Debates of March 19th, 2018

Financial Statement of Minister of Finance

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

Mr. Speaker, I think a substantial portion of that was directed to the government, but I will correct the record for the benefit of the member. I hope he will listen to this.

The Conservatives strongly support equal pay for equal work. We have been clear about that, and I will be clear about that again.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I am going to go down a different rabbit hole right now.

The Liberal member who spoke prior to both of my colleagues claimed that this Liberal budget was not spending tax dollars; it was investing in Canadians' futures. However, we know that they are rescinding over $2 billion in infrastructure investment, while spending Canadian tax dollars on substantially growing government bureaucracy and spending on overseas ideological colonialism, such as tying foreign aid to abortion access in Africa, where even in cases of rape, which is used as a weapon of war, women do not blame the conceived children for the horrific crimes they faced and have no desire to abort the children they conceive.

Can the member please speak to how inappropriate it is that the Liberals are funding their own political ideology with this budget, with hard-earned Canadian taxpayers' money, rather than improving the lives, and the freedom to self-directed prosperity, of Canadians and their families?

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

Mr. Speaker, the approach we took as Conservatives when we were in government was that our foreign aid should be something that brings Canadians together, something all Canadians could agree was a good idea and that was not divisive for Canadians. I think we were successful in promoting programs, like the maternal and child health program, which provided basic access to medicines and health support for people who needed it around the world.

Let us focus on those things that bring Canadians together, that bring the world together. That should be our priority, and that should be where we invest our resources, because there is so much need in that area in terms of basic medicine and basic nutrition. Why would we not focus on those kinds of things?

[Peter Fonseca, Liberal, Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to rise today to speak to Canadians regarding this budget.

I will be sharing my time with the member for Louis-Hébert.

Since forming government just over two years ago, we have made a commitment to put the needs of Canadians first by increasing equality, fairness, and competitiveness. We did this by making investments that strengthen the middle class and investments that grow our economy. Thanks to the hard work done by Canadians, those investment decisions are paying off.

My riding of Mississauga East—Cooksville is a riding made up of hard-working Canadians. It is diverse and multicultural. I would like to touch on how our government is taking the next steps in its plan to grow and strengthen the middle-class by promoting equality and investing in the economy of the future. We are doing this by building on our successful innovation and skills plan, launched in 2017 through budget 2018. This plan, which was introduced in last year's budget, was an ambitious effort by our government to place Canada as the place for innovation. It is a plan to help create more good, well-paying jobs that will help strengthen and grow the middle class. It is a plan that builds toward making Canada home to the most skilled workforce in the world, a nation of innovators, and a world leader in the innovation economy.

At its core, the innovation and skills plan is about improving and sustaining an economy that works for everyone to ensure that Canadians have access to high-quality jobs. It is also a plan to ensure that Canadian businesses are well placed to compete in a rapidly evolving and competitive global world.

In budget 2017, our government announced a review of all business-facing innovation programs, with the aim of making them more simple and client-centred, leading to better support for Canadian businesses and entrepreneurs. The review took place across 20 federal departments and agencies, making this the first review effort to date of the entire Canadian business innovation program suite. As a result, in budget 2018, our government is proposing a historic reform of business innovation programs, as well as $2.6 billion over five years in additional support to help create competitive advantages for our Canadian businesses. That means that our government will be increasing total funding while reducing the number of business innovation programs by up to two-thirds. Specifically, the reforms will streamline business support programs, in part by designing four flagship platforms that will bring together multiple programs.

First, to help Canadian entrepreneurs and small business owners develop innovative technologies and successfully commercialize them in a global marketplace, our government will provide $700 million over five years, and $150 million ongoing, to the industrial research assistance program, IRAP. IRAP has proven to be an effective resource for growing Canadian companies and innovative entrepreneurs. It is well positioned to support funding for larger projects, above the current contribution threshold of $1 million. That is why our government will also raise the project contribution threshold to $10 million. This will enable IRAP to support business research and development for these larger projects. Widening the range of financial support would allow entrepreneurs and small business owners who live in my riding to access support more easily as their businesses grow, alongside assistance to help develop and get products to market.

