Mr. Speaker, we rise to ask questions about the government's decision to shut down debate on its budget implementation act, at a time of great economic difficulty in Canada. Economic growth has ground to a halt. In fact, growth for the last half-year has been 0.4% on an annualized basis. Meanwhile, south of the border it has been 3%. It is almost 10 times higher south of the border than north of the border.
Then we have the personal financial situation of everyday ordinary Canadians. According to MNP, one of the largest accounting firms in Canada, almost half of Canadians are less than $200 away from falling short of paying their bills at the end of every month. Just today, this excerpt appeared in The Globe and Mail:
More Canadians can't make ends meet.
The number of consumer insolvencies climbed 9.3 per cent in April from a year earlier, to 11,785, according to the latest numbers from Canada's Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy.
The government has raised taxes by $800 on the average middle-class family, and further tax increases will be required to fund its out-of-control spending. Will the government admit how much taxes will have to rise if the Liberals are re-elected in October?