Debates of June 4th, 2026

The Economy

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

Mr. Speaker, under this Liberal Prime Minister, Canada is the only G20 country in the midst of a recession. While families are counting every penny at the grocery store, the Liberal Prime Minister is travelling in the lap of luxury on the taxpayer's dime. We are talking about $4,213 for crème brûlée, $3,800 for chocolate mousse and $593 for Normandy buttercups. While Canadians are stretching their budgets, the Liberal Prime Minister is splurging on luxuries.

I am going to ask him a very simple question. Is the recession that he himself created a technical recession or a full-blown Liberal recession?

[Caroline Desrochers, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure]

Mr. Speaker, what my colleague failed to mention is that, tomorrow, 12 million Canadians, including thousands of people in his riding, will receive the first Canada groceries and essentials benefit payment.

This is the kind of concrete action our government is taking to help make life affordable. This is the kind of program the Conservatives disparage here, day in and day out. They should not be lecturing us. Who are they to lecture us? They are not concerned about the cost of living at all.

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

Mr. Speaker, my colleague said that we are not concerned about the cost of living. At least we are able to recognize the reality facing Canada, the reality facing Canadian families, the reality facing mothers who are struggling to pay their grocery bills at the end of the month.

Meanwhile, the Liberals cannot even spell the word “recession”. They cannot even bring themselves to utter the word, yet Canada is the only G20 country that is currently in a recession. It does not seem to be hurting them, but it is hurting Canadian families and everyone. For the Liberals' cronies, it means bonuses. It means $11 million for the Royal Canadian Mint.

The Prime Minister plunged this country into a recession. Is it a Liberal recession or a technical recession?

[Caroline Desrochers, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Infrastructure]

Mr. Speaker, while the people on that side try to manufacture a crisis, we are making the necessary investments to strengthen our communities.

More than $2.5 billion was announced this week for post-secondary campuses, community centres and infrastructure across Quebec. More than $1 billion over three years is being allocated with the Government of Quebec to modernize and expand our hospitals and emergency rooms, including those in rural communities. More than $6 billion is going toward public transit across the province.

These are the concrete results we are delivering for Quebeckers and Canadians.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, a recession is a concept created by economists. They are the ones who set the criteria. Canada is the only G7 country or, pardon me, the only G20 country that is in a recession. I am not making this up; it is a fact.

Instead of finding solutions, the Liberals are casting around for a diversion. When the government cannot acknowledge that there is a problem, it cannot find solutions.

Will the Prime Minister be honest and tell Canadians that Canada is in a recession?

[Claude Guay, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians want us to build a stronger, more independent and more resilient economy in partnership with the provinces, territories and indigenous peoples.

The Conservatives are ignoring everything going on around the world and in geopolitics. They are disparaging Canada.

We will continue to build Canada strong.

Projects like Nouveau Monde Graphite, the port of Contrecoeur, the Alto train and many others are proof of that. However, the Conservatives have voted against every measure aiming to build Canada strong.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is all well and good to create a diversion. The Liberals are experts at that.

We are in a recession. Only the Liberals fail to see that. They make excuses. The President of the United States is being blamed for a lot of things.

The so-called saviour of the Canadian economy, our Prime Minister, should be coming up with solutions, because his plan is not working.

Will this Prime Minister accept the situation and admit that our country is in a recession?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Minister of Government Transformation]

Mr. Speaker, 150 airplanes at Airbus is not a diversion. A contract with Bombardier for GlobalEye is not diversion. Nouveau Monde Graphite, the largest graphite mine in the G7, is not a diversion. The high-speed train between Quebec City and Toronto is not a diversion.

The $2.75 billion invested in the Quebec City tramway will have an impact. The $10 billion we just announced for the greater Quebec City area is certainly not a diversion.

That is action. These are results. It is very real.

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, under this Prime Minister, Canada is the only G20 country in a recession. This comes as no surprise.