Second, to allow more focused support for business research and development projects over the $10-million mark, the strategic innovation fund will move away from supporting smaller projects in favour of larger projects that can lead to significant job creation and shared prosperity for Canadians. The fund's role in facilitating the growth and expansion of firms and attracting large-scale, job-creating inventions will remain unchanged. At the same time, the fund's role in advancing research and development through collaboration among academia, not-for-profits, and the private sector will be expanded.

Third, to help Canadians firms unlock growth opportunities through exports, the Trade Commissioner Service will undergo transformative enhancements to simplify the client experience, modernize tools, and offer innovative services. With the recent decision to sign on to the CPTPP and CETA and to explore other opportunities for trade, it is providing new markets for our businesses to join and succeed in.

There is a lot for business owners and entrepreneurs to do, know, and navigate to reach their full potential. It will help businesses in my riding, such as Borges Food Store and Tavora Foods and others, to succeed in a marketplace that is tilted towards the bigger companies.

The fourth and final flagship platform is the regional development agencies. Our government recognizes that all regions of the country do not always have the same needs. Canada's six regional development agencies support economic and community development by leveraging local networks and abilities. To foster economic growth in communities across Canada, the government proposes to provide an additional $511 million, on a cash basis, over five years, to the regional development agencies to support the innovation and skills plan across all regions in Canada.

This initiative will also provide nationally coordinated, regionally tailored support for women entrepreneurs and will help workers and communities in the west and the Atlantic region adapt to Canada's transition to a low-carbon economy.

In addition, as part of the broader review of innovative programs, over the next year the government will explore ways to simplify the existing suite of 22 programs offered by the regional development agencies. Our government's proposed reforms to streamline business support programs will benefit Canadian workers, entrepreneurs, and small business owners, as well as Canadians employed by large companies, over the long term through stronger growth and less paperwork.

Providing Canadians with the opportunity to realize their full potential is not just the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do for our economy.

We know that women entrepreneurs face unique barriers, such as limited access to capital, supply chains, and export programs, compared to their male counterparts. Women entrepreneurs may also have a harder time receiving training and finding mentorship. To address these ongoing barriers, the government is announcing a new women's entrepreneurship strategy. It is a comprehensive and coordinated approach to supporting women-owned businesses across the country.

To improve skills, mentorship, and networking opportunities, important factors for all growing businesses, the government proposes to provide $105 million over five years to the regional development agencies in support of women-led businesses. In addition, for women-owned companies, our government will make available $1.65 billion in new financing over three years through the Business Development Bank of Canada and Export Development Canada to improve access to capital.

Finally, to give businesses the confidence they need to grow and take risks, budget 2018 proposes measures in support of a new intellectual property strategy to help Canadian entrepreneurs better understand and protect intellectual property and get better access to useful and relevant intellectual property. This includes increasing the intellectual property literacy of Canadian entrepreneurs, reducing costs, and creating incentives for Canadian businesses to leverage their intellectual property.

This all builds on our plan. Over the last two years, we have seen our economy grow. We are leading the G7, with 3.7% growth and 600,000 jobs. However, we cannot rest on our laurels. What we need to do is double down. With that success, we need to work harder.

The measures proposed in this budget will secure a more prosperous future for all Canadians. I therefore urge all members to give their full support, because this budget will not only ensure prosperity today but for future generations to come. I wholeheartedly support this budget, knowing full well that it will grow our economy and bring more women into the labour force. We need everyone at their best, and this budget is here to do that.

[Nathan Cullen, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I looked forward to the budget to find out where the Liberal Party stood. One of the questions was around the general sense of integrity, a promise made. It seemed we had to drag the Liberals to their promise of lowering the small business tax. For those who know their parliamentary history in debates over this issue, it was first proposed by Jack Layton and resoundingly rejected, until it was accepted by the Liberals as a good policy. We are always happy to lend good ideas to the Liberals to see if they will actually implement them.

