44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 17, 2023 11:00AM
- Apr/17/23 12:15:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Vaughan—Woodbridge.
I would like to underscore Canada's remarkable recovery from the recession caused by COVID-19. In the past year, our country has had the strongest economic growth in the G7. An additional 865,000 Canadians are employed compared to prepandemic levels.
In February alone, the labour force participation rate for prime-aged women in Canada reached a record high of 85.7%, supported by the Canada-wide early learning and child care system. Inflation has been falling for eight straight months, and the Bank of Canada expects it to continue falling to reach 2.6% by the end of the year. This is all encouraging news, but there remains much more work yet to do.
Many people across the country are still feeling the bite of higher prices. Our health care system and frontline workers continue to need our support. We have to make sure that Canada remains competitive and that Canadian workers are at the forefront of the global change in economies taking place around the world. We want to make sure that Canada seizes the incredible economic opportunity of a net-zero future. Over the course of the last two weeks, other members of the government and I have had the chance to travel across the country and share with Canadians the difference that this will make in their lives.
Let us talk about making life more affordable. Our budget proposes targeted supports and getting targeted relief to those who need it the most to help them make ends meet. Through the new one-time grocery rebate, we are going to support 11 million Canadians by putting money into their pockets and making life more affordable. This benefit will mean up to an extra $467 for eligible couples with two children, up to an extra $234 for single Canadians without children and an extra $225 for seniors on average. This will make a real difference for many people. Take, for example, the couple who earns $38,000 to support their two young children. Higher prices at the grocery store have strained their already tight budget, and right now, they are struggling to make ends meet. I heard these stories when I visited grocery stores in Gatineau, Edmonton and Kelowna. This grocery rebate will make it easier for them to put food on the table by providing them with $467 right into their wallets. This is on top of the enhanced Canada workers benefit, Canada child benefit and GST credit they already receive.
When talking about a prudent fiscal approach, it is important to note that the new grocery rebate will help many Canadians make ends meet without adding fuel to the fire of inflation.
Canadians obviously want inflation to continue to come down and want interest rates to drop, and we do, too. Canada has a proud tradition of fiscal responsibility, and budget 2023 allows us to continue that tradition.
Budget 2023 maintains that proud tradition, and it is a responsible plan. The proof is right in the data. Budget 2023 ensures that Canada maintains the lowest deficit and the lowest net debt-to-GDP ratio in the entire group of G7 nations. We are making sure that the very wealthy and our biggest corporations pay their fair share of taxes so we can look forward to keeping taxes low for middle-class families. We are reducing government spending by more than $15 billion, while taking great care not to reduce the services and direct supports that Canadians rely on, such as health care.
Universal health care is at the heart of who we are as Canadians. Budget 2023 delivers the $198‑billion investment in public health care that the Prime Minister announced in February. From helping every Canadian find a family doctor to reducing wait times for surgery, we will ensure that every Canadian can count on a world-class public health care system.
Not only are we reinforcing the public health care system, but we are also expanding its reach. In fact, since December our investments have helped almost a quarter million Canadian children receive the dental care they need. However, children are not the only ones who need to go to the dentist. The budget also ensures the creation of the Canada dental care plan. It will provide coverage for uninsured Canadians with an annual family income of less than $90,000.
The state of one's smile should not be a symbol of how much money one or one's family makes. I can recall kids in school whose teeth told that story. I was not only the chubby kid, but I also had bad teeth; therefore, people made some assumptions about my family. Quite frankly, that should not be the case for anyone in 2023, so we are going to end that and deliver healthy smiles across this country.
We will start implementing the new Canadian dental care plan this year. An effective health care system is vital to Canada's ability to prosper, and we will make it happen.
When it comes to shifts in the global economy, we have to make sure that Canada continues to build a green economy. It is more important now than ever before. In the coming months and years, Canadians are going to navigate two fundamental shifts in the global economy. Countries are investing heavily into building clean economies and the net-zero industries of tomorrow, and this is the most significant industrial transformation since the Industrial Revolution.
These changes in the global economy represent a unique opportunity for Canada and for Canadian workers. Last month in the House, U.S. President Joe Biden spoke of a future built on shared prosperity. He made it clear that the American economy needs Canada and Canadian workers. The United States, like so many of our partners around the world, needs the expertise our workers can offer. Our allies around the world need the ingenuity of Canadian companies. Canada also has a wealth of natural resources to draw on, and budget 2023 gives us the tools to seize this historic opportunity.
