Debates of Dec. 10th, 2018

International Trade

[Tracey Ramsey, NDP, Essex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, that tired line is not getting rid of the tariffs.

Canadian workers, small businesses and farmers are paying the heavy price of the Liberals' decision to sign the new NAFTA. Giving access to U.S. dairy compromises our supply management system and hurts our farmers. Canadian farmers want to be able to produce and sell their milk without U.S. interference, and families want to be able to purchase milk made in Canada that they can trust.

Farmers cannot understand why they were sold out by the current Liberal government. Why have the Liberals betrayed farm families and our food security in Canada?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we said we would protect supply management, and that is exactly what we did. Its future is no longer in doubt. We have also announced three working groups comprising representatives from the supply management sector. Two of the working groups will collaborate to fairly support dairy farmers and processors in adjusting to the updated NAFTA as well as to CPTPP, while also charting a path to help the dairy sector innovate. Supply management is protected, all while securing long-term access to the U.S. market.

[Tracey Ramsey, NDP, Essex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this Prime Minister does not have a clue about the uncertainty our workers are facing. Just yesterday he admitted that steel and aluminum tariffs need to go, but what is confusing is why he still went ahead and signed the new NAFTA. The reason, according to the Prime Minister, is to make investors and big businesses happy. These are the Liberals' true colours: standing up for the richest corporations and failing to stand up for our workers. Worse, they have no strategy to remove these tariffs. They just want to wait and see. Do Liberals not understand that every day these tariffs remain is another day when jobs are threatened?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the attacks in the House by the NDP members on the renewed NAFTA are just a perfect example of how the NDP say one thing in the House, but behind closed doors, they admit that it is a deal that protects Canadian jobs. The NDP leader celebrated the deal at an event a few weeks ago, and the NDP member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, who is also the NDP Quebec lieutenant, called the updated NAFTA the “best deal possible”. Even the NDP privately admits that this deal is a good deal because they know it protects millions of Canadian jobs that were under threat.

Finance

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is clear to Canadians that the Prime Minister's word is worthless. Members will recall that, in 2015, the Liberals promised to run three small deficits and then balance the budget. The reality is that they ran three big deficits, three times higher than promised. They planned to balance the budget in 2019, but in 2019, there will be a $20-billion deficit. That is a colossal failure. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister has failed Canadians.

My question for the Prime Minister is simple. Can he give us his word on when we will return to a balanced budget?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, if the member for Louis-Saint-Laurent wants to talk about colossal failures, then I urge him to look at the decade spent under Stephen Harper's Conservative government. That was a colossal economic failure in almost every way. The Conservative government had the worst growth in exports, the worst job record, the worst wage growth, the worst growth, period. Growth was so slow that, during the 2015 election campaign, we were debating about whether Canada was in a recession.

Our record speaks for itself. We had the strongest growth in the G7 last year.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I will always be proud to be a member of a party that guided Canada through the worst recession since the Great Depression, and ensured that the country had the best record in the G7. That is the Conservative Party's record.

I would remind my friend from Louis-Hébert that he was elected in 2015 by stating, hand on his heart, that the budget would be balanced in 2019. The member for Louis-Hébert and the 185 Liberal members did not keep their promise.

Since the Prime Minister refused to answer, would the member for Louis-Hébert rise and tell Canadians when the budget will be balanced?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, in 2015, we made a very clear commitment to Canadians that we would not take the economic approach, which was an abject failure for 10 years under the Conservatives. They tried to stand in the way of prosperity and growth, and as a result, we had the worst economic record in almost all areas since the Second World War and even before that.

Instead, we decided to invest in infrastructure, reduce inequality and give more to the middle class, and it is working. Last year, we had the best growth in the G7.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I would like to remind the hon. member for Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier that the rules do not allow yelling in the House when someone else has the floor.

The hon. member for Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill.

[Leona Alleslev, Conservative, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister vowed that he would deliver big infrastructure projects and balance the budget next year, but now we know he has no intention of doing either. Even with the recent job losses and a destabilized energy sector, the Liberals continue to spend taxpayer dollars on their every whim, failing to heed the economic storm on the horizon. When will the Prime Minister admit that budgets do not balance themselves, brace our economy for the tough times ahead and balance the budget?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, in 2015 Canadians clearly rejected the Conservative plan of austerity and cuts, which did not work and did not create the kind of growth Canadians expect. It did not result in more money in the pockets of the middle class, because they focused on the wealthiest. We took a different approach: investing in our communities, giving more money to the middle class, lowering the taxes of the middle class while raising them on the wealthiest 1% to deliver for Canadians. The results speak for themselves, with 700,000 jobs created in the last three years and our debt-to-GDP ratio is steadily going down. We are in the best fiscal position in the G7.

[Leona Alleslev, Conservative, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the facts do indeed speak for themselves. Foreign capital is leaving. Corporations are not investing and jobs are being lost. Canadians are not fooled. They know that spending money that we do not have today with zero results will mean severe cuts to critical services tomorrow when we need them the most.

When will the Prime Minister stop failing Canadians with his reckless spending and do what every hard-working Canadian must do, balance the books?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, our debt-to-GDP ratio is going steadily downward. We are in the best fiscal position in the G7. That is because we have managed to see growth in the country over the last three years with a plan that is working. Unlike the Conservatives, who failed on all economic fronts for a decade, we are seeing 700,000 full-time jobs created in the Canadian economy over the last three years, the fastest growth in the G7, and Canadian families by this next year will be $2,000 better off than they were under the previous government, which focused so much on the wealthiest, but so very little on the middle class.

