Debates of June 18th, 2026

The Economy

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, no, we do not plan for a restful summer. We plan to fight all summer long against the Liberal recession, Liberal inflation, the rising Liberal cost of living and the rising Liberal crime crisis in our streets.

Let us take, for example, investment. The Liberal Prime Minister promised he would increase it. He has delivered five consecutive quarters of declining investment. This is the only G7 country to have done that. It is one of the reasons that our country is in a recession, which means paycheques are down and the cost of living is up.

The Canadian people deserve accountability and results. Will the Prime Minister stand and deliver both now?

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

Mr. Speaker, as we come to the end of the session, we would expect the Leader of the Opposition to be a bit more cheerful because, in fact, there is good news.

If he wants to look at results, Canada is the second-fastest growing economy in the G7. We have seen that investment in machinery and equipment is up. We have seen that business investment in intellectual property is up. Instead of complaining, he should celebrate our workers, our industries and Canada.

Let us build Canada strong together.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, that is not just an illusion; that is a hallucination. The government's own statistical agency says the economy is shrinking. It shrunk this quarter, and it shrunk the quarter before that. In fact, it shrunk three out of the last four quarters. We cannot be the second-fastest growing when we are shrinking, as the Minister of Finance might appreciate and relate to.

My question is for the Prime Minister, who has delivered the only recession in the G7 with the consequence of higher costs for Canadians. Will he stand and defend the results instead of—

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

The hon. Minister of Jobs and Families.

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

Mr. Speaker, what an insult to the hard-working tradespeople and building unions across this country who have been standing with this government, fighting to build Canada strong, fighting to train their members and make sure more young people have great skilled jobs that pay fabulous wages, something I thought those guys were for but vote against every single time.

What an insult to the hard-working entrepreneurs across this country who have banded together to build up this country. Maybe they should stop talking down Canada.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Prime Minister cannot defend his disastrous record.

It is the same path and journey with him every single time. He takes on a big, fancy job, then he causes disastrous costs for people and then he moves on before he can be held accountable. He caused the worst inflation in the G7 as the governor of the Bank of England, along with a housing crisis. He was Justin Trudeau's economic adviser, doubling housing costs, debt and food bank line-ups. Now he has delivered the only G7 recession, and he is unable to defend his results.

Will the Prime Minister stand today and give accountability and results to hard-working Canadians?

[Tim Hodgson, Liberal, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, while I know the Leader of the Opposition is not interested in working with the Prime Minister, here is who is: the Premier of Alberta, the Premier of Saskatchewan, the Premier of Ontario and the Premier of Nova Scotia. They are all conservatives, and they all want to work with us. Maybe the Conservatives could take a page from the provincial premiers.

Government Priorities

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as we take stock of this parliamentary session, there are two things that Quebeckers will remember.

The first is how the Prime Minister betrayed the environment by putting an end to Canada's fight against climate change and by pushing the member for Laurier—Sainte-Marie to resign. The second is how the Prime Minister betrayed our culture by sacrificing the creation of French-language content for the sake of the web giants just to please Donald Trump. These two steps backward are jeopardizing our future and will basically just serve to line the pockets of American tycoons.

How can the Liberals undo an entire generation's struggle and progress like that?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Minister of Transport and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, let us talk about generations and generational investments. We have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Quebec's and Canada's French-speaking culture. That is something that the Bloc Québécois did not even ask for in its budget requests. We, in the Liberal Party of Canada, are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in francophone culture and in the survival of the French language.

When it comes to the environment, why is the Bloc Québécois turning its back on the high-speed train, the greenest transportation project in Canadian history? The Bloc Québécois is now opposed to that project. This is an environmental revolution.

Prime Minister of Canada

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, let us look at the Prime Minister's record so far. He betrayed the climate. He betrayed our culture by leaving billions of dollars on the table. He made multiple concessions to Donald Trump with nothing to show for it. Also, Quebec's economy was hit the hardest by the tariffs, yet it received the least support, especially for the lumber industry and for steel and aluminum processing. He used closure to pass an authoritarian agenda to concentrate power and suspend laws. He disrespected Parliament. That is his record. Those are his true colours.

Does he realize he will eventually pay the price if he keeps doing the opposite of what he promised he would do?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture and Minister responsible for Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, our government allocated $1.3 billion to culture, yet the Bloc Québécois treats that with contempt.