It proposes a series of tax credits to make sure that we have sustainable investments in the long term. Whether it is in terms of electricity, hydrogen or clean manufacturing tax credits, we are going to make sure that Canada's economy is on the train to the 21st and 22nd centuries. We are improving the already critical tax credit for carbon capture and storage technologies to continue reducing the carbon footprint of our traditional sectors and engage all industries in getting our country to net zero.
We are expanding eligibility for the clean tech tax credit. The Canada Infrastructure Bank will focus on clean electricity projects. We want to build a clean electricity grid that connects Canadians from coast to coast to coast.
Such a network of electricity is going to protect our environment and make sure that we have sustainable low-cost electricity for Canadians and for Canadian businesses.
We are going to make Canada a destination of choice in the world for businesses that want to invest in a net-zero future.
Electricity capacity should never be a governor in terms of attracting foreign direct investment to our country. We are going to make sure that we have plentiful green electricity from coast to coast to coast.
With budget 2023, we are going to make Canada a top destination in the world for businesses to invest in. I heard this, and I saw first-hand the difference these supports will make travelling to Saint John, New Brunswick, and to Kelowna, and speaking with entrepreneurs from Victoria. When I met with them over these last two weeks, I spoke with them and learned directly how it made sense to people that we support working Canadians and make sure that the unions that built the middle class can continue to thrive and deliver good wages and good benefits for Canadians. We are also going to make it easier for workers to learn the skills they need.
Our plan means well-paying jobs, good careers and a great country.
Budget 2023 is a direct response to the challenges and opportunities before us. We are proposing to help those who are most affected by inflation in Canada. We are investing in health care because that is important to all Canadians.
We are investing in Canadian workers to ensure they have the skills they need to grow the economy.
When I was at the Adonis grocery store in Gatineau, I met with families of all ages. I said, “Look, whether you're feeling the pinch of inflation or not, know that we're going to have a grocery rebate for you. We've got the dental care program in place. We've got the Canada child benefit in place.” They gave us their thanks for standing on the side of Canadians and helping working people. They also love shopping in that particular place. The produce is always fresh.
We are going to take the pinch out of inflation. We are going to work with Canadians to see inflation keep coming down. We are going to get on the other side of this inflationary cycle together. We are investing in a stronger economy, a green economy, because it is the right thing to do now and for future generations. We are investing in a stronger immigration system and bringing to our country of Canada a record number of skilled workers because our growing businesses need that support.
We have big things to do, and we are going to do just that.
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- Apr/17/23 2:24:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, according to a poll, 74% of Quebeckers say they are struggling to pay everyday expenses such as groceries, gas and basic necessities. This is because of inflationary taxes and deficits, which are increasing the cost of living for all Quebeckers. Furthermore, the government threw another $60 billion of fuel on the fire of inflation in its budget.
Will the government cancel its inflationary taxes and deficits, which are creating a burden for Quebeckers?
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- Apr/17/23 4:49:32 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is an honour to rise and speak to budget 2023, which is yet another high-spend budget that will likely make life more expensive for Canadians.
I have spent time over the last couple of weeks talking to people across my amazing riding of Fort McMurray—Cold Lake to hear their opinions on this budget. I have heard from families, individuals, businesses and organizations alike that are struggling to make ends meet due to record-breaking inflation, and they are really having a hard time right now. Their paycheques do not stretch as far as they used to, between the increased cost of heating, the skyrocketing grocery prices, and the overall cost of living, which seems to be ever-increasing. These hard-working people I have chatted with just want to see lower taxes. Specifically, the thing I hear resoundingly throughout Fort McMurray—Cold Lake is that they want to see the carbon tax axed because it is a tax plan, not an environmental plan. It is inevitably going to raise the price of everything, as the Parliamentary Budget Officer has shown it has already done and will continue to do as we go forward.
One thing I hear loud and clear from people across Fort McMurray—Cold Lake is their concerns about the ever-increasing crime. For far too many years, families and individuals across rural Alberta have been complaining about the revolving door of criminals being caught and released back into their communities without so much as a slap on the wrist. The catch-and-release policies of the Liberal government mean that more Canadians do not feel safe in their homes, their communities, their streets and their country. Recently, we have been seeing an ever-increasing rate of high-profile violent crimes in the news. These are now happening in cities and are random. There are random stabbings happening on transit and in the streets. This is not gang-related violence that is terrorizing everyday Canadians, but just random crime.
