SoVote

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

Mr. Frank Caputo (Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, CPC)

Feb/14/23 4:26:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise on behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. Before I begin my question, I want to recognize the life of Cliff Branchflower, the former mayor of Kamloops, who passed away earlier this week. I wish his family the best at this difficult time. My colleague mentioned that we are going to have decreased oil and gas jobs in the future, not because the current government wants it but because all governments really want that. Here is the thing. As it stands right now, it seems as though the current government wants fewer oil and gas jobs and wants fewer of them in Alberta. His point is that we are all going to get off oil and gas. However, when we are considering how much oil and gas is required today while we are weaning off it, does my colleague not agree that those good-paying jobs that could be located in Canada should stay in Canada as opposed to countries that do not have respect for wages and human rights? That is where those jobs are going right now. Why are they not staying in Canada?

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Mr. Daniel Blaikie

Feb/14/23 4:28:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would say this is an example of the one-two punch the oil and gas industry gets in this House between the Liberals and Conservatives. The Liberals spent over $20 billion on a pipeline, and the Conservatives get up and say that the Liberals are not supporting the oil and gas industry. They can debate whether they want to or should support the oil and gas industry with massive government expenditures, but I would say the Liberals have been trying really hard to do so. I do not think they are failing to try. In fact, I would criticize the Liberals for the extent to which they are doing that. I think of the opportunity cost of that $20-billion investment. We are told that we cannot have a western power grid that would help share hydroelectric energy from British Columbia and Manitoba across the provinces. This is because we do not have the money to build it. Then they turn around and build a $20-billion pipeline. We cannot afford to be sinking that much money into new oil and gas infrastructure when we could be spending it on different types of infrastructure that would also create really good-quality jobs here in Canada. The point is to create those jobs in a way that is going to be sustainable over time. I would say that the Liberals have placed their bet on the oil and gas industry, and we think that is the wrong place for that bet when it comes to the next generation of Canadian workers.

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Mr. Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe (Lac-Saint-Jean, BQ)

Feb/14/23 4:29:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I really appreciated my hon. colleague's speech. I agree with him. The Liberals are putting more money into the oil and gas industry than the Conservatives did before them. I believe that is unheard of in Canadian history. The oil industry has never had so many subsidies. Unfortunately, I have a question and I am not sure my colleague will be happy that I am asking it. At this moment in time, when we are fighting climate change and the government has never put so much money into subsidies for the oil and gas industry, how can his party support the government when it is time to vote on a budget like that?

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Mr. Daniel Blaikie

Feb/14/23 4:30:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we acknowledge the decision that Canadians made in the last election. We are here to try to achieve progress whenever possible. I do not think that holding an election tomorrow will resolve the issue of the Liberals and Conservatives giving significant support, on behalf of Canadians, to the oil and gas sector. That is something we want to resolve. We are working with people in Canada and Quebec who want to change that, but we are not yet there. We are in a position where we can have a federal dental care program, which we believe is a good thing. We will achieve gains wherever we can and we will continue to fight wherever we must.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Feb/14/23 4:31:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would be inclined to ask a quick question regarding what the member thinks about the NDP-Liberal B.C. agreement on LNG. I could possibly ask him what he believes Rachel Notley has to say about the purchase of the pipeline. However, I would rather pick up on what he said in his speech about how government can actually spend where there is a very high return. Could I get his thoughts on the national child care program and its net benefits, which were clearly demonstrated in the province of Quebec?

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Mr. Daniel Blaikie

Feb/14/23 4:32:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am very familiar with the arguments in favour of a national child care program. I recall making them as a candidate in 2015, against Liberals who said it was a bad idea and it was not the federal government's business to invest in child care. I am very glad to see the government come around on that, and I am glad to see some of the positive effects that were anticipated by New Democrats and others who knew better. I welcome the Liberals to the party. I hope they will join us on some other things while we are at it.

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The Deputy Speaker

Feb/14/23 4:32:27 p.m.
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Order. It is my duty, pursuant to Standing Order 38, to inform the House that the questions to be raised tonight at the time of adjournment are as follows: the hon. member for Calgary Centre, Carbon Pricing; the hon. member for Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship; and the hon. member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, Foreign Affairs.

