Debates of Oct. 30th, 2026

Finance

[Dan Muys, Conservative, Flamborough—Glanbrook—Brant North, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are paying more at the grocery store and more to keep a roof over their heads. This week the Bank of Canada raised interest rates, meaning higher mortgage payments for families. Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Budget Officer projects annual interest on the federal debt will reach $83 billion by 2031, more than health transfers and more than defence. Debt is rising, interest rates are rising, and Canadians are out of money.

With Halloween tomorrow, will the Liberals admit that their costly spending plan is all trick and no treat?

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance and National Revenue and to the Secretary of State (Canada Revenue Agency and Financial Institutions)]

Mr. Speaker, we finally got a Halloween reference in there out of the Conservatives, but they are truly trying to spook Canadians every single day. They simply cannot back up their claims, though, and they do not seem to understand economics. It is not the case that inflation is being driven by the federal government. Everybody out there in the real world knows that inflation is being driven by a U.S. trade war that was not started by the Government of Canada and conflicts in the Middle East, which were not started by Canada. Those are the true causes, and the Conservatives cannot fool anybody.

[Gabriel Hardy, Conservative, Montmorency—Charlevoix, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Bank of Canada raised its interest rate for the first time in three years. What does that mean for Canadians? It means that borrowing is more expensive, mortgages are more expensive and, once again, the financial pressure on families is increasing.

Meanwhile, our economy is growing at half the rate of the U.S. economy. In fact, it is even worse than that. We rank 13th in the G20 for growth, just ahead of South Africa. Despite all this, the Liberals are imposing ever more taxes, regulations and bureaucratic roadblocks to developing our resources.

When will the government see that in order to bring down the cost of living, it needs to stop holding back proponents who want to develop our country's resources?

[Carlos Leitão, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, it is rather unfortunate that our friends, when quoting reports and statistics, do not bother to read the reports they are quoting.

For example, with regard to the Bank of Canada, it is true that interest rates were raised because inflation was high. Why is inflation high? It is driven by energy prices. It is entirely the result of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and oil prices.

That is the issue. We have no control over those factors. What we can control is public investment, which is necessary to accelerate growth.

[Gabriel Hardy, Conservative, Montmorency—Charlevoix, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this week, three different reports have confirmed that our economy is slowing, that groceries cost a fortune for ordinary people and that people are struggling to make ends meet.

It is clear what Canada needs to do to get its economy back on track: reduce regulatory and bureaucratic barriers; allow businesses to grow, particularly in the domestic market; focus on improving productivity; develop our resources, especially our energy resources; accelerate project approvals; and reduce federal taxes on fuel, including diesel.

These are all Conservative measures that are within the Liberals' control. Have the Liberals included them in their next budget?

[Carlos Leitão, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, members will have to wait a few more days for the next budget. We are not about to start revealing what is or is not in the budget.

What I will say is that our plan is precisely to speed up major infrastructure projects. For Quebec, that means building ships at the Davie shipyard. Closer to our friend, the major project is Churchill Falls.

I am surprised that our Conservative and Bloc Québécois friends never talk about North America's largest hydroelectric project, Churchill Falls. The federal government has been directly involved, and this project will go ahead.

Artificial Intelligence

[Yves Perron, Bloc, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, many were wondering why the federal government was favouring Alberta for the development of artificial intelligence and energy-intensive data centres. Radio-Canada confirmed it this morning: It is to sell gas. Internal documents, including some from the Prime Minister's immediate entourage, confirm that it is Ottawa's intention for these highly polluting data centres to be powered by Alberta natural gas. The development of artificial intelligence is a strategy for expanding the fossil fuel industry.

This is the worst-case scenario from a climate perspective. How can the Liberals support this?

[Karim Bardeesy, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Industry]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, we are very invested in the artificial intelligence sector in Quebec, especially in Montreal. We are working with the famous researcher, Yoshua Bengio to accelerate responsible AI. This is a very important initiative. It is something that connects us with Europe and it is something that will help Canadians and Quebeckers gain more confidence in artificial intelligence.

[Yves Perron, Bloc, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have never informed Canadians that they intend to use the development of artificial intelligence data centres as a means of selling more fossil fuels. They have secretly decided to favour polluting fossil fuels to power these energy-guzzling data centres. This undermines efforts to meet our climate targets and turns pollution into a business model.

Like Greenpeace, the Bloc Québécois is calling for a moratorium in order to take the time to properly assess the impact of this strategy. Will the government hit the pause button?

[Madeleine Chenette, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and Minister responsible for Official Languages and to the Secretary of State (Sport)]

Mr. Speaker, I am truly astonished that the Bloc Québécois is downplaying the impact we are having in the field of AI. We have incredible resources in the field of artificial intelligence in Quebec, with Mila, plus an entire ecosystem that we are currently actively developing in partnership with other countries, including the European Union. We also have the major Churchill Falls project, which ensures that we are investing in clean energy.

This will greatly improve things for Quebec and for Canada as a whole.

Ethics

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, this week at committee, it was revealed that the Ethics Commissioner has been left in the dark regarding the administration of the Prime Minister's ethics screen. Decisions around the invocation of the screen are being made entirely in secret by the Prime Minister's top two advisers. Records of these decisions are not being shared with the commissioner, meaning that the commissioner has no idea if the Prime Minister is in fact being screened out of decisions where he has a conflict of interest.

Why are these records being withheld from the commissioner?

