Debates of Oct. 24th, 2022

London and District Business Hall of Fame Inductees

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London North Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honour Tina Bax and Michelle Quintyn, who were recently inducted into the London and District Business Hall of Fame in recognition of outstanding contributions and ethics in business.

Tina is the founder and former president of CultureWorks ESL and the founder of Canada Immigration Pathway. Founded in 1998, CultureWorks was the first public-private partnership of its kind in Canada, graduating thousands to colleges and universities across the country.

Michelle is president and CEO of Goodwill Industries, Ontario Great Lakes. As CEO at Goodwill, serving across Ontario, she steered the company to a $59-million enterprise with 1,200 employees who train and work on several platforms, including thrift/recycling, food and hospitality, light manufacturing and more.

I have come to know Tina and Michelle as titans in our community. They have made monumental impacts in their fields, and they have made London a better place to live. I congratulate them again.

Taxation

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, winter is coming but inflation is already here.

Liberal inflation has driven up the price of food and driven up the cost of gas, and now the Prime Minister wants to make it more expensive to heat one's home this winter. Seniors across Canada could see their gas bills double because of the government’s tax hikes.

If the Liberals will not listen to their own constituents, maybe they will listen to the Liberal Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, who said that rural seniors will struggle to keep the heat on.

Will the Prime Minister show some compassion and vote this afternoon to cancel his plan to hike taxes on home heating?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative opposition has a golden opportunity to do this week what it did last week, which was to see the light, support Canadians and vote for a bill proposed by the Liberals to make life more affordable for Canadians. It can support half a million Canadian children with our dental plan. It can support low-cost renters with our housing plan.

Will the opposition do the right thing and vote for Bill C-31? That is what Canadians want to know.

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the minister knows that the vast majority of Canadians will never see a penny of that money, but every Canadian is paying the tax hike to heat their home.

The question was about home heating. The Prime Minister wants to triple the tax on seniors for the crime of heating their homes in Canada, in the winter, in February. It is not a luxury; it is a necessity.

Will the ministers driving inflation on the front bench allow their colleagues who understand the problem to vote this afternoon to exempt home heating from their planned tax hikes?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, let us set the record straight in terms of which side of the House is supporting Canadians when it comes to taxes. In 2015, we lowered taxes on Canadians, and the Conservatives voted against it. In 2019, we lowered taxes for Canadians again, and the Conservative leader and his party voted against it. In 2021, we lowered taxes on working Canadians, and the Conservatives voted against it. Just this summer, in 2022, when we lowered taxes on small businesses, the Conservatives voted against it.

We are voting for Canadians. We are lowering taxes. They are voting against it.

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are united by a cost of living crisis that the government has created. The Liberal MPs have an opportunity to vote today to cancel the planned tax increases on heating this winter. Today, they can stand up and tell seniors across this country that they understand heating one's home is essential; it is not a choice. Their plan does not reduce emissions, and the costly coalition with the NDP just hurts struggling Canadians.

Everybody is watching. Will they vote today to do the right thing and exempt home heating from their tax hikes, yes or no?

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Seniors]

Mr. Speaker, every time a Conservative gets up in this House and talks about and pretends to care about seniors in Canada, I think back to when they were in government and they forced seniors to work an extra two years before they could get their pension benefits, benefits they worked hard for and contributed to for decades. Then I think to when we took power in 2015. The party across the aisle has voted against everything for seniors in the last seven years.

Canadian seniors know who has their backs and it is not the leader of that opposition party.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, at an automotive industry conference last week in Windsor, the Minister of Finance publicly contradicted the Prime Minister when she stated that the federal government will have to tighten its belt in the coming months to avoid increasing inflation inadvertently.

This announcement about reducing new budget measures was a surprise to some, as the Prime Minister has been doing the opposite since 2015. The costly Liberal-NDP coalition is finally admitting that its out-of-control spending has fuelled inflation.

Can it now admit that tripling the carbon tax is a bad idea and that it increases the cost of living?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, our government's most recent budget contains a very clear message for Canadians: They can count on us to manage taxpayers' money responsibly.

It is unfortunate that the Conservatives want to cut old age security and all of our supports for seniors, dental care and housing.

This side of the House supports Canadians, whereas the other side votes against them.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I absolutely agree with the parliamentary secretary, because what the Conservatives want is to reduce the carbon tax increase. We want to keep the government from raising taxes next year.

Yes, I agree, and we all agree: We want to lower taxes for Canadians, and taxes need to stop increasing.

Can the parliamentary secretary confirm that his government will cancel the carbon tax hike and, more importantly, that it will not increase taxes for Quebeckers and Canadians?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, as Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance, I respect my hon. colleague's criticism, but the Conservatives were in power for 10 years, and what did they do? They took an axe to all kinds of support measures for all Canadians. We on this side of the House will always support Canadians, and we will always keep an eye on inflation. We will be there for Canadians, including with help for dental care and housing.

The members on the other side can whine all they like, but on this side, we are taking action.

Dental Care

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, if the government wanted to help families with young children cope with inflation, it could simply have increased the Canada child benefit.

That would have been way too easy though, so it decided to write cheques to pay for dental care for kids 12 and under. Today, the Parliamentary Budget Officer confirmed that this benefit discriminates against Quebec families. Children in Quebec will get half as much as children outside Quebec. Quebeckers have 23% of the children, yet they will get only 13% of the promised $700 million.

Will the government fix this so that its dental care benefit does not discriminate against families in Quebec?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I am grateful to the member for asking the question and pleased to have the opportunity to point out that children under the age of 10 and their families already have access to dental care in Quebec, but that the Government of Canada's additional investment complements the existing program, specifically in the area of prevention. Kids can get fluoride treatments, scaling, cleaning and preventive care for their gums.

