Debates of Dec. 3rd, 2024

Youth

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

Mr. Speaker, it has been a tenet of our government to support young people and we have done that in so many ways. There are 70,000 young people who have benefited from the Canada summer jobs program. The Auditor General confirmed just this week that those young people who attend CSJ actually do better in the workforce after having done so. We have always supported young people and will continue to do so.

Taxation

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the federal government has introduced a GST tax break that will put money directly into the pockets of Canadians, especially for families who need it the most. In my constituency of Davenport, every penny counts and a temporary GST tax break for the holiday season and early new year is very welcome.

My question to the minister is simple. Can she explain why the Conservative leader and his party voted against this tax break, especially when the Conservatives claim to be champions of tax cuts and affordability?

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

Although the preamble of the member's question dealt with a government initiative, the question itself did not.

Colleagues, I will have more to say about this at the end of question period, in terms of questions. I will mention to the hon. member for Davenport that, unfortunately, that question does not deal with the administration of government. I am afraid the question is considered out of order and I will be moving on to the next question.

The hon. member for York—Simcoe.

[Scot Davidson, Conservative, York—Simcoe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General has revealed that the NDP-Liberal government has paid out $3.5 billion in taxpayer funds to tens of thousands of people who were never entitled to receive it in the first place. The Prime Minister loves to spend Canadians' money and he does not care if it is wasted or misspent, just as long as he can pose for the photo. Will the Prime Minister admit he has lost control of spending and his only solution is to raise taxes on Canadians?

[Rechie Valdez, Liberal, Minister of Small Business]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have seen many versions of the Conservative Party leader during his 20 years in Parliament, including the 2021 version that campaigned on the GST holiday. Unfortunately, this version has not supported small businesses.

Our government is giving Canadians a GST tax break starting December 14 that will benefit retailers across Canada. In fact, the Retail Council of Canada affirmed that our tax break will create major tax savings for Canadians, along with economic stimulus for our industry. Having more money overall in consumers' wallets should also benefit sellers of other goods not captured in the announcement.

Liberals will be there for small businesses and that will never change.

Small Business

[Marty Morantz, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

Mr. Speaker, every day there is a new scandal after nine years of the NDP-Liberal government. Now the Auditor General reports another billion-dollar boondoggle, as $3.5 billion in taxpayers' money was paid to 77,000 people who were not even eligible under the CEBA program. Liberals gave Accenture $313 million to run the program without even having to bid on the contract to hire workers in Brazil. Never ascribe to malice that which can be explained by incompetence.

When will the Prime Minister stop the incompetence and stand up for taxpayers for a change?

[Rechie Valdez, Liberal, Minister of Small Business]

Mr. Speaker, I have already addressed this question. What Canadians really want to know is why the leader of the Conservative Party refuses to get his security clearance. Our leader has his security clearance. The NDP leader has his security clearance. The Bloc leader has his security clearance, and the Green Party leader has her security clearance. Two former CSIS directors have made it clear there is no substitute for clearance.

The Conservative leader owes his caucus and Canadians an explanation. Why does he not get his security clearance and what does he have to hide?

Seniors

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the NDP-Liberals, it is just more waste and mismanagement. The Auditor General's scathing report slammed the Prime Minister's treatment of seniors. The government broke the new horizons program. There are value for money concerns with nearly half of the approved projects. In one case, the government paid $23,000 for a door in a senior's residence that was never installed.

When will the Prime Minister actually start caring for seniors, end the waste and call an election?

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

Mr. Speaker, how dare the Conservative Party of Canada members stand up in the House and talk about the treatment of seniors. I will remind the member that her former leader, Stephen Harper, went to Davos for the World Economic Forum, instead of going to King—Vaughan, to announce to Canadians that henceforth, the retirement age would be moving to 67 from 65. We reversed that. That member should be ashamed of herself.

Also, we built the door.

Small Business

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Mr. Speaker, nine years of this Liberal government means nine years of financial irresponsibility.

Yesterday, the Auditor General of Canada revealed that 77,000 ineligible businesses managed to get $3.5 billion from the Canada Emergency Business Account. This program was in part managed in Brazil.

Why does this Liberal government prefer to enrich foreign businesses and costly consultants instead of supporting our local businesses?

[Rechie Valdez, Liberal, Minister of Small Business]

Mr. Speaker, our government helped nearly 900,000 small businesses through its CEBA loans, and more than 80% of them have paid back their loan and took advantage of the loan forgiveness program. We extended the deadline of the loan not once, but twice. We did what we had to do to help small businesses.

Seniors

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General's report proves that the Liberals do not know what they are talking about when they say that seniors are so rich, they do not deserve support. The Auditor General showed that Ottawa is not collecting any data about whether its programs, such as old age security, are really meeting seniors' needs, and so it does not have that information now, nor will it in the future.

