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Nov/30/21 1:28:57 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I do not know if the member knows about my history, but I came from the Ontario legislature. I resigned and put my name forward to run federally. Ontario does not have a deal yet because Ontario Conservatives are blocking it. As a representative from Ontario, I hope we can put this plan in place. It has happened in most of the country, but the Conservatives are blocking it in Ontario. I hope the premier and his colleagues in the Ontario legislature move forward with a plan to support $10-a-day child care.

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Mrs. Julie Vignola (Beauport—Limoilou, BQ)

Nov/30/21 1:29:40 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, getting the economy moving again is not an easy task. It is urgently needed, but we need to proceed with caution so as not to increase inflation. There are several ways to do that, which include promoting immigration and making it easier for people to become citizens and permanent residents. That could solve a lot of problems. However, some people in my riding have been waiting to get permanent resident status for two, three or four years, while others have been waiting 10 months for their citizenship ceremony. We want to get the economy moving again. There are people who are already here and who are willing to work in a number of sectors, but the government is holding them back. When and how will it stop doing that?

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Mr. Michael Coteau

Nov/30/21 1:30:34 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I agree 100% that immigration is part of not only our economic recovery post-COVID, but part of our larger competitiveness internationally. We need to improve the immigration system and, unfortunately, because of COVID, there have been a lot of delays in the system throughout the pandemic. I agree 100% that if we are going to release the full potential of our country, immigration plays a significant role in that. I will do whatever I can as the member for Don Valley East to look for ways to contribute to that economic success.

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Ms. Lori Idlout (Nunavut, NDP)

Nov/30/21 1:31:25 p.m.
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Qujannamiik, Uqaqtittiji . I want to congratulate the member for Don Valley East for his election and also for mentioning the importance of reconciliation. I want to ensure the member is corrected about first nations, Métis and Inuit wanting to work with all levels of government. They do care. They care tremendously. It is important that we always ensure that when we speak about first nations, Métis and Inuit communities, their relationship and their reconciliation is so important that it has to be in the language of reconciliation and about ensuring we are always promoting that we care tremendously. Having said that, I would like to ask the member what commitment he can make to ensure that work the NDP has been doing toward ensuring indigenous-led housing is made a priority with the Liberal government. Qujannamiik.

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Mr. Michael Coteau

Nov/30/21 1:32:25 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, when it comes to issues around reconciliation, it is not a party-led initiative. It is non-partisan. It does not matter which political party one belongs to, and this is the guiding principle I use when it comes to moving forward on reconciliation, unless the country cannot get to a point where it figures out its pathway toward reconciliation, it will never reach its full potential as a nation. This is the issue we need to work through as Canadians in order to move forward.

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Mr. Adam Chambers (Simcoe North, CPC)

