House of Commons Hansard #59 of the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was investments.
This summary is computer-generated. Usually it’s accurate, but every now and then it’ll contain inaccuracies or total fabrications.
Canada's International Development Assistance Members debate a motion to strengthen Canada's international development assistance by improving accountability and effectiveness. The motion proposes integrating reciprocal economic benefits for Canadian small businesses and innovators, establishing a dedicated economic partnerships window leveraging Canadian strengths like agriculture and digital technology, and requiring annual reports to Parliament on aid effectiveness and Canadian participation. The Bloc Québécois emphasizes ensuring regional organizations outside major urban centers can access federal funding. 6800 words, 1 hour.
Budget 2025 Implementation Act, No. 1 Second reading of Bill C-15. The bill implements Budget 2025, which the Liberal government calls an "investment budget" making "historic investments" in productivity, housing, defence, and clean energy. Opposition parties criticize it as the "costliest budget" leading to "generational debt" and higher inflation. Concerns include "creative accounting," "arbitrary firearms policy," and the "Prime Minister's nonchalance" on trade, while the Bloc highlights insufficient funding for provinces. 42800 words, 5 hours in 2 segments: 1 2.
The Assistant Deputy Speaker John Nater
Order. Let's keep the crosstalk down a little bit.
Resuming debate, the honorable member for Flamborough—Glanbrook—Brant North.
Dan Muys Conservative Flamborough—Glanbrook—Brant North, ON
Mr. Speaker, it is always an honour to rise in the House and speak on behalf of the great, smart, hard-working people of Flamborough—Glanbrook—Brant North.
Tonight we are debating budget 2025, the costliest budget in Canadian history outside COVID.
An hon. member
Best budget ever.
Dan Muys Conservative Flamborough—Glanbrook—Brant North, ON
Well, Mr. Speaker, I would disagree, and I will tell members why for the next 10 minutes.
The first budget presented by the new finance minister promised discipline, responsibility and a new direction. However, every single one of those promises was broken.
Six months ago, the minister promised Canadians a deficit of $62 billion. In the budget that was presented a couple of weeks ago, it was $78 billion. He promised a declining debt-to-GDP ratio, but it is rising. In fact, Fitch, the government's own credit rating agency, and the independent Parliamentary Budget Officer, until he is replaced because the Prime Minister does not like to hear challenges to his authority, have warned of credit downgrades. This would add billions more in interest costs. This is alarming.
He promised to spend less and, instead, the budget spends $90 billion more. That is $5,400 of extra inflationary spending per household, and that has consequences. He promised help for municipalities, to get Ottawa support in cutting the homebuilding taxes in half. Instead, that promise is gone, and higher housing costs for young people desperate to enter the market are the price of the Prime Minister.
He promised more investment, but the budget itself admits the truth, that private sector investment in Canada is collapsing.
The most alarming number of all is that Canada will spend $55.6 billion on interest on the debt next year. That is more than all the transfers from the federal government to the provinces for health and more than is collected in GST by the government. To put that in perspective, every single dollar of GST paid by Canadians is not going to doctors, to nurses or to hospitals; it is going to bankers and bondholders. This is not fiscal responsibility. This is not economic leadership. It is certainly not what the Prime Minister promised Canadians.
When I first rose in the House four years ago to speak on the fall economic statement of 2021, I warned about the dangerous trend that was already appearing: declining investment, falling productivity and a shrinking standard of living. Every year since, when I have spoken on the budget, usually in the spring, I have raised the same warnings. Every year, under the Liberal government, the situation has gotten worse.
Today, Canada's standard of living is in its steepest decline in 40 years. According to the OECD, Canada is on track to have the worst economic growth of all 38 advanced economies over the next four decades, right through to 2060. The productivity gap with the United States is now at its widest since the 1950s, and business investment per worker has fallen to half of what it currently is in the U.S. Since 2014, business investment in Canada has dropped 20%, while in the United States, it has grown by over 70%. This is not a momentary blip. It is a structural decline that is directly tied to policy choices made by the Liberals over the past decade.
