Debates of May 26th, 2021

Finance—Main Estimates, 2021-22

[James Cumming, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Mr. Chair, I will be asking questions of the finance minister.

Canada is ranked 17th in innovation. What number will Canada be ranked after the end of this fiscal year?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Chair, our government is making strong investments in innovation in this budget. Perhaps the member opposite would like to say whose ranking he is referring to.

[James Cumming, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

What target will you set for a ranking for innovation in the next fiscal year?

[The Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

I would ask the hon. member to direct the questions to the Chair.

The hon. minister.

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

Mr. Chair, it would probably be good to cite a source, but let me assure all members of the House and all Canadians that we absolutely believe innovation is an important engine in growth. That is why we are investing in it.

[James Cumming, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Mr. Chair, what are the new job growth numbers expected with the additional investment in the supercluster fund?

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

Mr. Chair, let me give some job growth numbers. Our budget will create 500,000 work experience and work placement opportunities, and our budget means that there will be one million new jobs created in Canada by the end of the year.

[James Cumming, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Mr. Chair, how many jobs are going to be created by the additional investment in the supercluster fund specifically?

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

Mr. Chair, the member seems to be interested in numbers this evening, so I am going to talk about a few that I think are really important to Canadians. The first is for jobs. As of April, we have recovered 2.5 million jobs of the three million lost at the peak of the pandemic, which is eight in 10.

[James Cumming, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Mr. Chair, there is no specific answer. Could the minister provide the specific number of jobs that will be recovered in the oil and gas sector in this next fiscal year?

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

Mr. Chair, I am going to provide some other important numbers to Canadians. Let us talk now about GDP. In the fourth quarter, GDP grew by nearly 10%. In the first quarter it was 6.5%, which is higher than the U.S.'s growth.

[James Cumming, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Mr. Chair, that did not answer the question. What can we expect for recoveries in the oil and gas sector? Albertans want to know.

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

Mr. Chair, I want to say a couple of things about the energy sector. I am very, very pleased to see the strong embrace by the energy sector, particularly in Alberta, of targets for net zero by 2050. Our CCUS tax incentive is going to help them get there.

[James Cumming, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Mr. Chair, let us try another sector. How much of the $100 billion going toward infrastructure is targeted toward value-added in the ag sector?

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

Mr. Chair, let me start by congratulating Canadian farmers. Commodities are doing very well right now, and Canadian farmers, whose productivity and hard work is contributing very much to Canada's strong economic performance right—

[The Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

The hon. member.

[James Cumming, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Mr. Chair, I asked a very specific question. What part of the infrastructure funding will be toward value-added in the ag sector?

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

Mr. Chair, there is so much support for agriculture in this budget it is hard to know where to start. As I mentioned, the clean fuel standard is going to be great for canola producers across the country. The incentives for green agriculture will be transformative. There is great support for wine producers.

[James Cumming, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Mr. Chair, what is the expected export growth rate for the natural resource sector in the next fiscal?

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

Mr. Chair, exports and strong commodity prices are an important part of Canada's economic strength right now. Let me just remind people that GDP grew by 10% in Q4 and 6.5% in Q1. That is—

[The Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

The hon. member.

[James Cumming, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Mr. Chair, what is the expected growth rate for the natural resource sector in exports? It is a critical component of this economy.

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

Mr. Chair, I agree, and let me just take an opportunity to talk about a text conversation I have been having this evening with Mark Little, the CEO of Suncor. It has just updated its strategy to get to net zero by 2050, and that includes reducing emissions by 10 megatonnes by 2030.

[James Cumming, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Mr. Chair, that is still no answer.

What percentage of the $100-billion investment in infrastructure spending is targeted specifically toward productivity and trade growth?

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

Mr. Chair, our budget is strongly focused on productivity and economic growth. That is something members of the Standing Committee on Finance heard from Stephen Poloz in his testimony at committee last week.