Debates of Dec. 4th, 2025

Budget 2025 Implementation Act, No. 1

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Alexandra Mendès), Alexandra Mendes]

It is my duty pursuant to Standing Order 38 to inform the House that the questions to be raised tonight at the time of adjournment are as follows: the hon. member for Saanich—Gulf Islands, Pensions; the hon. member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, Employment; the hon. member for St. Albert—Sturgeon River, Ethics.

[Fraser Tolmie, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate the comments my colleagues have been sharing today. It seems we are the only ones who are standing up for Canadians and the travesty of this budget.

We are facing the greatest peacetime fiscal crisis in a generation and it did not have to be this way. The Prime Minister broke every promise he made just six months ago. This is a Prime Minister Canadians simply cannot trust. He promised a $62-billion deficit and delivered an over $78-billion deficit. That is $16 billion in broken promises. He promised to spend less. He is spending $90 billion more, which is $5,400 more in inflationary spending per household. He promised to lower the debt-to-GDP ratio. He is raising both debt and inflation. This budget adds $10 million to our debt every hour. That is $240 million every single day. The federal debt is now over $1.3 trillion, a number so large most Canadians cannot even comprehend it.

Let me be clear about the Liberal pattern. Stephen Harper left the government a balanced budget, achieved through disciplined spending and sound fiscal management. In 2015, Justin Trudeau promised modest deficits and told Canadians that budgets balanced themselves, which is perhaps the most economically illiterate statement in our political history. In 2025, the current Prime Minister presented himself as a fiscal hawk, the supposed adult in the room who would restore fiscal responsibility. The reality is that he will add over $320 billion to the federal debt over five years, more than twice what Trudeau would have added. The fiscal hawk was a fantasy.

I know something about fiscal responsibility under pressure. As the mayor of Moose Jaw during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, I refused to raise property taxes, despite unprecedented challenges. While other governments used COVID as an excuse for unlimited spending, we found efficiencies and maintained financial discipline. I have balanced budgets at the municipal level and fought for fiscal responsibility in the House for four years as an MP. I have managed 120 million dollars' worth of infrastructure projects and brought over $1.3 billion in economic investment to my community while keeping taxes low. I know what real fiscal leadership looks like. This is not it. The fundamental truth the government refuses to acknowledge is simple: It cannot spend its way out of debt; it cannot borrow its way out of debt.

Let me put this fiscal disaster in terms that every Canadian can understand. The debt interest will be $55.6 billion this year. That is over $3,000 per Canadian household. The Liberals talk about making tax cuts, but just add it on. It is nothing but a shell game. They are taking from one hand and giving to another.

When the Prime Minister told Canadians to judge his government by their experience at the grocery store, he set the standard. Seven months later, families are paying almost $1,000 more per year on food, with costs more than doubling since 2015. Record food bank visits and 85% of Canadians citing food affordability as their biggest concern shows he has failed that test. Eighty-six per cent of Canadians are eating less meat, not because they are vegetarians but because they cannot afford it. Families are compromising nutrition for cheaper options. From strawberries up 51% to ground beef climbing 14% since March, no family is immune.

We are spending more on debt interest than health care transfers. We are spending more on debt interest than we collect in GST. Every dollar the Liberals collect in GST goes to the bankers and bondholders, not doctors, not nurses and definitely not veterans. These are the Liberal priorities: bankers first; health care second. Veterans get $185 million over four years, while bankers get $55.6 billion every single year. The government has turned Canada's federal budget into a wealth transfer system, from Canadian families to banks.

When I was mayor, every dollar we saved on interest payments was a dollar we could invest in water infrastructure, in community development and in services residents actually needed. These Liberals have reversed that priority. They have made debt payments the largest line item in the federal budget while telling Canadians that there is no money for the services they need.

I will talk about two different approaches to crisis leadership. In 2020, as the mayor of Moose Jaw during the worst pandemic in a century, I faced the same pressures every leader did. The easy path would have been to raise property taxes and blame COVID for the burden on taxpayers. Instead, I chose fiscal discipline. We found efficiencies. We prioritized spending, and we refused to raise taxes despite unprecedented challenges. That is what real leadership looks like under pressure. The Liberal government chose the opposite path. The Liberals used COVID as an excuse for unlimited deficit spending, and that reckless approach continues today, five years later. The difference is clear: Real leaders find efficiencies during crises. Liberal leaders find excuses to spend.

