Debates of April 30th, 2024

Financial Statement of Minister of Finance

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on the topic of acknowledging shortcomings, would the member agree that the Leader of the Opposition should not be hanging out with Diagolon?

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

Mr. Speaker, as we debate this budget today, we are seeing the results of the government's disastrous spending addiction.

After nine years of the government, as I have said, we have had nine deficit budgets. Canadians are struggling, and the government has no solutions. That member and his party should start listening to Canadians to understand what they need.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciated my colleague's speech.

Of course we do not agree on many things, but we were told that the Conservative Party would be a decentralizing party. Yesterday, when it had the chance to prove it, the Conservative Party unfortunately voted against an amendment proposed by the Bloc Québécois that simply called on the House to respect the Canadian Constitution and the jurisdictions of Quebec and the provinces.

My question is very simple. Why vote against a Bloc Québécois amendment that simply calls for the Canadian Constitution to be respected?

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

Mr. Speaker, Conservatives do believe that the federal government should respect the jurisdiction of provinces. What we have seen from the current government are repeated attempts to override provincial jurisdiction. We know Canadians deserve a government that does not overextend itself in an attempt to micromanage their lives.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I like the hon. member, but of course, she lived through the dismal decade, as all Canadians did, with the Harper government, where the fiscal management was basically thrown out the window: $116 billion in liquidity supports for the banking sector to prop up their profits; $30 billion a year, according to the PBO, given to overseas tax havens because of the notorious Harper tax-saving treaties that have basically eliminated the fiscal capacity of the federal government, which is $300 billion over a decade. The Conservatives have no lessons to give anybody in terms of fiscal management. They were terrible.

However, I want to ask my colleague a very simple question about pharmacare. There are 17,000 people in her riding who have diabetes and who are paying up to $1,000 a month for medication. As members know, the risk of stroke, heart attack or death is four times greater for people with diabetes than for other Canadians, yet Conservatives are blocking, at every single step, the pharmacare supports that would mean a difference of up to $1,000 a month in supports for 17,000 people in her riding. My question is simple this: Why are the Conservatives blocking this life-saving medication that would make such a difference in the lives of her constituents?

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I will simply say this. The New Democrats, in my estimation, have sold their souls in the desperation for power. They have abandoned their constituents for the vanity of their leader. The NDP has a big decision to make when the time comes to vote on this particular budget. Will the NDP stand up for Canadians and be an opposition party, finally holding the Liberal government to account for its abysmal record, or will it continue on with their coalition?

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

Mr. Speaker, perhaps our hon. colleague could tell the House, Canadians and those on the other side who might be listening, though chances are after nine years they still are not, about the pain that her constituents are going through because of the insane policies that the current government has levied against hard-working Canadians in her riding.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to perhaps repeat some of the things I noted in my speech. As I said, we are seeing the results of the government's disastrous spending addiction. After nine years of the Liberal government and nine deficit budgets, Canadians are struggling. The government has no solutions. We see millions of Canadians going to food banks. Housing costs have doubled. Rent has doubled. Canadians are desperate for change.

[Glen Motz, Conservative, Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB]

Mr. Speaker, spending last week in and around my riding of Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, two things were abundantly clear. The first was that spring has finally sprung. People are out enjoying outdoor activities and righting their lawns and gardens. Farmers and ranchers are busy seeding and calving. The second thing was that, despite the spring bloom, the economic outlook for most people was absolute gloom. The reason for that was the state of our nation's finances after nine years of the Liberals and the troubling path of wasteful spending and ever-increasing debt.

Let us talk about deficit spending. That is when the government spends more money than it brings in revenue from Canadian taxpayers. Governments have nothing, unless they have taken it from us first. The government's insatiable appetite for spending means it seeks to tax and increase taxes on most everything, even our carbon footprint. That footprint got 23% more expensive this year, as we know, and the Prime Minister and his radical environment minister are hell-bent on continuing to make it even more expensive.

Even with all these extra taxes, the Liberals still overspend. Under the current Prime Minister's leadership, Canada has seen its deficit spending increase significantly. In 2015, our federal debt was $616 billion, accumulated since the country was formed in 1867. Today, it has doubled to $1.2 trillion, which is over $30,000 per Canadian, thanks to the current Prime Minister's borrowing more than all of Canada's previous prime ministers combined.

