House of Commons Hansard #392 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was children.

Topics

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

5:55 p.m.

NDP

Pierre-Luc Dusseault NDP Sherbrooke, QC

Mr. Speaker, today, the Liberal government presented its last-chance budget. As with the previous budgets from the past few years, this was a missed opportunity. Since the government is embroiled in a scandal involving political interference in the justice system, it knew that this was probably its last chance to effect significant, lasting change. However, this is just another missed opportunity. Instead, the government is fuelling political cynicism by repeating election promises it made in 2015 and has yet to keep. It is now 2019.

The pharmacare that the Liberals have been promising for 20 years will have to wait. During the election campaign, the Liberals will try to make people believe that this time, it will work out, and that they can trust them.

Supply-managed farmers will also have to wait to get any money, even though the impact of CETA and the TPP has been known for some time. They will have to wait until after the election. What is more, there is nothing about NAFTA 2.0.

Tax fairness will also have to wait, as the Liberals admitted that they have recovered only a fraction of the $25 billion targeted. Deductions for stock options are known to be very regressive. The Minister of Finance says that we will have to do something about that later. In the meantime, $1.3 billion went into the pockets of 2,000 people who earned more than $1 million in 2017. The web giants continue to get a free pass under the Liberal government until the next election.

The worst thing of all is the lack of ambition with respect to the environment. Young people marched in the streets last Friday and on the weekend calling for concrete action on climate change. The Liberals allocated a measly $87 million. Of the $40 billion in new government expenditures, $87 million has been allocated to Environment and Climate Change Canada.

My question is simple. Considering the clear lack of leadership on this crucial issue, when will the minister and his government step aside and let real leaders on climate change turn things around?

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

6 p.m.

Liberal

Bill Morneau Liberal Toronto Centre, ON

Mr. Speaker, we decided to proceed with our approach of investing in the middle class, in the measures that the member mentioned. For example, we have taken significant steps towards a national pharmacare system. This is very important. We had a report. We started with measures that will serve as a foundation for our system. We must be responsible, so that Canadians have access to a system that works in the long term. This is our approach and it is very important.

As for supply management, we have clearly explained that we found an approach. There will be $2.4 billion for the supply management sector. This is the same approach as the previous government's. This is significant. We will continue holding discussions to ensure that this sector remains stable.

With respect to climate change, our party is the one that decided to put a price on carbon. This is the most significant thing we did to improve our situation. We will continue with this strategy because we know that it is very important to our future and to our children's and grandchildren's futures.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

6 p.m.

Bloc

Louis Plamondon Bloc Bécancour—Nicolet—Saurel, QC

Mr. Speaker, I want to start by saying that the Bloc Québécois in no way endorses the Conservative Party's actions during the budget speech. We have a great deal of respect for tradition in the House, and there are solemn moments that deserve respect. There are also times for debate. Democracy is first and foremost about debate, not about making noise.

Minister, when you presented your budget, I noticed that Quebec was ignored—

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

6 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

Order. I would ask the member to address his comments through the Chair.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

6 p.m.

Bloc

Louis Plamondon Bloc Bécancour—Nicolet—Saurel, QC

Mr. Speaker, as a new member, I forgot about that.

In the budget presented by the Minister of Finance, there is no mention of what Quebec wanted. The three main items that the Legault government had raised were Montreal's blue line, Quebec City's streetcars and a contract for the Davie shipyard. None of those are in the budget.

We had also hoped that web giants would be taxed just like Bell and Vidéotron. This will be a big disappointment for Quebec.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

6 p.m.

Liberal

Bill Morneau Liberal Toronto Centre, ON

Mr. Speaker, I would like to start by thanking the member for his comments about decorum in the House. That is very important.

We certainly continue to work with the Government of Quebec. We have spoken with its representatives several times to ensure that we are collaborating on implementing our approach and our infrastructure investments, which will improve the situation in Quebec. That is important.

We will be collaborating on other issues, such as our pharmacare system. We will continue to work with the Government of Quebec to make things better for the people of Quebec. That is very important.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

6:05 p.m.

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is covering up his corruption under $41 billion of brand new spending, which he will pay for with higher taxes if he is re-elected. This must be the biggest and most expensive cover-up in the history of cover-ups. It is the new Liberal two-step: Use massive deficits to get out of a big scandal before Canadians vote, and then hit them with tax hikes after they vote.

It is interesting, the irony that is in the air today, because it was a year ago that this Minister of Finance stood in this place to introduce a budget and failed to mention a tiny little detail that he wanted to sneak into the eventual 600-page omnibus budget bill that he would introduce. That was an amendment to the Criminal Code. It was discovered in the finance committee as members from all parties were leafing through this massive tome of paper and stumbled upon an amendment to the Criminal Code.

The reaction was astonishment by all sides. In fact, the Liberal member for Hull—Aylmer said it left a bad taste in his mouth. He said that he had the impression, in reading the amendment, that if he stole just $10 he would be in trouble, but that if he stole $10 million he would be just fine. That was how he interpreted the finance minister's amendments to the Criminal Code.

What boggled us all was the question of who was asking for this. We had travelled around our communities and we had not stumbled upon a single person who was interested in helping corporate crooks get off without conviction, so why would the finance minister slip such a measure into that budget? We found out, did we not?

