Debates of Nov. 27th, 2025

Falun Gong

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to present two petitions this morning.

The first petition is from a group of individuals who are asking the House of Commons to urge the Government of Canada to call for the end of persecution of the Falun Gong in China and to take strong measures to combat the Chinese Communist Party's transnational repression in Canada.

The petitioners ask that the Government of Canada publicly call on the Chinese regime to end its persecution of the Falun Gong in China and transnational repression abroad, continue to impose sanctions on and pursue accountability for the CCP officials and proxies responsible for these human rights violations, and take stronger measures to protect the Falun Gong community, which is targeted by foreign repression.

Medical Assistance in Dying

[Ted Falk, Conservative, Provencher, MB]

Mr. Speaker, my second petition is from a group of individuals who say that choosing medical assistance in dying because of a lack of available services or treatments is not a real choice. Allowing medical assistance in dying for those with disabilities or chronic illnesses who are not dying devalues their lives, tacitly endorsing the notion that life with disability is optional and, by extension, dispensable. Offering medical assistance in dying as a solution for disability or chronic illnesses reduces incentives to improve treatment and care for people with those conditions.

Canadians do not want an ableist health care system in which the lives of those with disabilities are seen as not worth living. Many disability advocates in Canada have expressed opposition to allowing MAID for people with disabilities. Therefore, these citizens and residents of Canada call upon the government to protect all Canadians whose natural death is not reasonably foreseeable by prohibiting medical assistance in dying for those whose prognosis for natural death is more than six months.

Falun Gong

[Dave Epp, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I too rise and bring forward the voices of Canadians who call on the government to present stronger measures in response to the Chinese Communist Party's engaged campaign for 26 years against the Falun Gong. Falun Gong practitioners have endured severe human rights abuses, mass arbitrary detentions, torture, killings and organ harvesting.

These Canadians call on the Chinese regime to end its persecution of the Falun Gong in China and their repression abroad. They call on the government to impose sanctions and pursue accountability for CCP officials and their proxies who are responsible for these human rights violations and to take stronger measures to protect the Falun Gong community targeted by these foreign repressions.

Air Service to India

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to rise today to table a petition on behalf of my constituents to deal with an important issue. The relationship between Canada and India continues to grow, in terms of the number of people who want to travel back and forth between Canada and India.

The petitioners are calling upon Parliament to do what it can to encourage additional flights, more specifically, for the community of Winnipeg to have more direct flights from Winnipeg into Europe and even possibly into India, whether that encouragement be provided by the Winnipeg Airports Authority, the Government of Canada or any member of Parliament.

Youth Employment

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have a number of petitions to present to the House today.

The first petition deals with the issue of youth unemployment. I want to thank the petitioners for taking the initiative to get this important issue of youth unemployment before the House.

The petitioners observe that youth unemployment is alarmingly high across Canada, leaving many young Canadians unable to secure stable, full-time employment despite their education, skills and ambition. They know that training and skills development programs have not kept pace with the realities of our labour market. The immigration policy has not been effectively aligned with labour market needs, limiting opportunities for young Canadians in their chosen fields. The rising cost of living makes it harder for young people to afford housing near available jobs and for businesses to attract and retain employees. Persistent youth unemployment weakens Canada's economy and social well-being.

Petitioners are calling on the Government of Canada to present a clear plan to reduce youth unemployment, developed in consultation with young Canadians, employers and educators, and to report to Parliament on progress toward job creation, training alignment and youth labour market participation.

Ukraine

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the next petition that I would like to present to the House is in response to the ongoing illegal genocidal invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the Putin regime. The petitioners highlight a number of aspects of this invasion.

This petition was prepared a little while ago, so there have been further developments beyond what is in the petition, but the asks are very clear and very present, and they are extremely important. The petitioners ask that the House stand with the people of Ukraine in the threat facing Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity. They want to see decisive action from the international community against the Putin regime. They want consistent sanctions against the regime without the kinds of loopholes that, sadly, we have seen from the government on titanium and other areas. They want to see efforts to boycott Russian oil and gas imports in Canada and Europe, to secure energy agreements with western partners, to increase the supply of military equipment and lethal defensive weapons to protect the territory and human rights of the people of Ukraine, and to provide urgent humanitarian assistance and vital assistance to refugees.

It is sad to see that conflict continuing, and we need to press on for a Ukrainian victory, which is important for their security and for our security.

