Finance  Madam Speaker, a new Ipsos poll confirms how out of touch the NDP-Liberal government is with the reality of Canadian workers. We are in an affordability crisis. Canadians want a budget that addresses the high cost of living, not an ideological platform with higher taxes on basic necessities like food, transportation and heating.

Finance  That is the first time his name has been mentioned in the House, Madam Speaker. I was talking about Jean Chrétien. We have known Liberals like Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin who governed responsibly. What happened to the Liberal Party?

Taxation  Madam Speaker, it might be April 1, but the tax increases taking effect today are no joke. This morning, Canadians woke up to higher taxes on their gas, groceries and heating as the result of a 25% increase in the carbon tax. Everything that gets delivered by truck is going to go up.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I am very happy to have five minutes to talk about a very important issue: this government's approach to spending. It is 2022, but we need to look back in time a little. Back in 2015, the sunny ways era, this government made a campaign promise to run three small $10‑billion deficits and said that the budget would then balance itself.

Fisheries and Oceans  Mr. Speaker, wharves are the Trans-Canada Highway of our commercial fishery. Without them, there would be no fishery. They are a collective asset for the whole country, but the Liberals do not see the small craft harbours program that way. The Liberals see it as being just for Liberals.

Employment Insurance Act  Mr. Speaker, does the name Marie‑Hélène Dubé mean anything to you? For 10 years, she has been the voice of thousands of people, especially women, who are fighting serious illnesses like cancer under difficult conditions. They have had to deal not only with the illness, but also with the financial problems it causes because of the current limitations of Canada's Employment Insurance Act.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, my colleague is so unbelievably virtuous and knowledgeable about science. If we had not moved this motion today, we would not have even had the opportunity to debate the issue of vaccine mandates. On my side of the House, we think that scientists have the right answers.

Business of Supply  Mr. Speaker, logically speaking, if not for oil, we would be standing naked in the House of Commons. Oil is used for many things besides gas for our cars. We were lucky we had oil to get the goods we needed to fight the pandemic. That said, my colleague comes from Lac-Saint-Jean, an area far from major centres.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, my colleague and I have a totally different view of this. I do business. When I sell a product to someone, I try to sell it to them at the best possible price and under the best possible conditions. Inevitably, the tax or the surtax—I read it—proposed for banks, insurance companies and others will be passed on to consumers.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, our country's debt has doubled over the past six years. It took 150 years for the debt to reach $600 billion. Now it is over $1.2 trillion. The size of Canada's debt is almost inconceivable. We have to pay all that borrowed money back, and that affects the value of our dollar.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, what is true is that the government has spent $600 billion over the past six years. That is the reality, and no one can ever take that away from them. Unfortunately, they will be stuck with that legacy forever. That is why everyone is paying, and will continue to pay, more money in interest.

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, knowing the federal government, it will surely take thousands of people to change a “5” to an “8” on tax returns. In reality, the math is not as simple as it sounds. The money collected will have to be redistributed, but how will that be done and who will receive it?

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, I rise today to oppose this motion put forward by the NDP, the content of which borders on the ridiculous: It sounds like it was written by a 4th-grade student. We certainly agree that we are experiencing a cost of living crisis. There is no mistaking that. In fact, the Conservatives were the first to speak out against the skyrocketing prices Canadians have been and still are facing, whether it is the price of gasoline, groceries or other consumer goods.

The Economy  Mr. Speaker, for the past few days, the cost of gas in Rivière‑du‑Loup has been more than $1.85 a litre. The cost of groceries will jump by more than $1,000 over the next year. That has been announced. This year, costs are spiking everywhere, and I am talking about just those two things.

Health  Mr. Speaker, the tourism industry is still being affected by public health measures, and even replacing PCR tests with antigen tests will cost a lot of money for nothing because the tests still have to be certified by a health care professional. Canadians are not even taking short trips to the United States because they are worried about being exiled from their own country for 10 days or facing fines of up to $5,000.