Debates of June 13th, 2023

Finance

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, it is fascinating to hear my colleague make a case for classic neo-liberal economics, which tends to favour the wealthy and does not do much for the working-class people living in communities like mine. The reality is that the Conservatives' argument, their plan to deal with the rising cost of living, is to make sure families receive less money from the government to help them with the cost of living.

We believe something fundamentally different. We believe in supporting students through generous Canada student grants. We believe in supporting families with the Canada child benefit. We believe in supporting seniors with a more generous old age security benefit. We are going to continue to support workers with the Canada workers benefit. Every step of the way, we are here for the working class. The Conservatives are here for the wealthy.

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it was a little puzzling last week that, on the same day the Bank of Canada raised interest rates, the finance minister said, “We are very close to the end of this difficult time, and to a return to low, stable inflation and strong, steady growth.” Now, experts are saying the risk is that inflation will not come down, which means interest rates and mortgage rates will be higher.

Is it not time the government cut inflationary deficits, or inflationary taxes like the carbon tax, so interest rates and mortgage rates can come down for Canadians?

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

Mr. Speaker, I respect the hon. colleague a great deal. He knows, like we do, that the inflationary cycle taking place in Canada is not a Canada-only phenomenon. Inflation is taking place across the world.

Let us listen to the Governor of the Bank of Canada, Tiff Macklem, who said that government spending patterns are not standing in the way of inflation getting back to target. In our projections, which incorporate those measures, we have inflation coming back to target.

[Adam Chambers, Conservative, Simcoe North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it was a previous Bank of Canada governor who said that government deficits made interest rates go higher this year.

However, let us talk about the government's predictions. It said interest rates would remain low forever. They have not. It said inflation would not come. It has. It said once inflation came, it would be here just a short time. It is still here.

Now the government is telling everybody that inflation is coming down and the economic uncertainty is over. Do all the ministers agree with the finance minister? How many predictions does someone need to get wrong before they are held accountable?

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

Mr. Speaker, I suspect that many people on that side were predicting that Stephen Harper would win the 2015 election. How did they get those predictions?

On this side of the House, we are focusing on Canadians. We are making sure that health care is stabilized for a generation. We are making sure that we are growing the economy. We are helping those Canadians who need it most.

The Conservatives will not tell Canadians where they would cut, so the question is, where would they cut? Let us hope we never find out. We are going to keep delivering for Canadians.

Employment Insurance

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there are workers who are missing out on weeks of work because of the wildfires. For some, returning to work in the short term is not in the cards. They include seasonal workers employed in forestry, tourism, outfitting, parks and many other sectors.

The federal government says it will—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I must interrupt the hon. member for a second. The member has done nothing wrong, but I would like her to start over.

Before she starts over, however, I would like the conversations on both sides of the aisle to stop. They are getting quite loud.

I am going to say to members that if they want to talk to each other, it is fine, but maybe they could either whisper to somebody close, or if they are far apart, not yell across the floor but maybe just go outside and come back; that is allowed.

The hon. member for Thérèse-De Blainville may begin again.

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there are workers who are missing out on weeks of work because of the wildfires. For some, returning to work in the short term is not in the cards. They include seasonal workers employed in forestry, tourism, outfitting, parks and many other sectors.

The federal government says it will fast-track their EI claims. For some, that is good. For all the workers who do not qualify for EI because of the excessively high 700-hour threshold, it is useless.

Is the minister going to ease the requirements to ensure that no worker affected by the wildfires is left behind?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for this important question.

As I mentioned a week ago, Service Canada will accept claims from those affected by the wildfires. They can apply even if they do not have a record of employment. They can access employment insurance.

We will do everything we can to ensure that these workers receive EI.

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, at the rate the government is going, the trees will grow back before workers get help.

Nothing changes. Every time there is a crisis, six out of 10 workers are abandoned by employment insurance. Somehow, the federal government is surprised every time.

We would not urgently need more flexible measures today if the government had reformed EI as promised. History is repeating itself because of its broken promises.

When will it announce emergency measures for all workers affected by the fires, including those who fall through the cracks?

[Irek Kusmierczyk, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, we understand the seriousness of the challenges that many Canadian workers, including those in Quebec, are facing right now. We are with them on the ground. We encourage all workers impacted by wildfires to apply for EI as soon as possible, even without a record of employment. We are on top of this and we will be there for Canadian workers.

Finance

[Richard Bragdon, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

Mr. Speaker, due to the government's overreach, overspending and overtaxation, the financial pressure on Canadians has become overwhelming.

