Debates of April 17th, 2024

The Budget

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister likes to blame the world for the problems that he caused. He doubled the debt, doubled the rent, doubled mortgage payments, doubled the needed down payment, and now he is doubling down on the same costly mistakes that have made life unaffordable for Canadians.

When will the Prime Minister realize he is not worth the cost and that repeating the same thing nine times and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, what the Leader of the Opposition is saying is that he stands with the ultrawealthy 0.1% in this country and that everyone else is on their own, because that is what he would do, as he slashes programs, as he slashes investments, as he does not build the homes necessary, as he does not have a plan to fight climate change and create good jobs, as he has stood against affordability measures and as he stands against seniors getting dental care.

He is choosing to stand with the ultrawealthy, while we are investing in Canadians and building a stronger future that is fair for—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, he is the ultrawealthy. He hid his family fortune in a tax-sheltered trust fund so that he would not have to pay the same taxes as everyone else. He vacations with the ultrawealthy on their private islands in tax-preferred locations where they can hide their money and avoid paying their fair share here in Canada.

Now, he is paying off the ultrawealthy by spending $54 billion on debt interest, more than on health care.

Why give more money to the ultrawealthy bankers and bondholders instead of the nurses and doctors?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, this is a budget that invests in fairness for every generation by asking the ultrawealthy to pay a little more.

The Conservative Party is choosing to stand with the status quo and to stand with the ultrawealthy, instead of saying, yes, we need to invest in young people, we need to build more houses, we need to support seniors with dental care, we need to create more spaces in child care and we need to deliver hundreds of dollars a month, tax free, in the disability benefit.

These are the things that we will be doing. Those are the things that they stand against.

Intergovernmental Relations

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, child care falls under the jurisdiction of Quebec and the provinces. Dental insurance, if applicable, would be a jurisdiction of Quebec or the provinces. The same goes for pharmacare, municipal infrastructure and housing.

The Prime Minister is obsessed with the areas of jurisdiction of Quebec and the provinces. I want to ask the Prime Minister if he has ever thought of running for premier of his favourite province, Ontario, to really get into something that interests him.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind my friend from the Bloc Québécois that I am a proud Quebecker and I always will be. There is nothing he can say that will take anything away from this proud Quebec identity that has been a part of who I am for 13 generations.

Yes, I am concerned about Quebeckers, as I am about all Canadians. That is why we are working with provinces like Quebec on investing in more child care spaces. We have invested $6 billion in early childhood education to help Quebec run its child care system. It is the result of an agreement with Premier Legault.

We will continue to be there and to be partners with Quebeckers.

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am not convinced that the Quebec government is saying the same thing as the Prime Minister. I myself am very proud to be a Quebecker. I am so proud, in fact, that I have confidence in Quebec. I believe it should be a country. I am not sure whether the Prime Minister has the same level of confidence.

Does the Prime Minister recognize that all of his meddling in areas under the jurisdiction of Quebec and the provinces is funded exclusively through the never-ending fiscal imbalance?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I am so proud to be a Quebecker that I know I have a place in Canada, as do all Quebeckers. We are proud to be Canadian and proud to be Quebeckers. Most of us do not feel we have to choose between the two. We can be very proud to be Quebeckers and Canadians at the same time.

We will continue to be there to invest hand in hand with the Province of Quebec in order to deliver results for Quebeckers, just as we do with partners across the country. In fact, Quebec is often ahead of the curve in investing in social issues and social programs. That is why much of what we do follows Quebec's model.

The Economy

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, young people see right through the Prime Minister. They know they are getting ripped off and they know the reason for it. Today, rent has doubled, grocery prices are sky-high and we are paying some of the highest cellphone bills in the world. The reason is corporate greed. The Prime Minister refuses to take it on and the Conservatives are afraid any time we mention corporate greed because they want to defend those corporations.

When will the Liberals finally take—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

There are some members in this place, who, like the Speaker, had difficulty hearing the member for Burnaby South ask his question.

I am going to ask the member for Burnaby South to start his question again. I am going to ask all members on all sides of the House to please hold themselves until they have the opportunity to be recognized by the Speaker to ask a question or to answer a question.

The hon. member for Burnaby South.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I know what happened. Any time I talk about corporate greed, the Conservatives get really upset. We are taking on their masters, so they get upset about it, but I will be careful not to say too much because I know the Conservatives get so angry when we mention corporate greed.

Young people are seeing that they are getting ripped off with rent. They are getting ripped off with groceries and getting ripped off with the high cost of cellphone fees, and they know it is because of corporate greed.

