House of Commons Hansard #404 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was liberals.

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Budget Implementation Act, 2019, No. 1Government Orders

12:25 p.m.

Liberal

Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to rise in the House this afternoon to speak to budget 2019, on behalf of my constituents. I will be sharing my time with the member for Parkdale—High Park.

Budget 2019 continues to build on the Liberal vision for Canada, and this is a vision for a prosperous Canada, where all boats rise together. This, of course, is a precondition for a harmonious democracy where social justice reigns. We know that when there is growing inequality, the middle class, in fact everyone, loses faith in the democratic institutions that are so important to this country. Therefore, it is very important not only for our economy but for our democracy that we strengthen the middle class and that we have a prosperous economy where, as I said, all boats rise together.

Our vision for the middle class is focused on three things, and this has been a recurring theme throughout the three and a half years we have had the great privilege and honour of making decisions in government. Those three things are, first, rebuilding and expanding our infrastructure; second, creating a 21st-century labour force; and third, creating an environmentally sustainable economy that generates jobs and a better quality of life.

Yes, it is important to have jobs, and it is important to have prosperity. However, if we have all of that and our quality of life is degrading because our environment is degrading and the risk to our health is increasing because of a poor environment, people will start asking themselves what they are working for. Obviously, we are working to put our skills and talents to good use, but we are also working to live in a country that has a good quality of life and a strong democracy. We pursue these objectives while at the same time giving a helping hand to those who may need a bit of a hand to participate more fully in the economy.

As a result, this budget includes measures to help seniors who are on GIS actually earn more money before their GIS payments are affected. Of course, in past budgets, we have instituted measures that will help children, who are tomorrow's leaders and workers. We have included measures like the Canada child benefit to ensure that they can grow up strong and healthy and be good citizens and productive members of the economy.

Finally, going back to budget 2018, we have instituted measures to improve the chances of success for women entrepreneurs and to increase the participation rate of women in the labour force. As we know, if we can have a labour force participation rate for women that is equal to that of men, our GDP, by some estimates, could be boosted by 4%, which is not insignificant. As I said, budget 2019 builds on that vision.

I will speak a little about infrastructure.

Infrastructure is about more than just fixing potholes. That said, fixing potholes is not a minor thing, it is important. Not so long ago someone said to me that if everyone took the money they spent fixing their cars and aligning wheels every year because of potholes and put that money into RRSPs, they would all have quite a nest egg on their retirement. Potholes are a real problem.

However, infrastructure is about more than that. It is about building the capacity we need to have a strong 21st-century economy, not only today but in the future. Infrastructure is about building capacity to communicate, not only through high-speed Internet access but also through public transportation to allow people to go from point A to point B for business meetings, for example, meetings that create wealth.

I know that a lot is done on the Internet, but if we ask experts in business or the economy, they tell us that face-to-face meetings are important in terms of generating the relationships and creating the networks that are fundamentally at the root of all wealth creation.

What else would the budget do? It would focus on creating, as I said, a 21st-century labour force. One of the main measures in the budget that would help to do this is the Canada training benefit. As we know, skills gaps hold the economy back. They hold the economy back even more when it is an economy that, because of the accelerating rate of technological change, is moving ahead very quickly. The Canada training benefit would offer a lifetime training credit of up to $5,000, earned at a rate of $250 per year, to those who wished to upgrade their skills for the 21st-century economy.

Attached to that Canada training benefit would be an EI benefit of four weeks, which would allow people to earn some income while they were retraining. It is fine to say that there would be money to pay for courses so people could retrain, but they would be off work, so they would not be able to sustain themselves during that period. Therefore, attached to the Canada training benefit would be an important EI benefit.

As I say, we have also in the past invested money in the Business Development Bank specifically for female entrepreneurs and so on.

On the environment, glaciers are melting, floodwaters are rising and heatwaves endanger the lives of the vulnerable. By the vulnerable, I mean seniors and those who cannot escape urban heat islands. All this is happening while the Conservatives twiddle their thumbs.

What have we done? We have brought in a price on pollution. Experts agree that if we are serious about combatting climate change, the cheapest and most efficient way to do that is through a price on pollution. I quote The Guardian newspaper, which said, not long ago, “Economists widely agree that introducing a carbon price is the single most effective way for countries to reduce their emissions.”

I am very proud that our government has launched a federal backstop, which will apply to the four provinces that have not instituted mechanisms for pricing carbon pollution. Of course, with that backstop comes a remittance to the citizens of those provinces so that at the end of the day, the price on pollution does not impact their family budgets.

Many constituents have said that a price on pollution is great but that we need to do more. In fact, that is what our government is doing. We are bringing in a clean-fuel standard, which will be based on a system of tradable credits. I know that the Conservatives do not like systems of tradable credits, but this clean-fuel standard will incentivize fuel distributors and others to modify their fuel so that they emit less in greenhouse gas emissions. Also, if we look at the experience in California, we see that a clean-fuel standard will encourage, for example, transit companies to shift to electric fleets, so that is very important.

What else are we doing? We are investing in creating a pan-Canadian network of electric charging stations and natural gas and hydrogen refuelling stations. As a matter of fact, I am very pleased and proud that our government announced recently, back in January, a $5-million investment to build 100 fast-charging stations for electric vehicles in the province of Quebec, including, I am pleased to say, two stations in Beaconsfield, in my riding of Lac-Saint-Louis, and two stations in Kirkland, also in my constituency. They will be built by Hydro Quebec, with funding from NRCan's electric vehicle and alternative fuel infrastructure deployment initiative.

