Debates of Feb. 9th, 2023

Health

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

Mr. Speaker, Canadians expect to be able to receive health care services when they need them. Our government is there for them both now and going forward, making investments and doing whatever is necessary.

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Mr. Speaker, everyone except the minister knows that the health crisis has been caused by the federal government's chronic underfunding. Quebec and the provinces have calculated that they need an additional $28 billion a year; the government is putting $4.6 billion on the table. His offer guarantees that there will continue to be problems with health care for at least 10 more years. His offer will ensure that health care is chronically underfunded, and he has the gall to say that he expects results.

Does the minister realize that offering so little deprives sick people of basic care?

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, our plan seeks to improve Canadians' health care, ensure that patients receive the health care services they deserve in a timely manner and support our health care workers.

Our $198 billion plan over 10 years includes an immediate, unconditional Canada health transfer top-up, targeted investments and a permanent funding increase for the Canada health transfer.

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as you and I both know, the Conservatives love saying that the government is spending too much money. Yet their leader has promised to maintain the Liberal health care funding offer if he ever takes office. It is literally the only Liberal public policy that the Conservative leader has committed to protect if he becomes prime minister.

Everyone knows that the Conservative leader thinks that even Scrooge is a spendthrift. Is this not the ultimate proof that the Liberal offer on health care is terribly stingy?

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

Mr. Speaker, at the working meeting with the premiers, we discussed plans to increase funding to the provinces and territories by $196.1 billion over 10 years for the Canada health transfer, or CHT, including $46.2 billion in new funding.

This funding includes an immediate, unconditional $2 billion Canada health transfer top-up to address immediate pressures on the health care system, particularly in pediatric hospitals and emergency rooms, and to reduce long wait times for surgery.

Carbon Pricing

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

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Liberal Prime Minister, many Canadians are left shivering in the cold because they cannot afford to heat their homes, and the Prime Minister has shown zero compassion, refusing to take responsibility for the pain he is causing with his punishing carbon tax. However, Conservatives will fix what he has broken. We will axe the tax and keep the heat on.

Does the Prime Minister really believe that Canadians should have to wear coats inside their own homes to keep warm in the winter?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, it is disappointing to see the Conservatives try to create fear among Canadians for political gain, when we understand they are vulnerable. He should know that his constituents will actually, on average, receive more money as the result of the policy to put a price on pollution. It is extraordinary to me that the Conservatives have a plan to take money away from families so they can give it to polluters.

From the very beginning, we have made decisions to put more money in the pockets of middle-class and working-class families. We are going to continue to be there for them no matter how hard the Conservatives oppose.

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of this Liberal government, the cost of living is out of control. In the past eight years, home heating costs have skyrocketed. To add insult to injury, this Liberal government is going to triple the carbon tax.

The Parliamentary Budget Officer says the carbon tax is a net financial loss for most Canadians. Will the Prime Minister take the tax off so Canadians can keep the heat on?

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

Mr. Speaker, it is really disappointing to hear from the other side, because months after the worst climate disaster in Atlantic history, the Conservatives want to take away a measure that will actually fight pollution and put more money in people's pockets.

The hon. member was even mocking some of the measures we want to introduce to help Atlantic Canadians transition away from dirty foreign oil to cleaner forms of energy. That is because the Conservatives have no plan for climate change, no plan for affordability and no plan for the economy.

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Mr. Speaker, he is disappointed? I will tell the Liberals who are disappointed. It is Atlantic Canadians who are disappointed. They have put their trust in them since 2015.

The government is past its expiry date. Corey in Gander knows that. His oil bill is going to increase to $8,000 from $4,000 last year, and it is about to get worse with the tripling of the carbon tax. However, Conservatives will keep the heat on and take the tax off.

Will the Prime Minister take responsibility for the misery he has caused Canadians like Corey so that he can fix what is broken?

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources and to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by pointing out to the member opposite, and he is well aware, that Newfoundland does not actually have the federal backstop that applies.

I also want to point out that we are helping Canadians make home heating more affordable. We have the “oil to heat pump” program, the greener homes grant, and more than that, today we announced the deep retrofit accelerator initiative to help Canadians make those necessary changes. There is good news attached to this. It is creating good-paying jobs doing these retrofits in small and large communities right across our country.

Canada Revenue Agency

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Mr. Speaker, today Canadians for Tax Fairness released a report that looked at 74 Canadian companies that used the Canada emergency wage subsidy and tax avoidance schemes. When the Prime Minister said that “We are all in this together”, I did not know that we were in a billionaire tax haven.

Take Brookfield Asset Management, with a tax gap of $6.5 billion. Five of its subsidiaries received the wage subsidy despite being based in Bermuda. Enbridge and Thomson Reuters are part of a “who's who” of corporate tax avoidance.

Why do the Liberals expect Canadians to subsidize the lifestyles of the ultrawealthy?

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, the key point about the wage subsidy, as I said before, is the way it helped small businesses, small business owners and their employees and medium-sized business owners and their employees. That is the fundamental fact to take away.

