The hon. member for Brandon—Souris.
House of Commons Hansard #148 of the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was seniors.
House of Commons Hansard #148 of the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was seniors.
This summary is computer-generated. Usually it’s accurate, but every now and then it’ll contain inaccuracies or total fabrications.
Criminal Code First reading of Bill C-292. The bill strengthens Criminal Code protections for human trafficking survivors by holding traffickers accountable, protecting vulnerable witnesses, addressing justice system gaps and improving survivors’ ability to be heard. 100 words.
Opposition Motion—Affordability Crisis Members debate a Conservative motion asking the House to recognize that the Liberals have governed for 11 years and Canada faces an affordability crisis. Conservatives cite rising costs for housing, food and fuel and call for spending restraint, tax relief and fewer barriers to development. Liberals acknowledge cost pressures but defend measures such as tax cuts, food and child-care programs, and housing investments, arguing the motion offers no solutions. Bloc and NDP members highlight seniors’ poverty, homelessness and workers’ wages. 47400 words, 5 hours in 2 segments: 1 2.
Alleged Premature Disclosure of Bill C-40 Members debate whether media reports disclosing details of Bill C-40 before MPs reviewed it breach parliamentary privilege, with the NDP supporting the opposition’s request for a Speaker’s ruling. 400 words.
Business of the House Members exchange Thanksgiving wishes and discuss affordability, with Conservatives criticizing taxes and energy legislation while Liberals cite benefit payments and fuel-tax relief; the House also sets upcoming business and approves an extended sitting to consider Bill C-38. 700 words.
Sergei Magnitsky International Anti-Corruption and Human Rights Act Report stage of Bill C-219. The bill modernizes Canada’s sanctions laws and human-rights framework, adding grounds to address transnational repression and other threats, requiring annual reporting on human-rights efforts, and setting timelines for the forfeiture of seized assets. Following committee amendments and cross-party support, it passes third reading. 7100 words, 1 hour.
The EconomyAdjournment Proceedings
The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Alexandra Mendès) Alexandra Mendes
The hon. member for Brandon—Souris.
Grant Jackson Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
Madam Speaker, when the Liberals first announced their costly credit card budget last fall, Conservatives asked where their platform commitment to spend less and invest more went. Then, when the Prime Minister announced that he planned to split operating and capital spending in the Liberal budget, the alarm bells started to go off. Canadians do not get to split their credit card spending into different categories and pretend they owe less money. The Prime Minister should not get to do that either.
Since then, the Parliamentary Budget Officer has found contradictions in how the Liberals classify spending, making it harder to determine whether they are actually meeting their own fiscal targets. The Prime Minister claims that they are ahead of their targets, but the PBO projects that the Liberals will not balance their operating budget until 2029 or 2030, a year later than originally promised.
The question is simple. Does the government still stand by its promise to balance the operating budget by 2028-29? If not, who is misinformed, the Prime Minister or the Parliamentary Budget Officer?
Ryan Turnbull LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance and National Revenue and to the Secretary of State (Canada Revenue Agency and Financial Institutions)
Madam Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to stand up and talk about best practices in fiscal management. I think our government has done a great thing in having a capital budgeting framework and splitting out operational from capital spending so that our capital budgeting framework can help support capital formation in the economy.
The members opposite should agree with the fact that investment that is strategic in revenue generation for our economy creates an investment supercycle and will create a virtuous circle of investment and growth in the economy. Growth begets growth. We get growth in the economy, higher productivity and higher wages, which we have seen every month that the government has been in power. Wages have outpaced inflation. Per capita GDP growth has been up as well. We had the highest quarterly GDP growth in the G7. The member opposite does not seem to like to hear those statistics.
For ages in the House, maybe before the member joined us in the House, we heard Conservatives talk about GDP per capita as being the number one indicator of economic health in the country. We now have that, and that is great. As to whether we are going to close the gap in terms of balancing the operational budget, I will answer the member directly: Yes, we will.
Grant Jackson Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
Madam Speaker, the member took a very long time to get to that answer. I do not need to address the litany of false things that he put on the record. He did not address the question about whether the Parliamentary Budget Officer or the Prime Minister is misinformed. They are saying two different things about the fiscal outlook for the government's budget and spending habits.
Which is it? Does the member disagree with the Prime Minister, or does he think the Parliamentary Budget Officer is wrong in the statements that he is putting out there about the financial path that the government is on?
