Madam Speaker, I was proud to be elected as part of a Conservative government that expanded the promise of a better Canada, lowered inflation, cut the GST and taxes for small business, and balanced the budget, all while increasing health transfers faster than any other government in history. Personal incomes rose by 10% after inflation and taxes. In fact, we did more than we promised.
Now, after nine years under this disastrous Prime Minister, the Canadian promise is broken. This Prime Minister has broken numerous promises and dashed many of our hopes. He has not balanced the budget. He has not cut taxes for the middle class. There still is not enough affordable housing. In addition to going back on his word, the Prime Minister refuses to face up to the fact that he is no good for our country.
Being born in or living in Canada no longer comes with the assurance of a minimum threshold for living in dignity and decency. This was a promise that everyone in Canada once received as a native-born Canadian or as an immigrant to this country. It is so sad to see young people working hard but staying longer, even too long, in their parents' homes. It is appalling.
The Bloc Québécois has voted more than 189 times to keep this Prime Minister in power. It has voted for $500 billion in inflationary, bureaucratic and centralizing spending. I would add that this $500 billion does not include health care funding or money for seniors. Those funds are external and are already set out in law.
It is truly scandalous to see all the money that is going to consultants, bureaucrats, interest groups and big business, all subsidized by the state. It is even more shocking to see the Bloc Québécois laughing at us at the same time, voting to increase gas taxes, including in Quebec, with the second carbon tax that does apply in Quebec.
I am also thinking of the Bloc Québécois's support for capital gains taxes, which will force Quebec farmers, entrepreneurs, doctors and home builders to pay more money to Ottawa, only for those funds to be controlled here by the state.
I was part of a Conservative government that increased health transfers. Now the Bloc Québécois wants to keep the most centralizing and costly prime minister in our history in power.
The Prime Minister, with his immigration policy that even his own minister admits is out of control, has pushed Quebec to the breaking point. The Bloc Québécois does not even think that immigration is an important issue. In other words, Quebeckers are far down on the list of the Bloc Québécois's interests and priorities.
It is also important to remember that during the past nine years under this colossal and ineffective government, the Prime Minister doubled the national debt. That means he alone spent more than all the prime ministers before him. He spent more in nine years than all the others did in 148 years.
That debt has a material impact on ordinary people. It means that currently, under this Liberal government, all the money taxpayers spend on GST is being used just to cover the interest on the debt. Unless something is done, these payments will continue to increase, further mortgaging the future of the next generations and their right to a government that has its books in order.
Is that what democracy is about? Is it about keeping the government in a position of weakness indefinitely?
While the Bloc Québécois and the NDP circle around the Liberals like vultures, hoping for some gains that they are very unlikely to get, voters are clear about wanting a carbon tax election. The current situation is not normal. Nothing about it is normal.
Voters did not vote for that in 2021. First of all, if they had known that the NDP was going to form a dishonourable coalition with the Liberals, the outcome of the election probably would have been very different. The same is currently true of the Bloc Québécois. Voters did not vote for that party, which has voted 189 times to keep the Prime Minister in power. Time is up. Why is the Bloc Québécois too afraid to give voters the choice right now? The “Liberal Bloc” is a very appropriate name. What image are we portraying to the international community? Do other countries see a strong, proud Canada that is secure in itself and its destiny, or a Canada where the government is unstable and voters are urgently calling for an election?
Let us talk about the infamous carbon tax. It is the most unproductive government tax ever created in Canadian history, because, like all other taxes, it not only takes money out of taxpayers' pockets, but it also puts Canadian businesses at a competitive disadvantage compared to those of other countries. When it costs more to manufacture in Canada than elsewhere, it forces our businesses to move away and discourages foreign investment in Canada.
Our productivity now falls far short of that of our neighbours to the south. Canada ranks second-last in the G7 in terms of productivity per hour worked. For all these reasons, we are going to vote to bring down this government in order to axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime.