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Mr. Alexandre Boulerice (Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, NDP)

Dec/1/21 3:37:13 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her speech. We can see that she has a passion for the environment and is committed to it. Before I ask my question, I want to congratulate on her next title, that of grandmother. That is an extremely prestigious title. I am sure it will bring her a great deal of joy and happiness. I will now talk about the Liberals, who say one thing but unfortunately do the opposite. I have a very simple example. They promised to end subsidies to oil and gas companies. Then they said they would put an end to ineffective subsidies. One would think that it is the Minister of Environment and Climate Change who defines what subsidies are effective or ineffective, but no, it is the Department of Finance that defines whether subsidies are effective or ineffective. In her opinion, what does that say about the Liberals' actual willingness to turn the page on fossil fuels?

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Ms. Monique Pauzé

Dec/1/21 3:38:11 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I sincerely thank the member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie for his speech. As for effective or ineffective subsidies, they are playing semantics. All the subsidies are ineffective, because all subsidies to the oil and gas industry end up generating greenhouse gases and in turn cause health problems, as I have often said.

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Ms. Elizabeth May (Saanich—Gulf Islands, GP)

Dec/1/21 3:38:42 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my esteemed colleague from Repentigny for her speech, her work and her deep commitment to protecting our planet in this climate emergency. I am wondering if she is also concerned about the fact that the other promises made by the Liberals in other election campaigns are not found in the throne speech. For example, the throne speech says nothing about the just transition. In the last campaign, the former minister of environment and climate change promised to eliminate coal exports. That is also not in the throne speech. I would like the member to comment on that.

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Ms. Monique Pauzé

Dec/1/21 3:39:50 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Saanich—Gulf Islands for her question. It seems to me that, during the election campaign, the Liberals promised a bill on the just transition. We will ensure that we take a close look at that. We will certainly not make any progress in the fight against climate change if we are unable to support workers. There is always doublespeak. There was not much in the throne speech, which I would say was insipid. Coming back to what my colleague from Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie was saying earlier, subsidies are being handed out with fine names such as the emissions reduction fund. That is a Liberal government creation. Finally—

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

Dec/1/21 3:40:42 p.m.
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Order. It is time to resume debate with the hon. member for Kanata—Carleton.

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Mrs. Jenna Sudds (Kanata—Carleton, Lib.)

