Debates of June 18th, 2024

Employment

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, when we came to power, we made significant investments in training several million workers from coast to coast to coast. The additional investment in question was not renewed in the 2024 budget because it was a temporary measure.

We are here to work with the provinces. We are going to do that. We are going to continue to train nearly one million people a year. That is what we are doing. It is a shared jurisdiction. We are here for Canadian workers from coast to coast to coast.

Carbon Pricing

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal-NDP Prime Minister is robbing hard-working Canadians to pay for his out-of-control spending. The level of that thievery was exposed last week when the Liberals were forced to admit that their carbon tax scam robs our economy of $30 billion a year and it picks the pockets of every single Canadian family of $2,000 a year. The environment minister is not worth the economic vandalism he has wrought on Canadians.

Will the minister admit that his carbon tax is a scam and just resign?

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

Mr. Speaker, a deception was revealed last week. The deception was the fake pose of the Conservatives to pretend to be on the side of working people. Last week, we gave them a choice. We said they could be on the side of a nurse or a welder, a Canadian who lives from paycheque to paycheque, or they could side with a multi-millionaire. It did not surprise anyone on this side of the House that the Conservatives, yet again, chose their rich lobbyist friends. Shame on them.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP-Liberal carbon tax scam was exposed last week, and it confirms what every hard-working Canadian already knows: It makes life unaffordable. The Liberals' own data, which they desperately tried to hide, shows the Liberal carbon tax scam robs Canadian families of $2,000 a year. This is money that they would put on dance fees, hockey registration or a summer vacation, or just to put food on the table. The truth is hard-working Canadians cannot afford the environment minister's carbon tax scam.

Will he admit it is a failure, just resign and give Canadians a break?

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

Mr. Speaker, there really has been a scam that has been revealed. For weeks, for months, the Conservatives have been trying to distract and deceive. They have been trying to bamboozle Canadians. They have posed as being on the side of working people, on the side of people who live from paycheque to paycheque, but last week they showed their true colours and they voted against the plumber and the nurse. Now Canadians know whose side they are really on.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the environment minister has been caught covering up a damning secret from Canadians. After years of telling Canadians they would be better off from the carbon tax, his own government's data has proved him wrong. The carbon tax will cost the Canadian economy $30 billion every year. That is nearly $2,000 per Canadian family.

Now that we know the environment minister chose to vandalize the Canadian economy with this carbon tax, will he do the right thing and resign?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, the reality is that climate change has already cost Canadians $25 billion in the last 10 years alone. Not five years from now, not 10 years from now, it is already happening. If we do not do anything, it is going to be an extra $35 billion to Canadian taxpayers.

What we are doing on this side of the House is we are helping Canadians fight climate change and we are helping Canadians win affordability, which is why eight out of 10 Canadian families get more money back from carbon pricing than what they pay.

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP-Liberal costly coalition can no longer dispute the Parliamentary Budget Officer's finding that the carbon tax will cost most Canadians more than they pay in. The Liberals' own report, which Conservatives forced them to release, shows that carbon tax will cost every single family in Canada $2,000 per year and will cost the Canadian economy $30 billion per year. This is nothing short of economic vandalism.

After nine years, will the Prime Minister finally do the right thing and fire his environment minister, or will he once again prove he is not worth the cost?

[Seamus O'Regan, Liberal, Minister of Labour and Seniors]

Mr. Speaker, let us go through the numbers yet again. For a family of four in Alberta, it is $1,800; in Manitoba, it is $1,200; in Ontario, it is $1,120; in Saskatchewan, it is $1,504; in New Brunswick, it is $760; in Nova Scotia, it is $824; in PEI, it is $880; and in Newfoundland and Labrador, it is $1,192 a year. To most people, that is a lot of money. To these guys, it is phony.

Grocery Industry

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, people are increasingly turning to food banks in Halifax because of sky-high grocery prices, with food bank visits having risen by 21% since last year. Instead of tackling the corporate greed gouging these families, the Liberals gutted the NDP's bill to address price-fixing and harmful mergers that are increasing prices for Canadians. Just like the Conservatives, they would rather protect CEO profits over lowering prices for Canadians.

Why do the Liberals choose corporate power and profits over the people of Nova Scotia?

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

Mr. Speaker, we did not only choose the people of Nova Scotia, we chose all Canadians when we called all the CEOs of the grocery chains to come to explain themselves in Ottawa, to answer to this government and to answer to Canadians. We have introduced one of the most comprehensive reforms on competition because we want more choice, less consolidation and more competition. If the NDP and Conservatives want to do something, they should call Walmart and Costco, like I am doing, to ask them to sign the grocery code of conduct so we bring fairness in this country for all grocers across the nation.

Air Transportation

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Air Canada made $2 billion in profits last year, but apparently that was not enough, because now Canadians are facing steep summer price hikes at a time when they can least afford it. WestJet is even charging people $25 just to book a ticket by phone. These costs affect northern communities super hard, because flying is often the only option for people there. The government's response has been crickets.

