multinationals, which continue to rake in bigger and bigger profits. We speak out against that here every day.

The government must choose to make investments in key sectors for many Canadians, particularly youth. For example, as we have been saying for years, the government needs to crack down on tax havens. Billions of dollars are being sent elsewhere and cannot be retrieved, when that money could be invested in various social programs, for example.

Today, I am going to focus on several major issues: youth, the environment, and investments in rural areas. The government loves to talk about youth. It pats itself on the back for how well it listens to and helps young people. Unfortunately, employment and job insecurity remain problematic for them. The government has once again proposed only a few half measures.

Let us look more closely at budget 2017. It indicates that there will be an increase in student grants. This will give more part-time students with families and adult learners who go back to school access to this program. It is a good initiative but it does not do much to help today's students and graduates, particularly with regard to their debt. Canadians have accumulated nearly $28 billion in debt. What is being done to reduce that?

I can already hear my Liberal colleagues giving us some line about how graduates will not have to pay back their debt until they are earning $25,000, but there is a slight problem. That does nothing to help them with their debt. On the contrary, it leads them deeper into debt because one downside of this measure is that interest continues to be charged after the initial six-month grace period. Their debt will therefore continue to grow because of that interest. It is time for the government to get its head out of the sand and stop making money at students' expense.

As far as post-secondary education for indigenous students is concerned, the government's key announcement was a $90-million increase in funding and some help for Indspire. Like the Canadian Federation of Students, we can applaud that increase, but there are two pieces of information missing. First, the federal government was already giving Indspire more than $5 million in 2016. This is not new spending. Second, the 2% increase ceiling for post-secondary education for indigenous students has not been breached. While first nations youth are the fastest growing population in Canada, it seems absurd to me that the government is still limiting their access to post-secondary education. It its totally unfair and immoral.

The government is taking one step forward and two steps back, and not just in education. Take for example investment in artificial intelligence and robotics, an area that offers significant opportunities for businesses and scientific progress. Why is the government not investing in studying the impact of robotics, considering that 40% of industrial jobs will disappear within 10 years?

What job prospects are there for young people of my generation and younger generations? What are the ethical and social repercussions of artificial intelligence? Do we need to change our laws accordingly? There is not a single word on this in the budget.

The government needs to put effective measures and rules in place to address the scourge of job insecurity. Budget 2017 reinforces job insecurity and denies government assistance to those who need it the most.

Also on the subject of youth, I want to talk about youth organizations. The government is again promising a youth service initiative. This time, it has given us a date, the fall of 2017, but no budget. Last year, there was no date, but there was a budget. What does this mean? What is the plan? What will this youth service initiative entail? No details have been provided. Maybe we will get both pieces of the puzzle in 2018.

Lastly, while there is more money for the youth employment strategy, youth organizations are still having a very hard time securing federal funding. Katimavik is a perfect example. Although there is no short-term help in the federal budget for youth organizations, Katimavik was saved at the eleventh hour two days after the budget was tabled, but it is safe only for this year because we do not know anything about the long-term budget.

Katimavik got a lot of media attention, but how many other youth organizations have had to close their doors for lack of federal support? Budget 2017 once again does nothing for society's most vulnerable, for on-the-ground organizations such as youth centres and shelters. There is nothing for young people trying to escape difficult situations at home. There is no extra money in this budget for front-line mental health organizations working to prevent drug addiction and crime. The Conservative government cut that off long ago, and there is nothing for that kind of work in this budget. These organizations are running on empty.

Even so, the federal government decided to give even more money to businesses through measures like investment in infrastructure privatization. The same thing happened with the environment. In early March, the Senate released a report stating that there is no way Canada can comply with the Paris agreement without a massive shift in energy production and consumption.

What is more, last week Environment Canada confirmed that Canada will not meet the minimum target set by the Harper government, which was a 30% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Even worse, emissions are going to increase. The report also indicates that the fossil fuel sector's greenhouse gas emissions are too great to be offset by a simple increase in the production of clean energy.

What did the Liberal government do? It approved three new pipelines and has not yet announced the reform of the National Energy Board or environmental assessments. Even worse, Canada continues to provide more than $4 billion in subsidies to oil and gas companies. The United Kingdom, however, has decreased its emissions dramatically primarily by intervening in its most polluting sector, coal-fired power. Canada still prefers to continue to ignore the sector that is its largest polluter.

I also share the concerns expressed by Équiterre, which questioned the lack of details on and criteria for green investment in budget 2017. Criteria that are too vague will diminish the real capacity to reduce polluting emissions.

