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 p.m.

Liberal

Bill Morneau Liberal Toronto Centre, ON

Last week, I was back home in Toronto where I had a chance to visit with some young people at the Boys and Girls Club in Regent Park. It was March break last week, so they were pretty focused on having fun, like kids their age should be.

However, it was clear to me from their questions and from their interactions, how much they cared about each other, about their community and about the world beyond it.

It was a good reminder of what is at stake and of who is counting on us to get things right.

Today, I am happy to share our government's fourth budget entitled “Investing in the Middle Class”.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

5 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh!

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

5:05 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

Order, order. I want to remind members that delay is a tactic that is permissible up to a certain point in the House. Obstruction is not. I am the servant of the House, and as a servant of the House, I am acting in accordance with the House order, and I am required to allow the matter to continue.

The hon. Minister of Finance has the floor.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

5:05 p.m.

Liberal

Bill Morneau Liberal Toronto Centre, ON

Mr. Speaker, just to reiterate, when we came into government in the fall of 2015, unemployment was stubbornly high, wages were stagnant and consumer confidence was in decline. Those are the facts. That was the outcome of years of cuts.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

5:05 p.m.

Some hon. members

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Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

5:10 p.m.

Liberal

Bill Morneau Liberal Toronto Centre, ON

These are just some of the highlights of three and a half years spent working hard every day to strengthen and grow the middle class and make life more affordable for hard-working Canadian families.

Compared to where we were just a few years ago, our economy is doing very well. Since November 2015, hard-working Canadians have created more than 900,000 new jobs, most of them full time. In the last year alone, of all the new jobs created, more than half, 54%, went to Canada’s talented—

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

5:10 p.m.

Some hon. members

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Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

5:10 p.m.

Liberal

Bill Morneau Liberal Toronto Centre, ON

We get Canadian families who are more than $2,000 better off this year, and every year, than they were back in 2015. We also get a country where the middle class is strong and growing, with an economy that works for everyone.

What we need is a concrete and responsible plan to address these very real concerns, so that we build a strong country and a strong economy that gives Canadians every chance at success—

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

5:10 p.m.

Some hon. members

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Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

5:10 p.m.

Liberal

Bill Morneau Liberal Toronto Centre, ON

Our government has been clear since day one. We are going to invest in the middle class and in the things that matter most to Canadians: good jobs, strong communities, a clean environment and better opportunities for future generations. We are going to make these investments to grow our economy for the long term, while we bring the books back toward balance.

When it comes to housing, we have heard from Canadians in communities of all sizes, including our largest cities, like Toronto and Vancouver. They have told us that finding an affordable place to call home is not just a challenge. For too many hard-working Canadians, especially for young people, it feels like—

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

5:10 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh!

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

5:15 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

Order, please. I want to remind members of Standing Order 83(2), which provides:

An Order of the Day for the consideration of a Ways and Means motion or motions shall be designated at the request of a Minister rising in his or her place in the House. When such an Order is designated for a Budget presentation, the Minister shall specify the date and time thereof and the Order shall be deemed to be an Order of the House to sit beyond the ordinary hour of daily adjournment, if required. At the specified time, the Speaker shall interrupt any proceedings then before the House and such proceedings shall be deemed adjourned; and the House shall proceed forthwith to the consideration of the Ways and Means motion for the Budget presentation.

At 5 p.m. on April 27, 1989, Speaker Fraser was in the process of hearing arguments on a question of privilege raised concerning an alleged budget leak. He interrupted the arguments, which he agreed to give a further hearing to at a later time, in order to permit the budget presentation. At that time, the Speaker stated, in Debates on April 27, 1989, at page 1060:

The difficulty the Speaker is in, in this present situation, is that while fully understanding the position of the Official Opposition and the New Democratic Party and fully understanding the reason for it, the fact of the matter is that we now have a House Order, which was passed by the House. I can see no way that I can unilaterally change that.

He continued, after indicating his intention to hear further argument:

However, while I do not know what may eventually happen on the privilege issue, I do know what the House has done with the special House Order. I must advise Hon. Members that I am bound by it. Therefore, it is my duty to recognize the Hon. Minister of Finance.

