Debates of April 17th, 2026

Justice

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on the very day that the Premier of Quebec is visiting Ottawa, the Liberals are announcing that they want nothing less than the right to veto societal choices made by Quebeckers. They are announcing that if the Supreme Court decision comes down against their attacks on secularism and the notwithstanding clause, they are going to take matters into their own hands. Their highly engineered majority is not even official yet, and this is how they are behaving. I wonder what the future will hold.

Will they reconsider this total lack of respect for Quebeckers?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions]

Mr. Speaker, our position on the issue is well known. We have said it again and again. Today, there is good news. Why? We are welcoming the second woman Premier in Quebec's history to Ottawa. Our objective is to protect jobs, create more jobs and improve the living condition of Quebeckers in the midst of a tariff war. Good news: We will be hard at work.

The Economy

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, with elbows firmly down, the Prime Minister made a promise to Donald Trump to invest a trillion dollars into the United States. The promise was kept. An RBC statement shows that a trillion dollars of investment has fled Canada. The Liberal policies have caused the largest exodus of capital in Canadian history. Canadians are paying the price, with 74% saying that fuel and food costs are straining their finances, and 43% saying they are $200 away from economic ruin every single month.

Why are Canadians paying the price for the Prime Minister's promises to Donald Trump?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague is picking and choosing from that very RBC report he is reporting. When we look at it, the same report mentions that “Canada is back on the radar of global investors. Last year, foreign direct investment in Canada reached nearly $100 billion, the highest level since 2015.”

It was in the news this morning. We will host an investment summit. The entire world is invited to come to Canada on September 14 and 15. We will invest, we will create jobs and we will grow this country.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, as the Liberals make more promises and more announcements, they are driving farmers into the ground. Farmers lost $3.3 billion in 2024 and are expected to lose another $30 billion over the next decade, yet the Liberals continue to double down, closing research centres, imposing a fertilizer import tax and increasing the industrial carbon tax. This is why 75% of farmers are telling their kids not to take over the family farm, and 84% of farmers think the Prime Minister has been an epic failure.

Why not remove all of the tariffs and all of the fuel taxes and give farm families a fighting chance?

[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)]

As usual, Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives do not actually read the reports they quote in this House. As the Minister of Industry said, that RBC report on foreign investment said that “Canada is back on the radar of global investors” and has attracted over $100 billion, “the highest level since 2015.” We also have a number of commitments from other countries, including Australia and the U.A.E., with over $80 billion of new investment.

Just this week at the finance committee, we had our largest pension plan say that “Canada is at the right place at the right time” to attract global—

[The Deputy Speaker, Tom Kmiec]

The hon. member for Parkland.

Taxation

[Dane Lloyd, Conservative, Parkland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, after a decade of Liberal policies driving up the cost of living, Canadians are being squeezed like never before. According to the consumer debt index, 61% of Canadians say that they are experiencing financial whiplash, and 64% say that they are working harder than ever but cannot get ahead.

Instead of providing relief to struggling Canadians, the Liberals voted against removing taxes of 25¢ a litre for fuel and are driving up the cost of fuel and groceries. Why will the Liberals not provide real relief instead of one-third of the tax cut for one-third of the year?

[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, every single day in this House, this government works toward making life more affordable for Canadians, authentically making every effort and taking every step to ensure that Canadians can get through the challenging times that our economy is experiencing due to global shocks.

Canadians know that our government is stepping up with real support. The groceries and essentials benefit is almost $1,900 for families. If we just take child care, it saves families almost $1,200 a month on average. We have just cut the GST on new home purchases, as well, so that young people can get into the housing market. We are going to continue—

[The Deputy Speaker, Tom Kmiec]

The hon. member for Parkland.

[Dane Lloyd, Conservative, Parkland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, do members know who is not struggling? It is the federal government, which is bringing in windfall taxes on Canadian fuel costs. Canadians are telling us loud and clear that they are struggling. They are cutting back. They are delaying major life decisions. They are worrying about whether they can pay their bills each month.

Instead of providing real relief, the Liberal government is driving up inflation. Despite windfall revenues from soaring gas prices, the government is giving Canadians only one-third the tax cut for one-third of the year. After a decade of the Liberals' policies, even middle-class families are failing to get ahead. It is time to give Canadians a real break. Why will they not?

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

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are going to get a real break on Monday, when they see the prices drop at the gas pump by 10¢ a litre with the federal excise tax on fuel coming off.

It is not just about families. For the member opposite, let me also remind him that by removing this excise tax we are also helping businesses. We are helping businesses in food production, in agriculture, in construction and in transport. Those businesses now can confidently hire. They can confidently build. That helps Canadians too.

[Roman Baber, Conservative, York Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, one in four Canadians is skipping meals. MNP says that one in three Canadians cannot pay their bills.

The Conservatives offered a real solution: cut all federal gas taxes to give Canadians a break at the pumps. It would cost about a third of what the Liberals spend on foreign aid. However, now the Liberals claim to be fiscally prudent. The Prime Minister offered us a lesson on deficits. That is after doubling Trudeau's deficit to almost $80 billion.

