House of Commons photoWon his last election, in 2021, with 40% of the vote.
Mr. Speaker, in Ontario, over 1,100 companies and 42,000 jobs depend on the $4.6 billion spent by oil sands producers. Liberal policies have failed energy east, failed northern gateway, and are poised to fail Kinder Morgan.
The Prime Minister promised he would transition away from manufacturing and fossil fuels, but nobody anticipated he would do it so quickly and so heartlessly. What jobs can Ontarians transition to as the Prime Minister implements his job-killing plan?
Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1 April 19th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, I have been listening to a lot of Liberal speeches and I am trying to get my head around this, because Liberals are only talking about the extra money they are spending. They are not talking about anything that helps the Canadians who actually pay the bills.
It is very clear that the Prime Minister has this war against our traditional Canadian strengths. He made it clear this week when he reiterated in Europe that he wants to commit to phasing out our fossil fuels. He said during the election that he wants to transition away from manufacturing. He has killed capital-intense industries like mining because of his regulatory and tax policies. He is regulating our fisheries. He is refusing to negotiate to end the softwood lumber dispute. All of these things were traditionally Canada's strengths, and the Prime Minister and his policies are actually decreasing the amount of competitiveness in these industries and their ability to make money to pay for these things.
Which industries and which Canadian companies are going to be left to pay for all of these incredibly costly expenses that the Liberals are talking about?
Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1 April 16th, 2018
Madam Speaker, the member is a learned colleague. He mentioned how he received a government grant to pay for his education. My educational experience was a bit different and was probably more similar to the experience of most Canadians: I went to work on the line at GM. I had a part-time job and I put myself through school. He has his perspective and I have mine.
The member really did not talk about business and how this budget pretty much ignores small business. I guess he believes in the Liberal policy for small business, that being to start with a large business like Kinder Morgan, regulate and tax it to death, and when there is a problem, put money into it to subsidize it, and then after that business fails, there is a business plan for small business. A big business is made into a small business.
I would like the member to comment on whether there is anything in the budget that would help streamline regulation or lower business taxes or anything that says the government will balance the budget in any time certain in the next few years. Is there anything about increasing Canada's competitiveness overall? We are losing out to our biggest competitors, such as the United States, and we are losing out around the world. Even former Liberal John Manley, who was the finance minister, recognizes that.
Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1 April 16th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, I listened to my colleague's speech. He gave a great example of how sometimes the head of the household has to decide whether to borrow money for a mortgage, or a car, or the kids' education. However, I ask him to look at who is running the country, a trust fund baby who has never even thought about a mortgage or a loan for a car. What is that? He is putting money aside for the education of his kids. This is something that is not done. When we look at the finance minister, it is pretty much the same thing.
The member talked about the importance of balancing the budget. If we have people running the country who have never had to balance a budget themselves, does he think they will ever balance the budget?
I am sure the Prime Minister was given this little plastic card called a “credit card”. If he puts it into a machine and punches in four numbers, money just keeps coming out. I think he thinks Canadian taxpayers are the same as that credit card.
Does the member think the budget will ever be balanced under the finance minister and the Prime Minister?
Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1 April 16th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, I would like the member to comment on a couple of things that she left out about the budget. In Canada now, we are basically seeing business investment at about 11% of GDP, which is 16th out of 17 OECD countries. Business investment in Canada, per worker, is 40% to 50% less than in the high-productivity countries like the United States and Switzerland, especially the United States, with our competing against them. Taxes in the United States are going down. We are basically at 19% now, from 34.6%. At the same time, her government is increasing taxes that were 17.5% in 2012. Now they are 21%, also with increases in CPP, EI, carbon taxes, and high electrical costs. Even the former Liberal finance minister, John Manley, who is the president and CEO of the Business Council of Canada has said, “Budget 2018 overlooks Canada's competitiveness challenges.”
I come from a community in Oshawa. We depend on being competitive, and the government and its provincial partners are making us less competitive. Could the member please tell us what in the budget, if anything, is going to help address the competitiveness issue that Mr. Manley and many businesses in my community are worried about?
Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1 April 16th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, I wonder if my colleague would comment on some of the comments Liberals have made about the economy in Canada. Former ambassador Frank McKenna, who was also the premier of New Brunswick, talking about the cancelled energy east pipeline, said, “We're buying 700,000 barrels a day for eastern refiners from other places in the world at world prices. There's no other country in the world that would do anything as dumb as this.” McKenna also said that we have given up our leverage in NAFTA talks.
Former finance minister Manley has said that there is nothing to address competitiveness in this budget.
I stand here in an Oshawa Generals jersey today, because in Oshawa, we have to trade. We are a city that builds cars. The competitiveness issue is really starting to hit us.
How much time does Canada have if the Liberal government does not wake up and smell the roses on the importance of these issues the Liberals brought up?
Purple Day March 26th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, as members know, today, March 26, marks Purple Day. Started in 2008 by Cassidy Megan of Halifax, it has grown into an international event.
On this day, people around the world are wearing purple to increase awareness of epilepsy, a chronic neurological disorder that affects over 50 million people worldwide.
My riding of Oshawa is well served by Epilepsy Durham Region, which serves all eight municipalities with a staff of only two and a dedicated team of volunteers. This incredible organization promotes independence and quality of life for families and those affected with epilepsy. With no local specialized medical care, Epilepsy Durham Region provides education, peer-to-peer support, and employment support to people living with epilepsy.
A proud member of the Canadian Epilepsy Alliance, CEO Dianne McKenzie and her organization deliver all their services to Durham region without access to government funding. I applaud the outstanding work of Epilepsy Durham Region. On behalf of my colleagues in this House, I want to thank Dianne, Chelsea and their team.
Happy Purple Day, everyone.
The Budget March 19th, 2018
Madam Speaker, I listened to my colleague's very thorough speech and have a question about financial literacy. We try to teach our kids that we have to live within our means. We all know that when the Conservatives were in government we faced the worst economic crisis ever. Now that the world economy has picked up, typically people take that time to start paying down debt and becoming financially literate.
I have heard the Liberal government's economy called a credit card economy because it is borrowing and borrowing to stimulate. Has my colleague ever heard of a movement called Generation Screwed? It is a group of young people who are trying to raise awareness about the debt, because ultimately we, as a generation, are leaving them huge amounts of money they are going to have to pay back.
I was wondering if my colleague has any concerns about not being able to balance the budget within the time frame his government and the Prime Minister promised? Could he tell us if there is any plan to balance the budget so that we are not leaving a huge financial debt for generations to come?
The Budget March 19th, 2018
Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Durham. He is a great representative of his community, and he has really taken this issue of Canada's summer jobs to heart. He knows that the Prime Minister has made statements such as that he admires the basic dictatorship of China and he admires Cuba.
In his speech he spoke about this precedent of requiring an attestation. I was wondering if he could respond to this as being a precedent. There are people in my community who are worried that if the Liberal government will go this far, it will now require Canadians to sign more attestations that agree with the government of the day's policies to receive CPP benefits or EI benefits or to apply for a government job. Could he please comment on how important it is as a precedent?
Petitions March 19th, 2018
Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to present a petition with hundreds of signatures from Calvary Baptist, St. Hedwig's, Harmony Road Baptist, and St. Joseph the Worker Parish in my riding of Oshawa.
These constituents are calling on the Prime Minister and the government to reduce their short-sighted decision and remove the values attestation from the Canada summer jobs application. These organizations and many others have been providing quality summer programming in Oshawa for decades. They do not deserve to have their funding stripped because they disagree with the social values of the Liberal Party.
I strongly urge the Liberals to listen to Canadians and remove this unfair values test.