Debates of Oct. 28th, 2022

Housing

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister told Canadians not to worry about his massive deficits and borrowing and spending, because he said interest rates would stay low for a very long time. Then he turned around and pumped $400 billion into Canada's banking system, causing prices to rise.

Now, to fight the inflation the Liberals caused, the Bank of Canada has again jacked up interest rates. For the average mortgage in Vancouver, that means families will have to find another $1,900 a month just to stay in their own homes.

Has the government been briefed on how many Canadians will have to turn their keys over to the bank as they struggle to pay these rising mortgage costs?

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we put a fiscally responsible affordability plan on the table in this House, and it will be my pleasure to answer questions on the economy today.

The new Conservative leader has not answered a single question from journalists in nearly 50 days. Canadians do not have the luxury of doing some aspects of their job and not others. If the new Conservative leader would like to take home his full paycheque, paid for by the Canadian taxpayer, he needs to answer questions from journalists in the press gallery today.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has not answered a question in this House in seven years.

We are here answering questions on behalf of Canadians who are struggling to pay their mortgage costs just to stay in their own homes. The typical family in Hamilton who now have to renew their mortgage will have to come up with an extra $1,300 a month, just to stay in the home they are already living in.

The Prime Minister said he was going to go into debt so Canadians did not have to. Where should families in Hamilton send the bill for their higher mortgage costs?

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, in a few days, families in Hamilton and right across the country will receive a doubling of the GST tax credit.

The day after they voted against providing supports to Canadians in the form of direct payments for Canadians having trouble paying the rent and the day after they voted against subsidizing dental care for Canadian children, this feigned compassion from the Conservatives is fooling no one.

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

Mr. Speaker, what we are against is the inflationary deficits that the government is causing. The reason prices are going up today is that the government flooded the banking system with $400 billion of brand new cash, and now Canadians have to pay for it.

Again, and these are based on modest estimates from the Canadian Real Estate Association, a typical family in Ottawa will have to come up with an extra $1,000 a month when they go to renew their mortgage. Once again, has the government been briefed on how many Canadian families are going to lose their homes because of the Liberal-caused inflation?

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the Conservatives do not seem to understand that while the prices of things continue to rise in Canada, we need to be there to support Canadians.

Canadians are seeing higher prices at the grocery stores, and that is why we doubled the GST tax credit. That is why Competition Bureau Canada is currently beginning the investigation process into the market, and that is why supermarkets across the country have frozen their prices. While the Conservatives are working on their next gimmicky lines, we are serious about a serious issue in this country, and we are taking real action.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, talking about people who cannot afford to put food on the table at the end of the month and those who will have to pay an additional $800 a month for their mortgage payment is not a gimmick. It is the reality that Canadians are facing right now because the government spent billions of dollars. That created inflation and increased interest rates. Because of that, now all Canadians are struggling.

How many families will go bankrupt because of this NDP-Liberal coalition's dubious policies?

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, less than 12 hours ago, the Conservatives voted against measures to put money directly into Canadians' pockets.

The Conservatives' economic plan involves raiding our pensions and attacking the country's EI system. The Conservatives do not care about Canadians' interests.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, not once since the start of question period has the parliamentary secretary answered the question asked of her.

How many families will have to declare bankruptcy at the end of the month because of the NDP-Liberal coalition's inflationary policies? An average Montreal family servicing a $500,000 loan will not be able to pay the mortgage at the end of the month, because that loan will cost an extra $800 per month.

How many families will have to hand over the keys to their home because of the government's financial incompetence?

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, when we brought our proposal before the House to cut taxes for middle-class families, the Conservatives voted against it. When we introduced the Canada child benefit, which puts over $13,000 in the pocket of a single mother in Canada, the Conservatives voted against it. Yesterday evening, the Conservatives voted against additional measures to help Canadian households.

The Conservatives need to take a good, hard look in the mirror and admit that they do not have Canadians' interests at heart.

Public Safety

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is another day at the Public Order Emergency Commission in Ottawa, and there is new proof that the police never wanted the act to be invoked. An exchange of text messages between the RCMP commissioner and her OPP counterpart reveals that, on February 5, the police became wary of the federal government's intentions. This is what the RCMP commissioner said about the Emergencies Act: “Not something I want.”

