44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 25, 2022 10:00AM
- Nov/25/22 11:22:30 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, this is not story time, it is question period. The plan that the member is talking about has driven 1.5 million Canadians into a food bank in a month. That is nothing to be proud of. To make matters worse, he believes that $3,500 a year more is not enough.
They are reaching even deeper into the pockets of Canadians to pay for their plan to triple the carbon tax on gas, groceries and home heating. They know the plan has not worked. Why push a costly failed carbon tax on struggling Canadians?
97 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/25/22 11:23:03 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the story that the Conservatives do not want Canadians to be told is that, since 2015, the Conservative opposition has voted against tax reductions for Canadians not one, two, three, four or five times, but six times at a minimum.
In 2015, when we reduced taxes on Canadians in the middle class, the Conservatives voted against it. When we reduced taxes on workers, how did they vote? They voted against it. When we got the child care program in place, how did they vote? They voted against. Just last week, when we reduced taxes on small businesses, how did they vote? They voted against it.
107 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/25/22 11:23:42 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the government is raising taxes on Canadians. It is tripling the carbon tax. The Parliamentary Budget Officer says that 60% of Canadians will pay more than they ever get back. That is a tax.
It will cost an Albertan more than $2,000 after the rebate. In Ontario, it will be almost $1,500 after the rebate. It is all on page 13 of the Parliamentary Budget Officer's report, and the minister should read it. Therefore, I want to know if they calling the Parliamentary Budget Officer a liar, or is today the day they will finally be honest with Canadians about their tax plan?
108 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/25/22 11:24:20 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, let us share the facts about where we are in fighting climate change. Albertans lived through the heat dome. We saw the atmospheric river in B.C. We just lived through the worst natural climate disaster in the history of our country with hurricane Fiona.
Our economists and people all the way back to the founder of the Reform Party, Preston Manning, said that the best market mechanism to make sure that we fight climate change is to price pollution. We have done just that. Albertans get $1,100 more than they spend. Those are the facts.
99 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/25/22 11:25:00 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, inflation is devastating Canadian families, and the rising cost of food, an essential good, is brutal.
Just last month, 1.5 million Canadians visited food banks here in Canada. That is the real consequence of inflation. However, it does not seem to have curbed the government's insatiable appetite for taxes. The Liberals want to triple the carbon tax next year.
Is there a government minister who can stand up and say, with a straight face, that raising taxes during a time of inflation is a good thing?
90 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/25/22 11:25:39 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, let us state the facts clearly.
Over the past seven years, the Liberal government has steadily reduced Canadians' income taxes. The Conservative opposition voted against that every time. When we reduced income taxes for the middle class, they voted against it. When we reduced income taxes for workers, they voted against it. When we cut the price of child care by 50%, they voted against it.
Those of us on this side of the House are voting for Canadians; the Conservatives are voting against them.
87 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/25/22 11:26:20 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, here are the facts. The Liberal government has been running the country for the past seven years, and it brought in the Liberal carbon tax. Seven years later, here are the facts. Canada ranks 58th out of 63 countries in the fight against climate change. If a carbon tax worked, we would know it by now, but it does not work, as we have seen. Still, the government wants to triple the carbon tax next year.
Once again, can the minister stand up and clearly say, with a straight face, that raising taxes during a period of high inflation is a good idea?
105 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/25/22 11:26:53 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, let me be perfectly clear. The carbon tax will not be tripling next year. That is simply not true.
As everyone also knows, the price on pollution does not apply to Quebec through federal taxation. It is Quebec's system that applies. Hurricane Fiona in Atlantic Canada was the worst environmental crisis in our country. The best way to combat climate change is to put a price on pollution, and that is what we have done.
78 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/25/22 11:27:53 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the justice minister just showed the Rouleau commission that he was on a power trip. He admitted that the truck convoy was not a threat to national security for the purposes of the Emergencies Act, but he invoked the act anyway by interpreting the text more broadly, even though he had been given advice to the contrary. In other words, he decided to interpret it to his liking. The minister is not only a minister, he is the attorney general. He invoked a very significant law knowing that he did not meet the threshold.
Is he aware of the precedent he has just set?
106 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/25/22 11:28:30 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, obviously there is a commission of inquiry that is in the process of hearing testimony—
An hon. member: We are watching it too.
Hon. David Lametti:—and we are following the hearings. We decided to participate in the process. We have been committed from day one to participating in this process. We invoked the Emergencies Act because there was an emergency situation in the country. We maintain that it was necessary. We saw the result: The occupation ended.
