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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 201

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 29, 2023 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 201 - May/29/23
Mr. Jean-Denis Garon
  • May/29/23 7:51:27 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, this budget allocates approximately $80 billion for so-called green subsidies. We do not know whether they are green or not because the government has always refused to define what constitutes an effective fossil fuel subsidy. Approximately 30% of these subsidies go directly to fossil fuels. That is approximately $24 billion to $25 billion. Is the Minister of Finance not embarrassed to tell unemployed workers in Quebec and the rest of Canada that she is going to take $25 billion to $27 billion out of their pockets when that money is going directly to fossil fuels?
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Hon. Chrystia Freeland
  • May/29/23 7:52:01 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, our government absolutely understands the importance of climate action and investing in a green economy. That is what we have done. With the budget, we now have a $120‑billion plan to create a clean economy. Today, we are seeing that we have really started to attract investments. We are also seeing that emissions are coming down. Our plan is working.
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Mr. Jean-Denis Garon
  • May/29/23 7:52:43 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, when it comes to the wage subsidy program, the government got helping workers confused with Halloween because the Liberal Party was caught with both hands in the candy bowl. Liberal Party of Canada employees received wage subsidies. Does the minister think that the political parties that benefited from wage subsidies should have to pay taxpayers back?
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Hon. Chrystia Freeland
  • May/29/23 7:53:32 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, we understood during the pandemic that it was an historic crisis. We understood that it was important to have a response that measured up to the historic nature of this crisis. That is what we did. We supported Canadians across the country and that was the right thing to do.
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Mr. Jean-Denis Garon
  • May/29/23 7:53:34 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, this democratic chamber, the House of Commons, voted in favour of a bill introduced by my colleague from Lévis—Lotbinière, from the Conservative Party. This bill would enable people with very serious illnesses to receive 52 weeks of employment insurance sickness benefits. The minister is offering six months, but in many cases, including when chemotherapy is needed, treatments can last from six months to two years. Is the minister telling these sick people that they have to go back to work?
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Hon. Chrystia Freeland
  • May/29/23 7:53:57 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, as my colleague said in his question, our government has already added weeks to employment insurance for people with serious illnesses. That is the right thing to do, and we are proud of taking this very important step.
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Mr. Jean-Denis Garon
  • May/29/23 7:54:24 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, approximately 60% of workers who lose their jobs will not be covered by EI. Does the minister believe that to be a sufficient rate of coverage?
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Hon. Chrystia Freeland
  • May/29/23 7:54:36 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, our government understands the importance of the EI system. That is why we invested in EI during the pandemic. We continue to—
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The Chair
  • May/29/23 7:54:52 p.m.
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The hon. member for Mirabel.
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Mr. Jean-Denis Garon
  • May/29/23 7:54:54 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, before the Axworthy reform of the 1990s, 64% of Canadians were covered by EI; today, 40% are covered. Does the minister believe that going from 60% to 40% is the right way to help the unemployed who have bad luck in the labour market?
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Hon. Chrystia Freeland
  • May/29/23 7:55:10 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, the right thing to do is to have an economic plan that creates jobs. What I want is to not have any unemployed workers in Canada. The good news is that we created almost 900,000 jobs.
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Mr. Jean-Denis Garon
  • May/29/23 7:55:32 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, the government continues to heavily subsidize fossil fuels with taxpayer money. For years, we have been waiting for a definition of an effective subsidy for fossil fuels. On two occasions in her reports, the Auditor General told us that she was not even able to evaluate whether subsidies were effective because the government had not even provided a definition. Can the minister today provide a definition of an effective subsidy for fossil fuels?
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The Chair
  • May/29/23 7:56:26 p.m.
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The hon. Bloc Québécois member's time has expired. We will now go the NDP member. The hon. member for Elmwood—Transcona.
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Hon. Chrystia Freeland
  • May/29/23 7:56:26 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I would like to finish my answer about the job market in Canada, because it is very important to understand that our focus during the pandemic was jobs, jobs and more jobs. We understood that, for Quebeckers and Canadians, having a job was the most important thing. I am very pleased—
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Mr. Daniel Blaikie (Elmwood—Transcona, NDP)
  • May/29/23 7:56:34 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, there has been a lot of debate in this place about the extent to which public spending contributes to inflation. I am wondering if the minister believes that all public spending contributes to inflation, or just certain kinds.
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Hon. Chrystia Freeland (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Lib.)
  • May/29/23 7:56:49 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, one of the things we have paid a lot of attention to in the budget, and in all of our budgets, is making investments that increase Canada's economic capacity, and we believe that investments that do that can actually be anti-inflationary.
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Mr. Daniel Blaikie
  • May/29/23 7:57:12 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, for instance, does the minister believe that the GST rebate, which is targeted at low-income Canadians, was an inflationary spending item?
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Hon. Chrystia Freeland
  • May/29/23 7:57:22 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I would like to start by talking about early learning and child care, if I may, because for me that is the poster child of an investment that actually adds to Canada's economic capacity—
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The Chair
  • May/29/23 7:57:36 p.m.
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The hon. member.
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Mr. Daniel Blaikie
  • May/29/23 7:57:37 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, I will take the minister to be saying that she does not believe that investing in child care is inflationary. Does she believe that doubling the GST rebate two times was an inflationary spend by government?
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