Lisa Raitt

[Budget Implementation Act, 2016, No. 1, May 5th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, in order to grow the economy and pay off the debt and deficits that the government is going to incur, the government needs to create jobs, and in creating jobs, it also needs people to fill the jobs. My question for the minister is very specific, and I want an answer to it.

Policy decisions need to take into consideration not only what the effect is in the short term, but also the impact on the workforce. I would like to know whether or not the minister or his department conducted a policy analysis on the Canada child benefit and what effect that will have on young women entering the workforce.

[Criminal Code, May 4th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I do apologize for using that language, but as members can see, it is an emotional topic and that is exactly why the Liberals should not be shutting down this debate whatsoever.

The reality is that Canadians who want to partake in a committee process by being witnesses need to understand the points of view that are expressed by their parliamentarians. This is a free vote for our party. This is an incredibly important vote. An opportunity must be had in order for people to understand the way in which people are going to vote. Why is the minister not giving us that opportunity?

[Criminal Code, May 4th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, to mirror what my colleague said, this is a matter of life and death for debate in this place. I do believe that the hon. minister should actually check herself when she said that everyone who wanted to have a chance to speak to this issue has had a chance to speak, because that is absolutely incorrect. The minister should apologize for those remarks because it is simply not true.

If the minister is going to base her arguments by spewing lies in this House of Commons, then she should absolutely be very careful in ensuring she has the facts before she makes assertions that are untrue.

[Finance, May 4th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I find it ironic that the member seemed to love what we were doing when he was the president of C.D. Howe; did he not?

The Liberal budget says the government remains committed to returning to balanced budgets, but on the next page of the budget it actually says that the balanced budget legislation enacted under the previous government is inconsistent with the government's plan.

I know they try it all the time, but Liberals cannot have it both ways. Is the Minister of Finance willing to admit their commitment to balanced budgets is just another broken Liberal promise?

[Finance, May 4th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance said that Conservatives are stuck in this whole balanced budget thing, but during the campaign, the Liberals promised that after running several small deficits, they would return to a balanced budget at the end of their term.

So much for the small deficits. That is one promise completely written off, but now we wait for that second promise of a balanced budget.

Does the Minister of Finance have any intention of honouring any of the promises that he made to Canadians, or is that just another thing?

[Finance, May 3rd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the finance minister also said yesterday that he was convinced that the Liberal Party was doing the right thing because it is making his children and his grandchildren better off. Now, I am happy for them, but I also worry about the other kids in this country as well, who may not be able to afford the high cost of the minister's borrowing. The minister may have just said that he is comfortable with the choices that he is making, but in reality he is going to be spending on the backs of our children.

What part of saddling our kids with billions and billions of dollars of debt is making them better off?

[Finance, May 3rd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, last week the Minister of Finance, when asked about the surplus noted in the “Fiscal Monitor”, said he did not want to focus on the issue. Yesterday in the House of Commons during question period, the minister actually laughed off the concept of restraint by lamenting that the Conservatives are stuck in this whole balanced budget thing. Recently, the National Post noted that this may be the first surplus that a finance minister does not want to talk about.

Therefore, my question for the Minister of Finance is this. What is so scary about being fiscally responsible?

[Presence in Gallery, May 2nd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I apologize that I seem to be stuck on this balanced budget thing, but I do have before me the “Fiscal Monitor”, published by the Department of Finance, which gives us to the end of the year up to March.

I wonder if we could table this in the House.

[Finance, May 2nd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals were indeed left $7.5 billion in surplus. That being said, their plan is to plunge us into billions and billions of dollars of debt. Interestingly enough, the Minister of Finance wrote a book. In his book he said that debt prevents you from doing things, such as sleeping well at night.

My question for the Minister of Finance is this. How is he sleeping at night?

[Finance, May 2nd, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, this is just a little recap from our constituency week.

Last week, Finance Canada announced that the federal government had a $7.5 billion surplus. It is the fourth time that officials at Finance Canada have actually confirmed that we left them with a surplus, and that is because of our strong fiscal management and the fact that we are prudent on balanced budgets.

When the finance minister was asked about this, he waved away the report and said, quite frankly, he is not focusing on that.

I think Canadians want him to focus on the numbers. My question for the finance minister is, when will you stop misleading Canadians on what the actual fiscal situation is?