Debates of March 30th, 2023

Seniors

[Kamal Khera, Liberal, Minister of Seniors]

Mr. Speaker, budget 2023 continues to grow our government's plan to support seniors, but do not take my word for it. FADOQ, the largest senior-serving organization in Quebec, said it “welcomes the financial support offered to seniors in the federal budget, notably with the one-time grocery rebate and the expansion of the Canadian Dental Care Plan.” Our new dental care plan will help nine million Canadians, including seniors, get the dental care they need, and our grocery rebate will put hundreds of dollars back in their pockets.

I hope the member opposite will vote for this budget so she can continue to support seniors in her riding, in Quebec and all across Canada.

Carbon Pricing

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, what a surprise. The Liberal carbon tax is not revenue-neutral and actually costs Canadians thousands of dollars a year. It is only going to get worse when the Liberal-NDP costly coalition increases the carbon tax on Saturday. We know when they triple the carbon tax, it will cost Canadian farmers $150,000 a year, but every single Canadian will pay the price when they buy bread, pasta, fruit, vegetables and milk. Higher carbon taxes mean higher inflation and higher food prices.

How high does the price of bread need to be before the Prime Minister realizes Canadians cannot afford it anymore and axes the carbon tax?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, there is a lot of good news in budget 2023 for our farmers, starting with the vaccine bank for foot and mouth disease. This was a request made by the various meat sectors in Canada and it was very important to them.

In addition, the advance payments program has been increased, which means we can offer interest-free loans up to $350,000. This is very important to our producers.

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

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, despite the Liberal Party, this House passed Bill C-234, which exempts farm fuels, grain drying and farm heating from the carbon tax. However, the carbon tax does not just apply to the farm. It applies to the entire food value chain, from the mining and manufacture of fertilizers to the delivery of farm inputs to the delivery of farm production to the packaging of farm inputs, farm production and groceries, at every step of the way. The result is that now a family of four is going to pay $1,100 more for their groceries in 2023.

When is the costly coalition going to get the facts and stop the tax?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, once again, our government is always there to support our agricultural producers in different ways.

We signed the sustainable Canadian agricultural partnership, which will give $3.5 billion to the agricultural sector.

When the Conservatives were in power, they cut funding for science and risk management programs. We are there to help producers in several ways.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the carbon tax will increase on April 1. Unfortunately that is not an April Fool's joke.

The carbon tax increases the cost of food and the cost of fuel for truckers. It also directly impacts our farmers and our producers.

According to Canada's Food Price Report 2023, if the tax triples, a 5,000-acre farm will pay more than $150,000 in taxes.

The Liberals have until tomorrow night at midnight. Will they stop it? Will they cancel it?

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

Mr. Speaker, I have a great deal of respect for my colleague, but I think he skipped part of the budget yesterday.

One of the key measures will help Canadians with the cost of living. The much-discussed grocery rebate will help more than 11 million Canadians across the country.

For those watching at home, the Conservatives are going to vote against assistance for Canadians. That is what is shameful.

Indigenous Affairs

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Uqaqtittiji, while the federal government had many wins for some Canadians, indigenous peoples were again neglected in the federal budget. Promises for long-term funding while delaying its rollout is not good enough. For years, urgent and unmet housing needs have been spoken about in this House, yet indigenous peoples will continue to live in homelessness and in overcrowded and mouldy housing, forcing indigenous peoples to leave their lands.

Why does the government continue to put indigenous peoples at the bottom of its priority list?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Indigenous Services and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, I agree with the member opposite that we cannot take our foot off the gas pedal when ensuring that every single indigenous person in this country sees themselves as having the same access to success as every other Canadian does. That is why our government has made historic investments in infrastructure, with over $7 billion committed in budget 2021.

We are going to continue to make those investments with indigenous communities to ensure that kids can get to school in healthy schools and that we can have indigenous people living in healthy houses. I am excited about the $4 billion of urban, rural and northern indigenous housing money in the budget, which I welcome the member to work with us on.

Health

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians need to know their government is using public money responsibly, especially when it comes to their health. However, the Liberals are refusing to tell taxpayers how much money they lost on a failed $200-million vaccine factory in the health minister's own riding, a scheme that did not produce a single dose of the COVID vaccine.

When will the Liberals do the right thing and invest in a public drug manufacturer instead of no-strings-attached giveaways to big pharma?

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

Mr. Speaker, it is a bit rich for my colleague to criticize this government when, at the time, what we did was the responsible thing. The responsible thing we did at the time was to invest in a different family of vaccines. Why? It was to protect the lives of Canadians.

Since that moment, we have invested a record amount of money in Canada to make sure that we have onshore biomanufacturing. Do members know why? We did not choose to have a pandemic and we are not going to choose to have another one, but we choose to be better prepared to save the lives of Canadians.

Seniors

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

Mr. Speaker, with seniors representing one of the fastest-growing populations in Canada, we require strong public policy measures to ensure they can retire with dignity and respect. Can the Minister of Seniors please update the House on the efforts our government outlined in the budget to support seniors?