Medical Assistance in Dying

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the next petition I am tabling highlights concerns from the disability community about euthanasia, or medical assistance in dying. The petitioners raise concerns about how making euthanasia available to people with disabilities, the only group of people who can access medical assistance in dying when they are not dying, devalues their lives and negatively impacts their experiences in interacting with the health care system.

I know people in this community are deeply concerned about how those living with disabilities are regularly offered MAID by people in positions of authority when they are not seeking it, but seeking other kinds of health or other services. Disability advocates are magnifying and agreeing with concerns raised at the United Nations about Canada's non-compliance with its international commitments on the rights of people with disabilities as a result of the current situation.

The petitioners call on the Government of Canada to protect all Canadians whose natural death is not reasonably foreseeable by prohibiting medical assistance in dying for those whose prognosis for natural death is more than six months.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the final petition I am tabling today highlights challenges faced by Ukrainian refugees here in Canada who, overwhelmingly, are working, contributing to Canadian society and, as the war continues, face uncertainty around their status here. Petitioners from my province of Alberta are calling on the federal government to create a clear path to permanent residency for those who are here through the CUAET program, a specialized approach to take into account their particular needs.

Wildfire Response

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to table what I hope is my final petition calling for a national aerial firefighting task force, which was included in the budget.

The petitioners call on the government to work in partnership with the private sector to retrofit a portion of Canada's retired Lockheed CC-130 Hercules fleet; turn them into large air tankers for use in wildfire suppression across Canada; deploy these aircraft as part of a strengthened national wildfire response capacity to be shared with provinces and territories and, where appropriate, available for international humanitarian and emergency response missions; and prioritize this made-in-Canada solution, which leverages Canadian engineering and global expertise and delivers clear benefits for the public in protecting lives, communities and the environment.

This is from petitioners from Port Alberni in British Columbia.

Questions on the Order Paper

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

Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all questions be allowed to stand.

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Is that agreed?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

[For text of questions and responses, see Written Questions website]

The House resumed from November 26 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

[Burton Bailey, Conservative, Red Deer, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address Bill C-15, the first budget implementation act. The budget was introduced after Canadians were made to wait well over a year to understand the fiscal reality the Liberal government put them in after 10 years.

Canadians are facing a harsh and worsening reality. When they open their wallets, they see less money and fewer opportunities. They are met with promises from a government that insists a few more billion dollars in Ottawa spending will magically resolve their struggles. The same government believes the same ideas are going to fix its messes: spend more, borrow more and add bureaucracy. Every time, it makes the situation worse.

I stand here representing the great people of Red Deer, Alberta, to tell the government my constituents have had enough. They have had enough of the 10 long Liberal years that continue to add inflationary spending to the already ballooned national debt left by Justin Trudeau.

Speaking of Justin Trudeau, as prime minister, he spent more of Canadians' hard-earned dollars than all other prime ministers in the history of Canada combined. Today, the current Prime Minister is well on his way to eclipsing the unfortunate milestone set by his predecessor.

Budget 2025 is not a blueprint for prosperity. It is a blueprint for more government intervention, more centralized planning and more top-down bureaucracy.

Just six months ago, the Prime Minister claimed he would restore discipline and fiscal credibility. Instead, the budget revealed a sharp departure from those commitments. What do Canadians have to show for it? They have a federal debt standing at nearly $1.3 trillion; $141 billion in new spending; a $78.3-billion deficit in 2025-26 alone, which has ballooned from $62 billion; an affordability crisis in which housing costs have doubled and food, fuel and necessities are out of reach for many; GDP stagnation to only 1% between 2014 and 2024; and a lower standard of living.

According to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, the federal debt-to-GDP ratio in budget 2025 is projected to be higher compared to the 2024 FES and is no longer projected to be on a declining path over the medium term. The federal government's own so-called debt-to-GDP fiscal anchor has been abandoned. The government promised to help municipalities cut homebuilding taxes in half. The budget breaks that promise and locks in higher housing costs.

Meanwhile, Canada is mired in a productivity crisis of its own. Just days ago, the deputy governor of the Bank of Canada stated that we are stuck in a “vicious” cycle of “weak productivity.”

He further stated:

A certain level of regulation is essential, of course. But it’s fair to ask if we could regulate better. This could mean speeding up approval processes, re-evaluating the scope of some rules and reducing the overall uncertainty around regulation. We also need to address overlap, redundancies and contradictions between the different levels of government.

