44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 6, 2022 10:00AM
- Oct/6/22 10:08:08 a.m.
- Watch
moved:
That, given that,
(i) big grocery stores have made massive profits in the past year, not long after several were investigated for bread price-fixing,
(ii) workers’ wages and the prices paid to producers in the agricultural sector are not keeping up with those corporate profits, or with inflation,
(iii) Canadian families are struggling with the rising costs of essential purchases,
the House call on the government to recognize that corporate greed is a significant driver of inflation, and to take further action to support families during this cost-of-living crisis, including:
(a) forcing CEOs and big corporations to pay what they owe, by closing the loopholes that have allowed them to avoid $30 billion in taxes in 2021 alone, resulting in a corporate tax rate that is effectively lower now than when this government was elected;
(b) launching an affordable and fair food strategy which tackles corporate greed in the grocery sector including by asking the Competition Bureau to launch an investigation of grocery chain profits, increasing penalties for price-fixing and strengthening competition laws to prohibit companies from abusing their dominant positions in a market to exploit purchasers or agricultural producers; and
(c) supporting the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food in investigating high food prices and the role of “greedflation”, including inviting grocery CEOs before the committee.
He said: Mr. Speaker, I wish to notify the House that I will be splitting my time with the hon. member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie.
Today is a good day in the House of Commons because we as New Democrats are forcing parliamentarians to deal with the issues that are concerning Canadians. The motion that we as a party are bringing forward for debate today is specifically calling out the massive corporate profits that are occurring in so many sectors, often at the expense of what ordinary Canadians are able to afford.
Canadians see this week in and week out. They see it when they fill up their vehicles with fuel and they see it when they are at the grocery stores. It is reaching a breaking point for many families. It is forcing too many families to make difficult decisions that no family in a country as wealthy as Canada should have to make. These are decisions on whether their family budgets can afford to pay the rent or mortgage, decisions on whether we can get as much fresh produce for our young children as we used to get and decisions on whether we should only fill up the car with half a tank this week because we need to save money for next week.
This is the reality for too many families, and not only in my riding of Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, but across British Columbia and across Canada, from coast to coast to coast. For far too long, these Canadians have been looking at the profits that have been made, especially over this year. Some oil and gas companies are making over 100% more compared with what they were making just a few years ago. I hear a lot of talk in this place about taxes, but not enough talk is happening about the revenue we are losing, the revenue that would be there to support Canadians who are in dire need of it.
It is important that Canadians see that their members of Parliament are addressing their concerns. It is important that they see the people they have sent to this place debating this issue with sincerity and making policies that are going to address it. That is why I am such a proud member of the New Democratic caucus. We have been the only party in this place to call out massive corporate profits and champion an excess profits tax. We will continue to champion that until policy-makers see the light in this place and respond with effective policy.
I want to segue to the remarkable success that Canadians enjoyed yesterday at the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food. I want to thank my colleagues from that committee who agreed to my motion to study the excess profits in the grocery sector in particular.
I want to centre particularly on food because food is the great equalizer in our society. No one can live without food. Everybody needs to eat, but some in our society are able to eat without worry. Others have to make difficult choices. When it comes to our nation's children, we know that a healthy and balanced diet is incredibly important not only for their growth, but for their ability to achieve a good education. In a country as wealthy as Canada, far too many children are suffering.
Juxtapose that reality with the fact that the three largest grocery chains in Canada have been raking in the money. We can look at Empire's net profits, which are up by 27.8% in two years. Loblaws profits are up by 17.2% compared with those of last year, and Metro's are up by 7.8%. I know that the CEO of Sobeys has recently been in the news complaining about us taking up an examination of their profits and shining a spotlight on this issue, but if I am in the bad books of a corporate CEO, I think I am doing my job properly in this place.
Those profits are publicly available, but I also want to identify the fact that calls are coming from inside the house. Last week, my office received an email from an employee. I am going to keep him anonymous. I am not going to mention who he works for, because he is afraid of reprisals, but I will quote him. He said:
I have noticed a worrying trend over the last year of large quantities of retail price increases being sent down on a weekly basis.... However, cost increases on these items don't match the increases of retail prices that are sent down....
I have noticed a trend where retail prices consumers must pay for products will increase, and cost increases will come down months after the fact, if at all. Based on what I know of our systems at [the] store level this means that the profit margins on saleable goods will increase for the company until a related cost increase brings it back down. Thus prices consumers must pay are overinflated until costs align with the retail change....
