44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 17, 2023 11:00AM
- Apr/17/23 2:08:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this budget reflects in a very real way what Canadians expect their government to do. We can talk about the grocery rebate to support well over 10 million Canadians, or we can talk about the expansion of the dental care program to cover yet more Canadians.
I want to highlight the strong support in this year's federal budget for skilled trades workers. We are actually doubling the tradesperson's tool deduction. That is a significant commitment to people in the trades.
Further to that, the Prime Minister has been conducting town halls throughout Canada. Just last week, in the city of Winnipeg, at the Manitoba Building Trades Institute site on McPhillips Street, we had an open town hall to talk about the budget and ensure that ongoing future budgets reflect what Canadians expect.
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- Apr/17/23 3:49:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is a true honour for me to speak to federal budget 2023 in the House on behalf of the residents of Davenport. It was really wonderful for me to be back in the riding over the last two weeks, to get a chance to go out and talk to the various Davenport residents, organizations and businesses about the different measures that we have in the budget.
Before I go on, I want to say a huge thanks to all those who made submissions in budget 2023. Over 700 Canadian stakeholders and organizations made submissions. It was a huge effort. It was a lot of work, a lot of outstanding ideas, a lot of great creative thoughts and so I wanted to say a huge thanks to them.
Budget 2023 is the most targeted budget that has been introduced by our government in the seven and a half years that I have had the privilege to serve the residents of Davenport in this venerable House. However, what I think is really important to note is that it builds on the work and investments that have already been announced and made in previous budgets. That said, there are three key sections that I would like to speak about, depending on how much time I have.
I want to talk about the major investments we are making in health care, including dental care; the huge investments in accelerating the clean economy in Canada; and the targeted investments in affordability, which will support our most vulnerable Canadians, who continue to have such a difficult time with the high cost of living.
Maybe that is where I will begin: affordability. We had to be very targeted with our spending in budget 2023 and very much focused on delivering support to those who need it the most.
Why is it that we had to be very targeted? It is because inflation continues to be high. As a national government, we cannot make it worse with big spending programs.
Canadians want us to be responsible in our spending, and this means we had to make some choices. Here are some of the affordability measures that we have introduced in our latest budget.
We have introduced a one-time grocery rebate, providing $2.5 billion in targeted inflation relief for 11 million low- and modest-income Canadians and families. The grocery rebate will provide eligible couples with two children with up to an extra $467, single Canadians without children with an extra $234 and seniors with an extra $225, on average.
As another measure, the federal government is taking additional steps to ensure that more low-income Canadians can easily file their tax returns to receive the benefits that they are entitled to.
Budget 2023 announces that the federal government will increase the number of eligible Canadians who can do automatic tax filing to two million people by 2025, which is almost triple the current number. This is something that, for a very long time, poverty advocates have been asking for. Far too many Canadians do not know what benefits they are entitled to, and therefore, they leave that money on the table. These tend to be the people who need the benefits the most.
The third measure I want to mention, although there are many others, relates to some additional measures we have for our students. We need to continue to do all we can to help them as they go to school, study and try to start their careers in life.
Our federal government previously announced that the interest for Canada student loans and Canada apprentice loans had been permanently eliminated for all students. In budget 2023, we provide more financial assistance for students by increasing the Canada student grants by 40% annually, which will provide an additional $4,200 a year, and also by raising the interest-free Canada student loan limit from $210 per week to $300 per week of study.
Part of the reason I was so happy to be back in Davenport is that I got a chance to actually go visit various different places across the riding, just to hear what people were thinking about in terms of the different measures that we have introduced.
At Nossa Talho, a really wonderful Portuguese grocery store in my riding, I talked to Sylvia. Sylvia said to me that she loves the grocery rebate. She said that every penny that is put into her bank account is a dollar that she will spend on her family. That is going to help her meet all the higher costs she is seeing in terms of groceries.
I also talked to Diana and Monica, who were at the grocery cash register. They had a lot of positive things to say. They did not know about the grocery tax rebate, and I know that they are going to tell many other people.
I also had a wonderful chance to visit the seniors at Joseph J. Piccininni Community Centre. I stopped in while they were playing pickleball and talked to them about some of the measures we had. They were also very happy. I also managed to talk to the seniors at The Stop Community Food Centre, the LA Centre for Active Living Seniors and the Abrigo Centre. They were all extraordinarily happy about the automatic tax filing; the dental care program, which I will talk about in a couple of minutes; and the grocery rebate. There were a lot of thumbs up across the riding of Davenport.