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Adjournment

Mr. Tony Baldinelli (Niagara Falls, CPC)

Feb/14/23 4:32:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when our Conservative leader first spoke before the fall economic statement was introduced last November, he made two very clear and simple demands on behalf of our Conservative Party. First, we wanted the Liberal government to stop the taxes. This included cancelling all planned tax hikes and the tripling of the carbon tax. Fast-forward a few months to February, and it is clear that the current Liberal government is on track to do the exact opposite. Taxes went up on Canadians this past January, and this April it is only going to get worse. Late last year, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation sounded the alarm about five incoming Liberal tax hikes in 2023. These hikes include increases that Canadians will see at the gas pumps, an alcohol escalator tax, increases to the Canada pension plan, hikes to employment insurance contributions and increases to payroll taxes for anyone making $40,000 or more this year. This April 1, gasoline is set to go up by 14¢ per litre, and alcohol taxes are automatically set to rise by 6.3%. This is no cruel April Fool's joke. This is the damage done by bad Liberal fiscal policy. Locally, across Niagara, these taxes, particularly the alcohol escalator tax, will punish many wineries, craft breweries and distilleries, as well as anyone who enjoys consuming these wonderful Canadian-made products while visiting Niagara, which is the number one leisure tourism destination in all of Canada. The second demand of our Conservative leader was for the Liberal government to stop the spending. Any new spending by Liberal ministers in the government must be matched by an equivalent savings. The government must cut wasteful spending and stop the inflationary deficits that drive up the cost of everything for Canadians. Again, fast-forward to this month, and the Liberals are failing to make good on this demand. In fact, as time goes on, more and more wasteful and reckless Liberal spending is being uncovered. In the fall, there was the $6,000 luxurious hotel room that our Prime Minister stayed in for a one-night stay in Europe. Then, there was the $54 million wasted on the disastrous ArriveCAN app. Recently, the Auditor General blasted the CRA for its lack of rigour in trying to identify and recoup a minimum of $27.4 billion in suspected overpayments of emergency aid benefits, including $15.5 billion for the Canada emergency wage subsidy. In response to the comment from the Auditor General, the government's own CRA commissioner had the gall to inform Canadians that “it wouldn't be worth the effort” to review and try to recover every dollar of the $15.5 billion in CEWS overpayments. That insufficient response from the CRA commissioner did not get by our Parliamentary Budget Officer, who recently said it was “a bit disconcerting when you hear that and the government is faced with a deficit.” For these reasons and more, Conservatives are asking the House today to call on the Liberal government to cap spending, cut waste, fire high-priced consultants and eliminate inflationary deficits and taxes that have caused a cost-of-living crisis for Canadians. Simply put, after eight years of the current Liberal government, Canadians pay more today for their goods and services and are getting less. Groceries, gas, home heating and more are getting more expensive by the day because of the reckless Liberal spending habits. After eight years of the Liberal Prime Minister, the cost of groceries is up almost 11%. After eight years of the Liberal Prime Minister, half of Canadians are cutting back on groceries. After eight years of the Liberal Prime Minister, 20% of Canadians are skipping meals. In Niagara, a recent report found that almost 39,000 people are being assisted by local food banks across the region. Those serving on the front lines are witnessing people struggling who have never struggled before. Under these deteriorating conditions, Canadians work harder to try to get ahead, but they take home less money because of higher costs for the things they need to buy and the higher taxes they will have to pay. Just yesterday, in fact, we had new data provided by the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, which reported that nearly four in 10 Canadians are now borrowing money to pay for groceries, shelter and other daily expenses. According to the report, “many Canadians are facing the biggest financial challenges of their lives. More are borrowing money to cover their day-to-day expenses, including by using high-cost loans.” It is no wonder Canadians feel like everything is broken and they have lost control. Many are falling behind, even as they try hard to get ahead. It comes as no surprise that the same reckless Liberal spending habits, which have played a big role in driving up inflation, have also caused our national debt to soar. Debt interest payments have become so big under the Liberals that the costs are projected to be larger than what the federal government spends on the budget for the Department of National Defence. We should remember that the next time we have to scramble our outdated and under-equipped CF-18s and watch the Americans shoot down airborne threats over our territory. It is getting so bad that some former Liberals are finally starting to acknowledge it. One random Liberal is former finance minister Bill Morneau. He has said that the government probably spent too much during COVID. Meanwhile, former Liberal deputy prime minister and finance minister John Manley said that the Liberal Prime Minister's fiscal policy is making it harder to contain inflation. There are direct consequences to the Liberal government's recklessly spending the cupboards bare. Will the government be able to live up to the expectations it set for its new federal tourism growth strategy? The tourism minister has spent the last several months asking the industry to think big on ideas to expedite economic recovery from the devastating impact of COVID-19, yet fear is now beginning to grow in the tourism community that the Liberal government is once again failing to understand that the industry is still in recovery mode. It appears that, once again, the Liberal government is setting itself up to over-promise and under-deliver. That is a great shame for tourism communities across the country, such as mine in Niagara, which welcomes visitors from around the world. As well, what is to happen to the wine sector support program, which was put in place because of the Liberal government's ineptitude on trade policy? The two-year, $166-million program has ended, yet the industry has asked for it to be extended, and there have been no updates about its renewal. Last year's budget showed that the government would raise $390 million over five years in new revenue by now applying the excise tax to 100% Canadian-made wines. Where are those funds going? For months, Conservatives have been warning the government that its out-of-control spending would lead to an increase in interest rates. The government responded by telling Canadians not to worry and to go ahead and take out big loans since interest rates would remain low for a long time and there would not be any negative consequences. Well, after eight years of the Liberal Prime Minister, 45% of variable rate mortgage holders now say they will have to sell or vacate their homes in less than nine months due to the current interest rate levels. After eight years of the Liberal government, everything feels broken, and Canadians are having a harder time not only getting by, but simply hoping to try to get ahead. After eight years of this Liberal recklessness, Canadians have to work harder, work longer and even work multiple jobs just to take home less earnings and to get by. Enough is enough. While Liberals are expecting Canadians to pay for their reckless spending habits, Canadians can count on Conservatives to provide them with the sound financial planning and path ahead when they elect us into government after the next federal election. Canadians must realize that as the Liberals make more and more promises for a better tomorrow to distract us from the issues of today, none of the problems they have created, which Canadians now face, are getting fixed. Canadians need real solutions to these real problems that they are facing right now, and only a Conservative government can deliver on this for Canadians.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Feb/14/23 4:41:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Conservative Party says that if we are going to spend the money, we have to find the money in order to do so. Now, we just made a major announcement for the future of the national health care system, $190 billion over 10 years, and there are hundreds of millions flowing this year. The Conservative leader has now endorsed it. He has said that Conservatives will not cut back on that commitment. Can the member now share their plan? When they talk about money being spent only if money is coming in, in terms of programs, what programs would the Conservatives be cutting as a result of the commitment that the Conservative Party leader has made?

