Debates of March 29th, 2023

Carbon Pricing

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, if the Conservative members of Parliament really cared about the cost of food, they would do something really simple, which is support this budget, because in it there is a grocery rebate for 11 million Canadians, which would help them with the high cost of food.

If the Conservative members of Parliament cared about the high cost of living on families, they would have supported our Canada child benefit, which provides up to $7,000 per child per family for the most vulnerable. They have some easy things that they could do to support Canadians.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, if they really cared about the price of food, they would decrease the carbon tax because then Canadians would not need a grocery rebate.

A food professor, Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, said the grocery rebate is not going to help because it is the carbon tax and not climate change that is driving food inflation, and he is right. The Liberals' new spending in this year's budget would cost every Canadian $4,300 a year, and when the Liberals triple the carbon tax, it will cost Alberta families a net loss of $2,200 a year. How many families are going to have to go hungry before the Liberals realize that this is a mistake, and axe the carbon tax?

[Pascale St-Onge, Liberal, Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec]

Mr. Speaker, the difference between us and the Conservatives is that no matter what happens or what is going on, the Conservatives always cling to one ideology: austerity and cuts.

Canadians know that we on this side of the House are there for them, whether that is during a pandemic, during a war in Ukraine or facing the rising cost of living. They know we are there to help those in need with the cost of groceries and rent, and to ensure that everyone has access to high-quality universal public health care across the country.

The Budget

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, less than one year ago, the Deputy Prime Minister stood in the House and said, “We are absolutely determined that our debt-to-GDP ratio must continue to decline and our deficits must continue to be reduced.... This is our fiscal anchor. This is a line we will not cross.”

That is a promise made and a promise broken. The big spending budget yesterday would add $4,300 a year of spending and debt for every household in Canada, and it increases the debt-to-GDP ratio next year. Why does the government continue to make promises it has no intention of keeping?

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

Mr. Speaker, my colleague opposite can look at the budget, right in the lines, and see very clearly that the deficit would continue to go down every single year for the next five years. In fact, this year's budget is lower than last year's budget, and all of this is happening amid great economic headwinds around the globe.

Canada has the lowest deficit in the G7. It has the lowest debt in the G7 and the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio in all of the G7. Those are the facts, and that is on our watch.

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Deputy Prime Minister also said, “The pandemic debt we incurred to keep Canadians safe and solvent must [and will] be paid down.” Even just a few months ago, the Deputy Prime Minister said that the budget would be balanced. That is another promise made and another promise broken.

Now the government is adding $4,300 in new spending and debt for every household in Canada, and there is no balance in sight. Why do the broken promises keep costing Canadians so much?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I would remind the hon. member that, despite the extraordinary need to respond to a once-in-a-century global pandemic, Canada maintains the healthiest fiscal position of any G7 economy. The reality is that it is fascinating for me to watch the Conservatives refuse to acknowledge the measures we are putting in place to support Canadians. These are the measures to ensure that people can afford the cost of living as families struggle with the cost of inflation, the measures that are creating jobs in our communities and the measures that are investing in health care so people who live in our neighbourhoods can have access to quality care and maybe have a family doctor. We make these promises, and we keep these promises, plus we do it in a fiscally responsible way.

Aerospace Industry

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Ottawa is betraying Quebec's aerospace industry.

Commenting on the budget, Aéro Montréal laments the lack of meaningful measures to help SMEs.

As if that were not enough, Ottawa is actually undermining our industry. The Liberals are handing Boeing a $9‑billion military contract on a silver platter, excluding Bombardier and not giving Quebec one penny in economic spinoffs.

When will Ottawa start supporting Quebec's aerospace industry instead of giving our money to our American competitors without a tender process?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague.

We are there for the aerospace industry. We always have been and always will be.

It seems that my colleague's memory is failing a bit. He should recall that Premier Legault and the Canadian Prime Minister made the biggest announcement in Canadian aerospace history. That was just a few months ago.

We have always been there. We will be there for aerospace workers.

Taxation

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it would seem that Ottawa is doing it on purpose. Not only is there nothing in the budget for the future of the aerospace industry, but the Liberals are maintaining a poorly named and ill-conceived luxury tax that will prevent our industry from selling its planes at competitive prices.

Not only is Ottawa not doing anything to get us more contracts tomorrow, but it is ensuring that there will not be any today either. Right now, 2,000 jobs are in jeopardy if the Liberals keep the tax as is.

Will they finally suspend it so that the mistakes can be fixed before jobs are lost?

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

Mr. Speaker, we have an income tax regime here in Canada and a tax system that requires all Canadians to pay their fair share.

Let us look at the budget announcements for Quebec. There is $447 million for Quebec through a health transfer top-up; $47.8 million over 9 years to redevelop the Bonaventure expressway; and new investments, meaning over $1 million, to protect French in Quebec.

We are meeting expectations, and the Bloc wants to pick a fight.

