Debates of Oct. 31st, 2024

The Economy

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, there is a lot of chocolate being consumed on the other side; we can see how energized the Conservatives are. They are upset because we are sharing the facts: 1.6% inflation in this country, interest rates are down, 47,000 new jobs in the last month and the International Monetary Fund has Canada positioned as the fastest-growing economy in the G7 in 2025.

We are also going to keep supporting Canadians and we are going to build houses from coast to coast. The Conservatives do not need to like it, but that is how we are supporting Canadians each and every day.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the American economy is roaring while the Canadian economy is snoring. In the most recently reported economic quarter, U.S. GDP grew three times faster than Canada's, despite our out-of-control population growth. In fact, per person income is lower than it was 10 years ago in Canada, while it has gone up by 18% in the U.S. The gap between U.S. and Canadian incomes is worse than at any time in the last century.

Why will the government not call a carbon tax election so Canadians can vote for powerful paycheques that buy affordable homes on safe streets?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, it is quite surprising that the Leader of the Opposition is not taking the bare facts on board, and not just 1.6% inflation or 47,000 jobs. Let us go to what he is trying to distract Canadians from, which is that as leader of the official opposition, as somebody who wants to someday sit on this side of the House, he will simply not go and do the work to get his security clearance. He will not protect his MPs; he will not protect Canadians. Shame on him. He should get his security clearance.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's collapsing per-person economy means lower wages, which means Canadians can afford less food and less housing, and governments can afford less for schools and hospitals. This is the direct result. These are the first economic data points that have come out since the government jacked up the capital gains tax now driving billions of dollars south of the border.

Why do the Liberals not follow our common-sense plan to axe taxes? In fact, in addition to getting rid of the carbon tax, why do they not follow our plan to axe the GST on new homes to build 30,000 more per year? It is common sense. Let us bring it home.

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, we can do the facts game all day long. Let us just focus. The Leader of the Opposition likes to remind people that he has roots in Alberta, so let us talk about the Liberal government's investments in Alberta: $22 billion in clean energy investments for clean electricity, for hydrogen, for greening the grid and for making sure we have the greenest barrel of oil in the world. We are third in the world for foreign direct investment. We are number one in the world for per capita foreign direct investment. The Conservatives do not want to tell Canadians about it. We will, and we will make sure there are good jobs from coast to coast to coast.

Seniors

[Claude DeBellefeuille, Bloc, Salaberry—Suroît, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals' decision to abandon seniors is heartless. The insinuations that seniors are too rich to deserve a pension increase are shameful.

There are seniors in Quebec whose pension is their only source of income. These people do not have any financial leeway to deal with rent increases. They do not have a rainy day fund to deal with the cost of replacing a vehicle, even with a used one. They are putting food back on the shelves at the supermarket.

Why would the Liberals rather risk an election than help seniors?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, every time we have put forward measures to help seniors, the Bloc Québécois voted against them. Even when it comes to dental care, which is very popular in the member's riding, I heard the Bloc leader describe this initiative as poison. That is very odd.

I would encourage the Bloc Québécois to think carefully about what it is doing, rather than paving the way forward for the Leader of the Opposition.

[Claude DeBellefeuille, Bloc, Salaberry—Suroît, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Quebec lieutenant is against increasing the pensions by 10% because among those 65 to 74 there are rich people like him who do not need it.

That is not true. Rich people like him are seeing their pensions reduced by clawback taxes. The government is already paying the 10% increase to people 75 and up. It is universal. If the Liberals think that it is good enough for people 75 and up, then it is good enough for those 74 and under.

Why are the Liberals treating one million Quebec seniors like second-class citizens?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Mr. Speaker, our colleague is looking for problems with the Liberals' approach.

What we have done since 2015 to help seniors is important. We have reduced seniors poverty by roughly 20% through measures that the Bloc and the Conservatives voted against.

Now, they are looking for friends. Let me warn them that having Conservatives as friends in the House of Commons is dangerous for Quebeckers. The Conservatives want to cut everything that exists, including the Canadian dental care plan that is helping 900,000 seniors, as we speak, have affordable and accessible dental care.

Housing

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

Mr. Speaker, thousands of renters are worried that their landlords might be using YieldStar software to collude in fixing and increasing the rents they charge.

In the U.S.A., the FBI launched an investigation into this software. Yieldstar is known to be used by large landlords in Canada. However, the Liberals and the Conservatives refuse to investigate the matter in order to protect the profits of these large landlords.

Are the Liberals going to stand up for renters and launch an investigation to discover whether landlords are colluding to jack up rents?

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

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

The practice he described is completely unacceptable. I am going to write to the Commissioner of Competition today to ask for an inquiry. With the new powers we gave to the Competition Bureau, we will get to the bottom of this issue.

People at home know that we, on this side of the House, will always side with tenants, will always side with consumers, and will always side with Canadians. This is an important issue and we are going to stand up for Canadians.

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, this is always the way with the Liberals: behind the scenes, non-transparent gentlemen's agreements. Let us get this out in the open.

