Randy Boissonnault

[Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2022, December 6th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, what is important in Bill C-32, the fall economic statement, is the fact that we have put money down on our deficit to have the lowest deficit in the G7. We are investing billions of dollars to make sure that we have a clean tech sector, a hydrogen sector and good labour provisions to make sure there are good-paying jobs.

We are talking about making sure that people can buy their first homes, eliminating the interest on student loans and apprentice debts, and making sure that small businesses in the member's riding, in my riding and ridings across this country can grow and have their taxes reduced, so we do not see them pack up and go to another country.

This is an important piece of legislation. The Conservatives are objecting to the short title of the bill. That is a very clear signal that it is time for us to move to the vote.

[Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2022, December 6th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I would like to begin by telling my colleague from Shefford just how deeply I was touched by her observations this morning. I thank her for her comments.

Regarding Bill C‑32, we need to focus on democracy and meeting Canadians' needs when it comes to building the economy, putting Canada in a very strong fiscal position and providing support to Canadians who need it.

We have already had 27 hours of debate and 140 speeches on Bill C‑32. We will be spending more time on it and hearing more speeches about it today and throughout the week. Implementing the support measures in this bill is essential to the economy, to our fiscal position and to Canadians.

With that, we are here because we are ready to vote.

[Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2022, December 6th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I respect the NDP members and thank them for supporting this bill.

My colleague is absolutely right. This bill will help growing companies lower their tax bill. We will eliminate interest on student and apprentice loans. We will also help Canadians buy their first home. We are going to make significant investments in the economy akin to those in the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act.

It is time to take action. The game plan is consistent across the continent. That is why we need to take action and vote in favour of Bill C‑32.

[Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2022, December 6th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I respect my colleague from Foothills. We were both attending Agribition and related events in Regina this past weekend to make sure rural Canadians know they have our support, both from the government side and also from the opposition side. Of course the opposition should oppose. That is its function, and as a democrat and as a parliamentarian I respect the work of all the opposition parties.

What is perplexing to me is why the opposition would hold up a bill that is so important to the functioning of our economy and to getting help to the Canadians who need it the most, over the issue of the short title of the bill. Certainly there is more substance, and to the substantive question my colleague from Foothills and my colleague from Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan asked, we are going to read the Auditor General's report in detail. We will respond and take the advice from the Auditor General, but I know that what this government did during the pandemic kept 60,000 people working in the energy sector alone. It helped millions of people.

Yes, the Conservatives supported us; they also voted against some of the measures. We prevented a depression on the scale of the one in the 1930s. It was the right thing to do, and we will take the Auditor General's advice very seriously.

[Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2022, December 6th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for rural development for her passion and her work on restoring the livelihoods and the infrastructure in her home province of Newfoundland and Labrador and across the region. Having been in Charlottetown and Halifax just last week, I can tell members the scale of the rebuild is like nothing we have ever seen before, and it is going to take us as a country and businesses from across the country to help people to rebuild.

How are they going to get the financing? We have the disaster finance agreement in place, with $300 million we have already put on the table, but the reason we need to get this bill passed is that we put $1 billion in. The people I spoke to are counting on that financing so that they can be ready not just for the tourism season this summer, but to rebuild their lives. We need this money to go out. We need the supports to be in place. That is why we need to get to a vote.

[Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2022, December 6th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, with all due respect to the Bloc Québécois whip, I have never been accused of being worn out or lacking energy. The same is true of our government. It is not a question of managing the House. It is a question of providing Canadians with the support they need.

When the Conservatives obstruct proceedings with a dilatory motion to oppose the short title of a bill because there are no other objections they can make to this bill that will provide support to Canadians, rebuild the economy and reduce deficits, I think it is time to move on.

We are grateful for the co-operation of the Bloc Québécois and the NDP. It is time to put an end to dilatory motions and to vote on the bill.

[Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2022, December 6th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I wonder if the member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan would like to talk to all the people in his riding who got CERB benefits or CEBA loans and were able to get through the pandemic, and if he would then say it was irresponsible spending. I wonder if he would be prepared to do that.

Quite frankly, we are seeing a primary contrast in this House. When we support Canadians, the Conservatives say it is a waste of money. We are investing in Canadians. We got them through the pandemic. We did the right thing. We got supports to people who needed them the most.

If we are talking about getting to the fall economic statement, and if the Conservatives would actually have substantive debate on the issue, perhaps we could continue, but their number one objection is to the short title of the bill. It is absurd; it is dilatory, and we need to move on and get supports to Canadians.

[Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2022, December 6th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, not only are we talking about growing the economy, but we are also going to pay down our deficit. We will have the lowest deficit in the G7. We have the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio.

The supports that are in here are real supports to help people to buy their first home, to make sure businesses can save money and to make sure we speed up the benefits for workers. We are also going to make sure that if companies have enough wealth that they think they can buy their shares back, they are going to pay a 2% tax to the country. If they do not want to do that, they can invest in the economy and grow the economy, which would be good for my colleague's riding, for my riding and for ridings across this country.

[Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2022, December 6th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, quite frankly there are small businesses in the member's riding, in my riding and in the ridings of the Conservatives, the Bloc, the Greens and the New Democrats that want to keep growing and want to make sure they are going to get some tax relief when they do.

There are families looking forward to saving money so they can put it into a new savings account for their first home, but they cannot do that unless we vote and pass this law on to the next stage, unless we get to vote on Bill C-32.

We are talking about making sure that hydrogen investments, clean-tech investments and the good labour agreements we need to build the economy for the future get passed into law. We are talking about billions of dollars of investment into our country. That is what is at stake. That is why we need to get to a vote.

[Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2022, December 6th, 2022]

Madam Speaker, I too would like to see this place be a place of fulsome and focused debate, but we are talking about an objection by the Conservatives, who are using the dilatory tactic of opposing the short title of the bill. That is like having a new medicine ready to go out to people and stopping production because they do not like the name of the medicine. It is absurd.

We are talking about 27 hours of debate, 140 interventions and $1 billion that needs to get to Atlantic Canadians to help them recover from Fiona, on top of the $300 million already put into the system for Atlantic Canadians. I am for fulsome debate, but not for dilatory tactics. Canadians need these supports. That is why we need to get to a vote.