When in leadership, one has to make tough decisions. Nowhere are the government's misplaced priorities more obvious than in its treatment of Saskatchewan. Saskatchewan taxpayers are funding the Prime Minister's $321.7-billion debt explosion while receiving one copper mine project in return. Our farmers face 100% Chinese tariffs on canola, while the Liberals add $10 million to our debt every hour.

For years, I have advocated in the House for the Lake Diefenbaker irrigation project, a ready-to-proceed initiative that would generate massive economic returns. This project would create jobs and an economic return in one of our most important industries. As I have said repeatedly in Parliament, if the government were serious about helping the agriculture sector, it would continue with projects like the Lake Diefenbaker irrigation project. However, the Liberal response was to ignore it for a decade while spending billions on boat-buying schemes.

While canola exports dropped 17% and Chinese markets closed completely, the Prime Minister prioritized $5,400 per household in new spending over agricultural support. The industrial carbon tax remains in place, adding costs to Saskatchewan farmers already devastated by trade wars. The contrast is staggering. The Lake Diefenbaker project represents a $4-billion investment that would transform Saskatchewan agriculture, create thousands of jobs and create revenue for generations.

Let us stop using announcements as a substitute for achievement. I have spent four years in the House fighting against the government's spending addiction. The math is simple, the choice is clear and the time for excuses is over. The Liberals cannot spend their way out of debt. They cannot announce their way to prosperity. They cannot break every promise and expect Canadians to trust them with their future.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Jobs and Families and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario]

Madam Speaker, I find it interesting that the member from Saskatchewan failed to reference the historic agreement to extend $10-a-day child care to Saskatchewan. My colleague, the Secretary of State for Rural Development, made that announcement with his counterpart from Saskatchewan. This is $10-a-day child care for families in Saskatchewan. In fact, the premier and province are working collaboratively with the federal government to make sure that families get this great relief in terms of the cost of child care and to ensure that families can fully participate in the workforce. While the member talks about leadership, we are actually practising leadership on this side, because leadership is about supporting provinces and territories.

The member also referenced the pandemic. I will reference the support that we provided to Saskatchewan to make sure that the Saskatchewan Minister of Health could save lives in Saskatchewan. That is what we have been doing over the last 10 years: being a good partner to provinces and territories.

Maybe the member could speak about his opposition to affordable child care and to the supports for the Minister of Health, not just during the pandemic but ongoing, and why he continues to vote against the interests of his community of Moose Jaw.

[Fraser Tolmie, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

Madam Speaker, that is an interesting perspective. What I am fighting for is the financial independence of taxpayers, choice for taxpayers. The choice that the taxpayers of Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan want is financial freedom. They do not want a heavy boot on their neck. They do not want to be paying taxes that are going out the window like the Liberal spending, which is just throwing money on fire. They want their independence.

[Patrick Bonin, Bloc, Repentigny, QC]

Madam Speaker, I would like to hear what my hon. colleague has to say about the oil and gas subsidies set out in the latest budget. It is taxpayer money.

We are talking about a multi-billion dollar increase in the amounts that will be paid to oil and gas companies for a carbon capture and storage technology that is unproven, that has not been used on a large scale and that is extremely expensive. In addition, the government is funding this technology with billions of dollars of taxpayer money that could have been invested elsewhere, including in solutions to lower greenhouse gas emissions, improve quality of life and reduce the cost of groceries.

Does my colleague agree with these subsidies?

[Fraser Tolmie, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

Madam Speaker, I always look at it from the perspective of what the taxpayers in my riding care about. I think about the farmers in my riding, and I have never met a farmer who did not know how to recycle or did not know how to take care of the land better than anybody else. They are getting a heavy boot put on their neck by the Liberal government with all these policies and all these taxes that are being downloaded onto them and now passed on to the consumer.

Saskatchewan is known for its food, fuel and fertilizer, and we need to export that. It is important to recognize the gifts that we have been given in our ridings and to be able to export them, because they are what the world needs.

[Steven Bonk, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

Madam Speaker, I would like to ask my hon. colleague a question after that great speech he just gave.

