Debates of May 31st, 2023

The Economy

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, while the Leader of the Opposition continues to talk down the Canadian economy, we have the lowest deficit in the G7, and we have the best debt-to-GDP ratio of the G7.

The fact is that Canadians can expect arguments back and forth about fiscal responsibility, but if they check the international bond rating agencies, the people whose job it is to evaluate the fiscal responsibility of a given government, they continue to give us a AAA rating for fiscal responsibility. Canadians know we are on the right track.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, it is not just me who acknowledges that deficits pour fuel on the inflationary fire. It is his own finance minister. In fact, she said that two weeks before she introduced her budget. What followed her budget was a spike in the inflation rate the Prime Minister had promised would only ever go down. What do you know? Dumping $60 billion of fuel on the inflationary fire actually makes prices go up.

Did the finance department calculate how much this extra $60 billion of inflationary spending would add to the consumer price index? How much?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition likes to talk about being in disagreement with the investments we have made in the Canadian economy, but perhaps he would be open with Canadians and share how he would not have funded child care at $10 a day right across the country for Canadians. He would not be delivering dental care benefits, including to 1,100 kids in his riding, and he would not be stepping up with targeted supports, with a doubling of the GST rebate for 11 million Canadians. He is not saying where he would be cutting, what programs he would be slashing and how he would be hurting Canadians while—

[The Speaker, Anthony Rota]

The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I have been very clear that I would get rid of the $35-billion incompetent infrastructure bank. I would get rid of the $54-million ArriveCAN app, which did not work and was not necessary. I would not blow billions of dollars buying back hunting rifles from lawful and licensed Canadians instead of going after serious criminals. The list of waste and corruption goes on and on.

My question, though, is this: How much is all of this spending adding to inflation? John Manley, the former Liberal finance minister, said that, just as the current finance minister has said, when we add deficits, we add inflation. The question again is this: How much extra inflation will the $60 billion in budget deficits cause?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Leader of the Opposition for trying to clear things up, but the fact is that no Canadians doubted he would pull back on measures to fight gun crime.

We are moving forward on increasing gun control. We have banned assault-style weapons. We put a freeze on the market for handguns, and the Conservative Party, in the pocket of the gun lobby, has continued to insist that they will roll back those measures. They will continue to not protect Canadians in communities across the country. That is their approach. Our approach is to continue to invest in Canadians to lift millions of people out of poverty and create millions of great jobs.

Democratic Institutions

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canada is dragging Quebec into a crisis that will literally undermine democracy with all the secrecy. The Prime Minister responds by grandstanding.

We are going to get to the bottom of this matter. How will he explain to Canadians and Quebeckers that he will treat with contempt the vote of an elected majority of the House, with each one being an elected member of Parliament just as he is?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we will continue to work with all colleagues in the House to fight foreign interference and to take it seriously.

To take it seriously, the leader of the Bloc Québécois need only demonstrate that he is open to understanding the impact of the issue, to see the intelligence that was collected about what happened. He has refused. He prefers to hide from the truth to continue his bickering and partisan attacks.

That is not a responsible approach worthy of our democracy. I encourage him to take part in the necessary briefings.

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, he just needs to come out with the facts, but as someone once said, he would not know what to do with the facts.

The Prime Minister is protecting someone or something. Who? What? What skeletons are hiding in the Trudeau Foundation's closet? Just how low will he go to protect his secrets? What is China doing and to whom? How has China managed to intimidate the entire Liberal government?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Bloc Québécois wants to know who I am protecting.

First and foremost, I am protecting Canadians by fighting Chinese interference. I am protecting Chinese Canadians who are more often the target of Chinese interference. I am protecting our institutions and our democracy by creating mechanisms to fight Chinese interference. I am continuing to protect the men and women who put their lives at risk to find out and expose the secrets of China and other countries that want to do us harm by keeping their secrets and protecting our national security.

The Economy

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance admitted that deficits throw gas on the inflationary fire. Two weeks later, she threw another $60-billion-worth of gas on the same fire.

How much does the Prime Minister think that the $60-billion inflationary deficit she added in a single budget will increase the inflation rate on the backs of Canadians?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, while the Conservatives continue to argue in favour of austerity, we will continue to be there to invest in Canadians.

While they are proposing cuts, cuts to programs and cuts to services for Canadians, we will continue to lift Canadians out of poverty, as we have done for 2.7 million people in recent years. We will continue to be there for our seniors by lowering the retirement age to 65 after his government raised it to 67. We will continue to be there for our young people, for our families, with child care services. We will continue—

[The Speaker, Anthony Rota]

The Leader of the Opposition.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, one in five Canadians is skipping meals because they cannot afford groceries and are already living in austerity. The 1.5 million Canadians who are forced to rely on food banks are already living in austerity. The nine out of 10 young Canadians who believe they will never be able to buy a home are already living in austerity.

