Debates of May 1st, 2023

Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Madam Speaker, I have a lot of respect for my colleague, but the fallacy is in his question. Adding taxes, whether it is a windfall tax or a higher tax on the highest earners, does not reduce the costs. If I were to increase the tax on a company, is that company all of a sudden going to reduce its prices? No, it is not.

The fastest solution is to eliminate the carbon tax. That will eliminate those three cents that the member is saying his producers are worried about. Imagine, the NDP is supporting the Liberals and increasing the carbon tax. In B.C., people pay the carbon tax on any natural gas and propane imported from Alberta. They do pay it, and they pay the GST on top of that.

If the member wants to make life more affordable for the producers and farmers in his riding, the solution is scrapping the carbon tax.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

Madam Speaker, I am glad I was able to catch your eye and participate in the debate today, following my good friend the member for Foothills.

There is a disconnection between everything the government has said about fiscal restraint and the numbers contained in the budget this bill promises to implement. Some might call it the “pants on fire” budget. It puts a lie to everything the Liberals have said from the 2015 election to last year's budget.

Just last year, the minister stated, “We are absolutely determined that our debt-to-GDP ratio must continue to decline”. She also said, “This is our fiscal anchor—a line we shall not cross, and that will ensure that our finances remain sustainable so long as it remains unbreached.” The government did not waste any time in breaching that line. This bill would implement a budget with an increased debt-to-GDP ratio. The Liberals blew through that sacred line that quickly. This budget is the culmination of what is now approaching a decade of lies contained in three election campaigns, numerous past budgets and fiscal updates, and statements in the House and communities across Canada.

I will provide members with the solemn commitment that the Liberals made during the 2015 election. It states, “We will run modest short-term deficits of less than $10 billion in each of the next two fiscal years to fund historic investments in infrastructure and our middle class. After the next two fiscal years, the deficit will decline and our investment plan will return Canada to a balanced budget in 2019.” That was not a casual, throw-away line; it was a critical point the Liberals made carefully, to differentiate themselves from both the Conservatives and the NDP.

The Liberals were the only party promising deficit spending, but they knew that there was political consensus at the time that budgets ultimately had to be balanced, and that Canadian voters would not vote for unrestrained, reckless and out-of-control spending without a clear and credible plan for a balanced budget within the mandate they were seeking. They made that pitch to Canadians. Even the NDP knew then that there was cross-partisan support, consensus even, that budgets had to be balanced. That is why the Liberals did that. They had this solemn promise to run modest deficits for a very short period of time in order to fund unprecedented infrastructure construction that would lead to economic growth that would allow the budget to balance itself. Every part of that critical, election-winning promise turned out to be untrue. They did not run a modest $10-billion deficit. They did not build unprecedented new infrastructure. The budget did not balance itself. Every single word in that promise was untrue.

Since winning the election in 2015, not one member of the government or its party's caucus has ever acknowledged having made that promise. It was a promise the Liberals made to differentiate themselves, and they broke it. The government treats its own election promises like things that can just be tossed into an Orwellian memory hole to be forgotten forever, as if they had never been spoken. I was present when the Leader of the Opposition repeatedly asked Bill Morneau in what year the budget would be balanced. He acted as if the Liberals had never made the promise, that it was something that could be ignored. It was the promise they made in order to win the election. Then this became the thing they would do, to talk about the ever-declining debt-to-GDP ratios. In the fall 2017 economic statement, the Liberals stated, “The Government will maintain this downward deficit and debt ratio track—preserving Canada’s low-debt advantage for current and future generations.”

There was nothing about balanced budgets and no apology for the fraudulent way they campaigned in 2018. In 2018, the Liberals used the words, “anchored by a low and consistently declining debt-to-GDP”. The fall 2018 economic statement states, “The Government continues to deliver on its commitment to strengthen and grow the middle class...while at the same time carefully managing deficits.” That is nonsense. Careful management of the deficit would be to not run one during a time of relatively stable and strong international economic expansion. The Liberals might have also thought about better managing Canada's debt and not being addicted to issuing short-term debt, which would protect Canadians from the higher interest rates that are now upon us.

