Debates of Nov. 24th, 2025

Speaker's Ruling

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

In any event, it is true that when it comes to requests for emergency debates, it is a ruling of the Speaker. If the Chair rules against an emergency debate, it does not mean that the subject matter is not important, only that the specific criteria for granting one have not been met.

The House resumed consideration of the motion that Bill C‑15, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on November 4, 2025, be read the second time and referred to a committee, and of the amendment.

Budget 2025 Implementation Act, No. 1

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

At the beginning of question period, we were at the end of the speech by the hon. member for Compton—Stanstead. There are five minutes remaining for questions and comments.

[Guillaume Deschênes-Thériault, Liberal, Madawaska—Restigouche, NB]

Mr. Speaker, I represent Madawaska—Restigouche, a rural riding. I am also a member of our rural caucus, and I can attest to the fact that our colleague, who is the chair of that caucus, is a strong advocate for regional interests.

I would like to ask her what our budget says about temporary foreign workers. This is an important issue for our caucus.

[Marianne Dandurand, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Madawaska—Restigouche for being so actively involved in our caucus and for presenting so many good ideas to help take the regions of Quebec, New Brunswick and all of Canada to the next level.

He asked an excellent question about temporary foreign workers, who have a major impact on rural areas. People are concerned that some of these workers might go, leaving a lot of companies that rely on their labour in the lurch. Through budget 2025, we gave some temporary residents permanent residency, which will reduce the pressure on Canada's temporary immigration system. That is important because this pressure has become far too great.

We are getting temporary immigration back under control. We are granting permanent residency. As I was saying, this will take some of the pressure off and keep workers in the regions. The budget also mentions how important immigration is to rural and remote areas and to industries affected by tariffs.

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are looking for paycheques that last to the end of the month. They are struggling. Home ownership is increasingly out of reach. Making their rent is a challenge for millions of Canadians. Purchasing groceries is a weekly burden.

Why are the Liberals so oblivious to the fact that their irresponsible deficit and debt accumulation is fuelling inflation?

[Marianne Dandurand, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased that my colleague is talking about housing because affordable housing is one of the sectors where we are investing the most. I am very proud of that, because the initiatives we are rolling out will make it easy for the regions to access these measures.

Build Canada Homes will allow us to cut red tape and make the criteria broad enough so that regions like mine and small municipalities can build affordable housing. We are also making it easier to buy a home by eliminating the GST on new homes for first-time homebuyers.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I wonder whether the member could provide their thoughts in regard to why it is so important that we continue to advocate and lobby for having trade that goes beyond the Canada-U.S. border. As a direct result of what is taking place between Canada and the U.S., there is an additional pressure for us to look outside the Canada-U.S. border.

[Marianne Dandurand, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

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

Trade between Canada and the U.S. is highly integrated. We are currently experiencing instability due to our relations with the U.S. Canadian businesses, including businesses in my region, are looking for new markets. The Government of Canada will award them contracts through its buy Canadian strategy, through the investments it will make in defence, and through the investments it will make in major projects.

However, it is also important to develop new markets, and that is why the Prime Minister is travelling the world right now. He wants to sign agreements so that businesses in the Eastern Townships, Quebec and Canada can find new customers in other parts of the world to replace their U.S. customers, since it is more difficult to do business with them right now.

[Arpan Khanna, Conservative, Oxford, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is always an honour to rise in the chamber to fight for the great residents of Oxford County.

There was a promise in this country that if someone worked hard and played by the rules, they could achieve anything. People made sacrifices, but they knew those sacrifices would one day pay off. They knew that if they worked hard and sacrificed with time away from their families, they could retire in peace, build a beautiful life and pass something on to the next generation. Every generation would be better than the one previous.

However, what we have seen in the last 10 years from the Liberal government is fiscal carnage and fiscal irresponsibility. The last Liberal prime minister literally doubled the national debt. The new guy came in during the last election, just eight months ago, and he promised Canadians he would be different. He promised Canadians he was the man with a plan. He has banking experience, but we are looking at his banking results right now, and we see that he is cooking the books.

