Debates of Oct. 30th, 2025

Forestry Industry

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it looks like the Liberals have been had too. Apparently they believed the Prime Minister when he said there would be a deal with the Americans by July and then said there would be one this fall.

There is no deal, and it is now clear that the Liberal Party will not be saving anyone. This is a rude awakening. It hurts, but they need to understand that our economy is in urgent need of protection. Our forestry industry is calling for support to cope with countervailing duties. It needs a wage subsidy.

When will the Liberals take action?

[Claude Guay, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.

We could not agree more. What is happening is unjustified; the tariffs are unjustified. Those of us on this side of the House hope we can work with him and with all members, including the 44 Liberal members from Quebec, to help our softwood lumber industry.

As the minister said, $1.25 billion is already available, and we want to do even more for workers in the lumber industry.

The Economy

[Scott Aitchison, Conservative, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

Mr. Speaker, after 10 years of the government, Liberals friends and insiders have never had it so good. We just learned that the government's own housing agency doled out over $3.6 million in bonuses to all but one of their 86 executives. That is about $43,000 per executive.

Meanwhile, rents have doubled, mortgage payments have doubled and home prices have doubled. I am just wondering if the minister could tell Canadians who cannot find a home how much more he requires them to sacrifice while he pays his executive bonuses?

[Evan Solomon, Liberal, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, while the opposition keeps talking down our country, we are building it up. They talk down our housing as shacks and Soviet style; they talk down our police as despicable, and they talk down our school food program as garbage.

Meanwhile, here is some good news: The only thing going down is interest rates. We are working hard, building affordable housing and hiring 1,000 new RCMP officers while our national school food program is feeding hundreds.

Why do they not join us in building up the country, instead of tearing it down?

[Scott Aitchison, Conservative, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

Mr. Speaker, food bank visits have skyrocketed to 2.2 million this year. Home prices are 54% higher today than they were in October 2015.

CTV reported this morning that a 76-year-old man in Prince Edward Island has been living in his car for the last two months because he cannot afford rent. The Prime Minister has told young Canadians that they need to sacrifice.

The question is very simple: How much more sacrifice does he require from struggling Canadians to pay executive bonuses?

[Evan Solomon, Liberal, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, we are doing everything to build this country up strong.

The Conservatives are talking it down. They talk down our housing program. They vote against affordable housing. They vote against school food programs. They vote against hiring 1,000 RCMP officers.

The hard work right now is to build this country up. We have a budget coming November 4. I hope they join us in doing the hard work to build this country up and avoid a Christmas election. They should fight for this country.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Okanagan Lake West—South Kelowna, BC]

Mr. Speaker, after 10 years of the Liberals, insiders have never had it so good.

Canadians, including 700,000 children, made 2.2 million food bank visits last year. Seniors are living in cars because rent has doubled. Meanwhile, the government gave $1 billion to buy boats from Beijing, offshoring Canadian steel and shipbuilding jobs, while executives at the Canada Infrastructure Bank pocketed fat bonuses. They laugh all the way to the bank while Canadian workers cry all the way to the food bank.

When will the Prime Minister stop lining the pockets of insiders and start delivering an affordable life for Canadians?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Minister of Transport and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my hon. friend, who is also the transport critic. I will tell him that next week, November 4, there is going to be a budget that solves the problem that he and I want solved, which is the problem of Driver Inc. The Minister of Finance announced today that measures are going to be taken to make sure we restore labour standards and fairness to the trucking industry in this country. That is going to be in the budget.

Will this member walk down the aisle and tell the grinchy Leader of the Opposition to vote for the budget, to not ruin Christmas and to build Canada strong?

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Okanagan Lake West—South Kelowna, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I did not expect the minister to ask me to walk down the aisle with him.

Canadians made 2.2 million food bank visits last year, and seniors are sleeping in cars because rent has doubled. However, the Liberal government sent a billion taxpayer dollars to buy boats from Beijing and handed out eye-popping bonuses at the Canada Infrastructure Bank.

Why is the Prime Minister using taxpayer dollars to reward insiders and offshoring Canadian jobs instead of helping Canadians afford food and a roof over their heads?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Minister of Transport and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my hon. friend once again and tell him that I will walk down any aisle that he wants to walk down if he will just walk down a few steps and tell the grinchy Leader of the Opposition this: “We do not want a Christmas election. We want to support a plan that gives raises to the military and that keeps that the shipbuilding industry in Vancouver humming, building ships for the Coast Guard and the Canadian military.”

All of this is going to be in our affordable, great, economy-building budget on November 4. Will that member do the right thing and tell the Leader of the Opposition that we do not want a Christmas election?

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, while Canadians are struggling, it is bonus after bonus for Liberal elites and insiders.

Executives at the Business Development Bank of Canada each received an average of $216,000 in bonuses. Via Rail executives each received $110,000 in bonuses. Export Development Canada executives each received $143,000 in bonuses. The Prime Minister is asking young people to make sacrifices, but not his buddies.

Will this Prime Minister stop asking young Canadians to make sacrifices only to line the pockets of his cronies?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Minister of Government Transformation]

Mr. Speaker, I cannot compete with my colleague's performance, which was very impressive, although we have seen him do better. I congratulate him in any case.