All those services are now eligible for the Canada dental benefit, which, we hope, will get through committee and the Senate quickly.

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals like things to be really complicated. If they wanted to help families, they could have increased supports to families, but no, that is too simple. If they wanted to help with dental care, they could have reached an agreement with Quebec and transferred money, but no, that is too simple.

Instead, they came up with this dental cheque scheme. Why is that? It is not because they wanted to do something simple or effective. It was because they wanted to please the NDP to keep their majority in Parliament. They did not really want dental insurance; they wanted majority insurance, paid for by taxpayers. Will the Liberals at least modify their majority insurance to make sure it does not discriminate against Quebeckers?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I am very grateful to the hon. member for giving me the opportunity to talk about the Canada child benefit that we introduced in July 2016. Every month, it helps reduce child poverty in his riding and in mine by 40%. Every month, more than 450,000 children are lifted out of poverty, in addition to their parents, of course, thanks to the benefit that we introduced in July 2016. Unfortunately, the Bloc Québécois voted against the Canada child benefit in July 2016, if I remember correctly.

Health

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this is a heartbreaking message from Sébastin Marin, a doctor at the hospital in Ormstown.

He wrote: “I ended my night with a patient who died right in front of me from a ruptured thoracic aortic aneurysm. That same patient had waited 16 hours yesterday at another hospital without being seen...There was nothing I could do. He died within minutes of arriving.”

The patient spent 16 hours waiting in the ER even though he had a history of vascular disease. When will the Liberal government take action and make the necessary investments to give our public health care system room to breathe?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, we all very much appreciate what the member just said. We are all feeling it, in the hospitals and in the health care services in Quebec and elsewhere. This is a terrible situation. We are in crisis because health care workers are in crisis and are exhausted. They have left the profession in droves. Many are sick, and many are considering leaving.

That is why, over the past few months, we have invested an additional $2 billion in increasing the Canada health transfer to cut down the backlog of diagnostics and surgeries. We have invested another $1 billion to take care of the people and workers in long term care. If I get to answer another question, I will add more details about the investments we plan to make.

[Lindsay Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in London, emergency room wait times have reached an all-time high. Patients are waiting up to 20 hours for care.

It is not just people in London. Canadians across the country are seeing record wait times for emergency care, as Conservative premiers continue to underfund the system. Instead of helping people, the Liberal government will not stand up against their buddy Premier Ford's cuts and privatization of Ontario's health care system.

When will the government defend Canada's public health care so that Ontarians are not waiting a full day to get the urgent, life-saving care they need?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, having access to appropriate health care services is a fundamental, basic human right, recognized, as we all know, by the Canada Health Act, with conditions that ensure that the federal government provides appropriate support to provinces and territories, making sure that the services are universal, accessible and free. That is why we are engaging with provinces and territories to add to the other transfers that I mentioned just a moment, in addition to the increase of 10% in the Canada health transfers in March 2023.

Taxation

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Mr. Speaker, last week, former Bank of Canada governor and potential Liberal leadership candidate Mark Carney told a Senate committee that the rising cost of living and inflation are domestic stories. Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem has said that inflation is homegrown, even noting that the carbon tax contributes to inflation, yet, as winter approaches, this costly coalition is not doing anything to make Canadians' lives and home heating affordable.

Will the Liberals provide Canadians relief by removing home heating from the carbon tax?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to acknowledge my hon. colleague in his new role. He speaks, as do the Conservatives, about the need to make life more affordable for Canadians.

They have the opportunity to do just that. This week, they can vote to support half a million kids with dental supports. They can support low-income renters with $500 for housing supports. They can do the right thing and vote for Bill C-31 this week.

The question is this: Will they, or will they not?

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Mr. Speaker, soon enough, when Conservatives are on that side, Liberals can ask us the questions.

Home heating in Canada is essential, but thanks to Liberal inflation and blocked energy projects in Canada, natural gas is up 37% and other fuel oils are up 48.7%. Liberal inflation will also see Canadians lose up to $3,000 in purchasing power next year. Now is not the time for more taxes.

Will this costly coalition give Canadians a break and exempt home heating from their job-killing carbon tax?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, we certainly recognize that affordability is a very important issue for Canadians. It is why 80% of Canadian households get more back in a rebate on the price on pollution than they actually pay.

It is also why we are investing $250 million to help make home heating more affordable for families across the country, by helping them move to more affordable and greener home heating sources. We can fight climate change and address affordability.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Mr. Speaker, Liberals like to try to blame everyone else for the inflation they have caused, but Canadians know it was the Prime Minister's massive deficits and money printing that has driven inflation to record highs.

It is too late to undo the inflation that the government has already caused, but it is not too late to do something about soaring energy costs going forward. Analysts are predicting that home heating costs will skyrocket this winter, where many families will be paying twice as much this winter than they did last winter just to stay warm.

Will this costly coalition abandon its plan to triple the carbon tax and give Canadians a break on their home heating costs?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, I think we should deal in facts. Most of the G7 countries have higher inflation rates than Canada does, and that opposition supported almost all of the COVID supports they are speaking to.

As I said, more than 80% of Canadian families get more money back than they pay in the price on pollution. We are investing a quarter of a billion dollars to help families reduce their heating costs, through the implementation of things such as heat pumps, and address the climate crisis we face concurrently.

It is important to know that one has to have a plan, both for affordability and the economy, but one also needs a plan to fight climate change.