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Mr. Tony Baldinelli

Feb/14/23 4:42:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in my remarks earlier, I talked about the Auditor General, who found that $4.6 billion went to ineligible individuals, and we estimated that at least $27.4 billion in payments to individuals and employees should be investigated further. Among the individuals who received money and should not have, $1.6 billion went to people who quit their jobs; $6.6 million went to people who were in jail the whole time; $3.3 million went to people who did not live in Canada; and $1.2 million went to dead people. Why do we not start there?

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Ms. Lori Idlout (Nunavut, NDP)

Feb/14/23 4:43:38 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, I have been in this debate all day, and I have heard similar responses to this question that I have asked, which is about the disparity between major for-profit corporations raking in billions in profits and people like those he described in his constituency, people struggling to pay for groceries. How does the member explain the disparity between those major corporation profiting in the billions and people struggling to pay for groceries?

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Mr. Tony Baldinelli

Feb/14/23 4:44:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, well, first of all, as Conservatives, we all believe that every company, every organization and every individual should pay their fair share of taxes. Let us begin with that. Again, some of the decisions made by the government benefited those who did not need the support. To my colleague's earlier question about eliminating the types of programs and funding for those organizations that do not need them, why do we not start by looking there, so we can reduce those costs and provide the assistance to those who need it the most?