I want to mention a few measures that mean a lot to small businesses in my riding. The lowering of the credit card transaction fees for small business was huge. I do not know what is happening in other members' ridings, but in my riding, our small businesses are really struggling. They have said that anything that would help keep some money within their businesses so they could reinvest in their business, cover some of the higher costs or pay more in wages would be helpful for them. Our federal government has secured commitments from Visa and MasterCard to lower fees for small businesses while also protecting reward points for Canadian consumers offered by Canada's largest banks.
More than 90% of credit card-accepting businesses will see their interchange fees reduced by up to 27% from the existing weighted average rate. These reductions are expected to save eligible small businesses in Canada approximately $1 billion over five years. That is a lot of money, and they are very happy about this. A lot of businesses did not want to pay this extra interchange fee, so many were not accepting credit cards. This will now allow them to accept credit cards. It makes it more affordable for them, which means they will have more customers who are willing to spend more money.
The other item that is big for many of the craft brewers, which are small businesses in my riding, is the freezing of the excise tax on beer, wine and alcohol at 2% for one year. That is huge for them. It is something the industry has been asking for. I am very blessed in my riding of Davenport to have a lot of really wonderful craft brewers. When I told them about the freezing of the excise tax, they were extraordinarily happy. I want to give a huge shout-out to the people at Henderson Brewing and thank them for welcoming me, talking to me and advocating for this. I know that all the other craft brewers in my riding are very happy about it as well.
I also want to thank all the West Queen West businesses that I managed to pop by, such as the Dog & Bear pub, Hello 123 and Nunu Ethiopian Fusion Restaurant. They were all extremely delighted to hear about the lowering of the credit card transaction fees.
I am now going to move on to health care. We have all heard about the long lineups with respect to surgery backlogs, as well as emergency rooms being too full and taking a long time to serve Canadians. We have heard about Canadians not having access to doctors and the lack of funding for mental health, among many other issues. I had a chance to visit thousands of doors in my riding of Davenport in the months of January and February, and this was one of their top-of-mind issues. They all said that it would be really great if the federal government could step up and better support the provinces with health care, and step up we did. In budget 2023, we made major investments, adding an additional $195.8 billion over 10 years.
These are the key items to highlight: We have increased the Canada health transfer by about 5% a year. We have added an immediate $2 billion top-up to address the urgent pressures I mentioned regarding emergency rooms, operating rooms and pediatric hospitals. We have added $25 billion for bilateral agreements to address the need for more dollars for mental health and ensure that more Canadians have access to family doctors, among many other things. We have included far more money to support the hourly wage increases for personal support workers and strengthen the retirement savings of personal support workers who do not have workplace retirement security coverage, as well as more money to expand the reach of Canada's student loan forgiveness programs for doctors and nurses who work in underserved rural or remote communities, including all communities with populations of 30,000 or fewer.
I see the Speaker has given me the one-minute mark, yet I do not seem to have covered very much.
I want to say that this is a really excellent budget for the residents of Davenport. It is very targeted. I encourage all members of this House to support it when it comes time to vote.
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- Apr/17/23 6:05:12 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, what a pleasure it is to be able to rise and speak on yet another budget. At the end of the day, when we look at the last seven and a half years and the types of things the government has been able to accomplish, I think Canadians would feel confident that the government is on the right track.
We have consistently argued, over the years, how important it is that we have an economy that works for all Canadians. We have consistently argued about the importance of recognizing the role that the middle class plays in society and those aspiring to be a part of the middle class. We have looked at ways we can enhance and grow the middle class.
Even during the pandemic, Canadians knew that they could rely on the Government of Canada to be there in a direct way. We had the backs of Canadians, something that is so critically important. What we have seen over the years is an official opposition that has been more focused on personal attacks. While it has been focused on that, the government has been focused on delivering for Canadians.
In terms of what we want to accomplish, we have a desire to build a stronger and healthier economy and society. That is what this budget reflects. It reflects the essence of what Canadians from coast to coast to coast expect their government to do, not only during good times but also challenging times. It has been challenging over the last few years. I am happy to reinforce that the government, in a very tangible way, has been there to support Canadians.
