Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Liberals released their 10th budget, with the costliest deficit outside COVID and double what the previous Liberal government left behind.
Canadians are paying more and are getting less. This budget drives up the cost of living for every Canadian on food, on homes and on everything that families buy.
For people back home in Newfoundland and Labrador, the cost feels heavier than ever. We face the highest unemployment in the country and the fastest net out-migration rate relative to our population. We have the oldest demographic and some of the highest food prices in Canada. When Ottawa overspends, we feel it. Our premier said yesterday, “[The] federal budget...raises far more questions than answers when it comes to whether or not it will benefit Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.” I could not agree more.
The Prime Minister broke every promise he made just months ago. He promised a $62-billion deficit but delivered a $78-billion deficit instead. He promised to lower the debt-to-GDP ratio, yet he raised it. He promised to spend less but is spending $90 billion more. To put it into perspective, that is $5,400 in inflationary spending for every household. He promised more investment, yet his own budget shows it is collapsing quarter after quarter.
The budget and the government are especially ignoring the realities faced by rural Canadians. As a member of the Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development, I hear directly from the people being left behind. The committee heard testimony today regarding the EV mandates, from a business owner and employer living in a rural community. His message could not have been clearer.
The witness warned, “If you continue down this road, you will harm and destroy the auto industry and ruin the lives of a whole lot of people in rural towns all across the country. My store won't be profitable enough to survive if these mandates are enforced. ‘A family business put out of business after 45 years by the government’ will be the headline.” Despite these warnings, the government will not commit to removing the mandates, which do not work for rural Canada. They could have been removed in this budget, but they were not.
In regions where winter temperatures plunge, distances are vast and charging stations are few and far between, keeping these mandates only makes life more expensive. From transportation to groceries and home heating, costs are climbing, and it is everyday Canadians who are paying the price for the out-of-touch government. People are trying to make ends meet; they work and pay their taxes but still come up short because Ottawa keeps spending more but delivering less.
Families in Port aux Basques, Stephenville and Deer Lake are working hard. They are doing everything right, yet they are falling further behind. One senior from Brig Bay told my office that every month the decisions get harder: eat or heat, and buy groceries or pay the power bill.
Greta Gillingham from Trout River told me her survivor’s allowance was cut by almost $300 a month, leaving her struggling to pay for the basics while the cost of everything continues to rise. Catherine Alexander from Stephenville Crossing said she now buys only what is on sale and grows her own vegetables to offset grocery costs. She told me she does not buy fruit at full price anymore and cannot go out to eat because she simply cannot afford to.
These are not isolated stories; they are a mirror of what is happening right across Canada. Nationally, food bank use has doubled since 2019. That should be shocking to every member of the House. Recently, a report from my province told this story clearly. Food bank volunteers say families who used to come once a month now come every two weeks, and many parents are deliberately skipping meals so their children can eat.
The Single Parent Association of Newfoundland and Labrador shared one case where a mother was so hungry she ate food cold in her car because it was the only meal she had that day. Food First NL says 40% of children in Newfoundland and Labrador now live in food-insecure households. That is one of the highest rates in the country.
When parents are going hungry so kids can eat, it is not economic progress; it is a sign of a government that has lost touch with reality.
These are hard-working people who want a government that understands what life costs in Newfoundland and Labrador; a government that knows that one cannot fight inflation by spending more; a government that realizes that when the cost of fuel rises, the cost of everything else rises; and a government that realizes that baked-in, hidden food taxes raise the price of food.
In our province, many of our goods and services are shipped to us. Shipping costs, fuel surcharges and inflation pile one on top of the other. That is why food prices in Newfoundland and Labrador are among the highest in the country, and that is why families are cutting back on essentials.
While families are paying more, this budget makes life even more expensive. In a province already struggling with out-migration, it makes it harder for young people to stay and build their future at home. We are losing far too many of our young people to the mainland because they cannot make it at home. If a paycheque cannot cover food, fuel and rent, families end up leaving the place they love.
Ernest Snooks returned to the province in 2015 from Alberta, and his goal was to build a future in Newfoundland and Labrador. He returned to school, and he did everything right to get ahead, but he is barely getting by. The cost of everything keeps going higher and higher. His everyday bills are piling up, and he is worried about his health because healthy food is priced out of his budget.
Every dollar the government spends comes out of the pockets of Canadians. Statistics Canada confirmed again this month that food inflation is still rising. According to the food professor, Canada is the only G7 country where food inflation has risen for four months in a row. Between March and September 2025, strawberries went up 25%; beef, 25% and coffee, 20%. Families are paying more for every staple.
Conservatives brought forward a plan to bring food costs down, end the food packaging tax, remove the clean fuel regulation that adds 17¢ a litre to gas and diesel, and stop inflationary deficits, but Liberals voted it down. Only Conservatives will stop the hidden taxes on food and restore common sense to affordability.
Conservatives want an affordable budget for an affordable life. On behalf of the Canadians whom the Liberals have priced out of food, homes and hope, we oppose this costly deficit budget that gambles away Canada’s future.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business called this budget “a missed opportunity to provide meaningful tax relief”. The Large Urban Centre Alliance said that it “relies on backward-looking data” that hides the housing crisis. Economist Mike Moffatt said he had “inadequately prepared [himself] for how disappointed [he] would be.”
Even the people who wanted to believe in the government’s promises are losing faith.
Wherever Newfoundlanders and Labradorians go, whether it is Alberta, Ontario or anywhere in between, we always find a way to gather together, to share stories and to stay connected, because we have a pride of place and a love that never leaves us. They ask for very little: only a fair shot at building a life where they were born. They deserve a government that recognizes their struggle and respects their effort. They deserve a budget that makes it possible to stay, raise their children and hope again.
When a government spends recklessly and drives up inflation, it is rural Canadians who pay the price the worst, and when the same government turns a blind eye to the cost of living in places like mine, it risks losing the very communities that built this country. It is not compassion to spend what we do not have and leave the bill to those who can least afford it. It is not fairness when rural families pay more simply for wanting to live where they were born.
We call on the Prime Minister to work with us to build a positive, hopeful and affordable future, one where families in the Long Range Mountains can look at their grocery bill, their oil delivery and their tax statement and say that they can breathe easier, they can stay and they can build in Newfoundland and Labrador.