I will talk about what this means to the people of Flamborough—Glanbrook—Brant North, who live in the fast-growing suburban communities of Paris, St. George, Waterdown, Binbrook and Mount Hope. Families are already struggling to make ends meet because they have seen their mortgages increase as they go to renew them.
The Bank of Canada has warned that with millions of mortgages still coming due in 2025 and 2026, some people are facing a 20%, 30% or even 60% increase in payments. That can be $1,000 or $1,500 added on to a mortgage payment each month in our region and across Canada. That is really a gut punch to household budgets.
The other thing that they are being squeezed with is grocery prices. They remain painfully expensive. In fact, there was a report last week out of Dalhousie University, which said that 80.6% of Canadians, that is four in five, identify food as the biggest, most pressing expense they are facing.
This is in a country where we grow so much food and can export it around the world. Of course, if we had trade deals with certain countries and were not facing the impediments that have resulted since the Prime Minister took office, we would export more. How sad is that? We know that gas and home heating are still higher because the industrial carbon tax remains. We also know that Canadians are working harder but are falling further behind. Affordability is not just a talking point; it is a crisis at kitchen tables.
What worries me are the long-term consequences of this budget, because the finance minister would add $321.7 billion to the national debt over the next five years. This is more than double what his predecessor would have added, and it would add $10 million to our debt every hour. These costs are being passed on to Canadian taxpayers, and this inflationary pressure is causing grocery prices to rise and the interest rates on mortgages to be impacted.
The federal debt is now $1.35 trillion, and what do Canadians get for all of this? It is a GDP growth of 1.1%, which is the second-lowest in the G7. Ten years ago, at the end of a decade of Conservative government, we were the best-performing economy in the G7, but we are no longer today. Unemployment is rising an average of 6.4%. Investments are falling, and as a result, living standards are declining. This is not a plan for prosperity; this budget gambles away Canadian futures.
Across the great riding of Flamborough—Glanbrook—Brant North, there are four fall fairs and there are two summer festivals. I had a booth at each of them this year, as I do every year. My team and I spoke to thousands of people over the course of the 24 days of those fairs and festivals, and two themes were entirely consistent and top of mind among constituents. One was affordability, and the second was the increasing concern that a middle-class life in Canada is no longer possible. I assured them it was not this way 10 years ago, and it will not be this way once the government is replaced
It does not have to be this way. My parents came as the children of immigrants to Canada. They worked hard. They saved up. They had the belief that every generation should get more and should be stronger. We were not born with a silver spoon in our mouths, but they passed on the middle-class dream of Canada to my brothers and me.
Owning a home was an achievable goal. Building a future was achievable, but for young people today, it is simply out of reach after 10 years of Liberal budgets. Families are feeling squeezed. Young people see no path to home ownership. Entrepreneurs are facing barriers at every turn, and seniors worry about the price of groceries. A senior came into my constituency office during the break week and said they no longer buy beef because it was out of reach for them at the current price. This is someone who had a reasonable pension income from their work in the private sector previously.
Canada should be a place where hard work is rewarded, investment is welcomed and opportunity is rising, not shrinking. Canadians are not asking for perfection, but they are desperately asking for affordability and for a plan that respects their sacrifices, and this budget does not meet that expectation. That is why Conservatives will oppose this costly, reckless budget if the government will not deliver a budget that helps Canadians.
Conservatives will continue to champion letting workers keep more of every dollar of their paycheque by cutting taxes, making homes affordable by clearing the bureaucracy that blocks building, bringing down food prices by cutting hidden taxes, restoring fiscal responsibility that reins in runaway deficits and rebuilding confidence in our economy so we are attracting investment and rewarding innovators in the Canadian economy. We would open Canada up to those economic opportunities again, not choke it with red tape and debt, as the government has been doing for 10 years. We would build a positive, hopeful future for every Canadian.
Budget 2025 does not meet the moment. It raises the deficit, it raises the debt, it raises inflation, it raises the cost of living on every household in the country, it ignores warnings and it leaves Canadians paying more and getting less. Canadians deserve better than this. They deserve leadership that respects their struggles, listens to their concerns and delivers real results. We will continue to fight for accountability, and we will continue to fight for affordability.