In fact, it will cost Canadian taxpayers $54.1 billion in interest just to service our national debt this year. That interest payment is more than the government spends on the annual provincial health care transfers. It is also about the same amount as the government collects in the GST, and maybe the GST's name should be changed to the DST, the debt servicing tax.

The alleged intention behind this spending was to create sunny ways, to grow the middle class and to create fairness for all generations. These are all nice-sounding words, but in reality, when a prime minister does not think about monetary policy, nice words quickly get replaced by nasty results.

Housing costs have doubled. Interest rates have risen faster than at any time in our history. Mortgage payments, down payments and rents have doubled. The cost of gas, groceries and home heating have skyrocketed, and people cannot afford to eat, heat or house themselves.

This growing debt means that future generations of Canadians will be burdened with higher taxes and higher interest payments. That is why I, along with most Canadians, shook my head when the title page of this mess of a budget read, “Fairness for Every Generation”.

There is absolutely nothing fair about the Liberals wasting Canadians' money to buy the support of the NDP. It is a way of spending their own way to feed their addiction to power. There is nothing fair about running up scandal-ridden bills, changing an election date to secure pensions on their way out and then leaving that bill for our children and grandchildren to pay.

Conservatives are not the only ones who are critical of the Prime Minister's years of deficit spending. Economists and the financial sector have warned the Liberals that their spending is the major contributor to Canada's high inflation. Current Governor of the Bank of Canada, Tiff Macklem, cautioned that this excessive spending will make it harder for the bank to lower interest rates. Even former Bank of Canada governor and Liberal supporter David Dodge says that the federal budget hurts the fight against inflation and that budget 2024 has the potential to be the worst budget since 1982.

Who was in charge back then? It was another Trudeau.

Speaking about inflation, more than 40 years ago, American economist and statistician Milton Friedman had something to say. It still holds true today, and maybe our Prime Minister and finance minister need to listen. He said:

Inflation is just like alcoholism. In both cases, when you start drinking or when you start printing too much money, the good effects come first, the bad effects only come later. That is why, in both cases, there is a strong temptation to overdo it—to drink too much or to print too much money. When it comes to the cure, it is the other way about. When you stop drinking, or when you stop printing money, the bad effects come first and the good effects only come later. That is why it is so hard to persist with the cure.... Every country that has had the courage to persist in the policy of slowing monetary growth has been able to cure inflation and at the same time achieve a healthy economy.

Besides the inflation problem that the Prime Minister and finance minister have created in Canada, we also find ourselves confronted by the concerning trend of decreasing productivity. What is more, while the government continues to spend, our productivity as a country is not keeping up. Our productivity is effectively how we efficiently produce goods and services. High productivity is key to improving our quality of life, increasing our wages and maintaining a competitive edge globally. However, Canada's productivity has seen a decline, which is a sign that we are not maximizing our potential.

I will read what the deputy governor of the Bank of Canada, Carolyn Rogers, noted in a recent speech in Halifax. She said, “Back in 1984, the Canadian economy was producing 88 per cent of the value generated by the U.S. economy per hour. That’s not great. But by 2022, Canadian productivity had fallen to 71 per cent.”

Further, a recent Financial Post article observed that, over the current government's time in office, labour productivity has declined by an average of 0.8% per year. How can the government, based on the entirety of the budget, plan on strong labour productivity growth by recent standards? In reality, it is a “fudge it” budget, where they make up the numbers to try to make the budget work.

The Liberals are treating productivity as just a number that they can manipulate to make their budget look slightly less horrible. However, productivity is not just a number; it is about how well we can sustain our quality of life. We must confront these challenges head-on, and it starts with demanding accountability and prudent financial management from our leaders in government. It starts with treating our proud resource development sectors and all the family-supporting jobs they provide with respect, instead of using them as a scapegoat.

For example, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Germany asked Canada to be a trusted supplier of LNG. Other countries have also made that request. What is our Prime Minister's response? In effect, it is, “Oh, sorry folks, there is no business case for that here in Canada.” We can look at what has happened with that. Our American neighbours stepped up and are reaping the benefits. Their productivity went up 2.6% last year, while the Liberals were happy to see ours decline.

Since 2019, the American GDP per capita has grown 7%; Canada's has fallen 2.8%. This is the single largest underperformance of the Canadian economy in comparison to the United States since 1965. Stats Canada recently published a report confirming that Canadians have gotten poorer under the current government. Our GDP per capita is now 7% lower than it should be, meaning that Canadians are $4,200 poorer per person. With the Liberals in charge, we should not be surprised by these numbers.

