House of Commons Hansard #58 of the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was dental.

Topics

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1 p.m.

Conservative

Stephen Ellis Conservative Cumberland—Colchester, NS

Madam Speaker, we cannot use “just” anymore. I will try to fix that somehow. I will learn some new English.

One thing for certain is that it is inflation, and it is a huge problem that is at the highest levels in over 30 thirty years. These spend-DP-Liberals can go on and say that this is a global crisis and things like that, but it is a lot of foolishness. Quite frankly, I do not believe for one second that my constituents are terribly concerned about what is going on specifically in Germany, France or anywhere else that these spend-DP-Liberals want to talk about. That is nonsensical.

When they call me, email me or drop into the office, they are concerned about how they are going to put food on their tables here in Canada, which is the government's responsibility and the Prime Minister's responsibility, not just any other problem. They are concerned about the highest inflation that Canadians have seen in over 30 years. They are concerned about the prices of everything they see, from home heating fuel to groceries to gasoline for their vehicles, which go up on an almost weekly basis. To get to the question that Daniel would like answered, perhaps by the Prime Minister, what is the government going to do about the affordability crisis that Canadians are now facing?

Finally, Canadians ask me every day how we are going to pay the incredible debt that these spend-DP-Liberals continue to accumulate. I look back to August 1994 when my eldest daughter was born. At that point, an individual's share of the debt was $16,000, and today that has now ballooned to $31,255. Of course, if we want to use approximate math, that is double the amount in 28 years. As this number continues to climb, there is a major concern I hear from everyday Canadians with this out-of-control spending: How are we going to saddle these Canadians with that as they go forward in the future and cannot even afford a house?

To summarize, this budget has failed everyday Canadians like Daniel, important and vital industries such as agriculture, future Canadians like my eldest daughter, who are going to be saddled with this huge national debt, and, finally, all Nova Scotians. There was next to no mention of my home province in the budget and certainly nothing of substance for the constituents of Cumberland—Colchester. Therefore, it will come as no surprise that I have no confidence in the government and there is no way I can support the Prime Minister's budget 2022.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1 p.m.

Winnipeg North Manitoba

Liberal

Kevin Lamoureux LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Madam Speaker, it does not surprise me that the member is not voting for the budget. Wow, what a surprise. I can tell members that, unlike the Conservative members, we recognize that there has been a pandemic, a world pandemic, which brought on the need to spend billions of dollars, not only here in Canada, but also around the world.

We also recognize, as one of his former members recognized, that there is a war happening in Ukraine, and there are economic and world conditions that have actually led to, yes, inflation. Compared to the United States, our inflation rate is less. Compared to many European Union countries, our inflation rate is less than theirs.

Does the member not believe that he is misleading Canadians when he tries to give a blanket statement, trying to give the impression that Canadians need to be frantically worried because of inflation and not necessarily putting it into a proper perspective?

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:05 p.m.

Conservative

Stephen Ellis Conservative Cumberland—Colchester, NS

Madam Speaker, if I cannot use the word “just”, I find it inappropriate that the member opposite can say that I am misleading Canadians by giving facts. That is a little bit rich, in my mind, and quite ridiculous, to be honest.

I think what is important is that on the Conservative side of the House, we hear about everyday Canadians. They talk to us. I am not sure that the other side really understands that, that we hear from real people who come in and cannot afford things.

I always find it fascinating, as well, that they continue to go on and on about the United States, France, Germany and other places that perhaps are worse off. If they cannot govern the country, and it is too darn difficult for them to manage a war and a COVID crisis while doing a proper budget that would help Canadians, I know a group of people on this side of the House that is more than happy to take over.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:05 p.m.

Bloc

Mario Simard Bloc Jonquière, QC

Madam Speaker, my colleague has raised legitimate concerns about the public debt and inflation. However, there is a concern that he neglected to mention, and that is climate change.

I do not know whether Daniel in his riding is concerned only about inflation, but he should also be concerned about global warming. Many of my constituents find the situation untenable. It is going to have a major adverse impact on their future. I would like to hear what my colleague has to say about this.

