Debates of Nov. 25th, 2022

Taxation

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

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are facing a tough time, as are people around the world, due to rising global inflation. This weekend, residents in my riding of Edmonton Centre thanked us for reducing child care costs because they said it is really making a difference.

We are doing more than that for the residents of Kelowna—Lake Country and people across the country by eliminating student and apprenticeship loan interest, by speeding up the Canada workers benefit, by providing a $500 housing top-up, by providing dental care to half a million kids and by making housing more affordable. It may not matter to some Conservatives that we are putting $500 into the pockets of people, but we are doing it because it is the right thing to do.

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals would have everyone believe that Canadians have never had it so great.

I was speaking with a senior from my community recently who was forced to make the tough decision to sell his home because he could not afford to live in it anymore. I attended a fundraiser in Joe Rich in my community, where neighbours were coming together to raise money so that neighbours could afford basic necessities.

This is Canada. This is what is happening. Let us stop the pain.

Will the Liberals stop forcing their failed carbon tax on hard-working Canadians who can barely afford basic necessities?

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

Mr. Speaker, day in and day out, the Conservatives stand up and profess to support seniors. However, year after year, since we came into government in 2015, they have voted against everything we have done for seniors.

That dog will not bark. Canadian seniors know who has their backs, and it is not the Conservative Party of Canada.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP-Liberal costly coalition's carbon tax makes everything more expensive. Half of Canadians are already $200 away from bankruptcy each month. They now have to pay more in taxes than they can afford in food, clothing and shelter combined. The prices for gas, groceries and home heating are at record highs, and a record number of students, seniors, families and working Canadians have to go to food banks.

When will the Liberals stop forcing their failed carbon tax on struggling Canadians?

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

Mr. Speaker, there is good news, particularly for Atlantic Canadians. On July 1, the price on pollution and the climate action rebate will be coming to three Atlantic provinces. A family of four will receive up to $248 in Nova Scotia, the Speaker's home province, $240 in P.E.I. and $328 in Newfoundland and Labrador, and that comes quarterly. Eight out of 10 families will benefit.

The Conservatives should stop their climate denial and get on board with climate change.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the fact is that the carbon tax is up and so are emissions. On top of that, the Liberals' claims about rebates are misleading, because they are only talking about the carbon tax line item on people's bills. Their own budget watchdog confirms what the Conservatives have always warned: Carbon taxes drive up the cost of everything, so most Canadians pay more than they get back. That is why the PBO said, “most households incur a net loss” because of the carbon tax.

The tax is up, emissions are up, prices are up and the Liberals will make it three times worse. Why will they not axe their failed carbon tax?

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

Mr. Speaker, as usual, the Conservatives are peddling misinformation. Emissions are going down. We are on track to making our targets by 2030.

Let us listen again to the Conservatives' record. They cut $350 million from the environment and climate change budget. They withdrew from the Kyoto climate accord, which blew up our emissions targets. They did nothing for 10 long years and now they are blaming us for their inaction.

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives do not lash out at hard-working Canadians when they want their concerns to be heard, but that is exactly what the senior minister from Newfoundland and Labour did this week when he said he is “sick and tired of people talking about the cold [weather]”. Atlantic Canadians are sick and tired of being told sit down, stop complaining and look the other way while the government reaches into their wallets and takes their hard-earned cash to pay for policies that just do not work.

When will the minister from St. John's South—Mount Pearl apologize for his shameful comments and implore his parties to axe the tax?

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

Mr. Speaker, what is shameful is when Conservatives vote—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Deputy Speaker, Chris d'Entremont]

Order.

The hon. Minister of Tourism.

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, let us talk about the Conservative record on reducing taxes for Canadians. It does not exist, so there is not a lot to say, but I can tell members about the Liberal record on cutting taxes.

For the Canada child benefit, the Conservatives voted “against”. For cutting taxes on the middle class, they voted “against”. For the $15 minimum wage, they voted “against”. For providing dental and rental supports for half a million kids, how did they vote? It was “against”.

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Mr. Speaker, we have had multiple votes where we have asked the government to vote with us to get rid of the carbon tax and reduce HST. Just this week, the Voice Of The Common Man, or VOCM, in Newfoundland and Labrador, released a poll, and 91% of respondents said a federal carbon tax is not necessary in light of high fuel prices.

The people of Newfoundland and Labrador and the Maritimes have seen the failure of the carbon tax in the rest of Canada. They have heard the PBO tell them that 60% of Canadians pay more for the carbon tax than they receive.

If the Prime Minister will not listen to the Conservatives and will not listen to the PBO, will he listen to the Voice of the Common Man and axe the carbon tax?