Kevin Lamoureux LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, here is a flashback. When Stephen Harper became the prime minister, he inherited a multi-billion dollar surplus and turned it into a multi-billion dollar deficit in virtually one year. That is the reality. The highest deficit, when we factor in inflation, was when the leader of the Conservative Party sat in the Conservative caucus with Stephen Harper.
Instead of trying to look at issues within the budget, would the member at the very least concede that the number one issue coming out of the last election was the opportunity for Canada to look beyond the United States on trade and enhance trade opportunities? That is exactly what the Prime Minister has done. We can talk about England, Asia, the Philippines, Korea, Indonesia and so many others. Does the member support those initiatives?
Dan Muys Conservative Flamborough—Glanbrook—Brant North, ON
Mr. Speaker, let me correct the record. The budget was balanced in 2015. We were the strongest-performing economy in the G7 and in the OECD at that time, and we were increasing health care transfers to the provinces year over year.
Let me answer the question. I talked about this quite a bit during the election. Canada has everything the world wants. Canada has everything the U.S. wants. We have oil, gas, forests, expertise and smart people. The second-largest nuclear plant in the world is just down the highway from where I live. We have people working in that supply chain. We also have potash and uranium.
It has been eight months since the Prime Minister formed government, and in that time, what has been accomplished? There has been a lot of travel and a lot of talk, but no shovels in the ground. When former prime minister Trudeau said no to Germany when it wanted liquefied natural gas from us, Germany went to Qatar and built an import facility in 190 days. That is longer than the Prime Minister has been office, and—
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
Mr. Speaker, I could just lean over and ask this of the member, but I want him to put it on the record. He talked about the high interest payments caused by the Liberal deficit. Last year, the government increased interest payments by 13%, yet at the same time, it only increased health care transfers by 4.5%.
Could the member reflect on government policies? They focus more on paying interest and cost us massive interest payments instead devoting money to health care.
Dan Muys Conservative Flamborough—Glanbrook—Brant North, ON
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Edmonton for that excellent point. We are spending more on the interest on the debt than we are on health care. That makes no sense. That was not the case 10 years ago when health care transfers were increasing year after year and we were the best-performing economy in the G7.
Having recently spent some time in a hospital, a couple of days on a stretcher in a hallway, I can say that a lot needs to be done in the health care system. Money is being spent because the Liberals cannot rein in the billions of dollars going to their consultant friends. They cannot produce a fiscally responsible budget. It should be going to health care, and it is a shame that it is not.
Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB
Mr. Speaker, the member made reference to nuclear energy. One of the new major project is about the advancement of nuclear energy. We have a Prime Minister who in the last number of months has brought together industry, provinces and territories, all for the advancement of major projects that are going to create opportunities for Canadians in every region.
Will the member at the very least support the major projects the Prime Minister and others have initiated and put on the books to move forward with?
Dan Muys Conservative Flamborough—Glanbrook—Brant North, ON
Mr. Speaker, I sit on the transport and infrastructure committee. We worked with the government on the amendments to Bill C-5 to get it passed, and we made it better. It was a tiny, baby step forward. Of course, we want to see these projects get done, but right now, there are a lot of announcements, a lot of paper, a lot of press releases and a lot of flash, but no projects on the ground.
By the way, the nuclear project on the first list was already being supported by the Government of Ontario. It was not new in any way. It was just more paper, announcements and optics from the Liberal government.
Bruce Fanjoy Liberal Carleton, ON
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to lend my voice in support of Bill C-15, the budget 2025 implementation act.
Our new government has been focused on bringing down costs and creating new opportunities for Canadians. We have cut taxes for 22 million middle-class Canadians, saving two-income families up to $840 per year. Through budget 2025, we are creating opportunities for young Canadians to transition into the workforce and launch successful careers by launching a youth climate corps and providing 175,000 placements through Canada summer jobs, the horizontal youth employment and skills strategy, and the student work placement program in 2026-27.
Bill C-15 is another important milestone in delivering measures to make life more affordable for Canadians. The bill recognizes that Canadians are concerned about affordability. Paying for essentials depends on having the funds to pay the bills, but also on the timing of when we receive those funds. We know, for example, that digitalization in the financial sector has brought many benefits for consumers, including the immediate transfer of funds. However, at the same time, we know that consumers who remain reliant on legacy financial products and services, including cheques, may be missing out on these benefits and getting left behind.
