44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 6, 2022 10:00AM
- Dec/6/22 10:53:36 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the support measures in Bill C-32 will help Quebeckers and Canadians across the country. It is time that the government rolled out these support measures. We need to act and vote, because Canadians are counting on the measures in Bill C-32. These measures include strengthening our economy and positioning ourselves as the G7 country with the lowest deficit. Now is the time to act. That is why we are here today. We want to vote.
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Madam Speaker, it will not surprise anyone here to know that I cannot support a motion to have time allocation even on a bill on which I plan to vote yes. We are far too often, almost 100% of the time, falling into the practice of time allocating bills. The New Democrats and the Liberals decried it, just as much as much as I did, when it was happening to us under the previous Harper government.
Now that it is happening to people we are prepared to support in general on bills sometimes, we somehow think it does not matter to have full debate in this place. Could we please revisit the traditions of this place to ensure time is not used in debate by members who read a speech aloud? If we were not reading speeches, we would have far fewer speakers. Returning to our rules in all things will help the House work better and help House leaders organize the work. I sympathize with the reasons, but we now seem to use time allocation every time. Two wrongs do not make a right.
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Madam Speaker, I too would like to see this place be a place of fulsome and focused debate, but we are talking about an objection by the Conservatives, who are using the dilatory tactic of opposing the short title of the bill. That is like having a new medicine ready to go out to people and stopping production because they do not like the name of the medicine. It is absurd.
We are talking about 27 hours of debate, 140 interventions and $1 billion that needs to get to Atlantic Canadians to help them recover from Fiona, on top of the $300 million already put into the system for Atlantic Canadians. I am for fulsome debate, but not for dilatory tactics. Canadians need these supports. That is why we need to get to a vote.
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Madam Speaker, I actually emphasize with the comments made by the leader of the Green Party, but the reality is that I am old enough to remember the last fall economic statement, which the Conservatives would not let us vote on until well into the spring, almost the summer of this year. It was the fall economic statement of 2021 that we could not get to vote on until almost the end of the session last spring.
The reality is that we are seeing game after game being played by the Conservatives, and it is all being done at the expense not of members of the House who are sitting here having to debate them, but of those who will benefit the most, those who are struggling the most right now and who will benefit from these supports that will roll out.
I am wondering if the minister could comment on who is really suffering the most due to the delay tactics that are being caused by the Conservatives.
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Madam Speaker, quite frankly there are small businesses in the member's riding, in my riding and in the ridings of the Conservatives, the Bloc, the Greens and the New Democrats that want to keep growing and want to make sure they are going to get some tax relief when they do.
There are families looking forward to saving money so they can put it into a new savings account for their first home, but they cannot do that unless we vote and pass this law on to the next stage, unless we get to vote on Bill C-32.
We are talking about making sure that hydrogen investments, clean-tech investments and the good labour agreements we need to build the economy for the future get passed into law. We are talking about billions of dollars of investment into our country. That is what is at stake. That is why we need to get to a vote.
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Madam Speaker, there is no question that Canadians are suffering right now. There is no question that people are having to use what little they have in their savings accounts just to make ends meet.
Since New Democrats have been elected to this place, we have always been steadfast in our mission of ensuring that we continue to deliver the promises we made to Canadians. Many of those promises are included in this fall economic statement and within Bill C-32. It is imperative that we get these supports to Canadians now.
This House is a place where traditions of debate live. Yes, that is an important thing, but in our condition of democracy today, what we are seeing is the Bloc Québécois do what it has done traditionally, which is to blame, blame, blame everybody else, and then we have the other block party, the Conservative block, which blocks everything else.
We really need to get this legislation passed. We need to get the support to Canadians. We are here to support Canadians, and that is what this bill does.
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Madam Speaker, not only are we talking about growing the economy, but we are also going to pay down our deficit. We will have the lowest deficit in the G7. We have the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio.
The supports that are in here are real supports to help people to buy their first home, to make sure businesses can save money and to make sure we speed up the benefits for workers. We are also going to make sure that if companies have enough wealth that they think they can buy their shares back, they are going to pay a 2% tax to the country. If they do not want to do that, they can invest in the economy and grow the economy, which would be good for my colleague's riding, for my riding and for ridings across this country.