This is not some partisan Conservative attack. This is a government official in an institution tasked with setting the monetary policy of the government, which is something the Prime Minister should know well enough about.

Canadians expect economic stability, yet StatsCan shows the economy weakening rapidly. GDP grew by only 1.1% in the past year, for the second-lowest growth in the G7. Canada has lost more than 27,000 manufacturing jobs in the past year. Business insolvencies are up 35% year over year, which is the highest increase since the eighties. Wages are falling in real terms, with young workers experiencing the sharpest declines. Core inflation remains above 3%, and food inflation continues to rise month after month.

When parents in Red Deer wake up every morning, too often they are forced to wonder whether their paycheques will be enough to cover their rent or whether they will be able to put healthy, nutritious food on the table for their families. In March 2025 alone, there were 2.2 million visits to food banks across Canada, the highest number ever recorded.

In Alberta, 36% of food bank visits were for children. Even more troubling, employment income accounts for the largest share of income sources among food bank visitors, 31% of all visits. That means that fewer Albertans even have the means to donate to food banks to help their neighbours in need.

Let us talk housing. The government stole the dream of home ownership from an entire generation of young Canadians. Canadians were told that homes would be built at a scale and speed not seen in generations. What did the budget do? It created another bureaucratic organization and less action. The agency promised to immediately cut development charges in half. That has gone unfulfilled, and CMHC confirmed in October that housing starts are down 17%.

Young Canadians want to start a family and to be able to live the life they were promised after they were educated and have worked hard, but now they find it impossible to get ahead. This is the first generation in decades that has a lower standard of living than their parents and their grandparents did, and the government believes that bringing in more immigration will fix the problem. While Canadians are stuck without support to start and grow their own family, mass immigration into this country has played a major part in the affordability crisis, robbing Canadians of prosperity in their own country. It is simple: More people taking up more infrastructure, health care capacity, housing and government subsidies means less availability for Canadians already here.

It is not the fault of people coming to Canada under a false promise of a better life from a government without a plan for them. For decades, immigration with proper integration has shaped our communities and helped forge who we are as a nation. Indeed, it is the government's own doing of rapidly expanding our migration numbers without ensuring our institutions can handle it that has both collapsed Canadian confidence in our immigration system and led to the fracturing of communities across our country.

For example, over the past number of weeks, we have heard over and over again at the health committee that not one health care body was consulted on immigration levels to ensure that our health care system could handle them. If the people working to keep Canadians healthy do not even have a say on how many people they can treat, how can they be expected to care for millions more on top of their burden? Well, they were expected to, and the government said, “too bad”.

Over 6.5 million Canadians are without a family doctor, and the nursing shortage is expected to exceed 100,000 nurses by 2030. Meanwhile, there are 80,000 foreign-trained health care professionals who came to this country to work in our health care system but are not able to do so. Again, government red tape and bureaucracy have made it impossible, but instead of integrating the health care professionals who are already here in Canada, the government wants to repeat the same mistake and bring in more. This is not sustainable.

All of this adds up, and somebody eventually has to pay the bill. It is simply unfair to pass on responsibility for today's reckless spending to our future generations while the government repeats the same mistakes of the past decade that led us to the problem. The government should be looking to unleash the power of Canadian ingenuity and industry; set the standards for growth; get out of the way; and incentivize the free market, not be the main driver of a centralized economy, or worse, make the conditions of a free market impossible to grow so that government is the only answer.

Canada has limitless potential if only the government would not see itself as the main character but as a supporting act to the Canadians who power it. Approve energy development, restore investor confidence, reform project approvals, expand our industries and get out of the way.

The people of Red Deer will not accept the irresponsibility of the budget. They demand and deserve better. They want action and real progress, not just the illusion of something happening, with more talk and announcements. I will always stand here to be their voice against a government that has silenced them.

Conservatives will always fight for Canadian families and Canadian workers. I urge the government to start doing the same.

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

Madam Speaker, I think it is important when we look at the beginning of the debate today to look at the contrast between the Conservatives and the government of the day. The government is headed by a Prime Minister who is committed to dealing with issues coming out of the last federal election, issues such as building one Canada, working with premiers, breaking down barriers and increasing trade among the provinces.

