44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 15, 2021 02:00PM
- Dec/15/21 2:24:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday's economic and fiscal update provided Canadians with a transparent look at our finances as well as our plans to keep Canadians safe, particularly in regard to omicron, to make life more affordable and to ensure our economic recovery leaves no one behind.
Thanks to the choices we made and the hard work of Canadians, Canada has recovered 106% of the jobs we lost due to the pandemic compared to 83% in the U.S.
We know there are challenges ahead and the future remains uncertain, but one thing Canadians can always count on is that we will have their backs.
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- Dec/15/21 2:25:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this global pandemic has been tough on individuals, but it has also been tough on economies. That is why it has led to global inflation and that is why we will continue to keep our promise of having the backs of people. That is what we indicated in the economic and fiscal update yesterday. That is what we are doing by moving forward on historic supports for Canadians, whether it is through tackling the housing crisis, moving forward on historic child care agreements with nine provinces and three territories or whether we are continuing to move forward in supporting Canadians in their day-to-day lives.
We will be there for Canadians. That is what yesterday's fiscal update showed.
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- Dec/15/21 2:27:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, from the beginning of this pandemic, we have been focused on supporting Canadians. Even as the Conservatives kept saying that we were spending too much to support families, too much to support small businesses, too much to support Canadians through this health crisis, we knew that the smart thing to do to help fight this health crisis was to support Canadians. It was also the smart thing to do to support our economy, by investing up front and making sure that Canadians could make it through.
We have come back stronger and better than before. There are many challenges. We are going to continue to stand up for the rising cost of living and support Canadians. We will be there for them.
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- Dec/15/21 2:28:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the global inflation crisis is a direct result of the global pandemic. That is why the best thing we can do to help families get through this economic crisis is to end COVID‑19 for good. That is why we are encouraging everyone to get vaccinated and to get the third dose, to get their children vaccinated, and to be cautious about gatherings and about travelling this winter. We must continue doing what we as Canadians have been doing to stay safe. That will bring us better days ahead.
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- Dec/15/21 2:29:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we know what a challenge home ownership is for a growing number of Canadians, including young people. That is why we launched the first-time home buyer incentive to help first-time homebuyers pay for related costs and their mortgage.
We have targeted programs to help young people and to combat this housing crisis, unlike the Conservatives, whose only plan to combat the housing crisis was to give a tax credit to large-scale landlords. That is not going to help young people, and that is why we are there for them.
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- Dec/15/21 2:30:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I have often said, I strongly disagree with Bill 21. I do not believe that in a free society someone should lose their job because of their religion. That is the position of our government and our party.
We will continue to be on the side of Quebeckers who are shocked and disappointed that Fatemeh Anvari lost her job because of her religion, and we support and will follow Quebeckers who defend their rights before the courts because they believe this bill is unfair.
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- Dec/15/21 2:32:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Quebeckers are people who stand up for human rights, freedom of expression and gender equality. We also stand up for conscience rights. In Quebec, we stand up for freedom of religion.
This is why so many Quebeckers are surprised and disappointed that young teacher Fatemeh Anvari lost her job because she is Muslim. That should not happen in Canada. This is what I have been saying for years and what we will continue to say on this side of the House.
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- Dec/15/21 2:33:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, faced with the rise of the omicron variant this coming holiday season, Canadians are frustrated and exhausted. We understand that. It is a real challenge to see rising cases, but Canadians know what to do. We need to keep safe, we need to keep our loved ones safe and we need to keep our public health systems from getting overwhelmed.
That is why getting booster shots and getting kids vaccinated are the most important things we can do. Second is avoiding non-essential travel. We just increased our travel advisories. We are recommending that Canadians stay home at Christmas and stay safe. We will continue to be there with rapid tests and we will continue to be there to support the provinces.
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- Dec/15/21 2:34:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are already doing the three things the NDP leader mentioned.
As the holiday season approaches, we must do everything we can to keep each other safe and healthy.
That means getting a booster shot as soon as possible. Canada has enough booster shots for everyone. We encourage people to get them.
It also means getting our kids vaccinated. That is important in order to protect our communities.
We will also be there with rapid tests. We will be there to support the health care systems. We will be there to keep Canadians healthy. We did a tremendous amount of work this year, and we are going to keep doing it.
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- Dec/15/21 2:36:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the very first thing our government did back in 2015 was to raise taxes on the wealthiest 1% and lower them on the middle class, a measure the Conservatives voted against. We have continued to be there for Canadians every step of the way, including with historic investments in housing and with measures that are fighting the omicron variant and the current pandemic.
