Debates of Nov. 28th, 2024

Motion That Debate Be Not Further Adjourned

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Madam Speaker, I want to tape this back together, but I will do that later.

What a shame and a sham. Instead of fixing the structural problems that exist in our economy, the government, through its NDP partner in this costly coalition, are throwing crumbs around.

The problem, as we have heard from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, is this is going to create challenges for businesses at their busiest time of the year. How can the Liberals justify this at this point when businesses and economists are panning this plan. The Liberals are not structurally fixing things, which they could do by eliminating the carbon tax and other tax measures. They are just providing crumbs right now. Worse yet, they are undermining democracy, undermining Parliament, with a spending measure that has very little scrutiny.

The government and its NDP partner are circling the bowl right now. They are desperate to find anything of relevance in their existence. They are going to fail, and then we will have a common-sense Conservative government that is going to do the things that need to be done to fix this country and return normalcy and decency to it.

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Madam Speaker, I am stunned to hear my colleague's remarks. Seriously, how can he claim that we do not respect democracy when his party, the Conservatives, with the support of the other parties, I might add, have paralyzed Parliament for weeks? That is truly an insult to democracy. They are making a conscious effort to harm democracy and to flout our institutions.

We are introducing a great many foundational measures. Just think of all the measures we are putting in place right now for housing, including eliminating the GST on the construction of buildings containing four or more residential units. Just think of all the assistance we are giving to organizations that provide children with school meals, or all our initiatives under the green industrial strategy to encourage our businesses to invest in research and innovation. We are proposing lots of foundational measures to support our economy.

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Madam Speaker, Canadians need a break right now. Giving them a break over the holidays is supportable, but the NDP, just a few weeks ago, proposed taking the GST off essentials permanently.

This is a small break for Canadians, and while NDP members want any break they can get, why not take the GST off essentials permanently?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Madam Speaker, I understand my colleague's question. It is indeed important and we are already offering a GST and HST holiday for the next two months, which is a particularly difficult time for Canadians.

Finding the right balance among all these measures is important. Sometimes we need to support the most vulnerable among us, while at other times we need to help workers, or persons with disabilities, or senior citizens. We need to find the right balance.

We know that Canadians will be facing a difficult period, and we believe it is appropriate to eliminate the GST for two months on certain products we all use during the holidays.

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Madam Speaker, a fake Christmas gift is exactly what this GST holiday is. Christmas trees will be GST- and HST-free in Newfoundland and Labrador, but as for the decorations that go on them, hopefully people have some from last year because decorations will still have HST and GST in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Menorahs are not included, so is there some anti-Semitism going on? We know the government is anti-seniors and anti-disabled because those needy groups will not be allowed to receive the $250 cheques that people making $150,000 are going to receive. Also, the federal pension plan was just robbed of $2 million, and where did that go? Was it to this fake Christmas gift?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Madam Speaker, my colleague is really hard to follow. I am not sure if he wants us to give more or less. It is not clear. One thing is for sure, we are not fake. When we announce measures, they are real measures. Unlike the Conservatives, we do not have the nerve to say that the dental care program does not exist.

What planet do they live on that they do not see that there are already hundreds of thousands, even millions of Canadians who are benefiting from the dental care program?

[An hon. member]

Oh, oh!

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

I will ask the hon. member for Portneuf—Jacques‑Cartier to leave the chamber if he wants to talk.

The hon. minister.

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

I can assure members that when we announce a measure, we move forward and it is absolutely real. That is the case with the Canada disability benefit that is going to be very real in a few months.

[Lindsay Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Madam Speaker, the CFIB was commented on by a Conservative colleague. The CFIB is calling on the Department of Finance to give affected small business owners a credit of a minimum of $1,000 in their GST/HST accounts to cover the program's administrative and programming costs for the holiday season. Certainly, the NDP is in favour of that. Is the government willing to do that to ensure that this is not hurting those small business owners?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Madam Speaker, Restaurants Canada also says that this measure will be beneficial. It will give businesses the benefit of being able to promote this tax holiday. I was a business owner a while ago and I know what it is like to run a business. We know that when businesses see a benefit for their clients, it is a benefit for them too. Business owners have computer systems that are getting better all the time. I have confidence that they will be able to apply this tax holiday in the coming months.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Madam Speaker, because the NDP-Liberals are trying to fool Canadians with this tax trick, small business owners are forced to reprogram their point-of-sales machines and to find the time and money to pay for these changes. They are very much scrambling to do so. It is a shame that the minister did not care to think about the impact this change would have on the small business owners the government purports to help.

We all know an election is coming. Can we just stop with the desperation and call a carbon tax election now?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Madam Speaker, once again, I think that SMEs and large companies across Canada are doing well. Companies are well equipped and the technology is there. Companies are perfectly capable of implementing this tax change. What is good for consumers is good for business owners, too. I am confident that it will be perfectly feasible and reasonable.

[Leah Taylor Roy, Liberal, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Madam Speaker, I notice that the opposition members are calling this a gimmick, a fraud and a trick. They cannot call it what it is, which is a tax cut. If the Conservatives called it a tax cut, they would have to vote for it because they have been asking for a tax cut. We are giving them this. The only gimmicky thing here is what the Conservatives have been doing for the last while in the House by blocking any progress.

