Ed Fast

[The Economy, June 16th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, even the finance minister does not get it. Inflation is way up. It is at its highest point in a decade, proving that the finance minister's trillion-dollar debt and endless deficits are inflicting more and more damage on our country. Meanwhile, the cost of everything is going up, and housing has become unaffordable for millions of families.

How much more expensive does life have to get before the minister and her Liberal government realize how badly they have failed exhausted Canadians?

[The Economy, June 16th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, today we learned that the cost of living is up, way up. Inflation is now at 3.6%, the highest it has been in over 10 years. Prices for everything, gasoline, food, furniture, are up, while millions of Canadians see their dream of home ownership disappear. Canadians need a leader who is focused on governing, not on preening for the cameras at the G7.

When will the Prime Minister finally take his job seriously and make life more affordable for the people he is supposed to be serving?

[The Economy, June 15th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, not only is Canada behind the rest of the G7 in reopening its economy, the Prime Minister has made things worse by making the whole economy more expensive.

The rise in the inflation rate and cost of living is making it difficult for many Canadians to make ends meet. That includes major increases in the price of meat, fish, dairy, gasoline and, of course, the skyrocketing housing prices. Under the government's mismanagement, Canadians are falling further and further behind.

Why has the government not made life more affordable for Canadians?

[The Economy, June 15th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, last week, the Prime Minister did what he had told all other Canadians not to do. He travelled abroad to the G7. While he was gone, business leaders called for him to immediately lay out a plan to safely reopen our economy. The chamber of commerce called for clarity and a timeline and said that Canada was a G7 outlier because the Prime Minister had failed to deliver a reopening plan.

While other countries are helping their businesses reopen, our Prime Minister will not even provide us with a plan. When will he do his job and stand up for Canadian businesses?

[Housing, June 14th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, it is not the quantity of the spending, it is the quality of the spending. We have an affordability crisis in this country. The price of everything is going up: groceries, gasoline, clothing and lumber. In fact, inflation is now well above the government's target of 2%, and it is only going to get worse before it gets better. We are also in a full-blown housing crisis, with millions of Canadians realizing that their dream of home ownership is now out of reach.

Why has the government made life so unaffordable for so many Canadians?

[Housing, June 14th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government cannot hide from the fact that thousands of Canadians are being forced to abandon their dream of owning their home. The current government has had six years to act, with nothing. Now, developers are taking advantage of skyrocketing house prices by scooping up houses and turning them into rentals, removing even more houses from the market. Meanwhile, the government stands idly by as the home ownership dreams of Canadian families fade away.

Why will this minister not act?

[Housing, June 14th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, today we learned that a Toronto developer is purchasing hundreds of houses and converting them into rentals, eliminating the dream of home ownership for even more Canadians. For months, we have been demanding that the government stabilize house prices and come up with a plan to restore the dream of home ownership for Canadians. Sadly, all the recent budget did was impose a tiny 1% tax on foreign owners, which will do nothing to make housing more affordable.

Why is the minister failing the families he is supposed to be serving?

[Budget Implementation Act, 2021, No. 1, June 14th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, why is it that the minister does not want the opposition to do its job? Our job is to hold the government accountable and to exercise scrutiny and oversight. This is the biggest budget in Canadian history. It is the biggest debt, at well over a trillion dollars and heading toward $1.8 trillion. Canadians have never seen this.

As Kevin Lynch, the former deputy minister of finance said, this is the largest intergenerational transfer of risk and debt in Canadian history, and this minister wants to give us just two meetings at the finance committee to review this legislation. We are doing our job.

With this huge debt and interminable deficits facing Canadians, does the minister have a plan to return to balanced budgets, yes or no?

[Taxation, June 7th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians alone, not the G7, should determine our domestic tax policy.

The global minimum tax is long on promises and short on detail. With the current Liberal government, the devil is always in the details, so how will the government support start-ups and other small businesses with lower tax rates? How will the government fulfill its promise to reduce taxes on green and clean tech companies?

Will the government seek Parliament's approval before imposing a global minimum tax on Canadians?

[Taxation, June 7th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, over the weekend we learned the finance minister surrendered Canada's ability to set its own tax rates. We strongly support efforts to make multinationals pay their fair share, but that should never mean giving up sovereignty over our own tax system. The global minimum tax might be great policy for large economies, but it is bad for an economy like ours that is struggling to compete with countries like the U.S.

Does the minister not realize that her global minimum tax has worsened our ability to compete on the world stage?