Mr. Speaker, we are here today to talk about Bill C-15, an act to implement certain provisions of the budget.
This was my first time participating in the review of a budget implementation bill as a federal MP and member of the Standing Committee on Finance. This is a 638-page omnibus bill with 606 clauses that amend hundreds of Canadian laws. This bill includes measures ranging from raising the debt ceiling to repealing the digital services tax.
Throughout the study, it was clear that our work as parliamentarians mainly consists of making choices, choices that improve the quality of life of Canadians today but also the quality of life of our children, our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren. Choices must be made. We have to determine which measures to include, we have to choose between an inflationary deficit and a balanced budget, and as part of Bill C-15, we also have to decide whether to keep power in the hands of Canadians or hand it over to Liberal ministers and the Prime Minister here in Ottawa.
In short, the Liberals tabled a bill granting cabinet ministers extraordinary powers. There were no provisions for consultations, guardrails, parliamentary approval or transparency. My Conservative colleague from Newmarket—Aurora explained this clearly. It is quite shocking that the Government of Canada thought it was appropriate to give itself such an extreme amount of power. Canadians made it clear that the Liberals' choice was an undemocratic power grab.
It is important to note that the Liberals have already proven that they are bad with power. When they have the power to award government contracts, they award them to their friends, which is what happened with GC Strategies and ArriveCAN. Members will recall that the ArriveCAN contract was initially valued at $80,000, but it ended up costing $60 million. When they have the power to upgrade a computer system, they go over budget. That is the scenario playing out now with the Cúram software. It was supposed to cost $1.6 billion, but the budget is now $6.6 billion. This is outrageous. The project is $5 billion over budget.
I think it is important to acknowledge the choices that the Liberals are making. They are choosing to concentrate power in the hands of the Liberal elite in Ottawa, far from Parliament, far from local communities, and far from Canadians.
The Conservatives made a different choice. Under the leadership of my amazing colleague from Newmarket—Aurora, we introduced a number of amendments to place checks and balances on the power of Liberal elites and to ensure that Canadians ultimately have the power to curb government overreach.
With the amendments that were adopted, there now has to be a 30-day public consultation period before any exemption is granted. Dual approval from a cabinet minister and the President of the Treasury Board is now required. The government must table a report to Parliament within 90 days of any exemption and publish exemptions within 30 days to ensure transparency.
The Conservatives put guardrails in place to limit the Liberals' power and to ensure that exemptions serve Canadians' best interests. Let us not forget that every parliamentarian here is here to serve Canadians' interests.
As I mentioned, Bill C‑15 is about choices the government makes or does not make. During the committee's study of Bill C‑15, I had the opportunity to question several ministers about issues that, while important to my constituents, Quebeckers and all Canadians, are not included in this bill.
Bill C‑15 packs a considerable amount of content into its 638 pages, but it does not include measures to support regions of Quebec that rely on temporary foreign workers to fill vacant jobs. Those regions are struggling because of the Liberals' poorly designed immigration plan.
Page 96 of the budget states, in black and white:
The government recognises the role temporary foreign workers play in some sectors of the economy and in some parts of the country. To that end, the 2026-2028 Immigration Levels Plan will consider industries and sectors impacted by tariffs and the unique needs of rural and remote communities.
To reiterate, it states that the plan “will consider industries and sectors impacted by tariffs and the unique needs of rural and remote communities”. To be clear, this is from the Liberal budget; these are the words of the finance minister and the Prime Minister.
My riding and many parts of Quebec are facing a labour shortage, with an unemployment rate of less than 5.5%. Businesses are already facing an inflationary crisis and unjustified American tariffs. Now these businesses, which rely on temporary foreign workers to thrive and stimulate the economies of Quebec and Canada, must face this new challenge and the restriction on economic workers that is being imposed by the Liberals.
These people contribute to our economic development and have become part of our communities. Their children go to school, and their partners work for other businesses in the community, village or town. At the Standing Committee on Finance, I asked the minister three times whether he was in favour of a grandfather clause for temporary foreign workers in regions where the unemployment rate is less than 5.5%.
Three times, the minister refused to answer, but do members know what he said? He said that he agreed with my arguments and that temporary foreign workers who were already here and already part of their community, who had learned the job in their company and who were contributing to our economic development were important for the regions of Quebec. In that case, why will he not agree to include a grandfather clause?
The Liberal budget clearly indicates that the government will take into account the specific needs of communities in the regions. It seems to me that the Minister of Finance and the Prime Minister are happy to say what Canadians want to hear in their budget but that they are not willing to take measures to actually support the Canadian economy and strengthen our communities.
Since Bill C-15 is an omnibus bill, it contains many measures, but I think it is important to remember that Bill C-15 implements the measures of a Liberal budget with a $78-billion deficit. That is $78 billion in new debt that our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will have to pay. It should be noted that when the Liberals came to power 10 years ago, the country's debt was $700 billion. After 10 years of Liberal mismanagement, the debt is now $1.4 trillion.
Although we approve of many measures in the budget, I disapprove of just as many. The Liberal government has continued to pursue its policy of endless deficit spending. It is extremely important to be vigilant when making budgetary choices. Every dollar added to the debt contributes to inflationary pressure, which makes essential items such as groceries, transportation and housing more expensive. Let us not forget that every additional dollar of debt means higher debt servicing costs for future generations of Canadians. That is $55 billion in interest on the debt that we are paying and that our grandchildren will also pay.
In closing, as parliamentarians, we have to make tough choices to better serve Canadians. However, we must keep one thing in mind: The decisions that we make today will affect future generations, and we owe them respect.