82 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/25/22 11:29:12 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, we have the rule of law to protect ourselves from arbitrary decrees, to ensure that the law is enforced uniformly, whether or not we like the person it applies to. The minister just threw the door wide open for future governments to make arbitrary decisions.
Does he realize that a Conservative leader could have used the same argument against the indigenous demonstrations during the Wet'suwet'en crisis? Does he realize that he is giving the green light for another leader to use this argument against environmentalists blocking a pipeline, for example? Does he realize what a dangerous precedent he has just set?
105 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/25/22 11:29:50 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, with all due respect for my colleague, we were in an unprecedented situation last winter. The impact that this very complicated and difficult situation was having on workers and families is exactly why the government made the very serious decision to invoke the Emergencies Act. Earlier this week, I provided my testimony to carefully explain all of the reasons we made that decision. Now, we look forward to receiving Justice Rouleau's final report.
77 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/25/22 11:30:33 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, this week, London's Children's Hospital has seen an influx of kids and, as a result, has had to delay surgeries. Parents are agonizing about care for their children.
Today, months too late, the health minister announced no new solutions to address this crisis. The government walked away from meetings with the provinces and did nothing for months as pharmacies ran out of children's medication.
Why is the health of Canadian children not a priority for the government? When will the government stop blaming everyone else and start taking this health care crisis with our kids seriously?
101 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/25/22 11:31:06 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for the attention paid to this extremely important matter.
Next week, an exceptional shipment of child analgesics will arrive in Canada. Our domestic producers have indicated that they have ramped up production here at home. We have done everything we can for the last five months to ensure that pediatric hospitals across the country have enough supply.
It has been a really tough cold and flue season. I urge every Canadian to share what they have, buy only what they need and take care of themselves by wearing a mask and getting vaccinated whenever they can.
106 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/25/22 11:31:48 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, Windsor was under siege during last winter's illegal protest. Residents lost their employment, schools and doctors' offices closed and people lost contact with their families.
The City of Windsor stepped up to clear the blockade at the Ambassador Bridge in a professional way that became an example for Ottawa, but it came with a price tag of $5.7 million. Who is paying the price? Windsor residents are, including the affected area, which has high child poverty, low incomes and immigrants. Who has not paid? It is the federal government.
What will it take for the government to respect the people of Windsor and pay for the harm its lack of action caused? Most importantly, why is it sticking it to the people who followed the law and did all the right things?
136 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/25/22 11:32:39 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues, the member for Windsor West and the member for Windsor—Tecumseh, for being strong advocates with respect to the devastating consequences that the illegal occupation visited on workers, families and the small businesses that dot the Huron Church Line Road leading to the port of entry to Detroit. We do our most significant day-to-day trade with our most important trading partner, the United States of America. That is precisely why we invoked the Emergencies Act. We invoked the Emergencies Act to not only restore public safety but maintain public safety.
We will continue to work with the City of Windsor and the other communities that were unprecedentedly impacted by this to make sure they are made whole.
128 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/25/22 11:33:23 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Governor of the Bank of Canada confirmed this week what Conservatives have been saying: Inflation is higher because of the Liberals' wasteful spending. He also said that the average Canadian is paying $3,500 more a year because of inflation. That is not per family. That is per person. No wonder people cannot afford to heat their homes.
Will the Liberals stop forcing their failed carbon tax on hard-working Canadians?
74 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/25/22 11:33:58 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, Canadians are facing a tough time, as are people around the world, due to rising global inflation. This weekend, residents in my riding of Edmonton Centre thanked us for reducing child care costs because they said it is really making a difference.
We are doing more than that for the residents of Kelowna—Lake Country and people across the country by eliminating student and apprenticeship loan interest, by speeding up the Canada workers benefit, by providing a $500 housing top-up, by providing dental care to half a million kids and by making housing more affordable. It may not matter to some Conservatives that we are putting $500 into the pockets of people, but we are doing it because it is the right thing to do.
129 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/25/22 11:34:40 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals would have everyone believe that Canadians have never had it so great.
I was speaking with a senior from my community recently who was forced to make the tough decision to sell his home because he could not afford to live in it anymore. I attended a fundraiser in Joe Rich in my community, where neighbours were coming together to raise money so that neighbours could afford basic necessities.
This is Canada. This is what is happening. Let us stop the pain.
Will the Liberals stop forcing their failed carbon tax on hard-working Canadians who can barely afford basic necessities?
105 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Nov/25/22 11:35:18 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, day in and day out, the Conservatives stand up and profess to support seniors. However, year after year, since we came into government in 2015, they have voted against everything we have done for seniors.
That dog will not bark. Canadian seniors know who has their backs, and it is not the Conservative Party of Canada.
58 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