[Mark Strahl, Conservative, Chilliwack—Hope, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has never had to worry about a paycheque. He has never had to wonder how he was going to put food on the table. He has never faced an unexpected expense that he could not pay. His inherited family fortune has taken care of everything for him. Since he has never had to worry about his own money, he is not worried about spending Canadian tax money either. He is racking up a huge bill that someone else will have to pay for, just like he has for his entire life.

Could the Prime Minister finally tell us, when will the budget balance itself?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, that is a little rich coming from the Conservatives who added $150 billion to Canada's debt and who gave tax break after tax break to the wealthiest Canadians. We took a different approach, lowering taxes on the middle class, and improving the Canada child benefit, which has lifted 300,000 kids out of poverty. I am very proud to work alongside the Prime Minister who has taken steps to make sure that Canada remains a fair and just society for all, with prosperity shared by all.

[Mark Strahl, Conservative, Chilliwack—Hope, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister took money away from Canadians while maintaining his own nannies. Canadians without trust funds have to make tough choices each month. They sit at their kitchen tables and decide what they can afford and what they cannot pay for. They know they cannot live off their credit cards forever. They know how difficult it is to pay off their debts. The Prime Minister knows none of these things. When will he finally agree to stop mortgaging our children's future and tell us when will the budget balance itself?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, as I stated in a previous answer, our debt-to-GDP ratio is steadily going down. We are in the best fiscal position in the G7. The facts are clear. We lowered taxes on the middle class and raised them on the wealthiest 1%. They voted against it. We improved the Canada child benefit, lifting hundreds of thousands of kids out of poverty in our country, and gave more to the middle class. They voted against it.

It begs a question. They say we raised taxes. The only taxes we raised were on the wealthiest 1%. Is that what they are so concerned about? I guess that is what it is.

Employment

[Matthew Dubé, NDP, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, business is good at the Montreal airport: profits are up, traffic is increasing and there are plans for an expansion.

Nevertheless, the CEO is asking 93 employees to agree to a pay cut of 27% to 33%. Otherwise, they will be laid off and the work will be outsourced, all with Christmas a few weeks away. No one would agree to such an offer.

Will the Liberals stand up for the workers or will they once again side with the bosses?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, our government believes in a fair and balanced approach to labour relations in Canada. That is why we repealed Bill C-525 and Bill C-377, the Harper Conservatives' anti-union bills, as one of the very first things we did when we came into office.

We are aware of the situation at the Montreal airport and are monitoring it very closely.

[Karine Trudel, NDP, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, that is called the privatization of our services.

The Liberals are letting the Montreal airport privatize its operations, while they themselves, champions of privatization, backed off because it was a bad idea.

Threatening employees that they will be laid off if they do not agree to a pay cut of 27% to 33%, and just a few weeks from Christmas, is appalling. This is only possible because the federal government refuses to protect our good jobs.

How many good jobs need to be lost before the Minister of Employment will put an end to outsourcing at public airports?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, on the topic of contract flipping, that is in fact something we are working on through the new decent work legislation that was approved in budget implementation act 2.

On the topic of labour disputes and labour negotiations, our government stands behind fair and balanced approaches to labour negotiations, and we are monitoring the situation very closely.

Natural Resources

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, under Conservatives, well over 8,000 kilometres of pipeline was built. The Liberals talk and talk, but they have deliberately blocked over 7,000 kilometres of pipeline already, and their no-more-pipelines Bill C-69 will guarantee that not a single kilometre of new pipeline is built in Canada again. That Liberal-made crisis harms all of Canada. Provinces, economists, industry and indigenous leaders are all warning of the damaging consequences.

Will the Liberals withdraw their no-more-pipelines Bill C-69, yes or no?

[Sean Fraser, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, we are moving forward with a plan that is going to implement better rules for considering major project development in Canada. This includes an approach that is going to help restore the public confidence that was lost after 10 years under Stephen Harper, where they disrespected our environment and ignored the concerns of Canada's indigenous people. I note, in particular, as we move forward with this important piece of legislation, that we received an endorsement from the Assembly of First Nations just last week.

We are moving forward with a plan that is going to bring certainty to the regulatory process, respect our environment and give credence to the voices of indigenous people.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, more than 30 indigenous leaders are going to sue the Liberals over Bill C-69, just like they are suing them over the tanker ban.

The fact is, when the Liberals were elected, three companies planned to build pipelines in Canada, but they are gone now because the Liberals chased every single one of them away, and not a single new inch of pipeline has been built under these Liberals. They are directly responsible for the discount on Canadian oil. The Husky CEO says that the discount will continue “the rest of the year, all of next year, all of the year after that.” Their no-more-pipelines Bill C-69 will make that discount permanent. Will they withdraw their no-more-pipelines Bill C-69, yes or no?

[Sean Fraser, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, we are moving forward with a plan that is going to grow the economy and protect the environment at the same time. When it comes to getting our natural resources to market, the Conservatives talk a good game, but after 10 years, no more of our resources were getting to non-U.S. markets than they were when the Conservatives first came into office.

As I mentioned in my previous answer, we are giving certainty to business, we are respecting our environment and we are giving a voice to indigenous people who were ignored for 10 years under Stephen Harper. This represents better rules for development in Canada.