44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 31, 2023 10:00AM
- Mar/31/23 11:56:14 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, budget 2023 invests in seasonal workers so they have five additional weeks of coverage for a total of 45 weeks. Also, in budget 2023, we propose establishing a new independent tripartite board of appeal to hear cases regarding employment insurance claims.
We know Canada's EI system is complex, and that is why we are focused on improving it. In the past two years, the minister has led more than 35 virtual, national and regional round tables with workers, employers and academics. EI reform is a priority of this government. We are on it and we will get it done.
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- Mar/31/23 11:56:52 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the only thing Ottawa took away from the pandemic is debt. The budget passes that debt on to workers.
Ottawa expects to collect an extra $24 billion in workers' EI premiums. However, the government is not putting that money towards EI reform. It is taking workers' money and using it to pay off $24 billion in pandemic debt.
Why not use workers' money to protect them rather than paying off pandemic debt at their expense?
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- Mar/31/23 11:57:33 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, we have a great deal of respect for the workers in this country. We supported them during the pandemic. We take the entire EI system very seriously. The minister has been focusing on the modernization of the EI system.
We will continue this work and we will have a solid plan to respond to workers' needs.
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Madam Speaker, the budget still allows the automatic tax increase to take place tonight on beer, wine and spirits. Under this Liberal government, simple pleasures like enjoying beer with friends after work or a bottle of wine over dinner with a loved one have become unaffordable luxuries for working Canadians.
Will the government commit today to support my bill, Bill C-266, and cancel the automatic annual tax increase on beer, wine and spirits?
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- Mar/31/23 11:58:32 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I have said it in the House already this week, and I will say it again. We listened to Canadians, we worked with the industry, we worked with our Liberal caucus, which leaned in on this issue, and we are going to pause the escalator tax on beer, wine and spirits for one year at 2%. It was going to be less than a cent for a can of beer, and now it is going to be even less for a can of beer.
We are with the tourism industry. We are with this sector. We are going to support them. We have heard from Canadians. We made the right move.
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- Mar/31/23 11:59:06 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, we are in the middle of an affordability crisis. Any tax increase is too much. The tax was too high to begin with. There is no room for any more tax. The budget adds $4,200 in new costs for every Canadian family, more spending, more taxes, more debt. That means more inflation.
Canadians cannot even afford basic necessities like food, housing and transportation, and tonight the tax on beer, wine and spirits is going up, just as it does every year automatically under the current government.
Why will the Liberal government not commit today that it will cancel the automatic annual tax increase on beer, wine and spirits?
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- Mar/31/23 11:59:45 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, the Conservative opposition has a golden opportunity to support Canadians at a time of high inflation by supporting our budget. Conservatives have no record to stand on when it comes to taxes. When we lowered, not once, not twice but three times, taxes on middle-class Canadians, how did the Conservatives vote? They voted against. When we reduced taxes on workers, how did the Conservatives vote? They voted against. When we lowered taxes across the board, once again they voted against.
They have a phobia of us supporting Canadians. Thank goodness, we have got Canadians' backs.
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- Mar/31/23 12:00:21 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the immigration minister's program to admit the families of language and cultural advisers who assisted our troops in Afghanistan has such rigid criteria that it will freeze out almost everybody it should be helping.
For example, only those who were still in Afghanistan after July 22, 2021 are eligible, so this rules out the Afghans who were in the most dangerous parts of the country and who therefore had to flee their homes before the Taliban overran their regions. These family members are now trapped in third countries and are in danger of being transported back to Afghanistan, where they will be killed.
Will the minister change these restrictive criteria to fix the mess he has created?
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for his advocacy. I have said it in the House, and I will say it again today: If it were a matter of will, there would be 40,000 Afghan refugees here already, but we know that in reality, with everything that has been happening, there have been challenges and obstacles. We are working very hard in addressing those, for instance through Bill C-41. There are a number of factors that we do not fully control, including safe passage.
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- Mar/31/23 12:01:44 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, Canada's innovation and economic priorities are evolving. We will continue to prioritize clean growth, good jobs and investments for the future.