What else are we doing to increase demand for zero-emissions vehicles, including plug-in hybrids? This budget would take the very important step of offering up to a $5,000 incentive for those who purchase those vehicles.

I am very proud of the budget. It is making progress in many important areas.

Budget Implementation Act, 2019, No. 1Government Orders

12:35 p.m.

NDP

Pierre Nantel NDP Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Lac-Saint-Louis for his speech.

I noted that he spoke with great pride about the budget and also that he insisted we must fight global warming. I thank him for that, because I believe we do not discuss it enough.

I would like to ask him two questions. First, given that he spoke about plug-in hybrids, I would like him to remind me whether plug-in hybrids such as the Chrysler Pacifica, which is built in Windsor and is the only vehicle of this kind made in Canada, will be eligible. Could he please refresh my memory and provide details about that?

Second, since he is an experienced politician, he knows full well that over the next six months the only thing the parties are going to do is sling mud at one another and quarrel about whether there will be a carbon tax. That will be a pointless fight. I would like to know what he thinks of that.

Take, for example, the resignation of Nicolas Hulot in France. He said that partisan politics do not work. We do not want yellow vests in Canada. There was the United We Roll movement. We must find a consensus and the social licence for what needs to be done.

Does my colleague not agree that it would be good if, before the end of this session, we could come up with a non-partisan, all-party approach to meeting our greenhouse gas reduction targets?

Budget Implementation Act, 2019, No. 1Government Orders

12:35 p.m.

Liberal

Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for both of his questions.

In answer to his first question, I would say that the budget has not yet been been approved. However, I assume that the details of the program to provide subsidies of up to $5,000 are currently being worked out. I cannot answer his question because we do not have the details yet. I think that those who make their purchase after the budget comes into effect will be eligible for the subsidy, but we do not have the details yet.

With regard to the non-partisan policy, I completely agree that people need to talk. We talk here in the House because we are a democracy. Even though we may not agree, we must not turn our backs on each other. We need to listen to each other because we are not listening just for ourselves as members. We are also listening on behalf of our constituents, some of whom obviously did not vote for our party. I completely agree that we need to stop throwing mud. That is how we will move forward. I know that, often, it is in committee that we work together to meet important objectives, including those pertaining to the fight against climate change.

Budget Implementation Act, 2019, No. 1Government Orders

12:40 p.m.

Saint Boniface—Saint Vital Manitoba

Liberal

Dan Vandal LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indigenous Services

Mr. Speaker, one of the issues I am very proud that we have dealt with since being elected as a government is that we have removed 81 long-term boil water advisories across Canada. There are under 60 left. It is not perfect, as the NDP would have it be, but it is very good, and we are going in the right direction.

Budget 2019 has $739 million over five years for boil water removals, with at least $200 million in the next year or year and a half. I know the member has a particular interest and expertise in water. I wonder if he could talk about the importance of this initiative.

Budget Implementation Act, 2019, No. 1Government Orders

12:40 p.m.

Liberal

Francis Scarpaleggia Liberal Lac-Saint-Louis, QC

Mr. Speaker, that is an important question and the kind of thing we should be talking about in this House instead of engaging in hyperpartisanship.

That $700 million is added to the $1.8 billion that we committed to over five years. Indeed, many Canadians were wondering why we could not solve this problem. It was a question of funding, of course, but it was also a question of political will. Our government has made a priority of removing these long-term drinking water advisories, and it is because of a focus of attention, in addition to the funds, that we have made progress.

I know that we are extremely committed. The Prime Minister is fundamentally committed to removing all long-term drinking water advisories by March 2021, and the member is right that we are on the right track. We are going to get there and that will be a proud moment for Canada.

Budget Implementation Act, 2019, No. 1Government Orders

12:40 p.m.

Parkdale—High Park Ontario

Liberal

Arif Virani LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and to the Minister of Democratic Institutions

Mr. Speaker, I will continue the excellent commencement to this debate in this 20-minute segment by carrying on from the comments that were made by the member who just spoke.

I am rising in the chamber to speak to Bill C-97, the budget implementation act. This bill continues our government's commitment to put forward a progressive and positive agenda for all Canadians.

This budget has received praise from numerous sources. I have heard about it from the engaged and informed constituents of my riding of Parkdale—High Park, some of whom are here observing the proceedings today. Welcome, Mr. Van Dam.

This legislation will fund important initiatives in relationship to the environment, in relationship to anti-racism, in relationship to support for places of worship, indigenous languages, students, the LGBTQ2 community, infrastructure, health initiatives, social finance and so much more.

During my remarks today I will detail the highlights of this budget that relate to Bill C-97, which will improve the lives of my constituents in Parkdale—Hyde Park as well as Canadians right across the country.

First, it is important to thank the many stakeholders and individual Canadians for their hard work in advocating for various causes and issues raised in the budget by presenting their submissions to the Minister of Finance and the finance committee.

I want to begin my substantive remarks with one of the most important priorities for our country and for the world at large, as was just touched upon in the previous statements. It is the issue of climate change and its impact on our environment.

I agree wholeheartedly with the question that was posed by the NDP heritage critic about this issue needing to be a pan-governmental issue and a nonpartisan issue. Unfortunately, to date it has not been.

As many Canadians know, our government has placed a price on pollution, and it came into full force on April 1 of this year. This is a historic tool that will ensure that pollution is no longer free, and it reflects what I hear from my constituents and people right around this country: that climate change is absolutely real and that we must take action now.

