Kyle Seeback

[Questions Passed as Orders for Returns, September 18th, 2023]

With regard to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) Assessment and Revenue Management (CARM) project: (a) what assessments has CBSA made in relation to delays and disruptions that may be caused while implementing CARM; (b) what specific measures, if any, is CBSA taking to ensure that the implementation of CARM does not cause any delays or disruptions; (c) has the government analyzed the impact of the new requirement for importers to obtain surety bonds as part of CARM, and, if so, what were the findings, including the impact of the requirement on smaller importers versus larger ones; (d) has the government considered whether or not the surety market would supply smaller importers with the newly required bonds, and, if so, what were the findings; (e) if the answer to (d) is negative, was this an error or oversight on the government's part when developing the project; (f) what is the current timeline for when each measure required by CARM will be implemented; and (g) what are the details of all memorandums and briefing notes about CARM that were sent from or received by CBSA or Public Safety Canada, including the Office of the Minister of Public Safety, including, for each, the (i) date, (ii) sender, (iii) recipient, (iv) title, (v) summary of contents, (vi) type of document?

[The Budget, June 6th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, Liberal inflation is crushing Canadians. One in five Canadians is skipping meals, and food bank usage is skyrocketing. What is the Liberal government's response? It is a massive $60-billion inflationary budget deficit and carbon tax 2.

We all know the sequel is way worse than the original. Carbon tax 2 will add 61¢ a litre in tax to gas, making everything more expensive. Even Liberals are shaking their heads, and not just random former Liberals this time. Former finance minister John Manley has said that Liberal spending is making it harder to control inflation, and things are getting worse. The Bank of Canada is now signalling another interest rate hike.

Canadians, do not lose hope. The Conservatives are going to fight this budget until the Liberals agree to a plan to balance the budget. If they do not, maybe it is time to give them the boot.

[Carbon Pricing, May 30th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, if he means the carbon tax is effective by driving people into food poverty, I am going to agree with the member because that is what is happening.

If it is effective to stop forest fires that he alleges are as a result of climate change, why do we have the fires? At what level of carbon tax will the forest fires stop?

Every time there is any kind of a weather incident, whether it is too much rain, too little rain, too hot or too cold, the Liberal government trots out the spectre that this is all as a result of climate change, as if none of these things ever happened before in the history of the planet. What makes matters worse is, why has the carbon tax not stopped it? It absolutely has not, because it is not a climate plan. It is a tax plan.

Why do the Liberals not finally admit that it is a tax plan, it is causing food inflation and it is impoverishing Canadians so that they have to go to the food bank?

[Carbon Pricing, May 30th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, two weeks ago, I had an opportunity to ask the government about whether the carbon tax causes food inflation. The point of my question was that, all throughout the food chain, the carbon tax is charged. Farmers will pay a carbon tax. In fact, by 2030, the average farmer will pay $150,000 per year in carbon tax, and they get absolutely no rebate on that. Of course, the cost of that carbon tax is therefore passed on to consumers.

However, it is worse, because the truck operator who comes to pick up the farm product from the farm to take it to a processor pays a carbon tax. The processor is then going to pay a carbon tax on the heat or the air conditioning or the operation of their machinery. The truck operator who picks it up from the processor is going to pay a carbon tax. When it gets to the grocery store, the grocery store owner is going to pay carbon tax because of heating, cooling, etc. Therefore, in the end, the people who suffer are Canadians who are trying to feed their families. What we know unequivocally is that food inflation is causing Canadian families to go hungry. One in five Canadians is skipping meals to make ends meet.

In my riding of Dufferin—Caledon, in the town of Orangeville, I look at seniors' usage of the food bank. We can think of this: Seniors who have worked their entire lives are now resorting to going to the food bank to be able to eat, because the carbon tax has so driven up the cost of food that they can no longer afford to feed themselves. The use of food banks is up over 80% in the town of Orangeville. These are the statistics from the food bank itself. All I have been asking the government to do is to admit that carbon tax is causing food inflation.

It gets worse. The CFIB has now stated that, in 2023 alone, the carbon tax is going to cost small business owners $8 billion. What they will get back in rebates is a mere $35 million. Many of these small business owners are also in the food industry. They own our small restaurants. They own our small grocery stores. They are also getting pounded with carbon tax. All these things drive up the cost of food, spurring the crisis in affordability. Seniors are using the food bank; one in five Canadians is skipping meals.

It is a very simple question. I have asked it many times. I say this with all seriousness: Confession is good for the soul. Why will the government not just admit that the carbon tax is causing food inflation?

[Business of Supply, May 29th, 2023]

Madam Chair, what Canadians know is that they are going to food banks in record numbers. In my town of Orangeville, there has been a 65% increase in seniors accessing food banks since 2015. This is a result of the carbon tax increasing the cost of food and everything else.

Will the finance minister finally admit that the carbon tax is costing Canadians and driving inflation?

[Business of Supply, May 29th, 2023]

Madam Chair, how can Canadians take the finance minister seriously? She has been sitting here all night and has not had a number in response to a single financial question that is asked by Canadians.

How can any Canadian have faith in what she does?

[Business of Supply, May 29th, 2023]

Madam Chair, it is incredibly distressing that I have asked five questions today, but the finance minister cannot answer a single one. She is supposed to be responsible for the finances of this nation. Instead, we get bromides about how great things are. It will cost the average Canadian family $611 as a result of carbon tax 2.

What is the cost the average Ontario family is going to pay as a result of carbon tax 1 and carbon tax 2?

[Business of Supply, May 29th, 2023]

Madam Chair, does the finance minister know what the cost will be for an Ontario family as a result of carbon tax 2 in the fourth quintile?

[Business of Supply, May 29th, 2023]

Madam Chair, does she know the thanks they got for taking their tractors to do that? They had to pay a carbon tax on the fuel to cut those fire lines. They would not have gotten a single penny back from the government.

The answer to my first question is $8 billion. Small business in this country is going to pay $8 billion in carbon taxes in 2023. How much money are they going to get back? Zero.

Is the finance minister going to do anything with respect to that $8 billion coming out of the pockets of small business?

[Business of Supply, May 29th, 2023]

Madam Chair, once again, the finance minister is not even attempting to answer a question. The answer is that the farmer who pays $150,000 in carbon taxes is going to get none of that money back, and the cost is all going to be passed along to Canadians trying to buy food.

I am going to try another question. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business has said that the carbon tax will cost small businesses x amount of dollars in 2023. Does the finance minister know how much it is going to cost small business?