SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 211 - Jun/13/23

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Jun/13/23 12:04:32 a.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, a number of thoughts come to mind. First and foremost, we can understand and appreciate the degree to which inflation is hurting Canadians. I would ask the Conservative Party to collectively understand what I just finished saying and support some of the initiatives that the government is doing to assist Canadians, whether it is the dental program or the grocery rebate program. These are helping Canadians in a very real and tangible way. The member talked about the price on pollution. Even though 338 Conservative candidates made a campaign promise to have a price on pollution, I respect that they did flip-flop on the issue, even though they did promise Canadians. What is misleading is when Conservatives stand up and try to give the impression that the Parliamentary Budget Officer was wrong when he made the statement saying that 80% of Canadians would receive more money, real dollars, compared to money that is put in. That means 80% of the residents of Winnipeg North are going to be receiving more of a rebate, which, again, helps with inflation. There is a consistency problem. The Conservatives talk about inflation rates. As I said, we are concerned, and we are taking action, even though the Conservatives do not support it. We need to recognize that around the world, inflation is hitting. It is not unique to Canada. What is unique to Canada is that Canada's inflation rate is substantially less than the inflation rate of many of the European countries. It has been less than the rate of the U.S., England, Germany and other European countries. Relatively speaking, Canada's inflation rate is high. We recognize the hardship that it costs and, as a result, we have put into place a number of budgetary measures to support Canadians in a very real and tangible way. Imagine the frustration that we do not hear ideas coming from the Conservative Party, outside of the issue of cryptocurrency, and we are still waiting for the apology. Remember that the leader of the Conservative Party said, look, do we want to fight inflation? Go to cryptocurrency. Those people who would have followed that advice would have lost 60%-plus of their investment. Other economic recommendations coming from the leader of the Conservative Party included things like getting rid of the Governor of the Bank of Canada. It is very well respected not only here in Canada but across other jurisdictions in the world, recognizing the important role that the Bank of Canada plays in our society, a society that is doing exceptionally well, whether it is the deficit, the GDP or our ability to be able to have better controls on the issue of inflation. How does the Conservative Party respond, in particular the leader of the Conservative Party? Fire the Governor of the Bank of Canada. How silly an idea? I do not think we need to take advice from the Conservative Party, because it has clearly demonstrated that it does not understand.

503 words

Context: House Hansard - 211 - Jun/13/23

Mr. Greg McLean

Jun/13/23 12:08:21 a.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I know it is late and I know my colleague across the way probably did not even listen to what I had to say. The answer was obviously disconnected from any question I actually had. We talked about inflation. I did not talk about much else that he referred to in there. Nevertheless, I will go on here about inflation and what his government is causing. He did say one thing that I wanted to address here. He did say that the more things go up and the more Canadians get harmed by the inflation the government has caused, the more they will give them cheques and find ways to put a little bit of money back in their pockets, much like with the carbon tax they talk about. They take a bunch of money out of one's pocket but do not worry, they will give one a cheque for a little bit back and one will be happy with it. They will give a bunch of misinformation in the House of Commons that 80% of us are better off. I think that a lot of people have disputed that rather substantially. In any event, continuing to abet inflation is not the way to address inflation. Would he please commit to doing something to actually address the inflation that he is causing?

225 words

Context: House Hansard - 211 - Jun/13/23

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux

Jun/13/23 12:09:25 a.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, with respect to the member's initial comments, he should read the speech that he gave in his four minutes. He will find that I addressed it directly, with one exception and that was when I talked about Conservative ideas related to dealing with the issue of inflation. All I was doing was regurgitating ideas that were generated from the leader of the Conservative Party. I suspect that likely makes him a little bit nervous, as I am sure it makes a lot of Canadians nervous. The bottom line is, and I have said this consistently, this government is very much aware of the issue of inflation. We have a budget that is reflective of what Canadians have been telling us. It is a budget that deals with the issue of inflation in a very tangible way. We will continue to work with stakeholders, to minimize the negative impact of inflation on Canadians while, at the same time, building a country and an economy that is there for all Canadians.

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