Whether it is grocery chains, oil and gas companies or airlines, the Liberals seem perfectly fine with corporations gouging Canadians. Why is that?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, as my colleagues know, WestJet makes its own business decisions, but charging extras for customers who book flights over the phone makes absolutely no sense.

On this side of the aisle, we are working with the Canadian Transportation Agency to increase transparency of fees to make life more affordable. What are they doing? They are voting against all of that.

Indigenous Affairs

[Sonia Sidhu, Liberal, Brampton South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, June is National Indigenous History Month. It is time to reflect on the legacy and impacts of colonialism, and work together toward a better future. This is top of mind for the 12,000 first nations and non-indigenous residents who live in the Weeneebayko region in northern Ontario.

Could the Minister of Indigenous Services tell us what the government is doing to ensure that everyone has fair access to quality health care?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Indigenous Services and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Brampton South for her advocacy. She is right that for too long indigenous people have been facing discrimination as they access health care. However, everyone in the country has the right to quality health care.

In 2018, our government contributed $158 million to plan the replacement of the Weeneebayko hospital in northern Ontario. As I said in the House last month, we are going to get that health centre built. The federal government is contributing $1.2 billion so that all members in the Weeneebayko area region have equal access to health care.

Carbon Pricing

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the $30 billion carbon tax cover-up has been exposed. The costly cover-up coalition hid a secret government report proving that the carbon tax scam commits $30 billion of economic vandalism. The culprit of this cover-up is the environment minister, who has a profound love of orange jumpsuits and handcuffs. He did it to protect the leader of the NDP's pension. Those champagne socialists are not worth the cover-up or the cost.

Why has the environment minister not been fired for misleading Canadians?

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

Mr. Speaker, the average income in Calgary Forest Lawn is $35,000. The average person in Calgary Forest Lawn can only dream of having an income of more than $250,000 a year. However, their MP thinks that the average person earning $35,000 in Calgary Forest Lawn should pay tax at a higher rate than a multi-millionaire making a profit of more than $250,000 a year. That is shameful.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it looks like the minister has a Ph.D. in wackonomics. Facts are like common sense. In the government, they are not so common.

The proud socialist environment minister's woke, radical, extreme agenda sent two million Canadians to a food bank and one in four into poverty. His government hid a secret report that proves the carbon tax scam costs Canadians an extra $30 billion. If anyone in the private sector covered up a $30 billion loss from shareholders, they would be fired.

How the hell does that guy still have a job?

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

This is a message for all hon. members to be very careful about the language they use in the House.

The hon. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.

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

Mr. Speaker, let me share some economic analysis, “Here we have a monstrous policy of transferring wealth from wage-earners to asset-holders, from the working class to the wealthy....Here we have a policy that is specifically designed to transfer wealth from those who earn wages to those who earn capital gains through their assets.” Who said that? The current Conservative leader. He was railing against the holders of assets and claiming to support working people, but we learned last week that is fake populism.

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

Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the NDP-Liberal government, Canada is on track for the worst living standards in 40 years.

Now the Prime Minister and his radical finance minister are hiking taxes on farmers to pay for their inflationary spending, all during a food crisis. A new report indicates that the Liberal's job-killing tax hike will cost average farmers 30% more in taxes.

Canadians know that when you tax a farmer who grows the food and tax a trucker who ships the food, it is all Canadians who pay the price. How is that fair?

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

Mr. Speaker, as the proud daughter of a farmer, I know the huge contribution farmers make to our country. That is why I am glad that with these tax measures, we are able to increase the lifetime capital gains exemption to $1.25 million for each farmer in Canada.

I also know that farmers are hard-working people. They are on the side of the working people, not on the side of the multi-millionaires, but that is not the side the Conservatives are on.

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

Mr. Speaker, more Canadians are struggling to feed their families, and 25% of Canadians are living in poverty. The Liberals can spin this a hundred different ways, but Canadians know the truth.

First, the government punished Canadians with the carbon tax. Now, it is imposing a job-killing tax hike on the people who produce and provide the services we need to survive. The farmers, welders, plumbers, home builders, doctors and small business owners will all be decimated by this hike.

Will the minister commit to exempting any Canadian earning less than $120,000 a year from this job-killing tax hike?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are showing not only that they are fake populists, but also that they are populists who cannot do math.

We have been really clear that the new level of capital gains inclusion kicks in only after each individual has made $250,000 in capital gains, and they can do that every single year. That is the reality, and the Conservatives are ashamed of themselves.

Official Languages

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the federal government is slipping again when it comes to the French language. Canada Post is hiring unilingual anglophone mail carriers in Belœil and in Saint‑Rémi. Canada Post claims that people do not have to speak French to deliver the mail. Let us remind them that in Quebec, we work in French. We will not tolerate Canada Post anglicizing the workplace of Quebec employees.

It is just further evidence that the Charter of the French Language should be paramount. Knowledge of French is essential in Quebec.

Will the minister immediately set Canada Post straight?