Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Toronto—St. Paul's.
Every day, Canadians across the country wake up, work hard and do their best to provide for their families, yet despite all of their efforts, far too many are finding it harder than ever to make ends meet. Whether it is the cost of groceries, housing, fuel or everyday essentials, families and seniors are feeling the pressure in every corner of the country.
I am hearing from constituents daily about the cost of living crisis. One constituent, Tracy, wrote to me recently, saying, “the cost of living has become extremely concerning. The costs of daily necessities leave so little to save, that the once realistic milestone of owning a home feels increasingly out of reach for young working Canadians.” She went on to say, “this is not the Canada I remember growing up in, and it is heartbreaking to watch the country I have always called home struggle in this way.”
Members have heard Conservatives say similar sentiments before, and this is exactly why: We go out and listen to our constituents and echo the things they tell us. There was a time in the country when the Canadian dream felt within reach for everyone who worked hard, when opportunity and the ability to build oneself a better life were not privileges for the few but realities available to all. Today, after a decade of Liberal spending, taxation, and over-regulation, many Canadians are finding that dream harder and harder to achieve.
Another constituent, Cory, told me that he has a good job but his wages have not been rising fast enough to keep up with inflation, and he has had to make major cuts in his budget just to stay afloat. His grocery budget for the week keeps getting squeezed, as the cart is not as full as it used to be. He told me that items he once bought without a second thought have become occasional luxuries. Fresh meat, healthy snacks for his children and other everyday staples are now carefully weighed against the cost of everything else. He finds himself comparing prices, waiting for sales and putting items back on the shelf simply because the math no longer works. He told me that the stress is mounting for him, and he is not sure what to do.
According to the government's own data, financial challenges are the number one leading source of stress, more than work, personal health and relationships, with nearly half of Canadians surveyed saying they have lost sleep because of financial worries. That statistic should concern every member of the House.
When Canadians are lying awake at night wondering how they will pay the next month's rent, afford groceries or cover an unexpected expense, the consequences extend far beyond the bank account. Financial stress affects mental health, family relationships, workplace productivity and, of course, the overall quality of life. When nearly half of Canadians are losing sleep over money, we are no longer talking about isolated hardships. We are talking about an affordability crisis that is affecting the well-being, security and peace of mind of families and individuals across the country.
I know that there are countless others in my riding and across the country with stories just like Tracy's and Cory's, because they have told me face to face. They do not want government handouts. They want the government to stop making life harder and more expensive and to let them live the Canadian dream that they were once promised. They work hard. They save where they can. They make smart financial decisions just to find themselves unable to get ahead and are even falling behind through no fault of their own.
Young Canadians are delaying major life milestones because home ownership seems unattainable, a dream that can no longer be reached. Parents are struggling to keep up with rising household costs. Seniors living on fixed incomes are being forced to stretch every dollar further just to afford the absolute bare necessities of life.
People are not asking for some sort of special treatment. They are just asking for the fair shot that they rightfully deserve. They want a government that understands their challenges, respects the value of their hard-earned money and creates the conditions for economic growth and opportunity.
We know that we can turn it around, because before the Liberal government, Canada had the wealthiest middle class in the world by median disposable income. However, the lost Liberal decade of poor fiscal responsibility and antidevelopment policies have sent businesses packing, stifled our resources and suppressed our wages. The Prime Minister likes to make lots of speeches and fancy announcements that sound like progress, but the Liberal playbook remains the same: tax, regulate, control, redistribute, borrow and spend and spend. The Liberals spend money they do not have out of the pockets of Canadians with not enough to give, saddling future generations of taxpayers with the burden of paying the interest on the debt that they are accruing today.
My daughter Morgan turns one tomorrow. I do not know if I have the heart to tell her, but she, like every other Canadian, is saddled with over $30,000 in federal debt that she is responsible for, thanks to the reckless spending of the Liberal government. The only reason I might have the heart to tell her is because she is not going to yet understand, but every Canadian that can should be outraged. After 11 years, the results of these policies are plain to see. Canadians are paying more and getting less. They pay more for groceries, more for housing, more for energy, more for transportation, more in taxes and more for virtually every essential part of daily life.
When governments run up deficits, driving up borrowing and putting obstacles in the way of investment and development, the consequences do not remain confined to this House. In fact, they are very rarely felt by those ultimately responsible. They are felt at kitchen tables across this country. They are felt by families. They are felt by the business owners struggling to keep the lights on, pay staff and not lay people off because they are friends and neighbours. Canadians understand the simple truth. Governments cannot spend their way to prosperity. Wealth must first be created by workers, entrepreneurs, innovators, farmers, tradespeople and resource producers, not by more bureaucracy and more bailouts.
Canada should be the most prosperous country in the world. We are blessed with abundant natural resources, a highly educated workforce, strong institutions and some of the most innovative people anywhere on this planet, yet instead of unleashing our potential, Liberal policies have stood in the way of it. The solution is not more government spending. The solution is economic growth. The solution is creating an environment where businesses can invest and profit, workers can thrive with increasingly good and better wages, and families can keep more of what they earn. Unleash our entrepreneurs and workers and let us watch the wealth that can be created for this country.
That means pursuing responsible fiscal policy and bringing government spending under control. It means lowering the tax burden on hard-working Canadians and job creators. It means removing barriers that prevent housing from being built and ensuring that homes can be constructed faster and more affordably. It means streamlining approvals for major projects, attracting investment back to Canada and allowing our resource sector to responsibly develop the natural wealth that has long been a source of prosperity for communities right across this country.
We should be building things once again in this country. We should be building homes. We should be building energy infrastructure. We should be building mines, factories, ports, roads and projects that create good, high-paying jobs and generate economic activity. Every stalled project, every delayed approval and every business that leaves Canada represents lost opportunity for Canadian workers and families.
We should also recognize that affordability and productivity go hand in hand. A country cannot sustainably improve living standards if it is not creating wealth. We cannot distribute prosperity that does not first exist. The path to higher wages, stronger communities and better public services begins with a stronger economy. Above all, we should be restoring the principle that if somebody works hard, plays by the rules, contributes to their community and gives back, they should be able to build a good life for themselves and their families.
Canada's best days do not have to be behind us. We can build a country where home ownership is attainable again, where hard work is rewarded, where investment is welcomed and where future generations can look forward to a better quality of life than the generation before them once again. That is the promise of Canada. It is the promise that Tracy, Cory and so many people across my riding and across this country feel is slipping away. I firmly believe that it is not too late to right our course and get back to the strong middle class that we once had. The work starts here. It starts with us.
Let the people who want to build this country up get to work and get government out of the way. It starts by recognizing that we are, in fact, thanks to the Liberal government's reckless spending and awful policies, in an affordability crisis right now. It is time for this place to do better for the Canadians we represent.