SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 160 - Feb/14/23

Feb/14/23 1:32:35 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we believe that if one is going to spend more, one has to find some way to take from other places that do not impact on Canadians' day-to-day lives. Unfortunately, with the government and all their partners who vote with their money bills, they are not doing that. We just dig deeper into the hole. Eventually, that bill comes due.

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Mr. Warren Steinley (Regina—Lewvan, CPC)

Feb/14/23 1:33:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to join in the debate this afternoon. I have been sitting here for most of the morning listening to some of my colleagues' speeches. I am proud to see that the member for Timmins—James Bay still has Harper derangement syndrome, proud that he is still full-fledged with that last question. The House leader for the NDP has full-on Harper derangement syndrome as well. He still blames the former prime minister for almost everything that has gone wrong in his life, probably that he did not get the Christmas present he wanted as well. Mr. Harper probably does not think about them whatsoever anymore, so I am glad he is still making breakfast in their kitchen. I want to talk about a few things around competitiveness and how people are doing in Canada right now. The motion is quite long, and a few people did not get to the motion. The member for Kings—Hants talked about competitiveness more so than inflation. A few of the members started on the issue of inflation and how it was affecting Canadians. I want to really dive into that and how it has affected people in Regina—Lewvan and my community. One thing I want to put on the record are a few comments that the Prime Minister a couple of years ago. I remember when the budget was delivered. Speaking through the national media to Canadians, he said that the government decided to take on the debt so Canadians would not have to. I will never forget that moment. As soon as those words came out of his mouth, I thought, if the government takes on debt, who eventually pays that back? It shows that he does not think about monetary policy. No government in the world has ever actually created wealth. They do not create revenue. The way the government gives revenue is that it takes it from people who work and pay taxes. It takes it from businesses that make revenue. The government does not create its own stream of revenue. That was probably one of the most out of touch comments I have ever heard a leader of our country make. As my colleague, who just wrapped up, said, eventually the bill does come due, and it is the Canadian taxpayer who has to pay that bill. We are seeing that in the very real result of inflation. I know that Tiff Macklem and random Liberals like Mark Carney and Bill Morneau are all talking about how inflation is more and more a made-in-Canada issue. That inflation has hit everyone hard. It has hit the parents trying to take their kids to sports and buy healthy groceries. People take pictures of their groceries and send them to me to show me what $200 of groceries looks like, and it is four bags of groceries. It is a real issue for people right now trying to make good choices to feed their families. As we have talked about in question period, parents are skipping meals so their kids do not have to; 1.5 million Canadians line up each month at food banks. We are the bread basket of the world, and 1.5 million Canadians are using food banks. Members of the government and the coalition should listen to that. That is a real number. People are making these decisions to go to a food bank. They cannot afford groceries because of inflation. One of the huge things that has driven up the cost of groceries is the carbon tax. When we have brought in opposition motions about scrapping the carbon tax, immediately everyone says that we do not have a environment plan. We will hear that from the NDP and the Liberals, that there is no environmental plan on this side and why would we want to scrap the carbon tax. As we say all the time, a carbon tax is not an environmental plan; it is a tax plan. We can see it in the results. We asked our Liberal colleagues and the NDP, which always supports the Liberal carbon tax, about the results. What targets have they hit? Could they show us an emissions target they have hit in the last eight years to sell the carbon tax to Canadians. They are trying to sell it as this green plan but emissions have continued to go up. At the last COP meeting, where everyone flew their private jets in and had a fancy gathering, we heard that Canada was 58 in the world in reducing its emissions. That is over the Liberal government's whole history. Being 58 in the world is not something to be proud of. Therefore, when the Liberals are trying to sell this carbon tax as a tax plan, it is not true. If they are trying to sell the carbon tax as an environmental plan, it is not working. Maybe they have to go back to the drawing board for something that actually would lower emissions across our country. With regard to competitiveness, as my friend from Kings—Hants mentioned, I met with the Canadian Steel Producers Association. We had an all-party steel caucus. One of the things that it brought up was competitiveness. I will take this time right now for a shout-out to say that my heart is with the 100 or so USW 5890 workers in Regina, who are on the verge of being laid off. One of the reasons they are having more layoffs at Evraz steel in Regina is because we cannot sell our product, because our country is being flooded with cheap steel from countries like South Korea, China and India. Their steel is costing pennies on the dollar of what our steel is costing. Because of the carbon tax, it is costs so much more now to make that steel. We want to talk about being more competitive, and my friend is shaking his head and agreeing. He was on the Zoom meeting as well from Flamborough—Glanbrook, and I really appreciated his contribution. One thing we can all agree on is that when it comes to made-in-Canada steel, it is way more environmentally friendly than any other steel that people are using in infrastructure projects in our country. We have the most environmentally friendly steel. We have a steel industry where our workers are treated well and they are paid a fair wage for a fair day's work. In a lot of other countries that does not happen. The fact is this. If we not only used more Canadian steel in our infrastructure and in our projects but exported it to other areas of the world, it would lower emissions in our country. That is just in one sector of our economy. That is where we want to talk about competitiveness and what inflation does, not only to our whole economy and people's day-to-day lives but for the growth of our economy. The Conservatives agree. We are always talking about growing that pie, not cutting it up into smaller chunks for each individual province or sector. We have an opportunity in our country now, coming out of COVID, to grow our economy, to get stronger and we do not see that happening with the current government. I just heard the member for Winnipeg North say that they were going to build back better. Many Canadians would look him in the eye and tell him not to worry about building back better; just put it back the way it was. We hear this all the time, that we should quit trying to make things better because all the Liberals are doing is making Canadians fall further and further behind. I was an MLA for eight years before I became a member of Parliament. One of the things I heard a colleague say was that sometimes one of the best things government could do was to get out of the way. Sometimes the best thing it can do is nothing and let the entrepreneurs of our country do it. Canadians are very good at knowing what to do with their own money. I say in many of my speeches that a dollar in the pocket of the person who made it is worth twice as much as having the government take it and spend it. The Liberals were talking about their job numbers. Since February 2020, 80% of all the jobs made under the government were in the public sector. It seems like the Liberals have forgotten about the private sector and entrepreneurs, those people who invest their money and create jobs, where the government does not have to do it for them every day. I am proud to represent Regina—Lewvan and to put some of the people's stories on the record today. Inflation is hitting everyone hard across our province and in our city. Under a government led by our new leader, we would take the tax off and keep the heat on.