...That is why I believe that a federal probe into grocery store price increases should be supported in our parliament.
I would say to that employee that the New Democrats have heard their call. We are taking action and we are leading the initiative in this Parliament, not only at committee but in the House of Commons, to address this person's concerns and the concerns Canadian consumers have.
We are not going to stop there. We are also going to go after oil and gas. It is one thing to talk about the carbon price, a price on pollution, but if the government is going to completely ignore the massive profits that oil and gas companies are making off the backs of working Canadians, I think it needs to do some reflection on where its policies stand.
We are at a point where the CEO of Shell is being more progressive than the Liberals and calling out something the Conservatives will not even touch. I do not know what kind of a topsy-turvy world we live in when we have to depend on a CEO to be more progressive than our own government, but it is shameful.
In British Columbia, my constituents know the price of gas. They see it all the time, but they can also match that up with what large oil and gas companies are raking in right now. We need to follow the lead of other countries like the U.K. We need to implement an excess profits tax. That natural resource is owned by Canadians. Private companies have the privilege of bringing it out of the ground and selling it back to us, but it is a resource that is owned by Canadians. It is high time we put in place policies to make sure we are getting the full value out of it.
We also heard earlier this week that last year alone we did not collect $30 billion in corporate taxes. That is the difference between what corporations actually paid and what they should have paid. We are having this talk about the structural deficits we see in our housing and the structural deficits in supports for Canadians who are going through hard times, and then we look at what $30 billion in one year alone could have paid for: How many doctors could we have hired? How many school food programs could we have implemented? How many workers could we have retrained with that money to prepare them for the 21st-century economy?
That is the fundamental question before us. It is a question of what we want to be as a country. Do we really want to pursue well-funded programs that help lift everybody up, not just those at the top? I know where I stand on this matter, and I hope colleagues and other parties will do some genuine reflection on where they stand as well.
We are in a place where there has been extreme inaction from both the Liberals and Conservatives. If we were to follow Conservative tax policy, the Margaret Thatcher cosplay they are so often engaging in, we need only look to the United Kingdom as to what Conservative policy would result in. The Conservative prime minister there has single-handedly caused the U.K. economy to go into an absolute economic free fall through tax policies that rightly belong in the 1980s and have no place in the 21st-century economy, especially when we are trying to address massive inequality.
I know I am in my last minute of this speech, but I want to assure my constituents in Cowichan—Malahat—Langford and people in British Columbia and people right across this great country that, for as long as I have the privilege of standing in this place, I will never let them down. I will continue to aggressively pursue these progressive policies. I will do that until we actually see the fundamental change we need to see.
1749 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/6/22 10:17:59 a.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, as my hon. colleague mentioned, yesterday the agriculture committee, with amendments from the Liberals, the Conservatives and the Bloc, passed his motion. I certainly think that reflects the working spirit of our committee.
I do not disagree with the proposition of what the member is putting forward, but when I look at the text of the motion it seems to almost have the conclusion before the investigation has even happened. When he talks about high corporate profits and high food prices, I guess my question for the hon. member is this. Is he asserting that there is absolute price gouging happening in this country, or does he think there are plausible reasons as to why corporate profits and food prices are higher? For example, because many Canadians are buying groceries as opposed to going to restaurants, that could have driven profits higher at the same time as we are facing inflationary pressures.
Does he think there is legitimate price gouging happening in this country, or are there plausible reasons as to why those two things could exist at the same time?
183 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/6/22 10:19:01 a.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for Kings—Hants and all colleagues on the agriculture committee for supporting my motion yesterday. It is going to be a very important inquiry to get the answers Canadians deserve.
I am trying to approach this issue from the perspective of one of my constituents. Two things are true. Prices on food items that people need to survive are going up faster than the general rate of inflation. That is the first truth. The second truth is that the large corporations that have cornered the grocery market are making profits. These two things exist at the same time, and it is about time that parliamentarians took this issue seriously, started an inquiry, got answers and met the challenge with effective policy that is going to tackle inequality in this country.
141 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/6/22 10:21:22 a.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. I have the pleasure of working with him at the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food.
Let me start by gently correcting my colleague when he states that the NDP is the only party to advocate for taxing companies that made record profits in the past year. The Bloc Québécois has also talked of taxing companies whose profits exceed $1 billion. However, that is a small detail.