I have a quick question to ask him: If we want to fight both public debt and global warming, would it not be appropriate to halt the $2.5 billion in the budget to support the gas and oil industries? I am sure he will agree with me on that.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:05 p.m.

Conservative

Stephen Ellis Conservative Cumberland—Colchester, NS

Madam Speaker, I think the interesting thing is that I did speak about climate change. Perhaps he does not know the geography of Nova Scotia. Canada is actually connected to us by an isthmus called the Isthmus of Chignecto, which I have raised multiple times in the House. It is in significant danger of being flooded from the climate change that is happening.

What we do know, again, as I mentioned very clearly, this is not mentioned in this budget, even though the government has chosen to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to study this issue multiple times, and the sad thing is that this is a very important link from Canada to Nova Scotia. It brings across many goods every day, and this would sadly be flooded by climate change. That is something that the government, again, has not addressed in budget 2022.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:05 p.m.

NDP

Lori Idlout NDP Nunavut, NU

Qujannamiik, Uqaqtitiji.

The member and his party have made it clear that they oppose the increases to dental care and pharmacare, which are needed by so many Canadians. How can the member justify increasing the defence budget by $24 million when so many Canadians would benefit from dental care and pharmacare?

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:05 p.m.

Conservative

Stephen Ellis Conservative Cumberland—Colchester, NS

Madam Speaker, there are a few things there. We do know that health care is very important. It is very clear that the government does not believe that. They did not increase the Canada health transfers at all, which, as I mentioned, was unanimously agreed upon by all the provincial premiers. That is a sad state of affairs.

In terms of other care, Nova Scotia does have a dental program, and I think, when we look at the details of the dental program and the pharmacare program, these are very wasteful programs. They really do not know how to administer things on the other side of the House. When one begins to understand the costs associated with them, there are probably better ways to do it. As I said previously, we would be more than happy to take that burden away from the country and take over as the governing party whenever we need to.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:05 p.m.

Liberal

Patrick Weiler Liberal West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC

Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Labrador.

Budget 2022 has been tabled at a time when Canada is seeing historic growth in our economy. Canada’s GDP is higher than it has ever been, and the IMF is projecting Canada to have the fastest-growing economy in the G7 both this year and next year. Canada has recovered 115% of the jobs lost at the height the pandemic, compared to only 93% in the United States, and we have the lowest unemployment rate that we have had in almost five decades. Canada entered the pandemic with the lowest net debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7, and budget 2022 will maintain this position by ensuring our clear fiscal anchor of a declining debt-to-GDP ratio remains in place to have a fiscally prudent path forward.

Despite these lofty numbers, inflation caused by COVID-related global supply chain disruptions, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and record low interest rates are impacting Canadians through rising prices as they buy their groceries, fill their cars or look for a home. This is why budget 2022 prioritizes tackling affordability challenges to make home ownership more attainable and to relieve health care costs, while we simultaneously focus on growing our economy and protecting our environment.

The rising cost of housing is the most visible and alarming example of affordability challenges in our country as home ownership continues to fall further out of reach for many Canadians. For example, in two of the three largest communities in my riding, the average house currently sells for over $4 million, while the fastest growing areas saw homes increase by about 40% year over year. This is clearly not sustainable, and the large shortage of housing Canada is facing plays a big part.

Foreign investment and speculation have taken housing off the market for Canadians, while unfair real estate practices have driven up prices, and high prices have made it particularly difficult for young Canadians to enter the market. To respond to this, budget 2022 takes action on all these fronts.

Canada’s population is growing faster than any G7 country, and, with fewer homes per capita than most OECD countries, which cannot continue if we want homes to be affordable. To address this, Canada will double new housing construction over the next decade. We are proposing to invest $4 billion to launch the housing accelerator fund to work with municipalities to build over 100,000 of the right sort of housing in our communities. We are also tying our infrastructure investments to densification to do what we can as a federal government to discourage the Nimbyism that is shutting out young Canadians and workers from the communities they grew up in or work in.

We are also extending the rapid housing initiative to quickly build more supportive housing units, creating a rent-to-own program to help young professionals get into the market, and making the largest investment in co-operatives in over three decades, among many other initiatives.