Dec/1/21 3:40:52 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will sharing my time today with the hon. member for Kingston and the Islands. I am honoured to rise today in the House of Commons for the first time during debate to have the opportunity to represent the amazing people from all corners of Kanata—Carleton. I would first like to acknowledge that we are gathered on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people. My gratitude, my awe of this institution and my commitment to affecting positive change for Canadians have never been stronger. My sincere congratulations to you, Madam Speaker, and to all of my colleagues on their election. I would like to offer my sincere gratitude to the constituents who voted for me and put their faith in me to represent them in the House of Commons. This is a responsibility that I do not take lightly. I am here because of them and their trust in me. For that I thank them sincerely. I would also like to thank every constituent who voted and those who took the time to write to me to share their concerns or to speak to me over the last number of months. Campaigns are made possible by countless volunteers, and I am incredibly grateful for the efforts of those who knocked on doors with me, kept the campaign office running smoothly or helped organize our volunteers. I am always amazed at these incredible people who dedicate so much of their time and resources to an election campaign. I would like to thank all my volunteers. I would like to thank my husband Tim, the man behind the scenes and my rock, for being the incredible partner that he is and for being the dad that he is to our girls. I could never in a million years take this on without him. Of course, there are my daughters. They are my greatest achievement and I feel truly blessed. My girls are everything and they are the reason I do what I do. I want to thank them, Riley, Ryan and Brynn, for the hugs and kind words when mommy needs them. They are incredible young ladies, and I cannot wait to see what the world has in store for them. I want to thank my dad Bob and his partner Kim, a.k.a. chief sign installer. They are the biggest cheerleaders and are grandparents extraordinaire. I do not have enough words to share to thank my sister Melissa for all she does for me and the girls. Although my mom Jean is far away, her support and encouragement are felt daily. I am so grateful. I have been fortunate to have political leaders who encouraged me to run. First, I would like to thank Marianne Wilkinson, who was the first mayor and then city councillor for Kanata, for encouraging me to run municipally. Second, I would like to thank former MP of Kanata—Carleton Karen McCrimmon, whose hard work and determination have served our community so well and whose friendship I value tremendously. Last, I would like to acknowledge the impact that my late grandmother has had on me. She was a force to be reckoned with. She had a huge heart and a determination to help others. These are lessons that she passed on to me and I will always cherish them. Today I would like to discuss some of the key points in the throne speech that I believe matter most to the people of Kanata—Carleton. Kanata—Carleton is a diverse riding, with a vibrant suburban centre in Kanata, beautiful villages in Carp and Dunrobin, scenic communities along the river in Constance Bay and Buckham's Bay, the lovely village of Fitzroy Harbour and amazing green space all the way out to West Carleton. The diversity of our area brings promise, but it also brings challenges. These last 21 months have been very difficult times for so many in our country and in my community. With the many restrictions we have faced throughout the pandemic, the residents in Kanata—Carleton were fortunate to be able to turn to our beautiful green spaces, walking paths and trails to remain active. I am incredibly grateful for this green space and access to nature. Our government has introduced targeted COVID supports for those who need it most and will continue to do that throughout the pandemic. Our economy has proven itself to be incredibly resilient. Although we must acknowledge that businesses have suffered throughout the pandemic, some have thrived. I have watched small businesses, from local coffee shops to large corporations in our technology park, innovate and change the way they operate to keep their employees and their communities safe. Local outdoor markets, like the Carp Farmers' Market and the Kanata Farmers' Market, have become places where people can come to shop and socially distance. Residents have not shied away from difficulty, but rather have used it to innovate for a brighter future. We are truly a country of innovators and I am incredibly proud of the innovation happening in my community, in the Kanata North technology park and beyond. Digital transformation and automation are impacting every sector of our economy. This is a huge opportunity and one in which Canada can lead in many areas. I look no further than the farming industry to realize our potential. The Ottawa Smart Farm, the groundbreaking agritech playground run by Invest Ottawa, is leading. Canada is so fortunate. We have the natural resources, the talent and the creative spirit to help not just Canada but the world to address the climate crisis. We cannot hesitate to take bold climate action. Extreme weather events are on the rise. In the past five years, Kanata—Carleton has experienced both a tornado and a flood, with devastating effects. We must act quickly. I know the innovators in my community will be tapped in the coming month and years to support our government commitment to tackle climate change. I know those who rise to the occasion will undoubtedly thrive. Investing in public transit is key, and I am thankful for our government's commitment to funding clean, electric light rail in addition to an autonomous vehicle shuttle pilot for a last-mile solution in Kanata—Carleton. We need to ensure that investments in clean mobility solutions happen now to minimize our current and future carbon footprint. It goes without saying that the COVID-19 pandemic has walked back the decades of progress made in labour force participation by women. Once again, it has been predominantly women who have stepped away from their paid work to take on more of the load for child care and elder care as a result of lockdowns and school closures. We must reverse this trend. I have no doubt that our government's plan to introduce affordable, quality child care will have tremendous impact and unlock the economic opportunity of more women participating in the workforce. Although Ontario has not yet committed, I remain committed to seeing this work through to the end. I know the moms and dads in Kanata—Carleton will be much better off because of it Kanata—Carleton, like Canada itself, is a very diverse community. Sadly, there is an alarming increase in experiences of hate and racism. Like our government, I am committed to combatting hate and racism. I look forward to the renewal of the government's anti-racism strategy as well as the necessary and important work to combat online hate, which sadly we know has continued to grow. We must also acknowledge Canada's role on the world stage. Canada must continue to engage with international partners. We have learned a lot through this pandemic, including how small the world really is. We must continue to strive for gender equality. As a mom of three daughters, as a politician in the House dominated by men, and as a former executive in our technology sector, we have a long way to go. I am proud of the commitments our government has made, but I acknowledge more work has to be done. I am fiercely proud to be Canadian. I have said it before, and I will say it again: I am extremely proud to be Canadian.