On the substance of the motion, I would like to give my colleague the opportunity to tell me about the importance of the work being done right now to establish a grocery code of conduct to prevent unfair practices by the big players in that sector.
128 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/6/22 10:33:55 a.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I agree that this is an important debate, especially since the NDP brought it to the House.
We would not have brought it forward if we did not think it was important for people, for our society. We took that initiative. It is true, we are sending a message with this debate. We are telling them that we are watching and that we are keeping an eye on them. Then there needs to be action. That is the second part.
We are setting the stage, bringing up the problem and analyzing the situation. After that, we want an investigation by the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food. We are also asking the Competition Bureau to investigate. Then, there must be regulatory, fiscal and legislative action to ensure that these situations do not happen again.
137 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/6/22 11:19:00 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, my colleague across the way did say that he felt this motion did not go far enough, so I assume that means he supports it. I cannot imagine he is against having CEOs pay the money that they owe.
He has made it very clear that he is not against having a fair and affordable food strategy. Obviously, his members have already said that they would be supporting the study in agriculture.
Does he feel that asking CEOs to pay their fair share is reasonable or does he think that all men should be told that they can go their own way?
104 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/6/22 11:50:40 a.m.
- Watch
Uqaqtittiji, Canadians deserve answers. We deserve to learn why corporate greed is protected while Canadians pay more for food. This motion is a way to try to get some of those answers.
Does the member agree that the agriculture committee should call the CEOs of the major grocery chains to come and explain their excessive profits?
56 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/6/22 11:52:02 a.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I am looking forward to seeing how the agriculture committee goes about its study. It was good to sub in on the committee when it was talking about grain dryers this week and the complexities around that. Most of the retail profit growth from Loblaws came from its pharmacies, like Shoppers Drug Mart and Pharmaprix. The study of profit growth and where the profits are happening could be part—
72 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/6/22 11:52:49 a.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I thank the interpreters for helping us through my lack of French knowledge.
I thank the hon. member for Berthier—Maskinongé for his work here this morning and also his work on the agriculture committee.
The study the agriculture committee will be looking at, I am hoping, will look into the source of profits. Loblaws has drug store chains like Shoppers Drug Mart and Pharmaprix, which have actually been the highest part of their profit growth through this, with the sale of medications the drug stores provide. Also, with the transfer of food from restaurant sales to sales through the retail sector, there has been a shift in demand, so that will also impact prices. As the member mentioned, with climate change, California is not supplying fruits and vegetables to Canada to the degree it used to because of climate change impacts.
Are these the types of things they will be able to look at during the study?
162 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/6/22 12:07:33 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I had the opportunity to listen to quite a bit of the debate today, and I guess the overriding concern that I have is the bottom line, which is the cost of inflation with respect to food for the constituents I represent. This is something that is so critically important for all of us.
The debate on the floor of the House of Commons here in Ottawa has an impact in itself. I would ask the member if he agrees that, since the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food will now be looking at this, in part because of this debate, the committee has a great opportunity to ensure that there is going to be more accountability in terms of the cost of food in Canada today.
130 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/6/22 12:08:33 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his speech.
When it comes to the work of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food, we should draw inspiration from what the British Parliament is doing. We know that the food distribution sector is an oligopoly. Do its members engage in reprehensible practices? Did they take advantage of their position and increase profits off the backs of the thousands of farmers who compete with each other or the millions of consumers who buy their products? Was there collusion that would explain these excessive profits?
The Competition Bureau should look into this. The British Parliament has given that mandate to its competition bureau. As stated in this motion, the Competition Bureau should be given the mandate to study whether there is collusion that resulted in excessive profits, and then we can intervene. It is our duty to give this mandate to the Competition Bureau.
155 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/6/22 12:32:27 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, over the summer I had a chance to visit Yukon. I went to the north and spoke with some people who are farming up in the north.
I was blown away by what they are doing with very little compared to what we have here. Where I am from, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex in southwestern Ontario, we have a plethora agriculture. We are right in the heart of fruit and vegetable production. What they were doing in the north was nothing short of a miracle, growing fresh fruit and vegetables. I was impressed with how they actually do have a selection in the north.
That being said, with prices continually rising for inputs, whether it is fertilizer or carbon tax on the transportation to get the goods up to the north, we are seeing increases at the farm gate. I can speak from experience. As somebody who is growing agricultural products right now, who is farming, I see my inputs going up, which means that I will have to pass that cost on to the next person down the chain, the grocer who is buying it to resell. If I am seeing an price increase, there is going to be a price increase at the grocery store.