With respect to the hon. member's questions about avoidance and evasion, this government has invested no less than $1 billion to counter both of those things. The results are clear. Investigations are up and convictions are up.

If the hon. member has another question, I can go into the specifics of it. I welcome the question again if she wishes.

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Mr. Speaker, it does a disservice to small business to use them to deflect from answering questions about why giant corporations got over $15 billion in taxpayer money while they were reducing their workforces and paying tens of billions of dollars in dividends. Meanwhile, if one is a Canadian living below the poverty line, the government knows exactly where to find them to send the bill.

Why is it giant corporations are getting general debt relief from pandemic benefit programs when Canada's poor are being chased down by the CRA? Where is the fairness in that?

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, I have respect for the hon. member, because since the moment he was elected he has raised the concerns of working-class individuals and families.

On this matter, though, the wage subsidy proved enormously effective for people in his community and every Canadian community, as well as for the businesses in need of support, small businesses and medium-sized businesses. The verification work I was talking about earlier today does continue as a matter of fairness.

With respect to CERB and amnesty questions he has raised, he knows very well that work is ongoing as well. It is only fair that, when thousands of Canadians across the country looked to see if they were eligible and were not, we need to continue to verify, because they took that effort to—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for Bourassa.

Diversity and Inclusion

[Emmanuel Dubourg, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as we commemorate the impactful contributions and accomplishments of Blacks in Canada this Black History Month, it is important to recognize the challenges faced by Black communities across the country.

Last October, the Minister of Diversity introduced the $200-million, Black-led philanthropic endowment fund aimed at improving the social and economic well-being of Blacks in Canada.

May the minister provide an update on this substantial initiative, please?

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for Bourassa for his important advocacy on this matter.

As part of our government's commitment to eliminating anti-Black racism and improving social and economic outcomes in Black Canadian communities, we launched the first-ever Black-led philanthropic endowment fund.

Just yesterday, I was pleased to announced that, after a fair and transparent call for proposals, the Foundation for Black Communities has been chosen to administer the fund. Simply put, this fund will provide much-needed resources to Black Canadian charities and non-profits that have done so much for so many with so few resources.

COVID-19 Economic Measures

[Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Liberal Prime Minister, we have an economy that punishes the middle class and those struggling to stay in it, but Liberal friends are doing great. Thirty-seven corporations took the Liberal wage subsidy and then spent $173 billion on dividends, share buybacks and takeovers. The Liberals are refusing to make them pay back the money, so Canadian workers foot the bill when they can barely afford mortgages, rent and groceries.

When will the Liberals force their corporate friends to pay back that money?

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

Mr. Speaker, the parliamentary secretary has been up many times on this subject. The reality is that the process of collecting money is ongoing. I would remind the party opposite that it opposed, at that moment in time, many of the measures that were critical to making sure we got money out instantly to those who needed it to keep doors open and to keep businesses going. We have an opportunity to talk to those businesses every day and hear that is the truth.

They are not only wrong about that, but when they say things like eight years instead of seven years, and I know they are bad at math, I would ask them to be a little more realistic in how they are speaking.

Canada Revenue Agency

[Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

Mr. Speaker, we supported businesses staying open. We did not support large dividends for their large corporate friends.

The minister refuses to do her job, after eight years in her portfolio and 10,000 more tax collectors. It is her duty to go after fraud of any taxpayer money. She protects wealthy shareholders and executives, her government drives up interest rates and inflation, and life becomes unaffordable for working Canadians. Even the Parliamentary Budget Officer is sounding the alarm on this incompetence.

Why does it feel like everything is broken? Because the Prime Minister will not do his job, so will he get out of the way and let Conservatives—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. parliamentary secretary.

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, the member talks about fiscal responsibility. While Conservatives continue to make the case, unfortunately, that crypto poses some kind of promising future for Canada, this government has introduced and will continue to do the vital work of standing by Canadians through the pandemic and into the future.

With respect to what the member raised on evasion and avoidance work, just with respect to the Panama papers in the response, 900 individuals have been identified as subjects of concern by the CRA, 160 audits are under way and 200 audits have come to completion. The work continues.

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

Mr. Speaker, after eight years under this Prime Minister, nothing is too good for the Liberals' friends. While the middle class is struggling to make ends meet, big corporations are laughing all the way to the bank. Thirty-seven major corporations did not hesitate to claim billions of dollars in wage subsidies.

Do members know how they rewarded themselves? They gave themselves bonuses and dividends with Canadians' money.

Meanwhile, in our riding offices, we are getting calls from constituents who say that the CRA is breathing down their neck, when it has decided not to try to recoup the money from big corporations.

Will the Prime Minister take responsibility and reimburse Canadians?

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

Mr. Speaker, let us be clear about the facts. The parliamentary secretary was quite right in what he said. Clearly, the CRA is still working on the wage subsidy audits. Our government implemented specific rules for recouping any misused wage subsidies, including those that were use to buy shares, pay bonuses or anything else.

We will find those who committed fraud. We will stand up for Canadians. We are there to meet Canadians' expectations. That is our job. We will do it.