The Conservatives do not want me to talk about this, but will the Liberals take on corporate greed, which is driving up the cost of living?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we recognize with this budget that Canada cannot be successful unless young people are successful, unless every generation sees a real and fair chance to succeed.

That is why we are stepping up to invest in new homes that young people are going to be able to afford, and making sure that their rent payments count towards a credit score to get them a mortgage eventually. We are investing in more supports for Canadians living with disabilities. We are investing in supports for seniors. We are investing in entrepreneurship for young people.

We are making the kinds of investments that are going to grow the economy, support young people and restore the dream of a stronger Canada for everyone.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister did not once mention corporate greed, which is driving up the cost of living.

Young people are getting ripped off at the grocery store, and they know it. They see Loblaws and Metro raking in record profits, and yesterday's Liberal budget does nothing to address that. It continues to line Loblaws' and Metro's pockets with the Conservatives' $60‑billion tax gifts.

Why does the Prime Minister keep siding with CEOs instead of with young people?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, this budget recognizes that our country's success depends on young people's success. That is why we are calling on the wealthy to pay a bit more tax so they can share more of the benefits with young people, to ensure that young families can pay their rent, buy a home and have better access to the care and services they need, particularly when it comes to day care and early childhood centres.

We will continue to be there to support families in need by asking the wealthy to do a bit more.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister wants people to know that the status quo is unacceptable, that Canada has become an unfair country where young people, an entire generation, cannot afford a home and families cannot afford food. If he finds out who has been running this place for the last nine years, there will be hell to pay.

Will the Prime Minister complete his investigation and tell us who has been in charge for the last decade?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, when we got elected, the first thing we did was raise taxes on the wealthiest 1% and lower them for the middle class, a measure that the Conservative Party voted against. We have continued to invest in young people and to invest in a national housing strategy after the previous government completely ignored housing. The former housing minister, who is now Leader of the Opposition, was responsible for creating exactly six affordable homes in his time as minister.

We have continued to invest and we are going to continue to make sure that the economy is fair for every generation. That means asking the wealthiest to pay a little more so we can put more money in the pockets of the middle class.

Housing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has got to stop getting his facts from his incompetent housing minister's Twitter account. This is the same guy who, as immigration minister, lost track of a million people.

When I was housing minister, we built 92,782 new apartment units, with an average rent of $973. How many apartments will the Prime Minister build at the price of $972 a month this year?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, our housing plan is the most ambitious and comprehensive in Canada's history. It will unlock close to four million homes by 2031. This will happen because we are working with municipalities and we are working with provinces to increase the levels of ambition. We have put out the most comprehensive and ambitious housing plan this country has ever seen because we know that making sure that young people can afford a home, making sure we change the way homes are built in this country, is about building a stronger future for everyone in this country.

That is what fairness for every generation looks like. That is what the government is focused on, while Conservatives are focused on cuts.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, we will cut the rent. When I was the minister of housing, we paid half as much for rent in Canada as we pay today.

On the question of the Prime Minister's ambitious housing plan, I decided to read all about it in the Liberals' 2015 platform. They said, “We will make it easier for Canadians to find an affordable place to call home.” That was nine years ago. They have doubled the cost since that promise was made, and then they repeated the promise yesterday.

Why would we expect the same promise, with the same programs and the same Prime Minister to be kept this time?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I was in Vancouver a few weeks ago to speak with young people about the fact that we are supporting renters with greater protections and by making sure that the money they spend every month on rent actually gets counted in their credit scores to help them get a mortgage in the future.

Our housing plan will unlock 3.87 million new homes by cutting red tape, by reforming zoning, by lowering the costs of homebuilding and by using public lands and vacant government offices for housing. We are making it easier to save up for a tax-free down payment. We are helping end chronic homelessness and making homes more affordable.

We are going to continue doing the work—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is going to turn public buildings and land into housing. I wonder where he got that idea.

Let me quote, “We will conduct an inventory of all available federal lands and buildings that could be repurposed, and make some of these lands available at low cost for affordable housing”. That is from his 2015 platform.

Now, nine years later, he can only point to 13 homes on those public lands. Yesterday, he promised a “rapid review” of all the federal land portfolios. How rapid, another nine years?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we made a choice. We made a choice to invest in Canadians, and that started when we took office because the previous government had not invested in Canadians. It continued to choose cuts to services. It continued to choose austerity over the kinds of investments that a confident country should be making in its citizens.

That is where we have stepped up. That is where we are stepping up right now to make sure that young people have opportunities to build a strong future for themselves by asking the wealthiest 0.1% to pay more in taxes. Unfortunately, the Leader of the Opposition continues to stand with the ultrawealthy while we stand with Canadians.