Could the member comment on what the government could be doing to help reduce some of those costs at the farm gate so we could have more affordable production of food in this country?
244 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Madam Speaker, first and foremost, I would like to mention that I will be sharing my time with my colleague from Winnipeg North.
I would like to thank the hon. member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford for raising this very important issue.
Today my colleagues have talked about the factors that affect food prices and our efforts to ensure Canadians have access to healthy and affordable food. There has been a lot of talk about retail prices, inflation and tax havens, but I want to approach the issue from a new angle.
Specifically, I am talking about food on store shelves that is coming from producers. Canadian farmers produce the best food in Canada and provide quality, nutritious products for Canadians across the country.
This week, the House began the second reading of Bill S‑227 to establish food day in Canada. My riding has a lot of agriculture-related businesses, each more diverse than the last, and I have had the opportunity to look at the issue of the price of food on store shelves. The producers have helped me understand certain things, and I would like to share that with the House.
This food day is very important for the people of Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation. It will strengthen ties between consumers and farmers by showcasing the richness and diversity of the local, high-quality and safe food they produce. It is important to have food, especially fresh and healthy food.
We need to remind Canadians that the agri-food sector contributes significantly to Canada's economic, social and environmental well-being and the health of Canadians. Everyone is facing the same problems these days related to labour shortages and transportation. Our schools providing training in the food-related trades are even having a hard time recruiting people. We are starting from a very long way down in the food chain.
Across Canada, food producers and processors are the engine of our economy. They contribute more than $130 billion to Canada's GDP and account for over $80 billion in exports. In addition, one in nine jobs created is food related. I would also like to highlight the contribution of all workers in the agriculture and agri-food sector, from farm to fork.
Last week, I had the opportunity to celebrate a third-generation dairy farmer in my riding. As many of us know, it is increasingly difficult to recruit the next generation of farmers, and it is increasingly difficult to ensure the survival of these industries that put food on our plates.
Over the past two years of the pandemic, farmers truly have taken the lead to ensure that Canadians have the safe, high quality and local food they need.
The pandemic may be an excuse, but it has certainly renewed the loyalty of Canadians for the fabulous local food and drink produced by Canadian producers and processors.
Buying local has become more popular than ever. More than 90% of Canadians say they look for locally produced products to support the local economy and reduce the impact on the environment, or the “food miles”. People are trying to reduce how far food is transported and to create a local synergy so that we can consume local more.
Today, more and more consumers want to know where their food comes from. They want to know whether the food is organic and how it is grown. They want to know what they are eating and to understand the growing and livestock living conditions. Consumers want to reconnect to agriculture and support the local economy.
The agriculture and agri-food sector has a lot to gain by reinforcing the relationship that has been established with its clients. It is a new way of thinking about our producers and farmers that we have not seen in the past decades.
Establishing direct contact with Canadians fosters dialogue about consumer values and industry practices. As a result, consumers can make informed decisions and the industry could focus its investment on continually improving its production practices.
I believe that many consumers would be impressed to see the progress made In Canadian agricultural operations in recent years.
Last week, in my riding, I met another dairy producer who uses robotics. He uses advanced technologies to improve milking and care for his cows and to put more products on our tables and plates. The era of pitchforks and horse-drawn carriages is over.
Farmers are using state-of-the-art tools to improve efficiency and adopt sustainable agricultural practices. Technology is opening up new horizons for food and agriculture and for other sectors of the economy. We must adapt to climate change. We must innovate and we must be there to anticipate climate change.
Precision farming now allows farmers to adjust inputs such as water and fertilizer and even to identify the plants that need them. Farmers can work smarter when it comes to procuring what is needed for production. Thus, farmers can save money and reduce their impact on the environment by using fewer inputs. This allows them to do more with less.
Farmers now use drones to detect pests, nutrient deficiencies in crops and weeds. Today, the possibilities for this technology are endless.
Farms have also made many advances in animal health and food safety. Many farms have strict biosecurity measures in place. Today, all of these measures must be considered. We must consider more than just inflation when looking at the price of food on store shelves. We have to look at the whole supply chain, beginning with our producers.
Today, our producers are doing better with technology, but factors such as transportation, labour shortages and climate change have a direct impact on consumer prices.
