Debates of May 3rd, 2022

The Environment

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as Canadians get hosed at the pumps, Imperial Oil has tripled its profits. RBC says four Canadian oil giants are on track to getting $47 billion in revenue. Do we think they would spend any of that mitigating the damage they are doing to the planet? Not a chance when they can mooch off of the Liberal government, which gives them billions in subsidies. In the face of a burning planet, the government has turned itself into an open bar for the oil lobby.

My question is for the carbon capture and environment minister. When is he going to do the right thing and stop giving Canadian taxpayers' money to big oil?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, this government has an ambitious climate plan, perhaps the most detailed climate plan that exists in the world. It is focused on reducing emissions, but doing so in a manner that is going to create a good economy, a strong economy and good jobs for Canadians across the country. We are working with industry in all sectors of the economy to ensure that we do just that. That is something the NDP has never understood: a strong economy.

It is important that we reduce emissions and maintain a strong economy at the same time, and that is exactly what we are doing.

Airline Industry

[Ruby Sahota, Liberal, Brampton North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Punjabi Canadians in my riding of Brampton North and across Canada have been advocating for a direct flight from Canada to the Indian city of Amritsar. My colleagues and I have also been raising our concerns with officials.

Would the Minister of Transport please update the House as to our government's position on the issue?

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Brampton North for her advocacy on this issue.

I have been hearing from members of Punjabi Canadian communities and colleagues here in the House of Commons about their desire to see more direct flights to India, including flights to Amritsar. This afternoon I met with the Indian civil aviation minister and raised the issue of more direct flights, including flights to Amritsar. I want to thank Minister Scindia for his willingness to work together on strengthening our air transportation agreement.

Our government will continue to support airlines looking to implement more direct flights to India.

Housing

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

Mr. Speaker, housing prices in my community have doubled since 2015. Former Conservative governments kept the housing market stable. HouseSigma, using house sales data for Weston, the housing minster's own neighbourhood, shows the price of a home in May 2007 was $233,500. In April 2015, it was $296,250, and in April 2022 it was nearly $800,000.

Why is the minister failing even his own constituents, who are having to pay over half a million dollars more for a home since he was elected?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion]

Mr. Speaker, in budget 2022 we are investing more than ever before in the building of more affordable housing. We are doubling the number of new homes built in Canada in the next 10 years. We are introducing the tax-free first home savings account and making sure that we double the first-time homebuyers' tax credit and extend the first-time homebuyer incentive. In addition to that, we are cracking down on speculation and unfair business practices in the real estate sector while also helping first-time homebuyers.

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

Mr. Speaker, my question today is on behalf of François et Josée, two young people from Charlesbourg. They hope to one day be able to buy a house, but mortgage rates continue to rise, which makes it more difficult to negotiate a first mortgage.

The Prime Minister would have us believe that inflation is a global phenomenon and that no government can control it. That is completely untrue. François and Josée tell me that the growth of their savings for a down payment on a home cannot keep up with the ever-rising house prices.

When will the Prime Minister take François and Josée's problem seriously?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion]

Mr. Speaker, François and Josée can be helped by the tax-free first home savings account, the first-time homebuyer incentive and the doubling of the first-time homebuyers' tax credit. They will also be helped by the ban on foreign ownership, something the party opposite has opposed. This will help free up more housing stock for first-time homebuyers like those the hon. member mentioned. In addition to that, we are building more housing supply, tackling speculation, ending blind bidding and introducing a new homebuyers' bill of rights. All of these things taken together will do a lot to help first-time homebuyers.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

Mr. Speaker, after seven years of the Liberal government, the price of the average home has doubled from $400,000 to $800,000. More and more Canadians are unable to afford a home, and others cannot even afford rent. In Canmore and Banff, people are forced to live in vans or share apartments with a dozen other people because they cannot even afford rent, let alone buy a home. In Airdrie and Cochrane, young couples are living in their parents' basements with their children. No matter how hard people work, adequate housing is just not attainable.

How is this acceptable, and why has the government not done anything to fix it?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion]

Mr. Speaker, the party opposite has absolutely no credibility on this issue. Its members downloaded housing to the provinces and municipalities. They had no help for renters. We are the party that introduced federal leadership and significant resources back into affordable housing.

The hon. member talks about renters. We introduced the Canada housing benefit, which has helped tens of thousands of families in his home province, but the Conservatives voted against it. We are not stopping there. In budget 2022, we are adding an additional $500 to the Canada housing benefit.

