Debates of June 19th, 2024

The Economy

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, if the Leader of the Opposition actually cared more about Canadians than he does about his own political interests, he would be supporting the 400,000 kids we are going to help with the national school food program. Instead of opposing it at every turn, he would be voting in favour of the dental care program that has already helped over 200,000 seniors and will, as of next week, start helping young people and Canadians with disabilities. He would be standing with us on expanding child care spaces instead of campaigning against it.

However, he does not care about Canadians. He cares only about himself.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, these are the same promises that he has been making for nine years. Instead of the theoretical utopia that he has promised, what Canadians are living through is hell. There are tent cities popping up across the country in places they never existed before. There are two million people lined up at food banks, with one in 10 Torontonians included in that number. Toronto is a town where, right now, it is impossible for almost anyone to afford a home, and there are 256 tent cities.

Why will he not recognize that these are the very real consequences of his policy of wackonomics?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, our plan is to invest in the most ambitious housing plan this country has ever seen and to invest in supports for seniors, supports for young people and supports for Canadians with disabilities. The Conservative leader is choosing to demonstrate what everyone knows Conservative parties do, which is protect the wealthiest and let everyone else fend for themselves. While we are asking the wealthiest Canadians to pay a little more by raising the capital gains inclusion rate for anyone making over $250,000 in a given year on selling properties, he is standing with the wealthiest, not with the middle class and people working hard to join it.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the middle class does not exist after nine years of the Prime Minister. Here are the facts: Of young people, 76% believe they will never afford a home. There are 38% more homeless people, and, in Toronto alone, 256 homeless encampments. Two million people lined up at a food bank, and one in four Canadians is skipping meals because they cannot afford the price of food.

Is this what he meant when he said sunny ways for the middle class?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have seen throughout this session, and indeed throughout his career, which covers more than 19 years as a parliamentarian, that the leader of the Conservative Party is very quick to use sound bites that use Canadians, that exacerbate, exaggerate and indeed amplify the real concerns people are facing, but he is nowhere on solutions for them. He is standing against dental care, against pharmacare, against investments in the middle class and people working hard to join it, and against investments to create jobs and a future for Canadians because all he cares about is himself and his future.

Official Languages

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

Mr. Speaker, according to Canada Post, employees do not need to speak French to deliver or sort mail in Quebec. The reason given is that letter carriers do not talk to anyone, not even the dogs chasing them, not at the post office, not on the street, not at people's homes, never.

Will the Prime Minister call Canada Post to order and demand that its employees in Quebec speak French?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, our government has always been there to defend official languages in Canada. We were the first federal government to recognize that we have a special responsibility to protect French, including in Quebec. That is why we will continue to ensure that the Official Languages Act is respected across the country, including in federal institutions like Canada Post. We will follow up on this issue, because it is important that we continue to defend our two official languages across Canada.

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

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to French, the Liberal government is a false advertiser. In public, with their grand gestures and ridiculous rhetoric, more reminiscent of Molière than Shakespeare, the Liberals love the French language, save for a few outliers in Montreal. The truth is that the government is looking on as French declines everywhere, all the time, yet it invests in protecting English.

Does the Prime Minister recognize that his policies are causing French to decline?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I understand that the Bloc Québécois is constantly trying to pick fights over identity issues. The truth is that no previous federal government has done more than we have to protect and support official languages across the country, including to protect French in Quebec. We will always be there to defend official languages, and we will always be there to defend linguistic minorities. I know that the Bloc Québécois cares nothing about francophone communities in Canada outside Quebec, but we will be there for the official languages across the country.

The Economy

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, in this last week of Parliament, the Prime Minister showed us whose side he is really on. At a time when one in four Canadians is living in poverty, the out of touch Liberals voted against stronger penalties for corporations that are ripping off Canadians and against banning mergers that hurt people.

Why is the Prime Minister letting corporations rip off Canadians when one out of four is living in poverty?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as a government, we have been focused from day one on helping young Canadians succeed. That is why, on day one, we raised taxes on the wealthiest 1% and lowered them for the middle class, which, at the time, the NDP voted against. We have continued to step up on asking the wealthiest to pay a little more in this most recent budget by raising the capital gains inclusion tax so that people making $250,000 or more on capital gains share a little more of those profits with Canadians who actually need it.

Unfortunately, once again, the Conservatives have aligned themselves with the wealthiest in this country and are not there for people who need it.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the Prime Minister is letting big corporations continue to rip off Canadians.

In our country, 25% of the population is living in poverty. The Prime Minister cannot even support the words “lowering prices for Canadians” in my bill.

