Debates of Feb. 1st, 2019

Black History Month

[Greg Fergus, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Mr. Speaker, for the fourth year in a row, I rise in the House to invite all Canadians to celebrate Black History Month. Over the past four years, I have met with dozens of black community groups and hundreds of black educational leaders, teachers, workers and volunteers.

Whereas we once divided ourselves into narrow interests based on where we or our ancestors came from, more and more we are a woke community that is working together to achieve a common interest: to be equal and to be treated as equal, equal in business, studies, law, culture, innovation, politics, government and citizenship.

I urge all Canadians to take part in Black History Month events.

I say this for all black Canadians. Standing still is a luxury we cannot afford. We must get more involved. Representation matters, not only in government but in every nook and cranny of our society. Though each may feel alone, together we will accomplish great things.

Long live Black History Month.

Finance

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, before the election, the Prime Minister said that the budget would balance itself by this year. After the election, we found out that there would be a $20 billion deficit this year. Before the election, the Prime Minister said that the deficit would be gone by 2019. After the election, we learned that would not happen until 2040. Before the election, the Prime Minister now is promising goodies. After the election, we know that will come with higher taxes.

Will the government tell Canadians before the election how much it will raise taxes after the election?

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

Mr. Speaker, before the election, the Conservatives added $150 billion to Canada's debt. Before the election, the Conservative government failed to generate growth in the country and saw the worse record on practically every economic indicator since the great recession. Before the election, the Conservatives gave tax breaks after tax breaks to the wealthiest.

After the election, we lowered taxes for the middle class with the Canada child benefit. We had higher taxes for the wealthiest 1%. We delivered the best results in the G7 in 2017, the fastest growth, 800,000 jobs.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, actually the Conservative government, before the last election, led our country out of the greatest global recession since the 1930s, with the lowest debt, the lowest unemployment and the greatest job growth. As for the debt, those members on the other side said, “spend more, spend faster, build up more debt.” It is a good thing we ignored them and left them with a balanced budget.

We know the growing deficits that the Prime Minister is imposing on Canadians today will lead to higher taxes tomorrow if, God forbid, that party is re-elected. Why will the Liberals not tell the truth about that before the election?

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

Mr. Speaker, let us look at the facts. Canadians have seen their taxes decrease under this government. I am looking at what the OECD came out with last summer. It said that an average Canadian family was getting $2,000 more in its pocket under this government this year than it was under the previous government.

So focused were the Conservatives on giving tax breaks after tax breaks to the wealthiest Canadians, we took a different approach. Yes, we did invest in science after they left us a deficit in investments in science, infrastructure and in first nations people. We took a different approach. We decided to invest, and the results speak for themselves.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, is that not typical rhetoric from the trust fund Prime Minister?

The Liberals said that mothers who put their kids in hockey or soccer were too rich, so they took away the children's fitness tax credit. They said that students who bought text books or paid for tuition were too rich and therefore should lose their text book and education tax credit. They said that passengers on public transit were too rich and therefore should lose their transit tax credit. However, they protect the family fortune of the Prime Minister. Is that not just a little rich coming from them?

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

Mr. Speaker, the tax credits the member is referring to failed. They did not work to increase public transit use and they benefited the wealthiest. According to all the studies that have been done on these tax credits, they were ineffective.

The Canada child benefit, on the other hand, is lifting 300,000 kids out of poverty, reducing child poverty by 40%. The member should ask in his riding what a difference it makes to get the Canada child benefit, which is tax-free, more generous and is lifting all these kids out of poverty. It is making a—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Before I go to the next question, which I am sure is going to be an outstanding question and we are going to get an outstanding answer, I would certainly like to hear it. I want to remind everyone how the sound works well in here. Even when members are whispering, it prevents the Speaker from hearing the answer.

The hon. member for Louis-Saint-Laurent.

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

Mr. Speaker, this week I took the bus in Ottawa and in Quebec City, in the riding of the member for Louis-Hébert, and I can assure him that I did not meet any millionaires on the bus.

I do not want to be a killjoy this morning, but, unfortunately, I have two pieces of bad news. First, unfortunately for the Prime Minister, a budget does not balance itself. Second, unfortunately for Canadians, they have been had by the Liberals, who led them to believe that the deficit would be eliminated in 2019. It is not true.

How does the government plan to balance the budget?

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

Mr. Speaker, with regard to the deficit, it is important to remember that the debt-to-GDP ratio continues to shrink. With the investments we have made, there is strong growth in Canada, the strongest among G7 countries in 2017, and 800,000 jobs were created over the past three years.

I would like to clarify something for my colleague with regard to tax credits. I am quoting a CBC article, which did an analysis also based on the Parliamentary Budget Officer's analysis. It stated that the public transit tax credit did practically nothing to increase the use of public transit and that the sports tax credit did practically nothing to increase participation in sports and disproportionately benefited wealthy families, just like splitting—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Order. The hon. member for Louis-Saint-Laurent.