The Prime Minister and the government are committed to looking abroad in Indonesia, the Philippines, Korea, India and England. We have substantive legislation looking at ways in which we can expand our economy, create the jobs through the budget, invest in Canadians and invest in Canada. Let us compare that to the Conservative Party. All the Conservatives talk about is “cut, cut, cut” and the issue of deficit. By the way, our deficit is no worse than it was when Stephen Harper was the prime minister in 2009, considering the value of the dollar.

I am wondering if the member can provide his theory as to why he believes cuts are in the best interest of Canadians today.

[Burton Bailey, Conservative, Red Deer, AB]

Madam Speaker, the government loves to distract from the problems of its own making, but the reality is that the government got Canada into this economic situation. Conservatives have a plan to fix it, like cutting the industrial carbon tax, reversing Liberal inflationary deficits, fixing the broken immigration system and restoring order and peace to our streets. The Liberals should get out of the way and let us do it.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Madam Speaker, once again, we share many of the Conservatives' concerns about this budget and its implementation. For example, my colleague mentioned the waste of money. If there is one clear and compelling example of money-wasting in this budget, however, it is no doubt the $100 billion we are collectively leaving on the table only to fill the pockets of the oil and gas industry. That is the choice this government has made for an industry that posts record profits year after year.

Could there be a more glaring and shameful example of wasting taxpayer money?

[Burton Bailey, Conservative, Red Deer, AB]

Madam Speaker, for 10 years, members of the Liberal government stood up in the House and defended Justin Trudeau's policies tooth and nail. Now suddenly they want Canadians to memory-hole all the destructive decisions over the past decade that have made Canadian standards of living decrease, wages stagnate and housing be put out of reach, and they make every system in this country, from health care to immigration, crumble. At least they finally admit they did harm to this country. Now their actions need to follow.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's talking about how the health care system is overburdened and there is too much bureaucracy. The College of Family Physicians of Canada has cited that approximately 250,000 disability tax credit forms were processed in 2022. It estimates that this amounts to about 250,000 hours of physician time lost, and a million patient visits as well, just for physicians to fill out disability tax credit forms.

The budget amount is $10 million to help people with up to $150 each to do the form. Would it not just make sense for the government to recognize that if somebody qualifies as having a disability in their province or territory, they would automatically qualify for the disability tax credit? This would save taxpayers $10 million and save a million visits for patients so doctors could actually be helping serve the Canadian public and taking the burden off our health care system.

Does my colleague agree that this is the kind of innovation we need right now and that we need to stop wasting doctors' time and taxpayers' money?

[Burton Bailey, Conservative, Red Deer, AB]

Madam Speaker, our health care system is so broken in Canada and needs so much reform. I sit on the Standing Committee on Health, and I hear every day about the waste. I am talking about the $900 million that was spent on health care for our current overimmigration problem. I am talking about, in the current budget, $5 billion that will be spent on hospitals, which will not even build one hospital. I am talking about the $97 million the Liberals are going to spend that will not even get one extra specialist.

I feel that the whole system needs to be revamped. We as the federal government need to take the lead, look at the Canada Health Act and change and monitor the way we are giving money to the provinces.

[Vincent Ho, Conservative, Richmond Hill South, ON]

Madam Speaker, budgets are not just about numbers; they are about trust. They are a promise, a promise that a government makes to its citizens: that it will be responsible with their money, transparent with their books and honest with their future.

When Canadians open their credit card bills, they do not see “operating” and “capital”. They do not get to move expenses around to a different column to make the numbers look better. When their fridge breaks or their mortgage payment rises, Canadians do not get a special carve-out or a subsidized tax shelter in Bermuda; they face reality, and all they ask is for their government to do the same.

When the Liberal Prime Minister announced that he would be splitting operating spending and capital spending in the federal budget, many economists, fiscal watchdogs and Canadians expressed deep worry, not because the idea was new but because it looked dangerous. It looked like an accounting trick used to hide deficits, confuse Canadians and bury the truth.

The parliamentary budget watchdog confirmed that this is exactly what is happening. The Liberal Prime Minister's new bait-and-switch definition of capital spending, according to his words, is “overly expansive” and “expands beyond the current treatment in the Public Accounts” and practice adopted by other countries.

Instead of following international standards, the Liberal Prime Minister quietly lumped in corporate tax breaks, subsidies, incentive programs and boutique handouts that would not be considered capital anywhere else in the developed world. He counted them anyway.