The Economy

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

Mr. Speaker, their party is the problem. The problem is inflation and they are the ones causing it. At 6.7%, inflation will cost Canadians an extra $2,000 this year. At the grocery store, Canadians are feeling the sting of higher prices, totalling an extra $1,000 this year. At the gas pumps, Canadians are paying 40% more than they were last year. The natural gas that Canadians use to heat their homes is up 19%.

These hard-earned dollars are being taken away from people just trying to get by. Why will the government not stop causing the problem?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives continue to talk down the Canadian economy with an absolutely false economic narrative. The truth is that Canada is well placed to weather the economic storm caused by COVID and Putin's illegal invasion of Ukraine. According to the IMF, we will have the fastest-growing economy in the G7 this year and next year. Just last week, S&P reaffirmed Canada's AAA credit rating, with a stable outlook. We have the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7.

Official Languages

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Robert Laplante testified before the Standing Committee on Official Languages and said, “There are not two majorities in Canada; there is only one, and it is an anglophone majority, a representative group of which lives in Quebec.”

The government said the same thing in its 2020 throne speech. It said, and I quote, “the situation of French is unique. There are almost 8 million Francophones in Canada within a region of over 360 million inhabitants who are almost exclusively Anglophone.”

Is that still what the Minister of Official Languages thinks?

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.

As a francophone living in an official language minority community in New Brunswick, I know first-hand how important it is to protect and promote French. That is part of my daily life.

That is why I am pleased that my government reintroduced our bill to modernize the Official Languages Act. I hope that my friend and colleague will support this bill and help us pass it as quickly as possible.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the situation of French is unique, but not according to federal language law.

Here again I would like to quote what Robert Laplante told the committee. He said, “It is...indefensible to suggest that the situation of French in Quebec is perfectly symmetrical with that of English in Canada and, likewise, with the situation of anglophone and francophone minorities”.

Even the Prime Minister said in 2020: “[F]or Canada to be bilingual, Quebec must first and foremost be francophone.”

Is that still what the Minister of Official Languages thinks?

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

Mr. Speaker, as I said repeatedly, protecting and promoting French are a top priority for this government and a priority for me as Minister of Official Languages. We are the first government to recognize that French is in decline in Canada including in Quebec.

Once again, that is why we are moving forward with a new version of the official languages bill. Again, I hope the opposition members will help us pass this bill as quickly as possible.

Canada Revenue Agency

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Mr. Speaker, an avalanche of information came out today regarding the Liberal government's corrupt tax dealings with a huge multinational corporation. Documents reveal that the Minister of National Revenue gave a sweetheart tax deal to a corporation using Ireland as a tax haven, which is a breach of the CRA's own rules. Whistle-blowers in the minister's department raised alarm bells, saying the deal “undermines the...integrity of the CRA”.

Will the Minister of National Revenue tell Canadians why there is one tax code for normal Canadians and a secret tax code for friends of the Liberal government?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, the confidence of Canadians and the integrity of our tax system are at the heart of everything the agency does. Allegations of misconduct relating to transfer pricing agreements were reviewed by a third party, and no misconduct was found.

Let me be very clear: The investigation was conducted by an independent tax expert who showed that the terms of the agreement were in fact favourable to the agency and did not offer any form of preferential treatment to the taxpayers involved.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

With respect, Mr. Speaker, that is not what the media are saying and that is not what is coming out from insiders in the CRA. According to the report, CRA violated its own policy and procedures to give a sweetheart deal to big business. This is in addition to not prosecuting one person for the Panama papers.

Why is the CRA aggressively pursuing hard-working Canadians while letting big business off the hook?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, I can well understand, during this Mental Health Week, how warped the thinking is on the other side of the House and that they do not understand what we mean.

I am saying that the investigation was very clear.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

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

Order.

Perhaps it would be appropriate for the minister to phrase her words differently.

Maybe she could apologize for that last statement. It was a little inflammatory.

The minister.

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Gaspésie—Les-Îles-de-la-Madeleine, QC]

I apologize, Mr. Speaker.

Let us be very clear. The investigation was conducted by an independent tax expert. He showed that the terms of the agreement were in fact favourable to the Canada Revenue Agency and to Canadians, and did not offer any form of preferential treatment to the taxpayers involved.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are horrified to hear media reports that high-ranking Canada Revenue Agency officials are making sweetheart deals with multinational corporations so they do not pay their fair share of tax revenue. Worse yet, internal Canada Revenue Agency emails raised concerns around corruption.

Has the Minister of National Revenue met with the CRA Commissioner on this issue, and does she support the Conservatives' calls to have the commissioner appear before the finance committee?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe that the Conservatives still have not figured out that committees are autonomous and independent. I want to reassure my colleague opposite that the Conservatives can call their witnesses without my approval.