Debates of April 16th, 2024

Finance

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, everything she just listed are slogans on which the Liberals have not delivered. What they have delivered is that they have doubled the debt, which has caused the worst inflation in 40 years, interest rates rising faster than at any time in history, the doubling of housing costs, the worst growth in the G7 and the worst housing price inflation in that same group of nations. Today, after all of these devastatingly costly results, what do they do? The same thing that got us into this problem in the first place.

Why will they not realize they are the problem and not the solution?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition has been masquerading across the country as a working-class hero, but it is fascinating to actually listen to what he thinks people do for a living. In a couple of recent speeches, he said he thinks electricians capture electricity from the sky and that welders weld with their bare hands. What is he going to tell me next, that the fishermen in my community dive beneath the ocean and catch fish with their bare teeth?

I can forgive the opposition leader for being a career politician who has been on the public dime for a couple of decades, but if he wants to represent the interests of the working class, he should talk to a person who has a real job.

Housing

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to housing, Quebeckers have been cheated by this government since 2019. We represent 22% of the population, yet have received only 14% of the funding and 6% of the affordable housing. Despite all this, the housing minister is giving lessons today. He told the press that, in his opinion, the government is acting in good faith and it is the provinces that should agree to do things differently. It is the federal government that needs to do things differently. It needs to stop shortchanging Quebeckers.

Is the government going to give us our fair share in housing immediately instead of lecturing everyone and playing sorcerer's apprentice with our—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

The hon. Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, it is not up to the Bloc Québécois to define Quebec's housing policy. We have a good relationship with our counterparts in the province of Quebec to build housing. For example, we are investing to build 8,000 affordable housing units. Looking at the program as a whole, it is clear that we are making sure Quebec gets its fair share. We are continuing our work to build homes in Quebec and across the country.

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, they are lecturing us. It is unbelievable. This is the same government that has exacerbated the current housing crisis. It lost control of immigration and has not given Quebec money for housing. This is the same government that gave us ArriveCAN, that is incapable of printing passports, that is incapable of paying its own employees with Phoenix. We cannot make this stuff up. These geniuses are telling the provinces to act in good faith and do things differently.

Does the government understand that the only thing that needs to be done differently is for these geniuses to mind their own business and give money to Quebec?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, we are Quebeckers and we are minding our own business. When we talk about housing we are told that the little Quebec Liberals need to mind their own business. When we stand up in the House and talk about ensuring that no child goes to school on an empty stomach, we Liberals from Quebec are told to sit down and mind our own business. However, when a prime minister from a foreign country comes here from another continent, we are told we need to listen to him. People would do well to listen to us because the 35 members from Quebec stand up for Quebec and for Canada and we will continue to do so.

Taxation

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's largest companies are making huge profits and yet they are among those that pay the least amount of taxes in the world. That was a big gift that the Conservatives gave them and that the Liberals keep on giving. In the United States, President Biden has realized that this is unfair to workers and he is going to make these companies pay what they owe. Here, the Liberals are reluctant. They are dragging their feet. They are beating around the bush. There is a real concern that they do not have the courage to do the right thing.

Mr. Speaker, please tell me that I am mistaken about that.

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, he is mistaken. That is the simple answer.

He seems to have a memory problem. We presented the biggest competition reform in the country with our NDP colleagues. Unfortunately, we know that the Conservatives were against it, but we moved forward anyway because we know that the best way to ensure price stability and affordability in Canada is to have more competition. More competition means more choice and better prices. That is why we are going to continue to fight every day to ensure that Canadians have a good quality of life.

Oil and Gas Industry

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, while Canadians are struggling and food bank use is at an all-time high, rich oil and gas CEOs are making record profits. Canadians are frustrated.

Sources say that the finance minister backed out from an excess profits tax in this budget. Why? It was because oil and gas lobbyists asked her to. Just as the Conservatives do, the Liberals keep caving to big oil and gas.

Why do the Liberals keep protecting the profits of big oil and gas instead of everyday Canadians?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, we have introduced a tax on share buybacks across the economy to tackle exactly that: excess profits.

I would point out that Canada is the first and only G20 country to have eliminated inefficient fossil fuel subsidies. Canada is putting into place the world's first and only oil and gas emissions cap to hold the industry accountable for its own commitments.

In contrast, the Conservative leader has pledged to his oil and gas CEO donors to make pollution free again. We know who is in the pockets of oil and gas. It is that party over there.

Finance

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years under the Liberal-NDP Prime Minister, Canadians know that he is not worth the cost. Even proud Liberal and former Bank of Canada governor, David Dodge, who worked for Paul Martin and Jean Chrétien, says that this budget is on track to be the worst one since 1982.

Canadians know that this budget will bring higher taxes and higher spending, meaning even more misery for families that cannot afford to eat.

Instead of drowning everyone, will the Liberals fix the budget, axe the tax on farmers and food, and stop the endless spending with a dollar-for-dollar law so that Canadians can afford to live?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure if the hon. member is aware of this, but our fiscal markers are very strong. That is a AAA credit rating by an independent, objective observer. That is the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7.