Nov/30/21 1:33:15 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Carleton. I want to thank the voters of Simcoe North for placing their confidence in me to advocate on their behalf in this special place. I thank all the volunteers who helped out on my campaign. I want to recognize my fellow candidates and their volunteers for supporting the political process and making our democracy stronger. I will remember that, standing here, I represent the views of all my constituents and will balance all sides of an issue for the best interests of my community and our country. The recent months of knocking on thousands of doors and talking to constituents has informed my views. I must also thank Mrs. Downer's grade five class who welcomed me to my new role with letters reminding me of the continued need to work on truth and reconciliation with indigenous peoples. I have large shoes to fill. Great people from multiple parties have stood in my place before me: Paul Devillers who was an excellent representative for Simcoe North; and, of course, the great Doug Lewis, who guided me through both my nomination and general election campaigns. Most recent, Bruce Stanton, a man of integrity and who has immense respect for this institution, served Simcoe North admirably for almost 16 years. Many of us would not be here without the love and support of family and friends, so I would thank my parents for providing a supportive environment at every opportunity; my sunny ways gang; and, of course, my amazing spouse, Jane. In fact, I like to say that I am already an expert in bipartisan compromise because if my spouse was in this chamber, she would be sitting across the aisle. There are also many people who took an interest in my professional career development over the years, such as Hugh Moncrieff, for which I am grateful. My political mentor was the late Jim Flaherty, a man well known in this place for his fierce loyalty, great oratory skill, deft handling of crisis and an unwavering commitment to public service. In a letter, Minister Flaherty once challenged me to not forget the importance of public issues and to seize the opportunity to change the world for the better, sometimes for individuals and other times the public. He taught me the value of fiscal responsibility and public service. It is with that context that I am proud to take my seat in this 44th Parliament and discuss the Speech from the Throne. I have the benefit of having been in the Department of Finance during the last major economic crisis, the great recession. During that time, we learned that stimulus spending should be temporary, targeted and timely. With the Liberal government, we are batting about one in three. Even the great musician, Meatloaf, would not be satisfied. Right now, economic growth is projected to be 5% in 2021 and 5% in 2022. This is hardly the time for additional spending. The Speech from the Throne lays out a $100 billion of new spending, which will be deficit financed. The truth, when it comes to debt, is that we cannot say no and we just cannot help ourselves. All levels of government, persons and corporations have never been more in debt. If debt was a drug, we would be addicts. We should care about this because of what it costs to service the debt and how it impacts our ability to deliver services to Canadians. If interest rates rise to 2019 levels, the costs to service the federal debt will go up almost 60% or about $13 billion per year. That is before we include any measures in the throne speech. This money has to come from somewhere. It will either be taxed in the economy, services will be cut or we will have to take on additional debt. This additional spending is creating a significant risk for our economy and for future generations. I have two young children, Davie and Cooper. I worry that the government they inherit will be permanently impaired from dealing with the challenges of their time. Our spending decisions today will impact future generations from paying for their social services on which all Canadians rely: our health care, education, supporting our seniors or even being prepared for the next pandemic or environmental catastrophe. I would ask my colleagues to imagine for a moment if the government had been in power during the great recession. We would have spent multiples of what was spent and it would have meant we would have had less fiscal capacity to deal with today's pandemic. As it was, the government spent almost $100 billion of money we did not have before the pandemic. It spent that money when unemployment was near record lows and the economy was growing well. When times are good, it appears the answer is to spend money. When times are bad, the answer is to spend more money. The government spends money with no regard for the consequences for the future. Now some economists are warning the government to take its foot off the pedal, that we do not need to keep spending and that it may only make inflation worse. Of course, the government needed to step up and help people during the pandemic. The government was right to do so and to support Canadians most affected. However, the spending had its time. It is now time to refocus on growing the economy and expanding the productive capacity of Canadians and businesses. We could build up rural broadband much faster than the current plan, implement comprehensive tax reform, focus on productivity, economic growth, the labour shortage or even reduce internal trade barriers. All of these are important economic drivers that were absent from the throne speech. It is unfortunate that we are not here debating which programs work and which programs no longer serve their intended purpose. If the government were proposing to trim back in some areas to fund these new priority areas, we would welcome that discussion. We have to be willing sacrifice and give some things up to focus on our priorities. Spending on everything is an easy way to govern; it is politically expedient. One would think that with all this money being spent, nobody is being left behind. However, in my riding, there are small business owners, including a bowling alley, that find themselves on the outside looking in. They see other individuals and businesses and, in some cases, reports of even organized criminals taking advantage of the COVID supports, but Andy and Kathy cannot get the help they need to keep their business running. Another example is independent travel agents. There are about 12,000 independent travel agents in Canada, 85% of whom are women. Throughout this pandemic, they have been on the outside looking in. It does not look like they qualify for the new COVID pandemic supports relief funding, even when the government is encouraging people not to fly. They have been overlooked for supports from the beginning. We did have money to give billions of dollars to publicly traded companies. We gave hundreds of millions to air carriers. However, we told some of our smallest businesses that they were not important enough. Therefore, when the government does spend, it does not seem to do it all that well. It is important for the government to be measured, focused and effective, but, unfortunately, we do not see much of a plan. If my colleagues are unpersuaded by what I have to say, I will offer a quote from a well known Globe and Mail columnist who said, “Don't be fooled.” The Speech from the Throne is “many things, but it's devoid of vision for an economic rebuild.” We need to do everything we can to unleash the economic opportunities for all Canadians and do so in a way that spends within our means. If we provide a coherent economic vision for our country, we will be far less reliant on government spending to support our recovery. It is through increased economic activity of the private sector, small businesses and innovators that we will find wealth and prosperity for Canadians. We will not find prosperity by relying on excess government spending that will only restrict future generations. Our children's future depends on it. In fact, many times in the chamber we have talked about intergenerational equity with respect to the environment. I would submit that this same passion should be brought when we talk about fiscal responsibility. I believe all members in the chamber want the same thing. We want to leave our country in a better place for our children and grandchildren. I look forward to working with members from all sides of the House on this shared objective.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Winnipeg North, Lib.)