Another promise was to close the stock option loophole. This was something the NDP proposed. We brought a motion forward in Parliament. The Liberals supported it and then campaigned on it. Canadians may not be familiar with this, because the vast majority of Canadians do not use stock option loopholes to avoid paying taxes, most of the people in the middle class or those working hard to join it, as the Prime Minister used to be fond of saying, have never encountered or enjoyed the privilege of stock options as their source of income, where they then pay a much lower tax threshold.

We proposed, in the last campaign, the idea of closing that loophole, and the Liberals eventually supported it. It is between $800 million and a billion dollars a year as forgone revenue from the government and shows very little economic benefit. My friend talked about opportunities and economic benefit. The Liberals promised to do this. The Liberals have said, as the Prime Minister did just recently, that we cannot fully support veterans because we simply do not have the means to do it. We cannot support more seniors, to lift them out of poverty, because the government says we do not have the means.

If the Liberals thought this was such a good idea that they campaigned on it, all as individual MPs in their ridings, and the finance minister said he was into it, where is it in the budget and why did they not do it?

[Peter Fonseca, Liberal, Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for putting forward his endorsement of our promise to lower the small business tax. They really are the engine of our economy. We are very proud that we have been able to lower the small business tax this year. We will be lowering it again next year, down to 9%. We will have the lowest small business tax in the G7, making us very competitive.

When the member talks about promises, I will talk about promises kept, such as driving our economy through the Canada child benefit. We can talk about a middle-class tax cut, which was in our first budget. Our budgets have been about equality, fairness, competitiveness, having all Canadians at their best, and providing those opportunities.

[Lloyd Longfield, Liberal, Guelph, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the member has hit on the part of the budget that I get really fired up on, and that is innovation. Page 100, my favourite page in the budget, looks at filling in some deficits. The members opposite talk about a financial deficit. They mention it over and over. We have a deficit in infrastructure, in social programs, and in innovation, which we are now addressing through our previous budget as well as budget 2018.

I wonder if the hon. member could talk about the deficit we have in the equality between male and female, or other people in Canada who choose to identify themselves in other ways.

[Peter Fonseca, Liberal, Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for Guelph for his passion and his experience when it comes to innovation and when he talks about equality. He knows full well how that can drive our economy. I have heard the member speak eloquently here about equality and fairness and what that means.

I will give a couple of examples. RBC did a report and looked at our labour gap. If we were able to close that labour gap, that would mean 4% added to our GDP. That is huge. Internationally, this is what Christine Lagarde, the director of the International Monetary Fund had to say. “Equal pay and better economic opportunities for women boost economic growth...for everyone.... It is an economic no-brainer”.

The member is bang on. I thank him for the work he does for his community and our country.

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

Mr. Speaker, I will pick up where my colleague left off. I will also be speaking about gender equality, one of the themes that makes budget 2018 a historic budget.

By focusing on equality and growth, the budget will ensure that Canada's economy grows and that it benefits all the men and women of Canada's middle class.

Canada's economy is doing well. In fact, it is booming. Now that it is on a solid footing, we need to ensure that it truly reflects who we are as a country. Everyone must have the opportunity to work, to contribute to our collective wealth, and to reap the benefits of that wealth. The economy must work for everyone. Every individual must have access to a good job.

As I mentioned, in the next few minutes I will talk about fairness and equality between Canadian men and women. I am convinced that all members of the House believe in this principle, which is deeply ingrained in the Canadian identity and is not negotiable. Nevertheless, we must look at the reality and accept the facts. Unfortunately, it is clear that there is still much work to be done.

Canadian women are among the most educated in the world, yet they are less likely than Canadian men to be in the labour force.

We also note that Canadian women earn 31% less on average than men annually. They are also under-represented in leadership positions, and fewer women than men own small and medium-sized businesses.

We believe that this situation must change and evolve, not just because it is morally right, but also because studies have proven that it makes economic sense.

