House of Commons Hansard #10 of the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was unemployment.
This summary is computer-generated. Usually it’s accurate, but every now and then it’ll contain inaccuracies or total fabrications.
Making Life More Affordable for Canadians Act Second reading of Bill C-4. The bill, An Act respecting certain affordability measures for Canadians and another measure, aims to implement a tax cut for 22 million Canadians, eliminate the GST for first-time homebuyers on new homes up to $1 million, and remove the consumer carbon price from law. Liberals argue these measures deliver on election promises to make life more affordable. Conservatives call it "half measures" insufficient to address the cost of living crisis and rising unemployment, criticizing the continued industrial carbon tax. The Bloc Québécois questions the lack of a budget and argues Quebec was unfairly excluded from carbon tax rebates. 27100 words, 3 hours in 2 segments: 1 2.
Steven MacKinnon Liberal Gatineau, QC
Madam Speaker, the member should ask her colleagues, and maybe plead with them. The next time we bring in a measure to help Canadians get ahead, maybe they should support it.
David Bexte Conservative Bow River, AB
Madam Speaker, I am not sure whether the Prime Minister does his own grocery shopping yet or not, so maybe that is why he still thinks that food prices are just fine. Let me walk him through this. My wife and I, with two carts, spend many dollars at Costco. Beef strip loin is up 34%. White rice is up 14%. Coffee is up 9%. Sweet potatoes are now a luxury. I have not even talked about strawberries.
What is the Prime Minister's response to half a trillion dollars in new spending, with no budget and no plan? Will the government finally present a budget that feeds families instead of feeding inflation, or is this just the price of Liberal leadership?
Wayne Long LiberalSecretary of State (Canada Revenue Agency and Financial Institutions)
Madam Speaker, we have watched the party opposite vote against every one of our initiatives that have helped families across the country from coast to coast to coast, whether it be the Canada child benefit, the dental program, the day care program or housing initiatives. The party opposite has not done one thing to support families across the country, so shame on them.
David Bexte Conservative Bow River, AB
Madam Speaker. I would like to thank the member for Edmonton West. That is supposed to be a joke.
The Prime Minister does not buy his own groceries, so of course he does not notice when the cost of beef jumps 34% or the cost of infant formula climbs 9%, but I do, and so do families in Bow River, who are skipping meals so that kids can eat.
We do not need lectures. We do not need spin. They need relief. The policies of the past Liberal government have not been working. The current Liberal government is not going to work.
Will the Liberals finally bring forward a budget that cuts inflation and cuts more taxes so all Canadians can afford dinner again, or is this just the price of bad Liberal policy?
Wayne Long LiberalSecretary of State (Canada Revenue Agency and Financial Institutions)
Madam Speaker, let us look at some facts. In 2022, inflation was 8.1%. We have driven that down, per our policies, to 1.7%. Members of the party opposite hold themselves up as strong economic stewards. They are not. Under their previous governments, our economy failed.
We are going to aggressively rebuild our economy back by investing in Canadians. It is time for all Canadians to come together.
Cathay Wagantall Conservative Yorkton—Melville, SK
Madam Speaker, I was amazed yesterday when the answer with respect to the school food program rose from 400,000 children to 500,000 children, between two 30-second questions.
The Prime Minister said he wanted to be judged by the experience of Canadians at the grocery store, so let us evaluate him. The cost of apples is up 18% since January. Oranges are up 26%, coffee is up 9% and beef is up a staggering 33%. Canadians are being crushed, and the Liberal response has been an additional half a trillion dollars in new inflationary spending.
When will the Liberals table their budget that reduces inflation and cuts taxes so Canadians can afford to feed their family?
Wayne Long LiberalSecretary of State (Canada Revenue Agency and Financial Institutions)
Madam Speaker, let us look at facts. Members of the party opposite voted against the school food program; they would not support children who needed food in schools. They do not support families, they would not support young mothers and they do not support Canadians who need dental work. They do not support very much that supports Canadians.
