Randeep Sarai

[Budget 2025 Implementation Act, No. 1, November 20th, 2025]

Mr. Speaker, almost $2 billion a day goes back and forth between the U.S. and Canada. It is a robust economic agreement we have. Our goal is to take it beyond that and double our international trade so we are less reliant on the U.S. That will be our focus for the future.

[Budget 2025 Implementation Act, No. 1, November 20th, 2025]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is leading the charge with cabinet ministers and taking a team Canada approach with all these countries to expand our trade opportunities. This is to make the products that Canada needs to give to the rest of the world, and those that Canada needs to ensure we have sufficient, safe and reliable supply chains and have the ingredients to help build an affordable and industrious Canada.

[Budget 2025 Implementation Act, No. 1, November 20th, 2025]

Mr. Speaker, for far too long, we have been reliant almost exclusively on one market, which is the United States. It has been a wake-up call. However, Canada has been very fortunate. In the last 10 years, we have done numerous trade deals, like the CPTPP, CETA with Europe, and those with several South American countries. We are the only G7 country with a free trade deal with every G7 country.

In my role as Secretary of State for International Development, I get to go to many countries that are in the beginning steps of reaching free trade agreements or have just reached them. The opportunities are endless. I think Canada has to explore them, and Prime Minister Carney is leading a team and leading—

[Budget 2025 Implementation Act, No. 1, November 20th, 2025]

Mr. Speaker, we are investing heavily in clean hydro and electricity. We are investing heavily in critical minerals, which are the lifeline of batteries and EVs and the future of this country and the planet. These are the types of lifetime investments we are doing to enable Canada not only to be a leader in our legislation to curb emissions, control emissions and bring us to a net-zero climate, but also to bring the ingredients, manufacturing capacity and industrial capacity to lead that charge and be the fastest-growing economy in the G7.

[Budget 2025 Implementation Act, No. 1, November 20th, 2025]

Mr. Speaker, I was fortunate to go to the World Bank meetings in Washington recently. If we compare Canada to the rest of the world, whether it is our G7 partners, the OECD or other like-minded countries, there is no country with a better financial track record than Canada's. We are one of only two countries in the world that have a AAA credit history with Moody's and S&P Global. We were mentioned by the IMF, which said we had the best framework, along with Germany. If we look at inflationary pressures, we were also one of the best countries at reducing inflationary pressures after the Ukraine war and the COVID-19 pandemic began.

[Budget 2025 Implementation Act, No. 1, November 20th, 2025]

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Honoré-Mercier.

I appreciate the opportunity to rise to speak about this essential piece of legislation that would advance our government's plan to build Canada strong.

We are living through a moment of profound global change. The systems that have long underpinned our prosperity are being challenged, and Canadians are feeling the effects of those pressures on their everyday lives. Responding to those challenges requires meeting the moment with clarity and purpose, and budget 2025 is our plan to transform our economy to one that is stronger, more self-sufficient and more resilient to global shocks. Our plan would build on Canada's strengths, world-class industries, skilled and talented workers, diverse trade partnerships and a strong domestic market where we can be our own best customers.

Canada's new government is delivering an investment budget. We would spend less on government operations to invest more in workers, businesses and nation-building infrastructure that will grow our economy for the long term. At this time of intense global pressures, responsible leadership means focusing on what we can control, and budget 2025 reflects that reality.

Every department has had to make disciplined and sometimes difficult decisions so that we can keep our investments targeted, effective and sustainable. In my portfolio, this means focusing resources where Canada's impact is greatest: modernizing our tool kit, deploying Canadian expertise and working through new partnerships and innovative approaches to maximize the impact of public dollars and deliver meaningful assistance to vulnerable communities around the world. Across government, the resources identified through budget 2025 are critical to the generational investments in housing, infrastructure, defence, productivity and competitiveness that Canada needs to safeguard its future in a rapidly changing world. These would enable $1 trillion in total investments over the next five years through our focused public spending and stronger capital investment.

We are creating an economy by Canadians for Canadians and the budget implementation act is a key part of this work. From building more homes and expanding clean electricity to upgrading the infrastructure that growing communities rely on every day, this budget would deliver investments that will shape Canada's future for decades to come. For instance, the new building communities fund would support provinces, territories and municipalities as they strengthen the roads, water systems, transit and health facilities that underpin a strong economy. A dedicated $5-billion health infrastructure fund would help ensure hospitals, emergency rooms, urgent care centres and medical schools in communities like mine and across the country have the health infrastructure required to meet the needs of Canadians. I encourage provinces and territories to seize these opportunities to invest in the infrastructure essential to building the strong foundation our economy needs.