The 2019 fiscal update said the Liberals were “continuing to reduce the federal debt relative to the size of our economy.” By February 2020, weeks before any world jurisdiction had taken economy-slowing COVID measures, Canada was on the brink of recession. Private sector economists had forecast Canada's debt-to-GDP ratio was going to rise for the first time since the 2008-09 banking crisis. This was before COVID, so the Liberals ditched their lines about declining debt-to-GDP for a while.

The opposition warned the government that, during a time of relative global prosperity and growth, it was reckless to run uncontrolled structural deficits resulting from undisciplined spending growth and lowering growth through job-killing tax increases and terrible regulations like Bill C-69. We told the government that it was spending the cupboards bare and that it would leave Canada less capable of coping with a global catastrophe, such as a pandemic or a war in Europe. Of course, the opposition did not predict these things; nobody could have. The point is that unforeseeable events like pandemics, natural disasters, wars, financial crises and global political crises always happen. There has never been a multi-decade period in human history when these events have not happened, yet the Liberals spent their entire pre-COVID tenure pretending times would always be good, and the entire post-COVID period assuming things will just simply always naturally get better.

Look where we are today. Liberals have blown through their sacred promise of continuous decline in our debt-to-GDP ratio. The government has presided over a 53% bloat in the cost of the federal public service and record spending on outside private contractors at a time when service delivery has never been worse and the state of labour relations between workers and management, which means the Liberal cabinet, has never been worse. We are still in the midst of the worst public sector strike in Canadian history. How does one do that? How does one spend more than any government in history and have the worst record on service delivery and the worst strike? It is astonishing.

There are a number of things I want to go through. Liberals are now asking us to approve a bill with $70 billion in new spending and an increase of the deficit to $40.1 billion. Debt service charge is now at $44 billion a year and shortly going to $50 billion a year, with an increasing debt-to-GDP ratio, which is something they said could never happen. There are billions in losses projected at the Bank of Canada, the possibility of which they also dismissed out of hand when the opposition leader and I both raised it at the Standing Committee on Finance in 2020.

This bill has a host of tax increases on everything from air travellers to beer, wine and spirits. Of course, there is the carbon tax, which is a tax on everything and is something the Liberals also promised would never exceed $50 a megaton. They will now triple that amount. They have done all of this with absolutely no tangible path to fiscal reckoning other than just hoping for the best, having blown through their last promise in a long litany of broken promises going back to 2015.

I am not buying it. I oppose this bill, as I have opposed the government since I was elected. I will vote against implementing this budget, and I urge my NDP and Bloc colleagues to join me. They ran in opposition to the government. They were elected in opposition to the government. If they agree with me that the government is deceitful, arrogant, untrustworthy and incompetent, I beg them, in fact I double-dog dare them, to vote down this budget implementation act, bring down the government and let Canadians decide who will support this—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for Timmins—James Bay is rising on a point of order.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Madam Speaker, I want to know if “double-dog dare” represents an attempt at intimidation of the opposition.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I would say to the hon. member that that is a point of discussion and not a point of order.

Questions and comments, the hon. member for Avalon.

[Ken McDonald, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

Madam Speaker, that hon. member's speech was somewhat disappointing to many of us on this side.

Let us talk about election promises to get elected. I recall a time when former prime minister Stephen Harper sat in front of the cameras at NTV News in St. John's and promised to remove from the equalization formula the funds that come from resource development in our province. As soon as he got elected, he said that he did not say that. It is still on film at NTV News, if anybody wants to take a look at it. How can the member square that circle and condemn the government for not meeting its total obligations it may have made in the campaign? I ask because Conservatives wrote the book on that.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

Madam Speaker, I love the fact that, when the members on the government side have nothing, they turn the clock back as far as they possibly can. We are talking about the current government, elected in 2015 on a pack of lies. I will take absolutely no lessons from that member on equalization or on any talk of how resources are developed and resource revenue.

[Monique Pauzé, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Madam Speaker, given that today is May 1, International Workers' Day, I want to ask my colleague a question about workers, or rather about workers who lose their jobs.

Beginning with budget 2021-22, the government intends to take nearly $17 billion out of taxpayers' pockets between now and 2030 by dipping into the EI fund. I think we can all agree that a reform will not be possible.

Is my colleague not upset about the fact that this government has no consideration for those who lose their jobs? We know that 60% of people who lose their jobs do not have access to employment insurance and that women and youth are particularly affected, because many of them hold non-standard jobs.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

Madam Speaker, I am terribly upset by the incompetence of the government and the growing backlog of cases at Service Canada.

