The Budget  Mr. Speaker, spending on machinery and equipment by businesses in Canada, and on research, development and innovation, has been falling as a share of GDP in Canada for many decades, in fact dating back to the large corporate tax cuts that Paul Martin introduced at the turn of the century.

Government Priorities  Mr. Speaker, documents revealed that this government does not track job creation from the billions in subsidies it gives to corporations. While Canadians struggle to pay rent and buy groceries, the Liberals, like the Conservatives before them, are shovelling billions of dollars each year to big business with no strings attached.

The Budget  Madam Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague for the powerful voice she brings to the House, not only on behalf of people in her constituency but on behalf of indigenous, Métis and Inuit people, and people representing many minority and marginalized communities in the country.

The Budget  Madam Speaker, it is an opportunity for us to say, and we are all parliamentarians here, that we have a duty to our constituents to elevate debate in the House and to speak accurately. Every time the Conservatives call it a coalition government or say we have been in power for nine years when those things are just not true does a disservice to this institution and it confuses Canadians and our democracy, and it needs to stop.

The Budget  Madam Speaker, in general, I agree totally with my hon. colleague. The seniors are the Canadians in this country who have, through their many decades of effort, toil, work and labour, built this country. It is a shame when we have so many seniors who are living paycheque to paycheque, often many beneath the poverty line, so we think there needs to be a comprehensive resolution to this issue.

The Budget  Madam Speaker, oil and gas has provided a lot of revenue to governments over the last decades. Oil and gas in and of themselves are wonderful products. They make flight possible and, in some cases, they provide the basis for pharmaceuticals, the plastics industry and those things.

The Budget  Madam Speaker, I have seen the numbers and I listened to the finance minister state that Canada is leading the G7 in foreign direct investment. I would turn my attention to domestic investment. I am not interested in having only foreign companies come into Canada to develop our economy.

The Budget  Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak to budget 2024 and to deliver my first speech in the House as the shadow minister of finance for the New Democratic Party of Canada. I am deeply honoured to assume this important position, and as I do so, I am reminded of the core economic objectives of a progressive political party in a modern democracy, the principles that have underpinned impressive results in many social democratic countries around the globe.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague, who I am pleased to serve with on the finance committee, spoke about jurisdiction in pharmacare. The Canada pharmacare legislation currently before the House would work exactly as the Canada Health Act does. It would offer federal money to every province that agrees to deliver diabetes-class and contraception drugs free to the citizens of their provinces through the single-payer public system.

The Budget  Madam Speaker, the member likes to talk about single moms, so let me talk about Brianna. Brianna is a single mom with five kids who benefited from the life-changing interim dental benefit that the NDP negotiated. She got $1,300 per child to help them get their teeth taken care of, just like the member's children do, from taxpayer dollars by the way.

The Budget  Mr. Speaker, New Democrats know that Canadians are facing a serious economic and climate crisis. Millions of people are struggling to make ends meet and are worried about the future of their children. That is why we have used our seats in the House to successfully press for meaningful relief and progress in this budget in numerous areas.

Progressive Intercultural Community Services Society  Mr. Speaker, I rise to bring to Parliament's attention the outstanding contributions of Progressive Intercultural Community Services Society of British Columbia and Canada. This superb social services society has been helping individuals in our communities for decades. I wish to congratulate it on the resounding success of its mega jobs fair, which was held recently in Vancouver Kingsway.

Pandemic Prevention and Preparedness Act  moved: That Bill C-293 be amended by deleting Clause 3. Madam Speaker, I rise today to speak to my report stage amendment to Bill C-293, the pandemic prevention and preparedness act. My amendment would delete clause 3 of the legislation for the simple reason that this section, if it were allowed to stay in the bill, would prevent the establishment of a transparent and independent review of Canada's COVID-19 response.

Questions Passed as Orders for Returns  With regard to the federal tobacco control strategy for fiscal year 2022-23: (a) what was the budget for the strategy; (b) how much of that budget was spent within each fiscal year; (c) how much was spent on each component of the strategy, specifically (i) mass media, (ii) policy and regulatory development, (iii) research, (iv) surveillance, (v) enforcement, (vi) grants and contributions, (vii) programs for Indigenous Canadians; (d) were any other activities not listed in (c) funded by the strategy, and, if so, how much was spent on each of these activities; and (e) was part of the budget reallocated for purposes other than tobacco control, and, if so, how much was reallocated?

Business of Supply  Madam Speaker, one thing the New Democrats agree with the Conservatives on is that it is always wrong when taxpayer dollars are wasted in unnecessary procurement. The structural problem here is a series of successive federal governments that contract out work instead of using the public sector to provide these services.