One thing that is so terrifying and that I have heard so many people say they are concerned about is the fact that many of these crimes were committed by people who were released on bail or out on parole. After eight years of the current Prime Minister and his soft-on-crime policies, our communities just feel less safe, and the Liberal government is doing nothing to stop it. Sadly, it is making it worse. Violent offenders are thrown back into the streets, sometimes within hours of their arrest.
Conservatives believe in jail, not bail for violent repeat offenders, and I think it is really important to stop this revolving door of catch-and-release criminals. In the eight years since the Prime Minister has taken office, violent crime has increased by 32%, and gang-related murders have doubled. Canadians deserve to feel safe in their communities. Conservatives will restore their trust in the legal system and ensure that violent repeat offenders stay behind bars, where they belong.
The people I talked to were also really concerned about government censorship. Specifically, their concerns were with respect to Bill C-11. They made it clear to me that they do not want the current government, or any government for that matter, making a decision as to what they can see or say online. We now have proof that the current Liberal government has unashamedly asked tech giants to make news articles that it does not like simply disappear. We have proof that this has been happening under the current government. Bill C-11 would make that much easier, and the government would be able to control more of what we can see and say online.
I am proud to say that a Conservative government will repeal Bill C-11 and protect the individual rights and freedoms of Canadians. It is a shame that the Liberals are more concerned with catchy talking points than addressing the real issues facing Canadians. They are more concerned with keeping their partners in the costly coalition happy than helping everyday Canadians.
Conservatives made three requests of the federal government in order to gain our support for the budget: one, lower taxes; two, end inflationary deficits that would increase the cost of goods; and three, remove the gatekeepers that would prevent more homes from being built, allowing home prices to drop. However, none of those conditions were met, not a single one of them. As such, it is pretty clear that Conservatives simply cannot support this big-spend budget.
It is truly time to speak out against the injustices we face under this current administration. With budget 2023, the Liberals are continuing their war on work and imposing higher taxes that are punishing hard-working individuals, rather than listening to the needs of real Canadians. It has never been so good to be a Liberal insider, and it has never been so bad to be an average Canadian. That is wrong, and it should not be the case in 2023.
The price of food and groceries has skyrocketed. I am not sure if the Liberal members hear the same thing I do when I am back home, but just about every person I talk to talks about how expensive gas is and how expensive groceries are. I constantly see posts on social media from friends of mine who have kids about how their grocery bill has gone up by another $100 this week.
Living in an isolated, rural community, I see even more expensive groceries than what many of my city counterparts would see, just by the nature of the fact that the groceries need an extra five hours to get to where I am, which is an end-of-line community.
The carbon tax actually adds a unique perspective. Not only are the farmers taxed to make the food, and then the people who produce the food are taxed on all the energy it takes to manufacture it, but the hard-working truck drivers who bring the food from distribution centres and farms to my community are also taxed. The grocery stores have additional carbon tax. That little bit of carbon tax, which is just a tax plan, is multiplied so many times over, and the farther Canadians are from a distribution hub, the more that has an impact on them.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer has made it very clear that Canadians will, in fact, pay more than they receive back in this carbon tax scheme. In fact, for the average Alberta family, the net cost of the fuel charge is $2,773. It is $1,723 to the average family in Saskatchewan, another $1,490 to the average family in Manitoba, an extra $1,820 to a family in Ontario, an extra $1,513 to a family in Nova Scotia, an extra $1,521 to a family in Prince Edward Island, and an extra $1,316 to a family in Newfoundland and Labrador.
I repeat those costs because it shows that families are not better off, if the average family in that many provinces is going to be paying that much more. Most of the families I have talked to over the last two weeks do not have an extra $2,700 lying around to pay for the extra cost of the carbon tax. They do not have it. They are already struggling. They are already making the hard choice of whether they are going to pay their heating bill, pay for gas so they can get to work, or put groceries on their table.
We have a record number of people skipping meals in this country: one in five Canadians is skipping meals. We have a record-breaking number of people visiting food banks right across this country every single month so that kids get nutritious food. We are in a crisis right now with affordability, yet the government seems to think that this is not really a huge problem. It did put forward a small win with a grocery rebate, but with the additional costs I cited, that will evaporate before a couple of months is up.
While it is definitely going to help in the short term, in the long term families will still be worse off than they were before. That is not even taking into account that because of all the extra spending in this budget, the average family is going to have an extra 4,200 dollars' worth of costs to pay for all the spending in this budget. Most of these families do not have that kind of money.
This is the part where I think there is a huge disconnect between the talking points and the reality. Canadians are struggling today and the solutions are not here. I will be voting against this budget.
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