Again, I challenge that member. If she is as upset with the government's incompetence, the government's deception and the terrible job the government is doing, will she vote against the budget implementation act?

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Madam Speaker, my colleague paints what I think is intended to be a very bleak picture of Canada's economic prospects, yet if we look at the G7 and how different countries in the G7 have fared coming out of the pandemic, by most conventional metrics, Canada's recovery has been above average. I am wondering why he chose to paint such a bleak picture, when, on some counts, Canada is doing quite well coming out of the greatest health care and economic crisis we have seen in several generations.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

Madam Speaker, now we are at the point where members of the NDP benches are coming out and cheerleading the government. It is not enough to just be a part of a coalition agreement where those members support the government; they are even bailing it out in questions and comments and in speeches. I wish that the member and his caucus would find their opposition roots and think whether they were elected to support the government or not.

With respect to his question, if he listened to my speech, it was only 10 minutes, and I could only say so much. I focused on the deception of the government, and I certainly think its track record and its numbers are nothing to be proud of. It promised that the debt-to-GDP ratio would never increase. It is increasing. The Liberals cannot be trusted on anything they say. They should be opposed.

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise in the House on behalf of the constituents of Victoria, today to talk about Bill C-47, the budget implementation act.

I want to start by sharing a local concern. Organizations in my riding are reeling from the government's cuts to the Canada summer jobs program. This program is vital, not only for local organizations, non-profits, charities and small businesses, but also for young people, who get valuable skills and economic opportunities. This year, the government has cut the program, and it is not just a cut from our pandemic levels, but a $60-million cut from prepandemic levels. These cuts are having a huge impact on the ground in Victoria.

Local organizations received over $1.5 million in 2022, and this year's funding has gone down to $950,000. Last year, 113 organizations received funding, and this year only 66 will receive funding. That is 50 fewer community organizations benefiting from the program and 50 fewer opportunities for employment for young people across the country.

Organizations that have received funding, such as Capital Bike, are seeing cuts in the hours and number of jobs it has been awarded. It is reeling and uncertain of what it is going to do when it cannot offer students the hours they need to accept placements. The government talks a good game when it comes to supporting young people and local organizations, but its actions do not match its words. It needs to reverse these cuts to community organizations and young people across the country.

Canadians right now are living through an affordability crisis. Inflation is still too high, and it is getting harder for people in my community to afford groceries and find an affordable place to call home. One good job should be enough to pay the bills and raise a family, but while the cost of living goes up, rich CEOs and the ultra-wealthy are getting ahead, while families, seniors and young people are falling behind.

For the past eight years, the Liberal government has not been working for people in Canada. Under its watch, Canada has become more unaffordable.

This year's budget includes concrete, tangible affordability measures, which the NDP has fought hard for. They are measures that the Liberals have consistently voted against, but we were able to push them to deliver them now. One example of this is the NDP's dental care program.

For the past year, I have had seniors visiting my office to ask when they would be eligible for dental care. For far too long, financial barriers have prevented millions of people in our country, especially seniors, people with disabilities and young people, from accessing the oral health care they need. Thanks to the first phase of the Canadian dental care plan, close to a quarter of a million children have been able to get to the dentist because of this interim measure. This coming year, seniors, people living with a disability and children under 18 will be able to access this critical care.

It brings us one step closer to Tommy Douglas' dream of truly universal health care, where every Canadian would have access to the health care they need, when they need it.

Additionally, New Democrats have used our power in this Parliament to double the GST rebate. This means over $400 for a family with two children. Last fall, the NDP forced the government to double the GST rebate for millions of Canadians, putting hundreds of dollars back into Canadians' pockets at a time of high inflation. I am very pleased that, earlier this month, the House fast-tracked that new rebate.

I also want to highlight the important measures we have fought for to make life more affordable for students. I am proud to represent thousands of students who attend the University of Victoria and Camosun College. This budget increases Canada student grants by 40%, providing up to $4,200 for full-time students, and it raises the interest-free Canada student loan limit from $210 to $300 per week. This means students will have more financial support during and after their studies.

We must do more for graduate students. Today, May 1, graduate students have organized a walkout. They are calling on the government to invest in the next generation of leaders, who are doing research and are the people doing science in our country. They have had the same wage for the past 20 years. Tri-agency awards and grants have not increased, yet the cost of almost everything has gone through the roof.

