Debates of April 19th, 2021

Financial Statement of Minister of Finance

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I will start by thanking the member opposite for those generous congratulations.

I think it would be appropriate for me today to think about Kim Campbell, the first woman prime minister of Canada, who was, of course, a Conservative woman prime minister. One thing we should agree on in this House is that all of us believe it is important to advance the cause of women in Canada.

When it comes to a fiscal anchor, I very much agree with the member opposite that it is important for our spending to be reasonable, sustainable and prudent. That is why it was important for us in this budget to hit some key fiscal markers.

First of all, we were clear in the fall economic statement that we would spend up to $100 billion in stimulus over three years. We have kept that promise. Perhaps more crucially, we have been clear in this budget, both in our commitment and also in our demonstrated actions that, following the extraordinary spending of this year, Canada's debt-to-GDP ratio will decline, and we show in our fiscal tables a clear declining trajectory ending in 2025-26 at a 49.2% debt-to-GDP ratio.

Further, as we point out in the budget document, we commit to unwinding the COVID-related deficits, and our budget and our fiscal projections show precisely that. In 2025-26, we come to a deficit of just 1.1%.

I would say to hon. members and my colleague opposite that those are our anchors: a declining debt-to-GDP ratio and unwinding the COVID-related deficits.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I too would like to sincerely congratulate the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance on her first budget. It is certainly an historic moment for her and for the economy. I sincerely congratulate her on the volume of work that has been done. Her speech laid out a host of unprecedented measures. Many are very interesting, and we will certainly have time to come back and review them.

I want to note that this is the first time that I am seeing a tangible commitment to fight tax avoidance and tax evasion. It is just an expression of intent at this stage, but it is truly a step in the right direction, and I congratulate the minister on that.

In my opinion, there are two key things missing from this budget. First, there is the health funding that Quebec and the provinces asked for. We are in the middle of a health crisis, and from the Bloc Québécois' point of view, if there was ever a time to deal with that issue, it is now.

Second, since the primary victims of the pandemic are seniors, we have long been calling for an improvement to the old age security pension starting at age 65, so as not to create two categories of seniors. This improvement is nowhere to be found in her speech.

Why did the Minister of Finance not include these two measures in the budget, especially since the difference between the deficit announced last fall and the one announced today is the exact same dollar amount as these two measures? Am I to assume this is a political decision?

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Before I recognize the hon. minister, I want to remind members that I have a long list of people who want to ask questions, so I would ask them to keep the questions and answers to a reasonable length.

The hon. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his questions. I would also like thank him for all the very interesting discussions we had when preparing the budget. I really appreciated it.

First, I am very pleased that the member noted that we focused on fighting tax evasion. It is a priority for our government, especially during a pandemic, since social solidarity is very important. To achieve social solidarity, everyone must pay their fair share, and we are really going to focus on that. I will be very pleased to work on this objective with all members.

Second, given that the member is from Quebec, I will take this opportunity to point out to all members that the budget and the commitments we have made truly show the importance of Quebec's political leadership. Quebec made the decision to create a child care system more than 20 years ago. It was difficult and very costly. When I discussed this with Éric Girard, he told me to be careful because it is very expensive.

Quebec has proven another very important thing, namely that a child care system will make the economic recovery excellent and extraordinary. I think that it is important for me, as an anglophone from Toronto, to thank Quebec, especially the feminists from Quebec who worked very hard to build that system.

I will now address the other two questions.

In terms of health, we announced last month that we would be giving the provinces $5 billion to fight the third wave of COVID-19. As everyone knows, it is costing a lot of money, but the federal government is there to help the provinces.

As far as seniors are concerned, we have enhanced the old age security program for those 75 and older. We also allocated $3 billion for long-term care. This is a major contribution.

In closing, when it comes to the deficit and the fact that it is lower than what we projected, I hope that everyone will agree with me that this is a good thing and that it illustrates our government's prudent approach.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to acknowledge the historic speech that the Minister of Finance just made. I congratulate her on that.

It has been a long wait for a budget, as members know. Canadians have been hit hard by the pandemic, and front-line workers, who are looking for measures and a functioning paid sick leave program, are going to come away profoundly disappointed by this budget. However, billionaires will be happy because they continue to get a free ride. At a time of overwhelming inequality and unprecedented increases in wealth for Canada's billionaires, the Liberal government has refused to put into place a wealth tax or end pandemic profiteering on the backs of Canadians.

All it has given us is a vague promise to collect the $25 billion we lose every year to tax havens.

The question is very simple. Why do the government, the finance minister and the Prime Minister refuse to put into place measures so that the ultrawealthy in this country pay their fair share?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we are talking a lot about women, and since this is a question from the NDP and since I did mention my mother in my speech, I want to point out for the member opposite that she ran for the NDP in Edmonton—Strathcona, now an NDP seat. Therefore, we have more in common than he might think.

On Canadian workers, our expansion of the Canada workers benefit is historic. No one should work full time in Canada and live in poverty, but millions of people do. This investment would lift 100,000 Canadians out of poverty and would expand by one million people the Canadians we support. That is great for Canadian workers. I think that is something my mother, were she still alive, would support too.

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, these are unprecedented times and today we have the biggest spending budget in Canadian history, but this budget comes far too late. It is the federal government's first budget in well over two years. For that long, Canadians have been without a comprehensive plan for the economy to guide us through what has now become the stormiest time of our lifetime. I believe that Canadians will feel let down by this budget.

They are expecting a comprehensive plan to safely reopen our economy; to get Canadians vaccinated and back to work again; to help struggling small business owners back up on their feet; to manage the massive, looming financial consequences of this pandemic, including a clear fiscal anchor that I mentioned earlier; and, of course, most important, to provide future generations of Canadians with the hope and confidence that the Canadian dream is still alive and well. My fear is that Canadians will be profoundly disappointed.

To be sure, there appeared to be a number of positive measures in this budget, especially those that continue to support Canadians in their time of need as they struggle to make it through to the end of the pandemic. We will carefully review and analyze them to see whether they are sufficient to help our country through this difficult time and to secure our long-term future. So far, I am not encouraged, but we will have more to say in the days ahead.

Until then and until tomorrow, I move:

That the debate be now adjourned.

(Motion agreed to)

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Pursuant to Standing Order 83(2), the motion is deemed adopted and the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m.

(The House adjourned at 4:58 p.m.)