It is time for all Canadians to come together. I wish the party opposite would do the same and vote for our initiatives.
Dominique Vien Conservative Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC
Madam Speaker, the House is demanding that a budget be tabled this spring, but the Liberals are asking for the approval of more than $500 billion in spending without submitting a single figure or a single budget.
Meanwhile, unemployment is rising, mortgage payments are late and even full-time workers are being forced to turn to food banks.
Even though all Canadians have to make a budget for their spending, this government refuses to table one.
When can we expect to receive the beginnings of budget?
Steven MacKinnon LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Madam Speaker, the good news is that this member will get not just one but two chances to support the creation of new opportunities and jobs for all Canadians. Today, we are going to debate the affordability bill, which lowers taxes for 22 million Canadians. Later on, we are going to introduce a bill backed by stakeholders in Quebec and the Government of Quebec to create opportunities and launch major projects in Canada.
Will the member support those bills?
Dominique Vien Conservative Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC
Madam Speaker, the Liberals broke their promise by increasing spending by 8% when they promised to reduce spending to 2%.
The result is out-of-control food inflation. Since January, the cost of beef is up 34%, apples are up 18%, rice is up 14% and infant formula is up 9%. Food banks are overwhelmed. Canadian families are hungry.
When will this government table a budget this spring? There are fewer than 10 days left.
François-Philippe Champagne LiberalMinister of Finance and National Revenue
Madam Speaker, later today, my colleague will have the opportunity to once again show her constituents that she wants to support affordability. We had second reading of the tax cut bill. Twenty-two million Canadians, including many people in her riding, will benefit from it. Later today, she will have the opportunity to show political courage and say that, yes, she will support the Liberal government because we are going to build a strong Canada together.
Today, her constituents will be watching at home, and so will ours.
Will she do the right thing to give people in her riding a helping hand and build a strong Canada?
Xavier Barsalou-Duval Bloc Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC
Madam Speaker, $1 million is not the next 6/49 jackpot; it is the amount of public money that the federal government has already wasted fighting Bill 21, Quebec's secularism bill. The Supreme Court has not even begun hearing the case, but the Liberals have already spent $1 million of our tax dollars on attacking secularism in Quebec.
Is there a limit to the amount of money Quebeckers will have to shell out to fund the Liberals' attack on their own laws with their own money?
Sean Fraser LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
Madam Speaker, this case raises important questions. I think it is important for the federal government to participate.
The member is talking about costs, but it is important to realize that there are a lot of expenses. For departmental employees, it is always very important to keep protecting charter rights while respecting provincial jurisdictions.
Xavier Barsalou-Duval Bloc Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC
Madam Speaker, one does not respect Quebec's jurisdictions by attacking Quebec's laws. I do not think the minister really understand his role.
By spending $1 million in legal fees to challenge Bill 21 before the court proceedings have even begun, the federal government is proving one thing: It will stop at nothing to crush Quebeckers and undermine Quebec's secularism. It will stop at nothing to attack the notwithstanding clause and the ability of Quebec and the National Assembly to pass its own laws, laws that we want and that Quebeckers want, but that are not the laws of Canada.
The federal government wants to fight the will of Quebeckers no matter what the cost, but why is it taking their money to do so?
Steven Guilbeault LiberalMinister of Canadian Identity and Culture and Minister responsible for Official Languages
Madam Speaker, our government has long expressed reservations about the Government of Quebec's Bill 21, especially regarding what we consider to be its misuse of the notwithstanding clause. We made up our minds a long time ago that we were going to intervene. What we are doing now is preparing to intervene, since the matter in question extends beyond Quebec's borders.
As my Bloc Québécois colleague is well aware, a lot of people, including Quebeckers, are very concerned about this bill.
Shannon Stubbs Conservative Lakeland, AB
Madam Speaker, after their last job-killing, anti-development decade, Liberals now claim they want Canada to be an energy superpower but will approve pipelines only if there is consensus, yet there is no consensus even in their own cabinet. Most of the ministers have stopped pipelines for years. The PM's top gun said, “It is essential not to...[increase] oil... production”, and the PM himself says, “half of oil reserves...need to stay in the ground”.