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Mr. Kody Blois (Kings—Hants, Lib.)

Feb/14/23 1:43:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I find it a bit ironic that the member opposite would have presented as a candidate in the last election by talking about carbon pricing. This was something on which that member ran. I take notice that he and the Conservative Party may not agree with the approach that this government is taking. He talked about it as being an environmental plan. However, really the core of what the carbon price is about is trying to incentivize changed behaviour. It is trying to drive technological innovation. I was in the member's home province of Saskatchewan. Federated Co-operatives Limited is making a hundreds-of-million-dollars investment on the basis of trying to benefit from getting around the idea that there is a market mechanism to change behaviour. I take notice that the member might not like this plan, but an honest and genuine question back to him is this. What would he suggest is the best mechanism from government to actually try to drive the innovation and technology that is needed? Is it government regulation? Is it big, bossy government programs? What exactly would he like to see? On this side, I think it is a market mechanism, which is inherently a conservative play. Why does he not like it?

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Mr. Warren Steinley

Feb/14/23 1:44:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I always enjoy it when a Liberal shows up in Saskatchewan, because we have not had one since 2019. Federated Co-operatives Limited is putting $1.3 billion into a renewable diesel plant and a canola crushing operation, which is going to be fantastic. What the government could do is appreciate some of that private money going toward making new jobs. While we are on are on the topic of promises during elections, that government also ran on a promise to never to never increase the carbon tax over $50 a tonne. The member is going to have to go back and explain to his constituents why it is going to $170 a tonne, which will triple the cost of heating their homes in the winter.