Unfortunately, for anyone struggling with the housing crisis right now, this budget fails when it comes to building more affordable housing faster for Canadians. It fails for people who want to own a home. It fails for renters.

Victoria has some of the highest rents in the country. Under the Liberal government, the costs of both renting and owning have increased to unimaginable levels. The cost of owning a home in Victoria has ballooned. It would take a family earning over $150,000 almost 30 years to save to buy a home in my community. For renters, in 2015, when the Liberals took charge, the median cost of a one-bedroom unit was around $850 a month. Today, it has more than doubled. The average one-bedroom rental cost is a whopping $2,000 a month. It is $2,500 for a two-bedroom unit, and $3,200 for a three-bedroom unit.

How is anyone supposed to get by, never mind get ahead, when rent is eating so much of their monthly income? Every day, countless people in my community are unhoused, under-housed or afraid they will not be able to afford rent next month. Most of the families I speak to have given up on ever even owning a home or dreaming of such a thing.

Earlier this month, I met with housing experts, leaders in Victoria, who told me that the federal government needs to get back to playing an active role in delivering housing. The government needs to stop corporate landlords from treating the housing market like a stock market. Housing is a right. Unfortunately, this bill, when it comes to addressing this crisis, fails. The Liberals are out of touch on this issue, and people are struggling to find an affordable place to live.

I want to mention the tireless work of two of my colleagues: the hon. member for Nunavut and the hon. member for Vancouver East. They fought to ensure there was $4 billion in this budget for rural, urban and northern indigenous housing. While we know more is needed, without their fierce advocacy, we would not be taking this important first step toward for indigenous, by indigenous housing.

People in Victoria are also deeply concerned about the devastating impacts of the climate crisis. Here at home and around the world, tackling the climate crisis is an economic and moral imperative. My colleagues and I have fought for investments in this bill that represent just the first steps in creating a clean-energy economy and ensuring we are creating well-paying union jobs. This bill includes $83 billion for the clean-energy economy, including for clean hydrogen and clean tech, as well as $3 billion to support clean electricity.

I am proud that the NDP has forced the Liberals to invest in a green future and that we were able to ensure that these investments have strings attached for workers. We are forcing the Liberals to incentivize companies to raise wages and provide better working conditions for their workers, and we are ensuring that labour groups have a seat at the table when it comes to the Canada growth fund. However, we also know the government has to do much, much more.

One of the handouts the Liberals are giving to oil and gas companies is billions of dollars for carbon capture, utilization and storage. It is a technology that the IPCC has said is one of the most expensive and unproven at scale, yet the Liberals continue to make it a central part of their climate plan. They are listening to oil and gas lobbyists instead of listening to the science.

I am disappointed that the government continues to show no interest in tackling corporate greed and taxing the excess profits of big oil and gas. Unfortunately, we continue to see the Liberals hand out billions of dollars each year in tax and non-tax subsidies. As parliamentarians, we owe it to future generations to not only believe in climate change and talk about the climate crisis but also act like we are in a climate emergency, because that is what we are in, and invest in climate solutions.

To conclude, we will continue to use our power in this minority Parliament to put money back in the pockets of Canadians, make life more affordable and fight the climate crisis like we actually want to win. My NDP colleagues and I will continue to work hard every day for families, seniors and young people to create a country that leaves no one behind.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, I am going to go back to the early nineties, when all political parties in the House ultimately advocated that the national government should not be playing any role in housing.

For the first time in generations, we have a government that has committed billions of dollars, developed a national housing strategy that is investing in things such as housing co-ops and non-profit housing, helped municipalities and supported organizations such as Habitat for Humanity. The government is going out of its way to ensure that Canadians are able to have that first home. Would the hon. member not recognize that the federal government can only do so much?

It is important that we demonstrate leadership, which we have, but we need the other stakeholders, in particular our municipalities and our provinces, and other stakeholders as well, to step up to the table so we can provide the type of housing that Canadians expect. We need to all be working together. Would she not agree?

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Madam Speaker, I agree that all levels of government need to tackle this crisis. I am very proud of the work the City of Victoria and the Province of British Columbia have done on housing.

However, the Liberal government has had eight years in power. My community is seeing skyrocketing rents. When I sat down with non-profit housing providers, they told me that CMHC is where projects go to die.