We hear quite often about the industrial carbon tax, and we have had the Liberals say to us many times that it is an imaginary tax, yet on my SaskEnergy bill for my farm, there is a line item that says “industrial carbon tax”. Could you maybe explain a bit about how this affects farmers, how it affects the price of food and how it affects the price of transportation in Canada?

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Alexandra Mendès), Alexandra Mendes]

Just as a mild reminder, I cannot answer any questions, but I am sure the hon. member for Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan can do it.

[Fraser Tolmie, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

Madam Speaker, that is a very interesting question. People do not seem to understand the negative consequences of the carbon tax. It has a trickle-down effect, and it is trickled down onto provincial levels of government. I have seen it affect the local school boards, where there was a $2-million deficit. The school boards were promised they were going to get that money back from the federal government, but they never got it back, even though we are going through an education crisis. There is the downloading of carbon tax onto the hospitals; we are going through a health care crisis, but we never get that back. It is happening to everybody. It is happening to our farmers, and it is being passed on to the consumer. It is a bad tax.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Côte-du-Sud—Rivière-du-Loup—Kataskomiq—Témiscouata, QC]

Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak honestly about the budget tabled by the Liberal government. It is a budget that lets down families, workers, businesses and, above all, strategic economic sectors such as softwood lumber. The Prime Minister's recent budget talks about a generational investment plan. It is more like generational debt. It is 404 pages of promises. In our communities, it rings hollow. Business owners back home have been clear: It is one step forward and two steps back. People are fed up and disgusted. That is what I am hearing in my riding.

Back home, people are saying that this budget is completely disconnected from their reality. I come from a part of the country where people work very hard. The riding of Côte‑du‑Sud—Rivière‑du‑Loup—Kataskomiq—Témiscouata has more than 116,000 people living in 75 rural, urban, industrial and agricultural municipalities. They are entrepreneurs, forestry producers, sawmill employees, labourers, public service employees. They are families who want to live with dignity. These days, people often tell me that they can no longer make ends meet. That is the message we are receiving regularly at our offices right now. People are sending me texts and emails, not because they refuse to work or they are not working, nor because they want a handout. That is not what they are asking for. They want to be able to breathe a bit. This budget does not give anyone any breathing room.

Municipal officials in my region have been clear: We must respond to needs now. Drinking water, waste water, recreation and housing are all urgent matters. However, as the reeve of the Rivière-du-Loup RCM said, it takes time for these initiatives to reach our communities. The intentions are good, but when is it going to happen? The problem with this government, after all its investments and deficits over the past 10 years, is that we are still waiting to see any results. The promise of two billion trees has simply disappeared. The housing investments that were promised five or six years ago are completely gone as well.

People back home are not asking for the moon. They want a government that respects the regions, that understands that Montreal and rural regions do not share the same reality, and that action must be taken accordingly. When a government does not understand the reality of Canadians, that immediately affects the daily lives of families, and it starts with something as essential as groceries. We see it in all the grocery stores in Montmagny, Saint-Pamphile, Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, La Pocatière and Rivière-du-Loup. Groceries are becoming unaffordable. It is not because families are wasting money or buying luxury items. It is simply because the cost of living and the cost of food have literally exploded under this government.

Let us also remember that the Prime Minister himself asked to be judged based on people's experience at the grocery store. Seven months later, families are judging him, and it can be said that things are not going well for him at all. In any case, just remember how he presented that to us by saying “elbows up”. He was all proud to say that he was going to bring down grocery prices. His Minister of Finance, who used to be the industry minister, said that he was going to reach an agreement with the grocers. We can forget about that; it did not happen. That is just another broken promise.

Everything has gone up since the Prime Minister took office. The price of strawberries is up 51%. Beef and chicken have increased by 30% and 23%. Even ground beef is up 14% just since April of this year, which was the month the Prime Minister was elected.

Canada's Food Price Report 2026 tells us that 2026 will be even worse. I just saw an article in La Presse about that. The average Canadian family of four will be paying $1,000 more for groceries in 2026. If we divide that by 12, it starts adding up every month. That means an extra $1,000 for the same food. This amounts to a 112% increase in family food budgets since 2015. Today, 85% of Canadians say that the price of food is their top concern, and rightly so. A record 2.2 million people visited food banks in just one month. That is unprecedented. For a lot of people, it has become a question of survival.

