Debates of Sept. 20th, 2022

Taxation

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

Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member will not believe me, perhaps he will believe the Parliamentary Budget Officer, or perhaps he will believe the commissioner on environment and sustainable development. The reality is that the price on pollution puts more money into people's pockets. Eight out of 10 families will receive more than they pay in through the climate action incentive—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I will have to interrupt the hon. parliamentary secretary. There are some folks close to my left ear, and I am having a hard time hearing. I am going to ask the member to start from the top please, so that I can hear the whole answer.

[Terry Duguid, Liberal, Winnipeg South, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I was just repeating what I said before. Eight out of 10 families will be better off. We are fighting climate change. We are delivering on affordability in so many ways, as our Minister of Tourism has highlighted many times today.

Surely the Conservative Party does not want to take money out of people's pockets. Once again, a family of four will receive $745 in Ontario, $830 in Manitoba and about $1,100 in Saskatchewan. That is real money that is going to help with affordability.

Employment Insurance

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on Saturday, this Liberal government will change the rules for EI, making it harder for workers to get the benefits that they have earned.

Canadian workers are caught between a rock and a hard place. On one side we have the Liberals punishing workers by cutting EI and keeping their wages at rock bottom, and on the other side we have Conservatives intent on abandoning workers altogether who are hardest hit by this economy. At a time when workers are struggling with the rising cost of living, this Liberal government is choosing to make them suffer more.

Will this Liberal government immediately stop the changes to EI and finally fix the broken system?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, as our COVID pandemic economic measures wind down, I can assure everyone in this House that we continue to support workers and we continue to be there for workers. We are working very hard to modernize the EI system. EI for sickness will be in place up to 26 weeks by the end of this year.

I would also remind everyone here that we have recovered 113% of the jobs lost during the pandemic. We have an incredibly low unemployment rate. Our economic rebound has been incredibly extraordinary given everything this world is going through at this time.

Families, Children and Social Development

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, people are struggling with the rising cost of living. Things are getting harder. Instead of helping, the Liberals are clawing back the Canada child benefit. Who will be hit the hardest? It is single mothers struggling to make ends meet. This is cruel. Families need more support to pay rent and feed their children, not less.

Will the Liberals reverse these clawbacks and ensure that families who received pandemic supports are not unfairly penalized?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, we understand the high cost of living. In fact, when we came into office in 2015, we got rid of the universal child care benefit that the Conservatives were sending to millionaires and instead brought in the Canada child benefit that can provide up to almost $7,000 a year for children under the age of six for the lowest-income families. In fact, we raised the Canada child benefit this summer, indexed to inflation, because we understand how much families rely on this money to make sure they can give their children what they need.

We have been there for families and we will keep being there.

Taxation

[George Chahal, Liberal, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Mr. Speaker, last week, the government announced the doubling of the GST credit as one of the measures to help vulnerable Canadians fight inflation.

Can the Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance tell us more about this support measure?

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

Mr. Speaker, just last week we announced the doubling of the GST tax credit and we tabled that legislation today.

What does it mean? We are talking about a single mom with one child and $30,000 of net income getting $1,160 through that credit. A single senior with $20,000 in net income will get $701. A couple with two children with $35,000 in take-home pay will get $1,401. That is real money in the pockets of real Canadians. That is responsible leadership.

[Rosemarie Falk, Conservative, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians should feel confident that when they work hard, they will have a roof over their heads and food on their tables, but under this NDP-Liberal government, Canadians are working harder and harder but falling farther and farther behind. This government's uncontrolled spending is driving up the cost of living, and increased taxes like the failed carbon tax is diving deeper and deeper into their pockets.

When will this NDP-Liberal government stop driving up costs and cutting the paycheques of Canadians?

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

Mr. Speaker, the supports that we have announced today are targeted to the Canadians who need it the most, vulnerable Canadians who need this help.

I will share with the House some information from Lindsay Tedds, an economist at the University of Calgary, who has said very clearly that this is targeted to low-income individuals who are probably the ones unable to dip into savings or other things to pay for these increased costs. It is unlikely to increase inflation.

The Conservatives are going to deflect and distract. We are going to keep delivering for Canadians. That is responsible leadership.

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

Mr. Speaker, 600,000 Quebeckers are using food banks because they cannot afford to feed themselves. More and more of them are working folk. Rising costs are driving inflation, and workers cannot make ends meet. Groceries alone have gone up by more than 10%.

