Debates of Nov. 17th, 2025

Financial Statement of Minister of Finance

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I do not entirely agree with my colleague's question. This budget protects essential services, including health care, dental care, pharmacare, and child care, while stimulating growth with major investments in housing, clean energy, and infrastructure. Families, seniors, and local businesses benefit from a plan that improves the everyday cost of living as well as long-term economic prospects.

[Bienvenu-Olivier Ntumba, Liberal, Mont-Saint-Bruno—L’Acadie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I hear my colleague from Alfred-Pellan talking with my Bloc Québécois colleague. I just want to remind everyone that last week, we listened to our colleagues across the way once again: we extended the runway at the Magdalen Islands airport. We listen and we collaborate.

How would he explain today that this budget was designed to boost Canada's economy?

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is simple. Sacrifice means choosing to do less in order to do better. It means reducing what is effective in order to focus our resources on what is essential: services to citizens, economic growth, and the country's competitiveness. We made the right choice. We did not take the easy option, as the opposition would have liked.

[Jeremy Patzer, Conservative, Swift Current—Grasslands—Kindersley, SK]

Mr. Speaker, we know the Prime Minister was quick to abandon one of the fiscal anchors he campaigned on. In the last Parliament, the member belonged to a government that said one of its fiscal anchors was that the deficit would never go over $42 billion, yet here he is, poised to vote in favour of a budget that is going to put Canada $78 billion in the hole this fiscal year.

Will the finance minister and the Prime Minister do the same thing the last finance minister did and commit to upholding fiscal anchors next time around instead of abandoning them?

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, contrary to what my colleague opposite is saying, we are not running up the deficit to finance current spending, but rather to make generational investments in housing, infrastructure, clean technology, defence and economic security.

These investments are creating jobs now and generating economic benefits that will strengthen our finances in the long term.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette—Manawan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, does the hon. member recognize that, in the budget, the government is taking away one-time health transfers and returning the transfers to Stephen Harper's level of 3% per year? It is a well-known fact that costs are increasing by 6% a year. All Quebec governments, regardless of party affiliation, have asked for a 6% escalator in transfers, and the federal government has refused.

Does my hon. colleague recognize that, with this budget, the government is reducing its share of health care funding, which is the top priority?

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this budget is designed for the country, not for political games. We are fulfilling the mandate Canadians have given us to build a stronger Canada for the long term and to support families, seniors, workers and businesses.

Our priority is the stability and economic growth of the country.

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Vancouver Centre, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have not been this excited about a budget since 1995, when we faced a $43-billion deficit, 18% mortgages and 26% youth unemployment, left to us by the Conservative government of the day. Jean Chrétien's budget was transformative, as is this one. It looked at Canada going into the 21st century and prepared us for that. It was a budget that looked forward and built for the future.

This budget recognizes the reality that the world has changed: Supply chains have changed globally, allies are no longer allies and friends are no longer friends. We borrowed sugar from our friends, our next-door neighbours, over the fence, but now we cannot depend on them. They are changing every day, and we do not know what to believe in anymore. It is time for us to let Canada build a strong economy, a strong country and a strong sovereign nation. Let us stand on our own and do what we can to make ourselves great. We have lots of reasons to believe we can do that.

This budget is building on that hopeful but truthful idea, and Canada is poised to be the second-best economy in the G7, along with Germany. We are able to say what we can do to be a leader, be strong and build new friendships and security allies that will defend us.

This budget looks at so many things that I do not know where to start, but I am going to try to move forward.

This budget talks about the urban-rural divide that we hear about often, and it is bridging that divide. It is looking at, for instance in British Columbia, having a transmission corridor that would build communications and electricity transmissions that would link Yukon and British Columbia and go all the way down British Columbia. We are looking at building LNG for the Nisga'a people. This is a strong indigenous incentive. There will be a huge number of jobs with phase two of the Nisga'a LNG. We are also looking at the Ksi Lisims mine, which will look at critical minerals and move down the corridor as well. We are looking at all of that.

For me, British Columbia is a winner in this budget, but it is not the only winner. This budget is about all regions winning, whether it is Quebec, the Atlantic provinces, the Prairies or British Columbia.

Let me speak about British Columbia a little more. As we advance trade and believe we cannot be friends with our neighbour anymore or trust our neighbour to help us out, we are looking at diversifying trade. Our Prime Minister has been to Asia and has built strong trade relationships with Japan and China. He is looking at India, and he just signed a deal with Indonesia.

