House of Commons Hansard #343 of the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was conservative.
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, screaming and hollering will not distract from the very serious question I asked.
Can the Prime Minister tell us how many nurses and how many teachers will lose their job because his greedy carbon tax quadrupling will drive up costs to heat schools and hospitals?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, teachers and nurses across the country are terrified of Conservative policies that cut programs, cut services and cut supports for the most vulnerable and for those who work hard to care for other Canadians.
Whether it is his opposition to pharmacare, which would be delivering free insulin and free prescription contraceptives, or to investing in a school food program that will help 400,000 kids with more food right across the country, the Conservative leader has opposed the things that nurses and teachers care most about. Let us not take any lessons from him.
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister goes from screaming and waving his arms erratically when I mention the carbon tax to bragging about a program that does not even exist. His multi-million dollar school food program has not served a single ham sandwich or a single little bowl of Kraft Dinner, not one meal to one child. It exists to feed bureaucracy in Ottawa, not kids in schools.
Once again, he should put aside the grand dramatic performances and answer the question. How many doctors, nurses and teachers will lose their job because of the quadrupling carbon tax?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, I think it would be instructive to look at how many doctors and teachers have lost their jobs because of Conservative governments over the past number of decades. That is exactly what the Conservative leader is proposing once again. I once had a job as a teacher, and I was proud of serving kids every day. I have not just been in the House for 20 years like the Leader of the Opposition.
Carbon PricingOral Questions
Justin Trudeau Liberal Papineau, QC
Mr. Speaker, yes, I was proud to be a schoolteacher, because it was a way of having a positive impact on the lives of thousands of kids over the course of my career. I am proud to bring their voices into this House and continue to put forward how we support our kids and how we support the vulnerable, as opposed to the cuts the Conservatives propose.
Yves-François Blanchet Bloc Beloeil—Chambly, QC
Mr. Speaker, this is not a race, but let us talk a bit about the numbers. The Bloc Québécois's proposal, its request to adjust the numbers for seniors, amounts to about $80 a month, or roughly $1,000 a year, for each year. That is not a one-time treatment. It is not interference in Quebec's exclusive jurisdictions. Dental care should be Quebec's responsibility. Federal pensions are Ottawa's responsibility.
If the Prime Minister respects the jurisdiction of the National Assembly of Quebec, we will talk. If not, we will get ready to head out in our buses and talk to everyone.
What does he choose?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, over the past few years, we have invested heavily in helping seniors. We will continue to look at ways to help them. I think we can all agree that certain vulnerable people need even more help. That is why we are putting a dental care program in place.
As I told my provincial colleagues and partners, if they want to offer the same program at the same cost, we would be more than happy to discuss it with them.
For now, however, we are there to meet our commitments to vulnerable people and seniors. This program has delivered dental care to some 750,000 people across the country.
Yves-François Blanchet Bloc Beloeil—Chambly, QC
Mr. Speaker, one does not preclude the other.
The two bills we are talking about, both introduced by the Bloc Québécois, are quite far along in the process. All parties in the House have supported them at various stages. The government was given plenty of time, and this should, in theory, even get the social democrats in the NDP on board.
Does the Prime Minister realize that the clock is ticking? Will he actually start delivering results for seniors and farmers?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, as I said, we are here to deliver for seniors. We have done so and will continue to do so.
With regard to farmers, I made a promise that no new negotiations or any negotiations for free trade agreements would infringe on or take anything away from our supply-managed sectors.
We are here to protect our farmers. I have made this firm commitment, and we will always fulfill that commitment. We will continue to work together to protect farmers and supply management and, yes, to support our seniors.
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, an April 30, 2014, New York Times headline reads, “Life in Canada, Home of the World's Most Affluent Middle Class”. My, how things have changed after nine years of NDP-Liberals. The economy today per capita is actually smaller than it was 10 years ago. Per capita income in Canada has dropped more than in any other G7 country since the year before COVID. The gap between U.S. GDP per capita and Canadian is now 50%, the biggest gap in 100 years.
Will the Prime Minister recognize that taxing, punishing and attacking our businesses is losing us jobs?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, what the Leader of the Opposition refuses to accept is that cuts to services and programs that Canadians are relying on is not going to grow the economy, is not going to help anyone through. We have the strongest balance sheet in the G7 right now, the lowest deficit, the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio. Companies from around the world are investing in Canada because they believe in Canadians. We are wanting to set that strong fiscal position in service of Canadians who are hurting right now. We want to invest more in dental, more in supports, more in growth and jobs, and he wants to cut at this particular time.
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister, Canada has the worst mortgage debt, the worst housing inflation in the G7, and now the worst GDP per capita change since the Great Depression and the worst by far in the G7. Those devastating statistics result in very real human costs. That is the reason we have 1,400 homeless encampments in one province alone and two million people lined up at food banks.
Will he not realize that doubling housing costs and taxing people's food has very real human costs?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, when that individual was Harper's failed housing minister, he built only six affordable homes across the entire country. He did not help with the investments Canadians needed. His so-called housing plan that he talks about now, which is, again, more performance than substance, lots of slogans, no actual solutions, is not going to deliver for Canadians either. We are doing what he did not do, which is work with housing advocates, work with municipalities, work with provinces and deliver the homes Canadians need.
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, when I was housing minister, rent and mortgage payments were half of what they are now, and there were almost 200,000 of those affordable homes built right across Canada. Now, the Prime Minister wants to bring in a massive tax on home builders with hikes to capital gains. The most pre-eminent economist in Canada, Jack Mintz, reveals that would cost our economy 400,000 jobs and $90 billion.
Where are those 400,000 unemployed Canadians going to be able to get the money to pay their mortgages?
The EconomyOral Questions
The Speaker Greg Fergus
Before the right hon. Prime Minister takes the floor, I would like to remind all members to please not take the floor when they are not recognized by the Chair.
The right hon. Prime Minister.
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition is instrumentalizing Canadians who are suffering right now to try to score cheap political points. What he is not offering is any sort of solution for Canadians.
We put forward the most ambitious housing plan in decades because we know that working with municipalities, with provinces and with non-profit agencies and charitable foundations is a way of delivering homes. I was just in Vancouver speaking to a young student who got into an apartment because of partnerships this government set up. These are things that make a real difference in people's lives, but he does not care.
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, I will comment on one spectacular social housing project of his and that is the brand-new, lavish apartment he bought his friend the new consul general to New York. It cost $9 million for his friend Tom Clark to have a “stunning powder room...finished in jewel onyx”, “Cristallo Gold quartzite countertops”, a handcrafted “copper soaking tub”, “custom bronze [bathroom] fixtures” and a $5,000 coffee machine.
Did the Prime Minister go and inspect this palace in the sky on his recent trip to New York?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, engaging with international leaders on fighting climate change, on solving global crises, on standing up unequivocally for Ukraine—
The EconomyOral Questions
The Speaker Greg Fergus
Colleagues, just as I said earlier, I would ask all members to please not take the floor unless they are recognized by the Speaker so we can hear the questions and we can hear the answers.
The right hon. Prime Minister, from the top, please.
Justin Trudeau Liberal Papineau, QC
Mr. Speaker, do not worry. On this side of the House, we are used to casual homophobic comments from the other side of the House. What is it about the—