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Madam Speaker, while today the government is asking the House to expedite its spending, we have the Auditor General revealing tens of billions of dollars in inflationary waste associated with the government's past spending. Tens of billions of dollars went out the door to people with clearly identified risk factors for not actually being eligible for the programs they were receiving money for: There were no spending controls before the money was spent and no spending controls afterwards. Essentially the government is handing out money through its programs on the basis of an honour system. If one says one is eligible, one gets the money, and there is no checking before or after. Over $30 billion in spending was identified, associated with very likely risk factors in the Auditor General's report.
I have a simple question for the minister with respect to the Auditor General's report. The Auditor General has come up with clear recommendations to try to address this problem of tens of billions of dollars of inflationary waste. Will the government accept and implement all the recommendations of the Auditor General, yes or no?
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Madam Speaker, I wonder if the member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan would like to talk to all the people in his riding who got CERB benefits or CEBA loans and were able to get through the pandemic, and if he would then say it was irresponsible spending. I wonder if he would be prepared to do that.
Quite frankly, we are seeing a primary contrast in this House. When we support Canadians, the Conservatives say it is a waste of money. We are investing in Canadians. We got them through the pandemic. We did the right thing. We got supports to people who needed them the most.
If we are talking about getting to the fall economic statement, and if the Conservatives would actually have substantive debate on the issue, perhaps we could continue, but their number one objection is to the short title of the bill. It is absurd; it is dilatory, and we need to move on and get supports to Canadians.
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Madam Speaker, I want to speak because I am a bit amazed by everything I am hearing from both sides of the House.
I do not understand the idea of imposing closure on Bill C-32. In every speech we made, we said that the Bloc Québécois supported Bill C-32. I also heard the NDP say that it supported the bill. The government therefore has everything it needs to move Bill C-32 forward, properly and in a reasonable manner. It also has the option of having us sit later to accelerate the process. Why would it impose closure? I really do not understand.
I would also like to say that I completely disagree with the allegation made by my colleague in the NDP that the Bloc Québécois is obstructing proceedings. That is not true. That is misinformation. On the contrary, we have given our support to many bills. We work seriously and thoroughly on the bills. Members can say anything they want in the House, but they should not say things that make no sense. As whip, I can say that Bloc members are thorough, that they work hard, that they contribute and that they do not obstruct proceedings to block the legislative agenda. In fact, the opposite is true.
With respect to Bill C-32, I will say it again and tell the minister that we support it. The government has the support of a majority to move Bill C-32 forward properly. Why impose closure? I am sorry to say that I truly feel that closure is an abuse of power when used to pass a bill that the government already has majority support for. Compared with other minority governments, this government has managed to have a record number of bills passed. More bills have been passed under this minority government than under previous ones.
I do not know what they are complaining about. It seems that the Liberals are worn out, that they are basically fed up with managing our institution, Parliament, our debates. It is true that it takes a certain amount of effort. They need to listen, negotiate and be open. I really feel that this government is worn out.
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Madam Speaker, with all due respect to the Bloc Québécois whip, I have never been accused of being worn out or lacking energy. The same is true of our government. It is not a question of managing the House. It is a question of providing Canadians with the support they need.
When the Conservatives obstruct proceedings with a dilatory motion to oppose the short title of a bill because there are no other objections they can make to this bill that will provide support to Canadians, rebuild the economy and reduce deficits, I think it is time to move on.
We are grateful for the co-operation of the Bloc Québécois and the NDP. It is time to put an end to dilatory motions and to vote on the bill.
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Madam Speaker, we all remember sadly the events of 30-odd years ago, and our hearts and prayers go out to the families of the young women whose lives were tragically taken.
There is also another tragedy in my riding of a different scale, which is of course due to climate change. We all saw the impact of hurricane Fiona, the largest hurricane to hit Canada and wallop eastern Canada, and I would love to know my colleague's response regarding the supports we are giving in the fall economic statement to help these communities rebuild and get back on their feet after this terrible climate action.
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Madam Speaker, I thank the minister for rural development for her passion and her work on restoring the livelihoods and the infrastructure in her home province of Newfoundland and Labrador and across the region. Having been in Charlottetown and Halifax just last week, I can tell members the scale of the rebuild is like nothing we have ever seen before, and it is going to take us as a country and businesses from across the country to help people to rebuild.
