Debates of Feb. 6th, 2026

Employment and Training

[Billy Morin, Conservative, Edmonton Northwest, AB]

Madam Speaker, in Edmonton Northwest, too many warehouses, retail spaces and industrial yards sit empty as Canadians wait for the economy to get better.

Stats Canada confirmed that Canada lost 25,000 jobs last month. However, one great organization in my riding is a champion for change. Tribal Chiefs Employment and Training Services, led by executive director Eva John-Gladue, has been a great example of how Albertans in public and private sectors work together to create pathways of prosperity in oil, gas, trades and beyond.

Eva has worked for over 25 years with industry to build healthy families by creating innovative partnerships in culture, housing, sports and more. She and her industry partners have connected thousands of indigenous workers with the training and work placements they need to be self-sufficient.

Recently, 52,000 private sector jobs have been lost across Canada. The government needs to listen to more leaders like Eva, to transform the way it thinks so as to help our economy reach its full potential.

Derek Ruttan

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, London Centre, ON]

Madam Speaker, for generations, the people of London, Ontario, have counted on The London Free Press, our daily paper, to capture their hopes, their aspirations, their cares, their concerns and their worries for the future.

This is true of its journalists, and it is true of its photographers. Derek Ruttan was an extraordinary talent. He passed away at the age of 60 in late January. He will be remembered as a family man. He will be remembered as someone who constantly gave back to the community, especially through his work. He was recognized nationally through awards. He will be, of course, missed by his colleagues, by his community and especially by his adoring wife, Sarah, and his sons Darcy and Shayne.

On a personal note, I knew Derek. He was a truly valued member of London whose talent came through in every photograph he took. So often his photos were on the front page of our paper. He will be deeply missed by all Londoners.

Employment

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Madam Speaker, the Prime Minister promised the fastest-growing economy in the G7. He promised to build this country, but today we are seeing that those policies are just not working. January saw a major drop in private sector employment of over 50,000 workers, a drop of 28,000 in the manufacturing sector alone. The government is presiding over a deepening employment crisis as more people are dropping out of the workforce.

When will Liberals listen to the constructive solutions we have put forward and recognize that what they are doing is not working?

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration]

Madam Speaker, total employment is up, in fact, by 134,000 jobs over the past year. Most of those jobs are in the private sector. We see a rate of inflation of 2.4%, which is well within the Bank of Canada's guideline, and also an unemployment rate that is now down to 6.5%, but we do not rest on that.

There is anxiety in Canada, but there is also resilience that defines this country and defines its people. What that resilience means is that there is an expectation that we work together.

Will the Conservatives work with us to pass budget 2025, measures that include benefits for the member's community and mine?

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Madam Speaker, we will work to advance solutions that work, and we will oppose what is not working.

I am looking at the employment numbers. Private sector employment fell by over 50,000 in the last month. Young people overwhelmingly report that they are worse off than their parents' generation because they cannot find jobs and they cannot afford homes.

Canadians are looking for hope. They are looking for real solutions. That starts with the government recognizing that what it is doing is not working.

When will the government come to that recognition?

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration]

Madam Speaker, Canadians are looking for hope, but they are also looking for people to work together in the House of Commons to support them at this time, in the short term and in the long term.

In the short term, what this means is, and we saw it, in fact, the spirit of collaboration that helped to bring about Bill C-19. Bill C-19, of course, is the Canada groceries and essentials benefit that will provide up to $1,900 for a family of four. For the long term, we can work together to ensure the budget passes. Spending is there for defence, which will create tens of thousands of jobs, and for infrastructure, to build this country up, among other things.

Will the Conservatives help us?

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

Madam Speaker, young people from Quebec and Canada are not asking for much right now. What they want is a real job so that they can get a start in life, but what are they seeing?

In January, Canada lost 28,000 jobs in the manufacturing sector. Investments are leaving the country. Meanwhile, the only job growth is coming from more bureaucracy, not from real jobs in the real economy. Young people are stuck with precarious jobs, or no job at all, while plants are closing in Baie-Comeau and across Canada.

