SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 179

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 18, 2023 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 179 - Apr/18/23
Mr. Mark Gerretsen (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (Senate), Lib.)
  • Apr/18/23 10:43:32 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, towards the end of the member's speech, he talked about the size of the public service and the individuals who work for the federal government to deliver the services that we provide to Canadians. The member talked with great pride about Stephen Harper's legacy of reducing the public service size. I am curious as to where he thinks the best places to start eliminating jobs within the public service would be. Could he inform the House about that?
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Context: House Hansard - 179 - Apr/18/23
Mr. Mark Gerretsen
  • Apr/18/23 12:48:01 p.m.
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I was there at the opening; you weren't.
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Context: House Hansard - 179 - Apr/18/23
Mr. Mark Gerretsen (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (Senate), Lib.)
  • Apr/18/23 1:30:57 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, there is so much to unpack there, but let us just talk about a couple of issues. First of all, at the beginning of his speech the member talked about the grocery rebate being a gimmicky thing the government has come up with. Let us not lose sight of the fact that it is a top-up to the existing GST rebates that are given to Canadians. We know what the Conservatives did last time we introduced that. First they said they would not vote for it. Then maybe there was some pressure, but they backpedalled a bit and said that they would vote for it. If the member wants to call it a gimmick, that is fine. If Conservatives want to say that we are just trying to package up the GST rebate as a gimmick, that is fine. However, let us not forget, that at the end of the day, what they would be voting against would be giving more of that GST rebate to Canadians. Could the member explain to the House why he was in favour of it recently, when the Conservatives did their flip-flop, but now, he suddenly does not want to see it? How is the GST rebate this time not as beneficial to Canadians as it was the last time?
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