Access to cheque fund rules are now over a decade old and have not kept pace with cost of living increases or technological advances. That is why budget 2025 proposes to amend the Bank Act to raise the first amount of immediately available deposited funds from $100 to $150; remove the timing distinction between funds deposited in person or via other means; make regulations to reduce the number of days banks may hold deposited cheque funds; raise the current value threshold of $1,500, below which shorter cheque hold periods apply; and apply the changes to trust and loan companies. Once again, Bill C-15 would make this change a reality.
However, that is not the only way the bill would help improve financial services to help Canadians manage their money. Consumer-driven banking, also known as open banking, refers to a secure framework that lets Canadian individuals and businesses share their financial data with the approved service providers of their choice. This framework would give consumers greater control over their data while promoting a competitive and innovative financial sector that strengthens Canada's position in the global digital economy.
In short, the goal of Canada's consumer-driven banking framework is to promote competition and innovation in the financial sector, improve financial outcomes for Canadians and ensure that consumers can share their data securely. In other countries, regulated frameworks have proven effective at achieving these policy goals by empowering consumers, enhancing data accessibility and supporting new financial service providers and business models.
At the same time, we know that the absence of such a secure framework means that about nine million Canadians currently share their financial data by providing their confidential banking credentials in a process known as screen scraping. These consumers face increased security, liability and privacy risks that may be left without recourse if something goes wrong. Our consumer-driven banking framework would address these risks by using application programming interfaces, or APIs, to provide more secure communications between entities.
Giving Canadians greater control over their financial data opens the door to financial products and greater choice between providers, fostering a more dynamic financial sector and productive economy. Unlocking these new opportunities would lead to improved financial decision-making, lower costs and more tailored products and services for consumers. Bill C-15 would be fundamental in achieving this, as it proposes legislative changes that would complete the consumer-driven banking framework by transferring its governance to the Bank of Canada and by making a legislative amendment to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act that would grant Canadians a right to data mobility, supporting an economy-wide approach to data sharing.
All Canadians would be expected to benefit from the consumer-driven banking framework as it would promote competition and reduce risks in the financial services industry by regulating financial data sharing. For consumers, this could mean greater financial inclusion, more informed financial decisions and better management and mitigation of financial stressors. For businesses, it could mean improved access to new forms of financing and reduced administrative burden from better integration and automation of key functions, but lower-income and financially stressed households are expected to benefit the most through access to lower-cost products, clearer choices, and tools to manage debt and reduce financial stress.
What is more is that this is not the only way that Bill C-15 would help Canadian financial consumers save and manage their money. We know, for example, that all Canadians would benefit from improvements to the federal credit union framework, since allowing more financial institutions like credit unions to grow would create more competition in the financial sector. Competition drives down fees, improves interest rates on deposits and leads to better customer services, bringing benefits to the diverse regions across Canada that credit unions currently serve. Competition in the sector could also drive efficiency and support economic development and productivity as financial institutions are driven to allocate capital to their most productive uses.
That is why budget 2025 proposes to amend the Bank Act, the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation Act and the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada Act to support federal credit unions' growth via amalgamation or asset acquisitions, and to make it easier for credit unions to enter the federal framework, including by providing the flexibility for them to continue their existing auto-leasing business on a permanent basis. With these changes included in Bill C-15, we have yet another way it would bring down costs for Canadians and yet another reason to support the bill.
The bill also includes provisions that would exempt the Canada disability benefit from being treated as income under the Income Tax Act, helping ensure that Canada disability benefit recipients would keep the full value of their benefits, including other federal income-tested benefits and programs, such as the Canada child benefit. Helping to reduce poverty and increase the financial well-being of low-income persons with disabilities is a key priority in our government's work to build a fairer Canada, and it is yet another reason for parliamentarians to lend their support to Bill C-15.