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Ms. Marilyn Gladu (Sarnia—Lambton, CPC)

Dec/1/21 3:51:03 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, since this is my first opportunity to rise in this parliamentary session, I want to congratulate you on being re-established in the chair. I want to also thank the people of Sarnia—Lambton for electing me for a third time to represent them. The member opposite has mentioned some of the restrictions that we have been experiencing with COVID-19. It is the charter right of every Canadian to be able to freely exit and enter Canada. As a result of the Liberal government's policies on planes, trains and taking a boat, people who are not double vaccinated are also not able to cross the land border and are effectively trapped in the country. What reasonable accommodations, like testing, PPE, quarantine, will the government put in place to reinstate the charter rights of millions of Canadians?

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Mrs. Jenna Sudds

Dec/1/21 3:52:00 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will not shy away from stating how proud I am of the work that our government has done to keep Canadians safe. From quickly rolling out programs for wage subsidies, CERB and rent supports for our businesses to, more recent, the work we have been doing this week in the House, I know we are there for Canadians. These are difficult times, and we have learned, as I just said, how small the world actually is. I am therefore proud of the steps that we have taken and will continue to take to ensure Canadians are safe.

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Mr. Martin Champoux (Drummond, BQ)

Dec/1/21 3:52:53 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thought for a moment that you did not want me to congratulate you on your return to the Chair. I promise that we will have very pleasant afternoons, just like we did in the last Parliament. Congratulations. I am happy to see you. I would also like to congratulate my colleague across the aisle. Her first speech was very good. She pointed out, with some emotion in her voice, how she has the support of her spouse and children. She is better at that than I am, because every time I talk about my children and my spouse, I cannot help but shed a tear. Perhaps I am too emotional. In any case, I congratulate her on her first speech. My colleague mentioned two things. First, she said that the House was dominated by men. That is true in terms of numbers, but I would like to say that the contribution of the female contingent in the House of Commons is indispensable and invaluable, and I think that we will all benefit from the growth of our female complement in future elections. My colleague then spoke at length about the environment and climate change. The government she is part of can at times be somewhat contradictory. They invest in fossil fuels while, at the same time, setting greenhouse gas reduction targets. Will we be able to count on my colleague to pressure her caucus to make decisions with the best interests of our children in mind?

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Mrs. Jenna Sudds

Dec/1/21 3:54:30 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, our government has done some great work and is committed to doing more when it comes to climate change. When it comes to creating a more resilient economy, creating jobs and growing the middle class, we know that Canada must take strong and bold action. That is why we are moving forward to cap and cut oil and gas sector emissions; investing in public transit, as I mentioned; and mandating the sale of zero-emission vehicles. With these measure, we are on the right path. We are increasing our price on pollution, as we have talked about, and we are putting more money back into the pockets of Canadians. We are protecting our lands and our waters with the Canada water agency. We in Canada are so fortunate to have the incredible natural resources, the talented people and the innovation at our fingertips to really lead when it comes to this climate crisis, and I am really excited to see us play our part.

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Mr. Mark Gerretsen (Kingston and the Islands, Lib.)

