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Mr. Michael Kram (Regina—Wascana, CPC)

Apr/26/22 12:38:23 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is always an honour to rise in this chamber and to represent the people of Regina—Wascana. I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak today on the budget. My grandmother would always say to me, when I was growing up, “If you can't say anything nice, then don't say anything at all.” While that may be good advice for getting along with the neighbour kids, it does not work so well as an opposition member of Parliament. I would like to at least partially take some of my grandmother's advice today and focus on one area of the budget on which I think there is broad agreement. That is the need for Canada to support Ukraine as it defends itself from the Russian invasion. When the finance minister was presenting her budget earlier this month, I believe she received one standing ovation from both sides of the House, and that is when she said that the Russian army invading Ukraine needed to be vanquished. I agree. Vladimir Putin's war of aggression against Ukraine is completely and totally unacceptable. Countries around the world, including Canada, need to do their part to ensure that free and democratic countries are not overrun and annexed by a dictator like Vladimir Putin. The finance minister went on to say that it was the brave people of Ukraine who would be doing the fighting against convoys of Russian tanks rolling into their country. There is one fundamental principle the minister did not mention in her budget speech that I believe everyone needs to understand. Every time one of those Russian tanks is destroyed by the Ukrainians, it is soon replaced by another Russian tank rolling off the assembly line. If we are going to help the Ukrainians win this war and make the world a safer place for our children and grandchildren, then it is not enough to simply destroy the Russian tanks and other weapons on the front lines. We must also stop Vladimir Putin's ability to buy more of them. Tanks cost money. Bombs cost money. Battleships cost money. Where does Vladimir Putin get his money to buy all these weapons? By far, the biggest source of funding for the Russian war machine is oil and gas exports to western Europe. That is Vladimir Putin's steady paycheque. That is Vladimir Putin's spending money: oil and gas exports to western Europe. In fact, western Europe imports approximately 3.4 million barrels of oil and gas every day from Russia. The money western Europe spends on this oil and gas goes toward Vladimir Putin's war machine. He spends the money on tanks, bombs and battleships, all of which go toward the Russian war efforts against the Ukrainian military and toward committing atrocities against Ukrainian civilians, such as the bombing of a hospital maternity ward in Mariupol and the slaughter of civilians on the streets of Bucha. If the international community could figure out a way to send an additional 3.4 million barrels of oil and gas to western Europe, we could seriously inhibit Russia's ability to wage war. How can the international community make up this shortfall? Canada alone could provide almost that entire amount from just four projects. These four projects have been debated many times in the House over the past few years. They are the Keystone XL pipeline, the energy east pipeline, the northern gateway pipeline and the Trans Mountain expansion. All four of these projects have either been cancelled or significantly delayed over the past several years because of the government's Bill C-69, Bill C-48 and other roadblocks it keeps putting in the way. Recently, the Minister of Natural Resources announced that Canada would increase oil exports to western Europe by only 300,000 barrels per day from existing infrastructure. Unfortunately, the minister has also described this increase as a short-term solution and only a temporary measure to help our friends and allies fighting in Ukraine. I would strongly caution the government against reverting back to its old policy of keeping Canadian oil and gas in the ground, for a couple of reasons. First, no one knows when this war will end. As many of us probably learned in high school history class, when World War I broke out, all of the experts of the day said that the war would be over by Christmas. Four years later, the war was still raging. Today, we are 62 days into the current conflict and it would be foolish for anyone to try to predict with any degree of accuracy when this war will be over. It could very well be the case that our allies in western Europe will need oil and gas for the foreseeable future from countries other than Russia. Second, even if the war were to end tomorrow, it would be foolish for us not to learn from our past mistakes. One of the reasons why the world is in this situation is because, for far too long, peace-loving democratic countries have fallen into the bad habit of relying on petty dictators for their energy needs. All the while, Canadian oil and gas has stayed in the ground. If this country could increase its oil and gas exports by 3.4 million barrels per day and displace Russian exports to western Europe, it raises the question of what Canadians could do with this extra money. The short answer is they could do whatever they wanted. Many people who work in the natural resources sector would love the opportunity to pay down their mortgages, save for their children's education or take a well-deserved vacation, especially after the last two years. It is not just oil and gas workers in the private sector who would benefit. In my home province of Saskatchewan, in any given year between 10% and 15% of the provincial government's budget comes from natural resource royalties. That is money that can go toward roads, schools, hospitals and other services that people rely on. Over a decade ago, when resource royalties were at their height, the provincial Government of Saskatchewan announced that it would build a new children's hospital in Saskatoon. This hospital opened just a few years ago and it has since helped thousands of children. I believe that the vast majority of people who let their names stand to run for public office do so with good intentions to make the world a better place for our children and grandchildren, but we all know what they say about good intentions. The cost of our inaction could not be more clear and the contrast could not be more stark. Instead of oil and gas revenues going toward bombing children's hospitals in Mariupol, they should be going toward building hospitals here in Canada. Clearly, any objective observer would have to agree that Canada has a tremendous amount of potential to do a great deal of good on the world stage. It is not necessary for democracies in western Europe or the rest of the world to rely on petty dictators for their energy needs. It is not necessary for them to fund the war machine of Vladimir Putin or any other hostile regime. Canada can be a force for world peace and stability by simply extracting and exporting the resources that we have in this country literally sitting beneath our feet and not doing anyone any good. If Vladimir Putin's army is to be vanquished, to use the finance minister's term, then we need to get serious about building pipeline capacity in this country so that western Europe and the rest of the world can buy their oil and gas from Canada instead of from Vladimir Putin's Russia.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Apr/26/22 12:47:40 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I agree with the member that what is happening in Ukraine today is horrific in nature. I believe that inside the chamber there is virtually unanimous desire and willingness to support Ukraine in whatever way we can to get through this very difficult time. It goes far beyond Ukraine's borders, but impacts the entire free world. We wish Ukrainians the very best, and we will continue to support them in whatever way we can. The member is trying to give an impression that if Canada were to export oil today, money going to Russia would dry up. We all know that even if the political will and the desire of Canadians as a whole was to have that happen, it could not happen overnight. I wonder this. Could the member provide his thoughts and comments in regard to that? We do not want to say something that ultimately we know we cannot deliver.