Does the Prime Minister realize that the current economy is not creating the jobs that young people need to get a start in life?

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

Madam Speaker, since our colleague from Quebec is talking about employment statistics, I am sure he must have noticed that we have created a large number of jobs in Quebec and that Quebec now has the lowest unemployment rate in the country.

However, we also recognize that the industrial sectors that are directly threatened by the U.S. tariffs are being hit hard. That is why, yesterday, we announced a new strategy for the auto industry, so that we can increase our auto production capacity in Canada.

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

Madam Speaker, the Liberals are pretty proud of the work they have done, but 52,000 private sector jobs have been lost in the past year. After years of anti-development legislation, closed markets and investment bolting to the United States, Canada is not in a good position. Every week, real workers are losing their jobs, and it is mainly our young people who are being told to wait and make sacrifices, yet again.

The Conservatives have proposed a clear path forward: Build here, protect our jobs and free up our resources.

Will the Prime Minister work with the Conservatives to create real jobs here for our young people and defend Canada's economic sovereignty?

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

Madam Speaker, the strategy for addressing these issues is set out in Bill C-15. It is set out in the budget. That is our plan. It is a very broad and comprehensive plan, with many measures.

Will our Conservative colleagues do what needs to be done and support us so that we can pass the budget as quickly as possible?

Automotive Industry

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Madam Speaker, last night the industry minister said the quiet thing out loud. When pressed on how many Canadian vehicles the Liberals' EV rebate will apply to, she admitted it is only one. The vast majority of these EV rebates will go to foreign car manufacturers, including in Donald Trump's America. He is the guy who is tariffing our autos, put 5,000 auto workers out of work and closed two plants.

Rather than rewarding Donald Trump's America, why not take the tax off all Canadian-manufactured vehicles to preserve Canadian jobs and benefit all Canadian auto workers?

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Madam Speaker, yesterday was a great day as we stood on the shop floor of an auto manufacturer and talked about how we are not only going to keep working to support building vehicles here in Canada but also are going to make EVs more affordable and more available for Canadians. We are doing the hard work.

We are standing to support auto workers in our country because we know that we have the best industry in the world. Why will the member not stand and cheer along with them?

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Madam Speaker, the last time the Liberals ran EV rebates, between 2019 and 2025, 99% of the rebates went to foreign-made vehicles, including in Donald Trump's United States. While we are in the middle of a trade war and Donald Trump is tariffing our vehicles at 10%, leading to the closure of two manufacturing plants and the layoff of thousands of workers, Donald Trump's buy American program is going to benefit from Canadians' buying American EVs, subsidized by Canadian taxpayers. This is outrageous.

It is not a good day for Canadian auto workers. A good day would be if the Liberals were to adopt our plan to take the taxes off autos.

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Madam Speaker, once again, this is another example of how Conservatives stand in the land of “no” and of holding us back from the economy of the future.

When we are talking about the rebates, let us be clear: The rebates are actually designed in such a way as to favour made in Canada. We are going to invest in the companies that invest in us.

Not only is a there a specific part of the policy where, like I said, the rebates support made in Canada but, beyond that, we are also incentivizing investments in building more of those vehicles right here at home, because that is the future of the auto industry and we have the best auto workers.

Pensions

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

Madam Speaker, there are pensioners who have not been receiving their OAS for nine months or have been receiving the incorrect amount because of the Cúram software in Ottawa.

Ten days ago, when we asked the government about it, we were told that we were fearmongering. The next day, the problem persisted, but just for 30 or so cases. In a dramatic turn of events, yesterday, in committee, the minister revealed that 85,000 people were affected.

We are talking about 85,000 people. How many more will it take before the Liberals stop sweeping the problem under the rug?

[Leslie Church, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Secretaries of State for Labour]

Madam Speaker, as the minister said, the department is working as quickly as possible to resolve these problems and to ensure that the staff has the tools required to deliver benefits effectively.

