House of Commons Hansard #375 of the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was documents.
Joanne Thompson Liberal St. John's East, NL
Mr. Speaker, last week, our government announced new measures to put more money back in the pockets of Canadians, to help them afford the things they need and save for the things they want. Unfortunately, some on the other side of the aisle have the wrong impression about the measures, like the member of Parliament for Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, who described it as “sending people pennies”.
Could the minister please educate the member opposite on what the measures actually mean?
Chrystia Freeland LiberalDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, I would really like to thank my colleague for her hard work for her constituents and the people of Canada. We believe that when Canadians need a helping hand, the government should be there. That is why, last week, we announced that we are giving Canadians across the country a tax break. That means that essentials like groceries, snacks, kids' clothing and diapers will be tax-free, and that working Canadians will get some cash back with the working Canadians rebate. This will help Canadians across the country, including Canadians in St. John's East and across the great province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Jasraj Singh Hallan Conservative Calgary Forest Lawn, AB
Mr. Speaker, while the unserious Prime Minister shakes it off in a vibe session, Montreal burned and the Canadian economy is crippled. This is the guy who does not think about monetary policy. He thinks that budgets balance themselves and that the economy has nothing to do with numbers. He now says that he will let bankers worry about the economy. That is why Canadians are in a GDP-per-person decline over the last two years. That is okay, as long as his banker buddies, the elitists, the rich guys like carbon tax Carney, get paid.
Call a carbon tax election now so that common-sense Conservatives can fix the budget.
Chrystia Freeland LiberalDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, I would urge the member opposite to take a look at the GDP revisions from StatsCan. Those were revisions upward that showed the real strength of the Canadian economy in our recovery from the COVID recession. I would also like to urge him and everyone in this House to stop talking Canada down. Inflation has been within the Bank of Canada's target range for 10 months. Interest rates have come down four times in a row and we have the lowest debt and deficit in the G7. Now is the time to help Canadians a little bit, and the Conservatives can do that by voting—
Jasraj Singh Hallan Conservative Calgary Forest Lawn, AB
Mr. Speaker, that answer clearly shows the minister's economic illiteracy. GDP per person has gone down. That means that Canadians are getting poorer, and nobody loves the Liberal-NDP Prime Minister more than the U.S. He drove our jobs, our investment and our business to the U.S., and now Canada is poorer than Alabama. That is why more than two million Canadians are in a food bank in a single month, and why one in four Canadians are skipping meals.
Instead of letting bankers worry about the economy, call a carbon tax election now, so common-sense Conservatives can fix the budget and this country.
Chrystia Freeland LiberalDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, as I said, I really urge the member opposite and all Conservatives to consult those GDP revisions, including their impact on GDP per capita. They will see that we have had a strong economic recovery, with inflation down and interest rates down. That is why now is the time to give Canadians a little bit of extra help with a GST break over the holidays and a rebate for working Canadians. That is what the Conservatives should support us in offering to Canadians. It is really astonishing to me that they refuse to do that.
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
Mr. Speaker, “Iet the bankers worry about the economy”, “you'll forgive me if I don't think about monetary policy”, “the budget will balance itself”: these are the actual words of the Prime Minister of Canada. Given his complete disinterest in managing the economy, no one should be surprised that GDP per person has declined in eight of the last nine quarters.
It is time for a common-sense Conservative prime minister who will fix the budget, fight inflation and restore the promise of Canada.
When will the Prime Minister finally give Canadians a say and call a carbon tax election?
Sean Fraser LiberalMinister of Housing
Mr. Speaker, a working-class Canadian voting for the Conservatives would be like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders. Members should think about that.
We want to build an economy that works for everybody. When we raised taxes on the wealthiest 1% to cut them for nine million Canadians in the middle class, the Conservatives opposed those measures. When we stopped sending child care cheques to millionaires to put more money in the pockets of nine out of 10 Canadian families, they voted against it. Now, we are proposing to cut taxes on household items, which is going to help families and workers in this country. However, yet again, they oppose it.
I urge my colleague to drop the talking points and get over the stickers in caucus, with whatever the member is about to read, and get on with supporting households.
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
Mr. Speaker, I urge the member to get on with Canadians' business and call a carbon tax election.
After nine years, according to The Economist, Canada is now poorer than Alabama, the fourth-poorest state in the U.S. While the Liberal government drives our economy further and further into the ditch, with excessive taxation and regulation, the Canadian economy falls further behind while the American economy roars ahead.
When will the government get out of the way and allow us to restore the promise of Canada by calling a carbon tax election?
Sean Fraser LiberalMinister of Housing
Mr. Speaker, it is as though we are playing bingo, with the number of slogans that are being read off, and people cannot take their eyes off the sheet.
This is from a recent article on Conservatives talking about their own leader: “If you repeat the slogans, you get rewarded.... You are celebrated in front of the entire caucus for being a good cheerleader”.
The difference between us and them is that I do not have to hold—
The Speaker Liberal Greg Fergus
Order. Please, let there be no interruptions.
The hon. minister can start from the top.
Sean Fraser Liberal Central Nova, NS
Mr. Speaker, the difference between the Liberals and Conservatives in question period is that I do not need to have my notes in front of me to actually speak in the House.
The Conservatives are being rewarded in caucus when they repeat their slogans in the House but not when they defend their communities at home. The hon. member will not even admit that his community would be better off receiving money for housing. He stands up and votes against measures once, twice and three times to deny tax breaks to families in his community.