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Mr. Michael Kram

Apr/26/22 12:48:55 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am glad to hear that all parties in the House support the people of Ukraine. Certainly, dictators cannot roll their tanks into neighbouring countries, take over and expect to think that is okay. As for the issue with displacing Russian oil and gas going to western Europe, I believe that the four projects I mentioned should have been built years ago. I do not see why that could not have been done years ago. I do not see why it has to be so difficult for private sector businesses in this country to build pipelines or other major projects. It should be a lot easier and it should have been done a long time ago.

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Mr. Yves Perron (Berthier—Maskinongé, BQ)

Apr/26/22 12:49:42 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his speech. I listened to him talk about building pipelines to solve the war in Europe. We need to understand that, if we start building pipelines today, that will not have an effect on the current war. He said that we should have done it a long time ago. With all due respect, is my colleague aware of global warming and the world crisis we are in? Has he seen what I have seen, and what everyone in the country saw last year in British Columbia with the floods and forest fires? Does he not think that we should start transitioning and stop the most polluting projects? The most polluting projects are those involving the oil sands. We have nothing against his region. I understand the hon. member, who is only standing up for his constituents. We are prepared to invest in his region to begin a transition. I would like to hear what my colleague has to say about this. Is he open to discussion?

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Mr. Michael Kram

Apr/26/22 12:50:41 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I think we can all agree that there has to be a transition to clean energies at some time, but I am of the belief that global warming and the energy transition are long-term problems that require long-term solutions. The war in Ukraine is not a long-term problem. People are literally being bombed to death today in Ukraine, so I think we need to prioritize the war in Ukraine for the foreseeable future. I would also say that while some countries are transitioning away from oil and gas, that is clearly not the situation today in western Europe. About 3.4 million barrels of oil and gas every day are being exported from Russia to western Europe. That oil and gas creates greenhouse gas emissions just like from anywhere else in the world. Not only is our policy of keeping oil and gas in the ground bad for the war in Ukraine, but it is not doing any good for global warming because Europeans are just buying their oil and gas from Russia.