All the while, we will continue to support vulnerable Canadians, something they refuse to do on the other side of the House. They vote against $10-a-day child care, families and seniors every single time. The hypocrisy is palpable.

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure the hon. member is aware of the pain Canadians feel when they cannot afford to live in Canada.

What is worse is that they cannot even afford to die. The Prime Minister's own news agency, the CBC, is reporting that dead bodies are being stored in mobile freezers in provinces across Canada because people cannot afford the cost of laying their loved ones to rest.

Canadians cannot afford their homes, they cannot afford their groceries, they cannot afford their gas, and now they cannot afford a dignified goodbye.

We are asking the Prime Minister to just stop. We know he will not. How much inflationary fuel is the Prime Minister going to pour on the fire at four o'clock today?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, all Canadians deserve to die with dignity. They also deserve supports while they are alive, which is why we have reduced poverty by 22% on this side of the House. It is why we have supported families with $10-a-day child care and the Canada child benefit, which has lifted 500,000 children out of poverty.

What we will do on this side of the House is maintain a strong fiscal position while supporting Canadians, especially vulnerable Canadians. We take that as our priority, unlike the other side of the House.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years, we know that the Prime Minister and his NDP-Liberal government are not worth the cost.

His recent spending spree is inflationary and makes everything worse, adding billions to the debt. This year alone, the Liberals will throw $52 billion towards debt servicing. That is more than is allocated to the provinces for health care.

Does the Prime Minister not see that his reckless spending is increasing inflation and debt, burdening all generations of already struggling Canadians, or is he too busy cutting cheques to care?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, let us delve into the numbers a bit. When the leader of the Conservatives was minister of jobs, unemployment in Canada was 11% higher, whereas wages in this country were 75% of what they are now. They had our foreign direct investment behind Ireland and Japan, and now we are third in the world. When we divide it by our population, we are first in the world on bringing good jobs, on bringing investments and on making Canada a place where everybody wants to call home, unlike the Conservatives, who are full of bluff and bluster.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

These are spendy ways, Mr. Speaker.

David Dodge said that this was likely to be the worst budget since 1982. Who was prime minister then? How out of control was that budget? How broke did Canada and Canadians become before Pierre Elliott Trudeau finally took his walk in the snow?

The more things change—

With two million visits to food banks in a single month, is it not clear that Canadians are desperately hungry for change? How many more Canadians need to visit food banks before the Prime Minister realizes that today's budget is a recipe for disaster?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, today sounds like a day for some of the greatest hits, so let us put the Conservatives in the spotlight.

When we formed government in 2015, one of the first things we did was ask the wealthiest 1% of Canadians to pay more. How did the Conservatives vote? They voted against. When we asked to make sure that Canadians and their children could have money coming to their houses every month, how did the Conservatives vote? They voted against. Now that we are going to have a national school food program, housing across country and investments to grow this country, how are the Conservatives going to vote? They are going to vote against.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

Order.

I am sure that all members would like to hear the question from the hon. member for Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, if we want to lower inflation and enable the Bank of Canada to reduce interest rates, we have limited options.

We need to cap spending by applying the dollar-for-dollar rule. If we spend a dollar, we have to find a way to save a dollar. It is simple. That is how ordinary Canadians manage their household budgets. That is how every minister in this government should run their department.

Will the Prime Minister cap spending in his upcoming budget to bring down inflation and interest rates?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have always wanted to reduce taxes for the wealthiest Canadians and make life more difficult for everyone else, for the middle class and people with lower incomes. That is what they have always voted for.

That includes voting against the Canada child benefit in 2016. That was one of the first things they voted on. It includes voting against dental care for the 600,000 seniors who have now successfully enrolled in the new Canada dental insurance plan. The Conservative leader makes himself scarce when people ask him about the Canadian government's dental care plan.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we are calling for three things today. It is not complicated.

One of the three things the Conservative Party is calling for is to build homes, not bureaucracy. The government insists on announcing inflationary measures that are costing Canadian taxpayers billions of dollars and only serve to increase inflation and the cost of living. Even David Dodge, the former Liberal governor of the Bank of Canada, has predicted that this will be the worst budget since 1982.

Will the Prime Minister commit to heeding the calls of the Leader of the Opposition and building homes, not bureaucracy?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Mr. Speaker, my esteemed colleague is putting “homes” and “Leader of the Opposition” in the same sentence.

What it means, when we put the two together, is six affordable housing units built across the country during the entire term when the Leader of the Opposition, who is also the leader of insults, was the housing minister.

In my colleague's riding alone, looking at the Amarrage project as just one example, 12 affordable housing units have been built, along with many other projects, which is twice as many as the Conservative leader built across the country during his entire term.

Justice

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the English Montreal School Board has decided to challenge Bill 21 before the Supreme Court. That is fine, that is its right.

However, for the federal government to become directly involved in the case, against the will of the National Assembly, for it to provide money, our money, and lawyers, that is where we draw the line.

The Quebec lieutenant said that Canada is secular, that the government supports secularism, but he keeps telling us that we must defend freedom of religion against Bill 21.

When will the Liberals realize that the best way to protect religion is for the state to not have any?