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Ms. Monique Pauzé (Repentigny, BQ)

Feb/14/23 1:44:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think I missed what the member said at the beginning, so I will stick to what the motion says. When the Conservatives talk about cutting spending, do they want to cut the $65 billion in old age security and guaranteed income supplement payments to seniors? Do they want to cut the $7 billion in GST rebates for low-income earners? Do they want to cut the $4 billion in veterans' benefits? Do they want to cut the $43 billion in EI benefits? Do they want to cut health transfers? When they talk about cutting spending, exactly what are they talking about?

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Mr. Warren Steinley

Feb/14/23 1:45:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is a very fair question. What we are talking about cutting is the $119 million to McKinsey & Company. What we are talking about cutting is the $15 billion in programs that went to prisoners, dead people and companies that did not need the COVID spending. What we are talking about is the $400 billion that the government said it was going to use for COVID programming but never used it. That is the Parliamentary Budget Officers' numbers. That is over $500 billion in spending that we are talking about already. There is a lot of largesse that the Liberal government has spent over the years. There are a lot of places where we can cut and deliver better services. I would ask my Bloc colleague this. There has been an increase in the public service, there has been an increase in contracting out and there has been an increase in spending, higher than any other government in the history of our country, but have we seen better services for our citizens?

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Ms. Lori Idlout (Nunavut, NDP)

Feb/14/23 1:46:31 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, I would like to thank the member for discussing the increased usage of food banks. While this increase has been happening, at the same time Loblaws' gross profits were up by 30.8% in the third quarter of 2022. Corporate greed as such needs to be taxed so families can stop going to food banks. Does the member agree?

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Mr. Warren Steinley

Feb/14/23 1:47:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, one of the first things I would not have done is given $20 million to Loblaws for new freezers. The Liberal government decided to do that and her party supported it. Therefore, the member should talk to her party leadership about supporting corporate welfare for Loblaws as well. I talked about one thing that hurt the most vulnerable and that was a tax on everything, the carbon tax. It makes groceries more expensive for everyone. It makes the shipping of those groceries to the grocery stores more expensive. If we want to help the most vulnerable among us, the first thing we have to do is lower the taxes and control our spending to get inflation back down to that 2%.

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Mr. Michael Coteau (Don Valley East, Lib.)

Feb/14/23 1:47:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the member said that the best the government could do sometimes was to get out of the way. Imagine if government got out of the way when we looked at public education in provinces and in the country. What if government got out of the way during nationalizing universal health care or got out of the way during the pandemic? Does the member not believe that sometimes government has to come together for the common good and as a collective as Canadians to identify issues that are of a national scope and actually focus and use the power of government for good?

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Mr. Warren Steinley

Feb/14/23 1:48:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this is an easy answer, and that is exactly the difference between Liberals and Conservatives. The Liberals think governments can always do it better. The Liberals think governments can take money from people and spend it better than they can. The Conservatives believe that individuals can do that better with some of their own money. The Conservatives believe that the private sector can solve some of these problems. The Conservatives believe that entrepreneurs in this country are what built it, not government. Government is not always the answer to problems. Many times it needs to get out of the way, as I said. The member can believe that a government should look after people from cradle to grave, but some people are going to have different opinions.

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Mr. Mark Gerretsen (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (Senate), Lib.)

