The hon. member.
House of Commons Hansard #122 of the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was prices.
House of Commons Hansard #122 of the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was prices.
This summary is computer-generated. Usually it’s accurate, but every now and then it’ll contain inaccuracies or total fabrications.
Opposition Motion—Cancellation of Federal Taxes on Gas and Diesel and the Clean Fuel Standard Members debate a Conservative motion to eliminate federal gas and diesel taxes for the remainder of the year and repeal the Clean Fuel Standard. Conservatives argue this provides necessary relief for families facing inflation. Liberals defend their approach, citing targeted benefits for lower-income Canadians as more effective. The Bloc Québécois opposes the motion, contending that tax cuts primarily benefit the wealthy and oil corporations, arguing for measures that instead address the underlying cost of living. 50500 words, 6 hours in 2 segments: 1 2.
An Act to repeal certain restrictions on shipping Second reading of Bill C-264. The bill, Bill C-264, is a private member's motion by Conservative David McKenzie to repeal the Oil Tanker Moratorium Act, aiming to expand export potential for Canadian energy by allowing tanker shipments off the British Columbia coast. While supporters argue this will boost economic prosperity and energy security, opponents from the Liberal and Bloc parties contend it threatens vital ecosystems and harms Indigenous relationships and reconciliation. 8200 words, 1 hour.
Adjournment Debate - The Economy Jacob Mantle questions the inclusion of pension assets in government debt calculations. Ali Ehsassi defends the government's economic approach. Grant Jackson critiques the lack of specific initiatives to increase domestic food production, while Ehsassi asserts that the government’s comprehensive support measures and structural investments are adequately addressing affordability. 2400 words, 15 minutes.
Department of Finance—Main Estimates, 2026-27 Members debate the Department of Finance’s main estimates in a committee of the whole. The Conservative Opposition repeatedly challenges the Minister of Finance on fiscal management, including rising debt, the debt-to-GDP ratio, and infrastructure, arguing the government has failed to meet its own fiscal targets. The Minister defends the government’s record, highlighting generational investments in housing, infrastructure, and the economy, citing expert projections of Canada's strong fiscal position compared to other G7 nations. 37100 words, 4 hours.
Department of Finance—Main Estimates, 2026-27Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
Conservative
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Mr. Chair, the Prime Minister made a campaign promise to protect pharmacare and sign agreements with all outstanding provinces and territories, yet the government has refused to sign any new agreements or allocate funding to cover all Canadians.
Can the minister explain to the millions of people who cannot afford their medication why this promise has been broken?
François-Philippe Champagne Liberal Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC
Mr. Chair, Canadians know that they can always trust the government to protect programs that are key to Canadians. I think that, in terms of national affordability benefits for Canadians, we have always been there to support Canadians in times of need. We will continue to do so.
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Mr. Chair, can the minister confirm if the Liberals are planning to eliminate pharmacare entirely when the current agreements expire in 2029?
François-Philippe Champagne Liberal Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC
Mr. Chair, my colleague knows very well that we have a suite of measures to help Canadians in times of need. We have introduced landmark programs such as the Canada child benefit, the national school food program, the Canada disability benefit—
Department of Finance—Main Estimates, 2026-27Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
Conservative
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Mr. Chair, in the last election the Liberals pledged to double Canada's rate of residential construction to 500,000 homes per year over the next decade, but according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, the government will produce only 26,000 homes by 2030 through its flagship Build Canada Homes.
Can the Minister explain this massive gap between what was promised and what is being delivered with respect to affordable housing?
François-Philippe Champagne Liberal Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC
Mr. Chair, we have made generational investments in housing. In fact, if we look at the cost of housing measures from 2026 through to 2030‑31, we are looking at about $56 billion in investments to make sure that we build the homes that Canadians need in this country.
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Mr. Chair, the government plans to spend 5% of Canada's GDP on defence by 2035. That is a greater share of our economy than the U.S. currently spends on its military. The PBO estimates that meeting this target will require $159 billion a year in core defence spending.
How does the government intend to pay for this dramatic increase?
François-Philippe Champagne Liberal Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC
Mr. Chair, I think Canadians understand the world is changing and that we as Canadians need to ensure the sovereignty of our territory. We need to protect our north. We need to protect our communities. Canada as a NATO member is willing to do its part, and we have made record investments to protect our country.
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Mr. Chair, the government is slashing $60 billion across federal departments and programs. With over $2 billion in cuts to indigenous programs alone, what impact will these reductions have on communities already facing significant infrastructure and service gaps?
François-Philippe Champagne Liberal Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC
Mr. Chair, my colleague will remember that when we did the comprehensive expenditure review, we identified $60 billion in savings. We were very careful in doing that to protect a number of departments, including those that relate to indigenous services.
Don Davies NDP Vancouver Kingsway, BC
Mr. Chair, why are the Liberals allowing companies to use surveillance pricing to harvest Canadians' personal data in order to charge them higher prices, instead of banning this new form of price gouging in an affordability crisis?
François-Philippe Champagne Liberal Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC
Mr. Chair, the member will remember that when I was the industry minister we made historic investments to increase the resources and the enforcement capabilities of the Competition Bureau of Canada. I know that it will do its work to protect—
Department of Finance—Main Estimates, 2026-27Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
Conservative
Elizabeth May Green Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC
Mr. Chair, I wish the hon. minister a good evening. I will watch my time closely and try to give him adequate time to respond because I hope to have a conversation more than a grilling.
