Randy Boissonnault

[Taxation, March 31st, 2023]

Madam Speaker, the Conservative opposition has a golden opportunity to support Canadians at a time of high inflation by supporting our budget. Conservatives have no record to stand on when it comes to taxes. When we lowered, not once, not twice but three times, taxes on middle-class Canadians, how did the Conservatives vote? They voted against. When we reduced taxes on workers, how did the Conservatives vote? They voted against. When we lowered taxes across the board, once again they voted against.

They have a phobia of us supporting Canadians. Thank goodness, we have got Canadians' backs.

[Taxation, March 31st, 2023]

Madam Speaker, I have said it in the House already this week, and I will say it again. We listened to Canadians, we worked with the industry, we worked with our Liberal caucus, which leaned in on this issue, and we are going to pause the escalator tax on beer, wine and spirits for one year at 2%. It was going to be less than a cent for a can of beer, and now it is going to be even less for a can of beer.

We are with the tourism industry. We are with this sector. We are going to support them. We have heard from Canadians. We made the right move.

[Employment Insurance, March 31st, 2023]

Madam Speaker, we have a great deal of respect for the workers in this country. We supported them during the pandemic. We take the entire EI system very seriously. The minister has been focusing on the modernization of the EI system.

We will continue this work and we will have a solid plan to respond to workers' needs.

[Carbon Pricing, March 31st, 2023]

Madam Speaker, what we must be clear about is that climate change has a cost for Canadians.

We all remember the wildfires in Fort McMurray. We all remember the floods in Calgary. We all remember the flooding that happened across the country.

We must fight climate change. Economists have said that the best mechanism in our system is a price on pollution to combat climate change. That is what we are implementing. We will fight climate change.

[Carbon Pricing, March 31st, 2023]

Madam Speaker, as my hon. colleague knows very well, the price on pollution does not apply in Quebec. Quebec is a leader in managing the clean economy.

Every time we have cut taxes for workers, the Conservatives have voted against it, whether it was a tax rebate for workers or a tax cut for Canadians.

With this budget, we already know that they are going to vote against workers. They are the ones voting against it, and we are the ones supporting Canadians.

[Climate Change, March 31st, 2023]

Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for her question. The fact of the matter is that the government has already invested over $100 billion in this country's clean economy.

In the budget tabled this week, we committed to increasing the country's clean electricity capacity. We are going to harness hydrogen as another source of clean energy.

We are here to build the economy of the future with Canadian workers, and we will continue to use—

[Employment, March 29th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. leader of the NDP for raising this question because we have done something in budget 2023 that is new and demonstrates leadership by our Liberal government. In the top investment tax credits, whether it is clean technology, hydrogen or the clean electricity grid, to earn the top credits, there needs to be labour participation. That labour participation needs to include apprentices. It will mean prevailing wages, as our labour partners asked. We are delivering for union workers, and we are delivering for Canadians.

[The Budget, March 29th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Hamilton Mountain for her hard work on the file.

The budget aims to ensure that Canadians have more money in their pockets and invest in the challenges that we are facing today. It delivers on affordability by making sure there is a new grocery rebate that will help 11 million Canadians. It stabilizes and invests in our health care system in the long term, and it makes transformative investments to fight climate change, to build the economy of the future and to support Canadian businesses. That is what budget 2023 is about: delivering for Canadians.

[Taxation, March 29th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, we have an income tax regime here in Canada and a tax system that requires all Canadians to pay their fair share.

Let us look at the budget announcements for Quebec. There is $447 million for Quebec through a health transfer top-up; $47.8 million over 9 years to redevelop the Bonaventure expressway; and new investments, meaning over $1 million, to protect French in Quebec.

We are meeting expectations, and the Bloc wants to pick a fight.

[The Budget, March 29th, 2023]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague opposite can look at the budget, right in the lines, and see very clearly that the deficit would continue to go down every single year for the next five years. In fact, this year's budget is lower than last year's budget, and all of this is happening amid great economic headwinds around the globe.

Canada has the lowest deficit in the G7. It has the lowest debt in the G7 and the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio in all of the G7. Those are the facts, and that is on our watch.