Mr. Speaker, on May 9, I rose in this chamber to ask the Minister of Finance when the Liberal government would stop sitting on the $2.5 billion in promised carbon tax rebates while business insolvencies skyrocket and small businesses suffer under higher taxes and inflation. Indeed, this promise was originally made in 2019.
In the budget, I will admit, the government did announce that carbon tax rebates would be forthcoming. However, it did take five years and this is a tax that 80% of small businesses want eliminated. This spring, however, the Liberals announced that they will reduce the amount of financial relief businesses will receive from carbon tax revenue in 2024 from 9% to 5%. Small businesses, as a result of the government's economic failure and incompetence, are drowning in debt and are struggling to stay afloat. Skyrocketing commercial rent, payroll and carbon tax increases, and Liberal red tape have created an impossible economic situation for many businesses across Canada. The latest report from the superintendent of bankruptcy revealed a 58.6% increase, year-over-year, in business insolvencies across Canada for the period ending April 30, 2024.
Statistics Canada reported that in February, more businesses closed their doors than opened. The largest declines were seen in transportation and warehousing, construction, so we think of home building, accommodation and food services. The labour force survey each month continues to highlight the massive gap in public sector job growth and private sector job growth. The growth in size of the public service is greatly outpacing private sector job growth. Quality of life is also continuing to decline in our country and our economy is underperforming the American economy by the widest margin since 1965. Among our G7 peers, only Italy has seen a greater decline in labour productivity compared to the United States.
In 1984, Canada produced 88% of the value generated by the U.S. economy per hour. By 2022, that figure had fallen to 71%. Again, only Italy performed worse over the same period. If the government truly had the back of small businesses, as I have heard in this House during QP, the situation would, in fact, look very different.
Rather than taxing Canadians into oblivion and offering a woefully insufficient rebate, far less than was originally promised, the government could start controlling its spending and stop driving up inflation and create a competitive economy for our small businesses to thrive. Indeed, the statistics I outlined do not lie.
If this government truly “urgently” wants to return the proceeds from the carbon tax, then I will ask: why did it take five years for this government to make an announcement? On what day will small businesses start receiving this rebate?
Secondly, why did the government reduce the amount given to small businesses from 9% to 5%?