The hon. member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley is rising on a brief point of order.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

5:15 p.m.

NDP

Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC

Mr. Speaker, thank you for that ruling.

As I was attempting to listen to the finance minister deliver the budget speech, it was, of course, impossible for any member in the House, perhaps even those adjacent to the finance minister, to hear the speech. It is a long-standing privilege in this place that we are able to hear one another, even in the vigorous debates this House sometimes enjoys.

I wonder if there might be a path forward, through you, Mr. Speaker, to allow the small discussion that was attempted prior to the speech taking place. That would enable us to actually continue with the business of the House today and hear the speech, so that members of Parliament and Canadians, through us, can understand what the government is proposing in its budget.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

5:15 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

The hon. member for Carleton is responding to the same point of order, briefly I hope.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

5:15 p.m.

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON

Yes, Mr. Speaker. The point I was attempting to raise earlier on is that the finance minister already presented the budget earlier today, at about five minutes to four o'clock. That was his budget presentation. He was given the opportunity to do so. It just so happens that the presentation occurred before the close of trading on the financial markets, which is at the very least a breach of good management, and possibly something more serious.

However, the reality is that the finance minister has had an opportunity to speak once already. If he is going to be allowed to speak twice, then why is it that the former attorney general has only had an opportunity to speak once and cannot speak again?

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

5:20 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

I thank the hon. member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley and the hon. member for Carleton for their comments. Of course, the finance minister rose earlier on a point of order. He is now speaking on the ways and means motion and the budget presentation. Therefore, the Minister of Finance has the floor.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

5:20 p.m.

Liberal

Bill Morneau Liberal Toronto Centre, ON

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank you for allowing me to proceed. It has obviously been a pleasure to start this speech. I hope the House has heard the parts I have already delivered, but I want to continue from where I was.

What I was getting at was some things that we want to do in the housing market. In particular, I was talking about the fact that we want to take action to crack down on the people who break the rules, who evade taxes or use real estate for money laundering, making housing less affordable for the people who need it.

We want to help more middle-class families find an affordable home today. We are offering new, targeted support for first-time homebuyers. This includes increasing the RRSP homebuyers’ plan withdrawal limit to $35,000 from $25,000, to reflect the realities of house prices today. It includes a new initiative called the first-time homebuyer incentive, which will allow eligible first-time homebuyers to finance a portion of their home purchase through a shared equity mortgage with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, or CMHC. The incentive would give eligible buyers a new source of funds they can use to help keep their monthly costs lower—

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

5:20 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh!

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

5:20 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

Order. I am going to go very briefly to the hon. Leader of the Opposition on a point of order.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

5:20 p.m.

Conservative

Andrew Scheer Conservative Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order.

The actions of the government today have been unprecedented and an assault on democracy. They have shut down the only public investigation into the Prime Minister's SNC-Lavalin corruption scandal, a scandal that touches upon the finance minister himself. The finance minister is today presenting a budget after he has been implicated in an unprecedented assault on the independent rule of law.

Conservatives will not sit idly by while Liberals destroy the integrity of our justice system.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

5:20 p.m.

Some hon. members

Oh, oh!

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

5:20 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

Order. The hon. Minister of Finance.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

5:20 p.m.

Liberal

Bill Morneau Liberal Toronto Centre, ON

Mr. Speaker, I would like to summarize what I have been presenting over the course of the last number of minutes for Canadians, because I know Canadians want to hear what this government is trying to do to ensure that all of us continue to have the good fortune that we expect.

We come into budget 2019 having had very positive economic results over the last three and a half years. We made the decision in 2015 to invest in Canadians. Those investments in Canadians—the addition of the Canada child benefit, for example, and the introduction of the Canada workers benefit—have had important impacts on where we found ourselves economically.

We find ourselves today with the lowest unemployment rates we have seen for 40 years. We have higher workforce participation for women. We have higher workforce participation for disabled people. We have higher workforce participation for indigenous people. We have higher workforce participation for new immigrants. We have higher workforce participation for youth.