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Ms. Lori Idlout (Nunavut, NDP)

Apr/26/22 12:51:47 p.m.
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Qujannamiik, Uqaqtittiji. We are seeing climate impacts that are man-made, and emissions reduction is now critical. It is an immediate and long-term issue, as is what is going on with the invasion in Ukraine. They are both immediate and long term. Does the member agree that investing more into alternative energy sources is what is needed now at this important time in Canada?

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Mr. Michael Kram

Apr/26/22 12:52:22 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the short answer is yes. We do need research and development into clean energy technologies if we are ever going to deal with global warming. I would say that one source of clean energy that we need to do more with is carbon capture and storage. I had the opportunity just a couple of weeks ago to visit the Boundary Dam project just outside of Estevan, Saskatchewan. It is incredible to see the technologies they are developing down there with respect to carbon capture, storage and sequestration. Greenhouse gas emissions are not a problem if they do not go off into the air. If we can sequester them under the ground and can make use of all our existing energy infrastructure, that is a good solution for everyone.

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Mr. Stephen Ellis (Cumberland—Colchester, CPC)

Apr/26/22 12:53:54 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is always an extreme pleasure to rise here in the House of Commons to represent the good people of Cumberland—Colchester as we debate the spend-DP-Liberal budget of 2022. I think it is important to understand this budget in the context of my province, my riding and my constituents, and of course to understand the budget itself. My home province of Nova Scotia is mentioned four times in the 300-odd pages of the budget and the gazillion other pages. There is a discussion about twinning parts of the Trans-Canada Highway, a reference to remaining project funding through the failed Canada Infrastructure Bank and a reference to a Nova Scotia agreement on offshore revenues. I am not sure the relevance of all those things. The final reference is about the shortage of doctors and nurses in Nova Scotia. We all know the Prime Minister promised 7,500 doctors, nurses and nurse practitioners, whom he is going to create out of thin air, but that has not materialized. Sadly, 88,000 Nova Scotians do not have a family physician. We also know very clearly that we are short 60,000 to 70,000 nurses in the entire country. We have that burden as well. Sadly, despite requests by all the premiers unanimously, there is no funding committed for an increase in the Canada health transfer. The Liberals did talk about loan forgiveness for physicians and nurses, but they must agree to work in rural or remote areas. Physicians can easily, as I well know, accumulate 250,000 dollars' worth of debt during their education, and the proposed loan forgiveness of $60,000 seems woefully inadequate. Another major concern in my riding of Cumberland—Colchester is agriculture. Aside from the government's bungled creation of the potato wart problem due to its ineptitude in its relationship with the United States, there is no other mention of agriculture in budget 2022. In Canada, we have eight agricultural colleges, and in my riding we have one. The fact that there is no mention of agriculture in the budget and no funding for agriculture is just a sad misplacement of priorities. We also know that this comes at a time when Canada could play a significant role on the world stage with respect to feeding the world. This great responsibility comes in relation to Russia's illegal war on Ukraine, which my colleague spoke about in depth. The opportunities that exist now for Canadian farmers come at a time when fuel prices are at an all-time high in the history of our nation. Of course, there is also an unfair tax on fertilizer that the government continues to place against farmers. This