I know the Prime Minister has not experienced the kind of challenges people are living through today, but how can he be so out of touch?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we recognize that Canadians are struggling with affordability challenges. That is why we are setting up programs and making investments that are helping people. I am talking about $10 day care, pharmacare for insulin and reproductive health, a code of conduct for major grocery chains to better protect consumers and a national school food program to ensure that 400,000 children will have access to meals.

We will continue to be there to help Canadians and to make sure that those who are better off pay their fair share.

Foreign Affairs

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, a vote in Parliament in favour of banning the IRGC was not enough to convince the Prime Minister to list it as a terrorist organization six years ago. The organization killing 55 Canadians in an unprovoked attack on a passenger aircraft was not enough to make him do it. Even its role in the October 7 attack and its subsequent role in inciting hatred on our streets was not enough. It took a by-election for the Prime Minister to change his mind.

Why is the Prime Minister always putting his political security above national security?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, today we have listed the IRGC as a terrorist entity. This sends a strong message that Canada will use all tools of our disposal to hold the Iranian regime to account. There can be no impunity for Iran's disregard for human rights and its support of terrorism. This is yet another of the extremely strong measures we have taken against the Iranian regime, some of the strongest measures in the world.

Carbon Pricing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister was also forced to release data from his own government showing that there would be a $30-billion-a-year hit to our economy as a result of his job-killing carbon tax, data that he had, up until then, been hiding. He has been going around claiming that Canadians are better off because they pay this tax.

Did the calculations that went into his “eight out of 10 Canadians” talking points include this $30-billion-a-year cost to the Canadian economy and to Canadian families?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentary Budget Officer has confirmed that eight out of 10 Canadians in jurisdictions that have the federal carbon price get more money back from the Canada carbon rebate than they pay with this price on pollution. That is fact. The Conservative leader has been using erroneous figures, which the Parliamentary Budget Officer has said he made a mistake on, to continue to attack our plan on fighting climate change and putting more money back in people's pockets. Eight out of 10 Canadians are better off.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, does that include the $30-billion-a-year economic cost when distributed among those eight out of 10 families?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the Conservatives are basing their attacks on climate action and affordability on erroneous calculations that the Parliamentary Budget Officer has admitted that he made. The fact that the Parliamentary Budget Officer also calculated, without making any mistakes, that eight out of 10 Canadians are better off with the Canada carbon rebate and the price on pollution means that we are not only fighting climate change and bringing down emissions, but also putting more money back in the pockets of Canadians who need support right now, money that the Conservative Party wants to take away.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I am not using Parliamentary Budget Officer numbers. I am using numbers that the Liberal government has now published. The government has admitted that its carbon tax will hit Canadians with $30 billion in annual losses to wages and higher prices. That is the government's data. It published those numbers.

Once again, I have a very specific question: When the Prime Minister claims that eight out of 10 families are better off, does that include the $30 billion in costs that he now admits the government will impose on the economy?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I do not know how much clearer I can be, but I will try.

Based on everything the government knows, all the studies we have made and all the studies the Parliamentary Budget Officer has made, we can affirm very clearly, and it is backed up by independent economists, that eight out of 10 families in jurisdictions across the country where the federal price on pollution applies do better off with more money in their pockets than the price on pollution costs them with the Canada carbon rebate.

Liberals are fighting to put more money in the pockets of Canadians, and the Conservatives are wrong on this.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister cannot say yes because he knows that, when we take the $30 billion a year and divide it by the 17 million Canadian families, we come up with almost $2,000 per Canadian family based on numbers published by his own government. It is like he is saying someone can afford a house as long as they do not take into consideration the down payment and the monthly mortgage payments. If we take out $30 billion of costs, we do not have a real calculation.

Why does the Prime Minister not put the $30 billion back into the calculator and show Canadians whether they are really better off?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, it is quite stunning to hear the leader lay it out so clearly that all of his math depends on one factor that he believes, which is climate change is not real. That is according to the Leader of the Opposition. That is the only way to make sure his math works. He says there are no costs to Canadians from extreme weather events and there are no costs to Canadians about degrading competition when the world is switching toward greener solutions. If people do not believe in climate change, then his math works. However, if we know that climate change is a real threat to Canadians and the economy, then we need to act, and that is what we are doing.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, all we have to accept is the fact that the Prime Minister's carbon tax will not reduce, by one penny, the cost of climate change to Canadians. It will not eliminate one flood, one drought, one storm or one anything. The carbon tax literally does nothing to change the weather or the climate. What it does is make Canadians poorer.

Will the Prime Minister finally admit that all along he has been misleading Canadians, and that he knew he had the data that Canadians pay more, get less and get screwed over by the carbon tax?

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

I encourage all members to try to find ways to use polite words in the House of Commons.

The right hon. Prime Minister.