Is it agreed?
House of Commons Hansard #61 of the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was sanctions.
House of Commons Hansard #61 of the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was sanctions.
This summary is computer-generated. Usually it’s accurate, but every now and then it’ll contain inaccuracies or total fabrications.
Budget 2025 Implementation Act, No. 1 Second reading of Bill C-15. The bill implements provisions of the November 2025 budget. Conservative MPs criticize the budget for increasing deficit and debt, rising cost of living, and insufficient support for the Canadian Armed Forces and veterans. Liberal MPs defend the budget, highlighting investments in housing, a national school food program, and strengthening Canada's economy and trade relations. The Bloc Québécois opposes the bill, citing increased subsidies for the fossil fuel industry and inadequate support for the forestry sector. 16300 words, 2 hours.
Sergei Magnitsky International Anti-Corruption and Human Rights Act Second reading of Bill C-219. The bill proposes amendments to existing legislation to strengthen Canada's sanctions regime against corrupt foreign officials and human rights violators. It introduces new definitions for transnational repression and prisoners of conscience, and aims to enhance transparency and enforcement of sanctions. While members agree on the bill's intent, concerns exist regarding potential risks to human rights defenders and the practical implementation of some provisions. 8800 words, 1 hour.
Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings
Questions on the Order PaperRoutine Proceedings
The Assistant Deputy Speaker John Nater
[For text of questions and responses, see Written Questions website]
Kevin Lamoureux LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all notices of motions for the production of papers be allowed to stand.
Motions for PapersRoutine Proceedings
The House resumed from November 25 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.
James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB
Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to be able to join everyone here in the discussions on the budget and the budget implementation act. It is a budget that I proudly voted against. I voted against it for many reasons.
We know that the Prime Minister continues to run up the deficit and the debt in the country. He is using Canada's credit card to finance this very costly and unaffordable budget. The budget continues to drive up the cost of living for Canadians on everything from groceries to housing, new equipment and cars. All of that continues out of control.
We know that since October 2024, the cost of groceries, according to the inflation data that is available, has gone up 3.4%. Year after year, month after month, day after day and week after week, there are more and more costs, yet Canadians' paycheques are not rising. When they do rise, the government Liberals of course are putting their hands into Canadians' pockets, with more and more taxes.
The Prime Minister has broken so many promises since he was sworn in eight months ago. I know that just in the last six months, one promise was that he said he was going to keep the deficit at $16 billion. Guess what. In the budget implementation act, the deficit is $78 billion.
The Prime Minister promised to lower the debt-to-GDP ratio. Guess what. He is raising both it and inflation at the same time. He promised to spend less, but the budget is costing $90 billion more. That is $5,400 more per household across the country in inflationary spending, and that means less money in the pockets of Canadians.
The Prime Minister promised to help municipalities with housing by cutting down house-building taxes in those municipalities. With the budget, he breaks that promise.
The Prime Minister promised that there would be more investment here in Canada, but as we just witnessed when he was in the U.A.E., he is actually taking money out of Canada to invest over there rather than attracting money from the U.A.E. into Canada. Again, that is a broken promise. Investment in the country continues to collapse.
What the budget forces Canadians to do is spend more on debt interest servicing than on health care transfers to the provinces. It is more than what the government actually collects in GST. We also have to remember that the big deficits and the great big debt we have, which is now $1.35 trillion, are money borrowed from bankers and bondholders. It is money that should be in the hands of Canadians. It is not going towards investing in more doctors and nurses in our health care system.
One of the reasons I am opposed to the budget is that it is going to increase our federal debt by over $321.7 billion. That is twice as much as what Justin Trudeau promised he would do, and it means that the budget will borrow $10 million every hour, which will be added to our debt. Our national debt continues to grow, as I said, to $1.35 trillion, costing us $55.6 billion on interest to service that debt. Just to put it in perspective, that is more than the Canada health care transfer to the provinces, which is $54.7 billion.
As the shadow minister for national defence, I do have to talk about the money that is in the budget. As the budget says, Canada will meet the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's 2% spending target. I am just wondering how the Liberals are going to get there. The budget proposes that they are going to have $81.8 billion over the next five years on a cash basis. That is over $9 billion more than what the Prime Minister promised in June. There is going to be over $30 billion in capital investments. The Liberals have not said what those capital investments are.