[Kamal Khera, Liberal, Minister of Seniors]

Mr. Speaker, budget 2023 continues to grow our government's plan to support seniors, which has already seen poverty rates for seniors drop significantly since 2015. Through this budget, we are bringing in the largest expansion of health care in 60 years by providing seniors access to high-quality dental care. We are helping seniors with their daily costs through a grocery rebate. We are also helping more seniors access supports, such as the guaranteed income supplement, through the automatic income tax filing. Seniors can rest assured that we will continue to have their backs.

Carbon Pricing

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals' campaign of misinformation continues. The claims that Canadians get more back in rebates for the failed carbon tax have been proven false by the public budgeting officer. He said the largest net loss will be felt by Alberta families, who will pay $2,773 in tax. In a bid to look more virtuous to eco-radical groups, the costly coalition is going to jack up its failed carbon tax this Saturday.

Why do they not axe the failed carbon tax and stop punishing families for eating, heating and driving?

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

Mr. Speaker, every time we put forward an affordability measure, the Conservatives vote against it. However, good news is coming to the Prairies, where the member and I live. As of April 1, a family of four will receive a climate rebate of up to $1,500 in Alberta and Saskatchewan, and $1,000 in Manitoba.

This is going to help families. It is going to help families because the cheques are going to arrive quarterly. Eight out of 10 families will benefit. I do not know what the Conservatives have against good news.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Mr. Speaker, that is more misinformation. Every prairie province is going to pay more in carbon tax than what it gets back, and it is proven by the public budgeting officer. This week, the woke Liberal budget already uppercut every single household with an extra $4,200 in costs, all because the minister of inflation cannot balance a budget—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I have warned members already about calling each other names, but I am just going to point it out. I am going to let the hon. member continue, but please treat each other with respect and in a parliamentary manner.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the minister responsible for the inflationary problem cannot balance a single budget in this country, and the more the Liberals go woke, the more Canadians go broke. Why do they not cancel their failed carbon tax and give Canadians a break?

[Gudie Hutchings, Liberal, Minister of Rural Economic Development]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives' lack of recognition of climate change and, frankly, lack of awareness of climate change are pretty frightening for me.

In the southwest coast of my riding, where the impacts of the hurricane are still being felt, the snow is melting, so my communities are now getting ready to rebuild infrastructure and rebuild bridges. There are 105 families getting to build their new homes because they have lost everything.

I am proud to be part of a government that has a plan to address climate change, and our plan is working. I would like to hear what their plan is.

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

Mr. Speaker, small and medium-sized businesses are the backbone of Canada's economy. Unlike the government, the men and women behind these businesses are in direct contact with Canadians and know how to run a company.

Lo and behold, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business consulted over 4,300 business leaders, and the result is a scathing indictment of this government: 61% of Canadian business leaders are opposed to the carbon tax increase this Saturday.

The government may look down on the Conservatives, but could it at least listen to business leaders?

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, it is very interesting to hear my Conservative colleague talk about the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, because the CFIB highlighted just how extraordinary budget 2023 is for small business.

It is this Liberal government that has an agreement with the banks and credit card companies to reduce credit card transaction fees for small businesses, resulting in over $1 billion in savings. That is absolutely incredible, and it will benefit Canadians.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government has a talent for ballooning the credit card statements of every Canadian with its compulsive deficits.

That same report is rather scathing for other reasons. Again, 4,300 small business leaders say that 40% of them will reduce investments, 45% will cut salaries, and 56% will increase the cost of products. This has a direct, meaningful and very tangible impact on Canadians if, by some misfortune, the government increases the tax on Saturday.

Could the government act for the good of all Canadians and cancel this tax on April 1?

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Louis‑Saint‑Laurent, for whom I have a great deal of respect.

In addition to having listened to entrepreneurs, we have listened to all Canadians. Canadians are asking us to do three things: help them with the cost of living, invest in health and build an economic future that will foster prosperity and clean jobs for the future.

I can assure my colleague from Louis‑Saint‑Laurent that Canadian entrepreneurs are looking at our plan and its different credits and seeing that we are headed to a green economy. That is the best way to create jobs for today and the future.

Dental Care

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there are plenty of health care needs in Quebec.

Rather than responding to those needs in the budget, the Liberals are creating a new dental care program on top of the one we already have in Quebec. That is close to $3 billion that Quebec could put into areas where it would be more useful or use to improve the existing program. That is why the Quebec National Assembly just unanimously called for Quebec to have the right to opt out with full compensation.

Will the government commit to honouring the unanimous request of Quebec's elected officials?

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

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

First, it gives me an opportunity to acknowledge what we heard from Quebec today. People across the country believe in the importance of dental care, which is essential to overall health. Second, two to three million Quebeckers will be able to benefit from the Government of Canada's new dental insurance plan in the coming years. Lastly, all of this will be done in co-operation with all of the provinces, including Quebec.