This is unacceptable. We need a government that takes the housing crisis seriously, that acknowledges that we have people who are living on the street, people who are struggling just to make ends meet and people who are afraid of losing the roof over their head. So many people have given up on the idea of ever owning a home.

This is unacceptable. In a country as wealthy as ours, we need our federal government to do better.

[Michelle Ferreri, Conservative, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Madam Speaker, I think what is so frustrating for people at home, and everyone watching, is that this is an opportunity to change the government of the country. By voting no to this budget, we can change the trajectory we are on.

What we have witnessed in the House, even today, with the arrogance of the Liberal government on the cost of living crisis, is unbelievable. My colleague has said that everything is unacceptable, yet her party continues to prop them up. Her party continues to keep them in power. Why is that?

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Madam Speaker, I am absolutely frustrated with the failings of the government.

I am proud of the work New Democrats have done to deliver for people with dental care; investments in rural, urban and northern indigenous housing; and making sure that we are doubling the rebate for GST.

Canadians do not want another election right now. They just went through one. They sent us back here to deliver for Canadians, and that is what we are doing. We are getting down to the hard work, working across party lines and pushing the government to do the things that it would never do on its own.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Madam Speaker, I listened closely to the speech by my colleague from Victoria.

Today, we are seeing the hypocrisy of the New Democratic Party, which I am now calling the NGP, where the G stands for gag, as in gag order.

Today, that party, which is trying to lambaste the government, is not on its second, fourth, sixth or eighth, but on its 13th closure motion. The New Democratic Party is using anti-democratic gag orders to cut the democratic speaking time of parliamentarians in the House.

We have no lessons to learn on morality from the social justice warriors the NDP members would have us believe they really are.

On this May 1, Workers' Day, if standing up for workers is such a good thing to do, why did they not include EI reform in their agreement?

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Madam Speaker, since it is May 1, I want to voice my support for all workers and say that we will continue fighting for workers, no matter what. I am confused, a little bit, about the member's question, since the NDP has voted in favour of EI reform again and again, and has tabled legislation.

We cannot make the government do what it is completely unwilling to do, but we were able to push it on some important issues that will make a difference for Canadians.

[Maninder Sidhu, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Madam Speaker, before I start, I would like to thank the constituents of Brampton East for their support. It was a pleasure seeing so many constituents out in downtown Toronto yesterday for the Nagar Kirtan and to celebrate Vaisakhi alongside colleagues and, of course, the Prime Minister of Canada.

I am grateful to rise in the House today to talk about how budget 2023 is going to benefit both the residents in my riding of Brampton East and all Canadians across the country. Budget 2023, brought forth by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, reassures Canadians that our federal government is delivering on its promises.

We are making decisions that are smart, sustainable and innovative, which in turn will propel our economy toward a greener and more resilient future. We have recovered from the pandemic stronger than before, with record low unemployment rates and one of the fastest recoveries versus other comparable G7 countries. The Canadian youth unemployment rate is down by 22%, and 830,000 more Canadians are employed compared to when the pandemic first hit three years ago.

Our recovery efforts worked because we listened to Canadians and acted in their best interests so that families could put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads. We acted quickly and provided the help Canadians needed when much of the world was in a state of unknown.

While pandemic supports have ended, our commitment to helping Canadians succeed has not. Budget 2023 proves this statement. Our federal government is making record investments in health care, child care, dental care and a clean, green economy, among many others.

The health of Canadians is what creates the foundation for a healthy economy. Universal high-quality and accessible health care is how we keep that foundation strong from coast to coast to coast. The pandemic put an unprecedented strain on an already overworked health care system. From health care workers feeling burnt out to emergency rooms constantly being overrun to elective surgeries being delayed or cancelled, the level of care that Canadians deserve and rely is not being delivered and can be greatly improved.

What is being delivered is an urgent and much-needed investment of $195 billion over the next 10 years from our federal government. This funding will accompany the tailored bilateral agreements with each province and territory to provide targeted supports throughout the health care sector, and will also include the accountability measures that Canadians expect and deserve from their provinces and territories.