What the Conservatives do not realize is that the best way to help Canadians and the best way to get our economy back to normal is to end this pandemic once and for all. That is what we on this side of the House are focused on.
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- Dec/15/21 2:37:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, every step of the way over the past six years we have been there for small and medium-sized businesses. We lowered the small business tax rate. We have been there to support small businesses through this historic pandemic and they have responded positively. We have seen our economy bouncing back faster than many economies around the world because we were there for our small businesses.
What the Conservatives are talking about when they talk about payroll taxes is the fact that we are securing Canadians' retirements. We have made changes to CPP to make sure Canadians can retire better. The Conservatives simply are not there for our seniors.
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- Dec/15/21 2:39:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, for years, we have been investing more and more in our young people because we know how important it is to help young people achieve their dreams. That is why we created the first-time home buyer incentive, to help young people buy a home more quickly and pay their mortgage.
We will also continue to help our economy by doing the one thing that the Conservatives never talk about, and that is putting an end to this pandemic once and for all. We are going to get through this economic crisis by eliminating the virus. That is why we need to maintain our measures.
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- Dec/15/21 2:40:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have put forward an ambitious housing platform to help people of all ages become homeowners here in Canada. With $4 billion for municipalities to accelerate housing construction, help for first-time buyers, and initiatives to reduce transaction costs, we have real plans.
Unfortunately, the Conservatives had only one plan, which was to give tax credits to wealthy landlords so they could sell their buildings. That is not going to help the young people the member is talking about.
We are going to be there for young people.
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- Dec/15/21 2:41:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the best thing we can do to grow the economy and help Canadians through these difficult times is put an end to this pandemic. That is why we are continuing to move forward with vaccinations, with encouraging Canadians to get their boosters, with support for kids to get vaccinated and with public health measures that are going to support small businesses and keep our economy moving forward.
We know there is always more to do and that is what we are doing. We have done it over the years by supporting families, seniors and youth, whether through increases to the CCB, $10-a-day child care, boosts in the GIS, more supports for students or more affordable housing. I could go on.
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- Dec/15/21 2:43:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the first thing we did was raise taxes on the wealthiest 1% so we could lower them for the middle class, and Conservative politicians voted against that. Throughout this pandemic, we have had Canadians' backs, with historic supports for families, for seniors, for—
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- Dec/15/21 2:43:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, every step of the way, this government has been there for Canadians, whether by bringing in the Canada child benefit, reducing taxes for the middle class and raising them on the wealthiest 1% or moving forward with historic investments in infrastructure, housing and transportation. These are all things the Conservative Party chose to vote against.
When we put forward a historic housing plan to support Canadians, with billions of dollars' worth of initiatives, the Conservatives put forward a plan to give tax breaks to wealthy landlords who are selling their buildings. That is not how we support Canadians. This government is supporting them.
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- Dec/15/21 2:45:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois finds itself in a tricky position because thousands of Quebeckers are asking themselves some tough questions. They are wondering if, in a free society, a person should lose their job because of their religion.
The Bloc has no choice but to do what it always does: try to turn this into a federal-provincial issue and attack the government in Ottawa instead of listening to Quebeckers who have genuine concerns about freedom of expression, freedom of conscience and freedom to practise one's religion in a free society.
I know Quebeckers are asking themselves these questions. Why is the Bloc not doing the same?
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- Dec/15/21 2:46:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Quebec and Canada are already secular societies.
We do not ask police officers or judges about their religion, because we know that whatever religion someone practises in their personal life should not prevent them from practising a profession or having an important role in our society.
That is what we are defending, and that is precisely why Quebeckers are asking themselves some questions. They are wondering how, in a free society, their government can legislate on freedom of expression and freedom of conscience, and how someone can lose their job because they are Muslim.
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- Dec/15/21 2:47:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after years of a Conservative government that was focused on “drill, baby, drill” but unable to get pipelines built, this is the government that is actually getting TMX built to access new markets for our oil resources.
At the same time, we recognize that we need to reduce our carbon emissions and invest in the oil workers in Alberta and elsewhere, so we can transform our energy mix to be more low-carbon, to reach net zero and to support good jobs.
The Conservative Party is stuck in its failed past while we look to the future.
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- Dec/15/21 2:48:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our plan from the beginning of this pandemic has been to have Canadians' backs now and into the future. That is exactly what we are doing, not only by supporting them now with initiatives that are making life more affordable, but also by recognizing that the direction our world is going in is toward lower-carbon emissions. Therefore, our investments in clean technology, our investments in renewables and our investments in fighting climate change are what is going to guarantee a better present and future for all Canadians.
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