Where are the Liberals actually finding the money, and is it actually increasing the lethality and capability of the Canadian Armed Forces? We know that one place where they are finding money is that they are cutting veterans' benefits by $4.23 billion in the budget. The government whip can sit there and laugh, but it is actually in the budget. As much as Liberals are saying that it is coming out of medical cannabis programs for veterans, that is only $100 million a year, $400 million over four years. They are still at $4.23 billion. Where is the transparency? What services are our veterans losing?
As we know, the government has failed our veterans at every turn. The Minister of Veterans Affairs did not understand that Memorial Day was on July 1 in Newfoundland and Labrador. She did not understand that every memorial service we have on Remembrance Day across Canada on November 11 needs wreaths. The Liberals wanted MPs to have only two, even though in my riding there are 20 Remembrance Day services. They did not think that was important, because as long as they had enough for their big-city Remembrance Day services, that was fine.
This has all been unacceptable. We need the minister to come clean as to where these cuts are coming from. The budget is vague, and the dollars just are not there.
We also question whether or not the government can actually spend this money. We know that in the Department of National Defence, over the last 10 years of the Liberals, over $10 billion in defence spending has lapsed. Whether it has been Mr. Sajjan, the former minister of defence, or someone else, the Liberals always get up and say that they will make sure any money that is not used in one fiscal year will be repurposed for use in the next year or the year after that.
I can tell the House that, in subsequent years, of the dollars available of the $10 billion that lapsed, they have been able to earmark only $110 million. Only 10% of the dollars that have lapsed have ever gone back to be invested in the defence budget. The rest of the money of course was turned back into general revenue and used on other Liberal pet projects. Therefore for defence, if there is $9 billion there, maybe $4.2 billion is coming from Veterans Affairs, but I can tell you that if they do not spend it, they will claw it back, because that is what the Liberals do with respect to defence.
The other way the Liberals are going to try to get the numbers up, and we already know this, is through creative accounting. They are great at creative accounting when they start talking about how they are going to get to 2%. We know that in 2017-18, when they first started doing creative accounting, all veterans' pensions became national defence spending, so there is nothing there in capabilities.
We know they actually moved some Coast Guard spending over, as well as some Global Affairs Canada spending. I can say that in 2017-18, they moved $47 million from the Coast Guard into national defence. That then increased to $759 million just a couple of years ago. This year, they moved the entire department of the Canadian Coast Guard, which does icebreaking, navigation, search and rescue, ocean mapping and environmental research. Now, all of a sudden, that is all defence spending. They have moved over $2.4 billion into national defence, while adding no new defensive capabilities for the Canadian Armed Forces.
We also know that in this budget, the Liberals are transferring aviation services from Transport Canada. We do not even know how much that is yet, but it is still more of the shell game. They are going to take from this department and from that department and move it over, so there is absolutely no transparency. The reason they can do that is that there has been a new change at NATO, which is that any spending under the Department of National Defence, whether civilian salaries or anything else, can count toward NATO spending.
I am just waiting for the government to say that the national child care program is going to national defence or old age security pensions will go to national security. That is how we are going to get to 2%. We know the Liberals cannot be trusted to make the investments we need.
In the budget, the Liberals talked about retiring some of our older fleets that are costing too much money to maintain. The deputy minister of national defence and the chief of the defence staff said in a release, “We are reviewing these savings to assess what they mean for our organization. Work to implement them will only begin if the Budget has the support of Parliament, so we will share additional information with you once the House of Commons’ debate and vote take place.”
They do not even know what the government is doing, what fleets we are going to retire and how we are going to fill any capability gaps that are occurring. Are they parking our old Victoria-class submarines even though we will still be waiting years before we get our next new submarines? Are they going to park the rest of our Leopard tanks, which are in poor condition, and then not have any tanks here in Canada for training or for getting ready in case there is a conflict? Are they also retiring the Cyclone helicopters, which are abandoned?
There are so many questions about this budget and how it is not making our Canadian Armed Forces stronger and better able to protect Canada.
Mark Gerretsen Liberal Kingston and the Islands, ON
Mr. Speaker, it is not about what the member said; it is about what he did not say. He spent a lot of time talking about NATO and military infrastructure but spent absolutely zero time talking about the actual men and women who are in our Armed Forces.
