Debates of Dec. 2nd, 2022

Taxation

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

Madam Speaker, inflation in Canada is close to 7%, the average credit card balance is around $2,000, and credit card interest rates are 21%. Add that to the cost of heat, gas, food and rent, and the middle class is reeling.

What is the Liberal solution? Raise taxes on paycheques and triple the carbon tax.

For the sake of the middle class and those who can no longer afford to be middle class, will the Liberals scrap the tax hike?

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

Madam Speaker, I am always amazed to see members from Quebec rise in the House when they know very well that the price on pollution does not apply to Quebec.

We have put forward a solid, responsible plan to help Canadians who are struggling to make ends meet, unlike the Conservatives, who have no plan.

Their plan is to abandon our fight against the climate crisis and go after seniors' pensions.

Official Languages

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Madam Speaker, according to Statistics Canada, the use of French in the workplace is declining in Quebec. One in five Quebeckers cannot work in French; also, 32% of Montrealers and 35% of Gatineau residents work primarily in English.

We will not stand for the federal government, despite being fully aware of these numbers, enacting Bill C‑13 to protect English in the workplace by allowing federally regulated companies to keep ignoring the Charter of the French Language.

French is in decline and English is on the rise. How can the minister deny that we are witnessing the anglicization of Quebec?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency]

Madam Speaker, first of all, Quebec and the government share the same goal. We both want to do everything we can to protect and promote French everywhere in Canada, including in Quebec.

That is why we introduced an ambitious bill, one with teeth, that will change things and enable employees and clients of federally regulated private businesses to work in French and get service in French.

I hope this bill will pass quickly.

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Madam Speaker, Statistics Canada also revealed that one of the three sectors where French in the workplace is declining the most is the finance and insurance sector. That means banks, which are under federal jurisdiction.

Let me repeat that. Banks, which are under federal jurisdiction, are among the main architects of the decline of the French language. Bill C‑13 allows them to continue to circumvent the Charter of the French Language. Bill C‑13 does not protect French in Quebec; it protects the banks, which want to operate in English.

What is the minister's mandate? Is it to protect the banks or to protect the French language?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency]

Madam Speaker, first of all, we recognize that French is in decline in Canada. That is exactly what the census data published this week confirm.

We are the first government to recognize the decline of French, and that is why we have introduced an ambitious bill that will change things.

We want to ensure that, in federally regulated private businesses, employees and clients will be able to choose to work in French not only in Quebec, but also in regions with a strong francophone presence.

I hope the opposition parties will work with us to get this bill passed, because it will really improve the lives of all Canadians.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I seem to be hearing a number of voices in addition to the minister's.

I would ask all members to respect the fact that it is not their turn to speak. When someone has the floor, everyone else should keep quiet.

The hon. member for North Island—Powell River.

Health

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Madam Speaker, the situation in our ERs is a disaster. People cannot get treatment or care when they need it. In my riding, the ERs at the hospitals in Port Hardy and Port McNeill have been forced to close regularly. Yesterday, a person even collapsed at the Port Hardy ER. They had gone for help and found it closed.

For years, the Liberals have underfunded health care and Canadians are now not able to even access it. When will the government act on the health care staffing crisis in rural communities and increase the Canada health transfer?

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health and to the Minister of Sport]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate the concern from my colleague opposite.

This is a really urgent time, and urgent actions are required to address the current human resources and workforce crisis in health care. That is why we have taken significant actions by establishing a Coalition for Action for Health Workers to inform immediate and long-term solutions and address significant health workforce challenges. We have also introduced measures to facilitate the entry of foreign national physicians as permanent residents and announced a chief nursing officer to provide strategic advice from a nursing perspective to Health Canada on priority policy and program areas.

Persons with Disabilities

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Madam Speaker, living with a disability should not mean living in poverty, yet this is the reality for close to a million Canadians. More persons with disabilities are now contemplating medical assistance in dying, not because they want to die but because they cannot afford to live. The government was clear that people will not get the Canada disability benefit for at least another year.

What is the minister's plan to help people with disabilities get by as they wait for the Canada disability benefit?

[Irek Kusmierczyk, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Employment]

Madam Speaker, we must address the long-standing financial insecurity that is the lived reality of far too many working-age Canadians with disabilities.

Bill C-22 would help us do just that by creating the groundbreaking Canada disability benefit. The CDB has the potential to lift hundreds of thousands of Canadians with disabilities out of poverty. The CDB would be a supplement to existing benefits like the guaranteed income supplement, and it would be paid to people who need it most. Bill C-22 passed second reading with 328 votes to zero and is being studied at committee.

Carbon Pricing

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

Madam Speaker, Canadians are being crushed by just how expensive life has become under the Liberal government. Groceries hit a 40-year high, which drove nearly 1.5 million Canadians to food banks. The cost of home heating has skyrocketed to the point where Canadians have to choose between heating and eating. The price of diesel in the Maritimes spiked to over $3 per litre. Now the Liberals are going to continue to raise their tax on everything.