Meanwhile, the Liberal budget contains no serious measure to reduce the cost of groceries and no strategy to curb food inflation. Worse still are the taxes, like the gas tax, the clean fuel tax and the carbon tax, which inevitably impact the price of fertilizer and equipment. Farmers inevitably pass on all of these costs to consumers in the price of the products they supply to distributors. It is inevitable. People are tired of feeling like the government has no idea what they are going through.

I also have to talk about the really big elephant in the room, which is the deficit. The Liberals have been in power for 11 years now, and that means 11 budgets. Year after year, we see the same thing. Spending goes up, the deficit never goes away and there is no credible path back to a balanced budget. Every time we ask the government questions, it repeats the same things, like a broken record. It says that there is no reason to panic, that Canada has the lowest debt in the G7, that it has fiscal room and that there is no problem. Honestly, do we really need to go back to being among the worst? Why do we have to be at the back of the pack in the G7? Why are we heading in that direction instead of trying to be the best?

Canada is not mediocre. We are capable of making sure we do things right so we do not saddle our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren with debt. They are the ones who will end up with the bill. The truth is that the government lacks discipline, and that lack of discipline comes at a cost, a cost the government will not have to pay. The ones on the hook for it are our grandchildren and the grandchildren of all Canadians.

By running deficit after deficit without ever coming up with a serious plan to stabilize and balance the budget, the government is just passing the bill on to future generations. I refuse to accept that. I have grandchildren, and I hope to have great-grandchildren someday. Honestly, when I think about the country they are going to inherit, my heart sinks. I refuse to accept that a country as rich as Canada can just go ahead and rack up debt with no respect for future generations. Our constituents work too hard to give their children and grandchildren a future mired in debt because the government is incapable of managing its priorities. Speaking of lacking vision, there is no better example than the way key sectors are being treated. I am going to talk specifically about one sector that is of crucial importance to my riding: softwood lumber.

The Lower St. Lawrence, the south shore and Chaudière-Appalaches are home to sawmills, processors, transporters and thousands of families that directly or indirectly depend on this sector. Companies like Groupe Lebel, Maibec, Bardobec and Matériaux Blanchet are all feeling the pressure of U.S. tariffs, which are stifling our industry.

What did the Prime Minister say? He said that a deal would be made shortly and that workers could hold on to hope. Now, when he is asked about the need to resolve this issue with President Trump, he publicly responds, “Who cares?”

Who cares? We care. Not only do we care, but we want an assurance that the negotiations with the U.S. will restart. The Prime Minister said there is no “burning issue”.

There is no learning issue. I am sorry, I meant to say burning issue. There certainly are still burning issues, more than a few of them. It would not be good to have learning issues. We are laughing, but it is not funny.

I am going to talk about what happens when a mill closes in a riding like mine and in villages like the ones in my riding. The same thing is currently happening in British Columbia, where my colleagues are experiencing this. When this happens, it is not just a case of one mill closing and 30 or 40 employees losing their jobs. Sooner or later, the entire community collapses. In Rivière-du-Loup, for example, 175 very good, well-paid jobs were directly affected by the closure of the White Birch paper mill, but 1,800 indirect jobs were affected up and down the supply chain.

Is anyone going to say, “Who cares?” to workers in Saint-Pamphile, Sainte-Perpétue, Saint-Just-de-Bretennères, Lots-Renversés, Dégelis and Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac? Those are all municipalities that are directly connected to these mills.

They usually import wood from Europe, which is cheaper than buying wood from Canadian mills, to sell to the United States.

I still have five pages of my speech left to read. I should not just get cut off like this. How unfair. I should have read faster, because there are some very important things I would have liked to say, but I understand that I have run out of time. I can talk about them when I answer questions. I will listen very carefully to my colleagues' questions.

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

Madam Speaker, I think we should do a bit of a fact check with respect to deficits and debts. The member made reference to when Stephen Harper came into government. He inherited a multi-billion dollar surplus and converted that into a multi-billion dollar deficit, and that was before the recession.

When we take a look at the G7, which the member wants to compare us to, when it comes to the debt, we are the lowest of the G7. When it comes to the deficit, we are the second lowest in the G7. If we want to contrast the debt, we can take a look at when the Conservative leader was sitting in the Conservative caucus with Stephen Harper. The deficit was actually higher than it is in today's budget when we factor in inflation.