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Mr. Frank Caputo (Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, CPC)

Feb/14/23 4:45:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise to behalf of the people of Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo. Before I get into my question, I also want to recognize the life of a titan of Kamloops politics, Pat Wallace. She was a pioneer who spent many years, decades, in Kamloops on Kamloops city council, paving the way for so many others. She recently passed away. May an eternal light shine upon her. I wish her and her loved ones all the best in this difficult time. I want to ask my hon. colleague a question. It builds on the question I asked my NDP colleague. It is about this notion of where we should be putting our business dollars and what we should be supporting. There has been, obviously, a push that we move away from energy on the global end. Would he agree with me that, while we do move away from all sorts of energy, we should be really emphasizing Canadian energy over energy that comes from jurisdictions that really do not support the things that we do, such as freedom, workers' rights and things like that?

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Mr. Tony Baldinelli

Feb/14/23 4:46:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with him 100%. We should be supporting those energy sources that are sourced here in Canada, done by Canadian workers. Just building on what he said about this notion of moving to a cleaner and cleaner economy, the Independent Electricity System Operator in Ontario estimated that it would cost $400 billion to get it to a carbon-neutral 2050 in Ontario. How are we going to do that? We will need nuclear. We will need and continue to need natural gas and, of course, that clean hydroelectric power that comes from Niagara Falls, all 2,200 megawatts, done by the people of Niagara.

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Hon. Tim Uppal (Edmonton Mill Woods, CPC)

Feb/14/23 4:47:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has been in power, has been in that chair, for eight years. For millions of Canadians, things have never been worse than they are right now. For eight long years, Canadians from coast to coast to coast have been left behind by the Liberal government. After eight years of the Liberal Prime Minister, inflation is at a 40-year high. After eight years, the cost of groceries has sky rocketed. After eight years of the Liberal Prime Minister, half of Canadians are cutting back on the groceries they buy. After eight years of the Prime Minister, 20% of Canadians are skipping meals. It is unbelievable that this happens in a country like Canada. After eight years of the Liberal Prime Minister, the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment across Canada's 10 biggest cities is over $2,000, compared to only $1,100 per month in 2015. After eight years of the Liberal Prime Minister, 45% of variable rate mortgage holders say that they will have to sell or vacate their homes in less than nine months due to the current interest rate levels. After eight years of the Prime Minister, average monthly mortgage costs have more than doubled, and now Canadians are paying over $3,000 a month. After eight long years of the Prime Minister, everyone seems to be aware of the damage the Liberal government has done, except for the Liberals themselves. The Governor of the Bank of Canada has said that “inflation in Canada increasingly reflects what's happening in Canada.” The former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney said, “inflation is principally a domestic story.” According to bank CEOs, tens of thousands of Canadians could default on mortgages due to these rising rates. Former Liberal finance minister Bill Morneau has said that the government probably spent too much during COVID. Former Liberal deputy prime minister and finance minister John Manley said that the Liberal Prime Minister's “fiscal policy is making it harder...to contain inflation.” It is clear that this is a homemade problem. Everyone seems to get it. Canadians, themselves, get it. The experts get it. Even those random Liberals get it, except for the Prime Minister himself. He does not seem to get it. Our Conservative motion today calls on the government to cap spending, cut waste, fire high-priced consultants and eliminate inflationary deficits and taxes that have caused this cost of living crisis for Canadians. Inflation is at the highest its been in 40 years. Interest rates are the highest in a generation, and home prices and rent are the highest they have ever been. After eight years of the Liberal government, Canadians are struggling to keep up with the rate at which the government prints and spends money. It has spent more dollars chasing fewer goods. It has created a dire situation, and it is one it will not be able to spend its way out of. Over half of Canadians are uncertain if they will be able to afford to retire. A recent study by the Bank of Montreal found that Canadians will need $1.7 million to retire, which is up 20% from 2020. Now, someone has to be a millionaire in Canada to retire. The Liberals' wealthy friends, who they are very fond of handing off lucrative contracts to using Canadian taxpayers dollars, might have no problem with this, but for everyday, hard-working Canadians, this is simply not realistic. Each day, I receive letters from hard-working Canadians in my riding who feel that many aspects of life in Canada are broken. More Canadians visit food banks just to get by. Half of Canadians are cutting back on their groceries, and one out of five are skipping meals. A recent poll showed that 60% of Canadians think that the country is broken, and 73% of them feel this way in my home province of Alberta. This is heartbreaking. We must turn things around instead of making things worse for Canadians. We could start by getting rid of the carbon tax. I have been hearing from Canadians right across the country who are spending hundreds of dollars a month, large portions of their income, just to keep up with this punitive Liberal carbon tax. I recently heard from a senior who is struggling to afford to heat her home. She now has to pay an additional $73 a month on her bill just for the carbon tax. This is an elderly person on a fixed income whom the government has left behind. She is now considering selling her home because she cannot afford to heat it. This is tragic and unacceptable. Canadians should not be punished for heating their homes or for driving to work. They are already struggling enough as it is. However, the Liberal insiders have never had it so good. The thousands-of-dollars-a-day consultants at McKinsey are very happy with the Liberals. In fact, the consulting contracts have gone up 100% in the eight years since the Prime Minister has been in power. The lobbyists, whose contracts have also increased by 100%, are also very pleased. It is Canadians who pay for these outrageously expensive contracts with their hard-earned tax dollars whom the government continues to leave behind. We call on the government to cap spending, cut waste, fire high-priced consultants and eliminate inflationary deficits and taxes that have caused this cost-of-living crisis. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister refuses to take any responsibility for the hurt he has caused so many Canadians. As Canadians struggle to afford home heating and groceries, the Prime Minister treated himself to a $6,000-a-night hotel room. He then had the officials try to cover it up by redacting relevant information in internal correspondence related to this scandal. The government is out of touch and Canadians cannot afford to pay for the Prime Minister's luxuries. After eight long years of wasteful spending, the Prime Minister is still finding new, creative ways to spend Canadian tax dollars. His latest inflation plan is to hire more pollsters to poll Canadians for buzzwords on the budget. This madness needs to end.