Why did the government invoke the most extreme of Canadian laws against the wishes of the RCMP?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, we decided to invoke the Emergencies Act because it was needed to ensure the safety and health of Canadians. The testimony given before Justice Rouleau has shown that there were a lot of challenges and disruptions on the streets that were affecting workers, families and vulnerable citizens. That is why we invoked the Emergencies Act and we are now working with the commission.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the commissioner's text messages also reveal that in the first week of the occupation of Ottawa, on February 5, the federal government was considering invoking the Emergencies Act. February 5 was prior to the blockade of the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, which began on February 7. When the federal government claims that it resorted to emergency measures because the crisis was national in scope, that is untrue. The Emergencies Act has never been invoked because it is supposed to be the last resort.

Why did the government use it as a first resort and against the advice of the police?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, with all due respect to my colleague, the decision to invoke the Emergencies Act was a last resort. Testimony before the commission has shown that the situation, including the events at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, had very serious negative impacts on workers, families and vulnerable citizens. On the advice of law enforcement, we invoked the Emergencies Act because it was an unprecedented situation and it was necessary to do so.

Health

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Conservative premier Danielle Smith is once again attacking public health care in Alberta, stating that she will pull Alberta out of federal programs that she does not like. She is pushing an American-style private health care system, a system that will not help anyone but the wealthy—

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

I am wondering about the relevance of the question with regard to public administration.

I will allow the member to rephrase it as something that has to do with Government Orders.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Conservative premier Danielle Smith is yet again threatening Alberta's public health care system, stating that she will pull Alberta out of federal programs she does not like, federal programs like the Canada Health Act. To make matters worse, the federal government is doing nothing to stand up for Canadians' fundamental right to health care.

When is the government going to step up and protect Albertans from Conservative attacks on our universally accessible, publicly delivered health care system?

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I join with the member in believing that our publicly funded, cherished health care system is part of the identity of being Canadian. The Canada Health Act is very clear. There are five provisions that have to be seen in order to have a transfer. I hope that the Alberta premier will listen to us when we meet in two weeks in Vancouver, and her colleagues will let her know how important the Canada Health Act is to all Canadians.

Housing

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, under the Harper government, the cost of buying a home increased by 77%. It doubled under the Liberals. The average rent in Canada is now over $2,000 a month. Families just cannot afford it.

Both the Conservatives and the Liberals allowed for the financialization of housing to go unchecked, treating housing as a stock market instead of a necessity by allowing corporate landlords to evict people from their homes to turn a profit. Canadians deserve to find a home they can afford.

Will the Liberals stand with Canadian families and put a stop to the profiteering of housing?

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion (Housing)]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. There is definitely a speculative element in the real estate market right now. That is why our government decided to implement an annual tax of 1% on the value of residential property owned by non-resident non-Canadians and to prohibit foreign investment for two years. We want to make sure we protect our market here in Canada.

Taxation

[Michelle Ferreri, Conservative, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Mr. Speaker, 1.47 million is the number of Canadians who accessed food banks in one month. It is the highest number in history ever. One in three of those users are children. What is the Liberals' plan for relief? More tax. They want to triple the carbon tax on groceries, triple the carbon tax on home heating and triple the carbon tax on gas.

Will they commit to ending their triple carbon tax increase or do they want more Canadians using food banks?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for raising a very important issue. This is a matter that should concern every member of this House and all Canadians. As she said, the fact that families are struggling to feed not only their families but also kids is something that is of concern to all of us.

That is why, back in May, I asked the Competition Bureau to look at the issue we are seeing around competition in the country. More recently I asked it to launch an investigation to make sure there are no unlawful practices. In addition to that, I spoke with a number of CEOs around the country to make sure they do their part in lowering prices for Canadians.

[Michelle Ferreri, Conservative, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member's attempt to answer the question, but that is not an answer for why we have a trillion-dollar debt. It is not an answer when we have an increasing carbon tax and four million Canadians rely on propane and oil to heat their homes. This is not a luxury; this is a necessity. The average family is going to pay $7,000 to heat their home this winter. They have to choose between heating and eating.

Again, will the Liberals finally show leadership, fiscal responsibility and compassion and stop the tripling of their carbon tax?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to quote from an article that the new director of communications for the Conservative Party of Canada wrote. He stated, “But opposition to a policy is not a policy in and of itself.” He added, “Conservatives are refusing to contribute anything to the [climate change] discussion other than throwing temper tantrums and scoring political points.”

I agree with the new director of communications for the Conservative Party of Canada.

The Economy

[Scott Aitchison, Conservative, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP-Liberal coalition has racked up over $500 billion in inflation-causing deficits, turning essentials like heating our homes and eating healthy food into luxuries. Just as Canadians are starting to pay high, skyrocketing prices to fuel their homes, skyrocketing visits to food banks are happening in Canada as well.

When will this costly coalition stop hurting Canadians and cancel their inflationary spending?