is a gross abuse of our farmers at a time when the potential for feeding the world is at an all-time high, and sadly we wonder whether Canada is going to be able to participate in that at all. The budget speaks a bit about the environment and climate change. We are unsure of how this is going to relate to Nova Scotia, with the vague wording in the budget of “proactive management of marine emergencies and...more types of pollution”. I do have an idea of what that means, but certainly there is no proverbial meat on the bones to help people understand how that may relate to Nova Scotia. There is no mention at all of climate change as it relates to the Isthmus of Chignecto, which I have had the pleasure to speak about here in the House before. We know this is a vital land link that links Canada to the great province of Nova Scotia. There is no mention of that and we know it is a climate emergency waiting to happen. We also know in Nova Scotia, and hopefully my colleague from Winnipeg knows this as well, that seniors are important to all Canadians and certainly to those of us in Nova Scotia. The crisis that seniors are dealing with now, the affordability crisis, does not appear to be talked about in the budget either. There is no new financing added to the cheques of seniors. It is sad. The budget does mention undertaking another study, spending money that could easily be put in the pockets of seniors for a yet-to-be-named aging at home benefit. There does appear to be financing for seniors who need to make their home more accessible and for projects allowing seniors to participate in their communities more fully. However, as we know, this does not put oil in their tanks, gas in their cars or food in their bellies. There is absolutely no financial relief for the seniors who helped build this great nation. Indeed, the budget has the audacity to say that Canadians who are seniors “do not have to worry about the value of their benefits keeping pace with inflation”. I find that hard to believe. It goes on to say, “the share of seniors in poverty is only about half that of the overall population”. Is that something to brag about? I am not entirely sure it is. Is that really the ambitious goal the government has set? Does it believe it is okay for our seniors or any Canadian to live in poverty? I should think not. This leads me to speak, in a very personal way, about Daniel, who reached out and wrote to me about his budget. He really wanted me to speak about the affordability crisis in the House of Commons, which of course we know is ongoing for many Canadians. He came to my office last week when we were home on constituency week and gave me a budget for his monthly income of less than $800. Daniel is a frugal guy. He has a mortgage of $547. He has life insurance on his home at $35, car insurance at $84, insurance on the house itself at $125 and bank fees of $20. Phone, cable and Internet are, shockingly, $230 per month, property insurance is $35, life insurance for himself is $100 and medical insurance is $140, plus $10 a month for each medication, and he is on eight of them. His power bill is $200 per month, and on top of all of this are groceries and gas. Without any food or any gasoline for his vehicle, Daniel is paying out about $1,596 per month. He is, of course, struggling to pay his bills on his $800 monthly income, but fortunately for him, his wife can work a bit as well to help support the family. As members can imagine, in this household there is no money left over for any extras. There is no frivolous spending. There are no extras at the grocery store. He has reduced his trips to town for groceries and other essentials to once a month, which saves on his gasoline bill since he is not going to town as much. There is no mass transit where Daniel lives, and I am not entirely sure, when I look at this meagre budget, where he might cut things out. We are all beginning to realize that this is “just incredible”. It is really “just inconvenient”, and for some it is “just inconceivable” how we are now in a life affordability crisis.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux

Apr/26/22 1:01:10 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, on a point of order, we have stood up for this in the past and will continue to stand up in the future. Obviously we cannot do indirectly what we cannot do directly. When the member makes reference to the word “just” and then throws in “in”, he is actually making reference to the Prime Minister of Canada, who does have a title. I would ask that we respect all titles, whether it is the official opposition leader, members, ministers or whoever it might be.

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

Apr/26/22 1:01:38 p.m.
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The point is well taken, and I was expecting it to be raised. I remind members not to use the expression “just” and “in” together in the same sentence.

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Mr. Stephen Ellis

Apr/26/22 1:01:48 p.m.
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I thank the member opposite for this unusual intervention. I did not realize that “just” was a—

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

Apr/26/22 1:01:57 p.m.
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I remind the member that it is not acceptable.

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Mr. Stephen Ellis

Apr/26/22 1:02:01 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we cannot use “just” anymore. I will try to fix that somehow. I will learn some new English. One thing for certain is that it is inflation, and it is a huge problem that is at the highest levels in over 30 thirty years. These spend-DP-Liberals can go on and say that this is a global crisis and things like that, but it is a lot of foolishness. Quite frankly, I do not believe for one second that my constituents are terribly concerned about what is going on specifically in Germany, France or anywhere else that these spend-DP-Liberals want to talk about. That is nonsensical. When they call me, email me or drop into the office, they are concerned about how they are going to put food on their tables here in Canada, which is the government's responsibility and the Prime Minister's responsibility, not just any other problem. They are concerned about the highest inflation that Canadians have seen in over 30 years. They are concerned about the prices of everything they see, from home heating fuel to groceries to gasoline for their vehicles, which go up on an almost weekly basis. To get to the question that Daniel would like answered, perhaps by the Prime Minister, what is the government going to do about the affordability crisis that Canadians are now facing? Finally, Canadians ask me every day how we are going to pay the incredible debt that these spend-DP-Liberals continue to accumulate. I look back to August 1994 when my eldest daughter was born. At that point, an individual's share of the debt was $16,000, and today that has now ballooned to $31,255. Of course, if we want to use approximate math, that is double the amount in 28 years. As this number continues to climb, there is a major concern I hear from everyday Canadians with this out-of-control spending: How are we going to saddle these Canadians with that as they go forward in the future and cannot even afford a house? To summarize, this budget has failed everyday Canadians like Daniel, important and vital industries such as agriculture, future Canadians like my eldest daughter, who are going to be saddled with this huge national debt, and, finally, all Nova Scotians. There was next to no mention of my home province in the budget and certainly nothing of substance for the constituents of Cumberland—Colchester. Therefore, it will come as no surprise that I have no confidence in the government and there is no way I can support the Prime Minister's budget 2022.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Apr/26/22 1:04:40 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it does not surprise me that the member is not voting for the budget. Wow, what a surprise. I can tell members that, unlike the Conservative members, we recognize that there has been a pandemic, a world pandemic, which brought on the need to spend billions of dollars, not only here in Canada, but also around the world. We also recognize, as one of his former members recognized, that there is a war happening in Ukraine, and there are economic and world conditions that have actually led to, yes, inflation. Compared to the United States, our inflation rate is less. Compared to many European Union countries, our inflation rate is less than theirs. Does the member not believe that he is misleading Canadians when he tries to give a blanket statement, trying to give the impression that Canadians need to be frantically worried because of inflation and not necessarily putting it into a proper perspective?

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Mr. Stephen Ellis

Apr/26/22 1:05:49 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, if I cannot use the word “just”, I find it inappropriate that the member opposite can say that I am misleading Canadians by giving facts. That is a little bit rich, in my mind, and quite ridiculous, to be honest. I think what is important is that on the Conservative side of the House, we hear about everyday Canadians. They talk to us. I am not sure that the other side really understands that, that we hear from real people who come in and cannot afford things. I always find it fascinating, as well, that they continue to go on and on about the United States, France, Germany and other places that perhaps are worse off. If they cannot govern the country, and it is too darn difficult for them to manage a war and a COVID crisis while doing a proper budget that would help Canadians, I know a group of people on this side of the House that is more than happy to take over.

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Mr. Mario Simard (Jonquière, BQ)

Apr/26/22 1:06:40 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, my colleague has raised legitimate concerns about the public debt and inflation. However, there is a concern that he neglected to mention, and that is climate change. I do not know whether Daniel in his riding is concerned only about inflation, but he should also be concerned about global warming. Many of my constituents find the situation untenable. It is going to have a major adverse impact on their future. I would like to hear what my colleague has to say about this. I have a quick question to ask him: If we want to fight both public debt and global warming, would it not be appropriate to halt the $2.5 billion in the budget to support the gas and oil industries? I am sure he will agree with me on that.

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Mr. Stephen Ellis

Apr/26/22 1:07:33 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I think the interesting thing is that I did speak about climate change. Perhaps he does not know the geography of Nova Scotia. Canada is actually connected to us by an isthmus called the Isthmus of Chignecto, which I have raised multiple times in the House. It is in significant danger of being flooded from the climate change that is happening. What we do know, again, as I mentioned very clearly, this is not mentioned in this budget, even though the government has chosen to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to study this issue multiple times, and the sad thing is that this is a very important link from Canada to Nova Scotia. It brings across many goods every day, and this would sadly be flooded by climate change. That is something that the government, again, has not addressed in budget 2022.

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Ms. Lori Idlout (Nunavut, NDP)

Apr/26/22 1:08:27 p.m.
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Qujannamiik, Uqaqtitiji. The member and his party have made it clear that they oppose the increases to dental care and pharmacare, which are needed by so many Canadians. How can the member justify increasing the defence budget by $24 million when so many Canadians would benefit from dental care and pharmacare?