We have experienced three out of four quarters of negative growth. We are seeing a record decline in productivity. The public finance watchdog confirms that there is a 99% probability that the government will fall short of its fiscal anchor.

Despite repeated warnings from the banks, this government continues to run up the debt. It will borrow $72 billion this year.

Will the Prime Minister finally stop denying the obvious and admit to Canadians that our economy is indeed in a recession?

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

Mr. Speaker, I will pick up where my colleague from Quebec City left off, because he was too modest. He did not mention the Davie shipyard or its inclusion in the national shipbuilding strategy. He did not mention the Port of Québec as the first port of arrival. He did not mention developments such as the high-speed rail project in the national capital.

Quebec and the City of Quebec are benefiting enormously from this growth. They are benefiting enormously from our strategy to build a very strong Canada, to create opportunities and to create jobs for the people of Quebec.

Health

[Judy Sgro, Liberal, Humber River—Black Creek, ON]

Mr. Speaker, millions of Canadians live with vision and eye health problems. During the last Parliament, I was pleased that my private member's bill, the National Strategy for Eye Care Act, passed both the House and the Senate unanimously. Thanks to this bill, we are putting a real focus on preventing and treating eye disease and ensuring better outcomes for all Canadians.

Can the Minister of Health please tell the House how our government is leading a coordinated response to vision loss care?

[Marjorie Michel, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Humber River—Black Creek for her leadership on this issue. Thanks to her bill, we have tabled Canada's first ever national eye care strategy. We have brought together all levels of government, indigenous partners, health professionals and people with lived experience to create a strategy that reflects the needs of all Canadians. The member was critical to making this happen, and I hope this strategy helps improve access to eye care for the millions of Canadians who need it.

The Economy

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Okanagan Lake West—South Kelowna, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Canada is the only G20 country that is in a recession. Shirley is a senior from my riding who lives alone in Summerland. She tells me that she does not drink, smoke or gamble. Her only luxury is a swim pass to the local public pool. Every time I speak to her, her tone is increasingly dire. Shirley and her friends do not see anything getting better, and they believe that the Liberals have forgotten seniors. Another recycled rebate is not going to fix it.

Can the minister tell Shirley whether the reason she cannot pay her grocery bills is that we are in a recession, or is it just that it is a technical recession?

[Jill McKnight, Liberal, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for sharing the story of Shirley in his riding. I have news for Shirley. There are steps we are taking to support her. Shirley could be one of the individuals who might benefit from the middle-class tax cut, which is helping 22 million Canadians. She might also be somebody who is going to benefit from the expanded criteria for and accessibility to the disability tax credit. She might also be one of the individuals who is benefiting from the reduction of the fuel tax by 10¢ a litre.

These are all things that can impact seniors but can also impact all British Columbians.

[Tamara Kronis, Conservative, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Mr. Speaker, under the Liberal Prime Minister, Canada is the only G20 country in any kind of recession.

Maria from my community worked her whole life but lost her home because she and her husband could not make ends meet. She needs help because CRA made a mistake on her file, but she needed to know we could help her before making the drive to my office, because the cost of fuel is so high that she cannot afford to waste the trip. I hear from more and more Marias every week.

Will the Prime Minister please tell Maria whether her hardship is because Canada is in a recession, or is it just a technicality he will continue to ignore?

[Jill McKnight, Liberal, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Vancouver Island for bringing up that there are some headwinds facing our economy right now. That is why I think it is really important for us to talk about the forestry sector, which I know is really prevalent on Vancouver Island. This week, we announced that we are providing an additional $400 million through regional development agencies, and some of that money is going to be going to British Columbia to support its businesses. We are also investing $130 million in 56 projects to transform the industry, and more than 50% of that is going to British Columbia.

This is how we are supporting British Columbia—

[The Speaker, Francis Scarpaleggia]

The hon. member for Elmwood—Transcona.