The McKinsey Global Institute reports that accelerating progress toward gender equality, such as increasing women's participation in the technology sector and in the workforce in general, could boost Canada's GDP by $150 billion by 2026.

My colleague also mentioned the RBC study finding that if women and men participated in the economy equally, our GDP would grow by 4%, which is huge. As the Minister of Finance said in his speech two weeks ago, we fight for every decimal point of growth.

As I said, increasing women's participation in the economy is not just morally right, it is the best way to support economic growth.

The 2018 budget takes practical steps toward closing those gaps, supporting women and girls, and increasing their labour force participation. This will stimulate economic growth and benefit everyone. Having more women in leadership positions strengthens the economy, creates jobs, improves our communities, and fosters innovation.

First and foremost, we need to make sure that salaries respect the principle of equality. We need to reduce the gender wage gap in Canada. I am proud that, with budget 2018, our government is proposing to enact legislation on the principle of equal pay for equal work. This legislation will ensure that women and men working in federally regulated industries receive, on average, equal pay for work of equal value. It was about time, and the fact that our government is going ahead with this legislation is excellent news.

We are also going to provide Canadians with more information on the compensation practices of federally regulated employers. This will ensure that employers with equitable compensation practices get the recognition they deserve, while ensuring that the others are called out and held accountable for any wage gaps.

As the Prime Minister indicated earlier this year in Davos, pay equity is only the first step. Equal pay does not necessarily mean equal opportunities or sacrifices, which leads me to talk about parental leave. When we look at family life, we see that women often take maternity leave after a child is born, which is a good thing. However, we also see that they often shoulder a larger share of family responsibilities. That is why budget 2018 proposes the creation of a new parental leave that will grant an additional five weeks of benefits to parents who agree to share their parental leave. This measure is directly modelled on what is being done in Quebec, where 80% of new fathers claim their parental leave, compared to only 12% in the rest of Canada.

Going by Sweden's example and according to what we have been told by Quebec's Conseil du statut de la femme, this approach will not only promote a better distribution of family responsibilities from the start, but it will also make it possible for women to return to the labour market more quickly or on their own terms.

This is a key measure of budget 2018 for which we have high hopes. It is inspired by measures that Quebec has taken and that we think will also be successful in the rest of Canada.

In closing, with this budget, our government is showing leadership on equity issues, but we cannot do it alone. We must work in partnership with the provinces and territories, and the private and community sectors. This budget is a first step in the right direction. It contains measures that will help boost women's participation in the workforce and give women entrepreneurs greater access to capital. Ultimately, this will promote greater economic growth in Canada. The equal participation of men and women in the workforce will help put our economy on an even more solid footing.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to hear from my esteemed colleague, the member for Louis-Hébert and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance. He started his speech by saying this was a historic budget. He is technically correct, because this marks the first time in Canadian history that a government has tabled a deficit budget, for the third time in a row, at a time of economic prosperity.

Let us not forget that these people got elected by promising to post small deficits of $10 billion at most and to balance the budget by 2019. I must have asked about 258 questions about this. Not once have we gotten the faintest trace of anything remotely resembling an answer as to why they have not kept their promise or when we can expect a balanced budget.

During question period earlier, I asked a very clear question, which I will now raise again. The parliamentary budget officer has also had enough of this improvisation, and he wants to know when Canada will get back to a balanced budget.

If he does not respect us, the members of Parliament, could the parliamentary secretary give a clear answer to the parliamentary budget officer and tell him when we will return to a balanced budget?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my esteemed colleague from Louis-Saint-Laurent for his question.

I would love to talk about what is historic in this budget. I talked about how our government took a historic step towards achieving true gender equality in Canada. We are also making historic investments in fundamental research, which will promote our country's long-term growth. Since my colleague is from the Quebec City area, I would love to invite him to Université Laval to see just how important fundamental research is. He could hear people talk about how this sector was neglected and undermined for a decade. We know that research begets innovation, and the Québec Metro High Tech Park is evidence of that. This is one thing that the Conservatives did not understand during the decade they were in power.