I was on the defence committee with this member for four years. We toured bases together throughout Canada. Can he look into the camera over there and tell the folks who work at CFB Kingston and other bases throughout the country why he voted against, and plans again to vote against, a 20% pay raise for them? I do not expect him to do that; after all, this is the former parliamentary secretary who oversaw defence spending in Canada when it fell below 1% for the only time in recorded Canadian history.
James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB
Mr. Speaker, we actually have on record from the Library of Parliament that last year, when we take out the creative accounting of the Liberals' expenditures, apples-to-apples actual defence spending was 1.01%. The Liberals have not been making the investments.
If this member can sanctimoniously stand here and say to look in the camera, I will look in the camera. I have always been fighting for our Canadian Armed Forces.
An hon. member
Tell them why you will not vote for it.
James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB
Has he looked at the budget? The budget sucks.
Mr. Speaker, let us just say this. At CFB Kingston, the housing is terrible and we hear about rat infestations and frozen water pipes; we need to make sure that they are actually putting the money into housing. If this member is so much in favour of supporting the troops, especially at CFB Kingston, why are the Liberals building only 32 new houses this year?
Arnold Viersen Conservative Peace River—Westlock, AB
Mr. Speaker, I was just hoping that the hon. member could comment a bit more about how members of the Canadian Armed Forces have to line up at food banks in this country.
James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB
Mr. Speaker, when it comes down to it, we are seeing way too many members of the Canadian Armed Forces in that.
We welcome the raise that the Canadian Armed Forces members are getting. They need it, but guess what. The government is not investing in all the other avenues they need. Housing is unaffordable in most of the places where our bases are, such as Halifax, Esquimalt, Toronto and Kingston. Because of that, a lot of these guys are living rough. They are having to live in campers; they are couch surfing, or they are staying in their cars because there is not enough housing out there for them. Actually, there was a story that just broke this week from Western Standard and from Blacklock's Reporter. According to research that was done, 10% of our troops are leaving the forces in under 10 years because of the cost of living crisis and the lack of available housing for them.
Gord Johns NDP Courtenay—Alberni, BC
Mr. Speaker, on its website, the College of Family Physicians of Canada cites that over 250,000 hours of family physicians' time, equivalent to about one million patient visits, is spent doing the disability tax credit form.
In this budget, the Liberals would put $10 million aside to help pay for that. Would it not be easier if, instead of wasting $10 million of taxpayer money and a million hours of doctors' time, they would just honour somebody on disability in their province and territory to actually get the Canada disability benefit? It would be much simpler. Would it not make sense?
Why do they not do that? The Liberals know that people do not have the energy and time, and they struggle to navigate the system, so they are denying them the benefits they deserve. Maybe my colleague can speak about this simple fix.
James Bezan Conservative Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB
Mr. Speaker, I agree with my colleague from the NDP with respect to that statement. All too often we have constituents come in who have to jump through all sorts of hoops to get the disability tax credit. The Liberals have allowed the CRA to go out there and make life more difficult, rather than making it easier. Burying people in red tape and bureaucracy and making them jump through endless hoops is not the way to be compassionate as a society.
I want to make sure that we are there for those people who need those tax credits. Instead of making it more difficult, let us make it easier. Instead of wasting so much money running up increasing deficits, let us get those deficits under control so that we can put more money into health care.
Arielle Kayabaga Liberal London West, ON
Mr. Speaker, I am very happy and excited to rise to speak in support of Bill C-15, the budget implementation act, and explain why this legislation matters to communities such as London West and the broader southwestern Ontario corridor.
We came off a campaign in April 2025 with an ambitious plan to respond to pressures that Canadians sent us to resolve in this session. In the last election, I spent many hours speaking to many Londoners, asking them what the most important issue was for them. I believe that, in this election, the most important issue was actually responding to the tariff pressures and the economic pressures that Canadians were feeling. The tariff pressures came on top of the extra economic pressures that Canadians were already feeling, which were due to many external pressures, such as COVID-19 and the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine. These were all factors in why Canadians were experiencing pressure on their pocketbooks.