The budget that the Liberal government presented is going to spend a record amount of Canadian taxpayers' hard-earned money. The Liberals used slogans and said they were going to spend less and invest more, but they are actually spending record amounts, and Canadians are getting so much more of less for all the money they are spending. They said that the budget was going to be generational, but it is generational debt, which Canadians are going to struggle to pay.

The Liberals' budget is putting an extra cost of $5,400 on every Canadian family. They cannot afford that. The Parliamentary Budget Officer, an independent officer whom the Liberals are now trying to fire, is also raising the alarm bells, saying that there are no fiscal anchors. The numbers on the Liberals' spreadsheet are just banker accounting to hide the real numbers in the deficit.

Oxford County is a strong community, but even there we are starting to see cracks in the foundation. There are lots of great charities that do amazing work. Just last week, Operation Sharing, which is one of the largest supports in Woodstock, put out a Facebook post showing the empty shelves at its food bank. The shelves are empty because demand has skyrocketed, not just from people who are on the streets but also from Canadians who are now considered the working poor. These are people who work extremely hard, including those who work double shifts, but who are struggling to get by because of the Liberals' fiscal irresponsibility.

There are stories from my riding I want to share with the House. The Liberals may say that this is all made up, but it is not. Their actions are having real consequences in the lives of Canadians. Nicole is a hard-working mother who works two jobs, 70 hours a week, and barely sees her autistic child. She has $1,500 coming in every two weeks. Her rent costs $2,500, and she is losing her home despite being in what is called the middle class. She said to me that she is now part of the working poor.

There is Shane, a trucker who has been on the road for 28 years. The tariffs, the trade wars, the industrial carbon tax and the cost of living crisis have all forced him to sell his personal belongings just to survive, not to live a luxurious lifestyle. Truckers sacrifice so much. They spend days on the road away from their family, moving our goods and making sure our supply chain is intact. They are sacrificing, yet they are barely moving up in life.

Denise, an auto worker from my riding, was just laid off permanently right before Christmas. She describes the plant closure as a gut punch.

A week and a half ago, we had Remembrance Day ceremonies in our ridings, and many members attended. I was at a Legion lunch after a ceremony, and one of the veterans, Connie, asked me if I could drop her off at her home, so she jumped in. As we were driving, she shared that her story is like that of many other seniors: She is struggling to pay rent, and for the first time, this month, she does not know how she will make up the difference. Our veterans are struggling as well.

Oxford County's industry and community are looking at truckers and suppliers who are losing their jobs because of plant closures and tariff impacts through Toyota, Vuteq and others. They are now all in jeopardy. These are real-life stories; they are not just numbers.

When we have two and a half million food bank visits in a single month, that does not show a strong, vibrant country. That does not show that the Liberals' plan is working. They often talk about the food program for kids. A sign of a healthy country and democracy is when parents, families and workers can feed their own children, save money and not rely on governments. For the Liberals, it is all about control and taking away power from our citizens.

This budget did absolutely nothing to help relieve the anxiety and tension that Canadians not only in my riding but across the country are facing. They looked at this budget and wanted something. Seniors wanted something, and youth wanted to know that one day their sacrifice would pay off, but this budget has absolutely nothing to help them get by every single day.

This came from the guy who said he was the man with the plan. He promised this stuff. He made these big promises in the campaign, and now Canadians are learning they are having buyer's remorse. They know that those were just empty words to win over their trust.

It does not have to be this way. The Conservatives voted against this budget because we did not see any real relief for Canadians, but there is a better path forward where we unleash Canada's advantage and look to develop our natural resources. We can be one of the richest countries in the world if we get our energy moving to the rest of the world. We can cut taxes for hard-working Canadians and for businesses so they can innovate, take risks and help create jobs in our country. We can cut the red tape.

