Jennifer O'Connell

[Finance, June 11th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad that the Conservatives are now admitting that they think their $150-billion debt was tiny. We do not agree with that. While they were increasing that debt, they were cutting support for seniors, for our veterans and for Canadians.

We invest in Canadians, and as a result, we see that we have the best growth and one of the best economies in the G7. Through these investments, in addition to that, we have created over a million jobs. I will continue to say it louder until the Conservatives wake up and understand that investing in Canadians is the only way to grow the economy.

[Finance, June 11th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, it is really sad that the Conservatives are attempting to rewrite history, but Canadians are not going to forget the fact that they added $150 billion to the debt, and they had nothing to show for it. They had the worse growth since the Great Depression.

We have reduced the unemployment rate to the lowest rate in recorded history, and as a result, a typical Canadian family is actually $2,000 up per year. We will not follow the Conservatives' failed plans. It is time they started telling the truth to Canadians.

[Finance, June 11th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the member opposite is frankly wrong. One of the first measures we introduced was lowering taxes for the middle class, making the Canada child benefit more generous and making it tax-free, something the Conservatives used to tax.

Again, we will continue to focus on Canadians. We are not going to follow the Conservatives' plan, who are taking marching orders from Doug Ford, which is cut now, think later. We are investing in Canadians, and as a result, our plan is working.

[Finance, June 11th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I can tell you very clearly that our plan is not to follow the failed Conservative economic policies that led to the worst growth since the Great Depression and stagnant wages. Unemployment rates, we are now seeing, through our policies, are the lowest in recorded history. In addition to that, we are making investments and are seeing that through these investments, over one million new jobs are being created. There are lots of lessons from the Conservatives' economic record, but unfortunately, they were terrible, and we are not going to follow them.

[Government Priorities, June 10th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, that is simply not true. One of the first things we did was lower taxes on the middle class, which the NDP in fact voted against. We then made the Canada child benefit more generous, which again the NDP voted against.

It is hard for Canadians to take the NDP seriously, when it took on the Conservatives' economic plan to balance the budget at all costs. Meanwhile, we promised Canadians we would grow the economy through investments. As a result, a typical Canadian family is $2,000 better off.

Perhaps the NDP will come up with a different economic plan next—

[Finance, June 10th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, again, we will take no lessons from the Conservatives on how to be honest with Canadians, when we are focused on Canadians.

We know we need to create an economy that works everyone. That is why we lowered taxes on the middle class, we stopped sending cheques to millionaires, like the Conservatives did, and we made sure that Canada child benefit cheques were tax-free. We are investing in Canadians. Because of those investments, we have created over a million new jobs.

I cannot say it enough that we will not take lessons from the government that added $150 billion to the debt.

[Finance, June 10th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, the worst already came. It was the 10 years of the Harper Conservative government.

Thankfully, our plan has been focused on Canadians. A typical Canadian family is actually $2,000 better off. The Conservatives do not want to base their questions on facts. They want to scare Canadians because they know they cannot run on their record.

On the other hand, the Liberals can because we are focused on Canadians. We have one of the best economies in the G7. We are focused on making life more affordable. The Conservatives focus on power, helping their wealthy friends and on polices like Doug—

[Finance, June 10th, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, what is irresponsible is the Conservatives constantly misleading the House and Canadians about their economic record. The numbers do not lie. Frankly, it was 10 years of economic darkness under the Conservatives which saw the lowest growth since the Great Depression. Wages were stagnant.

Under our plan, we are seeing a million jobs created. Actually, over a million jobs have been created under our plan and the lowest unemployment rate in recorded history. We will never take lessons from the failed Conservatives.

[Budget Implementation Act, 2019, No. 1, May 31st, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I am curious if my hon. colleague truly understands how the unemployment rate system works. He talked about immigration as if only new Canadians were getting jobs. Can he understand the fact that the unemployment rate has increased and that he does not fully understand how this system works, which is consistent with the Conservatives' lack of understanding of how the economy works? When he makes references to statistics in the House, he simply has zero comprehension of them.

[Finance, May 31st, 2019]

Mr. Speaker, I will take no lessons on admitting the truth to Canadians when the Conservatives constantly flip-flop on their policies and mislead Canadians in the House and in the public domain.

The reality is the fact that we lowered taxes on the middle class and raised them on the wealthiest 1%. As a result, we have lifted 300,000 children and 825,000 Canadians overall out of poverty.

What did the Conservatives want to do? They want to give boutique tax credits to their wealthy friends that will not grow the economy.