As for my colleague's question, another historic fact is that during this decade under the previous government, Canada saw its worst economic growth since the Second World War and its worst growth in exports. On this side of the House, we have taken a different approach. We decided to make investments and at the same time continue to lower the debt-to-GDP ratio.

We have the best fiscal situation and the strongest growth in the G7, and this is due to the measures we have taken.

[Sheila Malcolmson, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Mr. Speaker, if the member opposite had been sitting through the testimony we have been hearing at the status of women committee, which has been studying federal barriers to women's economic justice in Canada, over the past year he would have heard some devastating stories about how women right now in this country have fallen so far behind, women who have worked their whole lives who end up at homeless shelters when they are evicted because they are not able to find affordable housing, or women who retire in poverty because they have never been able to put aside a pension because they have always worked in part-time, precarious work with no access to EI or benefits.

I really would have thought, if this were truly a feminist budget, that the government would have funded the implementation of pay equity and that, at a minimum, it would have taken up the call of the Canadian Labour Congress to establish an office of a pay equity commissioner to start to put the works in place so that we can get action for women and get more money in their pockets right away. It is not just and I want to hear from the member why there was no funding for pay equity in this budget.

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Louis-Hébert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for raising these issues.

We have integrated a gender-based analysis into Canada's budget process. This allows us to compare the impact that some measures may have on women, men, and intersectional groups, as each department is making its budget requests, so we can ensure that there are no unintended consequences. This will enable us to eventually achieve greater gender equality.

Taking a gender-based analysis into account in every budget decision makes this a historic budget in this area, and we want to ensure that this analysis will be part of future budgets.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Mr. Speaker, you will forgive me if I cross the line. I have been away for a little while, in case you have not heard. However, I am back and I am a little frustrated.

It is an honour to stand in the House. It is always an honour, and I have a greater appreciation for the work done on all sides of the House. However, it has been frustrating for me to sit at home recuperating, and to watch and listen to the debate. Our colleagues across the way, the Liberals, stand up with their hand on their hearts and tell Canadians time and time again how they are seized with the issues of the day and they are the most important issues for them. Then they table budget 2018.

As always, I bring it back to my riding of Cariboo—Prince George and what this budget would mean to my riding. I will go back to July 31 when the Prime Minister and some of his cabinet ministers stood in my riding, in Williams Lake, before the cameras and said, “We will be there for the rebuild. We will be there for the challenges to come in the months to come, and this is a time for us to stand together and for the federal government to once again say we will there for Canadians in times of difficulty.”

Well, it is months past that date. As I toured my team through our riding last week, we met with family after family, business owner after business owner, logger, forester, farmer, tour operator, municipal councillors, and they are still waiting for that support.

Over the last year, we have seen flooding that happened just kilometres away from here and the unbelievable wildfires that happened in British Columbia. We are seeing some unprecedented natural disasters. However, when our leaders of the day stand up and say they will be there for us, I do not know about other members, but I take them at their word that they are going to do it.

The government has failed Canadians. It has failed rural Canadians. This budget 2018 does nothing for rural communities such as those in my riding of Cariboo—Prince George.

We have some trying times ahead of us with the increasing protectionist agenda of our closest trading partner to the south that we do most of our trade with. It is getting harder and harder for Canadian producers and businesses to plan ahead. It is getting harder for companies to invest in Canada, because we are sending the wrong messages. We are sending mixed signals. As a matter of fact, a CEO of Suncor recently said that things are too uncertain within Canada for them to further invest.

The government's job is not to necessarily weigh into our private lives, to tell us how we are going to do this or that, how the government can do it better for us, or what we should be doing better. Its job is to create an environment where all can be successful, where industry wants to invest in our country, where other countries look to us in high regard because of the way we set policy for our countrymen.

I have stood before this House time and again and said that it seems when the cameras are on, the Prime Minister and his ministers stand there with their hand on their hearts and pledge all the support in the world, that this is what they are going to do, that they are with us, and maybe even a little tear comes out. However, when the cameras are off, they are nowhere to be seen.

