Wayne Long

[Business of Supply, June 9th, 2025]

Mr. Speaker, I will not resign on that, but I will certainly withdraw that. It is all in good humour. Again, for people who are watching this on TV, obviously members go back and forth, and the rhetoric gets high, but there are also a lot of friends on both sides of the aisle here. I appreciate the good-hearted comment.

Let us talk about some economic facts. I know the party opposite likes to talk about food inflation and how prices are high, and it is easy easy to cherry-pick 10 items. I know beef has been listed a lot. I used to work for a company called Canada Packers, which sold beef. Beef, historically, is always high at this time of year, for what that is worth.

I think turkey prices have come down. I remember the former leader of the opposition talking about these multi-hundred-dollar turkeys. I bought a turkey at our grocery store here two weeks ago; it was $29.

Let us talk economic facts. Inflation, two years ago, was at 8.7%, and oh my gosh, the whole way up, it was our fault. There was this little thing called COVID. There was inflation in basically every country around the world, but it was our fault. It was our government's fault that inflation was happening. In two years, we have brought that down from 8.1%, I believe, to 1.7%. It is below the Bank of Canada's target rate.

Do we have a lot of work to do? Absolutely. Have prices come down like we want them to? No, they have not, but our economy is showing signs of life. We have a AAA Moody's credit rating. Workforce participation is 65.3%. In the U.S., it is 62.5%. There are a lot of good things happening in our economy. Real GDP just rose by 2.2% in the first quarter, surpassing expectations.

Look, there is nobody on this side of the House, there is nobody in the House, who is not saying we have more work to do as a party, as a government, as MPs. Do we need to hold grocery stores more to account? Absolutely we do, but our economy is growing, and our economy is going to thrive again under the leadership of our Prime Minister.

At door after door after door, people wanted our Prime Minister to lead this country. I think it goes without saying, with his economic background, his economic strength. They compared the two leaders. Straight up, they compared the two leaders, and they chose our Prime Minister. Sadly, the former leader of the opposition could not even hold his own riding.

Our economy is going to continue to grow. Right now, our government's main laser focus is to deliver for Canadians. We have moved forward with the plan to bring down costs so Canadians can keep more of their paycheques to spend where it matters the most. What I am talking about is the middle-class tax cut, effective July 1. It is going to have an impact on 22 million Canadians, saving families up to $840 a year.

We want Canadians to have more money to put back in their pockets. It was a great idea. I am glad the Conservatives have joined us in helping us move that legislation forward. This is because the majority of relief on this tax cut is going to go to Canadians with incomes in the lowest two tax brackets, which is to say those with taxable incomes under $114,750 in 2025.

Within that group of hard-working Canadians, nearly half of the tax savings would go to those in the lowest tax bracket, which is to say those who earn $57,375 or less in 2025. We can deliver these tax savings to Canadians expeditiously because, with the announcement of our middle-class tax cut, the Canada Revenue Agency has updated its source deduction tables for the July to December 2025 period so that pay administrators are able to reduce tax withholdings as of July 1.

That is a government of action. That is a government that is responding to Canadians' needs. Sometimes, when I listen to the members across, I would not think we had a throne speech just two weeks ago. I would not believe we were elected to government just on April 28.

We want to make sure that our budget is accurate. We want to make sure that we take the time. There is absolutely no doubt that when we deliver our budget in the fall, it is going to be accurate, it is going to be serious and it is going to be delivered by one of the best finance ministers we have had, Minister Champagne.

[Business of Supply, June 9th, 2025]

Thank you for the comment on the tie, from across the House. I appreciate that. I had to go buy some new ties for my new role.

First and foremost, Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate you in your new position. I also want to congratulate all new members, on both sides of the House. To new members, enjoy this experience; it is a privilege to be in this House. I know everybody comes here with the best intentions, to work for their constituents and represent them in this beautiful place. Congratulations to everybody on both sides of the House.

I will say just a few words about my wonderful riding, Saint John—Kennebecasis. It used to be called Saint John—Rothesay but is now Saint John—Kennebecasis. It comprises Saint John, the beautiful town of Rothesay and now the town of Quispamsis, so I have three communities in my riding, and they sent me back with a very strong mandate. If someone had told me in 2014, when I was president of the Saint John Sea Dogs Hockey Club, that I would be a four-term member of Parliament, up here almost a decade, I would have said they were crazy, but here we are.

The riding, under our government, has flourished. Port Saint John is, I think, the fastest-growing port, certainly in Canada right now, for containers. It is an economic stimulus for the region. The port's containers went from 90,000 TEUs, container equivalents, to now almost 250,000, projected to go up to 800,000 in the next few years. The port's growth is nothing short of amazing. We have DP World, CPKC and Americold, which is building a cold storage facility. The port is providing hundreds and hundreds of amazing jobs for our community.