In listening to the debate, we often hear from opposition members about the issues of accountability and transparency. In fact, the last question I asked was in regard to a Bloc member who stood up and said they did not necessarily believe that tax credits are a way to provide accountability and transparency. I used the example of a very important announcement within this budget.
We recognize the fine work and need for us to look at ways we can support our trades from coast to coast to coast, and the important role they play. We talk about inflation. We talk about the needs of the worker. Within this budget, we have a tax credit enhancement, virtually doubling it from $500 to $1,000. That is there to ensure that those who are working in the trades are in a better position to be able to afford the cost of the important tools they require in order to apply their trade.
Yes, the government has, in this budget and in previous budgets, used tax credits to assist Canadians directly. We have seen how the Government of Canada has been able to use taxes and tax rebates as a way to directly support Canadians. We have been very effective at doing that.
A major part of this budget is the grocery rebate. We recognize the issue of inflation and the impact it is having in every region of this country. We understand it. Whether during break weeks or in the month of January, Liberal members of Parliament throughout the country are talking with stakeholders and their constituents so we understand the impact that inflation is having. This budget is reflective of many of those discussions that we have had with our constituents. That is why we have the grocery rebate.
Imagine approximately 11 million Canadians benefiting from the grocery rebate during a time when we have concerns with inflation. Some might argue that we need to recognize that the inflation we are seeing today is not unique to Canada; it is taking place around the world. Canada is doing quite well compared to many of the European countries or our neighbour to the south, the United States. Our inflation rate has been less, and we are on the right track. We see our inflation rate going down, and we hope to see it continue to go down.
Having said that, I want to highlight the two initiatives in the budget that put money in the pockets of Canadians.
One that I made a quick reference to is the grocery rebate. Many of my colleagues had the opportunity to visit some grocery stores. The Minister of Justice was in Winnipeg, and we wanted to check out a grocery store. We met with the owner and talked about the impact that worldwide inflation is having on her ability to sell products. I believe she welcomed the fact that we are providing a grocery rebate, because she, like others, understands that this grocery rebate will make a difference. It also demonstrates that we have a government that genuinely cares and wants to help, even though, as I said, our inflation rate is far better than in many peer countries around the world. However, this does not mean that we ignore the issue. We can still work to do better, which is why we have the grocery rebate.
In this budget, members will see the expansion of the dental program. I have listened to a number of members stand up and be somewhat critical of the government, saying that we are not doing enough for seniors, that there is nothing in the budget for seniors. That is balderdash. There are a lot of things in this budget for seniors. This budget is a reflection of many of the discussions we have had with seniors and their advocates. One of the most powerful stakeholder groups is our seniors caucus, where Liberal members continually meet and deal with senior-related issues. Hundreds, if not thousands, of stakeholders and individuals have provided direct input in making sure there would be things in the budget for seniors.
This brings me to the second point. Seniors get the grocery rebate, and they also benefit from the expansion of the dental program. We have seen how successful it was in the first year when we were able to pass the legislation. It took us a while, because the Conservatives opposed that legislation. They do not support having a dental program for children under the age of 12; they made that very clear last year by opposing the legislation. We are now expanding it to include seniors. That, too, is going to be of great benefit for seniors, which is something I would think members would recognize. Not that long ago, it was an election platform issue for the Liberal Party to actually increase, by 10%, the OAS for seniors 75 and over.
We recognized that there is a significant difference between the needs and disposable income of a senior who is 75 and a senior who has just retired at 65. I am thinking of such issues as medical requirements and the potential for supplementary income. That is a significant increase.
In fact, we have been there virtually from day one to support our seniors. I can talk about the guaranteed income supplement, which we dramatically increased in the first 18 months, lifting tens of thousands of seniors out of poverty. This is not to mention going through the pandemic, where we invested literally millions into non-profit groups that were supporting seniors. We doubled the youth employment program during the pandemic period and leading up to the pandemic; many of these youth worked for seniors organizations and more. The government has done all sorts of things, not only in this budget but also over the last seven and a half years to support our seniors.
On the same theme, it is interesting that Conservatives will criticize us because we are spending money. Yes, I will give them that. We are spending $198 billion on health care over the next 10 years. If we check with Canadians, as I have, they see health care as part of our core identity and want a national government that is prepared to invest in health care. That is exactly what we are doing with a 10-year commitment, because we saw what the previous government did under Stephen Harper. One would have to be blind or an idiot to believe that investment in health care will not be helping our seniors.
At the end of the day, if we look at the benefits—
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