Debates of Sept. 18th, 2024

Finance

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years of this costly NDP carbon tax coalition, what has happened? What is up? Taxes are up, costs are up, crime is up and time is up. What Canadians need is hope. They can choose a common-sense government that axes taxes, builds homes, fixes the budget and stops the crime, so they can earn powerful paycheques and pensions that buy affordable food, gas and homes in safe neighbourhoods protected by a strong military. Why can we not bring it home now?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, that little performance shows just how much the Leader of the Opposition loves his slogans but does not actually put forward any—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

I am going to ask members, as I had asked a previous member before, to please not take the floor unless they are recognized. I will ask the right hon. Prime Minister to start from the top.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we point out the performance of the Leader of the Opposition, and his colleagues get all upset because they know that he does not actually care about Canadians. He does not care about the programs we are delivering. He does not care about stepping up to support Canadians. He is actually in a bad mood because inflation has come down to 2% and it ruins his little “Justinflation” slogan. He is so upset because he cares about his own interests and not the interests of Canadians. We are going to stay focused on the things that matter for people while he spins little rhymes and tosses out his slogans. We will take this seriously, as we always have.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the “Justinflation” tag line works now better than ever. He can try to call himself Rocky Balboa and play fight songs to aggrandize himself as the star, but the people lined up at food banks, two million of them every month, know better. The people who are living in the 1,800 Ontario tent encampments know better. In the 35 homeless encampments in Halifax, the people there know better. They know that we need to fire this costly carbon tax coalition so we can elect a common-sense government that will bring it home for them.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, he sure loves to declaim about vulnerable people and perform his supposed empathetic concern, but the reality is he is using vulnerable people for his own political gains. If he actually cared about people, he would not have voted against dental care for 700,000 seniors; he would not have voted against a school food policy that is helping families with 800 dollars' worth of groceries a year. He is not making the investments in Canadians. He wants to cut programs and make Canadians suffer, so he can sit in the big chair.

Diversity and Inclusion

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister appointed a special representative on combatting Islamophobia. Ms. Elghawaby felt that her mandate allowed her to accuse Quebec universities of not protecting what she called “the safety of students”. Maybe the concept of Islamophobia means different things to different people. Some people even say it is simply an instrument of liberal political activism.

For our general edification, I would like to know how the Prime Minister defines Islamophobia.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, this government has recognized the rise in intolerance of all kinds across the country. We have a duty to identify, recognize, and fight such intolerance. That is why we appointed a special representative on combatting Islamophobia. We have a special representative for combatting anti-Semitism. Unlike the Bloc Québécois, we recognize the existence of systemic discrimination within all of our institutions.

We must recognize the challenges so that we can bring Canadians together, recognize the challenges we face, and work together to create a country that is more peaceful and more respectful than it is now.

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

Mr. Speaker, this is no small matter. The Prime Minister does not know the definition of Islamophobia.

Without a definition, does he believe that criticizing Quebec universities is likely to reduce Islamophobia, whatever that might be, or will it instead pit Canadians against Quebeckers?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as the member opposite well knows, I am a proud Quebecker. I am proud that the Liberal Party of Canada has more members from Quebec than the Bloc Québécois.

We are proud Quebeckers, and we know that, in every province and in every institution across the country, we have systemic racism and discrimination challenges we must address.

That is the work we are doing because we know that everyone needs to feel included and respected within our country. Unfortunately, intolerance is on the rise across the country. It is incumbent upon all of us to bring people together and listen to each other.

Health

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Conservative governments across the country are privatizing our health care. They want to make people pay to see a doctor. It is no different in Quebec.

However, this Prime Minister is too weak to stand up to the Conservatives. People are paying the price. What will it take for him to get a backbone and defend the principles of public, universal health care?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we all know that the NDP cares about progressive values across the country, but it cannot get the job done.

We were very happy to work with the NDP to do meaningful things for the health care systems, child care, for Canadians, but, unfortunately, they are the ones who are afraid of the Conservatives. They are the ones who decided to stop working for Canadians.

It is not always easy to put forward progressive policies, but we are determined to continue to do that. We will continue to defend our public health care system. We will continue to invest in Canadians.

Unfortunately, the NDP cannot say the same.

Grocery Industry

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

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are failing on health care, and they are failing on groceries. One year ago today, the Liberals met with Canada's grocery CEOs and promised to stabilize prices. A year later, prices are still up, and grocery CEOs are still gouging families struggling to put food on the table.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives remain silent on grocery greed; they want to give even more taxpayer money to the CEOs. Canadians are fed up. They are working harder and falling farther behind.

Why does the Prime Minister keep caving to CEOs while Canadians pay the price?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, the NDP is taking a page out of the Conservative playbook and choosing slogans rather than doing the hard work that will actually help Canadians.