Under the Liberals' watch, red tape has skyrocketed, strangling any growth in our country. We have seen investment going down south and record numbers of folks moving out of the country because the Canadian promise that I spoke about earlier is no longer there.

There is a better path forward: a Conservative plan where we unleash Canada's natural resources, cut taxes and stand up for families. Every family could provide for themselves, and people's sacrifices would actually mean something. If they spent time away from their kids, they would know they could provide for their kids' sports games or soccer during the summer. It would be a country where it would not matter where people come from, what language they speak or what industry they work in, a united country that is successful.

I know that Canadians are some of the hardest-working people in the world, including our auto workers, farmers, machinists, servers and those in hospitality. When Canadians get down to business, everything is possible. The Liberals just have to get out of the way.

[Pauline Rochefort, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Secretary of State (Rural Development)]

Mr. Speaker, this morning in the media, there was an article entitled “‘Quiet buzz’ on Bay Street about Carney's ‘nation-building’ major projects”. It said, “There is a strong response within the finance community, within the engineering community, within the construction community. People are awake, people are aware”. People are interested in knowing about the timelines on these projects as they seek to participate.

What are my colleague's views on major projects? Does he support fast-tracking major projects in Canada, as the people in my riding do? That is what I have heard people in my riding say.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, John Nater]

Before I go on, I will just remind the parliamentary secretary not to use the names of members, including of the Prime Minister, in the House.

The hon. member for Oxford.

[Arpan Khanna, Conservative, Oxford, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the only people benefiting from this Brookfield budget are Brookfield's management on Bay Street, so maybe what she is quoting is from Brookfield.

The folks who live on main street in our communities are struggling. Homelessness is at record numbers. Encampments are popping up everywhere. Food bank lineups are right around the corner, and people are barely struggling to get by.

I understand that the Liberals might be excited because the portfolio manager of the Prime Minister is probably lining pockets at Brookfield, but real Canadians are struggling. On this side of the House, we are going to stand up for working-class Canadians every step of the way.

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to get my friend and colleague's thoughts on an important sector we share in this country: agriculture. In the budget, the government is sending over $300 million to farmers in other parts of the world, yet our farmers are dealing with punishing tariffs here in Canada. Also, we have had many years of drought and of not being able to grow the crops the way we normally would like to.

I am wondering what the member thinks about the government's priorities when it comes to agriculture and what he is hearing from farmers in his riding.

[Arpan Khanna, Conservative, Oxford, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is true that I represent a great rural farming community. I want to thank the hon. member for all the great work he does in championing our farmers. As we all know, farmers are the ones who feed our families, and I can tell members that farmers are not happy with the government either.

We are asking for some sort of relief on tariffs, but every time the Prime Minister travels the world, things go the opposite way. Our farmers are now being hammered by Chinese canola tariffs. They are struggling to get our goods to market. We saw it with the Indians; they slapped new tariffs on our peas. The Prime Minister goes everywhere, and even though he is jet-setting around the world, there has been no relief for our farmers.

If we look at the budget, we see the same thing. Our farmers need our support. They want to grow. They want to keep feeding our families. We are going to keep supporting them every step of the way.

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there is something about this budget that keeps bugging me: I cannot find anything about investments in the justice system. Lord knows we need some, because the justice system has serious issues: Vacancies are not being filled, the backlog is overwhelming, and some courts cannot meet the deadlines set out in the Supreme Court's Jordan decision, meaning trials are being adjourned. It is a huge problem.

While dissecting the budget, did my colleague come across any mention of spending to improve the administration of the justice system in Canada?

[Arpan Khanna, Conservative, Oxford, ON]

Mr. Speaker, that is a great question by hon. colleague. He and I share a passion for building a strong justice system.

I looked at the budget, and I do not think the word “crime” is mentioned even once. The Liberals keep reannouncing the promise that they are going to hire new officers, yet they have not done that. Even the public safety minister, who is responsible for this, says it is not his job.