Nov/30/21 1:42:00 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I listened to the comments of the leader of the official opposition and now those of the member opposite. The concern I have is that I expect the Conservatives will vote against the throne speech, which would not surprise me, and I do not think it would surprise anyone in Canada. When it comes right down to it, there is a a very tangible plan for all of us. One of those plans is Bill C-2, which is a continuation of supports for Canadians to get through the pandemic, both for the individual and small businesses, in particular. Anticipating that the member will be voting against the throne speech, could he give an indication of what he will be doing with the tangible plan that is being dealt with in Bill C-2 ?

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Mr. James Bezan

Nov/30/21 1:43:03 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Pursuant to Standing Order 43(2)(a) I would like to indicate that for all remaining replies by members of the Conservative caucus to the Speech from the Throne, speaking slots will be divided in two.

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Mr. Adam Chambers

Nov/30/21 1:43:26 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it would be nice to talk about Bill C-2 at committee if we could get it up and running. Of course, we need to step up and help Canadians. However, we also need to make sure that the Canadians who need the most help are the ones getting the help. We would know this if we could get a discussion on Bill C-2 about who is falling through the cracks. I mentioned a few individuals in my speech, in particular the independent travel agents who do not seem to fall within Bill C-2. We would like to get some further clarification on that. I think it would be important to have a full understanding of the bill before we decide whether to support it or not.

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Ms. Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East, NDP)

Nov/30/21 1:44:14 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, another issue that has surfaced in my riding of Vancouver East concerns start-up businesses. They have been excluded from pandemic support and many of them are struggling. We now have an opportunity before us with Bill C-2 to make changes so that start-up companies can get the support they need to survive the pandemic. Would the Conservatives support such a change?

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Mr. Adam Chambers

Nov/30/21 1:44:48 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, this is exactly the kind of discussion we need to be having about a bill like Bill C-2 so we can talk about who is falling through the cracks. The start-ups and those individuals who cannot prove revenue prior to 2019 or 2020 are having a difficult time getting support from the government and have been throughout the pandemic. I agree with the point that my hon. colleague has raised and wish we could discuss it further with the government.

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Mr. Dan Albas (Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, CPC)

Nov/30/21 1:45:29 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is lovely to be here. I would like to thank the member for a great presentation. I am sure his voters are very proud of what he has to say. The member has struck on a number of points when it comes to the government's need to prioritize. The Liberal government, even before the pandemic hit, found difficulties when it did a cost-savings analysis and it said it needed to spend more. The member talked about the need to have a mindful eye. There are certain areas that suffer from cost disease. For example, labour-centric areas of provincial budgets such health care require new technology and are heavily people-oriented. If the government cannot prioritize its spending in areas where it will go the furthest, we will lose control of those things because it is unable to budget. The Liberals often call this austerity. To me it is called prioritizing. I would like to hear what the member has to say about prioritizing and making sure we have money for the important things in life.

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Mr. Adam Chambers

Nov/30/21 1:46:43 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, those who have too many priorities probably do not have any priorities at all. I suppose the former leader of the Liberal Party was correct when he said that it was very difficult to make priorities. That is why we need to choose what we want to spend our money on wisely. If we were standing here talking about wanting to trim down in one area because we think that child care is really important and other areas of government are important to invest in, we would obviously welcome that discussion.