The Liberal government and the Prime Minister do not need to take advice from the Conservative party when it comes to either deficit or debt.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Côte-du-Sud—Rivière-du-Loup—Kataskomiq—Témiscouata, QC]

Madam Speaker, unfortunately, I cannot swear in the House of Commons. I can assure everyone that it is not for lack of desire. If I could, he would be getting an earful.

The reality is that the Liberals have been in power for 10 years. They have been running deficits for 10 years. They are bringing up Harper again. Harper was prime minister in 2008, during the worst global crisis since the 1930s. The Liberals have been in government for 10 years. They have tons of money to spend. The government is literally throwing money out the window. Meanwhile, people in our ridings are struggling to put food on the table. That is the reality.

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Madam Speaker, I would say that this is a budget of dashed hopes, a budget of disillusionment. I know that my colleague's region is one with an aging population. We need to talk about the importance of providing more assistance to seniors. There is nothing in this budget to help seniors aged 65 to 74, who did not receive the same old age security increase as seniors 75 and over.

There was nothing for the softwood lumber industry either. Ultimately, help arrived late, but we had to hammer home the message to the government. We said that it simply could not leave the softwood lumber industry in such a state without intervening. The proof is that this government presented itself as a champion negotiator, but it did not achieve anything. We had to ask for help and call for an emergency debate. That help is too little, too late. We asked for a wage subsidy to help businesses get through this crisis. Ultimately, that does not solve the problem.

What does my colleague think of the fact that this is a budget of disillusionment? That is what I call it.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Côte-du-Sud—Rivière-du-Loup—Kataskomiq—Témiscouata, QC]

Madam Speaker, my Bloc Québécois colleague is right about seniors. There is nothing in this budget for them. It is extremely disappointing. She is absolutely right.

As for the softwood lumber issue, people do not want government assistance or a handout. They want to make a decent living from their jobs. Business owners want to make a profit from their sales. The problem is that they can no longer sell to the United States, and they are losing their market in Europe. Why? It is because the government has failed to get a deal, and tariffs have actually tripled in six months. That is how our regions are becoming poorer because of this government.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent—Akiawenhrahk, QC]

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his passionate speech. If there is one member who takes the time to be present for the constituents, families, students, young people, seniors and entrepreneurs in his riding, it is the member for La Pocatière. I will just call his riding La Pocatière for short.

My colleague raised a very important point for businesses: U.S. tariffs have risen to 50% on steel and aluminum and 35% on wood. What impact will that have on businesses in his riding?

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Côte-du-Sud—Rivière-du-Loup—Kataskomiq—Témiscouata, QC]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his kind words.

My colleague said 35%, but it is actually up to 45%. That last 10% the U.S. President tacked on was really a death knell for every softwood lumber industry in my riding. It was the straw that broke the camel's back. Let us remember how the Prime Minister danced when he said “elbows up”. I honestly cannot wait to see if he will be dancing elbows-up at his Christmas party.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L’Érable—Lotbinière, QC]

Madam Speaker, the holidays are just around the corner, so I would like to take this opportunity to reiterate that it is always an honour for me to rise in the House on behalf of the people of Mégantic—L'Érable—Lotbinière, whom I am very proud of, especially after a passionate speech like the one from my colleague. It is clear that members who come from a rural area are close to the community.

We are close to our community, and we know just how hard times are these days. We know how tough it is for people to make ends meet at the end of the month. Unfortunately, the latest figures indicate that after 10 years under the Liberal government, more and more people simply cannot afford to pay their bills.

The big media fundraising drive is happening today. The Liberals do not seem to care about what is happening in the House right now. We are talking about the cost of living and about how people are struggling to pay their bills at the end of the month, but the Liberals are not interested in that. They are not listening to the debates. That is not surprising, because they do not want to hear the truth. They do not want to hear anything about what is really going on in the lives of the people we see every day in our ridings, at the grocery store, at the post office and so on.

Today, the big media fundraising drive will help those who are struggling the most. People are collecting donations everywhere across Quebec. Despite the cold weather setting in everywhere, people will reach out to help the most vulnerable. Some people will do so tonight, while for others, it has been going on all day. It will also be happening tomorrow. These food drives and events are more than just a kind gesture. They have become necessary. They have become essential. Without these events, some individuals would have nothing to get through Christmas.