In budget 2019 and through this very bill, we are taking steps in our plan to protect the environment and at the same time grow a clean economy while making life more affordable for Canadians.

This budget implementation legislation would implement a few additional measures, such as our $1-billion plan for investments in energy efficiency, which includes our new home retrofit program to help Canadians lower their electricity and energy bills.

It also includes a new $5,000 subsidy for Canadians investing in zero-emission vehicles. Those are Canadians in my riding of Parkdale—High Park and Canadians in every riding of this country. The bill will also support zero-emission vehicle manufacturing right here in Canada.

This is how we are making meaningful progress on fighting climate change now.

Next is an issue that touches all of us in this country, including residents in Parkdale—High Park in Toronto: the cost of housing.

Everyone deserves an affordable place to call home, but far too often Canadians are being priced out of the housing market. This bill would implement housing investments from budget 2019 that we are making to address housing affordability.

An important initiative is the first-time homebuyers incentive, which will allow first-time homebuyers to reduce their monthly insured mortgage payments by way of a shared equity mortgage from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, CMHC, which would not have to be paid off until the unit is eventually resold. The shared equity mortgage could be up to 10% for a new build or up to 5% for a repurchase.

We are also allowing Canadians to withdraw, without penalty, an additional $10,000 from their RRSPs for the purpose of buying a home.

As well, we are increasing the funds for the rental construction financing initiative, which will help to build thousands of new, well-priced units right around country. That is important, because we have heard constantly that in order to address housing, we have to address the supply.

Bill C-97 would also implement our plan to modernize the Canada homebuyers' plan. This plan is intended to assist Canadians with their down payment and, by extension, the costs of purchasing a home. With this legislation, we are increasing the homebuyers' plan withdrawal limit from $25,000 to $35,000, which will make it more flexible to adapt to changing familial circumstances. That is in reference to the RRSP notion that I raised earlier.

This is on top of our overall $40-billion national housing strategy that now exceeds $50 billion when we combine previous budgetary allocations with the allocations currently being made. This national housing strategy has already been a tremendous success right around the country.

How does it affect my riding? I will explain how. It will affect my riding in two concrete ways.

First, we have five federally subsidized co-ops in my riding of Parkdale—High Park. Every single one of the tenants who has a rent-geared-to-income subsidy provided by the federal government will have that subsidy renewed by virtue of this budget and by virtue of our policies on housing.

Second, we have made a historic announcement of $1.3 billion for the national housing strategy that will come directly to Toronto to help those who are in social housing. It will come to the Toronto Community Housing Corporation. This is the single largest investment in Canadian history that is dedicated directly to municipalities, and 58,000 units will be affected. It will help to renovate, maintain and repair the housing stock, ensuring that the housing stock remains on the market so that people are appropriately housed. That is what a housing strategy does. That is what I am proud to defend here as a government member.

Our infrastructure investments do not stop there. Once again, we are stepping up while governments like the provincial government of Doug Ford are stepping out. In particular, we are investing $2.2 billion into the federal gas tax fund. That gas tax transfer is being doubled this year through this budget so that municipalities can commence much-needed infrastructure repair. This is how we will ensure that infrastructure funding gets exactly where it needs to go, and more importantly, it will go to those who have the ability to actually get the projects done, meaning local and municipal governments and grassroots community organizations.

Why are we taking this step? It is because it was asked for by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities. Those municipalities have expressed their absolute frustration with governments like the one in Ontario led by Premier Ford, which has stubbornly refused to get moving on much-needed infrastructure repairs purely because of partisan considerations. What we are doing is going directly to those municipalities to address their needs.

This budget implementation bill would also implement Canada's first ever poverty reduction strategy by entrenching an official poverty line and the national advisory council on poverty into law. This is in addition to the incredible news this year that the poverty initiatives implemented by our government are indeed working. Statistics released earlier this year show that 825,000 Canadians have been lifted out of poverty and that we are three years ahead of the targets we set as a government. Thanks to federal initiatives, poverty has fallen 20% since 2015. A hallmark of that initiative is the Canada child benefit and its targeted, means-tested approach.

We are continuing with the other important commitments we have made. We are entrenching pay transparency with this bill. As we well know, currently women in Canada earn approximately 87¢ on the dollar compared to men. This is absolutely unacceptable. Last year's budget introduced pay equity measures, and in order to reduce the wage gap, this year's budget will introduce new pay transparency measures in Canada for federally regulated employers. With this legislation, we will require employers to include new salary data in their annual reports to the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour in order to ensure total pay transparency. This is important because it will have an impact on Canadians.

I want to pick up on a question that was asked to the previous member, who spoke about indigenous reconciliation and how it is vested in this budget. It is vested in two critically important ways.

The first is in providing supports of over $300 million for indigenous language maintenance, protection and revitalization. I was very proud to have worked on the development of Bill C-91, which would revitalize, protect and promote indigenous languages during my time as parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage. We are now coupling that statutory instrument with the financial resources to make it a reality. This is something that has been lauded by indigenous leaders, and rightly so, because it puts money to the commitments we have made to reconcile with indigenous peoples through promoting their language faculties.

Second, it needs to be stated over and over again that the situation of boil water advisories on reserves is deplorable, but we are making active changes to that situation. Thus far, we have lifted 81 boil water advisories around Canada. We are on track to lift all of them by March 2021. To demonstrate our commitment to this goal, we have dedicated an additional $733 million in this year's budget to that very important goal to ensure that no person in Canada, particularly no indigenous person, has to boil their water in order to drink safe water.