In my region and across Canada, Canadians are struggling. Our Atlantic premiers have been clear: They need relief and they need it now. Meanwhile, the government is busy doing its dastardly dance of disorder with the Davos wonder class, amassing wealth and jet-setting around the world, all the while taxing the little guy for simply driving to work.

When will the government stop fanning the flames of inflation and provide the much-needed relief that Canadians are desperate for?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite is talking about things like the Canada child benefit, the Canada workers benefit or the climate action incentive, which are actually providing thousands of dollars into the pockets of Canadians.

The real question that Canadians want to know about is what the Conservatives are planning to cut. What services and what benefits are they planning to cut that Canadians will no longer have access to? We saw under Harper's decade of darkness, if my colleague wants to continue with the alliteration, that they cut services and benefits to Canadians. On this side of the House, we believe in supporting Canadians.

[Richard Bragdon, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are tired the government's tepid tiptoeing through the tulips of political expediency with clear non-answers displayed just like that. Canadians are financially battered, beaten and broken, and they are tired of being belittled.

When will the government end the delays, the denials and the deflection, and finally address the escalating dismay of being overlooked, overwhelmed and overtaxed?

Canadians are desperate for relief. When is it coming?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, I will grant the member that he is good at alliteration, but what he clearly cannot do is see the policies that are actually helping Canadians. What Canadians need to know is what the Conservatives plan on cutting, because they are talking about services and supports for Canadians.

We are there for the lowest-income, most vulnerable Canadians. We have cut poverty for children in this country in half since 2015. Poverty under the Conservatives flatlined. They did nothing to help low-income Canadians. We do not believe that this is the right process and we are going to continue to support Canadians.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years, this Prime Minister is out of touch and Canadians are out of money. The Liberals' out-of-control spending has caused inflation to reach record levels.

That is not all that is reaching record levels: More Canadians are using food banks than ever before. In fact, just last month, the food bank in Saskatoon held a food drive, as food bank usage has reached a new record of 24,000 people monthly.

Will the Prime Minister reverse his inflationary policies so that Canadians can afford to put food on the table?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, certainly affordability is a critically important concern for this government. We have made enormous efforts to work with Canadians to try to ensure that affordability applies to everyone in this country. Certainly we agree with the opposition that it is an important issue that needs to be addressed.

However, to talk about out of touch, we are seeing forest fires across this country that are the product of climate change. We are facing a party that has no policy on climate change; in fact, it is not even clear that Conservatives believe in climate change and the scientific reality of climate change. That is being out of touch.

Families, Children and Social Development

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague, the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, was in Montreal yesterday to announce a significant contribution to social finance, not only for Quebec, but also for the rest of Canada.

Can the minister tell us more about how the social finance fund will help increase the positive impact that social purpose organizations have on our society?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday we celebrated the launch of the social finance fund, a $755‑million initiative to advance the growth of the social finance market.

Social finance plays a crucial role in tackling issues such as access to affordable housing, food insecurity and poverty. By increasing access to flexible financing opportunities, the social finance fund will help social purpose organizations grow, innovate and enhance their social, economic and environmental impacts.

Carbon Pricing

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the carbon tax could cost each farmer $150,000 per year, and that is before the second carbon tax comes next month. This tax on tax on tax drives up the cost of food production. It is simple math: If it costs the farmer more to grow food, it is going to cost Canadians more to feed their families, and it is going to put the future of our Canadian farms at risk. No farms, no food.

Will this government give Canadians a break and axe its carbon taxes?

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, in this country, rage farming is not an agricultural policy.

On this side of the House, we believe in investing in farmers. We have invested $500 million to support our agricultural sector. We have invested almost $1 billion to support farmers' transition as they buy new equipment to lower their carbon footprint.

Climate change is real. In 2021, 30% of the grains did not make it to market. On that side of the House, they still do not have a climate plan.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we cannot fight fires with inflation—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Order.

The hon. member for Lambton—Kent—Middlesex can begin from the top, please.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we cannot fight fires with inflation. The government's inflation is causing the cost of food and groceries to skyrocket.

Farmers pay carbon tax to get their crops from the field to their warehouse and from their warehouse to the grocer's warehouse. Then the grocer pays carbon tax to get the food to the grocery store, and then families pay carbon tax to drive to the grocery store to buy their food. This tax on tax on tax never ends, and it is increasing the cost of our food.

There is no common sense in this, so when will the government axe the carbon tax?

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member knows, farm fuel is exempt from any price on pollution. I would encourage her to speak to canola farmers, as she would know then that the clean fuel standard is great for farmers—