Government Appointments

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

Mr. Speaker, lost in yesterday's budget bonanza was the announcement of the appointment of the interim Ethics Commissioner, a Ms. Martine Richard. Can the Prime Minister confirm for the House, and reassure Canadians, that Ms. Martine Richard is not the same person who is the sister-in-law of the intergovernmental affairs minister, who has been found guilty of breaking the Conflict of Interest Act?

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

Mr. Speaker, as the member opposite knows, the interim Ethics Commissioner is a career public servant who was, in fact, engaged by the Stephen Harper government to come into the Ethics Commissioner's office. She was number two in the Ethics Commissioner's office, and she has been working there for over a decade.

It makes absolute and complete logical sense that she would be acting on an interim capacity, considering all the information I just shared. The member will be aware that an ethical screen always exists to ensure no such conflict occurs.

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have got to be kidding. I guess they got tired of being found guilty. These are the Liberals. The intergovernmental affairs minister, the new Ethics Commissioner's brother-in-law, was found guilty of breaking the Conflict of Interest Act. The Prime Minister was found guilty of breaking the act. The trade minister was found guilty of breaking the act.

This is a cabinet of serial lawbreakers, and now they have an inside man working at the Ethics Commissioner's office. How can Canadians have confidence in the officers of Parliament if these guys are stacking the deck?

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

Mr. Speaker, first of all, Martine Richard is a woman, not a man. Second, that individual has worked in the Ethics Commissioner's office for 10 years. She were engaged when Stephen Harper was in government.

Questioning her credibility, attacking her in that way and continuing with those kinds of conspiracy theories all have a place on Reddit. I am not sure they have a place in this chamber.

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

Mr. Speaker, what is not a conspiracy theory is that Prime Minister Stephen Harper was never found guilty of breaking the Conflict of Interest Act, unlike the current Prime Minister. The Conservatives never appointed family members to serve in the Ethics Commissioner's office because they wanted Canadians to have confidence in their public institutions, unlike the serial law-breaking Prime Minister, who has twice been found guilty of breaking ethics laws. His intergovernmental affairs minister now has his sister-in-law, who is going to make sure there are no more guilty findings for the Liberals.

Will the Liberals assure Canadians today that they will appoint someone who is independent and does not have the appearance of a conflict of interest?

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

Mr. Speaker, we absolutely will. In the employment of any independent officer of Parliament, we always ensure that such individuals are independent and beyond reproach. I find it extremely disappointing that they are taking somebody who has worked in the Ethics Commissioner's office for a decade and is now operating in an interim capacity—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Order.

The hon. government House leader has the floor.

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Ajax, ON]

Mr. Speaker, when we throw around accusations in this place, and when we take public servants who have served their country for more than a decade, I would suggest that we be judicious in the way we approach it.

This is somebody who was appointed when Stephen Harper was the prime minister, who has worked in the Ethics Commissioner's office for a decade and is acting in an interim capacity while we work with all parties collaboratively to find the right individual to be the permanent Ethics Commissioner.

Dental Care

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we know that provincial and territorial programs do not cover dental care needs equally across Canada. Yesterday, as part of the 2023 budget, our government announced that it was committed to moving forward with a transformative investment to provide dental care to Canadians who need it by creating the new Canadian dental care plan.

Can the Minister of Health tell us more about the current plan to move forward with our dental care plan?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from London West for her question. She knows, as we all do, that good oral health is essential for physical and mental health.

That is why we are so pleased that, to date, 250,000 children have received the $650 benefit to take better care of their oral health. That is why we are so pleased that, by 2025, we will be rolling out our dental care plan for all Canadians who do not have private insurance and earn less than $90,000 a year. That is why we are so pleased that people with disabilities, seniors and children will have access to the plan by the end of 2023.

Health

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Mr. Speaker, last week we found out that Canada imports all its baby formula from other countries. For over a year, there have been shortages of baby formula all across this country, with no end in sight. The shelves are now bare, leaving many families stressed, frustrated and desperate.

Moms and dads who rely on formula to feed their kids are now scared they will not be able to feed their babies. When does the Prime Minister intend to do something about this crisis?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to hear this question, although I am also very troubled by the challenges that families, mothers, parents and fathers, like me, with children face in those very tight circumstances.

That is why Health Canada has made sure that, with special interim regulation policies, more than 70 additional formulas have been imported in the last few months to Canada, and more will come. We are working with international providers to have more infant formulas come more quickly to those children and families who need them.

Fisheries and Oceans

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Mr. Speaker, for the second year in a row, Liberals have expropriated $5 million a quota from elver harvesters to give to others without compensation. This is against two decades of DFO policy that a willing buyer needs a willing seller.

The minister, in committee this week, stated that the expropriation will come mainly from harvesters who have not used their quota, yet her department has said it will come equally from all licence holders. Who was right? Was it the minister, or her officials?