We have delivered some of the most comprehensive reforms to the Competition Act in order to hold big grocers accountable for the work that they are doing in terms of delivering for Canadians. We have also moved forward on a national school food program that is putting more food in the bellies of 400,000 kids across the country as provinces come on board, and it is going to save parents up to $800 on their grocery bills.

These are tangible things that we are busy delivering while the Conservatives are playing politics.

Carbon Pricing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, on April 30, 2014, The New York Times put out “Life in Canada, Home of the World's Most Affluent Middle Class”.

Today, almost a decade after the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister has been in what he calls the “big chair”, Canada's GDP per capita is actually down, while the American one is up 19%. His carbon taxes are strangling growth.

How could the solution possibly be to quadruple the tax to 61¢ a litre and send more jobs and businesses south?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we know the Leader of the Opposition does not believe in climate change and does not believe in putting more money in the pockets of Canadians with a Canada carbon rebate.

How many wildfires, hurricanes and droughts are going to go after Canadians' lives and livelihoods before he understands we cannot have a plan for the economy unless we have a plan for the environment?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister does not have a plan for either, as evidenced by the fact that he came completely unglued on a radio station the other day. He started spitting out personal insults and crying “liar, liar, liar” when he learned I had pointed to the government's report. It showed that the carbon tax will blow a $25-billion to $30-billion hole in our GDP. This was from a report the government tabled in the House of Commons.

If, in fact, the government is lying about the true cost of the carbon tax to our economy, then what is the true cost?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentary Budget Officer demonstrated that eight out of 10 Canadian families do better with the Canada carbon rebate every three months over the cost of the price on pollution. On top of that, Canadians know the price on pollution has brought down our emissions faster than has happened in any other G7 country; at the same time, it is supporting Canadians in the middle class and those working hard to join it.

We are going to continue to fight climate change and invest in a strong economy for the future while the Leader of the Opposition continues to deny climate change and cut programs and services that Canadians rely on.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, someone cannot sit in the big chair if they cannot read their own government documents.

Environment and Climate Change Canada's carbon pollution pricing data, tabled in the House by the government, said that it will cost between $25 billion and $30 billion in lost GDP when the tax is implemented. A further document tabled by the environment minister on carbon tax 2 says there will be another $9-billion hole, for a total of between $34 billion and $40 billion. Now he screams that this is all lies.

Again, if the government documents are lying, what is the true cost of the carbon tax to our economy?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, every Canadian, except perhaps the Canadians in the Conservative Party of Canada, understands that the costs of inaction on climate change will be catastrophic, not just with wildfires, droughts, floods and hurricanes, but with lost economic opportunity, lost jobs and lost growth for Canadians as we solve the challenges of the 21st century.

We are choosing to invest in a strong economy for the future. We are choosing to fight climate change and develop the solutions that the world is going to need, while the leader of the opposition offers a do-nothing climate change plan that will cost Canadians billions.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's carbon tax has not stopped a single flood or single fire in this country. He has not stopped any natural disasters. What he has done is driven Canadians into poverty. Quadrupling the tax to 61¢ a litre will cause a nuclear winter for our economy, something that his carbon tax coalition partners in the NDP have voted to bring about.

If he really is so confident in a 61¢-a-litre tax, why does he not call a carbon tax election and let Canadians decide?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the problem with the Leader of the Opposition is that he believes in slogans; he just does not believe in climate change.

The fact is, our plan to fight climate change is not just putting more money in the pockets of eight out of 10 Canadians across the country, but is bringing down emissions and creating jobs and opportunity for Canadians for generations to come. His climate change denialism, his do-nothing plan to fight climate change, is going to hurt Canadians.

We are going to continue to build a strong economy for the future because we know that fighting climate change is part of it.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is not fighting climate change. He is driving production out of Canada to more polluting foreign jurisdictions rather than using our common-sense plan to green-light green projects that produce more energy around the world and displace emissions. That is a common-sense approach.

The Prime Minister will still not answer the question on the full cost of his two carbon taxes. I have cited government documents tabled in the House that say that they will total between $34 billion and $40 billion per year in lost GDP and jobs. If his government documents are wrong, then what is the true loss of GDP as a result of his 61¢-a-litre carbon tax?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition talks about driving investment out of Canada. He must be remembering his own time as minister, because since 2016, foreign direct investment is up 60% in this country. Last year, we were third in the world after the U.S. and Brazil, which makes us number one for foreign investment in the G20 per capita.

The reality is, we are continuing to show the world that it can have confidence in Canada and in Canadians. Why does he not have confidence in Canadians? Why will he not invest in Canada?