That is the position from which we start in thinking about how we can continue to invest in middle-class Canadians. We know that even with those important efforts over the last three and a half years, people remain anxious about the future. They worry about the changes in the global economy. They worry about the things that they and their families are facing today and tomorrow.

Therefore, we know that our work is not done. We know that need to deal with those anxieties and those challenges in a real and important way so that people can continue to have confidence in the future, and that is what budget 2019 is doing.

First and foremost, we thought about our housing market. We have made important efforts over the last three and a half years to make our market more stable. That has been important.

We know that through our investment in affordable housing, we have created more housing units across the country. That is important.

We also know that millennials still see that the possibility of getting into the home market is very challenging, so we have moved forward this year with some important measures to deal with that. We have moved forward with measures that are going to enable people to get into housing because they are going to be able to have a less expensive mortgage.

If someone wants to buy a new condo for $400,000, for example, they could use the incentive to finance 10%, or $40,000. This makes it a little easier for people to buy their first home. This extra money up front reduces the size of their insured mortgage, lowering their mortgage payments by more than $225 a month, or more than $2,700 per year.

That is real help for people who want to own their own home. It is real help for young people, for families and for Canadians who need just that little extra help to make their dream of owning a home a reality.

We have also heard from Canadian workers who are anxious about the changing world of work. This includes young and unemployed Canadians who need help getting into the job market. It also includes more experienced workers, who worry that their existing skills might not be enough for them to find and keep good jobs until it is time to retire, or who want new skills so that they can move up in their current jobs.

Our government believes that Canadians at all stages in their working lives should have the opportunity to learn new skills to take control of their future. To help working Canadians get these skills, we are introducing a new program: the Canada training benefit.

It is a personalized, portable benefit that will help people plan for and get the training they need. It consists of a training credit that will give working Canadians $250 every year to put toward the cost of future training, a credit that will add up to as much as $5,000 over a career.

It also includes a training support benefit, operated through the employment insurance program. With this support, workers will not have to choose between their training needs and their family's needs. They can take the time they need to learn new skills, knowing they have help to cover their living expenses along the way.

Finally, we intend to move forward with leave provisions in conjunction with provinces and territories so that workers can take the time they need for training without worrying about losing their jobs.

Taken together, this means that working Canadians will get four weeks for training every four years with up to $1,000 to help pay for the training, income support to cover lost income and the security of knowing they will have a job to come back to when their training is done. It will give working Canadians greater confidence about their ability to provide for their families down the road.

For employers, it will mean a workforce that has the skills and confidence needed to help grow their businesses and our economy. To make sure that small businesses will not have to pay the price for this new benefit, we will introduce a new EI small business premium rebate.

While the Canada training benefit will help working Canadians succeed, we also know that more needs to be done to help young Canadians get a good start in their working lives. That is why we are taking steps to make education more affordable by lowering the interest rate on Canada student loans and Canada apprentice loans. For the 99% of student borrowers who have a floating interest rate on their Canada student loans, the interest they pay will be lowered to the prime lending rate. That will be very important to students, young people and our economy.

We know that young people want more opportunities to learn while they work and to work while they learn, so we are expanding the student work placement program. This will enable students in all fields, not just those in math and science fields, to find good work placements and get the experience they need.

With this budget, we are setting a target of creating up to 84,000 new student work placements per year across Canada in five years' time. We will be working closely with businesses to create long-term benefits for Canadians. This will be a significant step toward ensuring that, 10 years from now, every young Canadian who wants a work placement will be able to get one.

We have also heard from Canadians who believe strongly, as does our government, that no Canadian should have to go without the medication they need simply because they cannot afford it, yet that is the reality for too many of our friends and neighbours, who struggle under the weight of some of the highest drug costs in the world. When people cannot afford the medicine they need, they are less healthy and less able to contribute in their families, in their work and in their communities, and that costs all of us. Therefore, guided by the early work of the advisory council on the implementation of national pharmacare, we are taking action.

