44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 15, 2023 11:00AM
- May/15/23 2:24:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, last week I was very proud to be in Japan at the G7 finance ministers meeting. It is important for Canadians to understand that Conservatives seem to think that Canada's Minister of Finance should not attend international meetings. If that is what the Conservatives think, they should tell Canadians the truth.
As for the Canadian economy, we have the strongest economy in the G7 thanks to the hard work of Canadians and our government.
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- May/15/23 2:24:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is really impressive that the Deputy Prime Minister and the Prime Minister are attending really important meetings in Japan and the United States with really important people around the world. We are talking to the common people right here in Canada who cannot pay their bills. One in five is skipping meals because they cannot afford the inflationary carbon tax on food; 1.5 million are eating at food banks, and some are asking for help with medical assistance in dying because they cannot afford to eat, heat or house themselves. The minister admits deficits caused this inflation, yet she added $60 billion more of them. Why does she keep boosting prices while she travels abroad?
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- May/15/23 2:25:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let us be really clear on what the Conservatives are insinuating. The Conservatives are trying to insinuate today that there is something elitist, that there is something that goes against the interests of regular Canadians when Canadian leaders attend G7 meetings. I want to ask Canadians, do they think it is wrong for the Prime Minister to go to a meeting with the President of the United States, the Prime Minister of the U.K., the Prime Minister of Japan?
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- May/15/23 2:26:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, no, we just wish he would remember that the real people who pay the bills actually live right here in Canada, the common people here in this land. These are the people Liberals forget about when they are jet-setting around the world. When the Deputy Prime Minister is over in the States giving speeches at fancy American universities, she is forgetting about the people who are paying 12% more for food because of her carbon tax, forgetting that nine in 10 young people cannot afford a home because she has driven up interest rates so much with her deficits, and forgetting the seniors who cannot fill their fridges because food has become too expensive.
Why will she and her Prime Minister not get back on the ground in Canada and stand up for the people who do the work here?
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- May/15/23 2:27:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, someone who lives in government-provided accommodation in a multiroom residence with a chef and a chauffeur and someone who has been on the public payroll his entire professional life should not suggest that our government is acting against the interests of Canadians when we attend meetings of the G7. We are proud to represent Canada at the top table in the world and we are going to continue to do that.
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- May/15/23 2:27:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister keeps sinking further and further into the quagmire of Chinese interference.
What concrete action has he taken? Did he launch the independent public commission of inquiry that everyone is calling for? No, he did not. Did he implement the Bloc Québécois's proposals, including a permanent investigative body? He did not do that either. What did he do? He announced byelections.
Every day for months now, we have been talking about China interfering in our elections. Instead of taking concrete action to combat interference, he calls byelections. Is that a joke?
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- May/15/23 2:28:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we take the issue of foreign interference very seriously.
To protect our democratic institutions, we established independent panels that worked well in the last two elections. Now we very much look forward to receiving the recommendations from Mr. Johnston, a former governor general who was appointed by a Conservative prime minister.
Those recommendations, along with all the other initiatives we have already put in place, will ensure that we continue to protect all our democratic institutions.
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- May/15/23 2:29:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, by choosing to call a byelection now when it very well could have been held in the fall, the Prime Minister is showing that the priority, for him, is not countering Chinese interference in our democracy, investigating the recent election, protecting the upcoming election or ensuring public confidence in our democracy. For him, the priority is measuring the political fallout from his much-publicized inaction on the issue of Chinese interference.
Why is the Prime Minister once again unable to place the interests of democracy above those of the Liberal Party?
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- May/15/23 2:29:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what our government is going to do.
We will ensure that the public interest is always protected. Our government has taken concrete action to counter foreign interference in our democratic institutions.
I share my hon. colleague's concerns about the need to ensure that byelections will, like the 2019 and 2021 elections, be protected from foreign interference. We have put measures in place and we will continue to strictly enforce them.
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- May/15/23 2:30:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there are 2,500 jobs at stake in the Windsor region because the Liberal government has not followed through on commitments it made to ensure that the plant being built by Stellantis for the NextStar batteries goes to completion. We have already heard from the mayor of Windsor, who has raised alarm bells and written directly to the government. The unions are deeply concerned.
All other levels of government have done their part, so when will the Liberal government follow through on commitments, get this plant built and ensure those jobs are protected?
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- May/15/23 2:31:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our government believes in good-paying jobs in the auto sector, and we have shown that time and again. We showed that when we fought for and secured a NAFTA deal that protected our auto sector. We showed that when we fought for and secured Canada's being carved into the U.S. EV incentives, which protected our auto sector. We showed that with the historic VW investment, which creates an auto sector for the future, and we are showing that in Windsor, but we are going to fight for the best deal for Canada, and we are proud of that too.
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- May/15/23 2:31:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that answer was little comfort to the workers in Windsor. We need a deal that actually goes through and builds that plant.
The cost of rent has skyrocketed across the country. For example, in Laval, it now costs $2,000 to rent a two-bedroom apartment. That is a massive increase of 26% in one year. It is clear that the government does not understand the impact that this crisis is having on ordinary Canadians.
Will the Liberals finally take action to address this crisis and help people with their rent?
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- May/15/23 2:32:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we understand the importance of being there for vulnerable renters. That is why this government introduced the Canada housing benefit, a revolutionary measure that puts money directly in the pockets of renters and moves with them when they move from one unit to another. We topped up that Canada housing benefit with a top-up to the Canada housing benefit. We will be there for renters. We will keep building more affordable rental units across the country, and we will be there for vulnerable renters all the way.
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- May/15/23 2:33:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister was up huffing and puffing last week, less than a week ago, about the Stellantis project, and now we find, six days later, that construction on the $5-billion facility has halted because of his incompetence. We see the same thing with the Trans Mountain pipeline, which is now 300% over-budget, many years past due and still not complete.
All the Prime Minister does is wrap our industry in red tape, weigh it down with taxes and engage in total incompetence. Why is it that he can never bring it home when it comes to jobs, paycheques and industry for our country?
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- May/15/23 2:33:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, coming from a leader and a party that are on record opposing the historic, transformational VW investment made by our government, that question is frankly ridiculous. I will tell the House who could not get TMX built: It was the members opposite. I will tell the House which government is going to get that pipeline built: Our government is going to get the job done, like we did on NAFTA, like we did with VW and like we will do with—
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- May/15/23 2:34:24 p.m.
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The hon. member for Calgary Forest Lawn.
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- May/15/23 2:34:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the most historic transformation is going to be when the Conservatives replace the current incompetent government.
My question is for the finance minister, who refuses to show up at the finance committee for two hours to answer basic questions about her failed budget. She misled Canadians, blowing through all fiscal restraint she promised by driving struggling households $4,200 further into debt, because she threw $60 billion of inflationary fuel on the fire she started. She spent more airtime bragging about her budget at Fenway Park than she has at the finance committee.
Will she end her inflationary spending and show up to work, or does she think budgets balance themselves?
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- May/15/23 2:35:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am really looking forward to appearing before the finance committee, as scheduled, tomorrow. Of course, it will require the Conservatives to end their frankly childish temper tantrum to give me the chance to appear, but I do really look forward to it, and the reason I look—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- May/15/23 2:35:39 p.m.
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I am going to wait for silence on all sides. While someone is answering, I would ask everyone not to shout them down. That is almost like bullying in a schoolyard.
The hon. Deputy Prime Minister.
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- May/15/23 2:36:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, one might say that shouting down a woman speaking in the House is a childish temper tantrum. One might say that, but I do look forward to appearing before the committee tomorrow as I have always been scheduled to do.
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