Dec/1/21 3:55:59 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I congratulate you on your reappointment as Assistant Deputy Speaker. I have always enjoyed my time in the House when you have been in the chair, and I look forward to many more opportunities to come. I am very excited to talk about the ambitious plan this government has laid out in the throne speech. I will be totally honest that when I set out to develop the themes of my speech on this earlier today, one of the themes I was quite passionate about in the previous Parliament and looked forward to engaging on today was resolved through a unanimous consent motion just moments ago. I hope that Canadians understand the historic nature of today. Today is the day this Parliament came together and gave unanimous consent. Every member in the House agreed to pass such important legislation to ban conversion therapy. I look forward to the legislation moving to the Senate and then finally receiving royal assent, so it can be enshrined into law. Then such a horrific practice will be part of the Criminal Code, banned and outlawed in Canada. I know it is hard to change one's mind from time to time on various pieces of legislation. I know it is hard to change people's minds when they become entrenched in a position on an issue. However, I know a number of Conservatives, in particular, did change their minds, and I want to thank them. I want to thank them not just on behalf of myself and other members in the House, but, in particular, on behalf of Ben Rodgers. Ben Rodgers is a survivor of conversion therapy. He is from my riding of Kingston and the Islands. When this debate was in the House in the last Parliament, I had the opportunity to read into the record his story. He has been an advocate for bringing about this ban for a very long time. To do this in such a fast-tracked manner in the House, I know that Ben would want me to thank members on behalf of himself and other survivors, and not just for Parliament coming together and doing this but for those who were able to change their minds on this issue. There are two other issues in the throne speech that I will focus on with my remaining seven-or-so minutes, and they are extremely important and pivotal in terms of the future of our country. Those issues are child care and the fast-tracking of electrifying our country. First, as it relates to child care, there was a previous commitment in the government's budget to bring in $10-a-day child care throughout the country. This is not an easy to do in a country like Canada because of the various jurisdictions, the way our country works with the provinces and the way we are constitutionally set up. Indeed, it takes time to go out and work with the provinces and jurisdictions to bring in the necessary agreements. However, because various provinces may have already started their own or had their own versions, like Quebec, which was much more progressive than some other provinces, the deals that need to be reached and the agreements that need to be formed will not be unilateral and the same for every province and jurisdiction. However, the work that has been ongoing for about a year now has truly started to pay off. All but four jurisdictions, of which there are two provinces, have signed on. Some of those jurisdictions will start to see the benefit of $10-a-day child care, such as Alberta, on January 1 of next year, a month from now. In fact, my understanding is that Saskatchewan has put something into its agreement where it will make this retroactive to July 1 of this year. People will get the $10-a-day child care retroactively. Why is this so important? I have talked about this on social media. I have seen people put stuff out there, saying that they had to pay to put their kids in day care, so why should other people not have to pay for it. When we look at it like that, we look at this as though it is a handout, which it is not. This is about investing. This is about unlocking economic potential, as much as it is about helping individual families. There are a lot of households out there where one spouse, usually the woman, has chosen to stay home because it just makes more economic sense than having a child in day care that costs $50 to $60 a day. It just does not make economic sense. By doing this, we will see more people spend $300 to $350 a month to put a child in day care and more people saying that both spouses can get into the work force now. What will that do? It is not just going to generate economic activity within the work force. It is going to generate taxes and more opportunity for the government to pay for such an ambitious program. I am really glad that after decades of this being talked about, and after getting very, very close in 2006 with Paul Martin, we are finally seeing this come to fruition. As this is a day of celebration, I will not mention the manner in which that died, as I have done so a number of times in the House before. After talking about this, and after pressure from other progressive parties in the House, such as the NDP, who should get credit for applying that pressure when needed, we are finally seeing this come to fruition. Despite the fact that we are partisan here, and we might get caught up in debates over whose idea it was, who implemented it or who made it better, at the end of the day, I hope we all take great satisfaction in knowing that this is going to change families and change participation in the work force. This is going to be extremely meaningful for Canadians. In the last couple of minutes I have, I would like to switch quickly to the electrification of our fleets and our infrastructure throughout the country. We are putting a big emphasis on electrifying vehicles right now. It is extremely important to do that. We know why. We understand the science behind climate change. We understand that we need to move as quickly as possible toward electrification. Yes, there are problems, because the naysayers out there say that lithium needs to be extracted by dozers and mining equipment that are using petroleum products. I get it. I do not disagree. If we are being honest, that is the case right now, but I also think that we have to be honest about where the electric vehicle is. A fair comparison of an electric vehicle right now would be to compare it to the Ford Model T. It is in the very beginning stages of its evolution and opportunities to advance technologically. My wife and I bought our first electric car in 2012. It was a Chevy Volt, a hybrid plug-in. We would get 40 kilometres on it, which was really more like 30. We would drive around a little bit and then the gas would kick in. It was a good start, but by no means was it going to be a solution in the long run. We now have a Chrysler Pacifica, which is a minivan. After plugging that in we get about 60 kilometres, so we can do the majority of our travelling throughout the city using electricity. If we go out of town, we still have that backup gas. More recently, we purchased a Hyundai Kona, which is completely electric. We get about 450 kilometres on a charge, and I have been driving it to and from Ottawa every week. I have noticed an uptick in electric vehicles right here on the Hill, because when I started plugging in, in 2015, I would be one of one or two cars in the maybe eight slots available in the parking lot next to us. Now, when I showed up on Monday morning, there was no availability, so people are changing. The evolution is happening and we are moving toward electric vehicles. There is a role for the government to play in this and that is to incentivize people to do so, as we saw the Ontario government had done in collaboration with the federal government previously. We need to do more of that. I am very happy to see that in the throne speech, and I am looking forward to accelerating that transition toward electrification.

