Sylvie Boucher

[Business of Supply, April 19th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I cannot get over what I just heard my Liberal friends say. I would remind them that they still owe Canadians $40 million.

That being said, I totally agree with my colleague. Does she believe there was a perceived conflict of interest on the part of the Minister of Justice? Should the minister reimburse Canadians?

[The Budget, April 12th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for that excellent question.

Obviously, as a grandmother, I find this debt absolutely horrendous. This is not the Canada I want to leave to my grandchildren. With the Liberal budget that was recently tabled, all of the promised transparency is nowhere to be found either.

The Liberals are mortgaging future generations without considering the fact that tomorrow it is they who will have to pay for this government's unbridled spending. Quite simply, I will be voting against this budget, because for me as a grandmother, this is not the Canada that I want for my grandson.

[The Budget, April 12th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. I represent a rural constituency, but there is certainly a great need for social housing in the urban part. However, as we have seen, despite the $30-billion deficit promised by the Liberals, nothing has been done on this issue. Families are being ignored. Our regions are being ignored. We are asking the Liberal Party, the government, not to accept the budget, because it does not measure up to what Canadians were expecting.

[The Budget, April 12th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.

Historically, the biggest spenders have always been the Liberals. We succeeded in balancing a budget, and in Mr. Flaherty, God rest his soul, we had the best minister of finance.

[The Budget, April 12th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I have the privilege of rising in the House to speak to the budget.

On March 22, I listened carefully as the Minister of Finance presented this government's budget. The Liberals are using a line of credit without worrying about the limit. This is a far cry from their election promise to borrow a modest sum of $10 billion a year, which was completely ridiculous, in my opinion. That amount was set aside and replaced with an amount of no less than $30 billion for this year alone.

I am wondering whether Canadians think that a deficit of over $100 billion over four years is a modest deficit.

What is more, I was not at all surprised to learn that the Liberals had no plan to return to a balanced budget. That term has been deleted from the Liberal dictionary. The Liberals are promising to put our country into debt, but they have not presented any sort of plan or approach for putting an end to this spending spree.

Since we are debating the budget, I would like to remind the House that government budgets involve spending other people's money. The government members, on the other side of the House, seem to have all too easily forgotten that.

It seems as though the Minister of Finance closed his eyes, took a shot, and hoped to hit as many targets as possible. This is an unfocused, directionless budget.

The budget does not have a plan for how and when to return to a balanced budget. However, the government will make up the difference by increasing taxes for families, young people, and businesses.

This government should take some more time to think about the families in our ridings that are having a hard time making ends meet, paying their mortgages, and paying their grocery and other bills.

Families are already footing the bill for the Liberals' spending promises through increases in the costs associated with enrolling children in sports, arts programs, and post-secondary studies.

The Liberals abolished income splitting, the children's fitness tax credit, the children's arts tax credit, and the post-secondary education and textbook tax credits. While the Liberals are busy spending other people's money, it is easy for them to forget that they have access to all of this money as a result of the former Conservative government's policies, not their own.

We implemented targeted stimulus programs to help create and maintain about 200,000 jobs. We kept our promise to balance the budget, and we left the Liberals a $3.2-billion surplus. We lowered taxes to the lowest rates in 50 years and we put more money back into Canadians' pockets, while at the same time balancing the budget.

Unfortunately, instead of focusing on lowering taxes for Canadian families, this government is playing politics with family benefits. On top of that, the Liberal government will force the provinces to charge a national carbon tax that will cost Canadian families about $1,000 a year. This government is not helping to grow the middle class, and Canadian families will once again pay the price.

I also noticed that this reckless budget plan will only make government bigger and will do nothing to create jobs. There is nothing to help unemployed Canadians get back to work.

Small and medium-sized businesses are the pillars of our society and our economy, but there are no measures here to help them diversify or grow. These are the businesses that create jobs, and that is what Canadians really need right now. Those same businesses will have to foot the bill for the Liberals' spending spree.

During the campaign, the Liberals promised to cut small business taxes from 11% to 9%. Unfortunately, they got rid of that tax cut. The Minister of Small Business and Tourism even said that she would work closely with the Minister of Finance to keep their promise to reduce the small business tax burden.

The small business tax cut was undeniably a Liberal election platform promise in 2015. That promise was broken, as was the promise to cap the deficit at $10 billion.

Stability enables businesses to prosper. Budget 2016 means that the only thing businesses can be sure of is fiscal uncertainty. These businesses are important to our regions. It is clear to me that the government has completely abandoned them in this budget. There are precious few measures to foster job creation and development.