Why do the Liberals not admit that Canadians are suffering and axe the GST and the clean fuel regulations on gasoline?

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

Mr. Speaker, we understand that Canadians have had a tough go of it, and that is one of the reasons why, over the past year, our new government has been absolutely focused on bringing down the cost of living for Canadians. They are going to feel that this Monday when they see prices drop at the gas pumps because we are removing the federal excise tax on fuel. That is a big deal.

We also know that Canadians are looking forward to the new groceries and essentials benefit that we are providing. That benefit is going to help families with over $1,800 this spring. This is a complex challenge but—

[The Deputy Speaker, Tom Kmiec]

The hon. member for York Centre.

[Roman Baber, Conservative, York Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals should tell that to the one in 10 Torontonians lining up at food banks. MNP found that almost half of Canadians are $200 away from insolvency. How is it that, in a country that is so rich in natural resources, more than one in five children go hungry? It is because of the Liberal tax-and-spend policies. It is because the Liberals suffocate our oil and gas and give away our money to their friends and to foreigners.

Why do they not steal another Conservative idea and cut all federal taxes on gas so Canadians can afford to eat?

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

Mr. Speaker, it is more than a bit rich to hear the member opposite talk about kids going hungry when that party will not vote in favour of a national school food program to save their lives. We are the last country in the G7 to have a permanent national school food program, which will help nearly half a million kids in this country not go to school hungry.

If the member is truly concerned about the plight of kids in our country being hungry, why will he not make sure that they have a healthy meal when they go to school in the morning?

[Kathy Borrelli, Conservative, Windsor—Tecumseh—Lakeshore, ON]

Mr. Speaker, young Canadians are being hit the hardest by this Liberal-created cost of living crisis. One in five Canadians aged 18 to 34 cannot even pay their tax bill without going into debt. At the same time, nearly 75% are cutting back on spending just to survive, and still the Liberals voted against the Conservative plan to lower taxes on gas and groceries.

Why will the Liberals not cut taxes on gas and food to make life more affordable?

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

To govern is to choose, Mr. Speaker. I want to commend the member. She is a relatively newly elected member. I want to commend her for her propensity to do what Conservatives do, which is to constantly cite problems but never solutions.

What would the Conservatives do? We see what we are doing. We are embracing the resource economy. We are ensuring a foundation for the future so that young people can get ahead. The Conservatives would cut every program that exists with respect to youth. They would get rid of the Canada child benefit, or very close to it. They do not want to support child care, dental care, the beginnings of pharmacare or any of these programs. They only want to identify problems.

Infrastructure

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

Mr. Speaker, federal funding for active transport is suffering from a lack of government action.

Across Quebec, towns and organizations have submitted projects and bids, but there has been radio silence from Ottawa. Salaberry-de-Valleyfield has until April 21, next Tuesday, to start work on a bike path. Otherwise, the price guarantee for the work will expire, the town will have to put it out to tender again and it will cost more.

How is it possible that, with just four days to go before the deadline, the town still has not heard anything? It has been waiting for a response for two years now.

[Gregor Robertson, Liberal, Minister of Housing and Infrastructure and Minister responsible for Pacific Economic Development Canada]

Mr. Speaker, we are at the negotiating table; we are in discussions with Quebec. We are committed to working with our provincial counterparts to ensure that our communities are connected by robust and reliable public transport and active transport services.

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

Mr. Speaker, what is happening in Valleyfield with funding for active transportation is happening all across Quebec.

In Saint-Charles-Borromée, for example, it is too late. The federal government missed the deadline to approve the city's projects, and now the city has to start the proposal process over again and will likely end up paying more. No matter how much we press the Minister of Infrastructure and his parliamentary secretary, we are told this is under review. How ironic that Ottawa is completely inactive on the active transportation file.

When will Quebec's cities and organizations receive confirmation that they are getting funding?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague is right. We are working on solutions to support active transportation throughout Quebec. The minister is actively working on this file. He just responded to my colleague. The Prime Minister and the Premier of Quebec are meeting today. We know this is a priority, and we will help my colleague in Valleyfield, but we will also help communities across Quebec because we know we have to be there for our public transit companies.

Canada Revenue Agency

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent—Akiawenhrahk, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are understandably outraged to learn that, after 10 years of Liberal governance, the Canada Revenue Agency is sending $5-million cheques to fraudsters without conducting any checks. They are also outraged at the secretary of state's flippant response when he was questioned about this yesterday.

Just yesterday in Washington, the minister, the real Minister of Finance and National Revenue, told CBC that he was going to look into it. I have a very simple but very specific question for the government.

How many millions of dollars have been given to fraudsters without any checks being conducted?

[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, it is quite the contrary. We take any abuse of the tax system not lightly but very seriously. It is obviously illegal to take advantage of the tax system. The CRA takes enforcement action when instances of abuse are identified. While we cannot comment on specific cases that are matters before the courts, obviously opposition members can see documents when they are publicly available.

The CRA has implemented additional safeguards to help ensure greater consistency and accuracy in the refund process.