We also need to keep building more housing in indigenous communities. As difficult as it is to find housing is for most Canadians, it is even worse in indigenous communities. Fixing that is a vital step along the path of reconciliation. Budget 2022 proposes investments of $4.3 billion to build and expand housing in indigenous communities and to co-develop and launch an urban, rural and northern indigenous housing strategy.

To tackle the commodification of housing, we are banning non-resident foreign investment in Canadian housing for two years to ensure the Canadian homes are owned by people that live and contribute to our country. We are also introducing a tax on home flippers where property is sold within 12 months of acquisition, and taxing assignments of new builds. We are also working with the provinces to develop a homebuyer bill of rights to eliminate unfair practices, such as blind bidding, that unnecessarily drive up housing prices and to ensure that buyers have the right to a home inspection when they are making the largest investment of their lives.

We are also creating the tax-free first home savings account to assist young Canadians to get into the housing market. This account will give prospective first-time homebuyers the ability to save and invest up to $40,000. Like an RRSP, contributions would be tax deductible, and withdrawals to purchase a first home, including investment income, would be non-taxable, like a TFSA.

While housing is the most prominent factor in the affordability crisis, it is by no means the only one. One of the things I have consistently heard across my riding is that the high cost and lack of availability of child care has hurt both families and businesses. That is why our government created the Canada-wide early learning and child care system last year. By the end of this year, child care fees will be reduced by an average of 50%, or to $20 a day in British Columbia, and will average $10 a day by 2026. This will save B.C. families $6,000 per child, on average, by the end of the year, and over $9,000 per child by the end of 2026.

To build on the 40,000 new spaces that will be created as part of this, budget 2022 will invest another $625 million to create even more spaces. Parents have told me that this, in many respects, is an even greater challenge than the cost, where some families are waiting over two years for child care. This is not just an important social policy. It is also an important economic policy, as it will allow both parents to return to the workforce.

Getting people back to work is in fact one of the largest challenges we have in our economy with almost 875,000 unfilled jobs across the country. Child care and building housing address two main factors, but the backlog in immigration processing caused by the pandemic is the third. Budget 2022 contains $2.1 billion to clear these backlogs. Importantly, it will support improvements that will streamline the temporary foreign worker program, which is crucial to find workers in sectors and regions with the largest labour shortages, including in tourist-dependent areas that have been hit hard by the pandemic.

Canada's public health care system is a source of immense national pride. It protected us through the worst of the pandemic, but it is not complete. Budget 2022 fills an important remaining gap with the creation of a new dental care program. Starting this year, children under age 12 will have access to dental care. This program will be steadily expanded so that all Canadian families with income under $90,000 will have access by 2025. While the federal government provided 80% of the pandemic relief programs to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic, a backlog of surgeries formed over the last two years. That is why the federal government is going to be stepping up once again to provide provinces the supports of over $2 billion to top up the Canada health transfer to clear them.

Last year’s devastating flooding and wildfires in B.C. were a wake-up call for many in B.C. that we are living in a climate emergency. Budget 2022 shows that the Government of Canada is both ensuring we are resilient to an already changing climate, while following through on its now legislated commitment to reduce emissions by at least 40% by 2030. Total investments in climate action and greening the economy will exceed $28 billion in this year’s budget, building on the over $100 billion already committed. Importantly, to mitigate future wildfires, we will be training 1,000 new firefighters, increasing our satellite monitoring capability, investing in new firefighting equipment and working with indigenous peoples on traditional ways of mitigating wildfires.

Our government knows that climate policy must be implemented in a way that creates jobs and does not overly burden Canadians. That is why this year’s budget will expand and extend incentives in zero-emission vehicles to tackle our second highest source of emissions. We will also invest in the charging networks to support them. New tax benefits for heat pump manufacturing and additional capital from residential retrofits will build on the $5,000 grants and the $40,000 no interest loans for home retrofits to save Canadians money and reduce household emissions.