As for his question, if he wants to talk about sacrifices, I find that a bit hypocritical on their part. The Conservatives would sacrifice the Canada child benefit, the Canadian dental care plan, the national school food program and a pay raise for the Canadian Armed Forces.

They know a thing or two about making sacrifices. The Leader of the Opposition was willing to sacrifice one of his own members in order to get re-elected a few months ago. Clearly, they have no problem with making sacrifices.

Public Safety

[Patrick Weiler, Liberal, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Mr. Speaker, money laundering, fraud and financial crimes fuel organized crime, undermine confidence in our financial system and contribute to serious challenges, such as the opioid crisis and rising housing costs in British Columbia.

Our government has taken decisive action in recent years through major legislative reforms, but the sophistication of these crimes means that we must remain vigilant and we must do more. Can the Secretary of State for the Canada Revenue Agency and Financial Institutions update the House on how our government is strengthening enforcement to better detect and disrupt financial crime?

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

I want to warn some members in this corner that we have to keep the level of noise down so that we can hear the secretary of state.

[Wayne Long, Liberal, Secretary of State (Canada Revenue Agency and Financial Institutions)]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for this important question.

Last week, our new Liberal government introduced that, on November 4, our very first budget will take decisive action to safeguard Canadians' financial information and life savings. All of us in this House have had cases of heartbreak, especially with seniors being defrauded. That is why we will introduce several measures in budget 2025 to combat financial crimes, such as a federal anti-fraud strategy, a dedicated financial crimes agency and a code of conduct to combat economic abuse. Budget 2025 will build Canada strong by protecting Canadians—

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

The hon. member for Louis-Saint-Laurent—Akiawenhrahk.

The Economy

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent—Akiawenhrahk, QC]

Mr. Speaker, for 10 years, the Liberals have been mismanaging taxpayers' money, and the Auditor General has informed us of a prime example of this. Do members know what it is about? It is about the Canada Revenue Agency's 10-year, $50‑million contract for a phone system. Do members know how much that contract has cost to date? It has cost $190 million and could cost up to $217 million, or four times more than planned. That is what Liberal management looks like.

Will the Liberals finally realize that they need to stop wasting money and implement measures that allow Canadians to have an affordable life?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Minister of Government Transformation]

Mr. Speaker, I would be happy to offer my opposition colleague a briefing to help him understand the nature of this contract, which was awarded as part of a tendering process. All of the costs incurred, the $190 million over 10 years, were included in the initial contract, which was good value for money.

If my colleague wants to know more about this specific contract, then I will be pleased to make sure he is appropriately briefed. Otherwise, I would invite him to go back and review what was said recently in committee, when the president of Shared Services Canada clearly explained the contract.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent—Akiawenhrahk, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yes indeed, I invite everyone to watch the parliamentary committee meetings on the subject of the Canada Revenue Agency. It revealed a lot about how utterly irresponsibly those people, the Liberal government, managed the Canada Revenue Agency over the past 10 years. What do we have to show for it? Two million Canadians are currently using food banks. Housing costs have doubled since those people came to power. What is the Prime Minister promising young people? More sacrifices.

When will the government understand that it needs to stop wasting money and implement effective measures to allow all Canadians to have an affordable life?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Minister of Government Transformation]

Mr. Speaker, the reason we are on this side of the House is that we promised Canadians and young Canadians a serious plan to grow the economy by creating one Canadian economy and making key investments to build Canada's economy while reducing the cost of living and increasing buying power. That is what we have done from day one, when we introduced a tax cut for 22 million Canadians. That is what we will continue to do on November 4.

I encourage my colleague to support us.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, after 10 years of the government, Liberal elites and insiders have never had it so good, but the Prime Minister told young Canadians that they are the ones who need to sacrifice. While young Canadians have given up on home ownership, the Auditor General reports that the CRA allowed a telephone system contract to go from $50 million to nearly $200 million while it still does not answer the phone.

Will the government deliver an affordable budget that reins in sweetheart deals for insiders, yes or no?

[Eleanor Olszewski, Liberal, Minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience and Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada]

Mr. Speaker, one thing is clear: Investing in housing is one of the most effective ways to tackle food insecurity. In the last six months in my home riding of Edmonton Centre, I have announced over $400 million in infrastructure investments and affordable housing. We are not asking young people to make sacrifices or Canadians to make sacrifices; we are asking the Conservatives to support our generational budget so that we can keep building homes and make life affordable for Canadians.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Mr. Speaker, after 10 years of the Liberal government, elites and insiders have never had it so good. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister's message to young Canadians is to continue to sacrifice.

While Canadians are lining up at food banks, billions of their tax dollars keep going to consultants, $25 billion in fact, consultants who do not stick to budgets or, according to the Auditor General, do not even deliver results.

Why does the Prime Minister not make his friends and insiders sacrifice instead of young Canadians?

[Eleanor Olszewski, Liberal, Minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience and Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada]

Mr. Speaker, as I said, one of the biggest drivers of food insecurity is the cost of housing. That is why we are focused on getting more homes built. That is how we make life affordable for Canadians.

We are starting to see progress. Projects are breaking ground, rents are starting to level off and more families are moving into homes they can afford. The Conservatives can criticize all they want, but if they really wanted to help families with affordability, they would support our budget.