Debates of Nov. 16th, 2022

Taxation

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

Mr. Speaker, do members know who is broke in Canada today? It is anyone who actually listened to the Conservative leader in the spring, followed his advice and invested in crypto. Canadians who did that would have lost at least 65% of their life savings. Many of them would be completely wiped out. It is time for the Conservative leader to take responsibility, renounce his reckless advice and apologize to the Canadian people.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, that is the minister who advised Canadians that there would be deflation rather than inflation. Her government said inflation and interest rates would stay low for decades, so they should borrow up a storm. Her most recent advice is that Canadians should pay their $6,000 home heating bills by cancelling their $13 Disney+ subscription. That is the advice we are getting from the finance minister. It is no wonder we have 40-year highs in inflation.

Why will the government not reverse its inflationary taxes so that Canadians can afford to live?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative leader lives in a 19-room government mansion, rent- and mortgage-free. This mansion comes with a chef and a driveway, where his chauffeur can wait to pick him up. All—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Order.

The hon. Deputy Prime Minister, from the top.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative leader lives in a 19-room government mansion, rent- and mortgage-free. The mansion comes with a chef and a driveway, where his chauffeur can wait to pick him up. All of these privileges are a recognition of the essential role of the official opposition, but with this privilege comes responsibility, and that responsibility means not giving Canadians reckless advice. It is time for the Conservative Leader to apologize today for this reckless advice.

Health

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, our health care system is sick and the money we need to heal it is in Ottawa. The Minister of Finance herself proved it. On page 18 of her economic update, she shows that, in the next 30 years, the federal government will pay off its debt in full. Meanwhile, Quebec and the provinces will quadruple their deficits in the next 20 years because of health care costs. Quebec is drowning while the federal government expects to even make a profit.

Now that the minister has proven that she is the one with the money to invest in health, when will she give us the $28 billion we need to take care of people?

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

Mr. Speaker, this year, the Canada health transfer will provide the provinces and territories with $45.2 billion, an increase of 4.8%. We know that our health care system is facing real challenges. We will continue to work to help and support our health care system. My colleague, the Minister of Health, has been clear: increased funding must translate into—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for La Prairie.

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the federal government brags about how it is going to pay off all its debts while leaving Quebec to grapple with health care costs. In the meantime, suffering people are languishing on endless waiting lists. Some may have cancer and not know it because they do not have access to doctors. Some spend the night on a gurney in the hospital hallway because there are no beds for them.

Is the minister not also fed up with health underfunding? These are the consequences. Is she not as weary as we are of seeing all this?

Now that she has proven that she is the one with room to manoeuvre, what is she waiting for?

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

Mr. Speaker, I agree with my hon. colleague that the challenges in health care in Canada and Quebec are real. We must all work together to help Canadians and Quebeckers. I want to point out that this year, Quebec received $10.1 billion for health. That is a 4.8% increase. We must continue to work together.

The Economy

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

Mr. Speaker, people across the country are struggling. Everything costs more. Food is becoming a luxury. While the big grocery stores' profits keep increasing, the Liberals and the Bank of Canada are telling working people that they are the ones who need to tighten their belts. Workers' wages are not going up and Loblaws is making profits at three times the rate of inflation. It makes no sense. The Liberals still refuse to address corporate greed.

Why are the Liberals putting business owners ahead of families who are struggling?

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

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to ensuring that all Canadians pay their fair share. That is why we introduced a 2% tax on share buybacks by public corporations. That is why we introduced a 15% recovery dividend that banks and insurance companies must pay. That is why we introduced a luxury tax.

Taxation

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the fact remains that when we are seeing Canadians struggling to buy groceries and we see the very same companies from which they are buying their groceries making profits that are growing at three times the rate of inflation, there is something seriously wrong with the economy that requires government intervention.

We have seen other jurisdictions implement windfall taxes, not just on financial institutions but on big box stores and on oil and gas companies that are seeing record profits, and we want to see the same done here in Canada. When are the Liberals going to stop putting big corporations ahead of the needs of Canadians who are facing dire straits, and implement a windfall tax?

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

Mr. Speaker, our government is absolutely committed to ensuring that everyone in Canada pays their fair share. That is why we have introduced a luxury tax on yachts, private jets and luxury cars. That is why we have introduced a 2% tax on share buybacks. That is why we have introduced a 15% COVID recovery dividend on the largest banks and insurance companies.

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

Mr. Speaker, 40-year highs in Liberal food inflation are forcing more families into food banks than ever. Yesterday, the PBO said that the savings the Liberals are claiming are not transparent and have the finance minister looking more like Pinocchio. She is out to lunch while Canadians have to skip lunch. Will the finance minister show some compassion and cancel the cruel tripling of taxes on groceries?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, what my hon. colleague said is absolutely false. There is no tripling of taxes that is coming forward.

When the Conservatives talk about compassion, they should look in the mirror. They have had several opportunities over the past couple of weeks to support families in need, whether it was the Canada dental benefit, which they voted against; whether it was the Canada housing benefit, which they voted against; or whether it was child care, which they voted against. They have had real opportunities to support Canadians, and at each opportunity they have not.

Government Accountability

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

Mr. Speaker, why would anyone take advice from the minister who broke Passport Canada and Service Canada, or an immigration minister who broke immigration, or a housing minister who broke housing, or a transport minister who broke our airports, or a finance minister who broke the banks of Canadians, or a Prime Minister who broke his promises and broke Canada? Why would anyone believe them? They should apologize for breaking Canada.

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, the members opposite like to pretend they support Canadians, but over the past seven years we have seen time and again that when there are actual opportunities for them to support hard-working Canadians, they do not.

Instead of supporting Canadians through the Canada child benefit, which puts thousands of dollars into the pockets of lower-income families, they voted against it. Instead of supporting the Canada dental benefit, which is going to help low-income children access dental care, they voted against it. Instead of helping low-income renters with the Canada housing benefit, they voted against it. I am tired of their crocodile tears.

Taxation

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal carbon tax is punishing Canadians.

Has the Prime Minister spoken to anyone paying three dollars a litre to fill their truck with diesel, anyone out east who could pay $6,000 to heat their home this winter, or a single one of the 1.5 million Canadians who used the food bank in a single month? Of course not; it is private jets, limousines, $6,000 hotel rooms and $12,000 grocery bills for them.

When will the Liberals join us in the real world, listen to struggling Canadians and stop their plan to triple the carbon tax?

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

Mr. Speaker, if we want to level with Canadians, we just have to point to the heat dome two summers ago in Alberta, or the atmospheric river that fell on British Columbia, or hurricane Fiona, the worst natural disaster in this country's history.

The best market mechanism to combat the existential threat of climate change is a price on pollution. The Conservatives do not like it. It is the responsible thing to do, and that is why we are doing it, to support Canadians and to support the planet.

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is bad enough that the government has not hit a single environment target it has ever set. The Parliamentary Budget Officer, who the Prime Minister himself chose, says that Canadians from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario pay more in carbon tax than they get back. He can tell his minister that cutting a Disney+ subscription will buy him a whole five litres of diesel. It might heat his home for a few hours this whole winter.

I will ask this again. When will the Liberals join everyone in the real world, tell the truth, listen to struggling Canadians and scrap their plan to triple the carbon tax?

[Terry Duguid, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, the other day I listened to the MP for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, who spoke so eloquently about his community, especially the community of Lytton, B.C., which we all know burned to the ground. The temperatures reached 50°C in the worst environmental disaster, the worst climate catastrophe in our history, yet the words “climate change” never come out of the hon. member's lips.

They should stop this triple, triple, triple schtick and do something positive about climate change.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Before we go to the next question, I just want to remind the hon. members, especially certain members with deep voices that carry wonderfully, that unfortunately, when someone is trying to answer a question, usually it is from the party that is out there. I am sure the individuals who shout out or speak loudly do not want to be named, because that would be embarrassing to them, their families and their ridings.

The hon. member for Charlesbourg—Haute‑Saint‑Charles.

Small Business

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

Mr. Speaker, according to a recent Canadian Federation of Independent Business, or CFIB, survey, 94% of businesses in Canada and Quebec say that price increases are related to the cost of transportation and fuel. Furthermore, 80% of businesses say that government costs such as fees and permits have driven prices up significantly.

CFIB members' first recommendation to the Prime Minister is to stop the carbon tax increase. That is what the CFIB says, and we agree.

Will the Prime Minister commit to not increasing the carbon tax?