The government decided to build on the work of the previous government, our government, to renew the broadband connection program to promote digital access, but that is the only ray of hope here for our regions.

Here is an example of an initiative currently under way in my area. It is critical for the survival of our small businesses to make citizens aware of the impact of choosing to do their shopping close to home.

In my riding, in the Charlevoix area, there is currently a buy-local campaign, aimed at supporting our small and large businesses. I strongly support this campaign, because its goal is to boost our businesses with small, concrete measures, in order to preserve our stores close to home. It is this kind of initiative that we should encourage, in order to promote regional development. This is a good example to give the Liberal government.

The government has done away with aid to the regions of Quebec and Canada. It has failed to make the necessary effort to ensure the vitality of our regions, which are the economic heart of our country.

Unfortunately, it is not the only sector that the government has abandoned. With regard to official languages and la Francophonie, I am very disappointed in the government’s budget. There are no concrete measures to strengthen francophone and anglophone minority communities. In a country like ours, promoting bilingualism is important. I am disappointed that the government has turned its back on many of those communities.

In addition, as official opposition critic for la Francophonie, I was dumbfounded to see that there was no reference to Canada’s francophone partners in the budget.

At the last meeting of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie in Dakar, the partners adopted a resolution recognizing the important role that the private sector must play in implementing the economic strategy for La Francophonie, especially its components dealing with promoting French as a language of work and a driver of economic growth.

It is also important to strengthen co-operation with francophone regional economic communities in order to boost regional integration, which is a driver of market expansion, economic vitality and job creation. The government’s budget is a missed opportunity to pursue our commitment to la Francophonie. In my opinion, it was a good opportunity to do so.

To conclude, I would like to say that the budget ignores a number of sectors of our society, including families, small and medium-sized businesses, and official languages, despite the lovely promise of a deficit of more than $100 billion over four years.

[International Day of La Francophonie, March 21st, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take the time to point out that yesterday, March 20, was the International Day of La Francophonie. Since Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec in 1608, the French language and culture have been part of Canada's DNA from coast to coast to coast.

Today, over 10 million French-speaking Canadians have taken their place in the sun, and the international Francophonie gives them a forum where they can share their pride in their culture and their hope for the future with the world.

The Francophonie is alive and well in Canada and in every country. It is a driving force of economic development and innovation, and it helps bring people together throughout the world. I am delighted to know that francophones and francophiles across Canada and around the world joined together in celebrating the International Day of La Francophonie.

[Finance, March 8th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, this government recently crowed about fighting for the middle class. I have my doubts about that when I see the debt spiralling out of control. This spending is motivated by Liberal ideology and it is going to hurt our economy.

Can the Minister of Finance explain to Canadians how debt is going to make us better off?

[Finance, March 8th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, this government turned on the taps and is promising outrageous deficits. Canadian families know how tough it is to make ends meet, and they know that racking up credit card debt to put food on the table is not the right way to handle things.

Will the government cut up its credit card and stop mortgaging our children's future?

[International Women's Day, March 8th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, on this International Women's Day, I would like to celebrate the social, political, and economic advances made by women here and elsewhere that have made a difference in our everyday lives and in our society.

Whether they be daughters, mothers, career women, or informal caregivers, these women share with us their experiences and a small part of their lives and, through their actions, create unique opportunities to build a better future.

International Women's Day gives us the opportunity to recognize the achievements of women and think about the work that still needs to be done, particularly when it comes to combatting violence against women.

The first time I attended a meeting of the Network of Women Parliamentarians, I realized how important it is to raise awareness among men and to get them involved in putting an end to such violence.

It is essential to work together and continue to support these exceptional women who work day in and day out to—

[Alex Harvey, March 7th, 2016]

Mr. Speaker, I want to take a moment to congratulate someone from back home, cross-country skier Alex Harvey from Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges, on his performance at the Ski Tour Canada event that took place this weekend in Quebec City. Alex Harvey won a silver medal in the freestyle sprint in the third stage, and fourth place in the 15-kilometre pursuit race.

Alex is an outstanding athlete who has led Canada to unprecedented success in the sport of cross-country skiing. We cannot underestimate the perseverance and years of hard work it takes to prepare for this level of competition. Alex Harvey is a brilliant athlete and a credit to his region. His dedication to and love of cross-country skiing make him a role model for our society and our young people. He is the pride of our region. I wish him every success for the rest of this season and in the years to come.