The bottom line is that British Columbia is the gateway to the Asia-Pacific. As we look at the infrastructure that is going to build ports, whether in the Prairies in Churchill or in British Columbia, British Columbia is poised to trade with Asia-Pacific, not only on the seaway on the Pacific, but also by air. This is big for British Columbia. It is going to create lots of jobs.

We are looking at the fact that British Columbia has mines, critical minerals, clean energy such as hydroelectricity, and LNG. This is something British Columbia is poised to do well with. However, this is not only about building an economy and ensuring that we start looking at manufacturing. We have a huge lumber industry in British Columbia. One of the issues we see there is tariffs, so what are we doing? We are putting money into helping the sectors, whether it is steel, aluminum, auto or lumber. We are looking at how we can help workers and those industries not just survive, but expand to build manufacturing.

I like to say to look at IKEA. Sweden could fit into British Columbia and get lost, yet IKEA is in the biggest middle-class furniture industry in the world. British Columbia has so many forests. Why are we not building furniture or looking at manufacturing?

This budget is big and bold, and it says we can do this. We can build. We can be a strong manufacturing region in British Columbia. This is good for B.C.

I look at the Prairies. What happens when Manitoba agrees and we open up Churchill to get that port to go out to Europe to sell our clean energy, whether it is hydrogen, LNG or hydroelectricity? We are ready; we are poised.

This is a budget that talks about “build, build, build”. It is a budget that looks to the future.

It talks about workers; it is a budget for workers. As we build manufacturing and as we build in other sectors, we are looking at good jobs. This is such an important thing. What did Unifor have to say about this? It believed that this was a big deal. Its national president said, “Building a resilient economy means ensuring that the commitments outlined in the federal budget translate into good, union jobs for Canadian workers.” Jobs are what people want so they can earn money to buy things and to do the things they need to do.

This budget is also helping people who are having a hard time. For the sectors hurting from the tariffs, money has been set aside to help them rebuild and re-skill. It is for re-skilling workers whose jobs are not going to be useful anymore in this new Canada and this new world. We are looking at redundancy, so let us retrain and re-skill.

We are looking at students, and we talk about youth. We are now moving from 75,000 summer jobs for youth to 100,000. Those jobs mean that kids get hands-on experience working in the real workplace. They are going to be ready to go out there and work when the time comes.

This is a budget that I am so proud of.

On housing, the budget bridges the rural-urban divide. People in rural areas are going to get infrastructure money to build clinics and hospitals.

The budget is creating a new brain gain from the United States, which people want to leave. We are looking at researchers. We put $1.7 billion into building research. We can build a strong pharmaceutical sector here. We have the know-how. We have the innovation. We have the brains. During Diabetes Week, we must remember who gave the world insulin: two Canadians, Banting and Best. This is not new; there have been people who won the Nobel Prize for creating chemical diabetes insulin in British Columbia. We have the brains; what we need are the people to get things going. The money has been set aside to do that.

Field of Dreams says, “If you build it, [they] will come.” Well, this budget is about building it, and they are coming. Saab is here, and it wants to build a defence sector with us. We need to protect our Arctic. We need to work with Scandinavian countries like Sweden to help us build a strong Arctic defence. Saab is coming to build the fighter jets.

The King and Queen of Sweden are also coming here with 60 business and industry people to work with Canada, to build with Canada. This is already happening. It is exciting. It is going on. Tomorrow the King and Queen of Sweden will be here. This is just the beginning. We are seeing China and India. We are seeing Australia helping us with defence.

The world has changed, and Canada is not going to sit by and wait to see where that change goes. Canada is, in the budget, going to lead that change. We are going to take our way. We are going to control who we are. We have already started with a good economy. We know we have the lowest inflation right now. We see what is going on in the United States. I heard people talking about food prices the other day. Well, I think people have to pay $15 to buy a carton of eggs in the United States, but I just bought some for $4.69 at my local supermarket.

I want to tell members to believe in Canada. We can do it. We are a strong nation. We have the ability, the brains, the know-how and the innovation. What we need is for people to believe that we can do it. The rest of the world, such as Sweden, for example, is believing. Therefore let us move. I say build it and they will come.

[Tako Van Popta, Conservative, Langley Township—Fraser Heights, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have noticed that when we are talking about the economy, Liberals are very selective in the facts and the statistics they like to highlight. They say, “Oh, our debt-to-GDP ratio is not as bad as in other countries”, but they they consistently do not mention sub-sovereign debt. To compare apples to apples, they need to include that.