Ryan Turnbull Liberal Whitby, ON
Madam Speaker, let me correct the member opposite first. The Parliamentary Budget Officer is a woman, not a man. It is Annette Ryan, and she is doing a wonderful job. I believe highly in the work of the Parliamentary Budget Officer. The function of that office is very important to our democracy.
I cannot tell the member whether she is right. All I can say is that she is basing her projections on the information that she has, and they are not the most current projections of the federal government. Obviously, budget 2026 is coming before the House sometime this fall, and the member opposite will see the update on how our government is progressing toward one of our key fiscal anchors, which is to balance the operating budget. This is key because our government has conducted a comprehensive expenditure review, saving $60 billion over five years. That is part of the process of how we will balance the operating budget over the next two years.
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to be able to address the House tonight and highlight the Conservative push for more flexible parental leave. We recognize and celebrate those who are doing the hard work of having and raising children, and also, we note the sad fact that many people report in polls that they would like to have more children than for whatever reason their circumstances have allowed them to have. The self-reported desired number of children in Canada is much higher than the number of children people are actually having, and I think there are a number of factors contributing to that.
One of them is that it is so much harder to find a job and afford a home today that young people are hitting some of those milestones associated with starting life in a family much later, which leaves them with less time available to live out some of these personal goals, but also, the parental leave system simply has not kept up with the reality of more people working and also of more flexible work being available. Today it is much more possible for people to, for instance, continue working part time or take more flexible leave from home, because technology allows remote work, flexible work, odd hours work, etc.
This is a reality that I see among many people around, including in my own family. My wife is a doctor, she has a medical practice and she sees her patients virtually from our home office at flexible hours that work for our family and that work for her. This is not that unique an example. There are many people doing this, but the parental leave system has simply not kept up.
In a constructive spirit, Conservatives have put forward constructive proposals for more flexible parental leave, and we have asked the government to consider adopting these proposals. I am following up on a question I asked about this earlier. So far we have not heard from the government yet on whether it wants to adopt these proposals. Again, we are putting them forward in a positive, hopeful, constructive spirit, in hopes that the government will embrace these good ideas and consider other ones to make parental leave more flexible.
We are proposing, first of all, flexible parental leave, allowing parents to pause and then resume their leave, provided that this pausing and resuming stays within an 18-month window. This is similar to the existing model in Quebec. In Quebec, parents are able to pause and then resume their leave, which means potentially that if someone is in more seasonal work, if their spouse is able to take some time off with the children or if they really need that extra money for a period of time, they can return to work, but then resume their leave. This is valuable for individuals, but also can be valuable for employers if they want to offer employees the opportunity to return to work for a period of time when they are very busy. I can think of a lot of different kinds of professions where there are particularly busy seasons.
We are calling for that interruptibility, which currently is available in Quebec, to be available in the rest of the country as well.
Second, we are calling for learning on leave to be available, so that a person would have the clear ability to take courses and to study. Likely from home or in a flexible way, they would be able to take courses or advance their studies while they are on parental leave.
Third is a caregiving exception to EI parental leave benefit clawbacks. This would allow somebody who is on leave watching their own child to also offer paid child care to neighbours, family members, etc. Effectively, if someone is caring for their own children, they could also at the same time care for someone else's children and be paid to do that without facing the kind of benefit clawbacks that would otherwise apply.
These are three reasonable proposals that would have other benefits that would allow people to develop themselves professionally. Increasing the availability of local and flexible child care would create opportunities for more economic vitality, including for self-employed individuals, by allowing that pausing and resuming to respond to the natural cycles that happen within families as well as within work.
These are constructive proposals, and we would love to hear if the government is interested in adopting all or some of them going forward.
Ryan Turnbull LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance and National Revenue and to the Secretary of State (Canada Revenue Agency and Financial Institutions)
Madam Speaker, it is great to be here this evening. We are always interested in constructive proposals. What is interesting is that the member opposite's question has nothing to do with the question that has been put on notice, but that is okay. I will answer the question that was put on notice anyway.
In an increasingly fragmented and uncertain world, our government is concentrating on what it can control, which is maintaining fiscal sustainability while making targeted high-impact investments in Canadians and the economy. That is responsible leadership. It means investing in a brighter future while protecting Canada's fiscal strength, the lowest net debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7, a sound fiscal position and a clear path to long-term sustainability.
In fact, by investing strategically and responsibly today, we are positioning Canadians to benefit from a stronger tomorrow, and at the same time, our fiscally disciplined approach—
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order.
FinanceAdjournment Proceedings
The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Alexandra Mendès) Alexandra Mendes
I have an interruption to the hon. parliament secretary.