First we will work with provinces and territories on the creation of the Canadian drug agency, which could use its bulk buying power to negotiate better prescription drug prices on behalf of all Canadians.

This would help individual Canadians and seniors and families afford the medicines they need. It would also support the sustainability of the drug plans they rely on today and pave the way for national pharmacare tomorrow.

Second, to help Canadians access the prescription drugs they need no matter where they live, this new agency will work with the provinces and territories to determine which medicines represent the best value for money for Canadians right across the country.

Third, to help Canadians with rare diseases access the drugs that they need, we will take steps to help make some of the most expensive drugs more accessible through a national strategy for high-cost drugs for rare diseases.

Parents of children with rare diseases know these costs all too well. It is not just dollars and cents to these moms and dads: It is nights spent sleeping by a hospital bed, it is a constant worry that never goes away, and it is knowing how much happier and healthier their kids could be if they could just get the treatment that they need.

We know that these measures alone will not fully close the gap for people who need prescription drugs and cannot afford them, but they do mark important first steps on the way to a system that helps all Canadians to get the medicine that they need.

Our publicly funded universal health care system is a source of pride for Canadians and a source of strength for our country. It is a legacy that we are building on with this budget.

We look forward to receiving the advisory council's final report later this spring as we move towards national pharmacare for Canada.

With this budget, we are also doing more for Canada's seniors. Women and men who have worked hard their entire lives deserve a secure and dignified retirement, free of financial worries. These are the Canadians we have helped with the increase to the guaranteed income supplement top-up for single seniors, which boosted benefits for nearly 900,000 low-income seniors and lifted about 57,000 seniors out of poverty.

We also helped to put thousands of dollars back in the pockets of Canadians as they become seniors, by restoring the eligibility age for old age security and the guaranteed income supplement back to 65, after the previous government forced people to wait an extra two years before they could receive those benefits.

With this budget we are taking additional steps to make retirement more financially secure for more Canadians.

To ensure that all Canadian workers receive the full value of the Canada pension plan benefits to which they have contributed, we will proactively enrol Canada pension plan contributors who are 70 or older and who have not yet applied to receive their retirement benefits. With this one change, as many as 40,000 seniors will begin to receive an average of an extra $300 per month starting next year.

To help low-income working seniors, we are enhancing the guaranteed income supplement earnings exemption so that seniors who wish to work can keep more of their pay and benefits.

As important as it is to our shared success that we continue to invest in people, we also know that it is vitally important that we also invest in building a better Canada. That means building strong communities, and one of the ways we do that is by making sure that our cities and our towns have the resources they need to invest in local priorities, whether it is expanding a public transit route, repairing potholes in the spring or building a new playground or community garden.

To give our communities the help they need and to ensure that money earmarked for communities is invested as intended, we will be giving a one-time boost to municipalities through a municipal infrastructure top-up, doubling this year's federal commitment through the gas tax fund.

Transferring funds to communities gets projects built, projects like the Minto Park concession building in Dawson City; the Emerald Park soccer facility in Edenwold, Saskatchewan; and the Armand-Lavoie Amphitheatre in Tracadie, New Brunswick.

Canada's communities are a priority. We promised this help, and we are delivering it.

We also know that in today's connected world, it is more important than ever that Canadians have fast and reliable access to the Internet. This includes everyone, from small businesses looking to reach customers around the world, to seniors who want to stay in touch with family and friends, to college students who want to move home for the summer but still be able to take online courses or apply for work.

For all these people, high-speed Internet is a necessity, not a luxury. That is why, in today's budget, we are announcing a new national plan to get us there.

By 2030, every Canadian home and small business will have access to high-speed Internet, no matter where they are located.

For those people who say 2030 is a long time away, I want to make sure they know that work is already under way. Supported by the accelerated investment incentive introduced last fall, service providers are already working to bring high-speed Internet to more Canadian homes in rural and remote locations.

Building a better Canada also means helping people be part of the clean economy, with energy bills that they can afford and cleaner ways to get around.

