Madam Speaker, the member for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo is saved by the Conservative member who yelled “No” to having that impressive letter released.
I was talking about how the Conservative policy they just announced would actually be to the detriment of Canadians. It is a dud of a policy. The Conservatives would cancel the accelerator fund, among many other things. That is true. It is just one program they would cancel.
In doing that, the Conservatives would make it more difficult for Canadians to find an affordable home. They would make it more difficult for municipalities and many other stakeholders to increase the housing stock. How many people who are living in homeless shelters, are homeless or are making $30,000 or $40,000 a year would be helped by the policy the Conservatives just announced?
At the end of the day, we have mayors, other local officials and Conservative members of Parliament who all recognize the true value of the accelerator fund. Earlier this year, we had the Prime Minister of Canada, the Premier of Manitoba, the mayor of Winnipeg and, I believe, David Chartrand, president of the Manitoba Métis Federation, talking about how working together, through programs like the accelerator fund, would improve the housing situation for Canadians.
The Conservatives' idea is to get rid of it. I have a sense of who is generating their ideas. We see it in the flip-flop on the price on pollution. It goes back to that far-right element within the Conservative Party today. It is that same grouping, that MAGA right, who is ultimately saying, “We want to cut.” It does not matter which program. We can articulate the true value of the housing accelerator program, but the Conservatives do not care. They would just cut it.
We can think about the dental program. One million-plus Canadians have now benefited from the first-ever nationwide Canadian dental program. The Conservative Party says, “Who cares? We are going to cut that program too.”
The Conservatives talk a great deal about the economy. As a government, we are focused on Canada's middle class and those aspiring to be a part of it. We want an economy that works for all Canadians. Nothing has changed on that since 2015, when we brought in tax breaks for the middle class, brought in dramatic increases for individuals receiving the guaranteed income supplement and reformed the Canada child benefit program so millionaires would not be receiving the benefits; we enhanced the overall benefit for the average Canadian.
The Liberal government has created over two million jobs, which is double the number Stephen Harper did in the same amount of time. No government in the last 50 years has invested more real dollars in infrastructure than the Liberal government. The Conservative Party has made it very clear it would cut the Canada Infrastructure Bank. Members can take a look, do a Google search, and see the billions of dollars of additional funding that has complemented the millions that the Government of Canada has invested.
We are building a stronger, healthier infrastructure, something we never saw under Stephen Harper. This is a government that understands the importance of infrastructure, whether it is coming up with supportive programs for housing or building the streets and communities where we live. All of that is being supported by the type of question I posed earlier today on the issue of international trade. Contrary to the misleading information the Conservatives talk about, no government has signed off on more trade agreements than the current government in the history of Canada. Canada is a trading nation, which is something that elevates all of us and something the government continues to invest in. We see the true value in reaching out, working with Canadians and dealing with the provinces in the best way we can on how to build a healthier economy and support Canadians from coast to coast to coast. Those are the types of policy decisions, whether on budgetary or legislative measures, that the government has been taking since day one.
I talk about this silly multi-million dollar game the Conservative leader is playing because we could still be doing a lot more if the Conservatives would stop thinking about their personal interests and the interests of their party and refocusing on what is right for Canadians. There is substantial legislation not being debated because of the multi-million dollar filibuster game they are playing. The sooner they get over it, the sooner we will be able to get down to business here in the House and do a whole lot more for Canadians.
I appeal to my Conservative friends on the other side of the aisle to start looking and behaving in that way. A good starting point would be the leader of the Conservative Party getting the security clearance and stopping the filibuster.