44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 9, 2023 10:00AM
- Feb/9/23 2:38:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like the opposition to take responsibility for the terrible jargon it is putting out on what we have to do on climate change. My riding is devastated, as members have heard me say numerous times. Working at a fishery is a vital income in my riding. I have, as a result of hurricane Fiona, $59.2 million worth of damage done to small craft harbours infrastructure. That was in pretty good shape before hurricane Fiona hit. The price of not addressing climate change is real.
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- Feb/9/23 2:38:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, eight years of out-of-control spending by the current Liberal Prime Minister has led to a massive increase in the interest rates. As a result, nearly half of Canadians with a variable rate mortgage are saying they may have to move out of their homes in just a matter of months. If skyrocketing mortgage payments were not enough, the Prime Minister is set to triple the carbon tax on those struggling Canadians.
Conservatives will keep the heat on and take the tax off. Will the Prime Minister finally take responsibility for this affordability crisis that he has created or get out of the way so that we can fix the problem?
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- Feb/9/23 2:39:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is very rich to hear the other side talk about affordability with respect to housing. They voted against every housing measure we brought before this House to help Canadians attain their dream of home ownership. Whether it was the $200 million rent-to-own program, the first-time homebuyer tax-free savings account of up to $40,000, the doubling of the tax credit for first-time homebuyers or the ban on foreigners owning Canadian residential real estate, they voted against those measures. They try to stand here and say that they support Canadians when it is clear they do not.
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- Feb/9/23 2:40:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the minister needs to get out of this Ottawa bubble. He keeps talking about government programs, but he is not listening to Canadians. These are Canadians who have seen their rent double after eight years of the current Prime Minister; who are now facing the prospect of having to move if they have a variable rate mortgage; and who can no longer afford to put food on the table, with 40-year highs in food prices and one and a half million Canadians lined up at the food banks.
Why do the Liberals not take responsibility, cut the carbon tax and give Canadians a break?
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- Feb/9/23 2:40:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member opposite talked about supports for renters and renters struggling in Canada. That is precisely why we introduced the Canada housing benefit, which looks to invest an average of $2,500 for vulnerable renters across the country. In addition to that, we introduced a one-time top-up of $500 for 1.8 million vulnerable renters across the country.
Not only did the Conservatives vote against that, but they also played procedural games last fall to delay the passage of that bill, which would have sent much-needed supports to renters.
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- Feb/9/23 2:41:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the federal government promised a substantial offer to support the health care system. Instead, we got a substantial disappointment. The minister knew that Quebec and the provinces needed $28 billion more each year to fix their health care systems. He has barely offered them one sixth of that.
Is the minister seriously trying to say that by offering one sixth of the money needed, he is giving Quebec the means to fix the problems in its health care system?
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- Feb/9/23 2:41:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians expect to be able to receive health care services when they need them. Our government is there for them both now and going forward, making investments and doing whatever is necessary.
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- Feb/9/23 2:42:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, everyone except the minister knows that the health crisis has been caused by the federal government's chronic underfunding. Quebec and the provinces have calculated that they need an additional $28 billion a year; the government is putting $4.6 billion on the table. His offer guarantees that there will continue to be problems with health care for at least 10 more years. His offer will ensure that health care is chronically underfunded, and he has the gall to say that he expects results.
Does the minister realize that offering so little deprives sick people of basic care?
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- Feb/9/23 2:42:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our plan seeks to improve Canadians' health care, ensure that patients receive the health care services they deserve in a timely manner and support our health care workers.
Our $198 billion plan over 10 years includes an immediate, unconditional Canada health transfer top-up, targeted investments and a permanent funding increase for the Canada health transfer.
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- Feb/9/23 2:43:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as you and I both know, the Conservatives love saying that the government is spending too much money. Yet their leader has promised to maintain the Liberal health care funding offer if he ever takes office. It is literally the only Liberal public policy that the Conservative leader has committed to protect if he becomes prime minister.
Everyone knows that the Conservative leader thinks that even Scrooge is a spendthrift. Is this not the ultimate proof that the Liberal offer on health care is terribly stingy?
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- Feb/9/23 2:44:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, at the working meeting with the premiers, we discussed plans to increase funding to the provinces and territories by $196.1 billion over 10 years for the Canada health transfer, or CHT, including $46.2 billion in new funding.