Investments of $15 billion in the Canada growth fund and $3.8 billion into our critical minerals strategy will allow Canada to be competitive in the entire battery supply chain, which will play a crucial role in the clean economy, which will drive job growth around the world. Scrapping tax credits that support new oil and gas production while creating new tax credits that support clean technologies will help the private sector play an increasing role in the transition to a cleaner economy. As we increasingly electrify our economy, we are investing to expand our green electricity generation with almost $900 million to develop new clean electricity projects and modernize our electrical grid.

Our environment has a special place in the hearts of British Columbians, but many of our most important land and marine ecosystems are at risk. To protect our last remaining old growth forests in British Columbia, we are creating the old growth nature fund. This fund will leverage provincial and private capital to protect more of B.C.’s irreplaceable old growth forests and the many species at risk that call them home. We are also expanding the highly successful and the oceans protection plan, which has done incredible restoration work throughout our most sensitive marine areas, with an additional $2 billion to do even more.

As I see my time is running out, I will not have time to touch on the many other areas of this budget that will make a real difference in the lives of Canadians and help us continue to accelerate along the path to more sustainable development. I want to end by saying that these policies and investments mark the beginning of the post-COVID world. Through prudent yet ambitious spending, our government will help Canadians build a future in which everyone can prosper while maintaining a strong and sustainable fiscal position.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:15 p.m.

London North Centre Ontario

Liberal

Peter Fragiskatos LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. I know he has done a great deal of advocacy before politics, in a previous life, I believe, as a lawyer with indigenous communities, and I wonder what he could point to in the budget specifically that relates to that issue, to how budget 2022 remarks and focuses on indigenous issues and what he sees as most promising there. I am especially interested to hear it from him, considering his background.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:20 p.m.

Liberal

Patrick Weiler Liberal West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC

Madam Speaker, indeed there are some very important investments made as part of this budget to support the path forward on reconciliation. I mentioned in my speech earlier the very much needed investments into indigenous housing. There are also important investments made in implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the action plan on that, as well as dealing with some of the main economic barriers that indigenous peoples continue to face that are preventing them from having the type of economic development that the rest of the country has, so the changes to the First Nations Land Management Act will be very important in that regard. As well, there are some very important investments on improving child welfare in indigenous communities.

I think, collectively, there is a lot in this budget that will support the path forward on reconciliation, which is of course a critical priority of this government.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:20 p.m.

Conservative

Cathay Wagantall Conservative Yorkton—Melville, SK

Madam Speaker, the member talked about the action the government is going to take in reducing foreign investment in Canadian real estate for the next two years. That is a great idea that came from the Conservative platform. I have two quick questions for him in regard to that.

We indicated that in two years it would be reviewed again. Two years is a short term for people who have investment plans, so would the government be looking at that? Does the member feel the government needs to make sure that it readdresses that?

Also, there is a loophole, and I have heard this from people in the Lower Mainland. This does not prevent students coming to Canada from having their parents purchase housing when of course they are here for the short term, on student visas. Does the member see that as a potential loophole that is harming Canadians' ability to afford a home?

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:20 p.m.

Liberal

Patrick Weiler Liberal West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC

Madam Speaker, indeed this is a measure that is put in place for two years, and we will be able to monitor the impacts and benefits of this measure to determine what the path forward is at that point. We want to make sure that homes in Canada are used for people who actually live here and not as investments, and this will make sure that we are able to do just that.

I would caution a bit that this is certainly going to have an impact, but not a huge impact, as the experience from B.C. shows. However, I would also mention that as we are doing this measure we are also accelerating our path forward on a beneficial ownership registry. This will give all governments the tools to make sure that housing in Canada is not being used to evade taxes, for money laundering, or in other areas that are also boosting the price of real estate, so it is part and parcel of our overall fairness in real estate action plan.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:20 p.m.

Bloc

Denis Trudel Bloc Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC

Madam Speaker, last year in committee I had the opportunity to interview the president and CEO of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, who came to talk about the housing crisis. When I asked her what we should do now to resolve the crisis, she had one answer: increase supply.

There are in fact a few measures in the budget aimed at increasing supply. However, there are long-term measures focusing on demand that we are having trouble understanding. For example, the tax-free savings account for the purchase of a first property is not a bad measure, but why will it take effect only next year? People will be able to contribute up to $8,000 a year for five years. We will not be seeing any results for a while. In addition, to invest $8,000 a year in a house, you need some income. These measures will not help the most disadvantaged.