Those are the kinds of commitments that people have talked about to me in my riding. Those are the kinds of commitments toward housing, to reconciliation, to poverty elimination, to women, to addressing economic circumstances and job creation that people prioritize. This is a budget that I am proud to stand behind, and I urge every member of this chamber to do exactly the same.

Budget Implementation Act, 2019, No. 1Government Orders

12:50 p.m.

NDP

Georgina Jolibois NDP Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK

Mr. Speaker, after listening to the government representative speak about indigenous issues, I want to correct that side about the deplorable conditions the majority of indigenous people have to live in, with poor housing and inadequate homes. The government did not even support the amendments to change and strengthen the current legislation regarding the indigenous languages he talks about. There were suggestions made by witnesses to spend up to a billion dollars and take this seriously and the government said no.

The government could not even say yes to ensuring that the commissioner would be indigenous. It said no to that, leaving it open. It has done it in the past and continues to show that anything to do with indigenous people it does not support. It has consistent records on that, from poor housing, poor education, the languages and the list goes on.

The government talks about boil water advisories. Whoop-de-do. It wants to take pride in saying that, but how many indigenous people does it actually know and visit, like the elders, the single moms, the young people, the schools, the health care facilities and even the RCMP, to see how they have to live.

We live in Canada and the indigenous file that the government is happy about is not a good plan. How can it continue to improve? The government can praise the numbers in the budget, but what about the boil drinking water advisories and the language legislation?

Why did the government not support amending the legislation to ensure that the commissioner would be of indigenous heritage?

Budget Implementation Act, 2019, No. 1Government Orders

12:55 p.m.

Liberal

Arif Virani Liberal Parkdale—High Park, ON

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite for her continued advocacy on behalf of her constituents and for indigenous peoples in Canada. It is a contribution to this House and it is an important voice that is being heard.

In the work that was done on Bill C-91, which is the indigenous languages act, first, we took the important step of co-developing that act, meeting with first nations, Métis and Inuit leaders around the country. I participated in those consultations, as did the former minister of heritage, as well as the current Minister of Heritage.

Secondly, we have tabled historic legislation, because we know that the policy of assimilation manifested by the residential school system was one of gross assimilation and effectively cultural genocide, as was described by Beverley McLachlin. We know that when we restore language capacity, we restore people's connections to their culture, their self-esteem and their education, and their economic outcomes improve.

With respect to this specifically, this issue was raised by the TRC calls to action 13, 14 and 15 and were responded to by virtue of tabling this very legislation. The monetary amounts complement the important statutory instrument.

With respect to the committee issues that she is raising, I am not aware of how committee proceedings proceeded, nor what the basis was for making a determination or predetermining who would fulfill the role of the official commissioner.

I will always stand behind our government's commitment to indigenous reconciliation and the fact that it informs every single mandate letter for every single minister in this cabinet, the fact that we have tabled language legislation, child welfare legislation and that we have lifted 81 boil water advisories and are on track to continue to lift all of them by March 2021.

Budget Implementation Act, 2019, No. 1Government Orders

12:55 p.m.

Liberal

Lloyd Longfield Liberal Guelph, ON

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Parkdale—High Park, who is my middle daughter's member of Parliament. She has a young family and she is looking at things around the Canada child benefit and improving cash flow as a young family.

As I mentioned earlier, credit market borrowing fell by 19.5% in 2018. Cash flow is getting improved by policies that we are introducing. Maybe the member could comment on how we are trying to help cash flow for young families.

Budget Implementation Act, 2019, No. 1Government Orders

12:55 p.m.

Liberal

Arif Virani Liberal Parkdale—High Park, ON

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to represent the member for Guelph's daughter, in terms of having her as a constituent.

What I can say to her, and to many others who live in Parkdale—High Park, is that this is exactly what we are trying to do as a government, broadly. The very first thing we voted on after selecting the Speaker was reducing the taxation burden on middle-income Canadians. That is critical because it puts more money in the pockets of families like his daughter's.

By doing that, what we empower them to do, through things like the middle-class tax cut and the Canada child benefit, which targets people who are raising families, is to take control of their own spending and to spend on what is important for their own families, whether that is purchasing their first home or putting their kids in a new course.

Budget Implementation Act, 2019, No. 1Government Orders

12:55 p.m.

Conservative

Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB

Mr. Speaker, I am going to be sharing my time today with my colleague from Louis-Saint-Laurent. For those who are watching at home and who may be quickly bored by my speech, if they hang in there for 10 minutes, they will hear a much better speech after by my colleague.

I am very pleased to join the debate today on the Liberal budget. The Liberals have presented what I call a Dr. Strangelove budget or, in this case, “How I stopped worrying and learned to love the debt”. That is what the government wants Canadians to believe: “Do not worry, we can continue to spend forever. Do not worry, the economy will grow forever. No recession will ever happen again. Do not worry, we can rack up debt to the very end of time and it will not be a problem. Do not worry about about interest payments. Do not worry about the fact that our interest payments are growing from this fiscal year of $26 billion and to $33.2 billion per year in just a four-year period.”

That is $149 billion that we are going to be paying, transferred out of the pockets of taxpayers to rich bondholders on Bay Street, just over a five-year period. It will be $149 billion. In the fourth year, 2023, it is going to be $33.2 billion. Now, that is more than we spend per year in EI payments. That is more than we pay out in the child benefit program. That is more than we pay out for national defence.