[Colin Reynolds, Conservative, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Mr. Speaker, under the Liberal Prime Minister, Canada is the only G20 country to fall into a recession. There has been a lot of media attention on creative definitions to describe the Liberals' track record. One of my friends from out in the field, Mike, asked me to share his story with the House. He is a hard-working family man who, after working overtime, still did not have enough money to make ends meet.

Can the Prime Minister please tell Mike the difference between a recession and a technical recession? Mike's grocery bill cannot tell the difference.

[Rebecca Chartrand, Liberal, Minister of Northern and Arctic Affairs and Minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency]

Mr. Speaker, did the member vote for the measures that would support this person in his riding? Did he vote to support Red Seal training? Did he vote to support the reduction of taxes at the pump or the creation of a national school food program? These are the measures our government is taking to support Canadians, and Manitobans in his riding, but he continues to vote against them.

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

Mr. Speaker, under the Liberal Prime Minister, Canada is the only G20 country to fall into a recession. I spoke with Rosa from Vaughan, a single senior who cannot afford a place of her own and rents a room in her 86-year-old cousin's home due to the affordability crisis under the Liberal government. After a lifetime of hard work, Rosa is on the housing waiting list, but it will be a decade before a unit is available.

Will the Liberals explain to Rosa the difference between a recession and a technical recession?

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I will say what we will not do for seniors. We will not propose, as our central seniors policy, cutting pensions, for which the Leader of the Opposition fought for 20‑plus years.

Housing is a very legitimate issue to talk about. We need more housing. That is why the government is seized with exactly that objective, working with provincial and municipal governments toward that end.

If we look at the headwinds facing the Canadian economy and the trade war that has been put upon us, we see that of course there are challenges. The hardships created will absolutely be there for Canadians day in and day out. Conservatives can propose ideas that will not work and will not be serious. We are a serious government. We are going to stand up for Canadians.

[John Williamson, Conservative, Saint John—St. Croix, NB]

Mr. Speaker, under this Liberal Prime Minister, Canada is the only G20 nation in recession. Every country faces tariffs and rising energy prices, but these Liberals keep making the same mistakes. Their deficit spending and net-zero regulations kill jobs and make everything more expensive. For Carol in my riding, it means she can no longer afford to drive to and from work each day. For Jackie, it means working full-time as a senior citizen.

I want the Prime Minister to tell Jackie and Carol whether they are struggling every day because Canada is in a recession or because it is just a technical recession and no big deal.

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

Mr. Speaker, I represent Saint John—Kennebecasis. That member, my neighbour, represents Saint John—St. Croix. I have lot of respect for him. In fact, recently I was in Grand Manan, in his riding, and announced millions of dollars for small craft harbours in his riding. I am sure he is supportive of that.

On this side, we are serious about building a strong economy for all Canadians. At home, we are cutting taxes. Abroad, we are signing trade deals worth billions of dollars and thousands of jobs. We are serious about the economy. They continue with the rhetoric.

[Scot Davidson, Conservative, New Tecumseth—Gwillimbury, ON]

Mr. Speaker, under this Liberal Prime Minister, Canada is the only G20 country to fall into recession. This so-called financial wizard created a K-shaped economy where the wealthy, the bankers and the bondholders climb higher, while working Canadians fall further behind. The Liberals can say, “What recession?” because they are not impacted by skyrocketing unemployment, grocery bills and mortgages.

Why is this Prime Minister telling Canadians that they are just technically unemployed, technically hungry or technically homeless?

[Leslie Church, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Secretaries of State for Labour]

Mr. Speaker, I hopefully have good news for the constituents of that member's riding. Tomorrow, over 27,000 members of that member's constituency are going to receive the groceries and essentials benefit. That is tax-free. That is automatic. That is $530 in the pockets of a family with two children or $267 for someone who is single. That is real help to make life more affordable for Canadians in that member's own riding.