We have a huge demand to support our law enforcement agencies and support our legal justice system. The member is absolutely correct to say that justice delayed is justice denied, and we are going to keep holding the government accountable for its failure to keep Canadians safe.

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Emergency Management and Community Resilience]

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise today in support of budget 2025. We are building Canada strong. This is a plan that would protect our communities, empower Canadians with better careers and make life more affordable. We are creating an economy by Canadians for Canadians.

Our government is cutting spending, building more and honouring our commitments, because that is how we are investing in Canada's future. Our government is focused on strengthening Canada's economic resilience. Today, however, I want to talk about a different kind of resilience, one that keeps our communities safe and ready to take on the challenges of a changing world.

As we all know, the nature of emergencies is changing. Extreme weather events are more frequent and more severe. Our government recognizes that our work does not stop once the flames are out or the flood waters recede. Emergency management continues long after any disaster occurs. It also begins long before any disaster happens, with smart planning and investments.

Emergency management and community resilience are a priority for this government. That is why budget 2025 contains several proposals that will further enhance our country's emergency preparedness and response.

The national public alerting system saves lives. It warns the public about natural disasters, which saves precious time and plays a key role. It also warns about child abductions through Amber alerts and helps keep children safe.

The budget proposes an investment of over $55.4 million over four years, $13.4 million a year on a continual basis, to renew the national public alerting system. This investment ensures that this critical tool remains active in keeping Canadians safe.

An updated alert system responds to recommendations from the Mass Casualty Commission, which examined the 2020 Nova Scotia mass shooting. It recommended transformative change to better prevent and respond to critical incidents and mass casualty events in the future, to help make Canadian communities safer. The renewal of the national public alerting system will ensure Canadians continue to receive amber alerts and warnings of imminent natural disasters, extreme weather events and security threats so they can take action to protect themselves and their communities.

The year is drawing to a close. The 2025 wildfire season has been the second-worst in Canadian history. One thing has become clear: The impacts of wildfires are growing and we need to be better prepared for them. Our government responded to 17 requests for assistance throughout this wildfire season. That is a significant number.

Although the active season is over, some regions are still fighting forest fires.

Here are some numbers. There were more than 6,000 wildfires in nearly every province and territory, impacting communities across the country and burning over 8.3 million hectares. Since April, the heightened risk and impacts have forced evacuations of more than 85,000 people, including over 45,000 people from 73 first nations communities.

These numbers represent the lived experience of thousands of people, including families forced to leave their home, communities rallying together and responders working tirelessly to protect lives and property. I want to express my deep appreciation and gratitude to the first responders, volunteers and local leaders who work tirelessly and demonstrate immense bravery to help keep Canadians safe.

While provinces and territories manage on-the-ground firefighting, the increasing scale and frequency of wildfires have made this a national issue that deserves a national response. To boost Canada's aerial firefighting capacity, budget 2025 will provide $257.6 million to lease water bombers. This will make the federal government an even stronger partner in emergency response and builds on our other accomplishments to date.

One of our pivotal accomplishments has been the modernization of our financial assistance mechanisms. We recognize that recovery costs from large-scale disasters are a substantial burden on provinces and territories, and that is why we revamped the disaster financial assistance arrangements.

In April, we launched a modernized program designed not only to accelerate and improve funding, but also to encourage proactive risk-reduction efforts across all levels of government to build back better.

Collaboration has been a cornerstone of our success. Through the humanitarian workforce program, we have funded and built capacity within non-governmental organizations like the Canadian Red Cross, which enables them to deploy resources quickly in response to large-scale emergencies. This civilian response capacity reduces the strain on the Canadian Armed Forces and allows for more tailored community-based responses.

I am particularly excited that budget 2025 creates a youth climate corps that will provide paid skills training for young Canadians. They will be trained to quickly respond to climate emergencies, support recovery and strengthen resilience in communities across the country. This initiative will support reducing youth unemployment, will increase innovation and will strengthen adaptation and mitigation projects.

