Debates of Dec. 15th, 2021

The Economy

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the global inflation crisis is a direct result of the global pandemic. That is why the best thing we can do to help families get through this economic crisis is to end COVID‑19 for good. That is why we are encouraging everyone to get vaccinated and to get the third dose, to get their children vaccinated, and to be cautious about gatherings and about travelling this winter. We must continue doing what we as Canadians have been doing to stay safe. That will bring us better days ahead.

Housing

[Erin O'Toole, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, in Canada, young people have always had the opportunity to have a prosperous future, but under this government the dream of young workers becoming homeowners no longer exists. Their dreams have been crushed. Young people are worried about their future.

Why is the government shattering young people's hopes of buying a starter home?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we know what a challenge home ownership is for a growing number of Canadians, including young people. That is why we launched the first-time home buyer incentive to help first-time homebuyers pay for related costs and their mortgage.

We have targeted programs to help young people and to combat this housing crisis, unlike the Conservatives, whose only plan to combat the housing crisis was to give a tax credit to large-scale landlords. That is not going to help young people, and that is why we are there for them.

Justice

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae, stated that Bill 21 on secularism in Quebec was profoundly discriminatory. This legislation, however, was legitimately voted upon in a parliament that, like all others, is sovereign, and there is broad support for the law in Quebec.

Bob Rae failed in his fundamental duty to show restraint. Will the Prime Minister recall Ambassador Rae immediately, as that is clearly what should be done?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as I have often said, I strongly disagree with Bill 21. I do not believe that in a free society someone should lose their job because of their religion. That is the position of our government and our party.

We will continue to be on the side of Quebeckers who are shocked and disappointed that Fatemeh Anvari lost her job because of her religion, and we support and will follow Quebeckers who defend their rights before the courts because they believe this bill is unfair.

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I have seen people who do not deserve to be in their jobs, but there they are. I will not name names.

The Prime Minister is condoning a smear campaign against a law and a nation that are just as legitimate as his own pretensions. He is condoning an ambassador's decision to insult the Quebec nation as a whole.

Am I to understand that he was consulted and agreed with his ambassador's statement?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, Quebeckers are people who stand up for human rights, freedom of expression and gender equality. We also stand up for conscience rights. In Quebec, we stand up for freedom of religion.

This is why so many Quebeckers are surprised and disappointed that young teacher Fatemeh Anvari lost her job because she is Muslim. That should not happen in Canada. This is what I have been saying for years and what we will continue to say on this side of the House.

Health

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are deeply concerned about the omicron variant and how it is impacting them and their families. The federal government has a role to play in fighting back against this variant.

We have three clear steps the federal government can take. Will it help accelerate access to a booster shot, make sure Canadians have access to free rapid testing and invest in our health care system to hire more health care workers to deal with the crisis? Will the Prime Minister commit to these three concrete steps to fight the variant?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, faced with the rise of the omicron variant this coming holiday season, Canadians are frustrated and exhausted. We understand that. It is a real challenge to see rising cases, but Canadians know what to do. We need to keep safe, we need to keep our loved ones safe and we need to keep our public health systems from getting overwhelmed.

That is why getting booster shots and getting kids vaccinated are the most important things we can do. Second is avoiding non-essential travel. We just increased our travel advisories. We are recommending that Canadians stay home at Christmas and stay safe. We will continue to be there with rapid tests and we will continue to be there to support the provinces.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is telling Canadians what they can do. I am telling the Prime Minister what he can do.

We are in the midst of a crisis and we have serious concerns about the omicron variant.

We are calling on the government to take three clear steps: accelerate access to booster shots, accelerate access to free rapid testing and invest more money in our health care system to hire more frontline health care workers.

Will the Prime Minister take these steps to help people deal with this variant?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are already doing the three things the NDP leader mentioned.

As the holiday season approaches, we must do everything we can to keep each other safe and healthy.

That means getting a booster shot as soon as possible. Canada has enough booster shots for everyone. We encourage people to get them.

It also means getting our kids vaccinated. That is important in order to protect our communities.

We will also be there with rapid tests. We will be there to support the health care systems. We will be there to keep Canadians healthy. We did a tremendous amount of work this year, and we are going to keep doing it.

The Economy

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday's high-tax, high-deficit report was more of the same recycled promises that have failed for six years. Housing prices are at a 30-year high and gas prices, rent and groceries are all up. The Liberals' solution is to send their bill to struggling working Canadians, families and businesses.

Has the Prime Minister ever struggled to pay a bill, maybe a rent bill, a credit card bill or a grocery bill? Can he relate in any way to what everyday Canadians are going through right now?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the very first thing our government did back in 2015 was to raise taxes on the wealthiest 1% and lower them on the middle class, a measure the Conservatives voted against. We have continued to be there for Canadians every step of the way, including with historic investments in housing and with measures that are fighting the omicron variant and the current pandemic.