Why are we not focusing on real investments? Consider the rapid housing initiative. It is a good, $1.5-billion program that will actually create social housing. We could have invested a lot more money into it to really help the most disadvantaged, but the budget falls short in that regard.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:20 p.m.

Liberal

Patrick Weiler Liberal West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his question.

The budget includes investments in the rapid housing initiative. I think that it is an important program for the most vulnerable Canadians. However, it is not the only investment. We also plan to invest in co-operatives. It will be the largest investment in 30 years.

There are also other investments to consider, such as the housing benefit and the additional $500 payment, which are also positive measures. I believe that all of these investments amount to $14 billion.

However, we must work very hard with the provinces and municipalities to do more for the most vulnerable Canadians.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:25 p.m.

Labrador Newfoundland & Labrador

Liberal

Yvonne Jones LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources and to the Minister of Northern Affairs

Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise in the House today. I want to first thank and acknowledge my colleague from West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country for that fantastic speech he gave this morning, but also for all the work he does inside of our government, lobbying on so many issues that affect his riding and other Canadians.

I listened to a lot of debate around this budget in the last few days, and I know that some days, when we get up and everything is doom and gloom and all we see is negativity, it is really hard to see the positive impact that is happening for so many in their lives across this country. However, I live in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, and I can tell members that in my riding of Labrador we will be supporting this budget wholeheartedly, and I want to tell members the reasons.

It is because not only are we recognizing that there are sectors in this country that deserve to be lifted up and singled out in terms of investments, but we are also responding to critical needs of people who have been ignored for far too long in this country. I am an MP from a northern region of Canada. I represent a strong indigenous population of Inu and Inuit people. I have many rural and remote communities across my riding, and I can honestly tell members that we have never seen investments in our northern communities before in our history like we are seeing today.

When we look at Newfoundland and Labrador in general, we have the federal government that renewed the Atlantic accord agreement with Newfoundland and Labrador at a time in its history when it needed the financial revenues and the assistance. The investment of $2.5 billion under the Atlantic accord is allowing that province to share in the royalties it has over the years and continues to foster, develop, produce and remit to the Government of Canada. We made investments in rate mitigation of $5.2 billion. That, again, was an agreement we made with the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

As a shareholder, Canada has drawn down taxes and benefits from our province for many years through the oil and gas industry. No other government, including those of the members opposite, ever agreed to do what was fair in giving back some of that revenue to the province at a time when it needed it the most. Ours is the first government to do that.

The members opposite talk about our not supporting industry or jobs. We have invested more in economic and resource development than any other government before us. We have bought pipelines; we have set up critical mineral developments; we have invested in infrastructure to support major resource development projects in Canada; and when the people of Alberta needed assistance through COVID, when the oil and gas industry was reaching the bottom of the barrel, who stepped up? It was our government, because we recognized that workers should always come first and that families should always come first.

Members stand up and they criticize the money that was spent in COVID. They criticize the fact that 40% of businesses that employ people in Canada received a wage subsidy. Do members think these workers should not have received that and that they should have been sent home with no income? They would have lost their homes; they would have lost their cars; their kids would have had to leave universities and colleges. Is that what they are suggesting? That is not what we believe.

Do members know that in my own province of Newfoundland and Labrador, 49,000 jobs were maintained as a result of the wage subsidy? That is 49,000 income earners who were able to pay their mortgages on their homes through COVID because of the response of our government. That is something I will never apologize for.

It is easy to be a naysayer. It is a lot more difficult to devise a plan that responds to the real needs of Canadians. That is where the challenge is. We talk about health care. There is no issue more important to the constituents I represent in this Parliament than health care, whether it be care for mental health and supports for suicide prevention, or addiction services, surgeries, physician access or nursing access. All of these things are critical. They are important, not only for the constituents I represent in the House of Commons, but for all Canadians.

Sometimes it is not a bad thing that the Government of Canada steps up when it is needed to step up. That is what we are doing. There is a backlog of surgeries in this country. I talked to a doctor in Quebec only last week, who told me that he cannot even get scheduled emergency room time. That is how much the ERs are blocked. That is how deep their backlog is.