In February of this year, The Globe and Mail broke a story that the Prime Minister had personally and politically pressured his attorney general in order to shelve the charges against a Liberal-linked corporation, SNC-Lavalin. Lavalin was known to everyone as the company that gave $100,000 of illegal donations to the Liberal Party, having been caught and having to return that money. It was known for prominent links through its massive army of lobbyists, who swarm around the Hill and spend inordinate amounts of time, according to the public lobbyist registry, with people like the finance minister and the staff of the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister said that none of it was true, that it was all a lie. As proof that it was all a lie, he said that his attorney general was in his cabinet, and if she was so upset, why did she not leave? The next day she did. She resigned from his cabinet.

Eventually, we learned more. After a massive pressure campaign to let her speak, the Prime Minister backed down and lifted—partially—the gag order on the former attorney general. He allowed her to appear before the justice committee and to speak, but not too much. She was only allowed to testify about events that occurred before she was removed as attorney general. Anything that happened after that period was to remain a secret. She did not have legal authorization as a former minister to say anything.

Therefore, when the former attorney general was asked why she resigned, she indicated she could not say. When she was asked about her meetings with the Prime Minister in January and February, she told us she could not say. She did name seven senior officials in the current Liberal government who she says “interfered”, “made veiled threats”, “hounded”, and “pressured” her to shelve the charges into SNC-Lavalin. She even went as far as to compare it to the “Saturday Night Massacre”, a reference to Richard Nixon's Watergate firings.

What did the government do then? Soon afterward, there were attacks on her. Senior Liberals, including a former deputy Liberal Prime Minister, attacked her for her indigenous roots and for her gender.

The Liberals then sent out Michael Wernick to give a partisan speech. This is the Prime Minister's supposedly non-partisan top public service official. He turned the top public service official into a partisan actor, and we have seen the scandal unfold from there.

So far, it has been an incredible spectacle. The former attorney general has resigned. The Treasury Board president has resigned. The top public servant in the Liberal government has resigned, and the Prime Minister's principal secretary and best friend, his most important adviser, has resigned. Everyone has resigned, but no one did anything wrong, the Liberals assure us.

Today, just to make sure, the Conservatives put forward a motion at the justice committee to continue the investigation, to allow the former attorney general to complete her testimony and to call the full list of top government officials she says pressured her so that they could be questioned under oath. The Prime Minister sent his majority members and shut down the investigation to make sure that the truth would not come to light.

We know that the justifications the Liberals have given for all these cover-ups and scandals make no sense. They claimed that it was all about jobs. The Prime Minister claimed that the headquarters of the company would leave immediately if the former attorney general did not interfere and shelve the charges. We now know that this is impossible. The company must stay headquartered in Montreal on the basis of a $1.5-billion loan agreement with the Quebec pension plan.

We also know that SNC-Lavalin is responsible for the five biggest construction projects in Canada, worth $52 billion, which physically can only be done here in Canada. We cannot have a rail transit system for the city of Ottawa built in London, England, or in Beijing and then dropped out of a helicopter onto the nation's capital. It obviously has to be done here, and therefore, the jobs not only are going nowhere but can go nowhere.

Furthermore, we know that the public procurement minister is working on an exemption so that even if the company is convicted, it will still be allowed to bid on federal contracts. Therefore, this is not about jobs. This is about protecting corporate cronies of the Prime Minister.

Today the Prime Minister carried out another abuse of power. The first was when he tried to interfere with the justice system, and today he interfered with the justice committee to shut down the investigation and cover up what is to be—

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

6:10 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

I want to refer the member to House of Commons Procedure and Practice by Bosc and Gagnon, third edition, which, at page 902, states:

Following the budget speech, the Speaker recognizes a representative of the official opposition, usually the finance critic, who, after a brief speech, moves the adjournment of the debate, which is then deemed adopted. In doing so, that Member reserves the right to speak first when debate on the motion resumes at a subsequent sitting. The Speaker then adjourns the House until the next sitting day.

Can I presume that the member will be wrapping up quickly?

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

6:10 p.m.

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON

Yes, Mr. Speaker, and thank you for that polite reminder. I will, indeed, wrap up very quickly, to the great dismay of the many supporters I have around me today anxious to have me continue.

The reality is that the Prime Minister is spending $41 billion in brand new spending to drown out the corruption scandal of SNC-Lavalin, money he will pay for, if he is re-elected, through massive tax increases. This is the same strategy Kathleen Wynne, whose adviser was Gerald Butts, imposed on Ontario.

It is not new to the Prime Minister to do such things. After all, he has raised taxes before on Canadian families. He has covered up the true cost of his carbon tax, and he is running out of other people's money. This latest spending splurge will cost Canadian taxpayers a fortune. He knows a lot about a fortune, as he inherited one, but most Canadians do not, so they cannot afford higher taxes.

In conclusion, we, as the official opposition, will champion amendments to this budget, which will require the government to live within its means, leave more in people's pockets, make life more affordable and let Canadians get ahead.

With that, I move:

That the debate be now adjourned.

(Motion agreed to)

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

6:15 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

Pursuant to Standing Order 83(2), the motion is deemed adopted and the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 2 p.m.

(The House adjourned at 6:16 p.m.)