Peter Fragiskatos

[Finance, December 13th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, the member knows very well that, during the pandemic, the government provided loan support and other support for Air Canada to ensure its long-term viability. Part of that was buying shares in the company. It was never, though, the intention of the Government of Canada to hold on to those shares into the long term.

It made a sale yesterday, and it was a responsible one. Again, the question has been asked. The Minister of Health put it forward and the Minister of Labour put it forward. What would the Conservatives cut? What would they cut to ensure that the budget is, as they say, fixed? The Conservatives would cut dental care, child care and pharmacare supports. They do not care.

[Finance, December 13th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, we see more personal attacks today. Under the Minister of Health and under the Minister of Finance, we have seen a national dental care program put in place. Three million-plus Canadians have signed on, and over a million have received care. Many are seniors. In fact, seniors were the first to be offered care.

Are the Conservatives saying that, as part of this big, bold idea, more of a slogan, in fact, to fix the budget, they would get rid of dental care? That is exactly what they would do. When it comes down to it, as I have said throughout today, they do not care. They care about slogans, but they do not care about Canadians.

[Finance, December 13th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I repeat that Canada has the lowest debt and deficit in the G7. The PBO is coming out and affirming that we have a very fiscally sustainable situation. What would the Conservatives do? They would make cuts.

In fact the member, with all due respect to her, ought to listen to what the mayor of Kelowna recently said. The Conservatives are proposing cuts for housing; this would mean less money for Kelowna. In fact he is worried that because of the prospective cuts, Kelowna would have to increase property taxes and go into the reserves.

The Conservative plan is a plan to increase property tax.

[Taxation, December 13th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, let me commend the member, who comes from a proud family that built up a successful small business. She understands what the tax cut means for small business owners and also for Canadians who want to see savings, especially during the holidays. It begins this Saturday and extends into February.

What we hear with the Conservatives is sloganeering. Their leader is not too worried; he has a $2-million pension. He is not worried at all. Conservatives talk about tax cuts, but when it comes down to it, they are not in favour of them. They do not care.

[Housing, December 13th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, the member is right to talk about non-market housing. We do need more non-market housing options in this country. There has been, over the past few years, an enormous increase in exactly that. Eighty-seven thousand people who were on the street are now living in non-market housing. Close to 150,000 people who were going to be homeless have been housed as a result of the investments the current government has made.

We agree with the NDP that we need to do more, of course, but where we part company with the NDP is on the issue of market-based housing. We want to see more rental apartments for middle-income and lower-income Canadians. The NDP does not have a plan on that.

[Finance, December 13th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, the members opposite are very fond of quoting from the Parliamentary Budget Officer; it is their right. They can go one step further and actually look at what he recently said on the country's finances: We have a more than sustainable fiscal situation. If it were up to the Conservatives, that would reverse.

We know what the Conservative record is when it comes to running up deficits, but more importantly, to the point that has been raised, because they talk about families, what programs would they cut? They talk about the idea of fixing the budget. For them that means cutting, and they would cut dental care, pharma care, support for families across the board and pensions. They are not serious.

[Finance, December 13th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, throughout today, the Conservatives have launched personal attacks on the finance minister, who is responsible for, among other things, the Canada child benefit and who is responsible for, among other things, ensuring that child care is a priority in this country, moving toward $10 a day. What has that done for this country's economy? Among other things, 110,000 women have been able to re-enter the workforce because child care has now moved to an affordable level.

The Conservatives want to cancel that. They say all these things about families, but, in the end, they do not care about families.

[Finance, December 13th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, I know that this member is an honourable member, and I know that he cares about his community. A few weeks ago, I spoke with Peterborough's Mayor Jeff Leal, who is a good man. He cares about his community and is doing a great job in that city. I told him of the government's plan to invest over $10 million, through the housing accelerator fund, to build more housing. The Conservatives want to cut that investment, among others. Will the member join the other Conservative MPs who are advocating for the accelerator fund to ensure that more homes get built? I hope that he does; the mayor is asking.

[Finance, December 13th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, the member should expand beyond the Fraser Institute and look to, for example, what the International Monetary Fund has said, what other lead financial authorities have said in the business press and elsewhere, as well as the Parliamentary Budget Officer, which is that Canada has a very sustainable fiscal situation, with the lowest debt in the G7, the lowest deficit in the G7 and an AAA credit rating.

What do we see on the Conservative side? It is a plan to make cuts, including a plan to cut $10 million for housing in Peterborough, the member's community. What does he have to say to that?

[Housing, December 13th, 2024]

Mr. Speaker, in fact, what the Parliamentary Budgetary Officer's report revealed is that this federal government, for the first time in decades, is back in housing, making it a serious priority, reversing decades of cuts from previous governments; in particular, with all due respect, from Conservative governments.

The reality is that we have more work to do. However, we have seen through vital programs, which would be cut by that party, like the reaching home program, that 87,000 people have been lifted off the street and almost 150,000 people who would be homeless are not homeless because of our strategy on that. We will continue.