Many farms are implementing biosecurity measures. For example, access to a hog farm now requires showers on entry and exit to maintain animal health. That is just one example.
Responsible use of animal health products is another way farmers can keep animals healthy while ensuring food safety. Producers face many restrictions, and we need to reach out to them to make them better. Farmers care about food safety as much as they care about the environment. It is critical to their success.
More than ever before, their clients in Canada and abroad want to know where their food comes from, how it was produced and what its ecological footprint is. They also want to know how we ensure the animals are well treated. Public trust is valuable and we must find new ways to strengthen our connection with consumers. That is why the bill to establish food day in Canada is so important.
Last year, the government put in place another measure to strengthen confidence in Canadian foods by launching the agricommunication initiative, which aims to build stronger links between Canadians and the agricultural sector. Agricommunication will help farmers discuss their concerns with Canadians. That is why I regularly consult the producers in my riding to find out how we could do better. The way they take care of our environment and their animals is important, now more than ever. They are stepping up their efforts to implement sustainable practices.
The initiative will enable us to gather more information so we can help producers learn more about consumer expectations. Organizations can use the funding to develop digital communications products for consumers that show how producers are fighting climate change by practising crop rotation and using green technology. I heard about this last week in my riding. This funding can also help not-for-profit groups organize events like farm tours to show members of the public how farmers care for their animals, the soil and the water.
In closing, our government is working tirelessly to ensure the safety and security of our food supply, strengthen connections from farm to table, support local farmers, celebrate our wonderful local foods and ensure that all Canadians have access to the healthy food they need.
1330 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/6/22 1:02:33 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I can tell the member that I love the prairie farmers. I love our farmers. In fact, we are investing hundreds of millions of dollars to support our farmers in regard to the environment. We are spending more money in the Department of Agriculture than the Stephen Harper government ever did.
When it comes to—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
63 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/6/22 4:35:45 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, this Thanksgiving weekend, Canadian families will be getting together from coast to coast to coast. They will be getting around the table in my community of New Westminster—Burnaby and in many other communities. They will be joining together to sit down to have the traditional Thanksgiving dinner, but for so many of those families they will be eating a lot less or a lower quality of food than they have in previous years because of the impact of greedflation on those families. That is why the NDP has put forward this motion today.
The motion directs the government, through the House of Commons, to ensure that we are tackling the corporate greed that is taking place in the grocery sector, which includes asking the Competition Bureau to launch an investigation of grocery chain profits, increasing penalties for price fixing as we have seen in the grocery industry and in other sectors, and strengthening competition laws to prohibit companies from abusing their dominant positions in the market. We are also calling upon the government to support the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food in investigating high food prices. That was a motion brought forward by the member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford. It was successfully adopted yesterday.
Also, we are directing the government through this motion to force CEOs and big corporations to pay what they owe. The estimate for last year alone was that over $30 billion in tax money, taken to overseas tax havens with impunity or through a variety of tax loopholes, was not paid. That is on the existing tax rate. It is $30 billion that was essentially taken from Canadians, so this motion directs the government to take action and force the CEOs and big corporations to pay those amounts. We are presenting this motion today, but the vote in the House will be taking place after the Thanksgiving break that we will be taking in our constituencies.
If the Canadian public want their members of Parliament to vote for this motion, if they believe that the type of greedflation we are seeing, with companies gouging Canadian families at a time when they are struggling the most, should not be, then they should urge their members of Parliament by sending an email, making a phone call or catching up with them at events next week. They should tell them to vote for the NDP motion as they want to see the House of Commons direct the government to take action in those areas.
Through you, Madam Speaker, I ask Canadians to do that in the coming week and make sure that their members of Parliament are held accountable for the greedflation, the increased costs that are happening right now as a result of corporate greed. I will come back to that in just a moment.
We have a responsibility to direct the government and to urge it to put an end to tax havens, which are costing us $30 billion a year. It is imperative that the Competition Bureau investigate the extent of the price increases. Companies took advantage of inflation to increase their profits and the bonuses of CEOs. We are asking that the investigation launched by the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food also have the support of this government.
I am appealing to all Canadians who agree with this proposal and agree that the House of Commons direct the government to do what it has avoided for years but which is becoming increasingly necessary in this time of crisis. I invite them to contact their MPs in the next few days and weeks and ask them to vote in favour of this motion. The vote on this motion will be held the week after next, which is a constituency week.