Health care also extends into dental care, and going to a dentist can be expensive and out of reach for many Canadians and their families. It is concerning to say that one in five Canadians reported that they avoid going to a dentist because of cost. The new Canadian dental care plan outlined in budget 2023 plans to eliminate the difficult decision between taking care of one's teeth and being able to pay the bills at the end of the month. Another record investment of $13 billion over the next five years, starting in 2023, with $4 billion ongoing, to Health Canada is being put forward in this budget to help uninsured Canadian families receive dental care.

Programs like the Canada dental benefit have helped more than 240,000 children receive the dental care they need. This includes close to 3,000 children in my riding of Brampton East alone. I have heard first-hand from parents who are over the moon that they can provide important dental care for their children for healthier teeth and bigger smiles.

Here in Canada and around the world, the cost of living has gone up and inflation is a top-of-mind issue. The rising cost of food affects Canadians, small businesses and families who are trying to put a nutritious meal on the table. That is why, through budget 2023, our government is introducing the new grocery rebate, which is targeted to help provide relief to Canadians who need it the most. The $2.5 billion in relief will help eligible families with two children receive up to an extra $467, and single Canadians without children can receive up to $234. This support will assist close to 11 million Canadians with the cost of food. This is yet another way in which our federal government is helping Canadians live their lives in a way that benefits them so they do not have to choose between food, paying rent, and other expenses.

Young Canadians, specifically students, have faced immense pressures trying to navigate their way through the consistent changes, cancellations and delays caused by the pandemic. Our government stepped in to help. When we invest in the success of students and young Canadians, we all prosper. Their research and training achievements strengthen our workforce and economy. When we help more students train in the career of their choosing, this helps fill the gaps in labour shortages that many industries are experiencing across the country.

This is a consistent message I hear from my Brampton East Youth Council. Many aspire to go to college or university, but they are also worried about being able to afford tuition, books, meal plans and other needed expenses. The stakes are high, and for many, they are the first of their families to go to university or college.

I assume that many of my hon. colleagues in this House believe that a student's education should not be cut short because of financial hardship, and this is where our government is stepping in. Over 750,000 post-secondary students across Canada rely on federal assistance each year, and that money is the difference between starting a career with good-paying jobs versus not knowing what their next steps may be. It is clear that during the pandemic, our government should not be making money off the already strained purses of post-secondary students.

That is why we acted and eliminated interest on Canada student loans and Canada apprentice loans. By increasing Canada student grants by 40%, raising the interest-free Canada student loan limit and waiving the requirement for mature students to undergo a credit check for a loan, our government has created access to an additional $14,400 in Canadian financial student assistance. Students can now spend less time worrying about how they are going to pay for tuition, rent, food and other expenses, and spend more time focusing on their studies.

Budget 2023 would invest over $800 million to enhance student financial assistance for the school year starting in August 2023. However, our commitment to helping students does not stop there. For budget 2024, we have pledged to work with students directly and create a long-term approach to develop a financial assistance plan that is tailored to their needs for the years to come.

As I mentioned previously, Canada's economic recovery from the pandemic has been steady and climbing, with record low unemployment rates and more than 800,000 more Canadians employed than when the pandemic first hit. We are building back stronger than ever. Historic investments in early learning and child care are helping more women enter or re-enter the workforce.

Budget 2023 would also help students gain the necessary training to transition straight into the workforce once their work placement training is complete. Our government is making it easier for students to work in their desired fields, and we are also encouraging partnerships and increased learning opportunities between post-secondary institutions and businesses across Canada. It is crucial that we help bridge the gap between schooling and employment so that young Canadians entering the workforce can earn a good wage in addition to businesses gaining valuable skilled workers.

Canada is proud to be home to one of the smartest and most skilled labour forces in the world, and my riding of Brampton East is proof of that. Brampton East is home to the MDA plant, which is currently designing the Canadarm3, a robotic arm that will maintain, repair and inspect Gateway, which is a lunar outpost that will enable sustainable human exploration on the moon. Due to the contributions of the Canadarm3 space technology, a Canadian Space Agency astronaut will be part of the first crewed mission to the moon since 1972 with Artemis II. This was something that President Joe Biden touched upon when he addressed this very House during his official visit.

Canada and the United States share an incredibly strong partnership, which will be of value to the Artemis II mission. It is a friendship unlike any other in the world. Through our co-operation, we can improve economic prosperity and productivity, and benefit from a secure sharing of resources that will help the citizens of both of our countries.