We also need to be investing efficiently in areas that genuinely boost productivity, such as skills training, technology and innovation. We need to ensure that spending will bring about real, sustainable growth, not just a temporary quick fix. It is about finding balance in terms of supporting our current needs without compromising the ability of future generations, and Canadians, to meet theirs. We need a balance between investing in our country and ensuring we are not reckless and recklessly adding to a mountain of debt that would be impossible to climb down from.

Mr. Speaker, the path forward requires courage, leadership and discipline. By advocating for responsible spending, investing wisely in our future and boosting our productivity, we can ensure that Canada remains a prosperous, vibrant place for generations to come. The time to act is now. The time to fix the budget is now, to ensure that Canada's financial health, productivity and the hope of Canadians are not just restored but allowed to flourish. Conservatives are ready and able to make that happen.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I know that the member has a history in policing and has received numerous awards for his work in policing prior to coming to the House. I think that is a great accomplishment, and I applaud him on that. However, how does he feel about that the fact that the Leader of the Opposition associates with Diagolon?

[Glen Motz, Conservative, Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB]

Mr. Speaker, quite honestly, the question does not deserve an answer, because it is not true.

To spread misinformation and disinformation, which seems to happen on the other side a lot, is not helping our dialogue. It is certainly not answering the questions that Canadians have about what the government is doing with the economy and how we are going to climb out of the hole and the mess it has created for the rest of Canadians.

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Mr. Speaker, since 2019 the Bloc Québécois has always voted against Liberal budgets, and the same will be true for this budget, since it contains no plan to reduce subsidies for an industry that is making massive, record profits. I am speaking about the oil industry.

Will my colleague vote against the budget, since, like us, he opposes funding oil companies with taxpayer money?

[Glen Motz, Conservative, Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I can confirm that my colleagues and I will be voting against this budget unequivocally, but not because of what the member suggested. All anybody in Canada has to do is look at the amount of revenue that the energy sector creates for this country to sustain our growth for infrastructure and the spending that we need to do to keep our country going. Therefore, the reason the member suggested is a fallacy.

The truth of the matter is that the energy sector is a major contributor to our GDP and the revenues that our government currently enjoys spending.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I also know that my colleague was an esteemed police officer. We heard from the B.C. chiefs of police and chiefs of police across this country. When it comes to the toxic drug crisis, the chiefs of police see it as a health issue. They do not want to go back to criminalizing people in my home province; however, they have asked for tools to deal with public use. They cited that it is not diversion, but actually toxic fentanyl, that is killing people. They have called for more safe consumption sites. In Alberta, deaths have skyrocketed, with a 17% increase in toxic overdose deaths. There has been an increase of over 5% in British Columbia.

We had Petra Schulz from Moms Stop the Harm here in Ottawa yesterday, again asking for a meeting with the leader of the Conservative Party. She lost her son Danny 10 years ago today.

Will my colleague urge his leader, the only leader in this country who has not met with Moms Stop the Harm, to meet with the mothers of loved ones lost because of the toxic drug crisis? Does he support the chiefs of police in British Columbia?

[Glen Motz, Conservative, Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB]

Mr. Speaker, what I support is an effective plan that actually makes a difference for the well-being of Canadians. That plan would not include the term “safe consumption sites”; there is no such thing as a safe consumption site.

Some time ago, I went to the Downtown Eastside and East Hastings Street to talk to addicts. They are killing themselves right in front of people. I asked them questions. They said that people do not want them to get healthy, that the system does not want them to get healthy. They call the people driving around looking after them “poverty pimps”. Why? It is because they do not care. They said they do not go to consumption sites, as they are not what people thought they would be like.

The reality is that we have an overdose crisis in this country. In B.C. alone, 2,511 people died last year. That is unacceptable. Why did this happen? It was because of drug policies. We need a balanced approach, treatment and addiction services. We need all those things that happen. Wasteful spending on a government budget such as this one does not allow us to spend that kind of money. It is being misdirected to services that the government thinks will help, but safe supply is not the answer to this problem.

[Wilson Miao, Liberal, Richmond Centre, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to rise today to share with Canadians, especially my constituents of Richmond Centre, the significance of budget 2024. I will be sharing my time with the member for Vancouver Granville.