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

Mr. Speaker, I invite my colleague from Louis-Hébert to take the bus with me next week or in two weeks. He should tell these people on the bus that the CBC said they were freeloaders. Good luck with that.

The reality is that the Liberals spent three years trying to convince Canadians that the budget would balance itself. For three years, they tried to convince Canadians that the budget would be balanced in 2019, which is not the case.

Once again, how does the government plan to return to a balanced budget, as promised?

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

Mr. Speaker, I would be interested to see the families in his riding who actually used the public transit tax credit.

However, I would be happy to visit the riding of Louis-Saint-Laurent with him and to meet the 21,640 children whose parents are receiving $68 million a year through the Canada child benefit. That is what is changing Canadians' lives.

The Economy

[Tracey Ramsey, NDP, Essex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in 2015, the Liberals campaigned on a progressive platform. People expected change, but all they received from the Liberal government is an economy that just does not work for them. Plant closures and precarious work have left many people on shaky ground.

Today Canadians are faced with some of the biggest personal debt in decades, and instead of helping them get through it, the Liberals give billions of dollars away to corporations. How exactly is this a change from the Conservatives?

How can the Prime Minister pat himself on the back while Canadians are struggling to pay their bills?

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

Mr. Speaker, I would submit to the hon. member that—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I just wanted to stop the hon. parliamentary secretary so we can all hear the conversation across the floor between the two hon. members. It really should not be happening. I would remind them not to shout across the floor while a question is being asked or answered.

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

Mr. Speaker, I would submit to the hon. member that our focus from day one has been helping the middle class and those working hard to join the middle class.

That is why we lowered taxes for the middle class. That is why we increased the Canada child benefit and made it tax free, lifting 300,000 kids out of poverty. That is why we increased the guaranteed income supplement that is helping close to one million seniors across the country with more money at the end of the month and at the end of the year.

That is the approach we have taken. We have made smart investments to make this society a more just and equal society.

Government Spending

[Tracey Ramsey, NDP, Essex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals just do not get it. Canadians are feeling let down by the Liberal government. They do not want to wait any longer and they should not have to wait for action on things that matter to them.

If the Prime Minister was on the side of Canadians, he would have invested in solutions that people need: housing, universal pharmacare and secure retirement. Instead, like the Conservatives, he chooses to give billions of dollars away to the rich while everyone else struggles.

If the Prime Minister is really proud, how can he stand up when Canadians are $200 away from bankruptcy?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, what the member does not understand is that we have made historic investments in Canadians. We are providing $187 billion in mobility and connectivity. We are building roads and bridges. We are building community centres. We are giving work to workers. Families and communities are doing better.

We are building a Canada of the 21st century—green, resilient and modern. That is investing in Canadians. That is what we are doing and that is what we will continue to do.

Natural Resources

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentary Budget Officer's report confirms what the NDP has been saying all along: buying the Trans Mountain pipeline was not a good decision.

The Liberals overpaid for aging infrastructure that will lose value.

Canadians are facing record debt levels, but instead of helping them, the Liberals chose to take our money and buy an old pipe with it. Unbelievable.

Why do the Liberals always choose to help big business instead of the people who really need help?

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

Mr. Speaker, given that 99% of our energy exports go to one single customer, the United States, Canadians understand that now, more than ever, we need to diversify our markets to get a fair price for our resources and create good jobs in Canada.

Our government has full confidence in our energy sector. We will help move the Trans Mountain project forward properly as we protect our environment and hold constructive consultations with indigenous peoples.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals broke their promise to protect the environment and fight climate change when they bought the Trans Mountain pipeline. What is more, according to Équiterre, every dollar invested in renewable energy will create six to eight times more jobs than a dollar invested in fossil fuels, and yet the Liberals still decided to give billions of dollars of taxpayer money to big oil companies.

Why did the Liberals choose to invest in yesterday's energy instead of investing in the energy of the future?

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

Mr. Speaker, as the Parliamentary Budget Officer said, the Trans Mountain project could have a very significant impact on the Canadian economy and, as I mentioned, at a time when 99% of our exports are going to the United States, we felt it would be good for the Canadian economy to diversify its markets. I think that Canadians agree, and that is why we are going ahead with the Trans Mountain expansion in a responsible manner.

Finance

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the government's spending is completely out of control, with year after year of massive deficits with absolutely no end in sight. Canadians know that the only way for this Prime Minister to pay for his spending is to raise taxes. Today's deficits are tomorrow's tax hikes. People are struggling to get by under the current government, and they deserve to know how much their taxes will increase. When are the Liberals going to come clean about their plans to raise taxes?

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the opposition member that, on the contrary, when we took office, we lowered taxes for nine million middle-class Canadians.

By raising taxes on the wealthiest 1%, we were able to introduce the most generous benefit, the Canada child benefit. After 10 years of economic short-sightedness, we also made investments in infrastructure and science to lay the groundwork for long-term prosperity in Canada. Our plan is working. We have one of the fastest growing economies in the G7 with 800,000 new jobs, and our deficit and debt relative to the size of our economy are steadily declining.