Canadian renters are struggling with skyrocketing rents. Tenants are calling on the government to investigate the potential use of AI software by their corporate landlords to hike rents. The same AI software is under investigation by the FBI in the United States, yet the Liberals and the Conservatives have stood by greedy corporate landlords by refusing to investigate.

Will the Liberals support an investigation into the use of AI in rent-fixing and protect Canadians from illegal rent gouging?

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

Mr. Speaker, I wish my colleague had heard my answer. We are going to launch an investigation. That is exactly what I said.

It is completely unacceptable what we have seen. I am going to write to the competition commissioner today to launch an investigation. The NDP should celebrate what we have done, because thanks to our party, we now have powers within the act to investigate.

We will always be on the side of renters, we will always be on the side of consumers and we will always be on the side of Canadians.

The Economy

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we have more bad news from experts. New StatsCan data shows that per-person GDP is shrinking again. For the eighth time in the last nine quarters, Canadians are getting poorer.

This is a made-in-Canada per capita recession that has lasted two years, caused by a government that has driven out investment by hiking taxes on everything: income, financial institutions, housing, fuel and investment. The opposite is happening elsewhere. Yesterday, the U.S. commerce department said that the U.S. economy grew at 2.8% last quarter.

Will the government admit that this is a made-in-Canada per capita recession?

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and to the Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, it seems the Conservatives cannot see past their own doomsday narrative. Canada leads the G7 in reaching a soft landing in the global postpandemic surge in inflation and interest rates. It is the first G7 country to cut interest rates not once, not twice, not three times, but four times in a row. This is good news for homeowners who currently have mortgages that need renewal and for first-time homebuyers.

Inflation fell to 1.6% in September, marking nine consecutive months within the Bank of Canada's target range. I count that as good news for Canadians.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Mr. Speaker, here is another expert from the Bank of Canada: senior deputy governor Carolyn Rogers. On March 24, she issued a stark warning. She said that Canada is falling behind other countries because of weak business investment, a lack of competition and a failure to integrate immigrants into the workforce, all responsibilities of the government. She said, “I’m saying that it’s an emergency—it’s time to break the glass.”

I have a simple question. Does the government agree with the Bank of Canada that we are in an economic emergency of its making?

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and to the Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, the Bank of Canada governor has reported numerous times that our government has stuck to its fiscal guardrails and, through that discipline, has allowed for inflation to drop in this country.

The IMF, in its World Economic Outlook, projects Canada will have the highest growth in the G7 in 2025. Also, wages in Canada have outpaced inflation for 20 months in a row. For Canadians, that means more jobs, better wages and a higher living standard.

We should be positive. I will never apologize for being positive about the future of this country.

Taxation

[Jamil Jivani, Conservative, Durham, ON]

Mr. Speaker, new data from StatsCan confirms a made-in-Canada GDP recession. Over eight of the last nine quarters, per capita GDP was in decline. To put that in practical terms, the average American now earns $20,000 more than the average Canadian.

The root cause is the Prime Minister's tax hikes. When will he axe the tax hikes that are making Canadians poorer?

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

Mr. Speaker, I will tell the Conservatives something they will not acknowledge: The root cause of our success is Canadian workers. We have attracted record levels of investment in this country.

I do not know what those people are reading. They should talk to Volkswagen, talk to Honda, talk to Dow Chemical—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

I will call to order the hon. member for South Shore—St. Margarets.

I will invite the hon. minister to start again.

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I will always stand up in the House to talk about good news in Canada. Canadians should be cheering. This is the land of possibilities and opportunities.

We have attracted a record level of investment in this country. Just talk to the CEOs of Honda, Volkswagen, Dow Chemical and Northvolt. People are investing in this country because they believe in our workers. We have the best workers in the world. We have critical minerals. We have energy. We have access to markets. We have what we need to win in the 21st century.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

Before returning the floor to the hon. member for Durham, I am going to ask for the second time that the hon. member for South Shore—St. Margarets not take the floor unless recognized by the Chair.

The hon. member for Durham.

[Jamil Jivani, Conservative, Durham, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals across the aisle are having a party or some kind of celebration, it seems, but in the process, they are cutting the standard of living in Canada. They are slashing the quality of life for people in our country. It is their tax hikes, like their increases in the capital gains tax, housing taxes and the carbon tax, that are making life difficult for Canadians across the country.

When will they accept some responsibility for what has happened over the last nine years and axe the tax hikes that are making Canadians poorer?

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

Mr. Speaker, talking about celebrations, 10 years ago today, former Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro was found guilty of violating the Elections Act. He was the leader of the Conservatives' buddy at the time. Del Mastro went on to become the parliamentary secretary to the then prime minister, and another parliamentary secretary at that time, who is now the leader of the Conservative Party, was advanced to become the minister responsible for elections. He tried to deny thousands of Canadians from being able to vote.

Why should any Canadian have confidence in the leader of the Conservative Party ?