Feb/14/23 1:49:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Vaughan—Woodbridge today. Before I start talking about this opposition motion, I note that the Speaker has allowed a lot of latitude regarding where people have gone when talking about it, especially the member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, who spoke a few minutes ago. She spent a lot of time talking about NORAD and our defence system despite the fact that this motion has nothing to do with that. I thought it would perhaps be relevant to reflect on the previous opposition motion that was before this House, brought forward by the Bloc, on the use of the notwithstanding clause. I would like to observe that very few Conservative speakers spoke to it. I think there were three in total. None of them really asked any questions, and when they did, they never talked about the subject. Then, of course, yesterday, they all voted in favour of encouraging premiers like Doug Ford to continue trampling on individual constitutional rights by supporting that opposition motion, which said provinces should be using the notwithstanding clause. I found their approach on that a couple of days ago very interesting. They did not say a word, but voted in favour of it when the time came. I hope that Canadians paid attention to that, because it was very revealing, in my opinion, as to how the member for Carleton and Leader of the Opposition will treat the courts if he ever has the opportunity to be the Prime Minister. I will just leave that for a moment and focus a bit more on the opposition motion, or the omnibus opposition motion, that is before us today. The Conservatives are really trying to get this “eight years” thing to stick. I do not understand it. I do not think Canadians really see the difference between seven and eight years, but it is the new talking point. They have mentioned “eight years” in the motion probably about a dozen times. I am still trying to understand how that is supposed to be anywhere near as crafty as the “triple, triple, triple” thing, which I still have not even figured out. I wonder who they are testing these slogans on before they roll them out to the public. I heard the member for Calgary Forest Lawn earlier today talk specifically about the measures the government brought into place and how, in his words, “None of those measures have been working.” He specifically said this. However, look at some of the measures we have brought in, such as topping up the GST, assisting people with paying their rents and other previous initiatives brought forward during COVID. For a member to get up in this House and suggest that those are not working is absolutely ridiculous and completely out of touch with the reality of what is going on with Canadians. Let us talk about those specific programs, the programs the Conservatives are saying contribute to inflation. When we top up the GST for some of the most vulnerable people in our country, the people who need it the most and who will immediately go out and spend it on things they actually need, not on luxuries, that is not going to contribute to inflation. Do not take my word for it; take the word of the countless economists who have come forward. As a matter of fact, just last night, before the agriculture committee, a few witnesses spoke to that. I know the member for Foothills, the member for Beauce, the member for Lambton—Kent—Middlesex and the member for Battle River—Crowfoot, who were all at that meeting yesterday, would have heard the following two quotes. The first is from Dr. D.T. Cochrane of Canadians for Tax Fairness, who said, “Inflation is a complex phenomenon. Unfortunately, an overly simplistic claim about the cause of inflation being ‘too much money chasing too few goods’ has driven an overly simplistic policy solution—higher interest rates. This claim also lends itself to blaming the federal government for inflation because of the money created to support Canadians during the pandemic.” Another witness, Dr. Jim Stanford, said that clearly, it is not due to the Prime Minister either and that our inflation and food inflation are both below the average of other industrial countries. That leads me to my next point. It is this idea that in a globalized world, where we are trading goods and services in a free market, which Conservatives support because they support free trade, apparently, somehow we can isolate ourselves from the policies that other countries make and the effects those policies will have on Canada. The member for New Brunswick Southwest, in an answer to one of my questions, specifically said that inflation is driven by monetary policy, and he was implying that the Conservatives were not worried about the rest of the world. When I asked him about the impact the rest of the world has, he said they do not care about the rest of the world and that this was only about Canada. The reality is that when we work to have a market like Canada's, which is open to other developed countries in the world, policies created in other countries are going to have an impact on Canada and vice versa. That is why, in my opinion, it was important for Canada to stay in lockstep with other countries throughout the world, particularly those we do a lot of trading with, rely on and have shared values with, during the pandemic. We needed to provide supports and resources to our population, just as those countries did. Now, somehow, the Conservatives imply that if Canada had not gone that route to support Canadians and taken care of them to the best of our ability during the pandemic, we would not be subject to this inflation right now. That is an absolutely ludicrous claim. They are trying to suggest that every other country out there experiencing inflation can do the same thing by controlling, in isolation, their own inflation even though their markets are globally connected as well. Where are the inflation rates right now? Let us recap. In the G7 alone, the inflation rate in Japan is 4%, in France it is 5.8%, in Canada it is 6.3%, in the U.S. it is 6.4%, in Germany it is 8.5%, in the U.K. it is 9.2% and in Italy it is 10.1%. These are numbers as of January this year. If we drill down into energy specifically in the G7, Canada and the U.S. have the exact same inflation, at 7.3%. The rest of the G7 is anywhere between 15% and 64% inflation. I think it is very important, when we have these discussions, to focus on the fact that inflation is not just domestic in nature or completely controlled by our government. Because of the relationship we have with other countries throughout the world, inflation relies on the trading that happens throughout the world, and our policies feed into the inflationary impacts in different countries. This leads me to my conclusion. The Conservatives want to completely wash over the fact that a lot of what has happened with inflation has to do with global issues that are happening right now, in particular the war in Ukraine. That is driving so much of this, and every economist will tell us that. Some hon. members: Oh, oh! Mr. Mark Gerretsen: Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives, who are heckling right now, will try to say that the Prime Minister is responsible for all of it. I have one thing to say to my Conservative colleagues in response to that.