Budget 2024 is a road map that outlines the path toward a more prosperous, fair and sustainable future, a future that is not only for young adults but also for future generations. The budget has four main focuses: building more homes faster, lowering the cost of living, being fair to every generation and building a climate-resilient generational economy.

Through budget 2024, our government is introducing a bold, fiscally responsible Canada housing plan to unlock 3.87 million homes by 2031. Housing is a necessity and is the foundation of the stability and well-being of individuals and families. As our communities in British Columbia and across Canada are growing, Canada is expected to experience the most growth among G7 countries in 2025. The federal government is taking concrete steps to support the growth of our community and economy. In budget 2024, the federal government is unlocking homebuilding on public lands to utilize our federal resources and address Canadians' housing priorities. We are proposing $1.1 billion in federal funding to convert underused spaces, public land, into homes.

We are also proposing an additional $15 billion in new loan funding for the apartment construction loan program, bringing the program's total to over $55 billion. This investment would help build more than 30,000 additional new homes across Canada, bringing the program's total contribution to over 131,000 new homes by 2032. While we are spurring housing construction across Canada, we are providing over $6 billion to launch a new Canada housing infrastructure fund. This fund would not only accelerate construction but also upgrade and enable infrastructure for water, waste water, stormwater and solid waste, which would directly enable housing supply and help improve densification. That also means more housing near transit, equivalent to accessibility. Through budget 2024, we are leveraging the federal public transit fund to take action that directly unlocks the housing supply where it is needed most. To build all of this, we propose to increase the number of construction workers by creating new opportunities for apprentices and recognizing foreign credentials.

In budget 2024, we are also making it easier for Canadians to rent or own homes, by introducing initiatives such as the tenant protection fund, the new Canadian renters' bill of rights, the Canadian home buyers' plan and an updated version of the Canadian mortgage charter. We are making sure that renters in Canada have better rental protections while enabling them to use their rent records for credit, and much more.

An important initiative that our housing plan is moving forward on is to establish a national flood insurance, a subsidiary of the CMHC to deliver flood reinsurance. This would help communities in my riding of Richmond Centre by improving flood prevention and insurance. It would also help put many Canadians and their families at ease in Richmond.

Most importantly, we all have seen the significant impact the housing accelerator fund has brought to communities across Canada. I am quite proud and pleased that in January of this year, I was able to announce with the City of Richmond bilateral agreements to fast-track more than 1,000 housing units over the next three years and 3,100 homes over the next decade. These agreements provide $35.9 million to eliminate barriers to building the housing we need, faster. In budget 2024, we are providing an additional $400-million top-up to further even more the impact of the housing accelerator fund.

The budget is making housing more accessible and affordable for Canadians across the country. It is also equipping Canada to compete even further with respect to its economy, including the highest growth among the G7 countries in 2025. Furthermore, budget 2024 is also a plan to lower the cost of living for Canadians, and we are continuing our leadership in making sure every generation has the support it needs in order to succeed.

The Canadian dental care plan continues to roll out, providing oral health care access to over nine million uninsured eligible Canadian residents. In budget 2024, we are building an even stronger social safety net. We are introducing the first phase of the national pharmacare plan, providing immediate support to over three million Canadians living with diabetes and over nine million women and gender-diverse Canadians with free coverage for medications.

For parents in Canada the national school food program will deliver nutritious meals to over 400,000 children across Canada each year, saving the average participating family as much as $400 per year per child in grocery costs.

For Canadians with disabilities we are providing $6 billion, for the first time ever, through the Canada disability benefit, to provide additional support that will impact over 600,000 low-income Canadians with disabilities.

As we continue working with provinces and territories to better our health care and our social care system, in 2024-25, we have provided for over $7 billion through the Canada health transfer and over $2 billion through the Canada social transfer to British Columbia. These two transfers will help B.C. strengthen its health care system and further the impact of social programs like $10-a-day child care.

Budget 2024 is about fairness for every generation. It is about making life cost less and ensuring Canada's social safety network for every generation. We are helping youth in Canada with more support in student grants, loans, housing, mental health, employment and young entrepreneurship. For seniors in Canada, through the ongoing old age security program, we are delivering over $80 million in benefit payments to over seven million seniors this year alone.