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

Mr. Speaker, it is frankly really and truly quite shameful the way in which the Conservative Party wants to continue the character assassination of the Prime Minister. At the end of the day, the Prime Minister is focused, as the government is, on building a stronger and healthier Canada, a Canada that works for all.

The Conservatives need to get out of the gutter and start recognizing the many positive things that are happening as a direct result of this government and this Prime Minister reaching out and building that stronger and healthier economy. It is time to step up—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, John Nater]

The hon. member for St. Albert—Sturgeon River.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Sturgeon River, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Ethics Commissioner ordered the Prime Minister to set up an ethics screen because of his vast conflicts with Brookfield. The Prime Minister's Office claims that for the purpose of transparency, every time a conflict is flagged, an analysis is done and it is documented, except there is zero transparency. These records are not public and they are not being shared with the commissioner. Meanwhile, billions of dollars have flowed to Brookfield.

Why the secrecy? Again, why are these records being withheld from the commissioner?

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

Mr. Speaker, when the member worked with Stephen Harper, the rules we have were established, and the Prime Minister today is following the same rules as Stephen Harper. The biggest difference is that the Conservatives tend to want to be in the gutter consistently with character assassination, when we have a Prime Minister who is doing a fine job of representing Canadians and building a healthier and stronger economy. It is time that the Conservatives start providing action on the many initiatives, whether it is on the issue of affordability or building that—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, John Nater]

The hon. member for The Eastern Peninsulas.

The Economy

[Jonathan Rowe, Conservative, The Eastern Peninsulas, NL]

Mr. Speaker, while families across Canada are struggling to put food on their table, the Prime Minister has no problem putting food on his table, most of which we cannot pronounce: truffle risotto, veal blanquette, entrecôte beef with demi-glace sauce, sea bass fillet and desserts like crème brûlée to top of it all off. This adds up to the low price of $175,000.

How does the Prime Minister have the nerve to stick this bill to hard-working Canadians?

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

Mr. Speaker, we see the silliness coming from the Conservative Party. Let me give the member a tangible example. Let us think of my home province of Manitoba: Under the national school program, 29,000 children are being fed in schools. Across Canada, it is 400,000. This Prime Minister is the one who made it a permanent program. On the other hand, the member who just posed the question voted against that. Shame on the Conservative Party of Canada.

[Jonathan Rowe, Conservative, The Eastern Peninsulas, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I have heard this all before. This is not the first time that the Liberals wasted over $175,000 and gave the same shameful excuse for inflight catering. The reality is this trip cost hard-working taxpayers $300 for each meal for each person.

Does the silver spoon, Bay Street banker Prime Minister really think that Canadians have the luxury of spending $300 on a meal? Quite frankly, I have had no one in my family ever be able to dream of paying $300 for a meal.

[Mike Kelloway, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, what is quite extraordinary is that it probably took the member a week to come up with that question. The reality is he should be talking about Churchill Falls and Bay du Nord. He should be talking about investments in the Atlantic fisheries fund, things that impact Atlantic Canadians in terms of job and affordability. We are building Canada up in Atlantic Canada, taking the lead. It is time that he and other folks on that side, especially in their Atlantic caucus, join us.

News Media Industry

[Gaétan Malette, Conservative, Kapuskasing—Timmins—Mushkegowuk, ON]

Mr. Speaker, when a storm shuts down roads in Hearst or Kapuskasing, people rely on their local radio stations, like Épinette noire or La voix d'chez nous, to stay informed. However, nobody in Ottawa seems to be listening. In the last budget, Ottawa spent $78 million on advertising, but only 3% of that was allocated to local radio stations in Canada.

Without spending another penny, what is the government waiting for to redistribute part of its advertising budget to these radio stations, which are essential to Canada's small communities?

[Madeleine Chenette, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and Minister responsible for Official Languages and to the Secretary of State (Sport)]

Mr. Speaker, access to fact-based information from coast to coast to coast is essential for keeping Canadians informed. Canadians deserve access to factual information that reflects our communities, our stories and our values.

We continue to support strong and independent newsrooms. Across the country, and especially when dealing with disinformation, our local media and radio stations matter a lot. We are supporting them and we will continue to do so.

Medical Assistance in Dying

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, Humber River—Black Creek, ON]

Mr. Speaker, throughout the spring, the Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying heard from witnesses who included doctors, psychiatrists and many patient groups. Their testimony confirmed that provinces and territories were not ready for medical assistance in dying to be offered in cases where mental illness was the sole underlying condition.

Can the parliamentary secretary tell us how this perspective is reflected in the medical assistance in dying safeguards act?

[Maggie Chi, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for Humber River—Black Creek for her thoughtful perspective and contributions to this very important subject. Our government will always support our provincial and territorial partners in developing and delivering health care, including end-of-life care. That is why the MAID safeguards act reflects what we have heard and why it would ensure that mental illness cannot be the sole underlying condition for someone requesting medical assistance in dying.

MAID is a deeply personal issue for many Canadians and we want to ensure that we have protection in place for our most vulnerable people.

The Economy

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

Mr. Speaker, in March, 2.4 million Canadians had to rely on the food bank. The Bank of Canada expects prices to rise through next year. This is an out-of-touch government. Excessive taxation and rising energy costs are making it worse for Canadians. Conservatives would lower costs at the grocery store by scrapping all federal taxes on diesel sales until at least next Canada Day.

Why would the government not adopt our plan?