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The Speaker

Feb/14/23 1:57:35 p.m.
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Let us pause for a moment. I am not having a hard time hearing the hon. member, but it is rather disturbing that while he is trying to get his point across, he is being interrupted. As much as one side or the other enjoys it, it is not parliamentary procedure. I will let the hon. parliamentary secretary continue.

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Mr. Mark Gerretsen

Feb/14/23 1:58:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, the Conservatives like to suggest that the Prime Minister of Canada is completely responsible for inflation. Let us not forget that this is an individual who they routinely say is incapable of doing anything, yet on the other hand they say he is capable of controlling global inflation. Let that sink in for a couple of minutes. Either they are completely unaware of what is happening in the rest of the world or they think the Prime Minister of Canada is capable of controlling the inflation rate throughout the world. One of those two things is happening.

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Mr. Lloyd Longfield (Guelph, Lib.)

Feb/14/23 1:59:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the greenbelt is a vital part of Ontario's ecosystem and protects thousands of acres of wetlands, forests and watersheds. It is also home to several farms located on some of Canada's best agricultural land. When protecting our climate, we need to be consistent across orders of government. Developments of the greenbelt that are proposed in the province of Ontario conflict with federal legislation, such as species-at-risk legislation and impact assessment legislation, and infringes on the Rouge National Urban Park. Canadians are feeling the impacts of climate change, which is why, since 2015, our government has protected over 290,000 square kilometres of land as part of our historic commitments and investments in nature conservation. As we continue our path to net-zero emissions by 2050, now more than ever, it is important that we protect areas such as the greenbelt.

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Mr. Ryan Williams (Bay of Quinte, CPC)

Feb/14/23 2:00:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, happy Valentine's Day. Speaking of matters of the heart, ever year more than 250,000 Canadian babies are born with congenital heart disease, the number one birth defect in Canada. This week is Congenital Heart Disease Awareness Week. My wife Ally and I have a personal connection. Over seven years ago, we lost our son Teddy to congenital heart disease. He was born and died just 22 minutes after birth. There is not a day or year that we do not think of what could have been. My wife has been a tireless advocate for infant loss and congenital heart disease while writing a blog: alwayschooselove.net. Many families have a story similar to ours, but many families have stories that last a lifetime, with significant needs ranging from multiple invasive procedures, such as open-heart surgery, to daily therapies for breathing and physical rehabilitation. This week, look in Toronto at the CN Tower lit up in red, or alongside B.C. Place, Cabot Hill and Montreal Park Tower. The warmth of the red signifies that there is a need for Canadians to support our babies born with a broken heart. This Valentine's Day, have a heart, and support and share stories of congenital heart disease. Let us help find a cure.

