Harold Albrecht

[Second Reading, April 23rd, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, at different times throughout my colleague's speech, he mentioned that he was proud of, or pleased with, the budget. I would like to ask my colleague if he is proud of the fact that during the campaign the Liberals promised vociferously that they would never introduce omnibus legislation, use time allocation, or go beyond $10 billion in deficit, and yet here we have an $18-billion deficit in the budget. Worse than that, just today we found out from the Parliamentary Budget Officer that it is not $18 billion; it is $22 billion. Between February and today, we have increased our deficit by $4 billion.

Let us think of the amount of money that is going out the window each year just to pay the interest. Currently, we spend $26 billion a year on interest, and by 2021 that will be $33 billion, with no plan to balance the budget. Is he proud of that?

[Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1, April 23rd, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I must admit that I had higher hopes coming into the House of Commons this morning. After the Liberal Party met with its delegates from across Canada this past week, I thought the Liberals would have at least listened to their delegates tell them not to treat Parliament with such great contempt. Even with the sunshine outside, I would have hoped that some of that would have found its way in here. The sunny ways have disappeared.

My question for the finance minister and the leader of the House in Parliament is this. Why cut off debate on this important information? There are 540 pages that deal with the expenditures for the country. Is it (a) because they are embarrassed that over 90% of middle-class families, which the Liberals supposedly support, are actually paying higher taxes; or (b) because they are raising taxes on small businesses; or (c) because this morning the Parliamentary Budget Officer confirmed that not only would the deficit be $18 billion for this year, but it would be $22 billion, $4 billion higher than they estimated just in February? It is out of control.

Is it (a), (b), or (c), or are the Liberals embarrassed in all of the above?

[Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1, April 16th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, my colleague listed many of the items on which his government has spent money, and he is proud of the millions and billions of dollars in spending, but he did not mention the incredible debt the Liberals are amassing. Currently we are paying $26 billion of interest per year on this debt, and it will be $33 billion a couple of years from now, in 2021. That works out to over $3,000 per year per family of four. We add to that the carbon tax, which could add an estimated $1,100 to $2,500 per year per family of four.

How can my colleague stand here and champion the fact that this is good for the middle class, when in fact, his children and grandchildren and my children and grandchildren are going to be forced to pay this debt on the credit card these guys are building up?

[Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1, April 16th, 2018]

Madam Speaker, my colleague said that there were many more great things in the budget that he would like to enumerate. I am sure he would have liked to enumerate the fact that taxes for the middle class have gone up by 90%. He would have liked to say that there are new taxes on small businesses and employees, and that we are borrowing another $18 billion to facilitate the budget. That is on top of all the other deficits this budget has incurred, not to mention the carbon tax, which estimates say will cost a family of four between $1,100 and $2,500 per year. All of these costs are going to make it that much more difficult. The debt alone is going to cost $26 billion just in interest this year. That is not paying down any of the debt. It will be $33 billion by 2021.

Does the member actually believe that these are helpful expenditures, when they are simply going to be pushed forward and will need to be paid for by our children and grandchildren?

[Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1, April 16th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, a large portion of the budget bill, over 200 pages, is devoted to the carbon tax. Could my colleague indicate what the cost per family will be? Apparently the Liberal government understands what it is and knows what it is, but is unwilling to share that information.

There have been estimates that the carbon tax will cost about $1,100 per family. That is the lowest estimate. The highest estimate puts it somewhere around $2,500 per family, which is a huge cost to the average family, especially to the middle-class families that the government purports to want to support.

Could my colleague come clean with the House of Commons and with all Canadians and indicate what the actual cost of the carbon tax per family will be?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, April 16th, 2018]

With regard to the purchase of “likes” on Facebook by government departments, agencies, Crown Corporations, or other government entities since January 1, 2016: (a) what are the details of all such purchases, including (i) amount, (ii) date, (iii) number of “likes” purchased, (iv) title of page or post which received the likes; and (b) what is the total of all expenditures in (a)?

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, April 16th, 2018]

With regard to the livestreaming of events on government Facebook pages during the 2017 calendar year: (a) what is the complete list of events or announcements which were livestreamed on official government Facebook pages; and (b) how many views did each livestream have (i) live (not including views after the conclusion of the event), (ii) in total as of February 12, 2018?

[Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1, April 16th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I asked a similar question of the parliamentary secretary a few minutes ago, but there were no answers forthcoming, so I want to see if my colleague could answer some concerns that have been raised.

First of all, my colleague failed to mention that 90% of middle-class families are paying more taxes now than they were two and a half years ago. He also failed to mention the increasing amount of interest we are paying on our national debt. It is $26 billion this year, and up to $33 billion by 2021. This is a huge cost in our national budget.

During the last election, the Liberal Party promised that by 2019, one year from now, we would be back to balanced budgets. All of the current estimates indicate that under the government's leadership, the earliest we will balance a budget is 2045. I wonder if my colleague could tell the House when the budget will be balanced.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1, April 16th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, I could not agree more with the member on his enumeration of the many failed and broken promises of the Liberal government in relation to its platform and all of its great plans. Suddenly, all of those promises are being broken.

My question relates particularly to the carbon tax. If I am not mistaken, my colleague and his party do support a carbon tax. We know that the government knows what the carbon tax will cost, but it has not been willing to divulge that information.

I wonder if my colleague and his party have done any substantive studies on what this carbon tax will actually cost the average Canadian family.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1, April 16th, 2018]

Mr. Speaker, before I comment on my colleague's speech, I would like to draw attention to the fact that all of us in this House today are standing with the families of the Humboldt Broncos team, the unspeakable tragedy that occurred just days ago. We want them to know that our thoughts and prayers are with them. We are so grateful for the outpouring of support that has occurred.

In relation to the comments of my colleague, he failed to mention that the government is actually raising taxes on more than 90% of middle-class families. He also failed to mention that we are paying $26 billion in interest alone to carry the national debt, which will rise to $33 billion in just a few years. This year alone another $18 billion is being added to that national debt.

Could my colleague inform this House as to when the budget will be balanced? We were promised during the campaign that the budget would be balanced by 2019. Now we understand that it could be as late as 2045. I wonder if my colleague could enlighten this House as to when the budget will actually be balanced.