Debates of May 29th, 2023

Department of Finance—Main Estimates, 2023-24

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Madam Chair, I have to say I am surprised to hear the tax credits being attacked by the member opposite. They are strongly supported by our union colleagues, with whom we consulted extensively in the design of these tax credits, and these tax credits are going to do a double job. They are going to help build a clean economy in Canada, and they are going to help create good-paying, middle-class jobs.

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

Madam Chair, turning to the so-called multilateral action that the government is a fan of, the Liberal government guaranteed that the global minimum tax would come into effect by 2024, yet it has not even begun to start the process that would implement a tax on multinational profits in every country where they are made, continuing a long tradition by the Liberal Party of coddling large multinational corporations.

Can the government guarantee that there will be a minimum tax on international corporations by 2024?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Madam Chair, absolutely. We were clear about that in the budget. I believe the member opposite is referring to OECD pillar two and we were very clear in the budget that we will be implementing pillar two.

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

Madam Chair, yes, I am referring to pillar two. I am wondering how the minister could guarantee a movement in 2024 when no public agreements and timelines committed to so far have actually been met.

How is Canada going to move forward in 2024 when nothing that should have been done by now has been done?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Madam Chair, that is simply inaccurate. The pillar two agreement came together recently. Canada was at the table as it came together. Canada is fully committed to implementing that and we are working very closely with our international partners, including in the EU on the implementation. It is a priority for us.

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

Madam Chair, quickly speaking of what others are doing, the U.S. passed a book profit tax as part of its Inflation Reduction Act that is already generating revenue. If Canada had a 15% minimum tax on book profits in 2021, it would have generated $1.4 billion in revenue annually.

Why is the government dragging behind the U.S. and letting corporations get out of paying their fair share of taxes?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Madam Chair, I actually believe that Canada is ahead of the U.S. in many crucial respects, certainly when it comes to a price on pollution, certainly when it comes to our tax on share buybacks where our level is higher and President Biden has said he regrets setting his level as low as he has done.

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

Madam Chair, my riding, as I mentioned, has consistently had one of the highest child poverty rates in the country. Why will the government not make COVID-era benefits permanent, which would make poverty history?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Madam Chair, we are proud to be the government that lifted 435,000 Canadian children out of poverty. There is more work to do and we are committed to doing it.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Madam Chair, I thank the Minister of Finance for being here. It is an exercise that not many people know about, but it is very interesting for parliamentarians on both sides of the House.

My first question is the following. Recently, I met with people from ACFAS who were concerned about the fact that scholarships for post-graduate students at the master's and doctoral level had not been indexed since 2003. That is 20 years.

Her government brags about being the government of excellence, innovation and competitiveness, so why was there no indexing in the minister's recent budget?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Madam Chair, that is an excellent question. Support for students is a priority for our government. We have already done a lot.

However, the member across the way raises an important question. We are in the process of looking at and discussing this important issue, including with the universities and the students.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Madam Chair, I hope that will result in action on that front. I believe that students deserve better than what they are getting at this time.

Let us talk about the issue of housing, which is perhaps what most concerns the people I represent in my riding of Rosemont—La Petite‑Patrie. Many people are waiting for social housing. Social housing is the best way to reduce the cost of rent and to lift people out of poverty.

Does the Minister of Finance know how many people in Quebec are on the waiting list for social housing?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Madam Chair, I agree that housing is perhaps the main concern among voters. That issue is raised the most.

Our government has already made large investments, which are being rolled out. For example, the housing accelerator fund, which was implemented this spring and which will have—

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for Rosemont—La Petite‑Patrie.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Madam Chair, speaking of implementation, I would like to ask a question about the national housing strategy, which was established by the Liberals after a Liberal government stopped investing in affordable social housing in 1994.

How many housing units were built as part of the national housing strategy in 2022?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Madam Chair, everyone understands that the COVID-19 period was an unusual period for all aspects of the economy, but I want to mention an important part of our housing plan that was also mentioned by my colleague from Milton, and that is support for co-operatives.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Madam Chair, the answer is that we do not know. We do not know how many housing units were built under the national housing strategy. The housing advocate appointed by the Liberal government told us in her last report that there are no numbers. Meanwhile, in Quebec, 37,000 people are waiting for social housing, including 23,700 in Montreal alone.

Is the Minister of Finance prepared to commit to requiring federal land, such as the Peel Basin in Montreal, to be used only for building social housing in urban areas?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Madam Chair, our government understands the importance of building social housing. We understand the importance of building housing, full stop. We understand that the biggest need in Canada today is that there is not enough housing for all Canadians.

We will support every measure to encourage more housing construction.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Madam Chair, in that case, I hope we will see more money for the national housing strategy, because right now, it is not delivering results, and people in urban and rural areas are suffering.

For the first time, the Canada Revenue Agency calculated the tax gap, meaning the difference between the amount of tax that individuals and businesses should be paying and the amount of tax that is actually received. This comes from the Canada Revenue Agency.

I would like to ask the minister what the tax gap is in Canada.

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Madam Chair, as I stated in my discussion with our colleague from Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, it is very important to our government that all Canadians pay their fair share. Of course the wealthiest must pay their fair share. Our government has put in place many measures to accomplish that, and we are proud of it.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Madam Chair, I am not sure there is anything to be proud of when the Canada Revenue Agency tells us that the tax gap is between $18 billion and $23 billion. That is the amount that we collectively lost last year. That means we should be able to afford public universal pharmacare insurance. We should be able to pay for everyone's dental care. We should be able to reform employment insurance.

Why are the Liberals dragging their feet again when it is time to make the ultrarich and big business pay instead of sending their money to tax havens?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Madam Chair, I disagree. Our government has done a lot to close tax loopholes, and I would include budget 2023 in that. This is work that we need to continue to do, but we have already done a lot. We are absolutely convinced that this is necessary and we will continue to do that work.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Madam Chair, I have one last question.

We are seeing absolutely obscene wealth gaps in our society. Mr. Weston, the owner or CEO of Loblaw, earns 431 times the average salary of his own employees. We in the NDP have a proposal to cap it at 50 times the average employee's salary.

Are the Liberals prepared to listen to our proposal to limit the wealth gap between employers and employees?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, University—Rosedale, ON]

Madam Chair, as I have already said, it is important to us that everyone pay their fair share. We have introduced a number of measures to ensure just that. Poverty and inequality are also important issues for us, as is economic growth. Our government is targeting all of these issues.

[The Deputy Chair, NDP, Carol Hughes]

It being 11:19 p.m., pursuant to an order made on Thursday, May 18, and Standing Order 81(4), all votes are deemed reported and the committee will now rise.