Budget 2023 announced many innovative new measures that will enable Canada to play a leadership role on the international stage. Can the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry tell us about these important measures?
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- Mar/31/23 12:02:20 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his excellent question, which gives me an opportunity to talk about the budget measures.
My colleague is right. We have taken action to achieve our ambitious goals by introducing initiatives like a tax credit for clean technology manufacturing, a tax credit for clean hydrogen and a tax credit for electricity.
The people I want to thank today are Canadian workers. It is thanks to their expertise, know-how and excellence that we are able to attract record investments to our country, like the recent investments by Volkswagen.
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- Mar/31/23 12:03:01 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the cover-up continues. It has been a month since the Prime Minister's national security adviser and the director of CSIS committed to providing the dates on which the Prime Minister was briefed about Beijing's election interference. One month later, there is still no response. All the Prime Minister needs to do is check his calendar.
When will the Prime Minister stop the obstruction, stop the cover-up and give us the dates?
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- Mar/31/23 12:03:33 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, on the contrary, the PROC committee has been working diligently on this issue, continuing to hold more meetings to bring in more witnesses as opposition members have requested, and we support that. We will continue to work with the committee to find the most appropriate time, because the committee has other business as well, but this is a top priority to ensure that we are dealing with the issues of foreign interference, and we will continue to work hard on that.
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- Mar/31/23 12:04:06 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, ethics violations do not seem to be a problem for the Liberals, as long as they stay in the family.
If there is any position where independence must not merely be presumed but be a certainty, it is that of Ethics Commissioner. Someone at the Office of the Prime Minister, however, thought that it would be a good idea to temporarily appoint a Liberal minister's sister-in-law to rule on the ethics of ministers in the Liberal government.
When will the Prime Minister put a stop to his hypocrisy and revoke the interim appointment of the sister-in-law of his best friend, the minister?
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- Mar/31/23 12:04:37 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will emphasize once again that the interim Ethics Commissioner is a career public servant who has served in a senior role in the Ethics Commissioner's office for more than 10 years, beginning when the Harper government was in office.
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- Mar/31/23 12:05:00 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, families in my riding of Malpeque are benefiting from important, significant savings thanks to our government's early learning and child care program, but they are concerned that in the future another government, like the one that campaigned against their child care program, would cut the program.
Can the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development highlight to this House how it is supporting families across P.E.I. and also how we are progressing in enacting this important social program into legislation?
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- Mar/31/23 12:05:32 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am so glad to report that Prince Edward Island, as well as provinces and territories across the country, is taking important steps to make child care affordable for Canadian families. In fact, P.E.I. announced that it cut fees by 50% last December. Day care fees are coming down, and new spaces are being created. Wages are increasing for early childhood educators, and we know how critical this is, because the childhood educator workforce is the foundation of our system. We need to make sure that the people who take care of our children are respected and well compensated.
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- Mar/31/23 12:06:15 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the Mass Casualty Commission released a scathing report yesterday. It made clear that gender-based violence is not treated with the urgency and seriousness it deserves. To save lives, police must change the way they respond to reports of gender-based violence. We cannot remain idle. Lives are at risk. The government has an obligation to act with meaningful police reform, including addressing the culture of systemic racism within the RCMP.
Will the Liberals implement these recommendations without delay?
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- Mar/31/23 12:06:53 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, of course the tragic events in Nova Scotia nearly three years ago devastated the nation. Our government is working hard to ensure that every woman has the support she needs and a place to sleep each and every night. We continue to make investments to ensure that this is the case, including in the budget just announced the other day, with $160 million, starting this year, for women's programs to ensure we are supporting shelters and women fleeing violence.
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- Mar/31/23 12:07:35 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we have learned that the Governor General spent $700,000 on a four-day trip to Germany. This included more than $75,000 for four nights in the region's most luxurious hotels. This is on top of the $80,000 spent during another trip to the Middle East, just for in-flight meals for the Governor General and her 29 guests. This works out to $2,600 per person for food during the flight alone.
That is obscene. Can the Prime Minister tell us whether he approves of that kind of spending? If not, has he taken the necessary steps to put an end to such wastefulness, once and for all?
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