More than seven million seniors are now promptly and accurately receiving their benefits. We are modernizing this decades-old system to improve benefits payment for all seniors in the years to come.

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

Madam Speaker, there are pensioners who are having problems with their OAS benefits and these are the answers they are getting.

The Liberals went from 30 cases at one point about 10 days ago to 85,000 cases yesterday. The worst cost overrun of the Cúram software is the human cost. Even worse than that is the fact that just yesterday, when 85,000 people were affected by the software, the Liberals were still treating the matter as if it were a trivial, exceptional case. When 85,000 people fall through the cracks of the system, that is a serious problem.

When will the Liberals fix this?

[Leslie Church, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Secretaries of State for Labour]

Madam Speaker, this involves a major update to a system that is more than 60 years old.

The minister's office has contacted the Bloc Québécois member to get the names of the constituents who urgently need help so we can resolve this issue. We have yet to hear back from the member regarding the names of those constituents.

The department will continue to work to deal with these cases while continuing to modernize the system to ensure that seniors receive the benefits they need—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Alexandra Mendès), Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member for Beauharnois—Salaberry—Soulanges—Huntingdon.

[Claude DeBellefeuille, Bloc, Beauharnois—Salaberry—Soulanges—Huntingdon, QC]

Madam Speaker, public servants have been telling the government since June that the Cúram software is causing problems with people's OAS benefits. Obviously, no one on the Liberal side did anything about it because, just 10 days ago, they were saying that there was no problem and that this was just fearmongering.

Suddenly, yesterday, they realized that 85,000 pensioners were affected by the malfunction. The Liberals have just clued in, eight months after they were told there was a problem.

Why can this government never take responsibility before it is too late?

[Leslie Church, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Secretaries of State for Labour]

Madam Speaker, that is not true.

There is an adjustment period when implementing a new benefit delivery platform. The department is working hard to ensure that employees have the tools they need to become acquainted with the new system and deliver benefits effectively. The speed of service is already improving as employees become more familiar with the system.

If anyone is having problems with their benefits, I would urge them to contact Service Canada.

Automotive Industry

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Middlesex—London, ON]

Madam Speaker, auto workers in Ontario are getting pink slips; thousands of jobs are gone at CAMI, Stellantis, GM Oshawa and others. Now the Prime Minister is forcing taxpayers to subsidize over two billion dollars' worth of foreign EVs. Canadians deserve better than to be sold out to the Americans.

Instead of handing billions of dollars in subsidies to American-made EVs and killing Canadian jobs, will the Liberals co-operate with Conservatives and adopt our plan to remove the tax from Canadian-made cars?

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

Madam Speaker, yesterday the government announced its new auto industry strategy. It is a comprehensive strategy that will invest in companies that invest in Canada. We will continue to protect Canadian production of automobiles, and we firmly believe that the future of the industry is in electrical vehicles. There will be the assembly of electrical vehicles in Canada.

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Middlesex—London, ON]

Madam Speaker, let me clarify this and put it clearly for Canadians: Canadian auto workers are losing thousands of jobs, and our domestic production is collapsing, while the Liberals are forcing Canadian taxpayers to subsidize foreign-made electric vehicles. This includes the Jeep Compass EV, which should have brought jobs right here to Ontario.

When will the Liberals stop their betrayal and adopt our plan to remove the tax on Canadian-made cars to save jobs here at home?

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Minister of the Environment]

Madam Speaker, once again, we have the best auto workers in the world right here in Canada. We are there to support them, and we are facing unjustified tariffs from the United States. The Conservatives do not seem to ever like to talk about that, but that is actually what our auto industry is facing, and that is why we have specific programs we are putting in place to support our workers in difficult times.

Beyond that, we are building for the future, and that is what the Conservatives never do. We are supporting our auto workers. We were there side by side with auto workers when we made this announcement, and we are going to be with them.