Sidney Ribaux, executive director of Équiterre, summed up the need to invest in a real change in lifestyle. He said, “...we must fund mobility solutions that maximize GHG emissions reduction such as preferring electric transportation instead of petroleum based ones.”

I would like to thank my colleague from Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, who is working toward that goal.

Once again, the government had very little to say about agriculture in budget 2017 even though the agri-food business is vital and accounts for one in eight Canadian jobs. Farmers want to find better ways to farm that are environmentally sound, so I am pleased to see some investment in agricultural science and innovation.

Mathieu Rouleau is a young constituent of mine and an agriculture advocate who pointed out that details about the $70-million investment are scarce. Who will get the money? How will it be allocated? How is the government investing in the next generation of farmers? I am waiting for more information about this investment.

Farmers in my region, Salaberry—Suroît, are also concerned about international agreements that could cut into their revenue. The government promised dairy producers a tenth of the compensation the Conservatives were offering, and yet, the budget is silent on the subject of compensation.

Has the government forgotten the promises it made to our farmers? The government needs to confirm their compensation packages, fix the diafiltered milk problem, and confirm that it will maintain supply management. Agriculture is an important sector of the economy, in my riding and across Canada.

Let us talk about high-speed Internet in rural areas. I welcome the federal government's commitment to develop Internet access for Canada's remote and rural areas. The Internet has become essential. It allows us to work, socialize, and access crucial information. Unfortunately, the connecting Canadians program has more to do with developing major networks like Bell, Videotron, and Rogers.

What is the government doing to help Haut-Saint-Laurent, the Soulanges area, or the far north? Those communities cannot benefit from the connecting Canadians program if they are not covered by one of the major networks. Huntingdon is less than two hours from Montreal, and yet it does not have high-speed Internet. I cannot imagine how bad it is in the far north.

I also want to talk about food banks, which is an issue in the regions. Last December, use of food banks in my region increased by 300%. We have asked how the government is supporting food assistance programs. There is nothing in the budget for that, and when we asked about it in question period, we got no response. The community food bank in my region is on the verge of shutting down.

Where are all those families supposed to go for food? Could the government show some compassion and invest where it is needed most? Could it stop lining the pockets of those who are already very wealthy and are not in need of government assistance?

[Adam Vaughan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, I listened to the presentation by my colleague opposite and heard there were concerns that this budget does nothing for young people who are in the vulnerable situation of having left home, having no supports, and find themselves, if not in emergency shelters, in a very precarious situation with respect to housing. The member opposite seemed to suggest that this budget does nothing specifically to address that.

While I agree that there is no specific allotment or carve-out for youth shelters or youth housing, would the member opposite not agree that the $11.2 billion, on top of a base of $14.8 billion, which constitutes close to $16 billion over the next 10 years for housing, constitutes a significant investment in housing? A substantial portion of that, a doubling of it in the last year alone, is dedicated strictly to shelter services to provide emergency shelter. That is combined with a health accord that also has dollars for shelter use, and for vulnerable youth in particular who are facing addictions or mental health issues, as well as mental health services that will be provided to all youth under the age of 25 in this country to eliminate wait times. All of these measures are directly aimed at that particular group of vulnerable youth. Would she not say that those are measures that address the concerns she has raised?

[Anne Minh-Thu Quach, NDP, Salaberry—Suroît, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we did indeed notice that there is investment in affordable housing. However, 90% of that investment in affordable housing will be made after the 2019 election, and 50% after 2024. That makes no sense.

In reference to investments in health services for young indigenous peoples, Cindy Blackstock said:

There is nothing new in the budget for first nations children and their families, in child welfare, or their implementation of the Jordan’s Principle, even though they have been found out of compliance with legal orders to stop that inequality. It is a moral issue: is Canada so broke that the finance minister and the Prime Minister have made a deliberate choice to discriminate against little kids?

Those are not my words.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to commend my colleague the hon. member for Salaberry—Suroît on her speech. We get the sense of her sincere commitment to her constituents, both young and old, who by all accounts are dealing with all sorts of challenges. Hers is a regional riding, but it is not very remote. It is near Montreal, but it does not have high-speed Internet service.

I would like to ask the hon. member whether, as the critic for youth, she finds it especially dangerous to see that the government said any old thing during the election campaign, has broken its promises, and then made cuts in the budget. Does this not fuel the cynicism of the people she encounters every day at work?

[Anne Minh-Thu Quach, NDP, Salaberry—Suroît, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Longueuil—Saint-Hubert for his question.

People are becoming increasingly disillusioned. Every time a promise is broken, fewer people want to get involved in politics. It is very difficult to engage youth and to have them take an interest in politics because they are promised things that do not materialize.