Here we are with the Liberal priority of paying off rich Bay Street bankers and bondholders instead of defence, instead of families and instead of those on EI. To put it in perspective, with that money, the Liberals could pay for 2,750 refrigeration units for the Weston family. Let us think about that. The Liberals could also provide their own billionaire island for every single cabinet minister, so they could go to their island and not worry about violating the ethics laws. Liberal ministers could go to their own billionaire island and not worry about being invited by a paid lobbyist.

“Do not worry” is what the Liberals are saying. Do not worry about the declining productivity rate that Canadians are suffering through. Do not worry about disappearing foreign investment.

That is one thing I do worry about, though. We see foreign investment fleeing Canada. We see the oil industry devastated, $100 billion fleeing to the States. We see the Liberals giving Kinder Morgan $4.5 billion to take out of the country and invest in pipelines in the States. Who do we see interested in investing in Canada, which the Liberals are only too happy to see? It is Huawei. We see Anbang investing in Canada, thanks to the Liberal government. We see the Chinese Communist government-controlled CCCC construction firm trying to buy out local Canadian infrastructure companies. The Liberals are all willing to invest in Canada but not regular people.

“Do not worry,” say the Liberals. Do not worry about the fact that the debt is going to rise to over three-quarters of a billion dollars over the next five years. That is not including Crown corporations. When we throw in the Crown corporations, it is well over a trillion dollars of debt that Canadians are going to be carrying. This money has to be worrying, but “Do not worry. Stop worrying. Learn to love it,” is what the Liberals are saying.

Canadians are worried. We sent out a request to my constituents, asking for their response, asking what they think of the debt and if they feel they are further ahead than when the Liberals took over. This is what they are saying. This is not the made-up information that is in the budget, such as “Billy went to buy an electric vehicle and got a handout from the government.” These are real Canadians, real people living in Edmonton West, and this what they are saying.

Elmer wrote in and said, “It's worse off and it's not improving. They are so concerned about the ramifications of Oshawa's GM plant closing. What about Alberta? We've had no oil revenue and, therefore, severe unemployment problems for over three years, but I have not seen any concern about Alberta's unemployment situation.”

We used to have four Liberal members of Parliament. We have not had any of them stand up, supporting Alberta. We had four MPs in Liberal Party from Alberta, which are now down to three because of a scandal. We used to have two in the cabinet and now we are down to one, again, because of a scandal.

The member for Calgary Centre stood up and publicly stated that he would pound his fist on the desk at the cabinet table to make sure pipelines were built. What has happened? Absolute crickets from the member, he has done nothing.

The natural resources minister is based in Edmonton in the riding of Edmonton Mill Woods. What has he done for Alberta? Absolutely nothing.

In the budget, $27 million are provided for the diversification of the western economy and there are $100 million for oil and gas support. What did the Liberals put aside for subsidies so wealthy people could buy electric vehicles? Almost half a billion dollars. Even though the Minister of Natural Resources is from Edmonton Mill Woods in Alberta, only $27 million have been provided for diversification.

What about the member for Edmonton Centre? I asked him for his thoughts on the no new pipeline bill, Bill C-69. I asked him about the offshore tanker ban that did not ban tankers, just Alberta oil. I also asked him about all of the Liberals' other punitive policies against Alberta. He stood and said that he was proud of them. He was proud to push through Bill C-69, which ensures we will not see a single new energy project ever again in Alberta. He was proud that our oil was banned on the west coast, while we happily bring in oil from Venezuela and Saudi Arabia. This is shameful.

I received a letter from a lady named Holly, who was asked if she was better off. She said, “Seriously? Can anyone be better off? We lost our small business of 20 years. We paid our taxes and paid our staff. The bank took our house, which guaranteed our small business loan, which we hadn't missed a payment on. All of our employees, including four family members, are all out of work. We are jobless and homeless, and the government just keeps on destroying the economy.”

Let us remember back to a couple of years ago when the Prime Minister was in Calgary and confronting these things. His comment was, “Just hang in there.” People like Holly cannot just hang in there. The government's policies are destroying the livelihoods and hope of people living in Alberta.

Brian writes, “Worse off—I live in subsidized housing in Edmonton—the cost of living has gone up a great deal but not our income. We all got a raise from the Alberta Government, not even $2. 30% of that goes to my apartment cost, so what did I get? We got a carbon tax—30% of that went to our apartment cost. Anything we get, 30% goes to the cost of our apartment.”

The Government members stand again and again, as they did just recently, to note the Liberals' $40-billion national housing program. Apparently, it is $50 billion now. The Institute of Fiscal Studies and Democracy, or IFSD, which is headed by former parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page, has looked for this money. It writes that the Liberals', “NHS looks like” nothing except a “glossy document that accompanied its announcement....unfortunately, for now, the NHS is virtually nowhere to be seen in the federal fiscal framework.”

With respect to the Liberals' $40 billion, the Prime Minister and the parliamentary secretary responsible for this both stood to say that the Liberals housed one million people. They actually told people this. That was until the Toronto Star, the prophet of North America, said this was not true and that the number was actually 13,000. The Liberals' own department results showed it was 13,000 and the Liberals claimed it was one million. However, they say, as they just did now, this is worth $50 billion.

The IFSD said that it could only find $1.3 billion budgeted in the first five years and $5.1 billion budgeted over 10 years.