Another thing the Liberals do not like to talk about very much is our lagging productivity metric as compared to that of our trading nations. This is the ability of a country to service its debt and be productive and wealthy. They recognize that it is a problem, because the budget says, for example, “Productivity remains weak, limiting wage gains for workers.” I think this is the fifth or sixth Liberal budget I have listened to, and every time, the Liberals acknowledge that productivity is a problem, but they never do anything about it. Why should Canadians believe them this time?

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Vancouver Centre, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the world has changed. This is a new budget. The hon. member talked a bit about why we should look at productivity. Yes, Canada has lagged in productivity. What do we do when we want to increase productivity? We train people, we skill people, we build industries and we help industry to expand to create jobs. That is what productivity is about. We make sure that women can join the workforce. We make sure that the workforce is a diverse one. We help people to become skilled. That is what productivity is about, and this budget is addressing that productivity lag.

[Gabriel Ste-Marie, Bloc, Joliette—Manawan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, during the last election, the government chose to abolish the carbon tax for individuals but sent out cheques to compensate them. However, provinces like Quebec that do not pay this carbon tax because they have their own system were not compensated. Through the taxes they paid, Quebec's taxpayers contributed nearly $900 million to this election giveaway.

Does my colleague believe, as my party and I do, that the government should repay Quebec's taxpayers the amount they contributed to this election giveaway?

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Vancouver Centre, BC]

Mr. Speaker, this is very interesting. British Columbia did not get any money back either. Do you know why? It is because British Columbia had its own carbon tax. The province ran it, and it gave money back to the people by way of social programs. I do not understand why if a province did not participate in the national carbon tax it should be compensated for anything. Does it make sense to you? It does not to me.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, John Nater]

The member is an experienced member. She knows to address her comments through the Chair.

[An hon. member]

She was asking you, Mr. Speaker.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, John Nater]

I have a lot of opinions, but I will not be sharing them.

Questions and comments, the hon. member for Bourassa.

[Abdelhaq Sari, Liberal, Bourassa, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would simply like to say that the future is not carved in stone. The future is what we make it.

I would like my colleague to tell us what this budget does in terms of building. Is it an investment in building buildings, or are we also building Canadians' future? As far as infrastructure is concerned, can my colleague explain how this budget will also help people find jobs, including recurring jobs, after the infrastructure is built?

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Vancouver Centre, BC]

Mr. Speaker, building is not just about building houses. It is not just about building housing units. It is about building industries and about building manufacturing sectors. It is about building the skills of workers. It is about creating workers.

This is a visionary budget; let us make no bones about it. It is a budget that is looking straight down the road to a strong future for Canada, and these are kinds of building: expanding the Port of Vancouver, building Churchill port, expanding airports, building in small rural areas all the transmission grids and electricity grids that they need. This is what this budget is all about. That is what we said. I keep saying, “Build it, and they will come”, and they are coming.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, John Nater]

Resuming debate, the hon. member for Milton East—Halton.

[Kristina Tesser Derksen, Liberal, Milton East—Halton Hills South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of the good people of Milton East—Halton Hills South to bring reflections on our government's 2025 budget, a budget that lays the blueprint to address a new paradigm of economic development, nation building and generational investment. It is a budget that believes in Canada. This budget is historic, and it comes at a historic time.

However, this is also a time of challenges. We know that Canada is grappling with recent economic hardships as a result of the unfair tariffs the United States has thrust upon us. These tariffs have contributed to a global disruption of economic conventions and to unaffordability around the world, and it is not just a Canadian problem. In fact we heard recently that unaffordability in the U.S. is so critical that the American President has actually reversed course on his prized tariff policy, reversing tariffs on some food items that Americans struggled to afford and still do.

However, Canadians know that times of challenge are also times of opportunity. Now is the time for us to re-evaluate and recommit to our own destiny. We do not need to rely on anyone in order to be prosperous. We have much of what we need right here: an educated, hard-working and patriotic population; vast natural resources that the world wants; and a philosophy of co-operation, quality and responsibility that makes us a desired partner for trade, investment and collaboration the world over.

The broad, shifting tides of the global economic landscape are being felt in the daily lives of Canadians. As a government, it is our duty to address this. Our 2025 budget is the foundation of our answer to this challenge. Here, in the people's House, we hear it all. We feel it. Affordability, housing, employment, our young people, and crime all need and deserve our collective attention.

It is the right of every Canadian to feel secure in their daily needs and endeavours. We understand the importance of investing in resources for a safer community, and that is why budget 2025 will invest $1.7 billion over four years into public safety and border security by hiring 1,000 new RCMP officers and 1,000 new border security agents. Safety in our communities is also top of mind. By investing in law enforcement and justice reform, we will tackle organized crime, gun violence, auto theft and many other crimes. Safety is the first pillar of prosperity.