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Hon. Pierre Poilievre (Carleton, CPC)

Nov/30/21 1:47:22 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it has been my practice to consider my response to the Speech from the Throne to be my maiden remarks in every Parliament, and I want to begin by thanking the good people of Carleton for electing me a seventh time to this chamber. They have vested their trust in me and I am deeply humbled by it. I want to thank my wife Anaida, my daughter Valentina and our new son baby Cruz. Cruz was born eight days before the election. He was born premature. He rushed to get here and then they told him he had to wait 18 more years to vote. It is another example of the red tape and rules that are holding people back. The poor little guy could not even vote for his dad. We hope to fix that when we are in government. The other thing he found out is that he owes something like $60,000 of federal government debt. Those were two pieces of bad news, but all else has been good news for him. He has a wonderful and loving mother, and he is fortunate to look more like her than his father, which all members will agree is a good thing. As members can see, I was not elected for my good looks, but I am very thankful to have the support of my family. I also want to thank my father Don, my mother Marlene and my brother Patrick, as well as the countless volunteers, workers and other supporters who have stood by me through thick and thin. I am very pleased to be back here on the floor of the House of Commons to work with everyone here in the service of the common people. Today, I would like to speak about the question everyone is asking. Why does everything cost so much? No matter where we go, prices have gone up. Young people who are still living in their parents' basements are wondering why housing prices have risen so much. The single mother doing her grocery shopping is wondering why it costs so much to buy food for her children. The worker trying to fill up his truck is wondering why he can only afford to buy a quarter of a tank of gas. The answer is clear: inflation. There is too much money chasing too few goods and services. How did that happen? The Liberals are trying to blame COVID-19 and the resulting disruptions. It is strange because the Minister of Finance and the current and former governors of the Bank of Canada said that COVID-19 would cause deflation. However, this week, we heard Stephen Poloz claim that COVID-19 is causing inflation, when he is the one who said that the problem we would have would be deflation. The same people who said that COVID-19 would cause deflation are now blaming COVID-19 for inflation. COVID‑19 is obviously not the main cause. We know this because many other countries have also had COVID‑19, but they have a much lower inflation rate than here in Canada because they have printed less money than here. I am thinking of countries like Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Australia, Singapore, South Korea, India, China, Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, France and the United Kingdom. For its part, the Canadian government has decided to follow the disastrous policy of the United States and print money to finance a deficit. In the United States, we have seen the result of this policy: the rich have become much richer. Their assets have increased. However, the wages of the poor and the working class are losing value. Their dollar buys less because of the supply of that currency. Of course, in the United States, the two main parties, the Republicans and the Democrats, agree on one thing and one thing only. Both parties like to print money. The Republicans like to fund Wall Street, and the Democrats like to fund Washington. One party likes big business, and the other likes big government. To finance both, they are printing a lot of money, and this has caused very negative effects for the poor. It has increased the gap between the rich and the poor. Here in Canada, we have not followed this approach. During the Harper years, there was almost no inflation. After the great recession of 2008-09, we had the best economic recovery and we eliminated the deficit in five years. We were able to do that because we did not print money. We spent real dollars to help Canadians during the crisis, and we returned to a balanced budget soon after. Suddenly, in 2020, during the COVID‑19 crisis, the government decided to start copying what the U.S. Federal Reserve has done, which is to print money to pay the bills, because Canada's deficits were the highest in the G20 and the government was unable to get the financing it needed from the traditional bond market. What this means is that the government increased the amount of money in circulation by $400 billion, which is about a 25% increase. Since then, inflation has been astronomical. For example, the price of a house has increased by 30%, which is strange, because one would have expected prices to go down in the midst of the COVID‑19 crisis. There was no immigration, which reduces demand. Wages went down, which limits the amount of money people have to buy homes. People were scared, which would normally make people think twice about purchases. Prices did not just go up, however. Property prices increased at an unprecedented rate in Canada's modern history. International supply chains cannot be to blame since land does not have a supply chain. The land has been here for thousands or maybe millions of years. Land does not appear or disappear, so when the gross value of land increases by 20% in a single year, it has nothing to do with the virus or with the delivery of goods. Once again, land does not get loaded onto a ship to be sent to Canada. It is a question of demand. What caused this demand? When the government printed the $400 billion, it did not throw that cash out of a plane. That may have been fairer than what it actually did with the money. The government is giving that money to the banks and these banks are loaning it to homebuyers, which is causing the price of real estate to go up. Clearly, the government is behind the whole situation, and this creates a great deal of unfairness. We need to stop printing money, pay down the deficits and let builders build homes. That is how Canadians will be able to live a dignified and respectable life.

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Mr. Yasir Naqvi (Ottawa Centre, Lib.)

