SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 42

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 21, 2022 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 42 - Mar/21/22
Ms. Rachel Blaney
  • Mar/21/22 4:39:41 p.m.
  • Watch
Madam Speaker, the member's question is really perceptive and thoughtful, because that is the reality. What we are seeing is consecutive Conservative and Liberal governments continue to make decisions, make laws and not fight the laws that grow the wealth of the wealthiest people in this country, and that leaves everybody else behind. As we go through these hard times, as we face challenges of inflation, and I am from B.C. so know how high the cost of gas is, we see that everyday workers, everyday people, and those who cannot work because they have health issues, cannot get ahead or even reach dignity. Therefore, the government has to take action.
113 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
Context: House Hansard - 42 - Mar/21/22
Mr. Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, CPC)
  • Mar/21/22 5:23:34 p.m.
  • Watch
Madam Speaker, the member spoke about how, at the beginning of its mandate, the government raised taxes on some people. The promise it had made at the time was that the tax shifting it was doing would be revenue-neutral. However, in the end it was not. It significantly added to the deficit, and we have seen continuing measures that have added to the deficit. I think what the member glosses over in her remarks is just how unequally and disproportionately the effects of high levels of deficit spending, leading to inflation, fall on middle and lower-income Canadians. Those who are very wealthy have a variety of tools at their disposal for protecting themselves from the effects of inflation, but everyday working Canadians simply do not have the same opportunities. We are passing on costs to those who can least afford it and to subsequent generations. Does the member acknowledge this problem and believe the government needs to do more to confront inflation and other ways in which out-of-control spending is passing costs on to those who can least afford it?
184 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border
Context: House Hansard - 42 - Mar/21/22
Ms. Julie Dzerowicz
  • Mar/21/22 5:24:42 p.m.
  • Watch
Madam Speaker, through you, I would like to thank the hon. member for his question. It is an important one. I would like to respectfully disagree with the member. I think we have done a lot. We have implemented many things to do everything we can to try to reduce income inequality in our country. Whether it was the introduction of the Canada child benefit, the increase in the GIS, taxing the top 1% and reducing tax on the middle class, or introducing increases in the Canada worker benefit a couple of times, there have been a number of measures we have taken to try to reduce income inequality in our country. Inflation absolutely is a huge issue and I think it impacts everyone. We should mention that there are a number of measures in place that will help to protect those on the lower end of the income scale in our country, indexed to inflation, so our—
159 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border