In May, when his cabinet members were being sworn in, the Prime Minister decided to make one issue his own personal crusade. He declared that Canadians would judge him by their experience at the grocery store. That is one way of putting it. He could have also said that Canadians would judge him on the cost of groceries. In either case, the Prime Minister decided that his priority was to make food more affordable for all Canadians. His report card came out today.

The 2026 edition of Canada's Food Price Report states: “If 2025 was difficult for Canadian households, 2026 is unlikely to be any easier.” People are going to judge the Prime Minister by their experience at the grocery store. Unfortunately, more and more people can no longer even afford to go to the grocery store. The report concludes that food prices are expected to rise even more sharply. Groceries will cost $1,000 more in 2026.

Let us take a look back at the damage caused by the Liberals since 2015. In 2015, it cost $8,286 to buy a year's worth of groceries. That is for a whole year. If we divide that by 52, it comes to $159 per week. Today, the cost of that same grocery list has risen to $17,500. That is $340 per week, or double what it cost in 2015.

People will say that wages have increased. Wages have not doubled since 2015. At least, the wages of the people I see every day have not doubled. Minimum wage has increased a little bit—by a few percentage points, that is true—but it has not doubled. If groceries now cost $340 per week and wages have not kept pace, how can people afford the same groceries? People are not going to pay $340. They are going to have to choose. They are going to make choices. What are people going to buy? They are going to buy less meat, less meat of any kind, because all meat has gone up in price at the same time.

They are going to buy fewer nutritious products, because those are the products that cost the most. How they shop for groceries will depend on their budget and how much money they have left to spend. That is not to mention that the cost of housing has doubled in the past 10 years as well. That is the reality that the Liberals want to avoid. The Liberals claim that everything in Canada is just fine and dandy. However, when visit our riding, when we go to the grocery store, when we see the options, when we look at people's grocery baskets, we realize that something is wrong.

Today, the figures prove it: People are eating less. The recently published HungerCount clearly shows us that more and more people are using food banks. Workers, people who work, who have a salary, are relying more and more on food banks to stock their refrigerators. That is the reality. This is not coming from a Conservative. This is coming from two reports, HungerCount and Canada's food price report produced by Dalhousie University. It says that 85% of Canadians reported that the cost of food was their number one financial concern. Who would have thought that possible in Canada? Who would have thought that, one day, in Canada, almost everyone would be concerned about what they can afford to put in their grocery carts? Who would have thought that would be their main concern? That is unacceptable.

Food inflation is double the Bank of Canada's inflation target. They say the inflation rate is going down, but food prices have doubled. That changes Canadians' lives. It changes the lives of Canadians and everyone who lives in Canada. They say that it is a global phenomenon. Why has the price of food gone up 48% faster in Canada than in the United States? The reason is the government's attitude. It keeps acting like everything is fine and spending lavishly, as though it found a credit card with no limit and simultaneously realized that it and the members of its cabinet will never have to pay off the balance. They will not have to pay it off; those next in line will take care of it. They are going to max out that card and pass it on with a $78-billion deficit.

It is not for nothing that I want to talk about an article published in the Journal de Québec the day after the budget. Michel Girard is an economist who everyone knows and who is very credible in Quebec. The title of his article was “[The Prime Minister] does the impossible: spending more than Trudeau”. What? Well, yes, that is it. I want to emphasize the word “spending”. I would like to share a few figures on this budget. Michel Girard wrote the following:

For the five fiscal years from 2025‑26 to 2029‑30, the accumulated deficits will reach $322 [billion dollars]....That is $168 [billion dollars] more than the five deficits that the former Trudeau government had projected for the same five fiscal years....

We have a banker Prime Minister who promised to spend less. Not only is he spending, but he is spending more than the prime minister who spent more than all the other prime ministers before him. Personally, I remember Justin Trudeau's promise that he would run small deficits: $10 billion, $10 billion, $6 billion, almost nothing, and then zero. He said that the government would get back to a balanced budget. I think we can all forget about the Liberals balancing a budget. A balanced budget means absolutely nothing to them anymore.

For Canadians who are struggling and suffering, we are here. Conservatives are here. We know that what people need is more money in their pockets to pay for their own expenses. We can do this by eliminating the taxes that are driving up the cost of food. With a Conservative government, Canadians will have more in their pockets and more in their grocery carts.