We are going to be here to support working families. I wish that the Conservatives would join us for once.
Julie Vignola Bloc Beauport—Limoilou, QC
Mr. Speaker, on Saturday, Le Journal de Montréal asked how Ottawa could hire 43% more employees and still be so bad at serving the public. Despite the government hiring 110,000 public servants, a housing crisis has broken out, immigration is a mess and things are even worse at the Canada Revenue Agency. The answer is that the Liberals spend all their time developing new programs to interfere in health care, housing and more.
Do they realize that they have interfered so much in Quebec's affairs that they have lost control of their own?
Terry Beech LiberalMinister of Citizens’ Services
Mr. Speaker, I greatly appreciate the opportunity to talk about the vast improvements in government services that have taken place over the last year. We could start with passports. Service improvements have gone across the country. Despite the fact that we were delivering 3.4 million passports two years ago, this year, we are delivering up to 5.7 million passports. We can now get 10-day passports in the territories. There is a new processing centre in B.C., and we will soon be able to get passports online so that we never have to wait in line again.
Julie Vignola Bloc Beauport—Limoilou, QC
Mr. Speaker, Le Journal de Montréal did not even reveal the full extent of the federal government's bureaucratic fiasco. While the public service ballooned by 43%, the use of subcontractors also surged. Not only did the government lose control internally, resulting in service disruptions for Canadians, but it also lost control externally, leading to scandals like ArriveCAN. Not once has a single minister been held responsible.
How can a fiasco of this magnitude happen without anyone being held accountable?
Jean-Yves Duclos LiberalMinister of Public Services and Procurement
Mr. Speaker, the real scandal would of course be if an opposition party like the Conservative Party or the Bloc Québécois had opposed the Canadian dental care plan, because over 13,000 seniors in my colleague's riding have received a Canadian dental care plan card over the past few months, and thousands of them have been able to see a hygienist, denturist and dentist, often for the first time in years.
Sorry, I am mistaken. The Conservatives and the Bloc, unfortunately including my colleague from Beauport—Limoilou, did vote against it.
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Mr. Speaker, there was a headline this weekend that said that nothing is working anymore in Ottawa and that the federal government is too big, too fat and too inefficient. We have been saying the same thing for nine years. Unfortunately, this Liberal government has been kept in power by the Bloc Québécois, which supports it and which voted in favour of its excessive spending. It is sad to see Canadians tightening their belts while the “Liberal Bloc” wastes taxpayers' money.
When will the government call an election so that Quebeckers can elect a responsible Conservative government?
Jean-Yves Duclos LiberalMinister of Public Services and Procurement
Mr. Speaker, let us talk about what is sad and what is responsible. It is indeed very sad that our Conservative colleagues from Quebec have been muzzled by their leader. They are not allowed to come visit the hundreds of affordable housing units that we are building in their ridings. They are being hidden by their Conservative leader. That is irresponsible. These MPs are unable to defend their communities because their Conservative leader will not allow them to stand up for the construction of affordable housing in their own ridings.
Joël Godin Conservative Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC
Mr. Speaker, the minister has once again shown his incompetence.
This government, along with its Bloc Québécois friends, is abusing its power. It is clinging to power despite being a minority government. Its two accomplices voted in favour of a $500‑billion budget that will waste taxpayers' money. More civil servants and fewer services: that is the “Bloc Liberal” coalition. Quebeckers have had enough.
When will there be an election so the people can choose a real Conservative government that will cut red tape and cut taxes? I hope my colleague understands the question.
Jean-Yves Duclos LiberalMinister of Public Services and Procurement
Mr. Speaker, let us talk about incompetence. The Conservative leader built not one, two, three, four or five, but six affordable housing units across the whole country during his entire mandate. That is the definition of incompetence. Today, there are hundreds of affordable housing units being built, including some in our colleague's riding. The bad news is that not only does the Conservative leader say these units do not exist, he also wants to stop them from being built.
Dominique Vien Conservative Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC
Mr. Speaker, the newspaper headlines over the weekend talked about the moral turpitude of a government in decline and said this government is buying itself time on the taxpayer's dime.
The “Liberal Bloc” coalition, which voted twice to keep this government in power, still does not understand that we have to stop feeding the federal bureaucratic beast. The Bloc Québécois also voted for $500 billion in budgetary appropriations.
Here is a simple question that requires a simple answer: When will an election be held so that Quebeckers can finally choose a common-sense Conservative government?
Jean-Yves Duclos LiberalMinister of Public Services and Procurement
Mr. Speaker, is my colleague familiar with Guillaume-Couture Boulevard in her riding? Through a housing project on Guillaume-Couture Boulevard, 100 affordable housing units are now being built for seniors. My colleague talks about incompetence. The incompetent one is her Conservative leader, who claims that these affordable housing units, the Unitaînés project's 100 affordable housing units for seniors, do not exist. That is what he is saying.
Mayor Lehouillier, Minister Drainville and the Lévis municipal housing office have visited these affordable housing units. When will she ask her Conservative leader to visit them as well?
Francesco Sorbara Liberal Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON
Mr. Speaker, small businesses are the backbone of our communities. They are bouncing back from tough times and gearing up to make this holiday season a success. Restaurants and small businesses in Vaughan and across Canada are counting on a busy Christmas season to kick-start a strong new year.
Can the Minister of Small Business tell Canadians how our government is helping small businesses and Canadians through the holiday season?