Debates of May 26th, 2026

Department of Finance—Main Estimates, 2026-27

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

Mr. Chair, we were supporting the auto industry when I was industry minister, and we continue to do that today. We want to position Canadian auto workers for success; they understand that. We have been working with unions very closely. We have been attracting investment like Volkswagen in St. Thomas, which, as I said, is going to build—

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Kmiec]

The hon. member.

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

Mr. Chair, if electrification is the future, as he keeps saying, then why did Honda just cancel its $15-billion electric vehicle manufacturing plant under his government's watch?

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

Mr. Chair, my colleague is a very experienced member of the House. He will have seen that in all G7 countries, and I have just come from the G7, these plans have been delayed. What we are saying about the north star is that we need to invest in what they make today, but also prepare for the future.

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

Mr. Chair, how will Canadian auto manufacturers go from producing 1.6% of their vehicles as full EVs to 100% to meet their EV target, zero-emission vehicle target, in eight years? Can the minister please explain exactly how that is going to happen?

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

Mr. Chair, I am happy to repeat what I just said, but I know my colleague understood. He is looking for some kind of clip, but he is not going to get it. What I can say tonight is that we want to invest in the vehicles that are—

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Kmiec]

The member, for his final question.

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

Mr. Chair, what I am looking for is an actual answer tonight to a single question I have asked, which has not happened, so I will reiterate. There are eight short years to get to the government's zero-emission vehicle mandate. We manufacture 1.6% of vehicles in Canada that will meet that mandate now. What is the plan, if the minister can lay it out now, for the Canadian auto sector to get from 1.6% to 100% in eight years?

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

Mr. Chair, I am sure my colleague will have seen our auto strategy, which has been presented. We have worked with unions and with the Province of Ontario, among others, to make sure that we will have a resilient auto sector in Canada. I would say that I am proud of the auto workers. I am proud of our industry. I am proud of what they do. Instead of talking down the industry, I think my colleagues should be cheering up and saying we will work together to support the auto industry in Canada.

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

Mr. Chair, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has operating expenses of over $1.7 billion. It has an average of over half a million dollars in compensation per employee. I wonder if the minister expects the so-called Canadian sovereign wealth fund to have similar operating costs and expenses.

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

Mr. Chair, I am happy that my colleague is focusing on the Canadian sovereign wealth fund that we are creating. This is going to be a great instrument to create collective wealth. It is going to be applying the best practices that we see around the world. The governance model will reflect its independence from the government.

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

Mr. Chair, that obviously had nothing to do with the question, unfortunately.

I now want to ask about youth unemployment. It is a deep concern of mine and for many Canadians. I wonder if the minister agrees that we are facing a youth unemployment crisis in the country.

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

Mr. Chair, we should always be concerned about youth unemployment on both sides of the aisle, obviously, as Canadians. That is why team Canada strong would provide opportunities for 80,000 to 100,000 young Canadians to get into the trades and get their Red Seal certification so that they can contribute to building the country at this—

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Kmiec]

The hon. member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan.

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

Mr. Chair, of course, we are always concerned about this issue, but these are not normal times. I wonder if the minister can confirm that he knows what the rate of youth unemployment is right now in the country and whether he thinks we are in a youth unemployment crisis.

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

Mr. Chair, what we are seeing in terms of youth unemployment in Canada is not unique to Canada. We see this in other G7 countries. What we are seeing is that the impact of what we are facing in the world in terms of uncertainty has affected a number of industries and has affected youth unemployment in particular. That is why I think we should be happy that we have team Canada strong. We are going to provide opportunities—

[The Chair, Conservative, Tom Kmiec]

The hon. member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan.

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

Mr. Chair, clearly the minister was not aware. The number is 14.3%, according to the latest StatsCan numbers. That is a very high youth unemployment rate, including against international peers. I am sorry that the minister is not willing to acknowledge tonight that we are facing a youth unemployment crisis. He should acknowledge that, and he should support the necessary actions to address it.

In particular, in today's human resources committee report, there is a recommendation endorsed by all parties to reduce taxes and red tape in order to address concerns about how the taxation and regulatory environment has limited productivity growth and held back youth unemployment. Does he agree with that all-party recommendation, and will he act on it?

