Debates of Oct. 27th, 2023

Small Business

[Bryan May, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Small Business and to the Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member opposite for her continuous advocacy for small businesses across Canada.

The CEBA program provided unprecedented support to nearly 900,000 small businesses to help them keep their doors open and keep the lights on. Last year, our government extended the forgiveness qualification deadline by one year, to the end of this year. We know times are still tough for small businesses. That is why we recently announced a full one-year extension on the term loan repayment.

We will continue to be there for small businesses throughout Canada.

[Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné, Bloc, Terrebonne, QC]

Mr. Speaker, repeating what the government has done in the past will not prevent any of the 250,000 businesses from closing in 2024. We are not talking about what the federal government has done in the past. Everyone wants to know what it plans to do today. Only the government can solve this. What is needed is open, direct communication with SMEs. They must be offered personalized solutions and a meaningful deferral. That is what needs to be done today to prevent a wave of bankruptcies.

What is the government going to do today?

[Bryan May, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Small Business and to the Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, the bottom line is that we have been listening to business owners across the country. If someone is a small business owner and does not currently have the funds to repay their CEBA loan, they now have three years to repay it in full. The additional flexibility that we announced is significant support for small business owners who might still be struggling to make ends meet. The CEBA program delivered more than $49 billion to nearly 900,000 small business owners.

We are going to support small business owners as we all recover from the pandemic.

Carbon Pricing

[Michael Kram, Conservative, Regina—Wascana, SK]

Mr. Speaker, a report released this week by Food Banks Canada shows that more Canadians are relying on food banks than at any time since 1989. It is no surprise. The carbon tax applies to the farmers who grow the food, the truckers who truck the food and the grocers who refrigerate the food. Clearly, the Prime Minister is not worth the cost.

After eight long years, will the Liberal-NDP government finally completely cancel its inflationary carbon tax?

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, the government has demonstrated through action that we really care about the struggles that Canadians are facing, but it is hard to take the Johnny-come-lately Conservatives seriously.

When the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food came to Canada in 2012, he documented that 55% of households on social assistance were food-insecure. Instead, it was the inadequacy of social protections that led to the burden on the food banks.

What did the Harper Conservatives do? The Conservatives fed Canadians a nothing burger for almost a decade. Their reckless and irresponsible—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

The hon. member for Chatham-Kent—Leamington.

[Dave Epp, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, one year ago, the Liberal MPs voted to keep the carbon tax on home heating. Yesterday, the Prime Minister flip-flopped. Why was that? It was because of polling numbers. Yesterday's announcement of the pause on the carbon tax on home heating will not help 97% of Canadians. Canadians can see this for what it is. After eight years, the current NDP-Liberal government is just not worth the cost.

The common sense Conservative promise is simple: no gimmicks and no temporary measures.

Will the panicking, plummeting Prime Minister admit he cares more about polls than about Canadians, and will he now axe the entire carbon tax?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member ran on a plan to actually fight climate change and then threw it out the window when the Conservatives got a new chief executive officer for their party. All the Conservatives want to do is take us back to a time when polluters could actually pollute for free.

Our plan is going to allow Atlantic Canadians to shift from a high-GHG fuel to a solution that is actually going to lower GHGs in perpetuity. That means, for the Conservatives, forever. We are going to keep fighting climate change. They can keep complaining that we are actually doing the right thing on behalf of Canadians.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal carbon tax is having an impact on Quebec. The second Liberal carbon tax is going to cost Quebeckers up to 20¢ more per litre of gas. Those are real impacts and people will have to pay for that. There will be more money for Ottawa and less money in Quebeckers' pockets. The Bloc Québécois is in favour of that. It is really costly to vote for the Bloc Québécois.

After eight years under the Liberal government, one in 10 Quebeckers are being forced to use food banks. Why do the Liberals, with the support of the Bloc Québécois, want to impose a new tax when people in Quebec are suffering?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

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

I would also like to remind him that what he is talking about is called a clean fuel standard. That is something that was in the Conservative Party of Canada's 2021 election platform. The member and his colleagues campaigned for the implementation of such a measure during the last election. Why? The reason is that it reduces the greenhouse gas emissions of the country's oil and gas distributors. The clean fuel standard is already generating $2 billion in investments across the country, whether it be in Alberta, Saskatchewan or Quebec.

What would the Conservative Party do if it were to form government? It would cancel all those investments and all those newly created jobs.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, where was the minister last year?

Almost a year ago to the day, on October 24, 2022, we voted on a Conservative motion to abolish the carbon tax on home heating.

Yesterday, the Liberals did an about-face. Boom! Now they agree on this. Even the Bloc Québécois voted with the Liberals against this motion.

The reality is that people in Atlantic Canada got a break. Can the member, who is from the Montreal area and is therefore a Quebecker, tell Quebeckers that he will also give them a break and that they will be exempt from the second Liberal carbon tax?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, it is true that keeping up with everything we are doing to fight climate change is difficult. I can understand that the member opposite would be a bit confused. I am going to help him out.

The clean fuel standard applies across Canada. It applies elsewhere and it still applies today in the Atlantic provinces, Quebec, Alberta and even British Columbia. It is completely different from carbon pricing and it is already generating major investments. Hundreds of jobs have been created, especially among farmers, who are going to supply the canola for creating alternative fuels.

If the Conservatives take power, all that vanishes.

Health

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

Mr. Speaker, on Wednesday in my riding, a 13-year-old overdosed at a local business. Luckily, a nurse and local firefighters saved her life, and I am so grateful.

