House of Commons Hansard #377 of the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was leader.
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's radical drug agenda is not the only thing that is broken. Our economy is broken as well.
We now have two million people being forced to go to food banks every single month, a 38% increase in chronic homelessness and 1,400 homeless encampments. Just today, Equifax reported that consumer debt is $2.5 trillion. We have the worst household debt of all the G7 countries.
When will he call a carbon tax election so we can fix everything he broke?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, the answer the Conservative leader is putting forward to the challenges of Canadians facing homelessness or the challenges of food banks is to cut the programs that are actually investing in direct supports for people. If it is money we are investing in municipalities and provinces to reduce encampments and to build more homes quicker, he wants to cut it. If it is the money we are moving directly to schools across the country so they can deliver more food and take pressure off of grocery bills, he has voted against it. His only agenda is cuts and austerity, while we help Canadians.
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
Mr. Speaker, we told the government so. Today, the Journal de Montréal reported a surge in the number of asylum seekers at the borders. The Lacolle border crossing received more than 80 between Saturday and Sunday, four times the recent average. In the words of a vice-president from the Customs and Immigration Union, they do not have enough employees to receive that many people.
This confirms two things. First, we were right to predict a rise in migration caused by Donald Trump. Second, we were right to predict that the federal government would not be ready, as usual.
When is this Prime Minister going to take action at the borders?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, once again, the Bloc Québécois is spouting nonsense.
We have renegotiated the safe third country agreement, under which people who arrive at a border crossing must make their asylum claim in the first safe country they reach, which is the United States. We did indeed settle this issue with the Americans by renegotiating the agreement, but the Bloc Québécois claims they do not know that. They are just trying to pick a fight. They are looking to scare people rather than provide the real facts.
We will always keep tight control of our borders.
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
Mr. Speaker, it is mind-boggling. Everyone warned them.
We knew that the Liberals were not good at managing the borders, so the Bloc Québécois warned them before the U.S. election that migration at the border would go up if Donald Trump won. Quebec warned them. Immigration lawyers warned them. Community organizations warned them. We warned them. Despite all those warnings, the union tells us that there are not enough employees at the borders now that the number of asylum claims is starting to climb.
Once again, this Prime Minister has no plan. Seriously, is he doing it on purpose?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague was so proud of his little written question that he did not even hear my answer to his first question.
We renegotiated the safe third country agreement with the United States to ensure that people arriving at our border crossings would have to return to the United States to claim asylum, instead of entering Canada. We have a solution to this issue. Our government implemented it, but the Bloc Québécois is refusing to acknowledge the facts. All it wants is to do is frighten Quebeckers.
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, we are facing Donald Trump's threats with a weak Prime Minister and from a weak economic position.
Now we find out that the Prime Minister does not even know how big the deficit is. Spending is out of control and getting worse by the day, as the Prime Minister tries to buy support from the Bloc Québécois and the New Democrats to stay in power.
I will ask the question again very slowly. How much is the Government of Canada's deficit?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, we will be presenting our fall economic statement very soon, and the Leader of the Opposition will have an opportunity to provide his feedback. However, I already know very well that he will vote against it, just as he has voted against all the measures we have put in place to help Canadians, such as our upcoming tax break for Canadians in the coming months. He does not think Canadians need it.
We have the best fiscal situation of any of our G7 partners, and he refuses to help Canadians. Why is that? It is because he would rather have people struggling so that maybe they will vote for him. The reality is that we are going to help Canadians.
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, he is showing once again that he is a weak Prime Minister who has lost control. He lost control of the borders, he lost control of immigration, and he lost control of government spending.
He says he cannot say how big the deficit is, even though he already tabled a budget for this year. That is odd. It is the first time I have heard that from a Prime Minister.
I will ask him an easier question: What was the Government of Canada's deficit last year?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, while he continues to obstruct and vote against initiatives that will help Canadians, the leader of the Conservative Party is focused on finding ways to attack me, whereas we are focused on creating help for Canadians.
We are offering a tax break for the next couple of months, but the Conservatives are going to vote against it. We are providing help for workers, but the Conservatives are going to vote against it, just like they voted against the dental care program, the school food program and more child care spaces.
The Conservatives do not want Canadians' lives to get better because their leader wants to convince them that everything is broken.
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, we have a weak Prime Minister who has lost control of everything. He has lost control of the borders, lost control of immigration and lost control of spending. Recently, it came to light that the deficit is much bigger than his finance minister reported in the recent budget.
