44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 25, 2023 10:00AM
Madam Speaker, in his speech, my colleague pointed out that taxpayers will be paying about $50 more into the EI system.
Personally, I do not mind paying more to help others when it fulfills a need. However, I see two problems when people are paying more but the system does not work and has yet to be improved, despite the promises made. Even now, only 40% of people who lose their jobs qualify for EI.
Could my colleague talk about this sort of dichotomy that exists when contributions increase but services do not?
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Madam Speaker, I was really struck by my hon. colleague talking about taxpayers being left to hold the bag. Let us talk about the bag that taxpayers have to hold for the leader of the Conservative Party's digs.
It is a 19-room house at 9,500 square feet. He has a private chef and servants. Who is paying for that? It is not him. It is the taxpayers. There are two water metres at his house. One bill was $4,107 in April, and then there was a bill for $7,556 in June. What is this guy doing with all that water? There has been $1.4 million in repairs over 10 years, but then it costs $170,000 a year just to keep it clean for him. Let us not even talk about if someone gets invited to his summer parties.
Canadians cannot afford this guy, and he has the gall to tell senior citizens that they should not be able to get free dental care. I am not buying that.
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Mr. Speaker, within the budget, the government has committed $80-plus billion in tax credits toward investing in a newer, greener economy. In the budget, it is very clear that it is there. It is not a secret, but with the announcement of Volkswagen creating a new plant near St. Thomas, Ontario, there is a tremendous amount of secrecy, in terms of what that $13-billion investment would actually be going toward.
I am wondering, if it is no secret what the tax credits are in the budget, which are coming from hard-earned taxpayers' money, why there is this level of secrecy in terms of this contract with Volkswagen. Should Canadians not know what that deal is all about, considering the fact that the government would be spending that money on that investment?
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- Apr/25/23 2:19:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the ongoing public service strike is a direct result of the Prime Minister's extraordinary incompetence. The Prime Minister needs to do his job and come to a deal with the workers to bring this labour dispute to an end. He had two years to get the job done, but could not bring it home. Instead, he spent $20 billion more on our bureaucracy, only to deliver poorer services to Canadians and a demoralized public service. Now, with the largest federal public service strike in history, Canadians do not have access to basic and necessary government services. Soon, he will turn to taxpayers to bail him out of his mess once again.
Only a Conservative government will cut back on high-priced consultants who are bloating the cost of government. Conservatives will deliver common-sense leadership that ensures that Canadian taxpayers get value for their money.
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- Apr/25/23 2:23:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we continue to believe in the power of working at the bargaining table. Public servants provide important services to Canadians, and we value their work. That is why we are working tirelessly to reach a deal that is fair to public servants and reasonable to taxpayers. That is, and has always been, our goal. We expect both sides to bargain in good faith and reach an agreement, because all Canadians are depending on it.
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- Apr/25/23 2:24:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we firmly believe that an agreement will be struck with PSAC. Public servants provide important services to Canadians and the government values their work. That is why we are working tirelessly to reach a deal that is fair to public servants and reasonable for taxpayers. That is, and has always been, our goal. We expect both sides to negotiate in good faith and reach an agreement. Canadians are counting on it.
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- Apr/25/23 2:31:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we all recognize how hard public servants have worked over the past few years and what a great job they did in providing the services Canadians needed during the pandemic.
That is why we are with them at the bargaining table to find the best way to move forward, to recognize the excellent work that they continue to do and to ensure that we come to a fair agreement that is reasonable for taxpayers.
That is what is happening at the bargaining table, where the negotiators and the unions will stay to do their job.
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- Apr/25/23 2:34:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, they are not working hard enough. The tax deadline is just a few days away.
Because 35,000 CRA employees are on strike, Canadians are left without the support that they need to file their taxes. It is the lowest-income Canadians who will suffer the most from this strike. Millions of Canadians are suffering because of the Liberal government's incompetence and its failure to prevent this strike.
When will the Prime Minister reverse course, and how much is it going to cost taxpayers to fix the mess that he has created?
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- Apr/25/23 2:38:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the public service strike is another example of Liberal incompetence.
The Minister of National Revenue is affected very directly by the federal public service strike. The revenue minister does not seemly overly concerned about tax season, which ends on May 1.
Can the minister assure us that Canadian taxpayers will receive their tax refunds quickly?
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- Apr/25/23 2:41:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as I was saying, I would like to reassure my colleague: My nose is just fine.
Restoring and maintaining a respectful relationship with the public service of Canada is an ongoing commitment for our government. We recognize the important role that employees play in the delivery of services to taxpayers.
We will respect the collective bargaining process and we will not be commenting on negotiations which are in progress.
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- Apr/25/23 2:49:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if we are going to get into the record that members on either side of this House have when it comes to workers' rights, maybe we could talk about it.
I look at certain members in this House who were in government at one point of time. They now profess to be a party that represents workers. They just do not like the part where they may gather together, the collective part, the part where they actually get to bargain for free and fair wages.
For this side of the House I will say that we believe in the collective bargaining process. We will be there until the end. We will reach a fair and reasonable deal for taxpayers as well.
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Mr. Speaker, in one of his recent books, Michael Mann, a physicist at the University of Pennsylvania, said that the oil industry's primary strategy to deal with climate change was first to deny reality. Then, as the consequences of climate change became visible, the industry changed its strategy to mislead the public. It is trying to make us believe that there is hope that new technologies will emerge in a few years and that we will be able to defeat climate change easily.
I would like to know whether my colleague is prepared to accept science and recognize that taxpayer-funded carbon capture strategies are a ploy to mislead taxpayers. Those subsidies and tax credits for carbon capture and storage represent a significant amount of public funds. Is my colleague, who is so concerned about a balanced budget, prepared to rise and take a stand against these subsidies?
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Madam Speaker, one thing that we have noticed with the government is it does not have any fiscal restraint. When there is defence of the Prime Minister going on lavish holidays or even going to a state funeral and spending $6,000 a night, which is Canadian taxpayers' money, there is a problem. There is so much wasteful spending from the government, which could be going to help Canadians.
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