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Mr. Francis Scarpaleggia (Lac-Saint-Louis, Lib.)

Feb/14/23 4:54:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am trying to understand, and maybe the member could help me by telling me how putting food on the table during a crisis, how helping Alberta get oil to tidewater, how lowering child care costs and how providing dental care to children is contributing to inflation.

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Hon. Tim Uppal

Feb/14/23 4:55:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter is that inflation has continued to grow under the government. The Governor of the Bank of Canada has said that the government's inflationary policies have contributed to what is happening in Canada. Inflation continuously goes up and almost every day we stand up in this House to ask the government to help Canadians keep the heat on and take the tax off. We have asked it to take the carbon tax off. Instead, what the government is planning to do is triple the carbon tax and add more burden on Canadians. This will cause more inflation, so it actually is the government's policies and actions that are hurting Canadians and making things much worse for them.

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Mr. Luc Desilets (Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, BQ)

Feb/14/23 4:56:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we know that the Liberal government has introduced very few budgetary or legislative measures to try to fight inflation. We all agree on that. Fortunately or unfortunately, the Bank of Canada has had to use the monetary tool at its disposal, that is, increasing interest rates, to try to check this inflationary spiral. Does my colleague agree that, ultimately, increasing mortgage rates was still the right thing to do?

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Hon. Tim Uppal

Feb/14/23 4:56:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague makes a very good point, that it was actually the actions of the Liberal government, its inflationary policies and the fact that it spent so much money it really did not have, that caused the inflation we have. The Bank of Canada had no choice and was forced to increase the rates to what we see today. The result of that is that Canadians are paying for it. Mortgage payments have doubled for many Canadians. This is forcing Canadians to consider selling their house. Many Canadians are now saying they will have to sell their house within the next nine months because of how high these rates have gone. These rates are that high today, at record levels today, because of the 40-year inflation the Liberal government has caused. Its inflationary policies have put Canadians in the position they are in today.

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Ms. Heather McPherson (Edmonton Strathcona, NDP)

Feb/14/23 4:57:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the motion today talks a lot about expenses and what the government is spending money on. I know the member and I disagree quite a bit on what the government should be spending money on, but there is another side of that: revenue. The Liberal government has spent lots of money in Alberta to clean up oil and gas wells. The New Democrats asked for strings to be attached and they were not put in place. Now Premier Smith is giving $20 billion of Alberta money as a gift to her friends in the oil and gas industry. I am wondering whether the member agrees with her decision and whether he thinks the federal government should put more strings on the provincial government to make sure that oil and gas well money is used to clean up oil and gas wells.

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