The PM copied Conservatives on energy after he helped block Canada's for half a decade. Is it not true that they really will not ensure that private sector pipelines are built in all directions in Canada quickly?
Tim Hodgson LiberalMinister of Energy and Natural Resources
Madam Speaker, later today we will be tabling new legislation to help build Canada strong, build projects of national interest and make us the strongest economy in the G7. I really hope the members will support our bill.
Shannon Stubbs Conservative Lakeland, AB
Madam Speaker, that rhetoric and the Liberals' photo ops do not matter; actions do, and the truth is that no private sector pipelines will be built to coasts with shipping and drilling bans. Companies will not build pipelines while the government is the only one in the world to cap Canadian oil and gas and to carbon-tax Canadian industries; the U.S. and others do not.
The Liberals will not kill the anti-development bill, Bill C-69, which premiers, indigenous leaders, the private sector and the Supreme Court oppose. The Liberals also say that there has to be consensus but that they alone will define what is in the national interest.
Why will the Liberals not just repeal all their anti-energy laws so Canadian workers can at least—
Oil and Gas IndustryOral Questions
The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Alexandra Mendès) Alexandra Mendes
The hon. government House leader has the floor.
Steven MacKinnon LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Madam Speaker, sometimes the member talks about concrete actions. For one rare occasion, she gets to not just simply criticise, but gets to stand up for workers, stand up for the Government of Alberta, stand up for all the premiers and all the territories in this country and stand up for workers, unions, businesses and people who want to build this country and want to create opportunity in this country to do major projects and build Canada strong.
Will the member stand up and do something for once?
Jonathan Rowe Conservative Terra Nova—The Peninsulas, NL
Madam Speaker, during the lost Liberal decade, North Atlantic stripped its investment in our local refining, causing major instability in our area.
On Wednesday, my hon. Liberal colleague from Newfoundland announced with pride that North Atlantic is now investing once again, not here but in France. This does not seem like something a proud Newfoundlander would announce. Did the Liberal leadership force my fellow Newfoundlander to spin this shameful news?
Joanne Thompson LiberalMinister of Fisheries
Madam Speaker, I think it is really important for the member opposite, whom I welcome to the House, to remember that there is a bill that will be tabled later today that is about growing this country, and I am so proud of the work that the new government is doing to ensure that Canada meets this moment. That includes Canada's becoming a world superpower, and I truly hope that the member opposite is going to be there to vote for all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians, and for all Canadians.
Jonathan Rowe Conservative Terra Nova—The Peninsulas, NL
Madam Speaker, the Liberals are good at promises but not production. In fact, they will cap it.
The refinery used to produce 100% of our island's diesel, propane, jet fuel and gasoline. Then, the Liberal government wasted $89 million on a conversion for only biodiesel. Now we have to ship in all the other fuels, and everyone is paying the price.
Does the government realize that its political headline is now costing Newfoundlanders an extra five cents a litre to import fuels that used to be made on our Rock?
Tim Hodgson LiberalMinister of Energy and Natural Resources
Madam Speaker, on Monday we met with the premiers, including the Premier of Newfoundlandand and Labrador, to talk about how we will build Canada strong. We had consensus with all of the different premiers. Just five days later, we are tabling legislation to start building again. We really hope the members will support this new legislation.
Arnold Viersen Conservative Peace River—Westlock, AB
Madam Speaker, after the Liberals' Bill C-69 cancelled a dozen pipeline projects in Canada, Germany, Japan, Greece, Poland, Latvia, Ukraine, South Korea, the Philippines and Taiwan all pleaded with Canada for our LNG. Now, in the middle of a jobs crisis, the promise of an energy superpower and the world wanting our energy, we could use Canadian steel and Canadian labour to build Canadian pipelines to get Canadian energy to the world.
How many new pipelines can we expect to be operational in the next two years?