I talked to doctors in Newfoundland and Labrador, and the situation is no different. It exists across the country. When members stand and say they will not support this budget, they are saying they will not support the Government of Canada investing in surgeries and bringing the wait-list down for Canadians who need access to health care.

There is another thing we are doing. I am not the only member of a rural riding in the House of Commons, and I am not the only member of a northern riding in the House of Commons. I can say that the recruitment of doctors and nurses in rural and northern Canada has become a crisis. The only way to get a doctor or nurse is on a locum. It is temporary. There is no consistency in service. What we are doing as a government is providing an incentive for doctors and nurses to come and live in northern and rural communities across Canada, an incentive that will allow people to have good medical services no matter where they live.

The consistency of having a regular doctor or regular nurse could mean having diagnoses and treatments that will save people's lives early on. We can never forget that. Is that something we should be apologizing for as a government, that we are going to invest in a health care system that allows for that to happen?

I heard members today say it is not the federal government's responsibility and the provinces could be doing it. These are the same provinces that are asking us for more health care money. They are asking us to increase spending. They are telling us they cannot afford to continue down the path they are going down.

Therefore, we are stepping up, and we are stepping up in those areas, just like we are doing on dental care and just like we have done for many northern Inuit communities on a suicide strategy, to deal with what is becoming and has been a major crisis for many northern communities in Canada.

There is no other government in our history that has stepped up on reconciliation. We are the first. Not only have we built a relationship that respects and honours the rights of indigenous people in this country, but we have worked with them in partnership to build better homes, to build better infrastructure, to build a stronger economy and to build a future that they can grow and prosper in and one that they can control. Can anyone honestly say that is not the right direction for Canada? I can guarantee everyone that what we bring to indigenous Canada, they bring to the rest of us 10 times over.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:35 p.m.

Conservative

Larry Maguire Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB

Madam Speaker, I congratulate my colleague on her speech. It is a pleasure to sit with my colleague on the natural resources committee.

It is no coincidence that the price of a house has doubled in Canada, because the government has doubled the debt as well in the years the Liberals have been in government. It is a parallel, and it is not a plan for the future.

Prime Minister Harper was the first to apologize to first nations for the indignities that had taken place, so there is room for all governments to be involved. The current government is not the first one to do any of these things.

Liberals talk about the money they are putting into housing. We are still tremendously short of housing in Canada, yet inflation has doubled and the price of a house has gone to $840,000 from $420,000. How can they sustain this and say that the spending they have done is not causing inflation, when the Parliamentary Budget Officer himself has indicated that only a third of their spending has gone toward the pandemic?

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:35 p.m.

Conservative

The Deputy Speaker Conservative Chris d'Entremont

Let us not forget that it is questions and comments.

The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:35 p.m.

Liberal

Yvonne Jones Liberal Labrador, NL

Mr. Speaker, not only do I sit on the natural resources committee with my colleague, but for a few years we were Arctic parliamentarians together and he has certainly been a tremendous support for communities across the Arctic as well.

I want to say a couple of things. First of all, members cannot get up one moment and in one sentence criticize the fact that the Government of Canada is investing in Canadians and then in the same breath say it is spending too much money on Canadians. It is one way or the other. As a government, we have invested in housing. We have invested in housing for urban centres, for rural centres, for indigenous people and for low-income families. We have invested in housing for women and for women fleeing violence. We have invested in housing for the homeless and for many groups and developers who want to provide co-development housing. We have invested to make it more accessible and affordable for homeowners to buy.

My question for the member is this. What suggestions do you have that we have not done to make the programs stronger and more affordable for Canadians?

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:35 p.m.

Conservative

The Deputy Speaker Conservative Chris d'Entremont

I have all kinds of suggestions, but as Speaker I am not allowed to share them with the member.

Questions and comments, the hon. member for Longueuil—Saint-Hubert.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:35 p.m.