By using a proper, internationally accepted definition, the parliamentary budget watchdog found that real capital investment spending was 30% lower than what the Liberals claimed it was. That is a $94-billion difference, a number hidden in the fine print. At the end of the day, every dollar the Liberal Prime Minister spends comes out of the pockets of hard-working Canadians through higher taxes, higher inflation and higher deficits. Canadians see it clearly. Canadians deserve an honest and affordable budget, not a manipulated and costly credit card Liberal budget.

A government that loses control of the numbers eventually loses control of the truth. First the Liberals had a fiscal anchor to keep federal debt-to-GDP on a declining track. They abandoned it. Then they created a new anchor, balancing only the so-called operating budget within five years. They abandoned that too. The Liberal Prime Minister has now moved this goalpost even further, maintaining a declining deficit-to-GDP ratio. The parliamentary budget watchdog has already confirmed that there is only a 7.5% chance that this will actually happen. That means that there is a 92.5% chance that the government will not even meet its own target.

This is the same Liberal government that warned last year that keeping a stable debt-to-GDP ratio was key for fiscal responsibility, investor confidence and protecting Canada's AAA credit rating. Fitch Ratings, an independent credit ratings agency, has already issued a warning that the costly credit card budget and the Liberal accounting tricks underscore the erosion of the federal government's finances. When ratings agencies start to warn us, investors pay attention. The cost of borrowing gets more expensive, and the cost does not fall on the Liberal Prime Minister; it falls on working Canadians, families, homeowners, seniors and the next generation.

After spending months boasting that his fiscal anchor will lead to stability, the Liberal Prime Minister could not even pass his own test. He is proving that he is not trustworthy at all.

Behind every lofty speech and Liberal promise is one undeniable truth: that the numbers do not lie. Under the Liberal Prime Minister, the federal debt is growing by $10 million every hour. That is how much he is costing Canadians. He will add $321 billion to the national debt over the next five years, more than twice what Justin Trudeau would have added over the same period. Federal debt now stands at $1.35 trillion, the highest in Canadian history, after the Liberal government doubled it over the last 10 years.

Next year taxpayers will spend $55.5 billion in interest payments alone, more than what the government pays in federal health transfers and more than what it collects in GST revenue. That is $3,300 per Canadian household, just to pay interest on old debt, not a single dollar to be used for hospitals, schools or infrastructure, let alone for repaying any of the debt the Liberals have accumulated.

Meanwhile, real GDP growth in 2025 is stalling at 1%, the second-lowest in the G7. Since January, Canada has suffered a $62-billion net outflow of capital. It is not just people leaving; we are hemorrhaging investment, innovation, talent, factories and future employers. Investors are voting with their feet. They are losing confidence in Canada, and our productivity crisis and unemployment rate continue to worsen. Investors are warning us about the government's fiscal recklessness with their capital. We cannot build Canada strong when capital jobs and confidence are leaving faster than they arrive.

The Liberals told Canadians their new so-called expenditure review would save $50 billion, but the parliamentary budget watchdog has his doubts. This so-called review lacks any detail regarding the impact on individual programs. It provides no information on how it would affect services, staffing outcomes or reporting. It has no accountability mechanism at all. In other words, it is not a real expenditure review; it is just a Liberal press release.

The costly Liberal budget will increase gross new spending by $140 billion. Even if we take the $50-billion claim at face value, the costly Liberal budget would still increase net new spending by $90 billion. The math is simple. Even after using the Liberals' own inflated numbers, there are no savings, just bigger deficits, bigger debts and bigger burdens on Canadian families and the next generation.

The Liberal Prime Minister broke every single promise he made just eight months ago. He promised to keep the deficit at $62 billion; it is at $78 billion. He promised to lower the debt-to-GDP ratio; he is raising it. He promised to spend less; he is spending $90 billion more, which is $5,400 in extra inflationary spending per household. He promised more investment, but the costly Liberal budget even admits that private investment in Canada is collapsing and that productivity has worsened in the last 10 years. He promised transparency and then delayed the public accounts, in other words, the official audited financial statements of the Government of Canada, for months for the second year in a row.

He is not just breaking promises anymore; he is breaking Canada. It is no wonder the Liberal Prime Minister asked Canadians to make some sacrifices, as if Canadians have not sacrificed enough for Liberal failures. He wants to lower the expectations of Canadians and have us be content with less, because he simply is not delivering.

