Debates of June 12th, 2024

Taxation

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, a wonderful grandmother, 93-year-old Liz Diachun, is severing a few lots off her long-time family farm to give to her kids and grandkids so that they can have a place to live in this terrible housing crisis. She was surprised to learn she is going to be paying this latest Liberal tax increase. She was asked, “Are you rich?” She said, “Are you kidding me? I am on a pension.”

Will the finance minister amend her bill so that low-income grandmothers who are passing on a bit of land for their kids to live on will not be hit by this tax increase?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I want to share another quote: “the wealthiest 1% who own the most expensive and luxurious real estate and have in their portfolios the most stocks and bonds...will continue to see their net worth expand, having done nothing, by the way, to deserve that expanded net worth.” That is a quote from the member for Carleton, but that was when he was being a fake populist. When they sell those assets, they accrue a capital gain. We think more of it should be taxed.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, Liz Diachun is not among the wealthy one per cent the member just described. She has a pension of probably $45,000 a year. She is a grandmother who is simply trying to sever off a few lots so that her kids and her grandkids can have a place to live. Those lots have enough value that they will be hit by capital gains tax, and they are over $250,000, so she will pay the 66% tax. Very simply, will the minister amend the law so that this wonderful grandmother does not have to pay higher taxes?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I think the Conservative leader is a bit confused; he seemed to think that the words I quoted were mine. I was, in fact, quoting him. I was quoting his words about the wealthiest 1% and their stock portfolios and luxury real estate, but that was back when the Conservative leader was pretending to be a friend of working people. He was pretending to be on the side of the little guy. Yesterday we learned that is just not true, but we are on the side of fairness.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, it is true that this government has unjustly enriched the wealthiest 1% with its inflationary policies. So, let us just make sure that no one else pays the bill for that. Will the minister accept an amendment to her proposal to ensure that the 99% of lowest-income earners do not pay this tax increase so this wonderful grandmother does not have to pay the bill?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the leader opposite has spent the entire question period talking about electricians, farmers, fishers and carpenters—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

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

The hon. government House leader can start from the top.

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the leader opposite cites electricians, carpenters and plumbers. I come from a family, as do many of us, of farmers and electricians and people who bring home a T4 slip at the end of the year. These people who earn an honest paycheque, what do they expect from their government? They expect tax fairness. We are asking all those who gain $250,000 on their investments in a given year, 0.13% of the population, to pay a little bit more. I do not know any electricians who are in that category.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, if that were true, then the Liberals would be prepared to put in writing, in the law, that no farmer, fisher or electrician will pay any new tax under this increase. Will they?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, what will be in the law is that anyone who makes a capital gain over $250,000 in a given year, the first $250,000 being exempt, 50% inclusion rate, will pay 66%. That is less than what Brian Mulroney asked them to pay. It gets us closer to the fairness that is being asked for by the electricians, the farmers, the teachers, the nurses, the fishers, the people in Canada who expect us to stand up for tax fairness, and against that.

Justice

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker,

Allah, take care of these Zionist aggressors. Allah, take care of the enemies of the people of Gaza. Allah, identify them all, then exterminate them. And don't spare any of them.

That is what Adil Charkaoui said in Montreal on October 28, 2023.

He did not suffer any consequences because, in Canada, the law allows a person to ask for the extermination of an entire people under the cover of religion. The RCMP is calling for the modernization of the Criminal Code so that it will be better equipped to deal with hate crimes. The Bloc Québécois is proposing that this religious exemption be repealed.

Will the minister support us?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, no form of hatred will ever be tolerated. Our government will always fight any form of hatred, whether it be discrimination, racism, Islamophobia or anti-Semitism. Religion must not become an excuse for spreading such hatred.

That is why the government introduced its bill to address online hate. I hope that the Bloc Québécois will support it.

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government tells us that Canada is secular, but that is not true. The religious exemption is the opposite of secularism. It allows for the commission of a crime that would otherwise be punishable under the law. Hate speech incites violence.

Is it normal to be able to hide behind a god? Should the Criminal Code include religious exemptions, as in the current case, that justify calling for the extermination of people in the form of a prayer?

We know that is preposterous. The RCMP knows it. The government knows it.

Will the government vote in favour of the Bloc Québécois's bill and abolish the religious exemption?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, Canada is a secular country, a secular society. No form of hate speech will be accepted or tolerated. We have always fought against it and that is precisely why we introduced a bill to combat online hate, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and all forms of discrimination because hate, whether online or in the street, hurts individuals and society. I hope that the Bloc Québécois will vote with the government.

Taxation

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the minister proposes this new tax increase on every single dollar that a fisherman earns inside of his small business. There is no $250,000 exemption for him. Even if he just earns $1,000, he will have to pay the tax increase. We forget that it is not just our wonderful farmers who feed us, but also our fishermen.

Will the finance minister amend her bill to ensure that there will not be a single fish harvester anywhere in Canada who will face a tax increase?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I grew up in Atlantic Canada. I grew up as the grandson of two dairy farmers. I grew up around an awful lot of fishers. I grew up around people who worked with their hands and did not think that electricians got electricity from the sky, but rather by plugging into the wall.

What I would like to challenge the leader to do is this. He should gather all of the electricians who think they should not pay for capital gains of over $250,000, and I will get together all the electricians who think that a buck is a buck is a buck, and we will compare—

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

The hon. leader of the official opposition.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, will the Liberals exempt electricians from this tax hike?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, for the past couple of years, the Conservative leader has been cosplaying as a friend of union workers, but yesterday we called his bluff, and Conservatives know it.

Here is what the president of the CLC said: “With this vote [the Conservative leader] has shown that he believes that an ordinary worker flipping burgers for a living should be taxed on 100% of their income while his CEO friends making millions of dollars from flipping stocks should be taxed only on half of that income”.

That is what the Conservatives believe, and it is shameful.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, there are many union workers who have rental properties that they invest in. Will the minister make the commitment that no union worker will have to pay this tax increase?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I do not know which union workers the member has been talking to, but the union workers I talk to, those we talk to and have dialogue with, and whom the finance minister just quoted, are people who believe in solidarity, who believe in caring for others, who believe in dental plans, child care, the Canada child benefit and every other single thing that the leader has voted against, the very things that this fairness tax measure will pay for.

Therefore, yes, we accept the leader's challenge. Let us talk to union members and see what side of the equation they come down on.

Housing

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Mr. Speaker, every Canadian deserves a safe and affordable place to call home. We know that people in vulnerable situations struggle to find affordable housing that meets their needs. We need to build more homes and make the housing market fairer for everyone.

Can the Minister of Veterans Affairs tell us what the government is doing to ensure that Canadians can access safe, affordable housing?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend and colleague for his important question.

Our government is working hard to get more affordable housing built. This year, I had the privilege of announcing $6.7 million in funding to build more housing in my beautiful riding of Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe. This funding will help people experiencing homelessness as well as women and children fleeing domestic violence to have access to housing. Our government will always be there to support Canadians.

Taxation

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, would the minister accept an amendment to her proposed tax hike to exempt carpenters, plumbers, electricians and farmers, yes or no?