The vote will take place the following week.
Canadians will hopefully be speaking in the coming days and letting their members of Parliament know that they should be voting for these important measures the NDP is proposing.
I would like to say that there is no doubt that these measures need to be taken. Canadian families are paying more and more for food, yet, at the same time, as so many of my colleagues have mentioned, we are seeing skyrocketing profits from the big grocery chains.
For the CEO of Sobeys, for example, to go after the NDP after what we have seen with Sobeys and the increase in profits and, of course, an increase in his bonus as well, for him to attack the NDP for bringing this subject forward rather than accept that what he is doing, the kind of unfortunate profiteering that is taking place when families are struggling so desperately, shows how disconnected the CEO of Sobeys is from the reality that Canadian families are facing.
A quarter of Canadian families are struggling to put food on the table. Fifty per cent, half of Canadian families, are within a couple of hundred dollars of insolvency, yet we have the Sobeys CEO saying, “Oh gosh, we want our increased profits. We want our bonuses. The NDP should not be raising this issue in the House of Commons.” Quite frankly, that shows a disconnect that is profoundly disturbing and should be for Sobeys' shareholders as well.
This is a company that is paying executive bonuses but has eliminated the hero pay. We had frontline workers during COVID who, at great cost to themselves, showing great courage, stepped forward to make sure that the food stores were open, that the grocery stores were open, so that we could get those essential foods, even at the height of the pandemic. As we know, they were doing this at risk to themselves and risk to their families, and that modest hero bonus that the NDP pushed for, and that the companies grudgingly decided to put into place, was promptly revoked, even though COVID is still present and even though there continues to be a risk.
This is why, I think, Canadians have been so exercised by what they see: companies and company CEOs bragging about increased profits at a time when families are struggling so much.
As we well know, the food bank lineups have doubled over the past few years. What we have seen is more and more Canadian families struggling to keep a roof over their heads. We are seeing more and more homeless. That is why the NDP has been pushing so strongly for measures that help to counter that crisis.
The first real NDP bill in this Parliament is the NDP bill that brings dental care for families with children 12 and under and allows for that expansion of dental care in the following year to seniors and people with disabilities and, in the final year, to all families who have modest incomes of less than $90,000.
These are the kinds of measures that make such a big difference. It is the NDP and the member for Burnaby South, our leader, and the terrific member for Vancouver Kingsway, who is our health care critic, who have led the charge of putting in place the dental care program that will help so many families. That initial payment is going to make a big difference. It will mean that children who would not otherwise have access to dental care will have access. It will then expand into a program that provides supports right across the spectrum.
Ultimately, it means that, in each and every riding, 30,000 Canadians are going to benefit. In each riding, on average, about 30,000 Canadians will benefit from the NDP's initiative. The NDP pushed in that regard. I certainly thank the member for Burnaby South and the member for Vancouver Kingsway for doing that on behalf of all Canadians.
The housing benefit and the NDP drive to get affordable housing in place, something we have not seen in half a century, which has contributed enormously to the crisis that is growing across the length and breadth of our country, that, again, is an NDP initiative.
The member for Burnaby South pushed for months the idea that the GST credit, the GST rebate, needed to be doubled to provide immediate supports for Canadian families, and a benefit that will reach 12 million Canadians has just been passed by this House. Thankfully all parties in all four corners of this House agreed that this was a priority, but it was NDP-inspired and NDP-pushed.
These are the kinds of things that we believe need to happen to benefit people, where we stay focused on the needs of people right across this country: the need for affordable housing, the need for an expanded health care system, including dental care, the need for money in Canadians' pockets at a time when we are seeing costs increase, and the need for a federal government to no longer say to the CEOs that they can do whatever they want, but rather a federal government that bolsters the type of legislation that would ensure that the Competition Bureau can play its role and crack down on price fixing, on profiteering and on corporate greed.
These are the responsibilities that we in a civil society give to our government, to those who were elected to represent us. We do not elect people to support the banks and the corporate CEOs. They have enough tools at their disposal. The great progress of government is to counteract that, so there is a level playing field on which all Canadians can benefit.
This brings me to my point. The member for Carleton, a little earlier today, said something to the effect that the NDP is identifying greed in the private sector that is really hurting Canadians, but that we did not know anything about government greed. Quite frankly, I found that a bit insulting, because I lived through the dismal decade of the Harper government. There is no better example of government greed than the 10 years that we lived under Stephen Harper.