Will the Prime Minister commit to leaving more money in people's pockets by immediately putting an end to these new tax increases?

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

Mr. Speaker, the support measures we are aiming to put in place will do exactly what my colleague is asking. They will put money in the pockets of the Canadians who need it most.

At the same time, we are very much aware of the issue of inflation. Economists throughout the country have clearly said that our measures will not increase inflation.

That is our commitment to Canadians: Support them where they need it while remaining fiscally prudent.

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

Mr. Speaker, let me explain to my colleague what “making ends meet” means.

Back in the day, “making ends meet” meant harvesting enough to survive until the next harvest. Nowadays, “making ends meet” means surviving from paycheque to paycheque. Unfortunately, fewer and fewer Canadians are able to make ends meet now because everything costs more: interest rates, food, gas, rent and taxes.

Instead of putting Canadians through the wringer, can the Prime Minister at the very least stop putting forward new measures that raise the price of everything?

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

Mr. Speaker, taken together, the measures we outlined today and in budget 2022 are aimed at helping Canadians who need it most.

Let us look at the numbers. A family earning $70,000 will get $650 from the dental plan alone. Families that earn between $70,000 and $80,000 will get $390 per child per year. That is real money in the pockets of Canadians.

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

Mr. Speaker, according to Statistics Canada inflation remained above 7% last month. Why?

It is because of this government's incompetence and its failure to understand the economy. As long as the Liberal-NDP coalition is in place, Canadians and Quebeckers will have to deal with this inflation.

Will the Liberals promise to at least cancel the tax hikes? If not, why not?

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

Mr. Speaker, these measures will not increase inflation. They will bring much needed support to the people on the ground. We are focusing on Canadians who need help the most.

Economist Trevor Tombe was clear when he said that global factors and spending, changes or tax changes made by the Government of Canada were unlikely to have a significant effect. It is the economists who are saying that our plan is a fiscally prudent plan.

Canadian Heritage

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Quebec music industry is struggling right now, mainly because of the meagre royalties our musicians are getting from music streaming sites and the two years of pandemic that brought festivals and concerts to a halt.

To top it all off, now francophone artists have also lost revenue because of a calculation error on the part of SOCAN. That is yet another blow to French-language music, and the last thing francophone artists needed right now.

Can the minister send a clear message to our artists so that they know they can count on him when facing adversity?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for all of the work that he does for Canadian Heritage and for artists, and I want to tell him loud and clear that our artists should all be treated fairly and equitably, whether they speak English or French.

That is a principle that should be respected by everyone, period.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Heritage no doubt read Thomas Gerbet's Radio‑Canada article, which stated that Francophone artists in Quebec reckon that the SOCAN calculation method cost them 45% of revenue from 2019 to 2021. This issue has been fixed since November 21, 2021, but SOCAN has not allocated any compensation for francophone artists. The minister has something of a moral duty to ensure that francophone artists are treated fairly.

How does he plan to show his support for artists?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I plan to be clear, as I was just moments ago, and repeat that our artists should all be treated the same, whether they speak English or French. That is a principle that should be respected by everyone.

Taxation

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the cost of government is driving up the cost of living. A half trillion dollars of Liberal inflationary deficits have bid up the cost of the goods we buy and the interest we pay. Inflation is running at historic highs and taking a massive bite out of the ability of Canadians to pay the bills.

Now, if one thought it could not get much worse, one would be wrong, because the Liberals are planning on raising taxes on the paycheques of Canadians by hiking CPP and EI premiums.

Instead of making the problem worse, will the government commit to cancelling its planned tax hikes and cancel its tripling of the carbon tax?

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we are a bit hesitant to take advice from that side on EI considering that when the current Leader of the Opposition was in charge of EI in 2015, workers paid 20% more into EI than they do today in a system that was not as generous as it is today.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the new measures proposed by the government will just get vaporized by continued sustained inflation. It is the cost of government that is driving up the cost of living.

Food is up 10% year over year, and four out of 10 Canadians are cutting their diets because of rising food costs. Canadians who have never used a food bank in their lives before are being forced to because they simply cannot keep up with soaring prices. Canadians are struggling to get by, and the government plans to raise taxes on gas, home heating, groceries and paycheques.

Will the government reverse its planned tax hikes and commit to no new taxes?