Families were scrambling to feed themselves. There was a lot of price gouging in food prices, and Canadians were feeling real pressure, whether it was with finances, putting their kids into extracurricular activities or even putting their kids in day care. We have been a government that has constantly responded to these pressures.
On this side of the House, we believe that Canadians want a government that functions, that responds to pressures, and that can also withstand external pressures, such as these global issues that impact us all here in Canada. As we have seen, there have been many global challenges that continue to impact us economically. Even when we have economic plans, we can always plan to see other pressures come into play, and we have to be ready to respond to those pressures. We have to be ready to support Canadian families and Canadian workers, which is why they sent us back in April 2025 to this House, to make sure that we can respond to tariff pressures, respond to issues in which young people are unable to access homes that are affordable to them and respond to Canadian family pressures around affordability. This is where I will frame my speech, but I wanted to start by saying that the budget really did respond to a promise we made in April 2025 when we were campaigning.
I believe that budget 2025 comes at a really important time, because it makes concrete changes to how Canada responds to global economic pressures and how we equip our workforce. It also responds to how we ensure that young people can build stable lives in the communities they come from, and my remarks are going to focus on these areas: how Canada is responding to the tariffs and external economic pressures, the support of businesses and communities, innovation, job creation through retooling and skilled trades, and the connection between youth opportunities and housing.
Budget 2025 reflects a clear shift in how we think about economic strength. It does not assume that markets will organize themselves. It does not assume that workers can absorb endless disruption. It does not assume that housing will magically fix itself. Instead, it is built around three practical priorities: strengthening Canada's response to global pressures; investing in innovation and workforce capability; and rebuilding opportunity for Canadian families and young people through affordability measures, housing and employment pathways. This matters for areas such as southwestern Ontario and my community of London West, because these are measures that are experienced through job stability, rent payments and whether young people can stay close to home to find meaningful work.
Canada, along with many countries in the world, is operating in a world that is changing really fast and becoming very unpredictable. The global trade rules that have powered our prosperity for decades are being rewritten, which is creating real pressures on Canadian small, medium-sized and large businesses; real risk for workers; and real uncertainty for families. In that context, our focus has to be clear. We have to strengthen what we can control here at home, which means growing our economy faster, building more of what we need here in Canada and making sure that we never overly depend on one single country. It also means that we have to make disciplined choices. We have to cut waste where it exists, and we have to invest with purpose in the infrastructure, housing, skills and industries that will carry us forward and create immense opportunities for Canadians.
This is a moment for serious leadership, practical action and long-term thinking, and this is exactly how we are going to build a stronger and more self-reliant Canada. Canadians did not send us here to sit on the sidelines while the world changes around us; they sent us with big, bold ambitions. They sent us with a clear expectation that we will act to protect their jobs and that we will position our country to compete and win big. That is exactly what we have seen so far.
Since the Prime Minister became Prime Minister, we have secured major investments and trade commitments that are strengthening our supply chains; we have opened new markets for Canadian businesses, and we are bringing real capital into our economy. These are not symbolic announcements; these are real investments that will result in real jobs in the country, in real economic power, in strengthening our businesses and in making a stronger country. These are practical steps that are already leading to new facilities, expanded production and well-paying jobs in communities across the country. This is about doing the work that Canadians wanted us to do when they sent us here in April 2025.
We have an opportunity to work together with the entire House to make sure that we can protect Canadian jobs; that we can create real, meaningful opportunities for Canada; and that we can continue to position Canada as a real partner around the world. Canada has exactly what the world needs; the world is calling on Canada to step up, and that is what we are doing. We are opening up opportunities for trade.
The Prime Minister has already signed trade deals in the U.A.E. and Indonesia, and there are many more to come. This is really important for the agriculture sector and the innovation sector, and there are real opportunities here. When the tariff pressure came, it was both an opportunity and a pressure for Canadians. It was an opportunity for us to grow as a country and to continue to show that we are a strong middle power that can stand on the world stage. It was also an opportunity to protect our jobs and to build the future that we want to see for our young people.