However, building a strong foundation for our economy also requires a tax system that rewards investment, accelerates innovation and strengthens Canada's competitiveness. That is why the budget implementation act advances a focused tax strategy to supercharge productivity and attract new capital. It would introduce a productivity superdeduction, enhancing incentives that would allow businesses to immediately write off a larger share of new capital investments, helping them invest and grow. This would include the reinstated accelerated investment incentive and a 100% first-year writeoff for investments in manufacturing and processing equipment, clean energy technologies, zero-emission vehicles, productivity-enhancing assets, and scientific research and experimental development.

Our government knows that innovation and scientific discovery are the foundation of long-term economic growth. Science fuels innovation and innovation fuels productivity, helping Canada stay competitive in a fast-changing global economy. That is why we would also strengthen the scientific research and experimental development tax incentive program by increasing expenditure limits, restoring the eligibility of SR and ED capital expenditures and expanding eligibility to more Canadian firms. All told, these additional government investments of $440 million on an ongoing basis are expected to generate near $1.2 billion in economic output each year, about a three-time return for Canada's economy.

To provide certainty for business investment decisions, we are also proposing enhancements to existing investment tax credits to expand eligibility and extend the availability of select tax credits. This includes improving our suite of clean economy investment tax credits and expanding eligibility of the critical mineral exploration tax credit to include an additional 12 essential minerals.

In addition to ensuring that Canada has the right incentives to attract investment and grow our economy, we need to ensure that we are not putting ourselves at a disadvantage. The budget implementation act also proposes to eliminate or modify tax measures that have proven to be inefficient, costly to administer and challenging for Canadian industries at a time of ongoing global economic uncertainty.

To provide relief to the aviation and boating industries and to streamline the luxury tax framework, we are moving forward with ending the luxury tax on aircraft and vessels as of the day after budget day. To simplify Canada's tax system and reduce compliance costs for taxpayers and governments, and in light of existing measures like the federal foreign buyer ban and municipal and provincial vacant home taxes, we are moving forward with eliminating the underused housing tax as of the 2025 calendar year.

The legislation being debated today is full of measures to drive growth, support workers and build a more resilient Canadian economy. It also includes measures that could help build more affordable homes, fight financial fraud and put more money in the pockets of Canadians. We are able to do all this by spending less on operations so that we can invest more in Canada, enabling the government to direct federal spending forward, enhancing productivity and strengthening capital formation, as reflected in many of the measures I have highlighted today.

The budget positions our country for the long term. It invests in the homes, infrastructure and opportunities Canadians need, and it ensures that Canada remains a steady, reliable partner in an uncertain world. As we build a stronger and more resilient Canada, we will continue to stand for humanitarian leadership, for meaningful international partnerships and for a Canada that is secure at home and respected abroad.

This legislation turns the ambitions of budget 2025 into concrete action, and I urge all members to support it so that Canadians can begin to reap the benefits of building Canada strong.

[Ways and Means, November 17th, 2025]

Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 83(1), on behalf of the Minister of Finance and National Revenue, I would like to table, in both official languages, a notice of a ways and means motion to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on November 4, 2025, and other measures.

Pursuant to Standing Order 83(2), I ask that an order of the day be designated for consideration of this ways and means motion.

[Foreign Affairs, November 4th, 2025]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2) and consistent with the policy on the tabling of treaties in Parliament, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the treaty entitled “Amendments to the Agreement Establishing the African Development Fund”, adopted by the Board of Governors of the African Development Fund on May 23, 2023.

[Disaster Assistance, November 3rd, 2025]

Mr. Speaker, hurricane Melissa has left heartbreaking devastation in its wake. We stand with the people of the Caribbean in this moment of crisis.

Last week, we announced $7 million in emergency relief, allowing partners to scale up the delivery of food, water, health services and other essential aid. This builds on long-standing work to strengthen disaster preparedness in the Caribbean and support for the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund, which released an additional $8 million in assistance. This weekend a Canadian team was on the ground in the Caribbean and assessing what more Canada can do.

[Bail and Sentencing Reform Act, November 3rd, 2025]

Madam Speaker, it is imperative that all three levels do. We have to remember that, in Canada, it is the local, municipally governed police or the RCMP in that jurisdiction that have to do the investigation and catch the culprits. It is the provinces that have to press the charges and control the prosecution. They must make their efforts and we must make the laws.

We are doing our part. We ask that the provinces and municipalities do theirs.