In B.C. alone, more than 1,800 people have died this year due to the toxic drug supply. The Liberals have delayed mental health funding while people die, and the Conservatives want to punish people who are struggling.

When will the Liberals deliver a national health-based plan to address the toxic drug crisis?

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, that is a very serious question.

Since 2016, the government has had the view that we need a comprehensive, collaborative and evidence-based substance use policy with harm reduction and treatment as the key part. This is a public health issue, not a criminal one, and it must be addressed alongside well-trained, monitored and resourced public safety components. People who are struggling need everyone at the table, everyone in this room, with the federal government working with provinces and territories on a system that includes health and mental health services.

Foreign Affairs

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, leaked emails from Global Affairs Canada reveal that the government has no plan for over 400 Canadians desperately trying to flee Gaza, as well as hundreds more in the West Bank.

In Gaza, they have no food, they have no water and the hospitals are crumbling. The minister and the Prime Minister have no answers for Canadians, and they refuse to call for an end to Israel's siege and for a full ceasefire.

What is the plan to evacuate Canadians out of Gaza and the West Bank? How many Canadians and Palestinians will die before the Liberals call for a ceasefire?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of International Development]

Mr. Speaker, the government's top priority has always been and will always be the safety and security of Canadians. We continue to call for the immediate release of all hostages and demand that they be treated in accordance with international law. We have also sent a team of experts to the region to support the work of securing their release.

With respect to the larger number of Canadians who are trying to evacuate from Gaza, I, the foreign affairs minister and the Prime Minister have been doing everything we can to work with our partners in the region and beyond to enable them to evacuate safely and securely from Gaza.

Families, Children and Social Development

[Joanne Thompson, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, when Canadians needed support during the pandemic, community organizations and charities stepped up to provide crucial assistance. Now, many of them are having difficulty generating revenue, managing increased costs and demand for services, and attracting and retaining paid staff and volunteers.

Can the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development update Canadians on the progress that has been made to support these organizations?

[Jenna Sudds, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, through the community services recovery fund, nearly 5,500 organizations nationwide have been funded. In the member's riding of St. John's East, that means groups like the Association For New Canadians are now better able to support newcomers. The Food Producers Forum, Bell Island Community Food Bank and the Newfoundland and Labrador Food Umbrella can continue feeding their community. These are local groups that are making a real difference in St. John's East.

Finance

[Scott Aitchison, Conservative, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP-Liberal government's inflationary spending is making everything more expensive, proving once again that the Prime Minister is just not worth the cost. Food Banks Canada reported that in March of this year, almost two million Canadians visited food banks. That is a 78.5% increase since March 2019. Rent has doubled, mortgages have doubled and the number of Canadians needing food banks is skyrocketing.

When will the coalition government end its wasteful inflationary spending so Canadians can afford to eat?

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, every day in the House, Conservatives stand up and talk about the lineups at our food banks as if food insecurity in this country just became a thing. While the current government created the first-ever national food policy for Canada, invested in the local food infrastructure fund, invested over $100 million into food security organizations during COVID-19 and advanced social protections that lifted 2.7 million Canadians out of poverty, what did the Stephen Harper Conservatives do? They did nothing.

If the Conservatives have finally woken up to the fact that food security is a need in this country, they can vote for the affordability act.

[Scott Aitchison, Conservative, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we know that food insecurity is not a new thing. It has only been getting worse under the Liberal-NDP coalition. In fact, 67% of those using food banks this year were living in market rental housing and paying so much they could not afford groceries. What is worse is that children now make up 33% of food bank clients. The NDP-Liberal talking points and photo ops are clearly not working.

When will the Liberals end their inflationary spending so we can keep roofs over our heads and kids out of food banks?

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food reported as many as 4.3 million Canadians were food insecure in 2011, and he said, “a growing number of people across Canada are unable to meet their basic food needs.” That was in the dark era of the Conservatives for almost a decade, when food insecurity continued to get worse and worse. I do not know when the Conservatives finally woke up and realized that this was a major issue in this country, but they did nothing for over a decade. Here we are, addressing the issue by lifting 2.7 million Canadians out of poverty. I wish they would get on board and do something for once to actually support Canadians.

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Wetaskiwin, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the disastrous Trudeau economic legacy, 14 deficits in 15 years in the 1970s and 1980s, led to untold devastation for Canadian families and massive cuts to Canadian health care spending and critical federal programs for seniors and families. After eight more long years, the family legacy has now resulted in 20 consecutive deficit budgets under former prime minister Pierre Trudeau and his son. The family legacy is definitely not worth the cost.

Some are now saying that we will spend more on interest payments this year than we do on the Canada health transfer. Is that true?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, maybe the hon. member from the south of Edmonton forgot or had amnesia about the 10 dark years under the Harper government. Quite frankly, he is one of the silent Conservative voices. There are 30 silent Conservative voices, MPs who are all from Alberta, saying nothing about Danielle Smith's reckless and irresponsible attempt to take Albertans out of the CPP. Is he happy to scare seniors in his riding? Is he happy to destabilize the CPP for the country? Shame on him and his whole party for being silent and scaring Albertan and Canadian seniors.

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Wetaskiwin, AB]

Mr. Speaker, when each faced a global crisis, each government definitely took a distinctly different route. The Conservative government ran targeted, time-limited deficits and laid out a timeline to get back to balance by 2015, which it did. The Liberal Prime Minister, on the other hand, announced that the crisis was an opportunity to reimagine our economy and embarked on a wild-eyed experiment that has our country teetering on the edge of financial devastation.

Will the government spend more this year on interest than it does on the Canada health transfer, yes or no?