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Mr. Stephen Ellis

Apr/26/22 1:08:51 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, there are a few things there. We do know that health care is very important. It is very clear that the government does not believe that. They did not increase the Canada health transfers at all, which, as I mentioned, was unanimously agreed upon by all the provincial premiers. That is a sad state of affairs. In terms of other care, Nova Scotia does have a dental program, and I think, when we look at the details of the dental program and the pharmacare program, these are very wasteful programs. They really do not know how to administer things on the other side of the House. When one begins to understand the costs associated with them, there are probably better ways to do it. As I said previously, we would be more than happy to take that burden away from the country and take over as the governing party whenever we need to.

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Mr. Patrick Weiler (West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, Lib.)

Apr/26/22 1:09:45 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Labrador. Budget 2022 has been tabled at a time when Canada is seeing historic growth in our economy. Canada’s GDP is higher than it has ever been, and the IMF is projecting Canada to have the fastest-growing economy in the G7 both this year and next year. Canada has recovered 115% of the jobs lost at the height the pandemic, compared to only 93% in the United States, and we have the lowest unemployment rate that we have had in almost five decades. Canada entered the pandemic with the lowest net debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7, and budget 2022 will maintain this position by ensuring our clear fiscal anchor of a declining debt-to-GDP ratio remains in place to have a fiscally prudent path forward. Despite these lofty numbers, inflation caused by COVID-related global supply chain disruptions, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and record low interest rates are impacting Canadians through rising prices as they buy their groceries, fill their cars or look for a home. This is why budget 2022 prioritizes tackling affordability challenges to make home ownership more attainable and to relieve health care costs, while we simultaneously focus on growing our economy and protecting our environment. The rising cost of housing is the most visible and alarming example of affordability challenges in our country as home ownership continues to fall further out of reach for many Canadians. For example, in two of the three largest communities in my riding, the average house currently sells for over $4 million, while the fastest growing areas saw homes increase by about 40% year over year. This is clearly not sustainable, and the large shortage of housing Canada is facing plays a big part. Foreign investment and speculation have taken housing off the market for Canadians, while unfair real estate practices have driven up prices, and high prices have made it particularly difficult for young Canadians to enter the market. To respond to this, budget 2022 takes action on all these fronts. Canada’s population is growing faster than any G7 country, and, with fewer homes per capita than most OECD countries, which cannot continue if we want homes to be affordable. To address this, Canada will double new housing construction over the next decade. We are proposing to invest $4 billion to launch the housing accelerator fund to work with municipalities to build over 100,000 of the right sort of housing in our communities. We are also tying our infrastructure investments to densification to do what we can as a federal government to discourage the Nimbyism that is shutting out young Canadians and workers from the communities they grew up in or work in. We are also extending the rapid housing initiative to quickly build more supportive housing units, creating a rent-to-own program to help young professionals get into the market, and making the largest investment in co-operatives in over three decades, among many other initiatives. We also need to keep building more housing in indigenous communities. As difficult as it is to find housing is for most Canadians, it is even worse in indigenous communities. Fixing that is a vital step along the path of reconciliation. Budget 2022 proposes investments of $4.3 billion to build and expand housing in indigenous communities and to co-develop and launch an urban, rural and northern indigenous housing strategy. To tackle the commodification of housing, we are banning non-resident foreign investment in Canadian housing for two years to ensure the Canadian homes are owned by people that live and contribute to our country. We are also introducing a tax on home flippers where property is sold within 12 months of acquisition, and taxing assignments of new builds. We are also working with the provinces to develop a homebuyer bill of rights to eliminate unfair practices, such as blind bidding, that unnecessarily drive up housing prices and to ensure that buyers have the right to a home inspection when they are making the largest investment of their lives. We are also creating the tax-free first home savings account to assist young Canadians to get into the housing market. This account will give prospective first-time homebuyers the ability to save and invest up to $40,000. Like an RRSP, contributions would be tax deductible, and withdrawals to purchase a first home, including investment income, would be non-taxable, like a TFSA. While housing is the most prominent factor in the affordability