What the Conservatives do not realize is that the best way to help Canadians and the best way to get our economy back to normal is to end this pandemic once and for all. That is what we on this side of the House are focused on.

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Speaker, what the government and what the Prime Minister continually do is raise taxes on Canadians. On January 1, he is going to be raising taxes again on struggling small businesses. The Liberals and their elite friends are doing just fine with this “justinflation”, but working Canadians are struggling to put food on the table and even dream of buying their own home.

The Prime Minister has been in office for six years and the Canadian dream has never been further out of reach than it is right now, so when is the Prime Minister going to get serious about the finances and economics of this country, pay attention to monetary policy and think about struggling working Canadians?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, every step of the way over the past six years we have been there for small and medium-sized businesses. We lowered the small business tax rate. We have been there to support small businesses through this historic pandemic and they have responded positively. We have seen our economy bouncing back faster than many economies around the world because we were there for our small businesses.

What the Conservatives are talking about when they talk about payroll taxes is the fact that we are securing Canadians' retirements. We have made changes to CPP to make sure Canadians can retire better. The Conservatives simply are not there for our seniors.

Housing

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as the leader of the official opposition rightly said, inflation hurts. It is well documented.

Young families who want to buy a house cannot afford it because of runaway inflation. The dream of owning a home has become out of reach for those aged 40 and under, who are now seeing prices rise every month.

We know that the Prime Minister is out of touch with our young people's concerns. What does he have to say to the young families who are struggling and discouraged and who have to give up their dreams of home ownership?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, for years, we have been investing more and more in our young people because we know how important it is to help young people achieve their dreams. That is why we created the first-time home buyer incentive, to help young people buy a home more quickly and pay their mortgage.

We will also continue to help our economy by doing the one thing that the Conservatives never talk about, and that is putting an end to this pandemic once and for all. We are going to get through this economic crisis by eliminating the virus. That is why we need to maintain our measures.

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am not the one saying it. The Canadian Real Estate Association put out some disturbing figures today, showing that for 2021, house prices increased by 25%.

How can a young middle-class family ever hope to get on the property ladder when the average price for a home in Canada is now $720,000, and $445,000 in Quebec?

The Prime Minister keeps telling us it is a global problem, but it is affecting young people here and now.

What is he going to say to those young people? What real action is he going to take?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have put forward an ambitious housing platform to help people of all ages become homeowners here in Canada. With $4 billion for municipalities to accelerate housing construction, help for first-time buyers, and initiatives to reduce transaction costs, we have real plans.

Unfortunately, the Conservatives had only one plan, which was to give tax credits to wealthy landlords so they could sell their buildings. That is not going to help the young people the member is talking about.

We are going to be there for young people.

The Economy

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the rising cost of living is hitting Manitoba families hard. This year alone, gas prices for home heating went up 30%, fuel for our cars went up a staggering 40%, the average national home price, as we found out today, is now three-quarters of a million dollars and next year Canadian families will be paying an additional $1,000 on their annual grocery bills. None of this was really addressed in yesterday's important fiscal update.

What is it going to take for the Liberals to realize the cost-of-living crisis Canadians face? Will they have to lose their homes or just the Prime Minister losing his?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the best thing we can do to grow the economy and help Canadians through these difficult times is put an end to this pandemic. That is why we are continuing to move forward with vaccinations, with encouraging Canadians to get their boosters, with support for kids to get vaccinated and with public health measures that are going to support small businesses and keep our economy moving forward.

We know there is always more to do and that is what we are doing. We have done it over the years by supporting families, seniors and youth, whether through increases to the CCB, $10-a-day child care, boosts in the GIS, more supports for students or more affordable housing. I could go on.

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister can make all the excuses he wants, but the fact remains that he has spent more money than all of his predecessors combined, yet his record is declining investment and competitiveness, a lacklustre economic growth record, record inflation and housing prices that are taking away the dreams from half of Canada's young people, who may never own a home. To top it off, the Prime Minister is raising taxes on Canadians on January 1.

Why are the Liberals so out of touch with the financial challenges facing Canadian families?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the first thing we did was raise taxes on the wealthiest 1% so we could lower them for the middle class, and Conservative politicians voted against that. Throughout this pandemic, we have had Canadians' backs, with historic supports for families, for seniors, for—

[The Speaker, Anthony Rota]

I am going to interrupt the right hon. Prime Minister. I am having a hard time hearing his answer. I am not sure what is going on. It started off really well. People look one way and think I cannot hear them.

The right hon. Prime Minister can take it from the top so we can hear the full answer.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, every step of the way, this government has been there for Canadians, whether by bringing in the Canada child benefit, reducing taxes for the middle class and raising them on the wealthiest 1% or moving forward with historic investments in infrastructure, housing and transportation. These are all things the Conservative Party chose to vote against.

When we put forward a historic housing plan to support Canadians, with billions of dollars' worth of initiatives, the Conservatives put forward a plan to give tax breaks to wealthy landlords who are selling their buildings. That is not how we support Canadians. This government is supporting them.