Madam Speaker, it is always an honour to rise on behalf of the residents of Kelowna—Lake Country.
I rise today to discuss the Liberal government's two-month temporary tax trick, which looks like it was written on the back of a napkin as a knee-jerk reaction to seeing some new poll. Canadians are smarter than that. Residents in my community, and all Canadians, expect better policies to make basic necessities, such as food, fuel and housing, more affordable and to address the causes of cost increases. The measures the Liberals have proposed would not address the causes of affordability or bring sustainable cost reductions. Many people and businesses are struggling after nine years of the costly Prime Minister and his partners in the NDP.
We have to wonder how the Liberals came up with this out-of-the-blue policy, which would be implemented literally just before Christmas, on the evening of Friday the 13th, no less. The Liberals do not have a one-for-one rule like that the Conservatives have proposed. The one-for-one rule is when, for every dollar spent, we need to find a dollar of savings, or for every dollar less in revenue, such as this Liberal measure, we need to find a dollar of savings. This is how households and small businesses operate. This is the principle used for the Conservative commitment to remove the GST on new home sales under $1 million to bring savings to home builders and families. Conservatives were transparent in how this reduction in federal revenue would be offset.
The Liberal government does not operate or create policies like this. The measure we are debating today is not a tax cut and would only be inflationary, but the Liberals do not want to talk about that. Conservatives have real tax cut plans that would lower costs and spark production.
It is also unbelievable how much Canada will be spending on servicing our debt. Our children and grandchildren will be paying for it. It is clear that the Prime Minister has a spending problem. He also has no clue about fiscal responsibility. He stated that budgets would balance themselves and that he does not think about monetary policy. His latest statement is that bankers will look after the economy.
On addressing the rampant unaffordability we are seeing across the country, the measures we are debating today would not be a permanent solution. We know how bad things have gotten for Canadians after nine years of the Liberals being propped up by their NDP partners. The Liberals do not think Canadian families are struggling. They think that this is just in their heads and they are having a bad vibe. Statistics Canada figures show that food prices have increased by 35% since 2015. Grocery prices have jumped by 20% over the past three years alone. Food prices have risen 36% faster in Canada than they have in the United States.
This gap can be said to have started when the Liberals introduced a carbon tax. This has increased costs throughout the agriculture and agri-food supply chain. These rising costs, which have not increased this dramatically since the 1980s, will see families having to spend $700 more on food this year than they did in 2023. The price of gasoline has also soared. Housing unaffordability has also risen to levels not seen before, with housing, rent and mortgage costs all doubling since 2015. This is real. This is not just in Canadians' heads and it is not just a bad vibe, as the Liberals believe.
One thing with this temporary tax trick is that it picks winners and losers, this product over that product, rather than lowering the cost of everything. This Liberal measure does not acknowledge everyone's place in life or that their priorities are different. Another problem with this temporary tax trick is exactly that: It is temporary. It will not help address the causes of affordability over a longer time frame, and it is not addressing costs of basic necessities such as nutritious food, fuel or housing.
This measure will also not help hedge against the impending almost 19% carbon tax increase that will hike the costs of food, fuel and housing. That is right. On April 1, the Liberal government, supported by the NDP, will increase the carbon tax again. Over the next few years, it will increase to a whopping 61¢ per litre.
Even worse, to add insult to injury, the excise tax is also set to automatically increase on April 1, and this is on liquor. Again, the Liberals are giving a slight, temporary tax reprieve so Canadians forget that they will be increasing those taxes in just a few months. These April Fool's Day tax increases are not a joke. They are real.
Another thing the Liberals want to divert Canadians' attention away from is how the Canadian dollar continues to drop. It is now hovering around 70¢ compared to the U.S. dollar. The Canadian dollar is the lowest it has been in five years. This will make buying everything from the U.S. more expensive, whether it be a new refrigerator or food sold in Canadian grocers that came from the U.S. That is a lot of products, including everything from fruits and vegetables to cereal, which households, restaurants, senior homes, care centres, hospitals, day cares and everywhere else all buy. However, the Liberals and the NDP do not want us talking about that.
They also do not want us talking about the fact that there is GST on the carbon tax, a tax on a tax, which is so wrong. Last winter I had many residents send me screenshots of their home heating bills, asking why GST was charged on the carbon tax. I just responded to another constituent asking about this the other day. On the measure we are debating today, one resident wrote to me saying, “We don't want the added burden of debt. We want real change.”
I also have a message from a local business retailer in my community. I need to paraphrase what he said because I cannot use that type of language here in the House of Commons. He is a merchant, and he said that the Liberals have “no clue” how much of a huge administrative and costly effort these temporary tax changes on select items is going to be. His staff and customers are already confused.
Businesses and organizations from across the country have also offered critiques of these Liberal measures. The director of the Huron Chamber of Commerce stated the government has “downloaded the administrative cost of this tax cut onto small business owners - and it's going to cost hundreds, if not thousands of dollars”. The Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce CEO stated that these measures will be “very onerous for small businesses”. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business stated that these measures “may add confusion and complexity for general retailers with both taxable and new exempt items.” They went on to state, “Canadians need permanent, not temporary tax relief.”
Ian Tostenson, the president of the B.C. Restaurant and Food Services Association, said that the tax relief will likely have little effect in stimulating the restaurant economy. He said, “If you look at a restaurant bill of say $100, you’re talking here about saving $5. I don’t think that people are going to rev up their cars and head out for that, I really don’t”. He continued, “I think it's a misguided policy”. As described in an article, rather than a limited GST reprieve, “he'd like to see governments do more to increase consumers' disposable income, so dining out is back on the table.”
It has been reported that a “co-owner of Orca Dynamics, which provides point-of-sale products and services to businesses on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, said it’s a 'hellscape' out there for retailers who will have to deal with a tax change on top of their regular work.” He said, “It’s going to cost a merchant a lot of labour hours to go through all these products to exempt the GST for just a few months of transactions.... The maintenance side of this is a nightmare, a living nightmare.”
In closing, I want to describe what bringing home the promise of Canada would look like. It would mean lowering the cost of heat, housing and gas. It would mean lowering the cost of food so Canadians can afford groceries. It would mean having a long-term impact on the ability of Canadians to afford what they need.
Let us axe the carbon tax on everything for everyone, forever. Let us axe the tax and bring home affordability for all Canadians. I have no confidence in the government. Let us call an election now so Canadians can decide.