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Mr. Terry Dowdall (Simcoe—Grey, CPC)

Dec/1/21 4:06:19 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, my ears really perked up when the member opposite talked about electric vehicles. I am very proud to represent the great people in my riding of Simcoe—Grey, where Honda of Canada Manufacturing operates. One of the concerns I heard in his speech was with respect to the government's role in incentivizing people to buy electric vehicles. I had a visit last week with the president of Honda Canada. I heard some great concerns about the program and the negotiations going forward with the United States regarding the $12,500 rebate, which will not be for cars in Canada not manufactured by the big three. I am curious if the member has any comments. Has he listened to some of the auto manufacturers, and has he really heard their concerns?

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Mr. Mark Gerretsen

Dec/1/21 4:07:09 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I have heard during question period some of the questions regarding this. I will say that, back when we had the whole issue with the former president of the United States and the tariffs being imposed on Canadian products, the way our government, in particular a key group of people within the government, was able to react to that and position itself to negotiate led to us coming out better, in my opinion, than we were going into it. Am I concerned when I hear language like that from the United States? It is absolutely concerning. Do I have confidence that our team will be able to navigate through this, in a way that would be of benefit to Canadians? I do.

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Mr. Maxime Blanchette-Joncas (Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, BQ)

Dec/1/21 4:08:11 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, first, allow me to congratulate you on your election. I heard the speech by my colleague from Kingston and the Islands, and I would like to tell him about a situation that concerns me. There is a very important word missing from the throne speech, and that is “science”. In the middle of a pandemic, the government did not see fit to include the word “science” in the speech. Canada is the only G7 nation that was unable to produce a COVID-19 vaccine, the only G7 nation that resorted to the COVAX program to obtain vaccines that were intended for the poorest countries and developing countries, and the only G7 nation that cut funding to scientific research and development between 2009 and 2019. Is the government actually interested in reinvesting in science?

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Mr. Mark Gerretsen

Dec/1/21 4:09:17 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, this government and the Prime Minister have always, even back in their days in opposition, prided themselves on listening to scientists and using data and science to inform the decision-making process. Perhaps one particular word was not found in the document, but I think it would be a far stretch to try to link that to the fact that this government does not believe in science. I have said it before, and I will say it again: If we do not learn from this pandemic that we need to make sure we are able to manufacture vaccines in Canada, then I think we, as Canadians, have quite frankly failed. I believe we will see Canada come forward. We will be able to ensure that we do not put ourselves in the position we were in at the beginning of this pandemic when we were not able to manufacture our own vaccines. Getting to that point was the doing of a number of different governments.

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Mr. Alexandre Boulerice (Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, NDP)

Dec/1/21 4:10:29 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, there is a situation that is increasingly worrying our entrepreneurs. At the beginning of the pandemic, the federal government offered assistance, but in the form of a loan. For many small businesses whose operations have not yet returned to normal, the repayment date is fast approaching. In Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, that is the case for Gabriel Campeau of Vélo Festif Montréal, who wrote that he is very concerned about the imminent deadline. Are the Liberals willing to listen to Canadians and show some flexibility by cancelling the debt, reducing it or even allowing repayment over time?

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Mr. Mark Gerretsen

Dec/1/21 4:11:02 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-2

Madam Speaker, the recent bill we were discussing, Bill C-2, specifically addresses the issue of the hardest-hit sectors in the pandemic. If businesses have been hard hit and have still not been able to recover, they should look into the legislation, and the programs that will come through that legislation, which is before the House.

