Kyle Seeback

[The Economy, October 16th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, they must have a very different definition of hard work than Conservatives, because after eight years of the Liberal government, we know that food prices are out of control. I went to the grocery store in Orangeville this past weekend for Thanksgiving. A loaf of Wonder bread was $4.40. That is the definition of Liberal hard work. How did we get there? It was with massive inflationary deficits and a carbon tax that is driving up the cost of everything.

The fake photo ops of the Prime Minister are not going to fix anything. Will they cut the carbon tax and balance the budget so that Canadians can pay for food?

[The Economy, October 6th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, that reminds me of when people say things like “the wheels are in motion”, “the cheque is in the mail” and those kinds of things. Canadians cannot eat a plan. Canadians cannot eat the photo op that the Prime Minister took with grocery CEOs.

The facts are the facts. Grocery prices are way up, and they continue to go up, despite these alleged plans and photo ops. Onions are up 69%, potatoes are up 76%, oranges are up 77% and turkey is up 67%.

Will the Prime Minister keep his promise? It is not hard. He made that promise. Or will he just go off on another $200,000 vacation at the taxpayers' expense in Montana?

[The Economy, October 6th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, that is entirely not accurate. None of the prices are going down. I just read an article from The Canadian Press. Canadians know that all the prices are going up. In fact, The Ottawa Mission is now asking for turkeys. Why? It is because the price of a turkey has gone up 67% as a result of eight years of the NDP-Liberal government.

The Prime Minister made a promise three weeks ago, so I am going to ask this again: Will the Prime Minister keep his promise to get grocery prices down so Canadians can have an affordable Thanksgiving, or is he just going to go back to Rideau Cottage and hide like he recently did?

[The Economy, October 6th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, three weeks ago, the Prime Minister made a promise that grocery prices would come down in time for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, an article just out from The Canadian Press today says, “Prices haven't went down, so you're going to continue to see to see fairly large sticker shock on items”.

This is Canada after eight years of the Liberal-NDP government, but it gets worse. The article goes on to say, “Some people are going to look at alternatives”, so they might not have a big family gathering. Happy Thanksgiving to Canada, brought to us by the Liberal-NDP government.

Will the Prime Minister keep his promise and get grocery prices down?

[The Economy, October 5th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, only a party whose leader said that he admires the basic dictatorship of China would say that legitimate debate about a government piece of legislation is so inconvenient and an obstruction. That is a disgraceful comment and opinion, but it is not a surprise coming from the Liberals, whose leader admires a basic dictatorship. Everything they have done has done nothing to improve food affordability. After eight long years of the Liberal government, Canadians cannot pay for food.

Will the Prime Minister keep his promise so Canadians can have an affordable Thanksgiving dinner?

[The Economy, October 5th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, this will not be a happy Thanksgiving for many Canadian families because food prices are absolutely out of control, and the NDP leader just said that food inflation has outpaced inflation over the last 20 months, which is coincidentally the length of the Liberal-NDP coalition. What could be happening? The sad fact is this: Canadian families are having to make a hard choice between feeding their families and paying their rents.

Will the Prime Minister finally recognize the damage he has done to Canada and keep his promise so people can have an affordable Thanksgiving dinner?

[Carbon Pricing, October 4th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, I just want to perhaps put the words the member said the last time we debated this directly to him. He said that farm fuels are mostly fossil fuels and they are exempt from the carbon price. He said, “The member opposite mentioned grain drying. The farm fuel exemption applies to the gas that people use for drying grain as well. The spread of misinformation on that side is rampant.”

In fact, the only thing on a farm that is exempt from the carbon tax is purple gas. The member should know that. One does pay a carbon tax to dry grain. That causes an increase in the cost of grain. The fact that all the inputs on a farm, like fertilizer, which is subject to a carbon tax, come from oil and gas increases the price of food.

Will he just finally admit that the carbon tax is causing food inflation?

[Carbon Pricing, October 4th, 2023]

Madam Speaker, on September 20, I rose to ask a question about how the carbon tax is impacting farmers. The minister responded by suggesting that somehow the carbon tax will stop natural disasters, which occur in this country and all around the world. The fact of the matter is this: The carbon tax has not done that, and that is because we live in a global environment where the carbon emissions from other countries, such as the carbon emissions of China, impact whether or not there are large carbon emissions going on in the world.

There is no such thing as a carbon dome covering and protecting Canada so that somehow if we reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while countries like China continue to put out more than double our total output in their year-over-year increases, the carbon tax is going to protect us. It is not going to protect us, and in fact it makes the cost of everything more expensive.

Farmers at the International Plowing Match were telling me that this is a huge challenge. However, what makes it worse is that when I raised this question, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment suggested that farmers are exempt from the carbon tax and stated that they do not pay a carbon tax, even to dry grain. Then, when I suggested that he was wrong, he accused me of spreading misinformation. That is outrageous, because he is absolutely wrong. Farmers do pay a carbon tax to dry grain. Farmers do pay carbon taxes on all the inputs on the farm. The only thing they do not pay a carbon tax on is purple gas, which is exempt. However, the trucker who brings in that purple gas pays a carbon tax on the gas they use.

The parliamentary secretary is so woefully uninformed on his file that it is embarrassing. To accuse me of spreading misinformation when he did not know what he was talking about is deeply shameful, and the member should apologize.

If he spent five seconds talking to a farmer instead of blustering here in the House of Commons, he would know that farmers pay a carbon tax to dry grain. If they did not pay a carbon tax, why would Bill C-234 to eliminate the carbon tax from farm fuels be in the Senate? Why would the Parliamentary Budget Officer say that Bill C-234 would save farmers $1 billion?

The parliamentary secretary's lack of information and his audacity to accuse me of misinformation are exactly the reason we are in a mess in this country. The Liberals do not have a clue about what they are talking about.

[Affordable Housing and Groceries Act, October 3rd, 2023]

Madam Speaker, I am in agreement that we have to do more to get more houses built, but I think our plan is better. There is a great number of federal buildings that are underutilized. We should convert those units. I think our plan says we are going to allow 15% to be converted into housing, which is better than coming up with some random number and having the government build it.

Let us remove the gatekeepers, unleash the private sector, turn those buildings over and get them built into all kinds of units, like affordable rental units and other units. That is the path forward.

[Affordable Housing and Groceries Act, October 3rd, 2023]

Madam Speaker, it is amazing that all of this was predicted. The affordability crisis we find ourselves in, runaway inflation and high interest rates were all predicted by the Conservative leader.

It is actually a shocking amount of spending. The federal government, under this NDP-Liberal coalition, now spends $176 billion per year every year more than in 2015. I hear from constituents when they raise that issue, and I ask, “What in your life is better?” No one can answer that. All of this spending has really driven the affordability crisis and has not helped the vast majority of Canadians.