The only person not living in austerity is the Prime Minister, because he is forcing austerity on all other Canadians.

How much will the $60 billion in additional spending add to the inflation rate?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, let me see if I understand the Conservative Party's austerity plan correctly. They are saying that Canadians are already facing hard times, so it is okay to make matters worse by spending less, investing less and providing less help for families in need.

Perhaps that is why the member voted against the dental care assistance we are providing to children. Thanks to our initiative, 300,000 children across this country have been able to access dental care services they could not access in the past, including 1,100 children in his riding of Carleton. He voted against it because, for him, it is all about austerity. That is irresponsible.

Finance

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, he has been Prime Minister for eight years. The half-trillion dollars in inflationary deficits he has enacted is causing the inflation that Canadians are paying; it is not the solution to the inflation. After eight years of the Prime Minister, one in five Canadians skips meals because they cannot eat, and 1.5 million people go to food banks, some of them asking for help with medical assistance in dying, not because they are sick but because they are hungry. He has driven people out of their homes and into tent cities, as nine in 10 young people believe they will never be able to own a home.

How much is he going to make them pay before the suffering ends?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we hear the Leader of the Opposition continue to spread his message that Canadian is broken right across the country and that we should, therefore, just throw up our hands, give up and stop spending to invest in Canadians, stop supporting low-income Canadians, stop creating great jobs, stop drawing in great factories like Volkswagen and stop working to secure Stellantis investments. This is what the Conservatives' plan is: to throw up their hands and say, “Everything is broken, so let us just burn it down.”

Canadians do not feel that. Canadians roll up their sleeves and solve the challenges we are facing. That is what Canadians are doing every day across the country, and that is what they are going to continue to do.

[Fayçal El-Khoury, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after weeks of study, but mostly obstruction, by the Conservative Party, we have finally reached the clause-by-clause study of the budget implementation bill. This is one more step towards being able to provide the support that the people in my riding and across Canada need.

Could the Prime Minister tell us more about the importance of passing the budget implementation bill as quickly as possible?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Laval—Les Îles for his important question and hard work.

Like him, I am disappointed to see the Conservatives trying to block the essential support measures contained in the budget, especially a tax to fight residential property flipping, the doubling of the deduction for tradespeople's tool expenses and the Canada workers benefit advance payments.

Their political games in committee are blocking the passage of our budget. I hope that all members of the House, including the Conservative members, will come together to give Canadians what they need.

Housing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister tells Canadians to stop complaining, because they have never had it so good. Well, nine in 10 young people cannot afford a home because housing costs have doubled under the Prime Minister. Rent has doubled, the average mortgage payment has doubled and the needed down payment for an average house has doubled. The inflation rate has hit the highest level in 40 years and now is back on the rise. They might beg to differ.

Will the Prime Minister stop trying to silence Canadians' voices and start reversing the policies that have caused the damage in the first place?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are going to continue to grow the economy. We are going to continue to create great, well-paying jobs for Canadians right across the country, because that is what Canadians continue to need. That is what we have been doing over these past years. The fact that the Leader of the Opposition suggests we should be growing less, that we should be seeing less wage growth across the country, maybe reveals a little more about his economic thinking than about anyone else's.

At the same time as we do that, we are going to continue to invest in programs and supports for first-time homebuyers, for low-income renters and for construction of new rental homes by working in partnership with municipalities. We are going to continue to deliver for Canadians.

The Economy

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, he delivers only for himself. We are not growing. Under the Prime Minister, we have the slowest per capita GDP growth of any government since the Great Depression. Under eight years of the Prime Minister, housing costs have doubled, 1.5 million people are eating from food banks and one in five is skipping meals because they cannot afford food. Now, interest rates, which his government said would stay low for long, are skyrocketing because of his deficits.

How much have interest rates had to go up to accommodate his $60 billion in new deficits?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, here is a thought experiment for Canadians: Imagine how much worse off we would be if the Conservatives' plan on not encouraging vaccinations had led during the pandemic, if their reliance on ideology and conspiracy theories instead of science and experts had governed our pandemic response. The Canadian economy—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Anthony Rota]

I am sorry. I am going to have to ask the hon. Prime Minister to stop for a second.

We had started getting better, and now, all of sudden, everybody is getting excited again. Maybe it is because the end of question period is coming, and maybe I will just skip to the last question and then work my way back. That might work out better. I am going to let the Prime Minister continue, and we will see if I have to resort to that.

The right hon. Prime Minister has the floor.