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Hon. Andrew Scheer (Regina—Qu'Appelle, CPC)

Dec/1/21 4:11:35 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with my colleague from Edmonton—Wetaskiwin. As this is my first time rising in the chamber in this Parliament, I want to first thank the voters of Regina—Qu'Appelle for once again selecting me to represent them in this chamber. I have had the good fortune to serve in several different roles in the House of Commons. I was Deputy Speaker and Speaker, House leader of the official opposition and Leader of the Opposition, but every time I walk into this chamber, I am very aware that there is no role I can serve in the House if I do not first earn the trust of the people back home in Regina—Qu'Appelle. I sincerely thank everyone who supported me in the last election. There is once again a great clash of ideas dividing the world. As Canadians look hopefully to the future about how to emerge from the pandemic and its aftermath, there are two very distinct versions of what comes next. This clash of ideas and philosophies is basically the same as it has been at several times throughout human history, especially in the 20th century. There are those like the Prime Minister and his friends in the global elite who would use COVID as an excuse to expand the size of government. They believe in more government intervention in the economy and more restrictions on individual liberty. Then there are those who understand that it is not government that creates prosperity, it is the free market, people buying and selling freely, that creates wealth and lifts people out of poverty. In essence, it is the age-old debate of whether we should put our faith in government or put our faith in people. It is often said that the best indicator of future results is to look at past results. History is clear on this matter. When we look at the examples where the ideology of government control was put into place, in every country it was tried, it failed miserably. After all, nobody was ever shot trying to get over the wall to get into East Berlin, and nobody ever tried to paddle a raft to get to Cuba. The terms for that ideology changes from time to time. What we once referred to as communism and socialism, those on the left now call their progressive agenda, but changing the name does not change the reality. In November, we marked the 32nd anniversary of the Berlin Wall being torn down. Throughout the course of human history, walls were generally seen as a good thing. Walls kept us safe. In times of danger, people would run toward the walls to get inside, but that started to change with the rise of socialism. The Berlin Wall was to keep people in. Berlin was a real-time experiment in economics and human behaviour. In the east was socialism, state control of the economy. Government officials planned what would be produced, by whom and how much of it. They set wages and prices. They also took away basic human rights like free speech and prohibited any criticisms of their regime. The result was misery, bread lines, shortages and a stagnant quality of life. In the west, the free market decided. People buying and selling relatively freely set prices and signalled to the market what needed to be produced. The result was plenty, huge increases in the quality of life. The difference between life in a free market and life in a society controlled by the government was stark. While the people of East Berlin could not vote in real elections, they could vote with their feet, and they did. There was a steady stream of people fleeing the horrors of socialism. That is why the wall went up, not to keep enemies out, but to keep people in. This is the hallmark of big government intervention in our lives. Those on the left are constantly telling us how wonderful their socialist policies will be, but then they have to build walls, sometimes virtual, eliminating our choices and taking away our freedoms to keep people in. When I was first elected in 2004, Canada had its own experiment between the free market and government interference. The difference between Alberta and Saskatchewan throughout the course of Canadian history was also very stark. For decades, Saskatchewan was ruled by the NDP, which adopted big government intervention policies. They stifled the free market and drove away private sector investments. As a result, my province had a long history of economic stagnation and a relatively flat population. In Alberta, there was growth. In Alberta, there was opportunity. When I was fortunate enough to visit Alberta while I was leader, I always asked how many people in the audience were from Saskatchewan or whose parents were from Saskatchewan originally. In almost every room across Alberta, when I asked that question almost half the audience would put up their hands. I used to like to tell people that the good people of Saskatchewan built two great provinces in this country. The language changes, but the policies remain the same. Communism proved to be such an epic failure that its most loyal promoters conceded that it would never be accepted again. However, we are now seeing a resurgence of that same type of thinking, that government knows best approach. As we emerge from the aftermath of the pandemic, we can already see the drastic negative impacts of the large expansion into the free market by the government. In March of last year, the Bank of Canada started doing something unprecedented in Canadian history: It started creating money out of thin air, to the tune of $5 billion a week. The government had run out of money to borrow from people, so it had to turn to the central bank to crank up the printing presses to buy the government debt that nobody else was buying. I am often asked by people back home in Regina—Qu'Appelle how the Prime Minister is going to pay for his massive deficits. He is not. The Canadian people are paying right now, through inflation. We are paying the cost today today in real time as prices continue to go up, because the government forced the bank to flood the system with brand-new money created out of thin air. What happens when we have more dollars chasing the same number of goods? Prices go up. We had a decline in economic activity due to the restrictions imposed on our economy because of the COVID pandemic. Not only did economic production go down, but the money supply grew exponentially. Governments love inflation. Back through the course of human history, we will find examples that show when governments spend too much money, they start to devalue the currency. It is a fraud committed on the people who have worked so hard to earn their pay cheques and to put a bit of money away for savings when the government comes and essentially devalues that work by creating new money. If any of my colleagues has ever been to a silent auction, there might have been a print up for auction of a beautiful painting. At the bottom it is numbered one out of 100 or one out of 500. That is a limited edition print. It means the artist only created so many of those types of paintings. If someone buys that for what they believe the value is and then the artist goes and creates 5,000 more copies, that person has been defrauded. They purchased something that has had its value stripped away by simply having more created of it. That is what is going on in real time with the money that hard-working Canadians are earning. What can we do to get our economy back on track? In the time I have left, I wanted to make a pitch for the government to listen to the concerns of the people in Saskatchewan, Alberta and across Western Canada. We have an amazing source of wealth in our country with our oil and gas sector. We are now living in a completely topsy-turvy world where the first thing that President Biden did upon taking office was cancel the Keystone XL pipeline. This is something that the government did not even raise with the incoming President. The Prime Minister cancelled northern gateway and cancelled the energy east pipeline, which would have taken Western Canadian energy to Eastern Canadian markets. I see a lot of alarmists and radical activists chaining themselves to trees and laying down in front of bulldozers in Western Canada to try to prevent the exportation of our oil and gas. However, I never see them lining up along the St. Lawrence protesting tanker after tanker of foreign oil coming into Canadian markets. We have an opportunity to provide the world with ethical Canadian energy, and that benefits everyone. Since 2018, Canada's oil and gas production has paid almost $240 billion to provincial governments and $66 billion to Ottawa. Conservatives will always be champions of the hard-working men and women in our energy industry. It is something that the world needs more of, not less of. We can get off of foreign oil coming from brutal dictatorships that have no respect for human rights, and get Canadians back to work.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Winnipeg North, Lib.)