That is why, with this budget, we are taking steps to make zero-emission vehicles more affordable for more Canadians, with a new federal purchase incentive of up to $5,000 for electric battery or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles for Canadians who want to make the switch and pay less at the pump. We will also provide immediate expensing to a full range of zero-emission vehicles, so that businesses that want to switch over their fleet can recoup that investment sooner.

To help make monthly electricity bills more affordable, we will enter into a partnership with the Federation of Canadian Municipalities to offer funds to make homes and businesses more energy efficient. This will help support retrofits, like new hot water systems or rooftop solar panels, that can help lower monthly bills.

At the same time, we know that building a better Canada must, by definition, include advancing reconciliation with indigenous peoples. That is why budget 2019 includes important new measures to help advance self-determination and improve the quality of life for first nations, Inuit and Métis Nation peoples.

It includes new investments to better uphold Jordan’s principle, so that first nations children can get the help they need, when they need it, where they need it. It includes new support for indigenous languages, for indigenous entrepreneurs and businesses, for mental health and home care, and for emergency response, all critical parts of healthy and successful indigenous communities.

Most critically, it includes continued investments to make sure that these communities have clean, safe water. There are, today, children living on reserve in Canada who cannot safely drink or bathe in or even play in the water that comes out of their taps. That is not okay.

We will continue to work hard and make the investments that are needed to finally make this right. So far, we have lifted more than 80 long-term water advisories, and we are on track to eliminate all of the advisories in the next two years.

I have shared some details about what budget 2019 will mean for the middle class and people working hard to join it, for working Canadians, young Canadians, seniors and indigenous peoples.

However, I also want to be very clear that this is a budget for people and for communities all across this country.

That includes people who come together to learn, work and pray. Wherever we gather, Canadians should always feel safe. That is why, with this budget, we are doubling our investments to protect our communities from crimes motivated by intolerance and hate.

To better counter racism in Canada, we are moving forward with a new anti-racism strategy. These two measures are especially important right now in our country.

Also, in recognition of the United Nations Decade for People of African Descent, we will work with community leaders to help celebrate and raise awareness of black Canadian communities.

To give more people here in Canada and around the world a chance to see, hear and appreciate our talented and diverse artists, we are making new investments that will help support our musicians and bring festivals and performing arts series to more communities across the country.

Canada is also a country where we take care of each other in our times of need, including times of serious and life-threatening mental distress. To support people who need immediate crisis support, we will work with experienced and dedicated partners to support, across Canada, a suicide prevention service. It will be available in English and French by phone, text or chat, 24-7, so that no one who needs help goes without.

For people in the prairie provinces and parts of western Canada who are critically ill or injured and need emergency medical help, we are investing $65 million in new emergency ambulance helicopters for the region's Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service, or STARS.

Because we know that our prairie provinces are especially vulnerable to the extreme weather events that go hand-in-hand with climate change, and because we value our hard-working farmers and ranchers who help to feed us and keep our economy strong, we will work with our western partners on a plan to protect water and soil in the Prairies.

To ensure that Canada's dairy, poultry and egg farmers can continue to provide Canadians with high-quality products in a world of freer trade, we will make available an income protection program for supply-managed farmers, along with a measure to protect the value of quota investments these farmers have already made.

In the east, to maintain safe and reliable ferry services that people in Atlantic Canada rely on, we will extend support for existing services and look to procure three new modern ferries.

Even for those who do not speak French, that is a good measure.

In communities all across the country, we know that hundreds of thousands of Canadians are living with cancer. Every single day, about 565 people receive a cancer diagnosis and around 220 people die from cancer. It is something that touches every community and most of our families. To help give more cancer patients and their families help and hope, we will provide the Terry Fox Research Institute with up to $150 million to establish a national Marathon of Hope cancer centres network.

Another illness that touches the lives of millions of Canadians is dementia. With this budget, we are investing $50 million to support Canada’s first national dementia strategy. This will give people living with dementia a better quality of life and ensure that their caregivers, who are primarily women, get the help and support they need as well.

