Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Sudbury East—Manitoulin—Nickel Belt.
I rise on behalf of the lobster fishermen and fisherwomen in Charlotte County, working families in Saint John West, the truck drivers driving our highways, the pensioners throughout New Brunswick Southwest and every small business owner hanging on for help. These Canadians look to Parliament and wonder if the people entrusted to govern understand the difficulties families and pensioners face every single day.
They are fed up with the government because it printed money and devalued family savings while driving up prices, especially home prices. They are exhausted because they are working harder and falling further behind. They are tired of a federal government that costs us too much, taxes too much and delivers too little year after year. They are dumbfounded by being told to tighten their belt and to sacrifice more after years of sacrifices, while the federal government adds another $78 billion to our debt this year alone. That works out to $5,400 more debt for each Canadian household.
My constituents are the people who pay the bills of the government, as well as the bone-crushing debt on government spending. They work hard and follow the rules, and in return they seek the dignity of keeping what they earn and the opportunity to build a financially secure life in safe communities.
Households in my riding are not asking for more government bureaucrats to manage the economy; they are asking for a government that respects the value of a paycheque and spends their money wisely. They are crying out for change.
When the Prime Minister entered office, he promised fiscal discipline. He promised a steady hand to make things better. Some of my constituents even believed that the Liberals would not be more of the same after the last federal election, yet it is obvious from the budget those hopes have been dashed.
The Liberals, under so-called new leadership, have nearly doubled the $42-billion deficit forecast by Justin Trudeau. We can now all see that the new boss is just like the old boss but even more expensive. Today's $78-billion deficit is the largest in Canadian history outside war or the pandemic. It is the most expensive government in Canadian history, and Canadians have never received less from it.
Our nation is on the wrong path. The Prime Minister is adding $10 million in debt every hour and placing the burden of today's spending on the backs of our children, our grandchildren and even our great-grandchildren. Canadians want the next generation to inherit a Canada where hard work is rewarded and where one can build a life, afford a home and have confidence in the future. The reality is that after a Liberal decade of lost opportunity, Canada is a less prosperous nation, less safe and more costly. It is a place where the dream of home ownership is now an impossible, costly nightmare.
Many people remember or understand from recent history what happens when government spends wildly beyond its means: Before we hit the fiscal wall, economic growth falls, families struggle and life becomes harder. This budget keeps Canada barrelling down Justin Trudeau's road to debt-fuelled economic ruin. It is the road to serfdom.
The national debt now stands at almost $1.35 trillion. What do Canadians receive from this vast sum, impossible to understand because it is so large? Do we have more doctors and nurses in our hospitals, more homes being built, more affordable food or stronger paycheques? No, there is none of this, yet a newborn in Canada now begins life with a $32,000 debt, thanks to the Liberals.
The Government of Canada is now drowning in red ink and will spend $55 billion on debt interest payments every single year. What is astonishing is that this amount is more than what Ottawa transfers to the provinces for health care every single year. It is also more than what Ottawa collects in GST revenue each year. This means that every dollar Canadians pay in GST to Ottawa now goes to bankers and bondholders instead of to social programs and federal programs. This is the direct cost of Liberal recklessness; GST revenue goes entirely to fund debt, not to social programs or to the government to help Canadians get ahead.
Meanwhile, food prices continue to rise thanks to failing Liberal policies. For example, spending $800 million, and likely double that amount, on a useless gun confiscation program that targets law-abiding firearm owners is a priority. Here is an idea: If the government were to eliminate this program outright, it would cut the federal deficit this year by 1%. We need 99 other ideas to get rid of this deficit altogether. There is one. If Brookfield paid its taxes, there would be a few more billion dollars. We can eliminate the deficit if we are smart about it.
The gun-grab program is just one example of misplaced Liberal priorities at a time when families that earn two paycheques are skipping meals; seniors are choosing between heating, eating and buying medicine; 2.2 million Canadians use a food bank monthly; and one in five people using a food bank work full time but still cannot afford basic groceries. This is the Canada today under Liberal management. It is time for a change.
Young Canadians who should be building their lives are instead delaying marriage, delaying children, delaying home ownership and delaying their futures. It is not because they lack effort or ambition but because they no longer see a path forward in their own country. The Liberal solution to this self-created mess, and the Liberal answer to every question, is always more government, more red tape and more debt.
Canada can choose another path, a path that builds and rewards work, a path that makes home ownership achievable again and a path where the government lives within its means so families can live within theirs. This is the promise Conservatives are offering. This is why Conservatives moved an amendment to this budget, to fix its flaws, to get Canada's fiscal house in order and to move Canada ahead, finally, after 10 years.
Now is not the time to try to repeat what has already failed and will fail again. We are a country rich in resources, talent and possibility. We cannot continue down a path where the government buries us deeper in debt as Canadians grow poorer. This is why I cannot support the budget as it stands today. It is why Conservatives will not support this budget. It is why the Conservatives will continue working to restore the promise of this country for families who work hard, play by the rules and simply want a fair chance. That will not happen with this budget. It has never happened and will never happen under 10 years of Liberal rule, and that is why we need change.