Building a stronger economy only works if the people who power it are equipped to succeed, and that is why our government is investing in people. We are rolling out large-scale re-skilling supports so that workers can transition into growing industries, modernizing employment insurance to make it flexible and responsive and launching the digital job-matching tools that connect Canadians to their careers faster. At the same time, we are bringing employers, unions and industry together through new workforce partnerships to align training with real labour market needs. These are practical steps that will ensure that growth is not abstract but shows up as stable, well-paid jobs.
Through major infrastructure investment, we are already unlocking tens of billions of dollars in economic activity that will support thousands of well-paying jobs and strengthen our productivity in the long term.
Housing is a core part of our economic plan. Workers cannot build stable lives and businesses, and show up to work, if they do not have an affordable place to live. As Canada faces a real housing supply gap, our response is focused on speed, scale and coordination, and through budget 2025, we are taking direct action to bring more homes online faster by removing barriers for first-time homebuyers, by launching Build Canada Homes to drive larger-scale public-private construction and by modernizing how homes are built.
We will do this by using Canadian products. This means that we will work with industry, provinces, municipalities and indigenous partners to deliver affordable and co-operative housing at scale and using new building technologies, securing long-term investment and prioritizing Canadian material and supply chains. The goals here are very clear: more homes built faster; restored affordability and real pressures relieved for families, workers and young people trying to build their future in their own communities.
I can give a London West example of how we are doing that. Just a couple of weeks ago, I was in my riding announcing $11 million that will create 50 affordable units in London. That is 50 more people who will not have to be homeless, who can have a home that they can call their own and then begin to think about their work opportunities.
It looks as though my time is up, so I look forward to being able to answer more questions and talking more about the things I care about in the budget. I hope the entire House can understand that these are real pressures Canadians are feeling, and they are looking for us to pass this bill as quickly as possible.
Arnold Viersen Conservative Peace River—Westlock, AB
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have been in power for over 10 years now and have failed to secure a softwood lumber deal. They have been in power while there have been three different presidents of the United States, and they have failed to diversify our markets around the world after Stephen Harper left them with a legacy of 42 free trade agreements having been signed.
Our energy is still landlocked in Alberta. I am wondering what my hon. colleague has to say about getting our resources to market.
Arielle Kayabaga Liberal London West, ON
Mr. Speaker, I think we have some great news. Prime Minister Carney just announced new supports for the steel and lumber industries for Canadians.
I just finished telling the House how Canadians sent us here because they want us to find real solutions for the real problems they have, and that is what we are doing. It is important to note for the people who elected the member that he has voted against all those measures. He asks me these questions, but this question should be asked of him: Why does he vote against Canadians?
The Assistant Deputy Speaker John Nater
I would remind the hon. member for London West not to use the last name of the Prime Minister or any hon. member in the House.
Questions and comments, the hon. parliamentary secretary to the government House leader.
Kevin Lamoureux LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the comments of my colleague and friend today on the budget, which are really encouraging. If we go back, as she pointed out, to the last election, we talked about how important Trump's tariffs and trade were. The Prime Minister highlighted that we need to be able to expand opportunities beyond the Canada-United States border.
My friend referred to a number of different countries. We heard in the last little while of the potential agreements between Canada and the Philippines and between Canada and India. These are the types of things that are going to have a profoundly positive impact on all Canadians.
I wonder if the member could pick up on the point of why it is so important that we build Canada strong.
Arielle Kayabaga Liberal London West, ON
Mr. Speaker, that is a very good question. I just talked about how important it is for us to position Canada to continue to be a strong nation that can build other partners and not rely on one single country. My colleague talked about the importance of building relationships across the world. We are doing that.
The member is a strong supporter of the Filipino community here in Canada. He has worked on this file for a long time and knows how important it is for us to build those relationships. He knows how important it is for us to build a relationship with Indonesia and other partners, where we can find common ground with people who share the same values and be able to trade together. That is what the government is doing, and will continue to do so.
Most importantly, there is so much good news that we cannot even keep track of it. As I was speaking, I was trying to catch everyone up on the newest announcement the Prime Minister is making to support Canadians.
Some hon. members
Oh, oh!
Arielle Kayabaga Liberal London West, ON
Mr. Speaker, the members opposite continue to laugh and heckle as I speak, but they are forgetting that Canadians sent us back to the House to protect their jobs—
The Assistant Deputy Speaker John Nater
Questions and comments, the hon. member for Souris—Moose Mountain.