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

Mr. Speaker, we hear a lot about inflation. I just had a quick look. The leader of the Conservative Party was actually a parliamentary secretary under Stephen Harper. There was an election in 2011. In the year 2011, the inflation rate was actually 2.91%. In the last eight months or so, the inflation rate under the current Prime Minister has been around 2.2%.

Could the member share his thoughts on how we deal with issues like inflation as we support Canadians through programs that are provided, for example, in the budget? Should he not be supporting the budget, so that we can make life more affordable for Canadians?

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L’Érable—Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I know that the member for Winnipeg North has a lot of experience, but he kind of lives in the past. He seems to have forgotten the past 10 years, when he was led by Justin Trudeau. In 2022, under that government, the inflation rate was 6.8%. If we add up all these inflation rates, we end up today with a Canada food price report that says that people will be paying $340 a week on groceries that cost $170 barely 10 years ago.

The Liberals keep saying that everything is just fine. They say that everything is fine and that it was so much worse before. Now when people pay their grocery bill, they get to the cash register and far too often they do not have enough money to cover it. All of that is because of the inaction of the Liberals over these past 10 years.

[Claude DeBellefeuille, Bloc, Beauharnois—Salaberry—Soulanges—Huntingdon, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciated my colleague's speech. I have several questions for him, but here is the one I am dying to ask. Like me, he is a member from Quebec, so he knows that our health and social services are really struggling because of a lack of resources. They are forced to do more with less.

One of the Bloc Québécois's demands was an increase in health transfers to the provinces. Unfortunately, the government is completely unwilling to meet the provinces' needs when it comes to health and social services. I was a member of this place in 2006 during the Harper government era, and unlike the Liberals, it was less centralizing.

I wonder if my colleague would agree to make it clear to the government that it needs to amend its Bill C-15 to recognize that it needs to transfer more money to the provinces for health and social services, with no strings attached.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L’Érable—Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, not only are the Liberals setting conditions, they are also creating health care programs. They are putting in place health programs. Unfortunately, since they have a credit card with no limit, we are now paying $55 billion a year in interest on the debt.

Do my colleagues know what that $55 billion represents? It represents more than the health transfer to the provinces. The Liberals have literally ruined our ability to do more, and they keep doing it with a smile on their faces. That is unacceptable.

I would like the people watching us to know that every dollar they pay in GST does not pay for services or health care; it pays down the interest on the debt, which has grown to astronomical proportions after 10 years of Liberal government.

[Amarjeet Gill, Conservative, Brampton West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his excellent insight. He mentioned fiscal mismanagement, the cost of living and the deficit in his speech.

Given that the Prime Minister mentioned that he would be judged by the price of groceries, why is it that Bill C-15 does nothing meaningful to reduce grocery prices, mortgage renewals or rent hikes, and instead layers on more spending that fuels inflation Canadians can no longer afford?

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L’Érable—Lotbinière, QC]

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

That is because Bill C-15 is a smokescreen. There is nothing in it for real people, for people from rural communities or for people who are unable to pay their bills at the end of the month. That is why Bill C-15 is a bad bill and a big deficit bill. We will not and cannot support this bill.

[Amanpreet S. Gill, Conservative, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Mr. Speaker, after 10 years of the Liberals, life in our country has become too hard. People tell me every day that the cost of food is hurting them the most. Moms and dads are cutting back. Seniors are skipping meals. Young people say they cannot get ahead, no matter how hard they work.

The Prime Minister once said that people should judge him by the cost at the grocery store. Let us do that today. A new food price report from Dalhousie University shows just how bad things are. It says that food prices will rise 4% to 6% next year, which is even worse than this year. A family of four will spend almost $18,000 on food in 2026, which is almost $1,000 more than this year. I will repeat that it will be $1,000 more just to feed a family.

Food prices have gone up 112% since 2015. In 2015, a family spent about $159 a week on food; now it is $338 a week. Families are paying more than double. It is because of these high prices that many Canadians cannot buy healthy food. They are forced to pick cheap food that fills the stomach but is not good for long-term health. This year, more than 2.2 million people went to food banks each month. These are numbers we have never seen before. Nearly 85% of Canadians say their food bills went up again in the past year. Everyone feels it; it does not matter where they live.