Forgive me, as this has nothing to do with budget 2018. However, while I was gone, I was tagged in a social media post. It has been two years since the Prime Minister stood in this House and pledged to the chief of Attawapiskat, Bruce Shisheesh, that he would be there for them, with them, and would visit that community when they were having a terrible suicide epidemic. Guess what? As soon as the media left, did the Prime Minister go there or attend? Has he gone there to this point? No, he has not. If it does not garner a lot of attention, why should he be there?

That is like budget 2018. There is a lot of fluff in there, not a lot of meat. As a matter of fact, the Prime Minister is spending today like we are in a crisis. There is no thought about what happens “if”. When the Liberals were campaigning, they said they would post a deficit of about $10 billion. When they tabled budget 2018 a couple of weeks ago, it was $18 billion, with no plan to get us back to a balanced budget. I do not even know how many times we have asked. Our critics on this side, shadow ministers in the opposition, have asked time and time again, and there is no plan.

For somebody who campaigned and said they were ready to lead, all we see is pointing fingers and assigning blame to everyone else. Do not get me started on the international faux pas we have seen on the international stage. I promised myself I would not bring that up. It has been hard, as one can imagine. It has been hard sitting at home and yelling at the TV. As I told my physician, if I can yell at the TV, I can yell across the way. However, it has been difficult.

I visited the riding last week, and there was a lot of despair. Whether it is that there is no softwood lumber agreement or the new tariffs that have come in, there is a lot of concern. We have lost much of our fibre in terms of our annual allowable cut and the harvestable fibre in our neck of the woods. Our farmers are having a difficult time. We hear our colleagues talk about there being no rail cars to move grain to market. Well, there are no cars available for our forestry producers to get their product to market.

In this budget 2018, if the Liberals wanted to do something transformative, why did they not invest in something like our rail system? Why do they not make investments that can have meaningful change and set Canada up to realize some huge potential, whether it is policy or investments? It is disappointing, but, again, this is what we have seen as par for the course. It is disappointing.

There are some great people on the other side, some really good people. I am looking, and I can see a few of them there today. However, I have said this before, and I think the Prime Minister is not only failing Canadians as a whole but failing the back four rows of this House on that side. They have to go back to their ridings and explain the things that this person in the front bench is doing. It is disappointing, it really is.

Mr. Speaker, I know my time is getting short, but I want to end with this. It truly is an honour to stand before you in this House. Once again, and I will probably say this time and time again, I want to thank you and all our colleagues for the support along the way. However, our Prime Minister is failing Canadians, and it is disappointing and unacceptable.

(The House divided on the amendment to the amendment, which was negatived on the following division:)

Vote #458

The Budget

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I declare the amendment to the amendment defeated.

The House resumed from March 1 consideration of the motion.

Opposition Motion—Canada Summer Jobs Program

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion of the member for Elgin—Middlesex—London, relating to business of supply.

(The House divided on the motion, which was negatived on the following division:)

Vote #459

Business of Supply

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I declare the motion defeated.

The House resumed from March 2 consideration of the motion that Bill C-69, An Act to enact the Impact Assessment Act and the Canadian Energy Regulator Act, to amend the Navigation Protection Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts be read the second time and referred to a committee.

Impact Assessment Act

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred division at second reading of Bill C-69.

Pursuant to Standing Order 69.1, the first question is on part 1 regarding the impact assessment act, part 2 regarding the Canadian energy regulator act, the title, the preamble, the schedule, and all clauses in part 4, except clauses 85, 186, 187, and 195.

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

Mr. Speaker, I noticed that the member for Kildonan—St. Paul was not in the House for the previous vote on the Canada summer jobs, and came into the House well after the vote on the motion on Bill C-69 had started. I believe if you check with the member, she would indicate her vote should not count for this vote.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Could the member for Kildonan—St. Paul confirm she was not here at the beginning of the vote when the question was read?

[MaryAnn Mihychuk, Liberal, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I believe I re-entered from a short absence, but if I was not here for the reading, I will excuse myself from the vote.