Dec/1/21 4:21:38 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will confess that the Government of Canada had to borrow money for a very good reason. With the worldwide pandemic, in order to support Canadians and businesses alike, there was a need to be there in a very real way. Had we not borrowed the money that the member opposite tries to portray as a bad thing, we would have seen far more bankruptcies. We would have seen many other societal issues, whether family breakups or suicides. The government made the decision to have the backs of Canadians. Is the member saying that we should not have provided those programs that were so critical to helping Canadians through the very difficult time of the pandemic?

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Hon. Andrew Scheer

Dec/1/21 4:22:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, a huge percentage of the deficit the government has racked up came before the pandemic even hit. It was running $87 billion worth of deficits before COVID-19. During the pandemic, the government decided to give $1 billion to its friends in the WE organization, and sole-sourced contracts to former Liberal MPs as well. The government took the time during the pandemic to make sure that it enriched its friends. Let us talk about inflation. The Liberals would have us believe that it is some kind of external phenomenon like the weather: Inflation just happens. It does not happen in countries that did not run the printing presses. I could go on and on about billions of dollars in wasteful spending, corporate welfare and $35 billion through the Canadian Infrastructure Bank to bankroll large projects for profitable private companies. The member is going to try to convince Canadians that all of the inflationary spending was related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and that is demonstrably false. When we go through the public accounts and look at where the government spent money, a lot of it was on increased discretionary spending. We heard throughout the week that it actually had the opposite effect of its intention. The government spent more money on housing but got fewer units built, and the price of housing is going up because of it. That is why we need less government intervention in the economy and more free market solutions.

247 words

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