As a last comment, I would like to note comments by a man named Helmut. He said, “Worse than a year ago. As a senior on income security, the provision is not keeping pace with high rise in expenses....”

This is what we are hearing from Canadians when we talk to them. They are barely treading water. They are not getting ahead, as generations have before them. Every time they take a step forward, the government drags them back two steps, whether it is done with the carbon tax, taking away other tax credits or pushing up debt, which pushes up interest rates. Canadians are not getting ahead.

On Tuesday, when Jason Kenney becomes premier of Alberta, we will take our first steps toward fixing the problems in Alberta. On October 21, we will take the next step, when we turf the government and bring back a Conservative government.

Budget Implementation Act, 2019, No. 1Government Orders

1:05 p.m.

Winnipeg North Manitoba

Liberal

Kevin Lamoureux LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, first, I must thank the member for not moving adjournment. I know that yesterday the Conservatives moved adjournment because they did not want to debate and wanted to maybe go home a little early. Therefore, I am grateful the member did not move adjournment today.

Having said that, the member talked quite negatively about Alberta. I would like to say to the people of Alberta and all the Prairies that I am a member of Parliament from the Prairies and this government has delivered in many different ways. It has put money into the pockets of Canadians throughout. In particular, when I think of western Canada and our Prairies, I think of things such as the Canada child benefit, the GIS increase and infrastructure.

In fact, in this last budget, I believe one of the wonderful initiatives is that a portion of the gas tax is going directly to the municipalities. Therefore, a city like Winnipeg, for example, is going to be spending roughly another $37 million as a direct result of this government. That is all with respect to building or reconstructing roads and things of that nature. Infrastructure is something that is very important to this government. It has been virtually from day one.

My question to my colleague and friend across the way is this. Does he not recognize that, over and above the many positive, progressive, social benefits that individuals are receiving, there is also, within the budget, some very positive things that municipalities will be able to take advantage of to build healthier infrastructure throughout our prairie provinces, and that is a really good thing?

Budget Implementation Act, 2019, No. 1Government Orders

1:10 p.m.

Conservative

Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's comments and his humour. It is always funny watching Liberals stand up and try to explain all the great things they have done for western Canada, such as Bill C-69, the no new pipelines bill, and Bill C-48. It is amazing that we had four, now down to three, Liberal MPs from Alberta betray the people of Alberta by supporting the Liberal plan to destroy our energy industry.

As to the member's comment about infrastructure, again I have to laugh at this. The independent-controlled Senate, filled with Liberal senators and appointees, came out with a report that said there is no metric for success for the infrastructure spending by the government apart from money spent. Therefore, are we spending money so that people can get to work faster, improve productivity, which we are not, or improve the environment? No, the Liberal plan is not any of those. Its metric of success is spending.

We saw the spending for Alberta. The Prime Minister stood up and talked about it the other day. He bragged about putting ashtrays at bus stops in Alberta. We have 100,000 unemployed energy workers and the government is bragging about upgrading a bus stop with its infrastructure money. The current government has failed Alberta and this is another perfect example of it.

Budget Implementation Act, 2019, No. 1Government Orders

1:10 p.m.

NDP

Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC

Mr. Speaker, we saw what a Conservative budget looks like, essentially, with the tabling of the Doug Ford budget. We saw that, with their obsessive fixation on the debt and deficit, they are cutting health care in Ontario to less than the rate of inflation. We know that health care costs are growing at a rate of a little over 5% and the Doug Ford Conservatives have capped it at 1.6%, which means more patients in hallways and Ontarians getting sicker and not having the health care system they need.

I noticed the Liberal budget is cutting the health care federal budget from $3.5 billion to $2.5 billion. The Liberals are taking a billion dollars out of the federal health care system.

I know my hon. colleague's party is as equally concerned about the debt and deficit as the Doug Ford Conservatives are. Therefore, does he agree with the Liberal government's budget that will take a billion dollars out of the federal budget for health care? Is that something that, were he to form government, he would countenance and agree with?

Budget Implementation Act, 2019, No. 1Government Orders

1:10 p.m.

Conservative

Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB

Mr. Speaker, I think my colleague meant to say “when” we form government, but this is the issue. If we are spending $33 billion in interest four years from now, that is money that cannot be spent on health care. That is money that cannot be spent supporting families and children.

The Conservatives do not go on about the debt because we like to see black ink in the ledger. It is because debt and interest payments have victims. Those victims are average Canadians who need to get ahead, but are being held back with big, onerous interest payments. That is money being taken out of their pockets and put into the pockets of wealthy bankers instead of services in Canada.

Budget Implementation Act, 2019, No. 1Government Orders

1:10 p.m.

Conservative

Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to speak at second reading of the bill to implement budget 2019, which was presented by the Minister of Finance three weeks ago already.

I first want to thank my colleague from Edmonton West. It is a real privilege and honour to sit with him on the Standing Committee on Government Operations. Each and every time I sit with him at committee, I learn so much, as all Canadians learned so much a week ago, when the hon. member for Edmonton West gave the information to all Canadians, in an interview with the National Post, that the government cannot count correctly. This is absolutely crazy. We are talking about billions of dollars in a budget, and it cannot put the right numbers in the right places. As the member for Carleton said in a tweet, Canada is blessed to have the member for Edmonton West, who is doing such great work at committee, in the House, in his riding and for Canada.

This fourth budget presented by the Minister of Finance is the last budget before Canadians choose the next government six months from now.

