Debates of April 30th, 2026

Finance

[Rechie Valdez, Liberal, Minister of Women and Gender Equality and Secretary of State (Small Business and Tourism)]

Mr. Speaker, despite the headwinds we are experiencing here in Canada, Canada has a strong fiscal position. Let us take a look at the facts. Wages are up by 4.7%, outpacing inflation. We have the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7. We are creating pathways for young Canadians, making sure they have skilled jobs, specifically 100,000 Red Seal skilled jobs. We are doing that while bringing Canadians along with our Canada Strong fund. This is the way we build a country strong, and we are going to do that with Canadians.

[Leslyn Lewis, Conservative, Haldimand—Norfolk, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has doubled Trudeau's deficits, and now Canadians are lining up at food banks and are unable to afford groceries. Now the Liberals want to sell off national infrastructure and put the money into their sovereign debt fund. We have seen this before with the failed Infrastructure Bank, which is losing money and is built on deficits.

Does this Prime Minister understand that his spending spree is leaving Canadians with more debt and higher costs?

[Rechie Valdez, Liberal, Minister of Women and Gender Equality and Secretary of State (Small Business and Tourism)]

Mr. Speaker, with our spring economic update, what we are doing is supporting workers and young Canadians. We are making sure that life is more affordable for Canadians. We are building strong and safer communities, and again, introducing a sovereign wealth fund to make sure that Canadians can have direct access to the success of Canada. That member is from Ontario. I do not know what she has against our Major Projects Office, which is building the Darlington nuclear project in Bowmanville and Canada Nickel's Crawford project. These are just some of the investments we are making here in this province, and that is the way we are going to build our country strong.

[Andrew Lawton, Conservative, Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals say this is a new government, but the only things that have changed are the colour of the Prime Minister's socks and the size of the deficit. This Liberal Prime Minister has doubled Justin Trudeau's deficit, maxing out the country's credit card and forcing Canadians to pay more to bankers and bondholders rather than roads and hospitals. Even The Globe and Mail sees through this, saying, “it's clear that the Liberals have no intention of changing their high-spending ways.” Maybe that is why the Liberals are sending more money to the media in their fiscal update.

Why is the costly Liberal government pretending that “new” means “improved”?

[Wayne Long, Liberal, Secretary of State (Canada Revenue Agency and Financial Institutions)]

Mr. Speaker, while that party doubles down on offering nothing for Canadians, we are going to build the strongest economy in the G7. We just tabled the spring economic update, which confirms that we have the strongest fiscal position in the G7. We also announced the sovereign wealth fund, which will spark massive investment in our country, a fund by Canada for Canadians. It is time for that party to get off the sidelines and help us build Canada strong.

[Andrew Lawton, Conservative, Elgin—St. Thomas—London South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I wish that member were laser-focused on answering a question for once. This budget proves that nothing has changed: the same Liberal excuses, the same Liberal spending addiction, the same Liberal credit card, just with a much higher limit. Canadians are paying more for groceries, more for rent, more in taxes, while this Prime Minister doubles down on the same failed borrow-and-spend policies that gave Canada the worst inflation in 40 years.

I have a simple question: Why should Canadians be forced to make the credit card payments for this Prime Minister's reckless spending?

[Wayne Long, Liberal, Secretary of State (Canada Revenue Agency and Financial Institutions)]

Mr. Speaker, he may say we give the same answers, but they hand the same questions around from member to member.

We are focused on building the strongest economy in the G7. We are focused on making life more affordable for Canadians. At home, we are cutting taxes. We just launched the groceries and essentials benefit. We just cut the federal excise tax on fuel. Combined with the carbon tax cut, that is 28¢. Our spring economic update confirms our fiscal position is strong.

We have the leader to build Canada strong. They have a leader who has never worked a day outside of this House.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals promised a “new government”, but we do in fact see more of the same. We see more costly spending, more taxes and, ultimately, more prices to pay for Canadians. Whether it is the grocery store or the gas at the pumps or their mortgages that they're trying to pay month to month, Canadians are struggling to make ends meet because of the costly policies of the government. The only thing that these costly Liberals seem to be interested in balancing, of course, is their political spin, which is exactly what we are seeing today.

Will they admit that they, in fact, have failed Canadians and promise to do better going forward?

[Corey Hogan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, the more precise they try to sound, the more Canadians should be deeply suspicious of their claims, because they zoom in when the world view does not actually reflect anything they are talking about here.

Let us talk about the facts: 20 trade and security deals have made a 40% increase in non-U.S. trade; wages are growing faster than inflation; we created more jobs than the U.S. last year; house prices are down; rents are down; overall inflation has been within bounds for months and months; the MOU with Alberta has created durable climate action, new energy production and record production in Alberta; and we do all that with the strongest fiscal position in the G7.

