Debates of May 26th, 2026

Department of Finance—Main Estimates, 2026-27

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Kmiec]

The hon. member.

[Éric Lefebvre, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Chair, we have just seen the proof. We have been asking questions for three hours. I asked the easiest possible one: Does the minister do his own grocery shopping? It does not get any simpler than that.

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Chair, I think it is a wonderful experience, because grocery shopping is an opportunity for me to meet my constituents and talk to people from one aisle to the next. It is a great opportunity to interact with constituents.

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Kmiec]

Before the member resumes asking questions, I would like to remind him that the order adopted by the House entitles each minister to take up to 15 seconds to reply, or longer depending on how many seconds the member has used. We must therefore give the minister the opportunity to reply.

The hon. member for Richmond—Arthabaska.

[Éric Lefebvre, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Chair, thank you for calling me to order. You are quite right.

Here is my second, equally simple question for the minister, who has just confirmed that he does his own grocery shopping: How much does a pound of butter currently cost in Quebec?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Chair, my colleague is right to say that I do my own grocery shopping. I can tell him that a pound of butter weighing in at 454 grams currently costs exactly $5.50.

[Éric Lefebvre, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Chair, I would like to know where the minister does his shopping, because at the IGA this morning, a pound of butter was $8.99.

I will follow up with another simple question. How much does a two-litre carton of milk currently cost in Quebec? Can the minister tell us the price of milk?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Chair, we are going to have fun tonight. I cannot wait. Members can imagine what fun we are going to have. We can tell each other what grocery store we shop at. My colleague can tell me where he gets good deals too.

I would guess that two litres of milk costs $5.50.

[Éric Lefebvre, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Chair, I have been involved in provincial and federal politics for 10 years. I have to give the minister credit: He came well prepared for the question period when he realized it was a possibility. I congratulate his team.

On March 25, the Prime Minister said that affordability has not been good for over a decade. I want to know whether the minister shares the Prime Minister's opinion.

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Chair, I want to thank my colleague. I think it is important to be very aware of realities. My colleague comes from a rural region too. As members who work in rural communities more specifically, we are keenly aware of our constituents' reality.

What I can say is that affordability is one of the issues that concerns all Canadians. That is why we acted with diligence and care to help Canadians in their time of need.

[Éric Lefebvre, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Chair, we are talking about affordability. I would like to know what the percentage increase in rent has been in Quebec over the past few years.

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Chair, I thank my colleague for raising the issue of housing costs. I should point out that rents have come down across the country. We saw the same trend with residential property prices. They are coming down. In Canada's big cities at least, we are seeing—

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Kmiec]

The hon. member for Richmond—Arthabaska.

[Éric Lefebvre, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Chair, I am going to have to correct the minister on that response. We are currently seeing an average increase of 3.6% year-over-year and a 30% increase since April 2021.

The $13-billion Build Canada Homes program is a good way to build a number of homes. I would like to know how many housing units are currently being built through Build Canada Homes.

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Chair, my colleague is right that Build Canada Homes is making a difference in the construction of affordable housing.

As far as the statistics are concerned, I would be happy to write to him and provide him with the data for Canada as a whole. He will see that I was right when I said that, across Canada, the average price of housing has come down. We are seeing the same trend with residential properties.

[Éric Lefebvre, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Chair, we are talking about the number of homes built by this new organization established by the Liberal government, Build Canada Homes. The figure is 2%.

Only 5,200 housing units out of a target of 500,000 have been built. That represents 2% of the target. At that rate, it would take nearly 50 years to meet the target.

Is the minister aware that this cannot work at that pace? Why create a new organization like Build Canada Homes?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Chair, I have a statistic to support my colleague's point. Nationwide, housing prices have dropped by $160 compared to two years ago.

In fact, in major cities like Vancouver and Toronto, the drop has been even more pronounced.

Yes, rent has gone down across Canada compared to two years ago.

[Éric Lefebvre, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Chair, Build Canada Homes is another agency that the Liberal government just established. That means even more red tape, and we have not seen any real results in terms of new housing.

I want to come back to another subject: the space launch pad in Nova Scotia.

A private company is leasing land from the provincial government for $13,500 per year. That same private company then turned around and sublet the land to the Liberal federal government for $20 million per year.

To make this even more profitable, a 10-year contract will be signed. We are talking about $200 million.

I repeat: A private company is leasing land from the provincial government for $13,500 a year. That same company turned around and sublet the same land to the Liberal federal government for $20 million per year for 10 years, or $200 million.

My question for the minister is simple. Is this sound management of public finances? Would he have signed this agreement if this were his own money?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Chair, I would like to add a few points. I would like to give him a precise answer.

For 19 consecutive months, we have seen a decline in housing prices nationwide.

Regarding the issue of space launches, I think my colleague needs to take a step back and consider the benefits of being able to launch spacecraft from Canada.

This is a matter of national security. I can tell him that I would be happy to introduce him to astronauts and arrange for him to speak with people on the American side. He will understand that Canso, Nova Scotia, is one of the few locations from which one can reach geostationary orbit. This is an issue of national security for the country.

He should be pleased to see that we are investing in the space sector.

[Éric Lefebvre, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Chair, I hope that Canadians are watching. I just asked the minister to explain how we entered into a 10-year contract worth $20 million a year when a private company is renting that land for $13,500 a year.

His response is that he is going to introduce me to some astronauts to avoid talking about this mismanagement.

Again, a private company is renting property from the provincial government for $13,500 a year. That same company then turns around and rents out that same property to the federal government for $20 million a year for 10 years, or $200 million—

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Kmiec]

I have to interrupt the member to give the Minister of Finance a chance to respond, since there are only 15 seconds remaining.

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC]

Mr. Chair, I want to help my colleague. I think so highly of him that I want to introduce him to the people at the Canadian Space Agency so that he understands how important it is for Canada to have space launch capabilities. It is a matter of security. It is important for Canada—

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Kmiec]

The hon. member for Montmorency—Charlevoix.

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

Mr. Chair, the minister has been taking questions for a little over three hours now, but we have not gotten any real answers so far, just a lot of hot air.

I will stick to the facts. We want to avoid being partisan, so we will stick to the facts. It is a fact that we have a $66.9-billion deficit this year. That is the biggest deficit in the history of the country, outside of the pandemic. What is worse, the Liberals are planning to spend an average of $59 billion per year for the next five years. They will rack up a deficit of $59 billion per year for the next five years.

My question for the minister is very simple. At what point does it become unacceptable to burn through taxpayers' money like that?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Finance and National Revenue]

Mr. Chair, I am so glad to hear such an excellent question from my colleague. He will be happy to hear that the deficit happens to be $11 billion lower than anticipated in budget 2025. We restored fiscal discipline in this country.

I will even help the hon. member out, because he will need a clip for that. He can ask the IMF, which is independent. The IMF does not need a clip to explain that to his constituents. The IMF says that Canada's fiscal position is the strongest in the G7. I think that is what my colleague should tell his constituents.