In response to calling this a fraud, I would note that Restaurants Canada has said it is a big win for the restaurant industry: “[It] restores some much-needed hope to our industry and we are optimistic it will translate to increased spending at local restaurants across the country.”

Could the minister please comment on why the timing of this tax break is so important for restaurants?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Madam Speaker, the comment my colleague just quoted shows just how beneficial this measure will be for businesses. Businesses often see an increase in traffic in December, but January and February are tougher. By being able to offer a discount of between 5% and 13%, depending on the taxes levied in the various provinces, this will enable these businesses, particularly restaurants, to be more appealing to customers.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Madam Speaker, I have a simple question for the minister. Why is there a small GST break on Christmas trees, but not on menorahs?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Madam Speaker, there is a whole list of products that are especially popular during the holiday season. These include children's clothing and gifts for children. The intention was to ensure that as many people as possible could benefit from this tax rebate.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Madam Speaker, I would like to ask the minister for a little bit of clarity. I have been speaking to business owners in Edmonton Strathcona. I just spoke to a restaurant owner this morning.

The minister has said, over and over again, that there are computers and that it is easy to do. This business owner was telling me that it will be very difficult for her to do that. The problem is that it is at a moment in time when business owners are already very busy, because the Christmas rush has already started for many of these businesses.

She would have liked to have seen this come sooner, that this would not have been so last minute. I am wondering if the minister could comment on the fact that it took weeks after the NDP had called for this action to be taken for the government to finally take the steps and that it has not provided the information that businesses need to be able to do the job, to be able to get through the holiday season, the very busiest season of the year for them.

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Madam Speaker, it is true that the run-up to the holidays is a very busy time for our businesses, restaurants and merchants.

I can assure the House that we are working with the entire Canada Revenue Agency team, naturally. Just today in fact a link appeared on the agency's website to learn all about this tax holiday, which will be in effect for the next two months, from December 14 to February 15. There is already a lot of information available on the agency's website.

Of course, we remain in contact with the various business associations so we can answer their questions as quickly as possible. We will be updating this web page so that it provides all the information our businesses need.

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Red Deer—Lacombe, AB]

Madam Speaker, I am rising to ask a question on behalf of a business owner in my constituency who has three dollar stores. He has about 3,000 items per store that he will have to change. Given 30 seconds per item to go through, that is 90,000 seconds. That is 1,500 minutes. That is 25 hours. Between 9 p.m. that night and 9 a.m. the next morning, he has to pay somebody 25 hours, likely overtime, so we are going to call that $30 an hour times 750 hours, which is $1,500 per store because he has got to pay them to take the GST off and put the GST back on, times three stores, which is $4,500.

What is the government going to do to put $4,500 back into this business owner's pocket that he has to pay for its bad idea?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to learn that some of the employees working in these stores are earning $30 an hour.

I think that our merchants will be able to make the necessary change, thanks to all the systems they have at their disposal. It is important to give our fellow citizens, our fellow Canadians, this tax holiday during the holiday period. Merchants know that what is good for consumers is good for them as well. It attracts traffic and is good for our businesses. That makes this a worthwhile investment.

[Karen Vecchio, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Madam Speaker, I have listened to this conversation a lot. Truly, it is a gimmick. When we are looking at this, we see money that will not be going out like they had promised. We are looking at people going to buy their Christmas gifts as of December 14. Ask any family member who is trying to get organized; that is already done. We know that the costs are being reduced for only two months and, as of February 15, it will not exist, so the impact on these businesses, long term, will also be difficult.

I want to go back to the businesses. Have they done a cost evaluation of how much it is going to cost small businesses with fewer than 10 employees? How much is it going to cost for this GST holiday?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Madam Speaker, we are talking about a two-month GST tax holiday that will benefit all Canadians. It covers the goods we consume most during the holidays. It will carry over past the holidays, since the return from the holidays is always a difficult period as well. Our credit card balances are always a bit inflated by that point. The purpose of this measure, then, is to give Canadians time to catch their breath during a period where they want to make their loved ones happy, a period during which Canadian parents or grandparents are really feeling the squeeze.

This tax holiday is really meant to give Canadians a breather during this period.

[Lisa Marie Barron, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Madam Speaker, my NDP colleagues and I understand full well that people are struggling to make ends meet right now. Anything we can do to help them make ends meet and add a bit to their pockets is a positive thing.

Something that has come up over over and again today is the impact on businesses regarding the items being chosen to have the GST removed from, and I agree there are some problems with that. I wonder if the member could share why she and the Liberal Party did not follow through with what the NDP was asking for, which was to have the GST removed from all essentials permanently, including home heating, cellphones, Internet and groceries. None of these problems that are being expressed by the Conservatives right now would even be at issue if they had just followed through with removing GST from all essential products for Canadians. Why did the Liberals not do that?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Madam Speaker, it is always difficult to strike a balance. Some want more, and others want less. However, I believe that this ad hoc measure at a critical time of the year will help us achieve the desired balance.

Earlier, my colleague said that officials from Restaurants Canada, which represents a large number of restaurants across the country, confirmed that it was good news and that they were prepared to adapt. What is good for consumers is good for business owners.