44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 15, 2022 10:00AM
- Feb/15/22 2:53:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians are stressed. Paycheques do not buy what they used to. In fact, the costs of everything, including gasoline, groceries and housing, are at all-time highs. Families are getting left behind. Last April, I wrote to the minister to warn her of exactly that. I highlighted the dangers of uncontrolled borrowing and how excessive stimulus spending would stoke inflationary pressures. She either does not care or did not read my letter.
To the minister, what specifically is she doing to get inflation under control?
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- Feb/15/22 2:54:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we will never get inflation under control as long as the minister keeps borrowing and spending like there is no tomorrow. Not only did the minister ignore our concerns, but she also ignored the warnings of the Parliamentary Budget Officer, who questioned the wisdom of her stimulus spending, pumping more money into the economy when the cost of living is skyrocketing.
The minister is making the crisis worse. The problem is not transitory. Month by month, the inflation numbers are going up. When will the minister finally do something to protect Canadians against the skyrocketing cost of living?
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- Feb/15/22 3:02:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I sent out a survey last month asking my constituents what their biggest concerns were. The cost of living was the number one issue. Rick, one of my constituents, wrote to me and stated, “food prices are out of my pay range”. Inflation is at record highs due to the Liberal government’s spending.
What does the Prime Minister have to say to Rick, who cannot afford to put food on his table?
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- Feb/15/22 3:03:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, at the beginning of COVID, all the parties came together to support relief programs for Canadians and businesses. Now the economy is opening up, but the government's money printing press is still humming. Experts are now warning the government what members of this side of the House have been warning for some time: that the government’s future spending plans will lead to more inflation.
Let us give the minister one last chance. When will the government rein in its out-of-control spending?
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- Feb/15/22 3:04:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I pointed out a moment ago, it is actually the members opposite, the members of the party of flip-flops, who campaigned on a platform that proposed higher spending in this fiscal year than we proposed. Let us remind Canadians of that. In fact, when it comes to supporting small business, it was his party, contrary to what the member just asserted, that opposed the essential supports small businesses needed that we proposed before Christmas.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Calgary Midnapore for splitting her time with me today and giving me the opportunity to join this debate.
I would like to say that it is a pleasure to join the debate today, and to some degree it is, but, unfortunately, it is also a bit frustrating to be here debating the bill before us considering the two years that have gone by since this issue was first brought to light for the Liberal government, which is now taking action to try to rectify it. However, there is some frustration there with the timeline. Of course, we are talking about seniors applying for CERB, reaching out for pandemic benefits and having their GIS clawed back as a result.
I will talk more about the direct issue at hand in just a moment, but I would like to lay out the groundwork a bit more and talk about why this is so important, especially right now with inflation rising at the rate that it is.
The cost of everything is going up. Everyday essentials such as gas and groceries are growing, especially in regions like mine in northwestern Ontario and across the Kenora riding, where the costs are usually higher than in many other regions in the country. It is getting harder for everyone to get by, particularly seniors, who are on fixed incomes and who have worked their whole lives to help build a country. They have paid into the system, but they are now not properly supported. They do not have the support they need in order to keep up with the rising costs of living.
Of course, throughout the pandemic, the government had great, new spending programs, and printed a lot of money for them, which added to inflation and caused the crisis we are seeing right now. The Parliamentary Budget Officer has confirmed that. The PBO has also said that the rationale for stimulus no longer exists, but that is a bit of a different discussion.
I would like to share what I have been hearing in my riding and across the country. When we look at groceries, food prices overall have increased by about 4%. I believe beef is up nearly 12% and bacon is up more than 19%. As I mentioned, it is not just groceries.
For home heating, natural gas is up 20%. In Canada and northern Ontario, home heating is certainly not a luxury. It is a necessity for seniors to be able to heat their homes. Just last week, the price of gas in Red Lake in my riding was hovering just below $1.70 a litre. Of course, this is in a region that is northern and rural, and many communities are considered remote. The people in Red Lake do not have the option to take other modes of transportation. They need to pay that cost.
