Daniel Blaikie

[Taxation, November 16th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, the fact remains that when we are seeing Canadians struggling to buy groceries and we see the very same companies from which they are buying their groceries making profits that are growing at three times the rate of inflation, there is something seriously wrong with the economy that requires government intervention.

We have seen other jurisdictions implement windfall taxes, not just on financial institutions but on big box stores and on oil and gas companies that are seeing record profits, and we want to see the same done here in Canada. When are the Liberals going to stop putting big corporations ahead of the needs of Canadians who are facing dire straits, and implement a windfall tax?

[Health, November 15th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, the government is making the littlest effort. This was a good question about establishing a public drug manufacturer in Canada. We just came through a pandemic where we saw the government scramble to secure a vaccine supply and only succeed at the expense of people in the global south, who never did get the vaccines that they needed.

Now we are witnessing a shortage of children's medicine. We are seeing Amazon charge over $200 for four ounces of Tylenol on the Internet. There is something wrong with a system that allows that and does not allow the government to push back, which it could do with a public drug manufacturer to produce essential medications when the market fails.

When are the Liberals going to start the work?

[Arrival of Ugandan Asians to Canada, November 14th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, people are free to disagree, but they do not need to shout me down.

It is important to protect the right of members to put things to the House. If we establish a culture of cutting off members before they have a chance to put a question to the House, we are doing a serious disservice to their rights in this place. Therefore, I would ask people to contemplate that in their own minds, as well as you, Mr. Speaker, as you have the authority and power to rule on these things, because I am concerned about a culture here.

I respect what you had to say, Mr. Speaker, about decorum in the House and I thank your for that message, but it is also important that when members are raising points of order about anything, including decorum and events that have happened on the floor of the House, that they again be allowed to finish making the point. It is pre-emptive to rule on a point that has not been fully made. The member said she had three things she wanted to say about the behaviour that was being exhibited in this place and she was unable to finish speaking to the first thing she raised.

It is important that people be able to make their point to you, Mr. Speaker, so you are aware of all the facts they believe are relevant to that point before you rule on it, just as it is important for members to hear other members out when they bring a motion before saying no, because they do not even know what they are actually saying no to.

[Arrival of Ugandan Asians to Canada, November 14th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order related to a couple of the points of order that have been raised.

The first case is with respect to when the member for North Island—Powell River was presenting a unanimous consent motion. I know that sometimes members present things here and do not end up getting unanimous consent, but it is important that they are able to finish presenting their motion.

[Taxation, November 14th, 2022]

Mr. Speaker, in the last year, Canadian family wages rose less than half as fast as inflation, yet the Liberals recently had the gall to say that higher wage pressures are causing inflation, all while major grocery chains make huge profits and pay millions of dollars in compensation to their shareholders and CEOs. Just like the Conservative leader, the Deputy Prime Minister refuses to acknowledge the full extent to which corporate greed and profit-seeking are driving inflationary pressure on Canadian household budgets.

My question is simple. When are the Liberals going to stop blaming workers and tackle the real causes of inflation by forcing CEOs and their corporations to pay their fair share?

[Fall Economic Statement, November 3rd, 2022]

Madam Speaker, the member for Vancouver East makes an excellent point. I cannot speak to why this continues to be such a blind spot of the government, and “blind spot” is putting it too lightly, because it is a desperate need. It is an issue of justice for indigenous people in Canada that they should have the right, just as everyone in Canada should have, to a decent home. That is going to require investment. We can tell that $300 million, if we do some quick math, is not going to build enough units to get the job done.

[Fall Economic Statement, November 3rd, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I am certainly happy to do that. In this time when we are seeing companies making extraordinary profits well beyond what they were making prepandemic, in a time of massive need, that is a lost opportunity to ensure people who are struggling, and who do not have the extra money in their bank accounts, can continue to do well. That is important from a moral point of view, but it is also important from a financial point of view.

Allowing large corporations to accrue larger and larger surpluses to pay out to their already rich shareholders means that people do not get the help and support they need. They are the people who end up homeless or who do not get access to health care, so they end up in emergency rooms, on the streets, in the justice system and in difficult circumstances that are themselves very costly to remediate. Everyone ends up worse off. That is why having a fairer tax system with proper investments in people who need that investment is a smarter way financially over the long-term too.

[Fall Economic Statement, November 3rd, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question.

I think we are seeing those consequences here in Canada to some extent. We see them elsewhere too, especially in the United States, where there was an attack on the capital itself and on their national legislature. It is a very serious problem.

I think democracy is a real achievement. It is something that we must always work on ourselves. It is not like a box or a pencil you can have, an object that will remain the same over time. It is something one must do for oneself.

If we abandon our democratic culture, which emphasizes respect when we come across a difference of opinion, we will lose our democracy. Public figures who are very successful in undemocratic conditions will have more and more power.

[Fall Economic Statement, November 3rd, 2022]

Madam Speaker, when an election comes, we will be campaigning on our own terms, just as we work here on our own terms every day to advance in this place the things we committed to advance for the people who voted for us. We are doing that to the best of our ability, and rather effectively on a number of items, I would say.

When it comes to inflationary spending, we should look at the GST rebate. It is targeted at the people who have the least amount of money in the country and who have seen extraordinary increases in the price of groceries and rent. That money is not going to chase more goods. That money is going to try to keep their boat afloat to buy the things they used to buy. Therefore, the idea that somehow doubling the GST rebate is inflationary is simply false. The poor are not driving inflation in Canada, and if the goal of government policy is to help them get through these difficult and trying times, it will not be contributing to inflation.

[Fall Economic Statement, November 3rd, 2022]

Madam Speaker, something that is always important to consider when we are talking about a confidence vote is whether Canadians would be best served by a costly election right now, and the answer is no.

We will vote in favour of the motion tomorrow so that we can continue to do the work that we should all do to implement real policies that will really help Canadians in these difficult times.

We need to participate and not see an election as another solution.