Will the Liberal government stop forcing its failed carbon tax on Canadians?

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

Madam Speaker, we put forward a responsible plan that will meet the needs of the vulnerable Canadians in this country, as well as ensure that we continue to be fiscally responsible.

On the other side of this House, we have the Conservatives and the Conservative leader who are proposing no economic plan for our country. In fact, the only economic advice the Conservatives have proposed comes from the Conservative leader telling Canadians that they can opt-out of inflation by buying cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency has since crashed.

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

Madam Speaker, that word salad will not fill the bowls of Canadians. In fact, many Canadians cannot afford to fill their bowls with salad because the price of lettuce, under the Liberals, has tripled. They are punishing people for the crime of trying to feed their families, trying to drive to work and trying to just get by.

What are Liberals going to do? They are going to triple down by tripling their failed carbon tax. They are completely out of touch with everyday Canadians. Do they want some economic advice? Do they want to know what a plan looks like? Stop raising taxes on Canadians.

Will they cancel their failed carbon tax?

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

Madam Speaker, as the hon. member knows, as the price on pollution increases, so does the climate action rebate. It makes eight out of 10 families better off, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer.

What does not make families better off is investing in cryptocurrency. I do not know if the hon. member has been reading headlines lately, but many Canadians have lost their shirts, and the hon. Leader of the Opposition still has not apologized in the House.

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

Madam Speaker, after seven years of the government's agenda of high debt, high tax and high spending, the result is 40-year high Liberal-made inflation. The result is people barely affording basic necessities. The result is organizations like the Salvation Army saying that it has a 30% increase in families with children in need coming for its services.

Will the Liberal government stop forcing its failed carbon tax on Canadians?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, I spent a lot of time in opposition when Stephen Harper's government, quite frankly, never raised the spectre or issue of those who were the most vulnerable. This was the government that set targets on poverty—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

Order. I am sure that the hon. members would want to hear the answer whether they are in agreement with it or not. I think that they owe the respect to at least hear the answer so that another question can be posed.

The hon. government House leader can start from the top.

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Ajax, ON]

Madam Speaker, we know that times are difficult across the world. It does not matter to Canadians who are trying to pay their bills that we have one of the lowest rates of inflation anywhere in the world. It is lower than the G7 average, lower than the EU, lower than the U.S. and lower than the U.K. It does not matter, and they are absolutely right.

However, what does matter is what we do in the face of those global headwinds. Do we expand anxiety and fear as the opposition is trying to do, or do we put real, tangible solutions that actually help people with the problems they are facing? I would submit that we need to do the second and not the first.

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

Madam Speaker, even the Governor of the Bank of Canada said that inflation was homegrown because of the Liberals. A constituent of mine let me know that he sent some Christmas baking to a relative in Penticton, which is only 45 minutes from Kelowna. It cost him $75. The fuel surcharge fee on his bill was 40%, and this is before the tripling of the Liberals' carbon tax. So much for the annual Christmas tradition of sending baking to those they love.

Will the Liberal government stop forcing its failed carbon tax on Canadians?

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

Madam Speaker, the hon. member from B.C. never talks about the costs of climate change and never talks about the rebate. I would remind her that 600 people died under the heat dome in British Columbia. They were subjected to the atmospheric river, which cost the B.C. economy $9 billion. We have sent $5 billion to help that good province rebuild. The hon. member should get serious about climate change. It is costing our citizens plenty.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Madam Speaker, despite being absolutely useless, the government insists on tripling the carbon tax. When taxes go up, the money in bank accounts of Canadians actually goes down. It is basic math and logic. Welcome, folks.

In order to try to make ends meet, moms are actually watering down baby formula, seniors are turning their thermostats down to 17°C and Canadian families are accessing food banks like they have never done before. Canadians are struggling.

When will the Liberals show some compassion and axe the tax?

[Gudie Hutchings, Liberal, Minister of Rural Economic Development]

Madam Speaker, I would like to talk about another group of families, whom I have been invited to go to cook for and serve Christmas dinner to next weekend. They are the over 125 people who lost their homes due to hurricane Fiona. They have no homes. They are living with family and friends and in temporary housing as we rebuild.

It is our government that is helping them now. It is our government that has a plan to fight climate change. If we go to visit my riding, they are the first to stand up and say, please, address the impacts of climate change. We have to act, and we have to act now.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Madam Speaker, here is the problem with that. Since the Liberals took power and imposed the carbon tax, emissions have actually gone up, not down. I do not know how those constituents are being helped by this, aside from paying a whole lot of money to get a whole lot of nothing.

A tax is not the answer. Canadians are the answer. They are the innovators. They are the problem-solvers. They are the solution makers. They are the ones who will get us out of this Liberal-made mess. Canadians are the ones we believe in.

Finally, when will you scrap your failed Liberal experiment, and give Canadians back control of their lives?