This funding includes an immediate, unconditional $2 billion Canada health transfer top-up to address immediate pressures on the health care system, particularly in pediatric hospitals and emergency rooms, and to reduce long wait times for surgery.
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- Feb/9/23 2:44:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Liberal Prime Minister, many Canadians are left shivering in the cold because they cannot afford to heat their homes, and the Prime Minister has shown zero compassion, refusing to take responsibility for the pain he is causing with his punishing carbon tax. However, Conservatives will fix what he has broken. We will axe the tax and keep the heat on.
Does the Prime Minister really believe that Canadians should have to wear coats inside their own homes to keep warm in the winter?
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- Feb/9/23 2:45:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is disappointing to see the Conservatives try to create fear among Canadians for political gain, when we understand they are vulnerable. He should know that his constituents will actually, on average, receive more money as the result of the policy to put a price on pollution. It is extraordinary to me that the Conservatives have a plan to take money away from families so they can give it to polluters.
From the very beginning, we have made decisions to put more money in the pockets of middle-class and working-class families. We are going to continue to be there for them no matter how hard the Conservatives oppose.
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- Feb/9/23 2:46:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of this Liberal government, the cost of living is out of control. In the past eight years, home heating costs have skyrocketed. To add insult to injury, this Liberal government is going to triple the carbon tax.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer says the carbon tax is a net financial loss for most Canadians. Will the Prime Minister take the tax off so Canadians can keep the heat on?
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- Feb/9/23 2:46:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is really disappointing to hear from the other side, because months after the worst climate disaster in Atlantic history, the Conservatives want to take away a measure that will actually fight pollution and put more money in people's pockets.
The hon. member was even mocking some of the measures we want to introduce to help Atlantic Canadians transition away from dirty foreign oil to cleaner forms of energy. That is because the Conservatives have no plan for climate change, no plan for affordability and no plan for the economy.
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- Feb/9/23 2:47:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, he is disappointed? I will tell the Liberals who are disappointed. It is Atlantic Canadians who are disappointed. They have put their trust in them since 2015.
The government is past its expiry date. Corey in Gander knows that. His oil bill is going to increase to $8,000 from $4,000 last year, and it is about to get worse with the tripling of the carbon tax. However, Conservatives will keep the heat on and take the tax off.
Will the Prime Minister take responsibility for the misery he has caused Canadians like Corey so that he can fix what is broken?
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- Feb/9/23 2:47:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by pointing out to the member opposite, and he is well aware, that Newfoundland does not actually have the federal backstop that applies.
I also want to point out that we are helping Canadians make home heating more affordable. We have the “oil to heat pump” program, the greener homes grant, and more than that, today we announced the deep retrofit accelerator initiative to help Canadians make those necessary changes. There is good news attached to this. It is creating good-paying jobs doing these retrofits in small and large communities right across our country.
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- Feb/9/23 2:48:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today Canadians for Tax Fairness released a report that looked at 74 Canadian companies that used the Canada emergency wage subsidy and tax avoidance schemes. When the Prime Minister said that “We are all in this together”, I did not know that we were in a billionaire tax haven.
Take Brookfield Asset Management, with a tax gap of $6.5 billion. Five of its subsidiaries received the wage subsidy despite being based in Bermuda. Enbridge and Thomson Reuters are part of a “who's who” of corporate tax avoidance.
Why do the Liberals expect Canadians to subsidize the lifestyles of the ultrawealthy?
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- Feb/9/23 2:49:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the key point about the wage subsidy, as I said before, is the way it helped small businesses, small business owners and their employees and medium-sized business owners and their employees. That is the fundamental fact to take away.
With respect to the hon. member's questions about avoidance and evasion, this government has invested no less than $1 billion to counter both of those things. The results are clear. Investigations are up and convictions are up.
If the hon. member has another question, I can go into the specifics of it. I welcome the question again if she wishes.
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- Feb/9/23 2:49:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it does a disservice to small business to use them to deflect from answering questions about why giant corporations got over $15 billion in taxpayer money while they were reducing their workforces and paying tens of billions of dollars in dividends. Meanwhile, if one is a Canadian living below the poverty line, the government knows exactly where to find them to send the bill.
Why is it giant corporations are getting general debt relief from pandemic benefit programs when Canada's poor are being chased down by the CRA? Where is the fairness in that?
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