With the investments we are making in budget 2025, we will be able to build further on these efforts to make a real difference in Canadians' lives. When a wildfire rages through a town, the cost is not just the price of the fire trucks and the water bombers. It is the cost of rebuilding homes and businesses that took generations to build. It is the psychological toll on families that lose their cherished memories and their sense of security. It is the billions in insured and uninsured damages that put immense strain on our economy and our social safety net.

Every dollar we choose not to spend today on climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation and infrastructure resilience will result in exponential recovery costs tomorrow. This is not a matter of political ideology; it is a matter of financial responsibility and public safety.

The path ahead requires bold action and investment, yes, but let us be clear that it is an investment in the safety of our children to strengthen our economy and the enduring success of our country.

I know many of my hon. colleagues across the House, from all parties, have discussed the impact of climate change in their communities. In fact, they have called on the government to step up capacity and play a larger role in emergency management. With this budget, that is exactly what we are doing. Budget 2025 is our plan to take control and build the future we want for ourselves, as a people and as a country. It is our plan to build Canada strong.

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

Mr. Speaker, the member has talked a lot about climate change, its effects and the impact it has, but there are a couple of things that the budget does not talk about and does not deal with, and I was hoping the member would have addressed it in his speech.

There have been 30 sawmill closures in the province of B.C. There have been multiple sawmill closures in Quebec. We have seen a decimation of the forestry industry, yet there is no recognition by the government of those mills and those workers. Without them, the rebuild strategy is basically non-existent. If we look at what happened in Jasper and the town burning down, the department knew that there was a disaster about to happen, yet it did nothing about it. It did nothing to actively manage the forest to make sure there were protections, yet there is nothing in the budget addressing that.

How does the member opposite square that with his speech around the effects of climate change when the government knows there are steps it can take and it refuses to do it?

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the budget talks about jobs for all Canadians. We care about people who work in sawmills, and we care about people who work in every industry. That is why this budget builds jobs and gives money to those industries that need it the most and are impacted by the U.S. tariffs.

The budget also deals with climate change, and we deal with emergency management. I do not agree with the way the member expressed what happened in Jasper. That is not what any of the reports related to Jasper said, but we do know that we need to be a good partner with provinces and territories to make sure we are resilient when it comes to the natural disasters that come from climate change, and that is what we are doing.

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague is an MP from Quebec. He knows the extent of the crisis in Quebec's health care system. He is also very aware of the fragility of that system. Unfortunately, there is no new money in this budget. Worse still, the health transfer escalator will drop from 6% to 3%, which will once again weaken the provinces and Quebec.

Does my colleague agree with me that this should not happen?

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I completely agree that the health care system in Quebec, and in several other provinces, is very fragile. Federal government investments are very important.

However, the questions I am hearing from the doctors in my community concern Quebec's Bill 2 and the problems it will cause, including the closure of family medicine clinics in almost every region of Quebec. In my riding, 20 clinics have sent me letters saying that they may have to close their doors because of the changes resulting from Bill 2. I therefore hope that the Quebec government will amend Bill 2 to ensure the survival of Quebec's health care system.

[Pauline Rochefort, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Secretary of State (Rural Development)]

Mr. Speaker, I want to ask my colleague how the businesses in his community have reacted to some of the many tax incentives that were included in our budget. I know, in my riding, businesses reacted very positively to the productivity superdeduction.

I would like the member's thoughts on how his business community is reacting.

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my businesses have also reacted very well to the tax credits and the tax breaks that are being given in the budget. I believe my population has also reacted well to the general tax cut that was given to all Canadians in the very first law the House passed in the spring.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the matter of buying water bombers is long overdue. While the budget commits $381 million over four years, that would only lease four water bombers. The water bombers are oversubscribed and are all being ordered by the European Union.

When will Canada buy our own water bomber fleet?