A constituent of mine in Sioux Lookout recently shared his home heating bill with me, which showed that he was paying $70 a week in carbon taxes alone. In Sioux Lookout, heating is something that is not a choice, as we have to heat our homes, especially in the winter months when it gets much colder.
We have this cost of living crisis, this economic crisis, coupled with the health crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is something that has hit seniors particularly hard. Many seniors are at an increased health risk and are more vulnerable to the virus than other Canadians, and for that reason, many seniors had to withdraw from some of their activities that they previously enjoyed.
Many seniors were not comfortable going to the grocery store or doing simple tasks with the threat of the pandemic out there, not to mention the fact that there is an emotional toll to all of this, which I think everyone has felt to some degree. I think every family has been touched with mental health challenges throughout the course of this pandemic because of isolation and not being able to see loved ones. Seniors in my riding have mentioned to me that it has been particularly difficult for them.
We have these two crises that have come to a head at the same time, and that is why many seniors reached out to the government. They looked to the government for support, applying for programs like the CERB to help get them through this difficult time with the rising cost of living and all the challenges COVID brought on.
Of course, these seniors were not expecting the government to claw back their GIS or have it eliminated entirely, and that is the heart of the concern that we are dealing with right now. It is why I am pleased to see the government is now taking some action to rectify that issue, but it has come frustratingly too late for many seniors across the Kenora district and across the country.
I do not have the numbers right in front of me, but there are not many issues that I hear about more in my constituency office, or in my Ottawa office, than seniors' issues with the cost of living and not being able to get by. I have been on the phone with many seniors in my riding.
I know many of my staff members have as well. Two in particular are Jordyn Ham and Madison McSweeney, who are working in the Ottawa office. I hope they do not mind me mentioning them here in the House. They have done an amazing job reaching out to those constituents, having conversations with them and helping them try to get through these difficult times.
It has been tough. It has been tough for us. We have had seniors come into our office in tears. They are frustrated. They are not sure how they are going to heat their homes or if they are going to be able to put food on the table, and it is clearly an issue that is of the government's creation. That is why the government must act to prevent another clawback, and that is why I am pleased to see the Liberals are moving forward on this.
However, I think it was the critic for seniors, the member for Hastings—Lennox and Addington, who noted that this has been an issue for two years, and we are now just getting to the debate. That should be frustrating to everybody in the House, and everyone should take issue with that.
Another thing I have been hearing from seniors in my riding is that they need a guarantee. Seniors need to know that this payment will not be taxable. They need to know that further changes and solutions the government actually comes up with are going to have the effect they need. I think there is a bit of distrust, given what has happened previously, and I have been heartened by what I have heard here today in the debate. I think most people in the House tend to be on the same page, and I hope that will give some level of comfort to the seniors in the Kenora riding as well.
With the limited time I have, I just want to make it incredibly clear that these seniors are not tax cheats. They are not people trying to game the system. They are struggling and facing such a hard time in their lives, after paying into the system and doing everything right to try to provide for themselves. It is incredibly important that we move forward to give them the support they rightly need.
To seniors who may be watching or following the debate, I want them to know that the Conservative Party has not forgotten them. The Conservative party is going to have their backs, and we are going to be continuing to advocate for them to ensure that the government follows through and that the government does not claw back any further benefits.
I appreciate the opportunity to contribute to the debate today, and I am looking forward to any questions or comments that my colleagues might have.
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Mr. Speaker, it is an important question. There is no question that what is happening globally is to a degree playing out here in Canada as well. I think everyone can agree with that. However, as the Parliamentary Budget Officer confirmed, the stimulus spending that the government carried out contributed drastically to the inflation we are seeing in Canada, and the greatest rise in inflation that we are seeing is in items that we produce right here in Canada, such as natural gas, beef and pork.
I understand the member is coming from the global perspective, but I do think it is important to note that in a lot of ways the cost of living crisis is very much a homegrown problem.
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