We spoke about food aid. We noted that young people these days really care about the environment. However, investments in fighting climate change will be cut by $1.2 million in the next two years. My colleague is working on the electrification of transportation, but the public transit tax credit has been withdrawn.

Why would the government do that if climate change is one of its priorities? I certainly did not make it a budget priority. There is nothing. What is the plan for the energy transition? Where will the Liberals actually invest? What kind of renewable energy are the Liberals going to invest in? There is nothing about that in the budget. Did they cut the fossil fuel subsidies? No. They reinvested in three pipelines. What is going on?

The National Energy Board is very important. The people of Soulanges have a lot of questions. The Vaudreuil-Soulanges RCM submitted a brief yesterday in an attempt to find out what Energy East intends to do. The budget does not answer these questions. That is very worrisome and only fuels people's cynicism.

[Mike Bossio, Liberal, Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Brossard—Saint-Lambert.

Our government believes in helping those who need it most. We believe that Canada is strong because of our differences, not in spite of them. We are proudly moving forward on a progressive platform, and we believe in laying the groundwork for sustained, inclusive economic growth. That includes rural Canada, which contains more than 4,500 rural communities, more than one-quarter of the country's population, and about 80% of Canada's territory.

Budget 2017 hits it out of the park for rural Canada. For starters, I know Canada can be an agricultural powerhouse. We have the fertile land, hard-working people, the know-how, and the world trusts the safety of our food.

A couple of weeks ago, I had the chance to visit the Rayner Dairy Research centre in Saskatoon. I got to talk to the barn manager, Morgan Hobin, and several faculty members. I have to say that I was really impressed. With talent like we have in Saskatchewan, Hastings—Lennox and Addington, and across the country, I am very happy to see that the innovation and skills agenda sets an ambitious target to grow Canada's agrifood exports to at least $75 billion annually by 2025. Plus, there is $70 million over six years, starting in 2017, for agricultural discovery science and innovation to support the sustainability of Canada's agricultural sector, in addition to the $30 million announced last year for genomics research.

We are also continuing on our commitment from last year's budget with the investment of $500 million to expand high-speed Internet access in rural and remote communities, the largest-ever federal investment in broadband infrastructure. For me, the issue of broadband Internet is not so different from that of the railroad. The national dream that was the national sea-to-sea railroad built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries made Canada as we know it possible. It linked our country together, expanded the settlement of rural communities, and drove our economy forward by opening up our markets and fostering opportunities for entrepreneurs from around the world. Fast forward to the 21st century, and we find a new national dream, with equally great possibilities for linking people, retaining and even expanding rural populations, and driving economic growth. We could call it the “broadband revolution”.

Both of these periods in time have seen a great transformation, where technology and globalization have revolutionized the workforce. We can ensure that rural Canada can not only survive this transformation, but thrive in this globally connected economy. This is helped, in part, by a transformation in the Canadian entrepreneurial spirit, facilitated by equal access to high-speed Internet in rural communities.

Rural Canadians have the ideas and a vast under-tapped capacity for driving economic growth in this country. Our government gets it. My rural colleagues and I have all experienced shortfalls in high-speed Internet in our own rural communities. We bring that experience to government. As chair of a strong 50-member rural caucus, I was blessed with the chance to raise these issues of connectivity and economic potential with our colleagues in government, and they listened.

We have $500 million in funding for broadband in rural and remote communities across Canada. I am very proud to be part of a government that is so willing to listen and to look forward, not to the next general election, but to the next generation. By delivering increased broadband coverage to underserved areas across Canada, we are enabling rural Canadians to unleash their entrepreneurial spirit, push employment and business opportunities up, and grow the middle class. It is all about connection.

When we talk about high-speed Internet connection, of course, what we are really talking about is a human connection: connecting a child to the online tools they need for school; connecting the small-scale entrepreneur to online markets for their products; and connecting rural Canadians to each other and to the world. There has been a wealth of success stories that have emerged from communities across the country when they have truly become digitally engaged. We can learn from their success, and not just replicate but expand upon their economic potential, not just for the near future but for generations to come.

I also want to talk about something that every municipal politician in this country knows very well, and that is infrastructure. Taking into account existing infrastructure programs and new investments, the Government of Canada will be investing more than $180 billion in infrastructure over 12 years. We know that municipalities, particularly small rural municipalities, shoulder a heavy burden, and they need help. Small rural communities like I have in my riding, such as Carlow Mayo, or Tudor and Cashel, can find it very difficult to compete with communities of 100,000 people or more for existing infrastructure funds. They lack the necessary human resources relative to larger communities to successfully brand their needs and to complete the complicated application processes.