However, it does not stop there. The bill even includes new financial support for those who provide help to those who need help. Personal support workers help Canadians live and age with dignity, and they helped us to get through the COVID-19 pandemic. We as a country owe them a tremendous debt of gratitude. That is why we would introduce a temporary personal support workers tax credit, under which eligible personal support workers employed in the provinces and territories that are not already covered by a bilateral agreement with the federal government, to increase wages for personal support workers. They could claim a refundable tax credit equal to 5% of their eligible earnings, providing support of up to $1,100 per year.
This measure to support frontline health care workers would be available for the 2026 to 2030 taxation years and is estimated to cost $1.48 billion over six years, starting in 2025-26. Of this amount, $1.17 billion would be sourced from funding previously committed, but unutilized, to support wage increases for personal support workers. The bottom line is that this tax credit would empower the personal support workers who care for us by putting more of their hard-earned money back in their pockets.
That is what this bill is all about. Our government remains focused on empowering Canadians by lowering costs, increasing competition and expanding opportunities—
The Assistant Deputy Speaker John Nater
Questions and comments, the hon. member for Riding Mountain.
Dan Mazier Conservative Riding Mountain, MB
Mr. Speaker, I was in British Columbia last week, where I found a vending machine full of drug supplies such as foil and crack pipes. Anyone could access these drug supplies, because they were free and accessible. Does the member believe we should be funding vending machines full of crack pipes, or that we should be funding treatment that gets addicts off this poison that is killing them?
Bruce Fanjoy Liberal Carleton, ON
Mr. Speaker, that is an interesting question. I absolutely do not believe we should be funding vending machines—
Some hon. members
Oh, oh!
The Assistant Deputy Speaker John Nater
Order, please. Let us keep the crosstalk down.
The hon. member for Carleton.
Bruce Fanjoy Liberal Carleton, ON
Mr. Speaker, we believe in evidence-based solutions for addressing the most complicated problems Canadians face.
Kevin Lamoureux LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, during the last election, I am sure the member for Carleton heard at the doors, as I did, a great deal of genuine concern about the Canada-U.S.A. agreement. We talked about two things during the election and coming out of the election. One is that we need to be able to expand our trading opportunities beyond the Canada-U.S.A. border, and the second is that, especially after the election, we would have to be patient and make sure we get the best deal between Canada, the United States and Mexico. We should not have to feel rushed to do it; rather, we should put in the time to make sure we get the best deal for Canadians.
Can the member provide his thoughts on the importance of trade, in particular on expanding trade beyond the Canada-U.S.A. border?
Bruce Fanjoy Liberal Carleton, ON
Mr. Speaker, it was discussed earlier, and my Conservative colleagues have made a big deal about the Prime Minister's not dropping everything and talking to the United States. The Prime Minister is sending a message every day when he is talking to other reliable partners across the world. We are showing the American administration that we are prepared to deal with countries that will work with us in good faith, be reliable partners and provide markets for our goods. The Prime Minister will speak with the administration in due time, when those constructive—
Randy Hoback Conservative Prince Albert, SK
Mr. Speaker, division 2, the Canada Post Act; division 8, the Farm Credit Canada Act; division 18, the Special Economic Measures Act; and division 24, the Broadcasting Act, are examples of things included in the budget implementation act that have nothing to do with the budget.
Does the member believe, understand or concur that the Liberals are actually shoving things in the budget with disrespect to Parliament, such as the First Nations Goods and Services Tax Act, that actually deserve their own piece of legislation and their own committee time so Parliament can actually put forward a proper bill about them, instead of the Liberals' shoving them in for a 30-second bite in the budget implementation act?
Bruce Fanjoy Liberal Carleton, ON
Mr. Speaker, budgets are by their very nature broad in scope. They include everything the government is committing to. I am sorry if there are things in bill that the member would like to have as stand-alone legislation, but I do not think this is a matter I am disappointed in.
Michael Ma Conservative Markham—Unionville, ON
Mr. Speaker, I do not know whether the member has been paying attention to television and all the reported crimes, including financial crimes, especially of seniors being cheated out of money. With the bill, will the government protect seniors and others who are subject to financial crime and fraud?
Bruce Fanjoy Liberal Carleton, ON
Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance has previously announced that the Government of Canada is taking strong measures to protect seniors and other vulnerable Canadians from financial crimes.