Housing  Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague referred to what happened yesterday evening. While those difficult conversations were happening at the supper table, the Conservative leader was in the House, where I heard him rambling on and on for four hours. He talked about King Henry VIII and the difference between copper coins, silver coins and IPads, but I did not hear him talk about an economic plan for Canada.

Finance  Mr. Speaker, let us talk about balance. We have struck a balance between fiscal responsibility and compassion. What the Conservatives are proposing is austerity and cuts. Our government is offering a new grocery rebate. Our government is offering subsidies for dental care. Our government is proposing a low-income workers benefit in Canada to support and help workers.

Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1  Madam Speaker, I find it ironic that the Conservatives are talking about answering questions. Several times, we have asked the Conservatives what they are proposing by way of economic policy or what they are proposing by way of climate policy, and the answer has been silence. It has been silence on the other side.

Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1  Madam Speaker, I also deplore what is happening in the House. I would have liked to have a debate on the issues, including how we could help our seniors. We have already done a lot to support our seniors. We have increased old age security. There are other policies we could put in place, but we spend our time dealing with the Conservatives' partisan games, which is unfortunate.

Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1  Madam Speaker, indeed, here in this House we can also smell the smoke from the wildfires. It comes right into this chamber. I hear my colleague when he says he can smell it where he is in northern Ontario. I, too, found it deplorable that not a single Conservative participated in the emergency debate on wildfires.

Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1  Madam Speaker, I do agree that this is a not a partisan issue and I regret very much that it has become one in the House. There was a time when Brian Mulroney, a friend of mine, was a leader, the then-prime minister of Canada, a Conservative prime minister. He brought forward important life-changing reforms in order to make our planet greener, in order to fight climate change.

Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1  Madam Speaker, I appreciate my colleague opposite. I know him to be a learned member of the House. The simple fact is that a majority of Conservative Party members voted against climate action in the House. We know that the global environment has changed. There are challenges at the moment, but what the Conservatives are proposing are simply cuts.

Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1  Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question. I believe, if I understood it correctly, he is talking about getting serious. I could not agree more. It is time to get serious. The member pretends that he does not know who is to blame for these wildfires. I will tell him.

Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1  Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from the Bloc Québécois. Our government is proposing to give an organization the mandate to create the clean economy of tomorrow. This mandate will have very clear instructions attached. We are in government and we have the power to do it. We will do this not only in Quebec, but across Canada.

Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1  Madam Speaker, I am extremely pleased to participate in this evening's debate on Bill C‑47, which implements our government's 2023 budget. The budget sets out a host of measures for supporting Canadians and growing the Canadian economy of the future. That is our government's priority.

Canada Early Learning and Child Care Act  Madam Speaker, my colleague put a lot of emphasis on thanking those people who have helped get our government to this point. I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge that Paul Martin had proposed a national day care strategy. Unfortunately, that Parliament was dissolved by the opposition, and an election was called, which prevented us from moving ahead with it.

Business of Supply  Madam Chair, I am sorry to have interrupted my colleague. My colleague has already directly asked the minister a number of questions, even though we know very well that, in committee of the whole, we have to ask the question through the Chair.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, picking up on my last question with respect to Canada's electricity grid, I will say it is one of the cleanest in the world. We have been hard at work as a government. In the past year, we have seen many companies bringing historic investments to our shores like Honda, GM, Stellantis, Rio Tinto, Volkswagen and I could go on.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, I have another question. Quebec is a leader in fighting climate change and producing clean energy. Quebec's per capita CO2 emissions are 50% lower than the Canadian average. In fact, Quebec is the province with the lowest emissions per capita in all of North America.

Business of Supply  Mr. Chair, I am pleased to participate in this committee of the whole very late this evening. I would like to start by saying that, over the past year, Canada has had the strongest economic growth in the G7 and that the growth of our economy in the first two months of this year exceeded experts' expectations.