I have four young adult children. As a mother, their struggles are my struggles. Youth unemployment rates are not acceptable. Over the next two years, $594 million will develop 100,000 summer jobs under our Canada summer jobs program. Investing over $300 million over two years in our youth employment and skills strategy will provide employment and support to 20,000 young people facing employment barriers, and we will create 55,000 work-integrated learning opportunities for post-secondary students by investing $635 million in our student work placement program.

The government has also committed $40 million to create a youth climate corps that will provide paid skills training to young Canadians to quickly respond to environmental emergencies, support recovery and create a resilient Canada for years to come.

Hand in hand with employment is the pride and accomplishment of a home to call one's own. We have been facing a steep housing supply gap. To combat this, our government has allotted $13 billion over five years to our Build Canada Homes initiative, supercharging the housing industry and catalyzing private sector partnerships to build homes at a rate unseen since the postwar period. We will also expand transitional supportive housing for the most vulnerable among us, working with our provinces, territories, municipalities and indigenous communities.

In the short term, we are providing relief by bringing down house purchase costs through our elimination of the GST for first-time homebuyers, allowing them to recover up to $50,000 of GST paid toward a new home, money that would go directly back into their pockets. We are also protecting existing affordable housing through launching the $1.5-billion Canada rental protection fund under Build Canada Homes to ensure that affordable rent is not being lost to increases.

To provide quick relief to nearly 22 million Canadians, our government has implemented a middle-class tax cut aimed specifically at targeting Canadians in the lower and middle tax brackets. In hand with this, our government is transitioning to automated federal benefits for Canadians through simplifying federal tax returns. This will result in approximately five and a half million Canadians' receiving the benefits they are entitled to but are not currently collecting simply because they are not filing tax returns. These benefits belong to the people, and our government is removing obstacles so the people can benefit.

Canadians are not afraid of hard work, and the government is implementing a new re-skilling package for workers. By providing $570 million, we will support training and employment assistance to workers who have been affected by tariffs and global market shifts.

Guaranteed in our charter is security of the person, and this is a foundational tenet in Canada's health care system, a system that is envied the world over and that every Canadian can look to with pride. The government will invest $5 billion over three years to our dedicated health infrastructure fund. We recognize that hospitals, urgent care centres, emergency rooms and medical schools need to be at the forefront of investment to serve Canadians.

In my riding of Milton East—Halton Hills South, plans are under way for a brand new hospital in Georgetown and a palliative care hospice, each facing significant capital costs. Budget 2025's health infrastructure proposal is the type of plan that will support such projects. Our municipalities and our people need this support.

My history as a municipal councillor in Milton gives me an insightful perspective in this sphere. So much of our municipal planning depends on investing in core public infrastructure. Municipalities have limited ways to raise revenue and cannot run budget deficits, yet they are burdened with increasing responsibilities, typically without the corresponding financial support.

I am so proud to stand up for this budget, which commits $54 billion to creating core public infrastructure over the next five years through our build communities strong fund. This infrastructure is imperative to supporting municipalities as they work to facilitate homebuilding in our communities.

Of course, with development, we must be mindful of our impact on our natural environment. Our budget outlines the path to supporting a green future while providing prosperity by becoming an energy superpower in both clean and conventional energy.

Our Prime Minister has been clear: Canada's new government will spend less so we can invest more. At a time when Canadians are facing economic pressures in their daily lives, this government recognizes its duties in solidarity with all Canadians. That is why this budget demands $60 billion in savings. We have done this while still protecting the vital services that Canadians rely on: child care, dental care, pharmacare and our national school food program.

I am so proud to be a Canadian and a member of a government that is unafraid of taking bold action and meeting challenges head-on.

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

It being 6:15 p.m., it is my duty to interrupt the proceedings and put forthwith every question necessary to dispose of Ways and Means Motion No. 2.

The question is on the motion.

If a member participating in person wishes that the motion be carried or carried on division, or if a member of a recognized party participating in person wishes to request a recorded division, I would invite them to rise and indicate it to the Chair.

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would love to carry it on division, but I have a sense there is a desire for a recorded division.

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Call in the members.

(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

Vote #50

The Budget

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

I declare the motion carried.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, John Nater]

I will remind hon. members that they are not to take pictures in the chamber. I will ask hon. members who took pictures to immediately delete the pictures. That goes for all hon. members. The House is in session. The mace is on the table. There are to be no pictures taken within the chamber during proceedings.

To all members on both sides, if they have taken pictures, I will ask them now to delete those pictures and confirm that with the Chair.