I note that the hon. minister referred frequently to the International Energy Agency as authoritative. I wonder if he noted that last month the executive director, Fatih Birol, said that based on the global experience of the U.S. and Israeli attack on Iran and the geopolitical instability around fossil fuels, the days of fossil fuels are numbered, that the world is shifting more quickly to renewables and electrifying, and that there would be a steep decline in any demand for oil in the future.
I wonder if the various investments that are described as subsidies and investment tax credits in budget 2025 and in the spring economic update have been subjected to a risk assessment of what the Prime Minister once referred to as what happens when we have unburnable carbon and there is no market for it.
Have we seen in the finance department a real assessment of the risks of assuming that investing in fossil fuels is a good bet for this country?
Department of Finance—Main Estimates, 2026-27Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
Saint-Maurice—Champlain Québec
Liberal
François-Philippe Champagne LiberalMinister of Finance and National Revenue
Mr. Chair, my colleague is a very close colleague in the House, and I am delighted and honoured that she is staying so late to participate in this debate.
I did, in fact, meet with Fatih Birol. I had dinner with him when he came here to receive a prize. In fact, what he said to us and also to the G7, and I will give members a preview, is that the world energy infrastructure is being redesigned and that countries are looking at countries like Canada, which offer stability, predictability and opportunity over the long term.
That is why we said that Canada is an energy superpower. We can play a big role in conventional, renewable and also nuclear energy. I think more and more we will see countries wanting Canada to be their partner of choice, whether in Asia or in Europe. However, I want to reassure her that with respect to the investment tax credit, I think Canada stands out as one of the countries among the G7 that support more investment into renewable energy.
Elizabeth May Green Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC
Mr. Chair, I thank the minister for his very kind comments.
I want to turn to a perennial challenge for Canada's economy and ask where the minister sees his government's efforts to deal with the productivity crisis going. We are not making any headway since back when David Dodge first declared that we had a crisis in productivity. This is my analysis, and I could be dead wrong on this. Certainly in countries and sectors that are dominated by oligopolies, we have a problem where there is a relatively small number of firms dominating an entire sector.
It is pretty well known that Canada's telecommunications sector, banking sector and the large grocery store chains lack the kind of competitiveness that would lead to better productivity. However, a multifactorial issue for productivity occurs when we export a relatively large proportion as raw material without value added.
I wonder if the minister has any thoughts on how Canada can improve productivity or can point to any measures in the existing financial documents of the last year that actually would make a difference in improving our productivity.
François-Philippe Champagne Liberal Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC
Mr. Chair, I can hear, from my colleague's question, the depth of analysis that she has made. That is why it is always a pleasure to engage with her in this House.
She is right on competition. We know that competition is key to providing more choices and better prices for consumers. That is why, when I was the industry minister, we put more tools in the tool box of the Competition Bureau. She will remember, for example, that I gave it subpoena power. At the time it was asking for information and people voluntarily could decide whether to give it. Now it has more enforcement power.
When it comes to productivity and innovation, the member would see that the productivity superdeduction is one of the tools that we have made in order to allow small and medium-sized businesses to make more investment, because they can immediately expense their expenses. They have immediate expensing of what they invest in capital, R and D, buildings, innovation and AI. We wanted to help companies with tax measures to make sure that they could make these capital investments that would help them to grow their businesses.
The member may have seen the publication from the OECD or the International Monetary Fund that identified the productivity superdeduction, one of the tools in the tool box, as one of the best practices in the G7. Canada has been very much incentivizing small and medium-sized businesses to make these capital investments to become more productive.
Elizabeth May Green Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC
Mr. Chair, I ask the hon. minister if he would not agree with me that we have seen a steady stream of efforts to get Canadians corporations to invest in themselves and reinvest in R and D, and it is a string of failures, as David Dodge pointed out. The tools that we have tried just have not worked, and then people tend to turn on the corporate sector, which it does not appreciate. They say that the sector is not investing in itself and it is its fault.
I am just hoping that we can learn lessons from the past and decide that it is time to ensure that we actually use Canadian workers in Canada to further process our raw materials and not ship them out raw. Might the government be thinking of putting in some measures that would encourage that?
François-Philippe Champagne Liberal Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC
Mr. Chair, my colleague is so right. We want to do more transformation, and I think she will be happy with team Canada strong. The fact is that we say we are going to train and help 80,000 to 100,000 young people with their Red Seal and to get into the trades, because if we want to build this country, we need young people. We need young people to get into the trades.
This is going to help provide more opportunities for young people in this country to participate in building this country at a speed and scale we have not seen in generations. We are very much focused on the youth. We are very much focused on helping workers. We are very much focused on working with unions as well. They do great work in training workers. We want to build together, because we want to build a Canada for all. That is why we are focusing on workers, on young people and on small and medium-sized businesses to help us build this country.
Elizabeth May Green Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC
Mr. Chair, we are here borrowing $25 billion to start a sovereign wealth fund, but we have $793 billion in assets in the Canada pension plan, managed by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. Most of those investments go to the United States. The vast majority of them go to countries other than Canada. We have had some—
Department of Finance—Main Estimates, 2026-27Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
Conservative
François-Philippe Champagne Liberal Saint-Maurice—Champlain, QC
I am bound by the rules of the House, and the Chair is asking me to respond.
Mr. Chair, I got maybe the beginning of the question, and I would say that people are seeing the investment fund in Canada as best in class in the world. I would think the Canada Strong fund that—
Department of Finance—Main Estimates, 2026-27Business of SupplyGovernment Orders
Conservative