Finance  The government is putting bankers ahead of nurses and orderlies. Some two million Canadians are using food banks every month, including more and more middle-class families. Children are asking Santa for boots and snowsuits to keep them warm, rather than toys to play with. Will the Prime Minister finally understand that it is time to put an end to his inflationary policies that increase the price of everything?

Canada Labour Code  The reality is that working people do better when unions are present and laws provide for a level playing field for negotiation. The middle class counts because of organized labour and people working together. I am hoping the Liberals have finally been convinced to vote for the legislation. I salute that. I understand that the Bloc will be voting for it.

Canada Labour Code  Since the days of Confederation, unions have gone on to build and shape the economy as we know it today. In fact, the middle class, weekends, and maternity and parental leaves were created by unions. A union job promises a living wage that supports families and communities; it is permanent and helps build toward a pension.

Government Operations committee  Here is what happened in Ottawa when we announced this. The future of Canada's transportation sector is green, and so to create middle-class jobs and position our economy for success in a low-carbon world, the government is bringing major international investments to Canada that will secure a strong electric vehicle battery supply chain.

National Framework for a School Food Program Act  There are record-breaking lineups outside food banks and people who cannot afford to house themselves are living on the street. For the first time, there are working middle-class people living in their cars. In my home province of British Columbia and in my community of Kelowna—Lake Country, one of our local food banks just said a 91-year-old came in as a client for the first time in her life.

Canada Labour Code  We stand by that commitment, and we will keep working on behalf of the workers and Canada's middle class. I said that back in 2019; I want to reinforce just how important it is. I often talk about the middle class on the floor of the House. It is something that the Prime Minister talked about even before he became the Prime Minister of Canada: supporting Canada's middle class.

Canada Labour Code  It took the courage and action of generations of workers, men and women, who stood up and decided that they had to fight together to lift themselves out of misery and poverty, to get good paycheques, good working conditions and benefits. In fact, the union movement created the middle class. There was no middle class before. It did not exist. In the 19th century there was no middle class. People were either very rich or very poor. Workers struggled to survive under horrific health and safety conditions.

The Economy  We know that the Prime Minister is ashamed of the hideous record he has of sending two million people to a food bank, of doubling the rent, of making it so that nine out of 10 young people cannot a afford home, and of a massive increase in the number of people who have jobs who have to resort to breadlines in order to eat. He does not talk anymore about the middle class and those working hard to join it. The Prime Minister is trying to distract Canadians every day and in every way from the misery he has caused at home. Why does he not take responsibility for that misery and finally do his job?

Auto Industry  Conservatives have given up on Canada’s auto industry. They are putting their partisan games and misinformation ahead of good middle-class jobs for Canadians. Today, Canada is the only country in the western hemisphere with an end-to-end supply chain for electric vehicles. On this side of the House, we recognize that Canada has vast reserves of critical minerals, clean energy and the expertise to continue making the vehicles that Canadians want and that are better for the environment.

Canada Labour Code  The other thing I would emphasize, based on the question the member asked, is in regard to Canada's middle class. Canada's middle class has been supported, whether through this legislation or middle-class tax breaks from the very beginning. People in the middle class know that this government has their backs in all ways.

Carbon Pricing  With this fall economic statement, released just last week, our government is taking further action to support the middle class and to lower our emissions. Our economic plan is all about building a strong economy that works for everyone, with more homes built faster and great jobs that Canadians can count on.

Government Operations committee  If you visit it, you'll see that there are homes for veterans and for formerly homeless Canadians, for single parents and for people who may be in the middle class or in conditions that would enable them to pay for higher rents or prices.

Government Operations committee  That is twice as many as we have constructed in the last 30 years because of federal lands and buildings. We are speeding up the investments because we know these are needed by middle class and lower-income Canadians.

Labour  Speaker, we know to what extent strong unions and collective bargaining are essential to the prosperity of the middle class in this country. That is why, from 2015 onward, the government has been a friend to organized labour and has worked with it to overturn the anti-union legislation that the Stephen Harper government brought in, including the Leader of the Opposition as a minister in that government.

Labour  We are happy that the NDP is supporting our bill, and we hope that the Conservative party will understand that building a stronger middle class requires union support. We need to support the unions, too.