I will just recall the facts. What we saw under the Stephen Harper government that the member for Carleton was such a close part of and obviously wants to replay was a dismal decade. I would say to all Canadians that he will replay that dismal decade over my body, because there is no way we are going to see what the Harper government did to our institutions happen again. If the member for Carleton wants to replay that, he will have a reckoning with New Democrats. We will be standing up against that at all times.
That decade of government greed saw unprecedented handouts to the banking sector, unprecedented handouts to the oil and gas sector, and unprecedented handouts to lobbyists. We can recall there was $116 billion in liquidity supports given to banks, because they needed to maintain their profits. With the signature of all these agreements with overseas tax havens, the ability of those taxes to be paid by everybody collapsed under the Harper government. The meaningful, real tax rate for corporations fell into the single digits. Can members imagine that? It was in single digits.
In terms of the corporate sector paying its taxes, well, with all of the overseas tax haven treaties that were signed by the Harper government, we simply saw a complete collapse of the tax system for the ultrarich and for big corporations. They did not have to worry anymore, because the Harper government, with its greed, was more interested in giving money to them than to regular Canadians.
What did it do for regular Canadians? We saw that; we were in the House as the Harper government gutted pensions, as it ripped them away, as 65- and 66-year-olds were told no, they did not have a pension anymore and were not eligible for a pension. I was in the House when it was in Centre Block. I recall speaking for 14 hours as I received emails and texts from Canadians from coast to coast to coast, talking about what it meant to them.
Carpet layers who had worked all their life and whose health was suffering were being told by the Harper Conservatives and the member for Carleton that they could not retire and would have to keep working because they were not going to be given a pension. How did that impact them or the people who were engaged in physical labour? I gather there are not too many Conservatives who have been engaged in physical labour. I worked in a factory for many years, and I can say that when people are reaching that stage of decades of intense physical work, sometimes they cannot keep working for a few more years because of the greed of the Harper Conservatives. We saw that. We saw cutbacks in everything, all kinds of supports, including housing.
Of course, the most egregious cutbacks were made by the Harper Conservatives because they were so greedy about giving money to lobbyists, oil and gas CEOs and the banks. They even stripped the health care system. Tragically, the Liberals today have never restored that funding, so a pox on both their houses. They stripped all of that away. Therefore, when the member for Carleton says that we do not know about government greed, I say Canadians lived that first-hand for a decade, and we are not going to live it again. The NDP is still pushing to rebuild the institutions that were gutted by that government greed, by the government saying that what mattered was the ultrarich, overseas tax havens, massive handouts to oil and gas CEOs and the banks.
Canadians did not matter to the Harper government or to the member for Carleton, and we all remember that. It is very important that we never forget that. We cannot let the gang that was around Stephen Harper, with all of the impacts that had for regular Canadians, and we cannot let the greed of the government result in massive handouts to its friends, the ultrarich and the lobbyists, rather than providing supports for pensioners and for the carpet layers who have worked for decades and whose bodies are no longer able to continue that intense physical work. Stephen Harper and the member for Carleton ripped that pension away from them. We will not forget that.
We are seeing a very similar approach from the CEOs. We see the current Liberal government maintaining those health care cuts, but we also see that network of overseas tax havens that have now cost us $30 billion last year in money that could have gone to support seniors. It could have supported access to post-secondary education. It could have supported housing. It could have been invested in the health care system to expand it so that, as the member for Burnaby South likes to say, it really provides coverage from the tops of our heads to the tips of our toes. Those are all things that the $30 billion could have provided support for, as well as good Canadian jobs. It could have made a difference with respect to a whole range of things.
This is why we say that when the Liberals and Conservatives claim there is no money for something, it is quite a different story when it comes to the banks, the CEOs and the oil and gas companies. Then the spigot is turned on and the federal government largesse has no limits.
We differ in this corner of the House. I think part of the reason we are seeing the NDP rising in the polls is that Canadians perceive there is one leader in this House, the member for Burnaby South, and one caucus in this House, the NDP, that are fighting for regular people each and every day. That includes when the grocery chains stand up and say they want to have record profits, record bonuses and increased prices, but are not batting an eye with respect to how Canadian families are struggling. In this corner of the House, those families have strong allies who will not stop fighting. We are bringing this motion today because we are standing for Canadian families. I hope it receives support from everybody.
2718 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
