Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to speak to Bill C-15, the budget implementation act.
When Canadians hear the phrase “budget implementation”, they expect something simple: a plan that respects taxpayers, strengthens our economy and delivers results without waste. Unfortunately, this bill misses that mark in ways that are not minor, but fundamental.
I want to approach this from a perspective that we do not hear that often in Ottawa, the view of rural and resource-producing communities, of agriculture and energy workers, of families who contribute so much to Canada's prosperity yet feel increasingly overlooked by federal policy. I want to speak as someone who has worked internationally for decades, particularly in post-Soviet countries, where government overreach, sluggish bureaucracy and disrespect for local decision-making are constant barriers to growth. When I look at Bill C-15, I see too many of these same mistakes creeping into our own system.
This is a budget that would spend more while delivering less. The government continues to treat spending as synonymous with progress. Bill C-15 would implement a budget that is the most expensive in Canadian history, yet Canadians feel poorer, less secure and less hopeful. Where I come from, on the Prairies, we earn trust, not by how much we spend, but by what we deliver. Families live within their means, and small businesses operate carefully because overspending can cost someone their livelihood.
Farmers know that inputs do not matter if the yields are not there, but Ottawa continues to spend without measuring outcomes. The budget implementation act commits billions more in new spending while offering little accountability and no realistic plan to restore affordability to Canadians. This is why Conservatives oppose the direction of the bill. The government is asking Canadians to pay more while receiving less.
The most urgent issues facing Canadians today are affordability, housing, groceries, fuel and basic necessities, yet Bill C-15 would entrench policies that have made life fundamentally more expensive. Whether someone lives in Toronto—