Small communities also lack the financial resources needed to hire grant writers, or even to pay for the necessary reports to include with those applications. For example, a community of 2,000 people cannot afford $40,000 to generate a report for an application, particularly if that application is turned down and then sits on a shelf and collects dust. These small communities also usually cover large areas, making the proportion of roadways that they have to maintain even larger and more burdensome relative to their population. This is why I am happy to see $2 billion set aside for infrastructure specifically for rural and remote communities, in addition to access to other funding programs. I have pushed for it to be used for what rural communities truly need: roads, bridges, and high-speed Internet. Since we have a government that consults, that is what our government has done.

This funding would also be flexible according to the unique needs of each province. To me, ensuring that these funds address the unique needs of small communities requires a separate definition for what a truly small community is. The size should vary in population from province to province, since municipalities in each province are structured differently. That is exactly what I have been hearing from municipal politicians across my riding, and from Alberta and Saskatchewan and others. One thing is very clear: a small rural community is definitely not a community that has 100,000 people in it, not even close. Getting these things right is going a long way to levelling the infrastructure playing field for small rural communities across the country, and I am proud to be part of a government that is not taking rural Canada for granted.

My riding also has higher than average levels of child poverty, so improvement in this area needs to be a top priority. Last year, we put the Canada child benefit into action, which has had a huge impact in my riding, through the distribution of $5.9 million every single month to almost 9,300 low-income and middle-income families in my riding. It has had a positive impact for almost 17,000 children. That is $5.9 million each month in the pockets of families in Hastings—Lennox and Addington, which is spent on local businesses every single month. This year, we have promised $7 billion over 10 years, starting in 2018, to support and create more high-quality, affordable child care spaces across the country. It is what families need and have been asking for, so we are responding with action.

Health care is also a top priority for rural communities. We are strengthening Canada's publicly funded universal health care system to meet the needs of Canadian families. I am very happy to see that budget 2017 confirms the government's historic health agreements with 12 provinces and territories, by investing in better home care and mental health initiatives that would help the families who need it most. Investment in home care helps to distribute health and wellness further out into our communities, which is a huge benefit to rural Canadians in rural communities.

We are ensuring that all Canadians benefit from and play an active role in their communities. Whether it is roads and bridges, agriculture, high-speed Internet, health care, or child care, these are the tools that our small rural communities need to attract and retain young families and businesses, and to foster their economic development for years to come. Budget 2017 will deliver on them.

[Robert Sopuck, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague talks about his love for rural Canada, but one thing I did not catch in his speech was the value of the hunting, angling, and outfitting industry in rural Canada. The Liberal member for Long Range Mountains owned a number of fishing and hunting lodges in Newfoundland.

The reason I start with this preamble is that the recently announced Firearms Advisory Committee by the Minister of Public Safety does not have a single representative from the tourism, hunting and outfitting industry in it, one of the most significant industries in rural Canada. It is a travesty that the Firearms Advisory Committee has a number of anti-firearms representatives on it, and not a single representative, as I said, from the outfitting industry or the hunting and angling community.

Could the member comment on the discrepancy in the makeup of the Firearms Advisory Committee, which obviously is designed to further restrict hunters, farmers, sport shooters, and especially the outfitting industry in rural Canada?

[Mike Bossio, Liberal, Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, our government is very much focused on the rural sector, as well as the tourism sector. We are making investments in tourism through the tourism marketing board of Canada. The minister continues to consult with a multitude of different groups on firearms legislation and the hunting and angling industry, as is the Minister of Environment consulting around conservation.

I sit on the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development, which just completed a report on protected areas. We met with a number of different hunting and angling organizations in order to protect and conserve the areas that hunters are most interested in. Our government is taking a number of different actions to benefit the hunting and angling sector, and to protect and conserve the lands they require the most. I am sure that the Minister of Public Safety is going to consider and consult all organizations when it comes to any regulations around that issue.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. I must admit that I am scratching my head trying to figure out how this man, who is a member of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development, can support such measures.

His government claims to want to build a new economy and move into the future. We have all heard those buzzwords before. However, in reality, it cut nearly $1.6 billion in funding for the fight against climate change, approved three pipelines, and did away with the public transit tax credit, which benefited ordinary Canadians in a very real way.

How can a member of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development stand up and defend such a budget?

[Mike Bossio, Liberal, Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I very proudly stand behind our government's record when it comes to climate change actions. We are taking a multitude of different actions, by establishing a price on pollution, by investing in innovation. Through the price on pollution, that is one tack to dealing with climate change. By investing in innovation and in green technology, we hollow out the need for fossil fuels in the future, so that we can deal with climate change in that respect. We are making the investments today that are going to help us evolve from our dependence on fossil fuels.