To ensure that our asylum system is fair and effective, supporting Canada's reputation as a country that is welcoming as well as governed by the rule of law, we will invest in a comprehensive border enforcement strategy, to better detect and intercept people who cross into Canada irregularly and those that attempt to exploit our immigration system.

We will also renew our Middle East strategy for another two years to support humanitarian, development, stabilization, security, intelligence and diplomatic activities across the region, in addition to our military contribution.

To ensure greater fairness in our tax system, we will take action to limit the benefit of the stock option deduction for executives of large, long-established corporations, while ensuring that everyday employees are not affected and that start-ups and emerging Canadian businesses can continue to grow, attract talent and create more good jobs.

We live in a world that is changing and changing quickly. Canadians know that we cannot stop the trends that are already transforming the world around us, things like new technologies and more automation. All that they ask for is a chance to find their way in this new world, with help from the government so that they can have their best shot at building a good future for themselves, their children and their grandchildren.

That is what we are doing with this budget. We are investing in the middle class and in their future, so that when young people graduate from school, they already have the experience they need to get a good job, with student debt they can afford to pay down and a real chance at owning their own home.

We are investing in the middle class so that when seniors retire, they can look forward to spending their time with family and friends, not worrying about how they will pay their bills every month.

We have invested so that every Canadian can feel good about what the future holds, be confident about their place in the changing world and so that Canadian kids, like the ones I spent time with last week in Toronto, can grow up in a country where nothing holds them back.

That is what is at stake. That is what we can accomplish together when we invest in the middle class.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

5:50 p.m.

Conservative

Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is covering up his corruption with $41 billion in brand new spending that he will pay for with higher taxes after the election, if he is re-elected. In this sense, it is the most expensive cover-up in the history of cover-ups. It is the Liberal two-step: big deficit spending to distract from corruption before the election and big tax hikes to pay for it after the election.

Here we are, full circle. In the last budget, the finance minister quietly introduced changes to the Criminal Code that allowed large corporations accused of fraud, bribery and other corruption to avoid trial by signing a special deal. We did not know why he was doing that, but we soon found out when we learned that the finance minister and the Prime Minister pressured the former attorney general to offer a special deal to end the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin for over $100 million of bribery and fraud.

The finance minister has, so far, been running scared and unwilling to answer questions about the pressure he applied on the former attorney general. She testified to that pressure. She said that his chief of staff did likewise to her personnel.

If the finance minister has nothing to hide, will he appear before a parliamentary committee to answer questions about the pressure and the interference he carried out on the former attorney general with regard to the SNC-Lavalin corruption scandal, yes or no?

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetRoutine Proceedings

5:55 p.m.

Liberal

Bill Morneau Liberal Toronto Centre, ON

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for talking about our budget for a very brief part of his commentary. I want to address those issues first and foremost.

What he said was, in fact, in one way, absolutely true. We have decided to make investments on behalf of middle-class Canadians so that we can improve their situation over the long term.

As Canadians look at budget 2019, they will see this as particularly good news. They will see that what this government has done since the very beginning is make investments in them and in their future. They will also see that those investments have demonstrably worked. What has happened over the last three and a half years is that there have been investments in Canadians, investments in their families and more jobs and opportunities for their children. We are in a much better situation than we have been in for the entirety of the hon. member for Carleton's life in terms of having much lower unemployment than he has ever seen in his life.

I go out to see people in my constituency, as the member for Carleton goes out to see people in his constituency. What he will find if he does that during the day is that people will actually be at work, because they are working in good, full-time jobs that have been created over the last three and a half years. That is the kind of effort we have made on behalf of Canadians. We are going to continue doing that each and every day.

Where the member for Carleton was absolutely incorrect was when he talked about the impact of what the Liberals have done. If he looked carefully at the numbers, he would recognize that we have the very best balance sheet among G7 countries, and we have made it better every single year. We have reduced our amount of debt every single year as a proportion of our economy. That is important for us to notice, and it is important for all Canadians to see. Investing in Canadians in a fiscally responsible way is a way for the future of this country.