The port's growth would not have happened without our government's investment. It has invested in phase 1 of the redo of the west side terminal and over $200 million in both phases. It is a classic example of how government investment, the investment of taxpayers' dollars, can create private industry and business coming in. Because of that investment, DP World came in; we have gone from two cranes to six cranes. Because of that taxpayer investment, CPKC now calls on the port of Saint John, and Americold is building a 50,000-square-foot storage facility. It is a classic case, through trade corridor, of how government investment can help a community and create economic growth.

Saint John—Kennebecasis sent me back. I am privileged to be here, four times. I know it is frustrating for the members opposite. Some of them have been sitting over there for almost 10 years now. I understand their frustration, but guess what. I have always said this: Elections are job interviews. That is what they are. We, I,Prime Minister Carney and the former leader of the opposition Pierre Poilievre, are literally putting our resumes out to our constituents—

[Business of Supply, June 9th, 2025]

Mr. Speaker, good morning.

[Finance, June 6th, 2025]

Madam Speaker, let us look at facts. Members of the party opposite voted against the school food program; they would not support children who needed food in schools. They do not support families, they would not support young mothers and they do not support Canadians who need dental work. They do not support very much that supports Canadians.

It is time for all Canadians to come together. I wish the party opposite would do the same and vote for our initiatives.

[Finance, June 6th, 2025]

Madam Speaker, let us look at some facts. In 2022, inflation was 8.1%. We have driven that down, per our policies, to 1.7%. Members of the party opposite hold themselves up as strong economic stewards. They are not. Under their previous governments, our economy failed.

We are going to aggressively rebuild our economy back by investing in Canadians. It is time for all Canadians to come together.

[Finance, June 6th, 2025]

Madam Speaker, we have watched the party opposite vote against every one of our initiatives that have helped families across the country from coast to coast to coast, whether it be the Canada child benefit, the dental program, the day care program or housing initiatives. The party opposite has not done one thing to support families across the country, so shame on them.

[Employment, June 6th, 2025]

Madam Speaker, we stand with the families who are impacted by unjust, unfair and illegal tariffs to the south of us. We stand with those businesses.

We are a government of action. We have just advanced legislation to cut taxes for 22 million Canadians, we are lowering the carbon tax, and we are lowering the taxes on first-home homebuyers.

[Housing, June 5th, 2025]

Mr. Speaker, I am blessed to have the opportunity to answer questions in the House, but the member opposite would have a lot more credibility if he had not voted against the rapid housing initiative, the federal co-investment fund and the housing accelerator fund that his community wanted.

The Conservatives hold themselves up as stewards of housing. They are not. They voted against every housing initiative that we put forward to help Canadians.

[Finance, June 2nd, 2025]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have voiced very clearly who they think should be running and leading our economy.

Listening to the member opposite, we would not think we just had an election on April 28 and a throne speech last week. The budget will come in due time. Our Prime Minister is regarded, I would argue, as one of the top economic minds in Canada.

We do have a plan. His Majesty said, during the Speech from the Throne, “In all of its actions, the Government will be guided by a new fiscal discipline: spend less so Canadians can invest more.” He also said we “will balance its operating budget over the next three years by cutting waste, capping the public service, ending duplication, and deploying technology to improve public sector productivity.”

We will deliver the details of our plan in the fall via a detailed, comprehensive, effective, ambitious and prudent federal budget.

[Finance, June 2nd, 2025]

Mr. Speaker, I want to congratulate the member for Newmarket—Aurora. Being in the House is a privilege, and I encourage her to enjoy every day. I have been privileged to be here since 2015, through four elections, and I know the excitement of being here. I know it is a big machine here in Ottawa, but I congratulate her for her win.

This is the first time I have risen in the House this Parliament, and I want to thank the wonderful constituents of Saint John—Kennebecasis for returning me here for the fourth time. I certainly want to thank my campaign manager, Kevin Collins, and I want to thank the wonderful staff, the wonderful team, I have in Saint John, with Jeannette McLaughlin and Don Darling making sure things are very well taken care of on the home front.

Let me list some facts. Inflation is down from 8.1% in June 2022 to 1.7% now. The Conservatives, at every step up, said that it was our fault, yet now that inflation is down to below the Bank of Canada's target rate, I guess we do not get any credit for that. Canada right now has an unemployment rate of 6.9%. Labour force participation is at 65.3%, which is well above the U.S. number of 62.5%. We have a AAA credit rating and the lowest debt and deficit in the G7. The list goes on and on.

Sometimes I wonder why the Conservatives hold themselves as the major economic stewards of our economy. It was their government, prior to the Liberals, that ran nine straight deficits. They basically made a mess of our economy through regressive policies.

As Liberals, we believe in growing a strong economy. We believe in investing in Canadians. As Liberals, we believe that government has a role to play in people's lives, whether it is with the Canada child benefit the Conservatives voted against, the child care the Conservatives voted against, the dental care the Conservatives voted against or the wonderful housing programs and housing initiatives, such as the co-investment fund, the rapid housing initiative and the housing accelerator fund, which the Conservatives voted against. The Conservatives voted against each and every one of those initiatives, which have been proven to help Canada.

We will do the right things to build our economy, rebuild our economy and make our economy the greatest economy in the G7.