I am very proud of the actions that our government has taken so far. I am very proud of the work we have done at the environment committee around the Federal Sustainable Development Act that addresses some of the issues around the 17 sustainable development goals. There is the work we have done on protected spaces, and the report we are about to complete on the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. We are taking a lot of the measures necessary to make a cleaner environment, cleaner water, and cleaner air for future generations.

[Alexandra Mendes, Liberal, Brossard—Saint-Lambert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am very grateful for this opportunity to say a few words about our budget.

Eighteen months ago, our government announced its intention to make Canada a global centre for innovation. We were well aware that this was an ambitious project and that everyone would have to do their part in order to come up with a constructive approach. We therefore asked Canadians to help. The response was overwhelming, with over 100,000 Canadians agreeing to share their opinions.

Canadians said that our plan must create jobs and support services that make Canada a better place to live. They said that this plan must help Canada to adapt and prosper in a period of slow growth and rapid change. Most importantly, they told us that whatever plan we come up with must ensure that all Canadians, not just a select few, benefit from a growing economy.

Budget 2017 takes steps to make Canadians' vision for their country a reality. The innovation and skills plan announced in the budget is an effort to make Canada a world-leading centre for innovation, to help create more good, well-paying jobs, and to help strengthen and grow the middle class. It will ensure that everyone, no matter their gender, their age, or where they live, benefits equally from a more innovative society.

These are the people who drive innovation. Innovation is what happens when smart, creative people find new solutions, from zippers for winter jackets to treatments for rare diseases.

Innovation is also changing the world in which we live. Economies are shifting. Automation is on the rise. The nature of work is being redefined. For Canadian workers to thrive in an innovation-driven economy, they must have the skills they need to succeed. Canada's workforce is one of the most well-educated in the world, but in an increasingly competitive global economy, we need to do more to help Canadians learn, adapt, and find good jobs throughout their careers.

To ensure that training and employment programs help unemployed and underemployed Canadians upgrade their skills and get good jobs in the new economy, budget 2017 proposes $2.7 billion over six years for new federal investments and assistance delivered through the labour market transfer agreements with the provinces and territories.

For those Canadians seeking employment, this measure will give them greater opportunities to upgrade their skills, gain experience, or get some help to start a business of their own. It will also help increase the support offered, such as professional counselling services to help them plan their careers.

In addition, in order to help more unemployed Canadians get the training they need to find a better well-paying job, budget 2017 proposes using more of the measures that make the employment insurance system so flexible, things like allowing applicants to take training, at their own expense, without losing their EI status. This would therefore make it easier for unemployed Canadians who are receiving employment insurance benefits to go back to school to get the training they need to get a new job, without having to worry about losing their benefits, which they need to provide for themselves and their families.

To help more adult workers wanting to go back to school, budget 2017 proposes to expand eligibility for Canada student grants to part-time students and students with dependent children. This translates into more non-repayable assistance for adult workers in order to help them manage the rising cost of post-secondary education while balancing the financial pressures associated with caring for a family.

As a result of this change, roughly 10,000 part-time students will become eligible for Canada student loans and grants every year, and roughly 13,000 students with dependants will become eligible for Canada student grants every year. These measures should be beneficial, especially to women trying to improve their job prospects while raising a family.

No lifelong learning program would be complete without a focus on the future. The youth employment strategy is a government-wide initiative that helps young Canadians start their career on the right foot. Budget 2017 proposes to invest an additional $395.5 million over three years in the youth employment strategy effective 2017-18.

Together with the measures in the 2016 budget, these investments will help more than 33,000 vulnerable young people acquire or develop the skills they need to find a job or to help them return to school. These measures will also create 15,000 new green jobs for Canadian youth and provide more than 1,600 new job opportunities for youth in the heritage sector.

We will also move forward with the youth service initiative to help young people gain valuable work experience, while providing support for communities across Canada. This initiative, which will be launched in the fall of 2017, will include a call for proposals to give youth the opportunity to serve.

The 2017 budget introduces the innovation and skills plan, which provides real and fair opportunities to improve our standard of living and that of our children. The plan includes a range of measures to help adults retrain or upgrade their skills so they can adapt to a changing labour market. The plan includes measures to help young Canadians get the education, skills, and work experience they need to start their careers.

With its comprehensive plan to promote lifelong learning for all Canadians and to help Canadian youth succeed, budget 2017 will make our greatest resource, our people, an even better resource.

This is a great reason for honourable members to unreservedly support this budget.