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Ms. Julie Dabrusin (Toronto—Danforth, Lib.)

Feb/14/23 2:01:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, do you have a neighbour who sits on the porch? Maybe you notice them and remember them every day. Well, that was Michael Finlay. He was a member of The Pocket neighbourhood, and people remember him for being on the porch reading and for the interesting music he listened to. More Canadians will remember him for his important contributions to journalism. He was with the CBC for over 30 years and worked on As It Happens and Sunday Morning, one of my favourite shows, as well as Dispatches. He will be remembered as a storyteller, documentary maker and editor. People say he saw what other people did not see. He made important contributions to journalism, and people really looked to his leadership. One person said, “Every reporter he ever worked with said their story was made better because of Michael.” Michael died in a violent assault a few weeks ago last month, and I am very sorry to see his passing. His memorial will be at one of his favourite local spots, Gabby's, next week. We will all remember Michael Finlay, and we thank him so much for his contributions to journalism.

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Ms. Monique Pauzé (Repentigny, BQ)

Feb/14/23 2:02:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have some excellent news. Although Canada was the first country in the world to allow the consumption of genetically modified animals, consumers in Quebec and Canada will not, as it turns out, find genetically modified salmon on their plates, especially without their knowledge. We know that this government is unwilling to require labels for GMOs, of course. Whom do we have to thank for this about-face, which will benefit all those who want to know what they are eating? Is it Health Canada or the federal government? No, it is environmental groups like Vigilance OGM and Nature Canada. Politicians like those in the Bloc Québécois, as well as a significant part of the population, rallied together to say no. This grassroots movement made the American company AquaBounty give in. While I welcome that decision, we should all be concerned that the government, which should be protecting us, did absolutely nothing about this issue.

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Hon. Marc Garneau (Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount, Lib.)

Feb/14/23 2:03:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to acknowledge the Fraser-Hickson library, which is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its minibiblioPLUS book delivery service on Feb 14. This service grew throughout the pandemic and now supports 130 partner organizations, impacting 14,000 participants, bringing more than 10,000 books to children and delivering 5,000 hours of programming. Its staff and board of directors are deeply committed to the cause of early literacy and promoting reading to children, particularly in their first 100 days of life. The Fraser-Hickson Library was founded in Montreal on October 15, 1885, and was the first free library open to the public. It received the enthusiastic support of Honoré Beaugrand, the then mayor of Montreal. Today, the library's collection of books is spread out across my riding and across Quebec. The Fraser-Hickson Library continues to foster a love for reading and promote early literacy. Congratulations to the Fraser-Hickson Library.

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Mrs. Rachael Thomas (Lethbridge, CPC)

Feb/14/23 2:05:04 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-11

Mr. Speaker, using Bill C-11, the Prime Minister and his government will control everything that Canadians can see online. Renowned author Margaret Atwood has started speaking out about this. She has labelled the government's actions “creeping totalitarianism”. Despite the enormous opposition, however, the government is ramming its way forward and steamrolling over opposition voices. It has ignored YouTubers, TikTokers and Instagrammers who have spoken up from all corners of this country. Voices of indigenous creators have been stifled. Black creators have been suppressed. French creators have been silenced. Now, however, the Government of Quebec is standing up and speaking out. It is sounding the alarm bells. It does not want to be dictated to by the Liberal government, or for that matter, any government. Therefore, it is urging the Prime Minister to give the provinces a voice. Unfortunately, My NDP and Bloc colleagues are standing with the Liberal regime. On this side, my Conservative colleagues and I are standing with the Province of Quebec as it calls on the Liberal government to give it a voice. We are asking that the government send this bill to committee, give an opportunity for voices to be heard and for this legislation to be adequately—

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The Speaker

Feb/14/23 2:06:12 p.m.
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The hon. member for Scarborough—Guildwood.

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