Bloc

Denis Trudel Bloc Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC

Mr. Speaker, last week I did some volunteering in a homeless resource called “La Halte du Coin”, which took over an old church during the pandemic and is open 24/7. It was very troubling. I was there from four hours to six hours and helped serve meals. At six o’clock, everyone is asked to leave.

They can serve 50 meals, but they have only 30 beds. People wait outside, but not everyone can get in. That night, it was raining. It was unbelievably sad. When I left at around 6:30 p.m., there were a lot of people waiting outside. Those who were unable to get in would sleep somewhere in the neighbourhood, in a park or near an ATM. It is a tragic situation.

The federal government was very reluctant to renew funding for these resources. According to the budget, they will continue to fund the reaching home program, in response to the pandemic, until 2026. People want predictability. Those who work there are not paid $150 an hour. We need predictability.

Why can we come up with 15-year plans for all sorts of things like climate change, but not to help the homeless? That is scandalous, in my opinion.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:35 p.m.

Liberal

Yvonne Jones Liberal Labrador, NL

Mr. Speaker, I certainly understand where my colleague is coming from. I know that he recognizes a problem that has been challenging for many Canadians with regard to homelessness. He will be happy to know that in this budget we are investing over $8 billion in housing and homelessness across Canada. It is the first housing strategy ever in the country, and I look forward to his voting for the budget and supporting that initiative.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:35 p.m.

NDP

Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC

Mr. Speaker, I always enjoy listening to my colleague in the House of Commons. She represents a stunningly beautiful part of this country in Labrador, but it is also an area, as she well knows, that has been unfortunately facing the same incredible shortage of affordable housing that we have seen in other parts of the country. Over the past few decades, from the former Paul Martin government that axed the national housing program to the dismal decade of the Harper government and going back to the current government, we have seen that governments have not adequately funded the important sector of affordable housing. Because of the NDP push and the work of the member for Burnaby South, we now have, for the first time, adequate investment in housing.

How does my colleague feel about these previous governments that refused to take the incredible dearth of affordable housing seriously?

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:40 p.m.

Liberal

Yvonne Jones Liberal Labrador, NL

Mr. Speaker, I really appreciate the question from my colleague, but it would take me the rest of the afternoon to answer it in terms of telling him how I really feel.

What I will say is that the money in this budget is not by accident when it comes to responding to housing needs in Canada. We know they are there. We know what Canadians have been saying. We have been listening and we are responding. I want to thank my colleague for his advocacy and his support toward these investments for Canadians.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:40 p.m.

Conservative

The Deputy Speaker Conservative Chris d'Entremont

I want to remind everyone that the quicker the questions, comments and answers are, the more people get to participate in this great round of questions and comments.

Continuing debate, the hon. member for Red Deer—Lacombe.

Financial Statement of Minister of FinanceThe BudgetGovernment Orders

1:40 p.m.

Conservative

Blaine Calkins Conservative Red Deer—Lacombe, AB

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to rise today and join in the debate on the 2022 budget. I would like to congratulate the government for having a string of two years in a row where it tabled a budget. It kind of broke that historical trend for a while.

In many ways, this is a historic budget, and one that may well be remembered for generations to come. It will be remembered as a budget that failed to rein in reckless spending and restore fiscal responsibility, a budget that has put the financial well-being and access to government services for future generations at risk, and a budget that doubled down on failed policies in the pursuit of ideology.

It will also be remembered as the New Democratic Party's first federal budget, which is no small feat for a party that officially won only 25 seats with less than 18% of the vote just six months ago. It is a government nobody voted for and was not even debated in the last election.

It has never been clearer that we have an NDP Prime Minister who just happened to be born into the Liberal Party. Instead of going his own way as a New Democrat, he decided it would be easier to turn the once fiscally reasonable Liberal Party of Sir Wilfrid Laurier and Jean Chrétien into a mirror image of the NDP, complete with a coalition-style partnership, to avoid scrutiny and accountability. That reality is reflected in this budget, and it is future generations who are going to bear the burden of it.

It was necessary to engage in extraordinary spending in the early days of the pandemic in order to ensure that Canadians had the support they needed to make it through the incredibly difficult times brought on by the pandemic and the various public health measures brought in across the country by all levels of government to address it. Unfortunately, the government treated—