A government that conceals its books has already lost control of them. Canadians recognize that for what it is. Whether it is a cover-up or typical Liberal incompetence, only time will reveal which truth the Liberals are running away from.

While Canadians rushed to file their taxes, were squeezed by rising costs and were terrified of the CRA, one Canadian had no such worries. It was the Prime Minister, who is proving this to be the same old Liberal government with a new Liberal cover-up. While he was advising Trudeau to hike taxes on small businesses, tradespeople, doctors and families, his own Brookfield funds had their income stashed above a bike shop in Bermuda, a notorious tax haven with zero capital gains taxes, zero dividend taxes and zero withholding taxes. He was not just minimizing taxes; he was avoiding them entirely to the tune of $5 billion or more.

Under the Liberal government, there is a two-tier tax code for Canadians. There is one for the rich Liberal friends of the Prime Minister and another for everyone else. Worse yet, in this costly Liberal budget, the Liberal Prime Minister gave himself and his buddies a tax break on the purchase of luxury yachts and private jets, while voting against scrapping taxes on food and groceries. The Liberal Prime Minister helped design a tax system he did not have to live under because he was living outside of it. While Brookfield was safely storing profits in Bermuda, small charities and family businesses faced the full force of the Liberal tax-collecting agency.

On top of egregious tax avoidance, the Liberal Prime Minister's conflict of interest cover-up is even worse. Brookfield's chief operating officer confirmed this month that 95% of its companies are not covered by the so-called ethics screen. That means 1,900 companies stand to benefit from government decisions that will enrich the Prime Minister personally at the expense of taxpayers, and Canadians will be kept in the dark about how those companies are involved.

The Liberal Prime Minister is even taking private meetings with Brookfield executives at the Prime Minister's Office and while he travels overseas. With ethics like this, how can Canadians trust him? He is starting to look a lot like the last Liberal prime minister, just more costly. At the end of the day, Canadians deserve a prime minister whose loyalty is to the public, not to his private portfolio or the shareholders of Brookfield.

Canadians feel betrayed. Do we continue down the path of manipulated budgets, rising debt, shrinking paycheques and declining prosperity, or do we rebuild a country where the numbers are honest, the budgets are responsible and the promise of Canada, that hard work leads to an affordable home, opportunity and security, is restored?

The Liberal Prime Minister promised Canadians he was a seasoned central banker who could be trusted to spend less and invest more, but it turns out he is just another Goldman Sachs investment banker who is in it for himself and the Brookfield shareholders. Canadians are left to pay the price this time.

Conservatives will expose the truth, restore fiscal discipline, demand transparency and protect taxpayers. We will rebuild a country where hard work leads to a home with a yard on a safe street and affordable and nutritious food on the family dinner table every day, and where the next generation is not sacrificing to survive, but thriving for a better tomorrow.

This is not just the Conservative way; it is the Canadian way, and it is the Canada we will fight to restore.

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

Madam Speaker, I must say I find the way the Conservative Party continues with character assassination disgusting. The Prime Minister has done an absolutely outstanding job at protecting Canadian interests, travelling abroad and doing the things that are necessary here in Canada, and all the Conservatives want to do is attack his character.

I say shame on every one of them. It is absolutely disgusting to see an official opposition take the type of stand the Conservatives take, day in and day out, when we have a strong, powerful Canadian Prime Minister and a government that are committed to building Canada strong. Unlike the Conservatives, we will sidestep the character assassination. We will continue to work diligently at building Canada strong so that we will have the strongest economy in the G7.

How does the member opposite look in the mirror after saying such false information?

[Vincent Ho, Conservative, Richmond Hill South, ON]

Madam Speaker, I find that rich coming from the member. We are not attacking the Prime Minister's character; we are attacking his record.

The member said we are spreading fake news. I am going to read directly from the costly Liberal budget so he cannot say we are spreading misinformation. On page 53 of this costly credit card budget, it states, “If Canada’s productivity growth had matched the U.S. from 2017 to 2023, the median income of a family with one child would be nearly $11,000 higher.”

We would have been $11,000 richer per year, per family and per Canadian household if the Liberal government had gotten out of the way.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Madam Speaker, I appreciated my colleague's speech. I think he did a good job. He tore apart the budget point by point in an extremely methodical and serious way. Listening to his speech, I felt that he was right on several points. Eventually, a question popped into my head: Why did the Conservative Party allow the budget to pass?