How are they going to get the financing? We have the disaster finance agreement in place, with $300 million we have already put on the table, but the reason we need to get this bill passed is that we put $1 billion in. The people I spoke to are counting on that financing so that they can be ready not just for the tourism season this summer, but to rebuild their lives. We need this money to go out. We need the supports to be in place. That is why we need to get to a vote.
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Madam Speaker, my colleague, the minister, was unable to or did not want to answer the question from my colleague from Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, but the Auditor General's report today is quite clear that more than 10% of the $200 billion the Liberal government put out as COVID relief programs is unaccounted for and very likely went to people who were ineligible for those programs.
I find it quite interesting that the minister is complaining that the opposition is doing its job of scrutinizing spending that is being proposed by the government. I was elected by my constituents in southern Alberta to do just that, to make sure every single taxpayer dollar is being used wisely and efficiently and going to the programs it was intended for. As the opposition, we voted in support of many of those COVID-19 relief programs. However, we did not vote in support of wasting more than $30 billion that the Auditor General is saying in her report today will very likely be unrecovered.
Despite the programs the minister is talking about, when $30 billion of taxpayers' money is being wasted we want to ensure there is some accountability there.
Is the opposition not doing its job? Why should my constituents trust the minister now, when he obviously did not earn that trust with the COVID-19 program?
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Madam Speaker, I respect my colleague from Foothills. We were both attending Agribition and related events in Regina this past weekend to make sure rural Canadians know they have our support, both from the government side and also from the opposition side. Of course the opposition should oppose. That is its function, and as a democrat and as a parliamentarian I respect the work of all the opposition parties.
What is perplexing to me is why the opposition would hold up a bill that is so important to the functioning of our economy and to getting help to the Canadians who need it the most, over the issue of the short title of the bill. Certainly there is more substance, and to the substantive question my colleague from Foothills and my colleague from Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan asked, we are going to read the Auditor General's report in detail. We will respond and take the advice from the Auditor General, but I know that what this government did during the pandemic kept 60,000 people working in the energy sector alone. It helped millions of people.
Yes, the Conservatives supported us; they also voted against some of the measures. We prevented a depression on the scale of the one in the 1930s. It was the right thing to do, and we will take the Auditor General's advice very seriously.
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Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House to remind everyone that, in this minority government, the NDP is acting responsibly and forcing the Liberal government to do things that matter to people, such as introducing dental care and increasing the GST credit.
Bill C‑32 is not perfect, but it contains concrete measures that will help students, first-time homebuyers and our small and medium-sized businesses. In addition, this bill will make big Canadian banks pay a little more of their fair share—not enough, in our opinion, but it is a step in the right direction. We think it is important to pass this bill so we can help Quebeckers and Canadians as quickly as possible.
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Madam Speaker, I respect the NDP members and thank them for supporting this bill.
My colleague is absolutely right. This bill will help growing companies lower their tax bill. We will eliminate interest on student and apprentice loans. We will also help Canadians buy their first home. We are going to make significant investments in the economy akin to those in the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act.
It is time to take action. The game plan is consistent across the continent. That is why we need to take action and vote in favour of Bill C‑32.
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Madam Speaker, we are here to debate a record number of gag orders for a minority government. That is a big deal.
We all recall how Parliament was prorogued in the summer of 2020. The election that was called in the midst of the pandemic did not change anything. We traded four quarters for a dollar. Voters gave the government another minority mandate, in other words, voters did not give the government a blank cheque to do whatever it wants. It has to work with the other parties.
Is democracy a secondary issue for this government? As my whip said so well, we all agreed on this bill anyway. Why impose these mega closure motions? Why not work with the opposition parties? We are here to work with the government on this bill.
I do not understand it, and it is worrisome to see that the government did not understand the message it was sent by voters, namely that it is leading a minority government not a majority one.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to begin by telling my colleague from Shefford just how deeply I was touched by her observations this morning. I thank her for her comments.
Regarding Bill C‑32, we need to focus on democracy and meeting Canadians' needs when it comes to building the economy, putting Canada in a very strong fiscal position and providing support to Canadians who need it.
We have already had 27 hours of debate and 140 speeches on Bill C‑32. We will be spending more time on it and hearing more speeches about it today and throughout the week. Implementing the support measures in this bill is essential to the economy, to our fiscal position and to Canadians.
With that, we are here because we are ready to vote.
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