Budget 2024 introduced a tax change on capital gains to make Canada's tax system more fair. We are increasing the inclusion rate on the capital gains that will impact only the wealthiest 0.13%. Personal income tax on capital gains will not increase for 99.87% of Canadians. Through our lifetime capital gains exemption, 88% of businesses in Canada, especially small businesses, will be exempt from tax on capital gains.

Budget 2024 is about fairness for every generation. That also includes our economy and a global earth where our children and their children and grandchildren can succeed and thrive. This is where we continue to build a climate-resilient generational economy, and we are securing the future of the Canadian economy in innovation sectors such as artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, research, renewable fuels and green infrastructures. We recognize the urgency of combatting climate change and building a climate-resilient economy. Budget 2024 seeks to minimize the impacts of climate change and safeguard the well-being of future generations.

Budget 2024 takes a team Canada approach, which has always been a core belief of our Liberal government. We will work together with provinces, territories, municipalities, the private sector and indigenous communities. We will not marginalize anyone who wants to do the right thing for Canadians; rather, we will be there to support them. As we continue on this transformative journey, let us seize the opportunities and work together to build a better future for all Canadians.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the Justin Trudeau government—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

The hon. member knows full well he cannot use the name of anyone sitting in the chamber. Maybe he could retract that and start again.

[Arnold Viersen, Conservative, Peace River—Westlock, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I recognize that I am not allowed to use proper names here.

After nine years of the Prime Minister, the budget is just more of the same mess. We have seen housing prices double. We have seen the carbon tax make everything more expensive. We have seen how crime and chaos have been unleashed across this country. When will the Prime Minister step aside so that we can have a carbon tax election?

[Wilson Miao, Liberal, Richmond Centre, BC]

Mr. Speaker, our country has gone through a pandemic, and many lives were lost, not just through the pandemic but also through the opioid crisis that we are still experiencing.

I have a question, though I know this is not how this works. What can we do better? If this is a messy situation, as the opposition party is claiming, how could we work together in the chamber to deliver more for Canadians so they could have a better life ahead of them?

[Kristina Michaud, Bloc, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Fisheries Minister and colleage of the member from Richmond-Centre mused to our local media that I have not read the budget.

Not only have I read the budget, but I even read the mini-scenarios the government uses in its budget to explain a budgetary measure it is announcing. My colleague spoke about a measure proposed by the government to create a subsidiary of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation to deliver a national flood insurance program. He wants to inject $15 million into it.

The scenario the government uses to explain this measure in the French version of the budget strikes me as particularly insensitive. It offers up the example of Josh and Fiona, a couple who own a home in an area with a high flood risk. As we know, “Fiona” is the name of the recent hurricane that tore through hundreds of homes and harbours in Canada, especially in the Maritimes and the Magdalen Islands.

It seems to me that by using the name of this storm to present a scenario in the budget, the government is showing how out of touch it is with the reality of families that may have lost their home to a flood.

Does my colleague agree that this could have been handled with a bit more sensitivity?

[Wilson Miao, Liberal, Richmond Centre, BC]

Mr. Speaker, in recent years we have seen many devastating impacts of climate change on our country, and not just with the floods that we are experiencing on the Atlantic coast. In B.C. right now it is not wildfire season, but wildfires have been starting. The member's question is a good one that we could explore when the budget is debated in committee, to better help Canadians with recovery and rebuilding in case of a devastating situation like the Fiona flood.

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have much to say about the budget. I am going to focus on one area, the issue around lifting people out of poverty, more particularly for people with disabilities.

I am absolutely disappointed with the budget. For people with disabilities, the budget includes only a $6-a-day level of support. That is what the disability benefit amounts to. It would not lift people with disabilities out of poverty; it would make them marginally less poor.

Meanwhile, the government does not take on big corporations and put forward an excess windfall tax so that it could take those resources and ensure that the people who are most vulnerable in our community are supported.

Will the member tell his own government to step up for people with disabilities and make sure that they are indeed lifted out of poverty, and not just with the $6-a-day support in budget 2024?

[Wilson Miao, Liberal, Richmond Centre, BC]

Mr. Speaker, in this budget, we have seen a $6-billion investment in Canadians with disabilities. This is not the only part that our government is working on. There is more to be done, and this is the first our government has put toward supporting Canadians with disabilities.

It is important for us to really look into this funding and how it impacts people, and also to not have the provinces or territories claw back that amount. There is definitely more work to be done, and I am here to fully support Canadians with disabilities.