Let me remind everyone how the Canadian economy was doing when the people decided to put in power the governing party, the Liberal Party of Canada. When the Liberals came to power at the end of 2015, the previous government had left a surplus of $2.9 billion.

The previous government left Canada in an enviable economic position, as we had the best debt-to-GDP ratio among the G7 nations. We were the first country to recover from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1920s. We were the best country of all G7 nations.

We, the Conservatives, left the house in order, with a budget surplus, the best debt-to-GDP ratio and a thriving economy that was expanding nicely around the world.

What did the Liberals do with that wonderful gift from the previous government?

Let us not forget that, during the last election campaign, the Liberals pledged in all sincerity to run small deficits and balance the budget in 2019. I will quote from their platform because it bears repeating again and again. If I have asked once, I have asked a hundred times since being elected, but they keep refusing to let me table their very own campaign platform. They can deny the truth all they want, but we will not hide it from Canadians.

In 2015, they got elected because they said, and I quote:

With the Liberal plan, the federal government will have a modest short-term deficit of less than $10 billion [in each of the next three years]...[which] will return Canada to a balanced budget in 2019/20.

Well, here we are in 2019. Those were the promises that got the Liberal Party elected. Canadians believed those promises when they voted and gave the Liberals a majority.

What happened? First, the Liberal Party promised to run three modest deficits of less than $10 billion, but in reality they ran three huge deficits that were nearly twice as big as projected: $18 billion in the first year; $19 billion in the second year; $18 billion in the third year; and $19.8 billion this year. The Liberals promised three modest and temporary deficits, but they gave us three huge deficits that are here to stay. Such is the reality of the Liberal government and the administration of the Minister of Finance.

Three years later we are looking at 2019-20, or the budget that was tabled three weeks ago. The Liberals swore that 2019-20 would be the year of zero deficit. In one of the English debates during the last election campaign, the Prime Minister looked Canadians in the eye and gave them his word, solid as a rock, that they could expect the budget to be balanced in 2019-20.

Unfortunately, those dear Canadians were duped by the current Prime Minister. Not only will 2019 not be a zero-deficit year, but it is the year in which the government will run its largest deficit to date, at nearly $20 billion. It is totally unacceptable.

The Liberals abandoned their commitments. They threw away their election promises. They scrapped their election platform. They are telling us to forget the zero-deficit year. This being an election year means that it is time to let loose. They are making promises left and right, but we all know how those turn out.

That is the problem with deficits. Running a deficit is like borrowing on our children's, grandchildren's and great-grandchildren's line of credit because the government is not able to properly manage the country.

A father, mother or head of a household cannot live off of a line of credit. A family cannot keep maxing out credit cards. At the end of the day, you have to pay. That is what is unfortunate about the current government's administration. They always claim to care about families, about children and about children's futures. I understand why it claims to be a family-oriented government. It passes the bill on to children and grandchildren who are not yet born but will be stuck paying for this government's mismanagement.

As we can see, this is an unprecedented economic theory if ever there was one. Its one and only adherent is the Prime Minister. Four years ago, he said that the budget would balance itself. When you leave public finance up to the kids in short pants, you end up with massive deficits.

I am still waiting for experts from the London School of Economics and Political Science, Harvard or anywhere else in the world to say that our current Prime Minister was right when he came up with the far-fetched, preposterous and absurd theory that budgets balance themselves. This is what happens.

I would also remind members that the Liberals promised to balance the budget. It was written in black and white in their election platform. On page 76, it states that they plan to invest in infrastructure to stimulate the economy.

That is not at all what they did. They announced their infrastructure program with great fanfare, saying it was the largest investment in infrastructure in the history of Canada. Three and a half years later, they have spent only 10% of what they promised to spend. Everyone expected there to be a deficit, a debt, because investments were made in infrastructure. That is just logical. I do not necessarily always agree with their logic. The condition is a balanced budget. Yes, that is logical, but they did not keep their word. It is like borrowing money to pay for your groceries. Borrowing money to buy a car or a house, now that makes sense, but not to pay for your groceries.

That is why this is the budget of broken promises. This will be the year of the Liberal carbon tax. Canadians must expect to pay more. The Liberal carbon tax will not cut greenhouse gas emissions, but will take money out of Canadian workers' pockets.

When we asked for access to information to determine if the government had done studies on the impact this could have on families, we received documents outlining the impact, but they were redacted. There was nothing in them. They wanted to hide pertinent information from Canadians.

Second, according to some documents, the government's target could increase not just up to $50 per tonne, but up to $300 per tonne, or six times greater than what Canadians were told. We have to be careful about that.

Some people will say that the tax is a way of putting a price on pollution and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. That is their argument, but it does not work. I am not just making up an example here. I am talking about Quebec, which has had what is known as a carbon exchange in place for over three years. It is a carbon market that acts as a tax on pollution. It was approved by the Quebec National Assembly. It has been in place for three years. What was the actual impact of this carbon exchange, this measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, after two years? There was no impact.

That is why anyone who would have Canadians believe that the Liberal carbon tax will reduce greenhouse gas emissions is misleading them, and there is evidence to prove it. It is unfortunate for those who believe the contrary, but facts are facts, as the Quebec carbon exchange has shown. I have here a document that I would be happy to table with the consent of the House. It shows that the Liberal carbon exchange program did not reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

This is the budget of broken promises. It is a budget that proves the Liberals have been pulling the wool over Canadians' eyes for the past three years. In six months, Canadians will get a chance to pass harsh, well-deserved judgment on those who got elected by abusing their trust and who have unfortunately saddled Canadians with debt for generations to come.