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

Mr. Speaker, there is more good news for Atlantic Canadians. In three provinces, they are going to have access to the climate action rebate, and it is going to put more money in their pockets. There is even more good news: Hundreds of millions of dollars will be flowing into four Atlantic provinces to help them move away from polluting and expensive heating oil to greener forms of energy.

We are focused like a laser beam on affordability and fighting climate change. The Conservatives are focused on neither.

Infrastructure

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

Laser beams are not what they used to be, Mr. Speaker.

The federal government is bringing the deadline to submit infrastructure projects forward by two years. If Quebec fails to meet the deadline, the federal government will keep $2.7 billion that is owed to our cities. It is bullying our municipalities and threatening to keep every cent that is not spent by March 31.

Meanwhile, yesterday, the federal government announced a new $1.6‑billion infrastructure project to fight climate change.

Is that program being funded with the same money it plans to steal from municipalities at the end of March?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, no, not at all.

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

Mr. Speaker, we are concerned because this is not the first time this government has stolen money that belongs to our municipalities.

That is exactly what it did last June with $342 million in another infrastructure program, so, yes, we are concerned when this government threatens to keep every penny that has not been spent by March 31 of next year. When it comes to stealing money from our cities, this government has always kept its word.

Why not collaborate instead and announce that any money remaining in the fund will simply be transferred to Quebec?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, it worries me that my colleagues from Quebec seems to disagree with the idea of helping all Canadians, including Quebeckers, adapt their infrastructure to handle climate change.

After hurricane Fiona hit the Magdalen Islands, my colleague, the Minister of National Revenue, witnessed the resulting difficulties first-hand.

We will set up programs to help Quebec's municipalities, Quebeckers and the Government of Quebec prepare for such events in the future. I am surprised that my colleague seems to be against that.

Public Safety

[Leslyn Lewis, Conservative, Haldimand—Norfolk, ON]

Mr. Speaker, CSIS has confirmed it is currently investigating lethal threats to Canadians from Iran. Iranian Canadians have begged the Liberal government to list the IRGC as a terrorist organization.

How can the Liberal government say it is using all of the tools at its disposal, yet fail to take the basic step against a regime that has killed and is threatening to kill more Canadians?

When will the government prioritize the safety of Canadians and list the IRGC as a terrorist organization?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I would submit to my colleague that we have gone further by using a very sparingly used provision under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act that not only designates members of the IRGC but also the entirety of the Iranian regime itself, which will target those who are most responsible for the transgressions of human rights and women's rights on the ground. As a result, Canada will never be used as a safe haven for the supporting of any kind of transgression of human rights.

We are putting $77 million on the front lines of the law enforcement community to make sure that this happens.

Democratic Institutions

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on a Quebec radio show this week, former CSIS director and national security adviser to the Prime Minister, Richard Fadden, questioned the Prime Minister's denial that he was briefed on Chinese government interference in the 2019 election.

He said, “I would have a hard time believing that no one would have spoken to [the Prime Minister] about it.”

If the former CSIS director and national security adviser does not believe the Prime Minister's story, why should Canadians? After all, he has denied things in the past that have been proven to be true.

Did the Prime Minister receive any briefings, verbal or written, on foreign election interference, yes or no?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I would remind my colleague and all members in the chamber that the Prime Minister receives briefings all the time with regard to intelligence and any threats to our national security, including potential foreign interference as it relates to our democratic institutions. That is why independent reviews were launched and confirmed the free and fair status of the elections in 2019 and 2021.

We will continue to ensure that national security apparatuses in this country have all of the tools that they need to protect our democratic institutions.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister stated that China and other countries “are continuing to play aggressive games...with our democracies”. He must have been briefed.

Later, he said that he does not have information on election interference from China. Either he has a selective memory or a very short one. Let us try to refresh it.

Has the Prime Minister received any briefings or memos on election interference in Canada?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, my friend across the aisle knows very well that our government took historic steps, because we take this issue very seriously, to put in place, in 2019, the critical incident panel chaired by national security experts and involving the Clerk of the Privy Council.

This group of independent experts reviewed, during an election period, any allegations of this sort. If it meets the threshold, it reports to Canadians that there are significant concerns. That was in place in 2019. That was in place again in 2021. I am surprised that my colleague is not reassured by the fact that it did not report out to Canadians.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Mr. Speaker, ever since it was reported in the media that the Chinese communist regime tried to influence the outcome of elections in Canada, the Prime Minister keeps saying that he was not briefed on it, that he was not informed.

He must know something, however, because Canada's intelligence services cannot keep the Prime Minister in the dark. That is impossible.

Did he receive any briefings or memos on Chinese electoral interference, yes or no?