The real betrayal is a party that shows up in Ottawa every day to destroy my country. It is ridiculous.

Since they are already in vacation mode, I wish them a happy Saint‑Jean‑Baptiste Day and a happy Canada Day.

Government Priorities

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has a bad habit of saying one thing and doing another.

For example, in his campaign platform, the phrase “climate change” appeared 28 times, while the word “pipeline” did not appear even once, yet it is his pipeline that takes priority.

Another example is that he said he would deal with the tariffs imposed by Donald Trump last July. In the meantime, he keeps making concessions to Donald Trump, who was still insisting as recently as yesterday that he wants nothing to do with free trade.

Does the Prime Minister think he can keep saying one thing and doing another for much longer?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Minister of Government Transformation]

Mr. Speaker, they want to talk about our record, then let us talk about it.

This government's record includes $10 billion in infrastructure for hospitals, public transit and schools in Quebec.

Our record includes three million Quebeckers who will receive the Canada groceries and essentials benefit.

Our record includes reducing child poverty by 40% through the Canada child benefit, which helps thousands of families in Quebec.

Our record includes Contrecœur, Nouveau Monde Graphite, and the Quebec City tramway project, which we are funding 40% of. Our record includes high-speed rail from Quebec City to Toronto, which is essential.

Good luck finding the Bloc Québécois' record for the past 30 years.

Housing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, instead of being accountable for Liberal inflation and the Liberal recession, the Prime Minister is now making his 12th announcement on housing. This comes after he led us to a 6% reduction in homebuilding, and his own housing agency expects that it will fall another 18%. Finally, the Prime Minister has given us the biggest increases in costs in housing anywhere in the G7.

Instead of another illusion or another announcement, will the Prime Minister stand and take accountability for the costly failures that have denied Canadians home ownership?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Minister of Transport and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the member mentions housing, and what I want to say is congratulations to the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure, who will be announcing today in British Columbia, with the Prime Minister, a historic agreement with the Government of British Columbia. That follows agreements with provinces across this country.

We are going to keep building homes. Rents are coming down. Housing has become more affordable. We have taken the GST off homes for first-time homebuyers, for homes under $1 million. We are just getting started. We are going to have a revolution in housing.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals already had a revolution. The Liberal government doubled housing costs. To solve the problem, the Liberal Prime Minister picked the former mayor of Vancouver, who made that city the most expensive housing market in the world. Since promising to double homebuilding, the Prime Minister has delivered a 6% reduction in construction, and his own housing agency expects it will drop another 18%.

Instead of another promise or illusion, will the Prime Minister do his job, stand in this House and be accountable for his failures?

[Jennifer McKelvie, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure]

Mr. Speaker, I want to start by thanking all our partners in housing, the municipalities, provinces, indigenous communities, planners, builders and everybody else who is working together, because the trends are indeed moving in the right direction. Housing starts are up, housing sales are up, and rents are down.

Things are moving in the right direction, thanks to everybody who is working hard together for Canada.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the government is at war with its own statistical agencies. It is incredible.

The CMHC, the Liberals' housing agency, says construction is down by 6%. Their housing agency says it will drop another 18%.

Instead of another photo op, another announcement or another dazzling speech, will the Prime Minister go over to the CMHC and find out how he is pulling back on homebuilding by another 18%?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Minister of Transport and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting that the number six just came up, because when that member was the minister responsible for the CMHC, do members know how many units of affordable housing he built during his entire tenure? One, two, three, four, five, six units of housing were built under this person's tenure.

We are going to build hundreds of thousands of homes for young Canadians. We are going to give them a reduction in GST. We are going to put builders to work. We are going to put housing in every place in this country.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I forgive the member for getting his numbers wrong. He cannot count numbers bigger than the number of fingers on his hands. The reality is that politicians do not build homes. When I was housing minister—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, no, they do not. Politicians do not build homes. Carpenters—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

The hon. Leader of the Opposition, from the top.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, politicians do not build homes. Carpenters, electricians and plumbers build homes. What one does is have the policies that get out of the way so they can do that.

If the member wants some stats, when I was minister, there were 200,000 homes built in one year. The average cost was $450,000. The average rent was $950. Today, it is nearly double that on both counts.

The Prime Minister has claimed that he would increase homebuilding by 100%, but it is down 6%, so enough with the illusions. Canadians cannot afford their rent or their mortgage.

Will the Prime Minister defend his disastrous results?