crisis, it is by no means the only one. One of the things I have consistently heard across my riding is that the high cost and lack of availability of child care has hurt both families and businesses. That is why our government created the Canada-wide early learning and child care system last year. By the end of this year, child care fees will be reduced by an average of 50%, or to $20 a day in British Columbia, and will average $10 a day by 2026. This will save B.C. families $6,000 per child, on average, by the end of the year, and over $9,000 per child by the end of 2026. To build on the 40,000 new spaces that will be created as part of this, budget 2022 will invest another $625 million to create even more spaces. Parents have told me that this, in many respects, is an even greater challenge than the cost, where some families are waiting over two years for child care. This is not just an important social policy. It is also an important economic policy, as it will allow both parents to return to the workforce. Getting people back to work is in fact one of the largest challenges we have in our economy with almost 875,000 unfilled jobs across the country. Child care and building housing address two main factors, but the backlog in immigration processing caused by the pandemic is the third. Budget 2022 contains $2.1 billion to clear these backlogs. Importantly, it will support improvements that will streamline the temporary foreign worker program, which is crucial to find workers in sectors and regions with the largest labour shortages, including in tourist-dependent areas that have been hit hard by the pandemic. Canada's public health care system is a source of immense national pride. It protected us through the worst of the pandemic, but it is not complete. Budget 2022 fills an important remaining gap with the creation of a new dental care program. Starting this year, children under age 12 will have access to dental care. This program will be steadily expanded so that all Canadian families with income under $90,000 will have access by 2025. While the federal government provided 80% of the pandemic relief programs to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic, a backlog of surgeries formed over the last two years. That is why the federal government is going to be stepping up once again to provide provinces the supports of over $2 billion to top up the Canada health transfer to clear them. Last year’s devastating flooding and wildfires in B.C. were a wake-up call for many in B.C. that we are living in a climate emergency. Budget 2022 shows that the Government of Canada is both ensuring we are resilient to an already changing climate, while following through on its now legislated commitment to reduce emissions by at least 40% by 2030. Total investments in climate action and greening the economy will exceed $28 billion in this year’s budget, building on the over $100 billion already committed. Importantly, to mitigate future wildfires, we will be training 1,000 new firefighters, increasing our satellite monitoring capability, investing in new firefighting equipment and working with indigenous peoples on traditional ways of mitigating wildfires. Our government knows that climate policy must be implemented in a way that creates jobs and does not overly burden Canadians. That is why this year’s budget will expand and extend incentives in zero-emission vehicles to tackle our second highest source of emissions. We will also invest in the charging networks to support them. New tax benefits for heat pump manufacturing and additional capital from residential retrofits will build on the $5,000 grants and the $40,000 no interest loans for home retrofits to save Canadians money and reduce household emissions. Investments of $15 billion in the Canada growth fund and $3.8 billion into our critical minerals strategy will allow Canada to be competitive in the entire battery supply chain, which will play a crucial role in the clean economy, which will drive job growth around the world. Scrapping tax credits that support new oil and gas production while creating new tax credits that support clean technologies will help the private sector play an increasing role in the transition to a cleaner economy. As we increasingly electrify our economy, we are investing to expand our green electricity generation with almost $900 million to develop new clean electricity projects and modernize our electrical grid. Our environment has a special place in the hearts of British Columbians, but many of our most important land and marine ecosystems are at risk. To protect our last remaining old growth forests in British Columbia, we are creating the old growth nature fund. This fund will leverage provincial and private capital to protect more of B.C.’s irreplaceable old growth forests and the many species at risk that call them home. We are also expanding the highly successful and the oceans protection plan, which has done incredible restoration work throughout our most sensitive marine areas, with an additional $2 billion to do even more. As I see my time is running out, I will not have time to touch on the many other areas of this budget that will make a real difference in the lives of Canadians and help us continue to accelerate along the path to more sustainable development. I want to end by saying that these policies and investments mark the beginning of the post-COVID world. Through prudent yet ambitious spending, our government will help Canadians build a future in which everyone can prosper while maintaining a strong and sustainable fiscal position.

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