In short, the Auditor General has proven that, when the Liberals say that seniors do not deserve a pension increase or a $250 cheque, it is strictly a political choice.

Why are the Liberals choosing to abandon retirees?

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

Mr. Speaker, the member spoke about a political decision. Was it a political decision for the Bloc Québécois to vote against every increase to the guaranteed income supplement?

What did the Bloc Québécois do when it came time to support the Canadian dental care plan for the most vulnerable seniors in Quebec and Canada? It made a political choice to say no to dental care for seniors. That side of the House is where the political choices are being made.

On this side, we will always be there for seniors.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Mr. Speaker, again, according to the Auditor General, the federal government has no data it can use to determine whether its programs, like old age security, are meeting seniors' needs.

It seems to know for certain that $3 billion for increasing seniors' pensions is too much. At the same time, this same government is telling us that $6 billion in election goodies is just fine. No party agrees with these election goodies. However, all parties agree on increasing seniors' pensions.

Instead of improvising and thinking only of the next election, when will the government make the right choice and give Bill C-319 a royal recommendation?

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

Mr. Speaker, let us not get into the Bloc Québécois's political choices. It has made several political choices that are bad for the future of Quebec and for the future of seniors in Quebec.

On a different note, we have improved the Canada pension plan. Quebec adopted its own version to improve retirement pensions for future generations and future seniors. The Bloc Québécois was against that. We were for it.

Unlike the Bloc Québécois, we are there for the seniors of today and the seniors of tomorrow.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

I often rise to encourage people not to speak in order that everyone may be heard, especially those who need to use the interpretation services. I hope that everyone will respect this indication from the Speaker.

Liberal Party of Canada

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP leader put on a big phony show this summer on the eve of a by-election, pretending to rip up the coalition deal. Recently, he said, “[The Liberals] will always cave to corporate greed, and always step in to make sure the unions have no power.” We could not have said it better ourselves.

Conservatives have put forward a motion agreeing with the NDP leader. Canadians will soon find out whether or not the NDP leader means anything he ever says, or if he will sell out union brothers and sisters to keep this corrupt Liberal government in power just so he can keep his pension.

The question to the government is this: Have the Liberals put the coalition deal back together so that the Prime Minister keeps power and the NDP leader keeps his pension?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, my question—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

I will speak to this after question period, but that, again, was not about government business.

However, I do see that the hon. government House leader wants to answer.

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I wish you had afforded the same courtesy to the Minister of Finance, who also wanted to answer a question. I think it would be appropriate to make sure that we apply the same standard moving forward.

However, what I would like to say to the Leader of the Opposition is that we gave him an opportunity to debate that, and instead of taking it, the Conservatives ran away afraid. I am surprised that the member is even bringing this up, because when we gave them an opportunity to hold that vote, they said “no”. That is just another pattern of their behaviour, where they say one thing and do another.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Mr. Speaker, that is just not true. They just got mixed up about what day the debate is going to be held. It is going to be held this Thursday. The vote will be on Monday, and all Canadians will be watching to see who is on the side of Canadian workers. The Prime Minister launched a brutal assault on workers. He devalued their paycheques with his inflation. He drove up prices with his carbon tax. He has doubled housing costs. He has hiked taxes, cancelled big projects that put union members back to work and issued edicts that undermine their collective bargaining rights.

Once again, my question to the government is this: Have they put the coalition deal back together so that the NDP leader will qualify for his pension while Canadian workers suffer?

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

Mr. Speaker, the member seems to be referring to incidents last summer where, I might add, I consulted with the Conservative Party, which was urging me, as we did at the time, to come to the aid of farmers in Saskatchewan and throughout western Canada who were trying to get what was a bumper crop to the ports and international markets, which is the pride of Canada. We intervened to save Canadian farmers and to save Canadian union jobs. That is what we did. The Conservatives sat on the sidelines. We will always stand for Canadian workers.

[Dan Muys, Conservative, Flamborough—Glanbrook, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP leader claims to have ripped up the deal with the Liberals, calling the government weak, selfish and beholden to corporate greed, yet he has voted over 24 times to hike the carbon tax, driving up the cost of everything. Meanwhile, two million Canadians visited food banks last month, and 18% of them were workers.

Will the leader of the NDP sell out Canadians again, or has the Prime Minister made another backroom deal with the leader of the NDP to secure his pension at the cost of Canadian workers?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, again, I am not sure that the question had anything to do with government business, but on this side of the House, when we do that, whether it was the member for Kingston and the Islands or the member for Davenport, our questions were taken away even though they were in regard to government business.

However, what I can say is that the Conservatives keep running scared. Whenever we give them an opportunity to do what they say, they vote against it. When it is cutting taxes and giving people a GST holiday, what do they do? They vote against it. When it is actually coming forward with a motion to vote confidence in the government, what do they do? They vote against it. They are too scared to actually act on their issues. They would rather provide slogans than solutions. On this side of the House we're acting for Canadians.