Budget Implementation Act, 2019, No. 1Government Orders

1:20 p.m.

Louis-Hébert Québec

Liberal

Joël Lightbound LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, the first thing I want to point out is that the economic legacy of Stephen Harper's government was to leave Canada in a recession in 2015. What will the member for Louis-Saint-Laurent's approach to taxation look like? If I may cut through his histrionics, it sounds like he is sincerely upset about the fact that we eliminated the non-refundable tax credit for public transit. That seems to be his plan for fighting climate change and poverty.

Since he has brought up this tax credit so many times over the past three years, let us see how much his constituents benefited from it. It amounted to a non-refundable tax credit of $13.25 a month for an RTC pass, which the taxpayer would get at the end of the year, after filing a tax return and receiving a notice of assessment. That is the measure my colleague is advocating. He has given us so much grief about our decision to eliminate this tax credit of $13.25 a month, which was granted at the end of the year, for those paying taxes, since it was non-refundable.

Meanwhile, he voted against the Canada child benefit, which gives an average of $5,500 annually, tax free, to 12,500 families in his riding. Let me repeat that. It gives 12,500 families $5,500 every year, tax free. That means 23,000 children in his riding are better off, for a total of $69 million.

Is my colleague going to cancel that? Is he telling Canadians he would like to cancel the Canada child benefit and bring back his public transit tax credit worth $13 a month, which is only collected at the end of the year when they do their tax returns? If he wants to make that the key message of his election campaign, I say “bring it on”.

Budget Implementation Act, 2019, No. 1Government Orders

1:25 p.m.

Conservative

Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC

Mr. Speaker, I would like to point out a few contradictions in the member for Louis-Hébert's statements.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer confirmed that what they inherited was a $2.9 billion surplus. That is a fact. Another fact is that we were the first G7 country to emerge from the worst recession since the 1920s, and we did it with flair. We were the best in the G7. When we left power, Canada was in an enviable position and a period of economic prosperity was forecast for 2016, 2017 and 2018. Those people were lucky, but sadly, they threw that golden opportunity away in favour of heaping debt on our children and grandchildren.

The member also said that we did nothing for the environment. I would like to remind him that greenhouse gas emissions declined by 2.2% on our watch. We invested over $1.5 billion in creating the ecotrust program, which Greenpeace and Steven Guilbeault applauded. Guilbeault might even end up being the member for Louis-Hébert's colleague. I look forward to tabling the documents later.

One thing I never saw coming was that the government abolished the tax credit that our government had created for all Canadians who take the bus. It was unacceptable for the government to punish these people like that. That is why their attitude is so disappointing. If the member wants to talk about public transit, let us talk about public transit. The government is bickering with its provincial partners, which is the worst thing you can do. Furthermore, the member for Louis-Hébert recently insulted his provincial counterpart from Louis-Hébert, the Deputy Premier of Quebec, saying that she was not telling Canadians the truth. The member for Louis-Hébert should familiarize himself with his files.

Budget Implementation Act, 2019, No. 1Government Orders

1:25 p.m.

NDP

Pierre-Luc Dusseault NDP Sherbrooke, QC

Mr. Speaker, to pick up on what my colleague from Louis-Hébert was saying, I will ask a question that the Conservatives have yet to answer. Rightly or wrongly, they get worked up about budgetary deficits every chance they get. What they fail to talk about is how they propose to manage public finances and what their financial framework will be in the upcoming election campaign.

Will it be a balanced framework? If so, how do they plan to balance the budget? Will they, like us, have the courage to collect revenues where they are available in order to fund public services? If not, will the hon. member take the same approach as every other Conservative in this country and make budget cuts or adopt Conservative austerity measures? Which of these options will he campaign on in the upcoming election if he wants to return to a balanced budget?

Budget Implementation Act, 2019, No. 1Government Orders

1:25 p.m.

Conservative

Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate this relevant question from the member for Sherbrooke. I want to commend him and his party for having the courage, honour, dignity and sense of responsibility in 2015 to run on a platform that proposed a balanced budget and no deficits.

That is what drew the ire of the Liberals. They were told that they had to be progressive; the lefties had spoken. Unfortunately, not only did the Liberals not keep their word, but they also sunk our country into massive amounts of debt without having any idea of how to balance the budget.

The member asked how we will return to a balanced budget. The election is in six months, and in the coming months we will be presenting a financial plan for meeting our objectives.

I urge my colleague and all others to pay attention when they make threats to scare everyone. Some people thought that yesterday would be the end of the world in Ontario, but even Chantal Hébert acknowledged that the budget was perfectly fine.

The House proceeded to the consideration of Bill C-417, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (disclosure of information by jurors), as reported (with amendments) from the committee.

Criminal CodePrivate Members' Business

1:30 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

There being no motions at report stage, the House will now proceed, without debate, to putting the question on the motion to concur in the bill at report stage.

Criminal CodePrivate Members' Business

1:30 p.m.

Conservative

Michael Cooper Conservative St. Albert—Edmonton, AB

moved that the bill be concurred in.

(Motion agreed to)

Criminal CodePrivate Members' Business

1:30 p.m.

Liberal

The Assistant Deputy Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

When shall the bill be read a third time? By leave, now?

Criminal CodePrivate Members' Business

1:30 p.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.