Nov/30/21 1:57:42 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to congratulate my friend from Carleton on his remarks today. It felt like I was hearing a leadership speech from him. I have had the chance to work with him for many years. He talked about family; there was a little humour and a lot of French. This is a good practice ground for him. He is doing quite well. The member often talks about the economy, and rightly so. It is a very important topic of conversation for all of us, especially as we build our economy post pandemic. However, I did not hear him talk about child care and the value of child care as an economic policy that would allow women to fully participate in our economy. I would love to hear his views and perspective on that.

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Hon. Pierre Poilievre

Nov/30/21 1:58:25 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank the member for his kind words. I have enjoyed conversations with him. In fact, I had the chance to meet his lovely children, who were on Parliament Hill just last week. I think he is preparing them to run for office, although he had better be careful, because he might not have long in his seat if one of them is too ambitious. That said, I congratulate him on his election and on his wonderful family. The question about child care is particularly pertinent, because, as the government keeps reminding us, child care is more expensive than ever after six years of Liberal government. It is ironic, because every time the Liberals say they are going to spend money on a particular thing, that thing gets way more expensive. They said they were going to spend $70 billion on housing, and what happened to housing? It got a lot more expensive. It went from about $450,000 for the average house to $716,000. Now homebuyers are paying more and taxpayers are paying more for the same thing that used to cost less for both. I just hope the Liberals do not get the same results on child care that they got on housing, because God knows parents are paying too much as it is.

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The Speaker

Nov/30/21 1:59:37 p.m.
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The hon. member for Carleton will have three minutes for questions coming to him when we return. For now, we will go to Statements by Members.

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Ms. Jean Yip (Scarborough—Agincourt, Lib.)

Nov/30/21 1:59:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the people of Scarborough—Agincourt for placing their trust in me once again as their elected representative in Ottawa. Special thanks also go to my three sons and the many volunteers who were so supportive. I will represent my constituents on the issues that matter most to them: recovery from the pandemic, supporting families and workers, helping small businesses and assisting seniors, who deserve to age comfortably in retirement. Recently, we welcomed the new Minister of Seniors in my riding, and we toured Senior Persons Living Connected, a local non-profit organization doing good work and servicing the diverse needs of over 2,500 seniors and caregivers in our community. We saw first-hand the positive impact of the New Horizons for Seniors program, including a hybrid exercise class for seniors to participate together, both in person and virtually. I am delighted that the new intake for this program opened last week. Initiatives such as these represent our government's commitment to supporting Canadians, and I look forward to continuing this work for Scarborough—Agincourt.

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Mr. Tony Baldinelli (Niagara Falls, CPC)

Nov/30/21 2:01:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is a tremendous honour for me to rise in the House of Commons today to give my opening remarks in the 44th Parliament as the re-elected representative for the beautiful riding of Niagara Falls. I want to sincerely thank the great people of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Niagara Falls and Fort Erie for continuing to place their confidence in me by returning me to this incredible chamber, the people's House, to represent them and their issues. I want to also take a moment to thank the dedicated volunteers who supported me during the campaign. What we achieved on election night was made possible only because of the hard work of everyone involved. I also want to thank my entire family, including my beautiful wife, Carol, and son, Daniel. I would not be standing here today if not for their continued love and support. Lastly, I want to take this opportunity to congratulate the Speaker on his recent election. I look forward to working with all my parliamentary colleagues in both chambers as we work to resolve the many pressing issues facing Canadians today. Let us get to work.

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Mr. Churence Rogers (Bonavista—Burin—Trinity, Lib.)

Nov/30/21 2:02:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honour a great man we recently lost in Newfoundland and Labrador: Mr. Frederick B. Rowe. A father, a grandfather, an educator and a politician, he had a passion for politics and spent his life dedicated to improving grassroots democracy here in our province. He leaves behind a strong legacy of community building. Mr. Rowe had a long career in politics, including being elected as an MHA for two provincial districts and later becoming a long-time director of the Newfoundland and Labrador Liberal Party. He was known as a true grit with a lot of tenacity. He built many bridges of co-operation and friendship along the way. He was a lover of sea explorations and humorous stories, and a great lover of his children and grandchildren. He embodied a lot of the characteristics that make Newfoundland and Labrador so proud and unique. On behalf of this entire Parliament, I want to send condolences to his wife of 61 years, Sandra, to his entire family and to everyone who was touched by his decades of public service.

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