While we are reaching for the stars in terms of innovation and technology, or more precisely for the moon, we are also moving toward a greener future with clean, green economic growth. Canada is on the right path forward toward electrification and green energy. A significant portion of our electricity already comes from non-emitting sources, such as hydroelectricity, wind, solar and nuclear, but more can be done. We know that Canada's electricity demand will double by 2050, and our government, through budget 2023, has proposed to make significant investments to accelerate the expansion of Canada's electricity grid, which will supply and transmit clean electricity across Canada.

We are seeing this progress happen in our local communities. Brampton is taking the necessary steps to become a green city by transitioning its transit fleet with fully electric buses, made possible through our federal Infrastructure Bank. With those buses comes a new maintenance facility of over 600,000 square feet of indoor bus storage that will help ensure our electric transit fleet is running smoothly. In Brampton East, this new maintenance facility is set to bring in over 1,000 good-paying jobs in my riding, and I am proud to say that we are on track to establishing Brampton as a newly electrified economic hub.

In two years, Brampton will also be home to the newly revitalized Stellantis plant for Chrysler, made possible by federal investments made by our government. This plant will be a flexible, multi-energy vehicle facility properly equipped to produce new electric vehicles and batteries. This plant will help fuel the green economic growth that budget 2023 is moving toward. It will change how we manufacture electric vehicles and will bring good-paying jobs to the city. This was all possible by the hard work of many of my federal colleagues from Brampton who are here in this House. It will help to fight climate change while growing our economy.

As I end today, I want to talk about parents I met recently, Matthew and Jennifer, who live in my riding, where they are raising their son Sebastian. They want to be close to family and close to the hospitals where they work as full-time nurses. They can rest assured knowing that we will be there to continue to support their young child with our new child care program.

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

Madam Speaker, I listened with interest as the hon. member, like all Liberal members of Parliament, talked about more and more spending, adding to the record levels of spending and record levels of debt undertaken by the government already. One thing he did not touch on was that it is Mental Health Week. If we read from the Canadian Mental Health Association's website, it says in a headline, “Budget 2023 out of touch with mental health crisis”, and then says, “The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) is profoundly concerned that Budget 2023 did not include the promised Canada Mental Health Transfer.”

I am wondering if the hon. member will be going to any of the Mental Health Week events this week. If he does, how will he explain to mental health experts and advocates from across the country that his government has once again failed to deliver on the $4.5-billion promise he made to get elected in the 2021 election campaign?

[Maninder Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton East, ON]

Madam Speaker, that was a very important question on mental health. I know it is very important to my constituents. I sat down with my youth council recently, and we spoke about the importance of mental health.

We have invested continuously in the Kids Help Phone line. There is $190 billion for health care in this budget. I sat down with college and university associations to speak about why mental health is important, especially considering the circumstances coming out of the pandemic and the many pressures on many of our youth. I think that is a conversation we need to continue to have, as we know there is a lot more work to be done.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Madam Speaker, I was fascinated by my colleague's speech. He seemed sincere in his belief that a one-time cheque to help pay for groceries, in a time of high inflation, would really help people like seniors who are in a precarious financial situation deal with both rising rent and grocery costs. He said it was to help them get out of that difficult situation.

Quite frankly, anyone who talks about a one-time grocery rebate to help seniors with all the expenses related to inflation is playing a game of smoke and mirrors and engaging in some magical thinking.

[Maninder Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton East, ON]

Madam Speaker, I would like to answer in English. I am still working on my French.

Since the member mentioned seniors, I think it is important to know that our government raised OAS for those who are 75 and older. This is the largest increase since 1973. That needs to be recognized. We have also increased the GIS and have lowered the retirement age from 67 to 65 for seniors.

I think it is very important that we continue to stand with seniors. That is what this government has done from the very beginning.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Madam Speaker, the Conservative leader came to Timmins. He has come a number of times. He has never been willing to meet with indigenous leaders, but during his meeting he was making jokes about electric vehicles. I find it hilarious that a guy who has never actually had a job would come to a mining town where critical minerals are really important and make fun of electric vehicles.

I want to ask my hon. colleague about this. I see the Conservatives undermining and attacking the investments that Volkswagen is making in EV batteries. We see what Biden is doing. We see that the United States is moving to ensure that 67% of all cars are EVs within nine years. Why is it that the Conservatives want to sit at the side of the road with their dead-end 1970s beaters?