Debates of Dec. 13th, 2024

Finance

[Marci Ien, Liberal, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth]

Mr. Speaker, we hear the word “feminist” being thrown around this place in the most disrespectful way, and it is rich that the Conservative Party claims to care about women. Maybe its members should stand up to their own leader, who contributes to the misogyny that increases hate towards women by embedding misogynistic hashtags into his YouTube videos. We will not take any lessons from the party across the aisle.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the finance minister actually admits that deficits cause inflation. She promised a cap of an already wacko $40 billion, but the Prime Minister bullied to crash her through that so-called guardrail with billions more. He sets her up to take the fall, and Canadians will pay the price. Now, like he did with a long line of women, the Prime Minister kicks her to the curb, for his conflict of interest, carbon tax crony Carney.

Is the Prime Minister really going to bully his female finance minister to read carbon tax Carney's fiscal update and then blame her for breaking the $40-billion deficit promise?

[Jennifer O'Connell, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, this is a minister who stood up to Putin, who renegotiated trade deals with the U.S. and who worked to help Canadians get through a global health pandemic. She does not get bullied, but it seems that perhaps the Conservative caucus is projecting the fact that if they do not read the Conservative leader's lines, if they do not rhyme enough, they do not get question time. While we are working and are focused on providing tax relief to Canadians, Conservatives are making sure they rack up those gold stars.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, we all know the Prime Minister says that women experience him differently, but it is his pattern to elbow them to the side. It is sad to see a woman spinning for him. He is incompetent and unaccountable; he bullies subordinate women, blames and shames them, then replaces them with his buddies. He has aggressively recruited carbon tax Carney, yet calls himself a proud feminist. Canadians cannot afford this.

Will this completely weak fake stop all the hypocrisy and admit that his inflationary spending forces the finance minister to break her $40-billion deficit promise?

[Marci Ien, Liberal, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth]

Mr. Speaker, if the Conservatives want to talk about feminism, here are some policies that our government has to support women across this country. There are such policies as $10-a-day child care, which has thousands of women who have gone back to the workforce because they can now do so, and the national action plan to end gender-based violence, which is helping women get true freedom from those who would hurt them and harm them, true freedom and autonomy over our bodies. The Conservatives have opposed every single measure we have put forward to help women in this country, and they continue to do so.

Passports

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Mr. Speaker, regarding the Canada Post strike, I want to express my solidarity with the workers and my hope that an agreement will be reached quickly.

This strike has proven once again the need for a 10-day passport pickup service in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, northern Quebec and the north shore. When time is short, our residents have only one option in all of Quebec: to drive six hours or more in the dead of winter to Gatineau or Montreal. All of the equipment required to provide this service, however, was delivered to the Service Canada centre in Rouyn-Noranda back in September 2023.

Christmas is coming. We are ready to supply him with the ribbon and bow. Can the minister act in good faith and open expedited service in Rouyn-Noranda?

[Stéphane Lauzon, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizens' Services]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his interest in improving Service Canada.

Service Canada is currently working with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to assess every opportunity for expanding the services that are currently available. Locations are selected based on a number of criteria, including access, the demand for passports and demographics.

We are always looking for ways to improve service, and that is exactly what we are doing. As early as next Tuesday, we will be meeting with the minister to discuss this issue.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister had the nerve to tell me that, officially, 96% of Canadians have access to passport services within 10 business days and a half-hour drive from home. However, people in my region have to drive six hours or more. It is a two- or three-day trip, on top of all the fees they have to pay to get expedited service. In the middle of winter, dozens of people have to set out on the road to drive very long distances. It is unbelievable.

We have had confirmation that all the necessary equipment was delivered 15 months ago. Staff are in place, just waiting to be trained.

When will the Liberals stop jerking the people of Abitibi—Témiscamingue around?

[Stéphane Lauzon, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Citizens' Services]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to reiterate the numbers my colleague just mentioned. Nearly 98% of Canadians have access. In addition, according to the figures from his riding, 92% of passports can be delivered in his riding within 20 business days.

Now, I would still urge everyone to plan ahead. Travel plans must be made beforehand, and passports should be applied for 20 days in advance in order to ensure that all requests can be fulfilled.

We continue to work with the member, with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and with Service Canada to improve services.

Finance

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, things are getting real bad behind closed doors for the languishing Liberal government. The Prime Minister is once again looking for someone to take the fall for his fiscal fiasco. This time, the Minister of Finance has been targeted for removal so that carbon tax Carney can come out from behind the shadows and replace her. Their $40-billion so-called deficit guardrail looks as though it is about to be smashed through, sending our economy off the cliff.

Will the Prime Minister keep his promise and confirm that the deficit will not be over $40 billion?

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, we see more personal attacks today. Under the Minister of Health and under the Minister of Finance, we have seen a national dental care program put in place. Three million-plus Canadians have signed on, and over a million have received care. Many are seniors. In fact, seniors were the first to be offered care.

Are the Conservatives saying that, as part of this big, bold idea, more of a slogan, in fact, to fix the budget, they would get rid of dental care? That is exactly what they would do. When it comes down to it, as I have said throughout today, they do not care. They care about slogans, but they do not care about Canadians.

[Martin Shields, Conservative, Bow River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister lost control of his caucus, just as he lost control of our economy, and the Liberal benches are clearing of people left to blame. It is not stopping the Liberal government from smashing through their own stated deficit guardrail, their fiscal anchor. Whatever they want to call it, the guardrail is about to be smashed. Canada's economy is careering off the cliff and sinking fast.

Will the Prime Minister please just stop drowning us in debt and confirm that next week's deficit will not shoot over $40 billion and capsize Canada?