There are no points of order in the adjournment debates, but this is just a reminder to the hon. member that his question had absolutely nothing to do with the question that was on the Order Paper.
FinanceAdjournment Proceedings
The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Alexandra Mendès) Alexandra Mendes
No, it did not.
The hon. parliamentary secretary.
Ryan Turnbull Liberal Whitby, ON
Madam Speaker, the member opposite's question on the Notice Paper was about apprentices. It was about Canada facing unemployment. It was about youth. It was about the budget and EI premiums. It was about taxes on jobs. It was about a jobs crisis. That is about it.
FinanceAdjournment Proceedings
The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Alexandra Mendès) Alexandra Mendes
I will reread the question:
Mr. Speaker, those apprentices desperately need projects to go forward that they can work on.
Canada faces an unemployment crisis, most severe among youth, yet this Liberal costly credit card budget plans further increases to EI premiums. Increasing the tax on jobs now would make it harder for businesses to create jobs and would make the jobs crisis even worse. Why are the Liberals paying for their costly credit card budget with further tax increases on jobs?
That is the question that was put on notice.
Ryan Turnbull Liberal Whitby, ON
Madam Speaker, that is the question I prepared to answer, not the member opposite's suggestions. Although I do not discount good-faith suggestions and positive proposals that could be considered by the government at a later date, they are not what I was anticipating answering to tonight. Therefore, I will speak to the fact that our fiscally disciplined approach is helping to lower everyday costs for Canadians.
Budget 2025 marked a tactical shift in the government's management of public finances. That plan is focused on expanding federal capital spending to mobilize investment in the country while maintaining fiscal discipline. Our plan is built on a bedrock of fiscal responsibility not for its own sake, but to create the capacity to invest for the long-term future to ensure our economic strength and greater self-reliance. That is consistent with our approach and the approach in the spring economic update, which was also guided by the government's two fiscal anchors. These are balancing operating spending with revenues by 2028-29 and maintaining a declining deficit-to-GDP ratio.
Our plan is working. As recently announced by the Prime Minister, the government is on track to balance the operating budget in 2027-28, one year ahead of schedule.
We are committed to the disciplined implementation of the efficiency measures in budget 2025. This includes a comprehensive expenditure review, which was proposed to save $60 billion over five years. That comprehensive expenditure review is also returning the size of the public service to a more sustainable level through early retirement incentives, workforce adjustments and attrition. With implementation well under way, the focus is now turning toward targeted, ongoing, horizontal reviews, beginning with efforts to rein in spending on external management and other consulting services. These challenging but necessary actions will continue to support our objective of spending less to invest more in Canadians.
In budget 2025, we also outlined a capital budgeting framework. This framework has distinguished day-to-day operational spending from long-term investments that strengthen our economy. Importantly, this framework is designed to enhance, not replace, existing financial reporting. It also creates further transparency for all opposition parties and all parties in this House.
Garnett Genuis Conservative Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB
Madam Speaker, I am trying to track down the miscommunication here. It is a good-faith one in any event, and we will have to get to the bottom of it later. I look forward to returning to press the government more on the issue of parental leave, because it seems that an email I received is different. The date of the original question is different from what the Table has. We will track that down.
I want to firmly disagree with everything the member just said about falsely claiming that the government is doing well on the economy.
I want to encourage the member and other members to consider the important parental leave proposals we have made. I suppose I will have additional opportunities to bring them back to the House and, again, constructively propose that we can work together to make parental leave more flexible for parents to incorporate the modern realities of how flexible work is more possible and available, especially in the technological environment we are now in.
Ryan Turnbull Liberal Whitby, ON
Madam Speaker, in fact, our government is doing well when it comes to the economy. The member opposite is obviously fully able to disagree with me, but I will state for the record that our government is getting results for Canadians. There are 217,000-plus net new jobs in the economy and the highest GDP growth in quarter two in the G7. We have also seen an almost two-decade record high in foreign direct investment. The Prime Minister's investment summit garnered interest from investors around the world and got domestic investors to commit almost $500 billion in new investment in our economy.
Those things did not happen by accident. They happened because our government has put in place a plan, a framework and a set of policies that are stimulating our economy, has a capital budgeting framework that is fiscally responsible and is making those generational investments in our economic strength and growth for the prosperity of all Canadians.
FinanceAdjournment Proceedings
The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Alexandra Mendès) Alexandra Mendes
The motion to adjourn the House is now deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m., pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).
(The House adjourned at 6:45 p.m.)