Welcome back to reality.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, let us focus on the facts. The Liberals are spending so much that they have actually doubled Trudeau's deficit. That is quite the accomplishment, because Trudeau's deficit, of course, was massive in nature, historic, in fact, so the fact that the government has doubled it is quite something. The reason this matters so much is not that they spent so much money, but that they did it and incurred debt, and that debt lands on the backs of Canadians, whether it is families or seniors or students, who are doing their very best to make ends meet.

The government can do something about it, so why does it insist on being an incredibly costly, ineffective Liberal government?

[Corey Hogan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to run through the list again. I am not sure they would be so happy to hear it.

However, let us talk about this. In a time when we have global strife, wars in Iran and Ukraine and trade wars with the United States, Canada is standing at the top of the pack. We are number two in economic growth in the G7. We have the strongest fiscal position in the G7. We are investing in families and communities.

There is so much that we need to do, and we are just getting started. We welcome the members opposite to get on board with us all.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Mr. Speaker, this costly credit card budget means more debt, more costs, more spending, more taxes, more of the same. Out-of-control deficits have taken the breath away from working Canadians with $407 billion in interest over the next six years. Nothing has changed, and nothing will change for the future of today's 18-year-old first-time voters if the government is not stopped dead in its tracks. By 2031, they will be the workforce, facing an additional $462 billion in national debt.

What have Canadians gained from the Liberals doubling Trudeau's deficit and charging the next generation with their credit card budgeting?

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

We are going to wait until everybody calms down.

The hon. Secretary of State for Rural Development.

[Buckley Belanger, Liberal, Secretary of State (Rural Development)]

Mr. Speaker, I want to point out that as a result of the spring economic update—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

Members still have not calmed down. I am appealing to everyone's better angels.

The Secretary of State for Rural Development.

[Buckley Belanger, Liberal, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Mr. Speaker, Saskatchewan is proud to be part of Canada, and Canadians know that Saskatchewan offers much: oil, gas, potash, gold, uranium, copper, people, energy and ideas.

Now that we know we can all build Canada together, I remind Canadians not to compare us to perfection, but to compare us to the other guys. I have done some research on whether—

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

We will have to wait to hear the research later.

The hon. member for Abitibi—Témiscamingue.

Public Services and Procurement

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Mr. Speaker, for months now, the Liberals have been insisting that there are no issues with Cúram. They keep saying that it is not true that pensioners are having trouble receiving their OAS. They are saying that it is not true that there are cost overruns and, above all, that there is no need for an inquiry or to hand over documents.

In a dramatic turn of events, the government announced in the economic update that it is giving $451 million to Cúram and the Canada Revenue Agency to “ensure seniors receive their benefits accurately and on time”.

If there are no issues with Cúram, what is this money for?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Jobs and Families and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians expect their government to pay them their benefits reliably. The modernization of the system is one of the best ways we have to protect the benefits Canadians depend on.

The members opposite would rather have Canadians use an outdated system that was breaking down.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Mr. Speaker, what do they have to hide? The Liberals have just proven that a public inquiry is absolutely necessary. They know that Cúram is causing problems with the processing of OAS pensions because they are spending an additional $451 million to fix the problem.

They know that there have been cost overruns. They have just added to them. In short, they have proven that the two problems are real and that they have been aware of them for years, even when former prime minister Justin Trudeau was in office.

However, as recently as Monday, the Liberals were still filibustering at the Standing Committee on Public Accounts to hide information. What do they have to hide? When will they hold an independent public inquiry?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Jobs and Families and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, I have been in front of committee at least twice talking about this, and our officials have also appeared at committee to talk about Cúram. We are, as the member opposite knows, within budget, and we are proceeding exactly as the member opposite has urged us to do, which is with urgency, to make sure that people are not on wait-lists and that the most urgent cases are seen. We have seen a decline by at least 20,000 cases on the waiting list, and more are to come.

Finance

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L’Érable—Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, while the Liberal government is proud to add tens of billions of dollars to the deficit, families are making tough choices. According to a Dalhousie University report, Canadians are no longer buying what they need, but what they can afford. Parents are skipping meals to feed their children. The Liberal Prime Minister has doubled Justin Trudeau's deficit, and one in three Canadians now has to go into debt to eat.

How much more evidence will it take before the government realizes that its costly budgets are hurting Canadian families?

[Madeleine Chenette, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and Minister responsible for Official Languages and to the Secretary of State (Sport)]

Mr. Speaker, I am always surprised to see how the opposition focuses on the negative when there is good news.

Sports are the cornerstone of our nation. Thanks to the spring economic update, we are making a generational investment of $750 million. This is the largest investment in 20 years. The people of Thérèse-De Blainville and that MP's constituents must be pleased to have this investment for their villages, towns, and communities.

We are building Canada strong by working together and investing in our sports and in our youth.