[Maninder Sidhu, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Export Promotion]

Mr. Speaker, children's clothes, diapers, car seats, board games, prepared food, snacks, video games and children's toys will all cost 13% less tomorrow in Ontario. This is thanks to the tax break on GST that our Liberal government brought forward. While the Conservatives sat down and voted against tax savings for Canadian families, we understand that this time of year is hard on families. We want to continue to be there to support them. If people are planning to take their family out for dinner, it will be 13% less in Ontario. That is what we will continue to do. We will continue supporting families in Ontario.

Starting tomorrow, there will be a tax break on GST for all families across Canada.

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has lost control of spending and even his own cabinet. He is pushing his finance minister to smash through her $40 billion deficit guardrail; all the while, reports indicate he is planning to fire her and replace her with carbon tax Carney.

Forty billion dollars would already be a massively irresponsible deficit, but the PBO says it could even go as high as $46 billion. Will the Prime Minister confirm today that the deficit will not be a penny over $46 billion?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Minister of Labour and Seniors]

Mr. Speaker, we sit in this place and hear Conservatives ask the same question, written by their party leader, over and over again. That question has been asked and answered dozens of times in the House, so I have a question for my Conservative friends.

They seem very concerned about deficits. Can they offer one thing? Where are they going to start cutting? They should be specific.

Dental Care

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in 2022, one in four Canadians skipped a visit to the dentist because of cost. Thanks to our government's Canadian dental care plan, over 1.2 million Canadians have now received oral health care. Applications for the Canadian dental care plan launched one year ago; today, more than three million Canadians now have dental coverage.

Can the Minister of Health share how the CDCP is making life more affordable and helping Canadians access essential dental care?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, the member has been such an advocate and a proponent of making sure everybody gets oral health. Could we have imagined, just a year ago, when we started taking applications for the Canada dental care plan, that in a year, three million Canadians would be covered? This means that virtually every senior who is eligible is covered and is able to get care. That is not just a matter of social justice, of somebody having a smile they are proud of or finally being able to get a pair of dentures in their mouth, but it is also a matter of prevention. When we make sure people get care, they do not get sick, we save money and we have a healthier society.

Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Mr. Speaker, bravo: They launched dental care just about the same time that they take the GST off chips, cookies and candies.

Liberal backbenchers have supported the Prime Minister through every scandal and every failed policy. Their deficit must be pretty bad if they are finally willing to remove the gag and start speaking out.

Will the Prime Minister at least listen to his own MPs and allow a free vote?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, let us talk about health and what they are going to cut. They would take away diabetes medications for patients. They would take away contraception for women. They would take away oral health care for seniors.

What is going to happen? Let us talk about the implications. Canada has the second-longest health span in the G7; it is longer than that of Italy, France or the United Kingdom and six years longer than that of the United States. What they would do with these cuts is drive illness, which will drive cost and is just plain dumb. If we want to make sure that we get health care right, it is also at the core of a strong economy and reducing costs.

It is time Conservatives woke up and stood up for health care in this country.

Finance

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the fundamental rule of Parliament is that no money shall be spent without the consent of Parliament. It is right in the Constitution. Members might want to take a look.

It has been eight months since the year-end, and the Liberals still have not tabled the deficit number. The Liberals are two months late in tabling the public accounts. Bay Street, not Parliament, learned yesterday that the government has sold $3 billion of Air Canada shares. They are blocking Parliament from doing its work. They must have blown by their maximum $40 billion deficit promise massively.

They should come clean: What is the deficit number?

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, the member knows very well that, during the pandemic, the government provided loan support and other support for Air Canada to ensure its long-term viability. Part of that was buying shares in the company. It was never, though, the intention of the Government of Canada to hold on to those shares into the long term.

It made a sale yesterday, and it was a responsible one. Again, the question has been asked. The Minister of Health put it forward and the Minister of Labour put it forward. What would the Conservatives cut? What would they cut to ensure that the budget is, as they say, fixed? The Conservatives would cut dental care, child care and pharmacare supports. They do not care.

Labour

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Mr. Speaker, today, the Minister of Labour stepped into the Canada Post strike. The workers' union said that it “denounces in the strongest terms this assault on our constitutionally protected [rights]”.

Even the NDP leader said the Liberals will “always step in to make sure the unions have no power.”

On Monday, the NDP leader put his pension before country and workers, voting confidence in the Liberals. Will the government confirm it has ordered workers back to work? What is the price the Liberals paid to keep the NDP leader propping up this anti-worker government?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Minister of Labour and Seniors]

Mr. Speaker, we acted decisively today to offer a creative solution to the labour dispute between Canada Post and its workers. That constitutionally protected right to strike has been exercised for four weeks. If workers were not to be on picket lines for some indefinite period over the holidays, a solution had to be brought.

We work for all Canadians in the House. Canadians were suffering. Small businesses were suffering. Indigenous and remote regions were suffering. The government had to act, and that is what I did this morning.

Taxation

[Valerie Bradford, Liberal, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

Mr. Speaker, our government is bringing real tax relief to Canadians. Tomorrow, December 14, Canadians can celebrate the holidays without having to worry about the extra cost of the GST. This is a big help for Canadians across the country, who will be able to keep more of their hard-earned money.

However, Conservative MPs voted against this tax cut. Could the minister explain to my constituents how this measure can alleviate their tax anxieties during the holiday season?

[Filomena Tassi, Liberal, Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Kitchener South—Hespeler for that question and for her dedicated service.

Our government believes that when Canadians need a helping hand, the government must be there. That is why, starting tomorrow, we are giving Canadians a tax break, putting more money in their pockets. This means that essentials, such as groceries, snacks, kids' clothing and diapers are all tax-free. It means Canadians can focus on this very special time of year, on the holidays, spending time with family and friends, and worry less about family budgets.

This holiday season is not a time to play politics; it is a time to deliver for Canadians.