I want to share what I hear from people in my riding and across our province of Alberta. Every week, families tell me that they now shop in two or three different stores just to find the lowest price. Some parents say they no longer buy fresh fruits, because it has become too expensive. Others say they now buy less meat and try to stretch a meal as far as they can. These are honest, hard-working people. They are not looking for special treatment. They are simply looking for a fair chance to feed their families without going broke.

Small shops and local stores in Alberta are also struggling. They pay more for rent, fuel, power, deliveries and packaging. When they try to keep prices low, they lose money. When they raise prices, families blame them. These small shops are part of our community. They want to serve people, but this government makes it harder for them to survive.

We also hear from truck drivers who move food across western Canada. They say the rising fuel taxes make their work more expensive every month. When the cost of moving food goes up, the price at the store goes up; it is simple. However, instead of making life easier, the government turns around and adds even more taxes. This does not help farmers, this does not help truckers and it does not help families who are already stretched thin.

Canada should not be a place where people fear the grocery bill. We have the land, the farms, the workers and the resources to feed our whole country, yet families are paying more for food than ever before. This government has lost control of spending, lost control of taxes and lost control of the cost of living. Canadians deserve better.

In Calgary, food banks are seeing more people than ever before. Staff and volunteers tell me that many of the people coming in have jobs but still cannot afford food, because prices are so high. Seniors come in because their pensions no longer cover both food and rent. This is not a normal Calgary. Calgary is a strong, hard-working city, but the cost of living has pushed many families to the edge. When food banks are stretched this thin, it shows that government policies are not working. We need to bring food prices down so families can depend on stores, not on food banks.

Why is this happening? It is happening because the Prime Minister keeps spending more money than the country has. His $80-billion deficit pours fuel on the fire of inflation. Every dollar the government spends has to come from someone, and that someone is the Canadian people. People pay through higher prices on food, fuel and home heating.

The Prime Minister also keeps putting taxes on the things that make food. There are taxes on the farms, taxes on the trucks that bring food to the stores, taxes on the packaging, and taxes on the fuel that cooks, moves and stores food. When we tax the farmers, when we tax the truckers and when we tax the stores, who pays? The families standing at the checkouts pay.

Across Alberta, farmers tell me the same story. They work long days growing the food we all depend on, but rising costs are making their jobs harder every year. The taxes on fuel, taxes on barns and taxes on the tools they use all add up. When the cost for Alberta farmers goes up, the cost of food for every family in our province goes up too.

Alberta families are feeling the pressure as well. A simple trip to the store now costs far more than it did just a year ago. From meat to milk, bread and other fresh food, everything is higher. Some stores in our province have prices so steep that families leave with only half of what they planned to buy. When food prices rise this fast, people cut back on meals, skip healthy food or turn to food banks. This should not be happening in a province as strong and as resource-rich as Alberta.

We need a government that brings down food costs, supports our farmers and makes life affordable again. That is why Conservatives put forward a motion to cut the cost of food. We asked the House to scrap the Liberal carbon tax on farmers and on food, scrap the new food packaging tax, scrap the fuel standard that adds 17¢ a litre on gas, and stop the inflation that comes from massive deficits. This was a real plan to give people relief, but the Liberals voted against it. They voted against lower food prices. They voted against common sense.

Food is not a luxury. It is not a special good for the rich. It is the most basic thing a family needs, yet the government hikes taxes in the food supply chain, pushes up the cost of living, and then asks Canadians to be grateful for the small rebates that do not even cover a week of groceries. People do not want handouts. They want life to be affordable again.

Conservatives have a simple plan: scrap the hidden taxes on food and bring down prices for everyone. We will bring back common sense. We will bring back a balanced budget so inflation comes down. We will let farmers farm without punishing taxes. We will let truckers move food without extra costs. We will let farmers keep more of their own money.

When a country as rich as ours has millions of people using food banks, something is deeply wrong. When parents skip meals so their kids can eat, something is deeply wrong. When seniors cannot buy fresh food after a lifetime of work, something is deeply wrong. The Prime Minister said people should judge him by the prices at the grocery store. Canadians are doing that now, and they are—

[The Deputy Speaker, Tom Kmiec]

Questions and comments, the hon. parliamentary secretary to the government House leader.