The Prime Minister claims that he cannot tell us what the deficit is for this year, so we will make it easier for him. What was the deficit last year?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, we see the lengths to which the Conservative leader will go to not talk about the fact that we are proposing a tax break for Canadians over the coming months, and that is because he is going to vote against that. He is going to vote against direct help for families at the grocery store and with children's clothes, supports for Canadians for everyday expenses. Why is that? He would rather continue to see Canadians suffer because maybe that would help him get elected rather than actually solve the challenges Canadians are facing.
We are stepping up to deliver on dental care, on a school food program, on initiatives that directly help workers, and that is what we will continue to do.
Viviane LaPointe Liberal Sudbury, ON
Mr. Speaker, affordability is an important issue for my riding, as it is everywhere else. Workers in Sudbury were happy to hear that they will be receiving a cheque for $250 to support them.
Can the Prime Minister tell Canadians what other measures have been announced to support them in the run-up to the holidays?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Sudbury for her question and her hard work.
We know that the last few years have been challenging. That is why we are giving all Canadians a tax break. This means that for two months, Canadians will pay no tax on groceries and other everyday essentials. We are giving Canadians more money in their pockets to help them afford the things they need and save for the things they want.
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, just to show how weak the Prime Minister is, he actually had to read a script just to talk about his tiny two-month tax break. My question a moment ago, though, was about the deficit. He admits that deficits contribute to inflation. We now have a report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer, who the Prime Minister appointed, showing that the deficit is far bigger than he advertised in his last budget.
Once again, what was Canada's federal deficit last year?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, I will take no lessons from someone who stays up late every night rehearsing his little performances in the mirror.
The fact is that we are continuing to step up for Canadians because we have the lowest deficit in the G7. We have the best debt-to-GDP ratio and are projected to have the strongest growth in the G7, ahead of the United States next year. These are things that we have done because we have been investing, not just in Canadians and supports for them, but also in drawing in global investment, which was the third-largest foreign direct investment in the world last year. People are investing in Canada because they believe in Canadians.
Why does the Leader of the Opposition not believe in Canadians?
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister said that he will leave the economy to bankers. Well, the bankers sure are rolling in cash. They are collecting interest on the national debt, which he has already doubled, while Canadians line up at food banks. The question, though, was about the size of the deficit. Somebody cannot run a half-trillion dollar G7 government if they do not know anything about the finances of that government.
Can the Prime Minister tell us if he actually knows the size of the deficit?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Speaker, what we are focused on is delivering for Canadians, being there to recognize that Canadians need support now as we build a stronger future for them. That is why we are drawing in global investment to a higher rate than just about any other country, per capita, in the G20. We are delivering things that make a real difference in Canadians' lives, such as dental care, a school food program, more spaces in child care at $10 a day, a tax break for the next two months and direct support for workers.
Those are all things that the Conservatives are voting against because they care more about themselves than they do about Canadians.
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister does not know. I was tempted to accuse him of hiding it, but as Napoleon Bonaparte said, we should never attribute to malice what can be explained by incompetence.
Who is actually running the government?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, while the Leader of the Opposition continues to focus on me, I am going to stay focused on delivering for Canadians, on delivering a tax break over the next few months that would help Canadians with the cost of everything, and on delivering supports for workers, seniors and youth.
These are all things that the Conservative Party votes against, not because Conservative MPs do not care about these things, but because they have been throttled and muzzled by their leader, so they cannot be their community's voice in Ottawa. They are there to be their leader's voice in their communities. Shame on them.
Francesco Sorbara Liberal Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON
Mr. Speaker, people in my riding are counting us to deliver essential supports, like the Canadian dental care plan—
The Speaker Liberal Greg Fergus
Excuse me, colleagues. I am going to ask all members to please not take the floor unless they are recognized by the Speaker. I had great difficulty hearing the answer to this question. I am going to ask the hon. member for Brantford—Brant to please not take the floor while the Speaker is speaking.
The hon. member from Vaughan—Woodbridge, from the top, please.
Francesco Sorbara Liberal Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON
Mr. Speaker, people in my riding of Vaughan—Woodbridge are counting on us to deliver essential supports, like the Canadian dental care plan, but the Conservative Party's stubborn blocking of the House for their social media clips is putting this program at serious risk. This is not about politics, this is about Canadians and access to health care.
Can the Prime Minister remind us all what is at risk if the House continues with politics over Canadians?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Vaughan—Woodbridge for his hard work on the file. Canadians are not surprised to see the Conservative leader blocking key programs that support them, but I think we are all kind of surprised to see the NDP standing by. The NDP is actually helping Conservatives block dental care, health care for refugees and clean drinking water for indigenous communities. The NDP owes it to Canadians to stop playing the Conservative Party's games, do the right thing and end this obstruction of Parliament so we can all deliver for Canadians.