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

Mr. Chair, I want to thank my colleague for focusing on youth unemployment. It is something that every member of the House should be focusing on. That is why the government has taken action. Team Canada strong is going to provide the opportunity and possibility for 80,000 to 100,000 young Canadians to get into the trades. We want them to help us build Canada strong. We want them to help us build this country. This is the kind of measure that is going to help youth in the country, but we can always look at measures that do more for them. We want to support our youth in our country.

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

Mr. Chair, I am happy to be focused on the youth unemployment issue, but he is not focused on the youth unemployment issue. He did not even know the rate of youth unemployment in this country. He has not answered a single question for me. He has not answered a single question all night.

Again, I want to ask if he agrees or disagrees with the recommendation, from the all-party report from the human resources committee, that the government reduce taxes and red tape in order to address concerns about how the taxation and regulatory environment has limited productivity growth and held back youth employment. Does he agree with that recommendation, and will he act on it?

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

Mr. Chair, it is unfair to say I have not answered questions. I have been answering questions for more than three hours. I am not sure that any member on that side has answered questions for more than three hours in their lives. They say that I have not answered questions, but they have not answered questions for three hours in their lives.

I agree with the member that we need to focus on reducing red tape. That is why we are taking action to support youth in the country.

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

Mr. Chair, again, there were no answers.

Does the minister believe that the immigration policies of the government have contributed to youth unemployment?

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

Mr. Chair, I think immigration in this country has allowed the country to attract some of the best and brightest. This is who we are as Canadians. We are a welcoming nation. I also agree that we need to bring the immigration level to a more sustainable level. That is exactly what we have done as a government.

[Kody Blois, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister]

Mr. Chair, it is a privilege to be able to join today's debate on the estimates and be able to put good questions on behalf of the good people of Kings—Hants to the Minister of Finance.

I want to start by saying, having served for seven years as a member of Parliament, I appreciate the work of the hon. member from Shawinigan. I appreciate his work in his capacity in a variety of files. I have had the chance to see his leadership first-hand.

I want to start by talking about renewable energy. In Nova Scotia, we have seen a tremendous and successful growth of wind power generation. This government has made important decisions around protecting Canada's steel industry, notably putting a surtax on fabricated wind towers that are generated outside of Canada. I know Marmen, for example, in Quebec is a great example of that leadership in Canadian fabricated wind towers.

I have had proponents in Nova Scotia come to me to talk about projects, particularly those that are already under construction or those that have a power purchase agreement. The ability to pivot at this point in the game is quite difficult. They are certainly looking at using Canadian supply chains now that we have the surtax in place.

I want to give compliments to the minister. We have a remission order for fabricated wind towers that were already under construction. Some proponents have suggested an ability to use proponents that already have a power purchase agreement would be a reasonable balancing to make sure that some of these projects can go forward. I know it is a difficult balance.

Is the minister aware of this? Is it something that he could at least consider in the days ahead?

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

Mr. Chair, let me take a moment to thank the member for Kings—Hants. Everyone in Nova Scotia should know that this member in particular has played a key role in helping us shape our policy. He embodies the best of the best.

Like my colleagues here tonight, they are MPs. They are standing up for their communities. It is fairly late for those who are watching at home. We are getting close to 11 p.m., and these members are here working hard to represent their constituents, to participate in democracy and to hold debates. I would say the Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister has been playing a big role. The people of Kings—Hants should be very proud of their member of Parliament because he has spoken not only for them, but also for Nova Scotia and the wind industry, which we know is very important.

We have put together a strategy to double the electricity generation in this country. Oftentimes, we say demography is destiny. I would say that energy is destiny. If we produce more energy in this country, it is certainly going to help our businesses. It is going to help this country to grow.

The member is right that Marmen is a great company. I have been working with him, with the premier of Nova Scotia and the Atlantic premiers to strike that right balance. We need to make sure that projects under construction can benefit from a remission so that we have a framework that, on one hand, supports a key industry in our country and, on the other hand, allows projects to go forward.

I want to thank him for his leadership in informing me and the Government of Canada on how we can strike this right balance. We would expect a member of Parliament to work with the government and to work with ministers. I have seen his example. I am looking around at all my colleagues who have played such a key role in making sure that their policies are reflected in the budget that we presented and in the spring economic update. On behalf of everyone in Kings—Hants, I just want to thank the member for his outstanding work.