Mike Lake

[The Economy, February 25th, 2026]

Mr. Speaker, under the Liberals' new leadership, Canada's multifront economic crisis has gotten objectively worse. The Liberal Prime Minister himself promised the $62-billion deficit. Their own budget shattered that promise, adding $16 billion in new debt, and they have added billions more in recent weeks. Young Canadians are taking on record personal debt to pay the bill. According to RBC, “64% of Millennials are anxious about their financial future as monthly costs squeeze budgets”.

Which Liberal minister will stand now to explain to those young Canadians why they should take on more personal liability and stress to cover ever-increasing Liberal debt?

[The Economy, February 25th, 2026]

Mr. Speaker, less than a year ago, the Liberal election platform promised that the federal deficit would be limited to an already eye-popping $62 billion. That deficit exploded to $78 billion in the fall, with billions more added since. Our federal debt is now nearly two and a half times what it was just a decade ago. Meanwhile, the Toronto Star is warning this morning that Canadian household debt has risen to a record $2.6 trillion.

How have we gone, in just a decade, from a country with a balanced budget and the richest middle class in the world to a country where Canadians are taking on record personal debt to pay off the bills passed down to them by their own federal government?

[The Conservative Party of Canada, February 4th, 2026]

Mr. Speaker, 20 years ago, Canada elected a new Conservative government led by former prime minister Stephen Harper. The Harper legacy is one of true progress. It was a government that cut virtually every tax Canadians pay. It negotiated a record number of trade deals that are more critical now than ever. It navigated a global economic meltdown guided by the world-leading Harper-Flaherty economic action plan. It introduced the Muskoka initiative, widely recognized as one of the most impactful G7-G8 initiatives of all time. It launched life-changing programs, such as the registered disability savings plan and the ready, willing and able employment program.

By 2015, Canada had a balanced budget and, according to the New York Times, the richest middle class in the world. Today, that era may seem like a distant memory, but the story of our strong, principled, Conservative legacy offers Canadians hope for a better future, guided by another strong, principled, Conservative leader. We have done this before, and we can do it again.

[Finance, January 29th, 2026]

Mr. Speaker, I did not note an answer to the question there.

Earlier this week, CTV's Vassy Kapelos pointed this out to the Liberal House leader: “What you announced yesterday is more than $11 billion of additional government spending, but nobody from your government has said how you will pay for it.” As he does daily in the House, the House leader completely ignored the question, twice.

Now that he has had some time to think about it, will the House leader stand up and tell us where the billions of dollars will come from? Why was it not in the Liberal budget less than three months ago? What is the current budget deficit number the Liberal cabinet is now working with?

[The Economy, January 29th, 2026]

Mr. Speaker, less than a year ago, the Liberals were elected on a platform that included an already astounding $62-billion deficit and lower food prices for Canadians. That deficit grew to $78 billion in the fall. This week, the Liberals announced $12 billion in new spending to deal with the ongoing food inflation crisis they created. This is a massive bill that will inevitably be passed on to the next generation.

How have we gone, in just a decade, from a country with a balanced budget and the richest middle class in the world to a country that has to borrow from our kids to subsidize groceries for a quarter of our population?

[Business of Supply, January 27th, 2026]

Mr. Speaker, a few days ago, we celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Stephen Harper Conservative government. After a decade of being in power, the Harper government left with a balanced budget and what The New York Times referred to as the richest middle class in the world.

I would ask our hon. leader to reflect on what we did well under the Conservative government that led to those circumstances, which seem so distant now.

[The Economy, December 9th, 2025]

Mr. Speaker, I do not know the last time the hon. member was actually at committee.

Somehow the member talked about taking potshots. I do not know how he defines a potshot. I pointed out that he ran in an election in which his leader promised an already devastating budget deficit of $62 billion. We are talking about record-level budget deficits. Then, a few months later, the Liberal government put forward a budget with a $78-billion budget deficit. Somehow my comment was a potshot. I also asked the member to explain how the government can justify 100% of Via Rail executives' getting bonuses. He called that a potshot, but it is a fair question in a democratic society. It is a fair question for this time.

I hope the member will actually answer this question this time.

[The Economy, December 9th, 2025]

Mr. Speaker, today being a late show, I get a chance to follow up on a couple of questions I asked on November 3. Going back to that time, I asked questions, interestingly, about bonuses being paid to executives. Of course, the responses to those questions had nothing to do with the questions I asked at the time, so we expect we will get a chance to hear some of those answers today in the response from the parliamentary secretary.

In the questions, we talked about how every single dollar the Liberal government brags about spending comes from the pockets of hard-working Canadians in the form of higher taxes and inflation. While Canadians are lining up at food banks in record numbers, their own money is being used by the Liberal government to hand out hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses.

I raised the alarm that, for example, 100% of Via Rail executives received bonuses averaging $110,000 on top of their regular pay under the government, and I talked about that being incomprehensible and completely irresponsible. At the time, the Liberals were doing everything they could to force an election that nobody in Canada wanted, with a budget that was completely reckless. The budget actually came out the next day. We had some hints as to what was going to be in it.

The next day we found out that though the Prime Minister had promised a minuscule deficit of only $62 billion during the election campaign, instead, just a few months later, the self-proclaimed economic mastermind put forward a budget that was $78 billion in deficit. We went from $62 billion promised in the election campaign in April to $78 billion in a November budget. I raised the fact that it was incomprehensible to me that in this fiscal crisis we are in, 100% of Via Rail executives were able to get bonuses.

I pointed out in my second question that in 2015, The New York Times reported that Canada had the richest middle class in the world when the Liberal government came to power. We had a balanced budget when the government came to power. After that, the finance minister who put forward the budget was elected. I raised in my second question the fact that during an epic housing crisis, 99% of CMHC executives received bonuses averaging $43,000. I asked how that was okay.

We received no answers to those questions, no references at all to the level of bonuses executives were getting paid under the government. I hope after having had a month and a half to research this information, we will hear an answer now.

[Business of Supply, December 9th, 2025]

Madam Speaker, the hon. member talked about the Liberal decision to kill this pipeline back in November 2016. Of course, the biggest beneficiaries of that decision were Iran, Russia, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing countries around the world.

How important would this pipeline be in accruing benefit across Canada, instead of in those oil-producing dictatorships?

[Business of Supply, December 9th, 2025]

Madam Speaker, while members of the House may sometimes get confused when they see the two of us standing up, let us be assured we could not be further apart in terms of our views on this issue. This is probably more of a comment than a question, because I do not know where a question would even go. The comment would be that the wish list for my constituents, and probably his, would include the strongest health care in the world, the strongest education systems in the world and support for people who are vulnerable.

I would argue that the oil and gas sector in Canada has created untold billions of dollars in financing toward those things. The Liberal approach over the last decade of shutting down the oil and gas sector largely has not benefited the environment in any way. I do not think there has been any benefit to the environment, but I do think it has benefited the economies of Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and other oil-producing countries at the expense of our own systems and our own ability to fund important health care, social service and education services in Canada.