SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 218 - Jun/21/23

Mr. Marty Morantz (Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, CPC)

Jun/21/23 9:09:09 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I listened with interest to the member's speech. He said something to the effect that Liberals do not cut anything, that they never cut anything and they always make investments. I wonder if he is aware of the most draconian budget in Canadian history, by a government that did not just cut program spending but actually also cut health transfers and education transfers to provinces. It was delivered on February 27, 1995, by then finance minister Paul Martin. I wonder if he could advise us whether he is aware of those cuts.

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Context: House Hansard - 218 - Jun/21/23

Mr. Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre, GP)

Jun/21/23 9:12:33 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I really appreciate that the member for Don Valley East spoke about needed investments. I know he is a supporter of investing in people with disabilities. We are on the verge of seeing Bill C-22 receive royal assent, but we still do not have any money in the budget to deliver the Canada disability benefit. Can he speak about what he can be doing over the coming months to ensure that in next year's budget we see a historic investment in Canadians with disabilities being lifted out of poverty through the Canada disability benefit?

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Context: House Hansard - 218 - Jun/21/23

Mr. Marty Morantz

Jun/21/23 9:37:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the compliment. I know everybody is waiting with bated breath to hear what I have to say next. I will try not to disappoint. The fact of the matter is the IMF is now urging Canada to bring a debt anchor and to keep fiscal policy tight. What does that mean, keeping fiscal policy tight? It means moving toward balanced budgets, not just relying on what they might call fiscal guardrails or reducing debt-to-GDP ratios, but actually having a hard fiscal anchor. This is the IMF talking, not me. A hard fiscal anchor. What they mean is a plan to get back to balanced budgets. The Bank of Canada, to its credit, has been engaged in a policy of fiscal tightening, trying to reduce the money supply and raising interest rates, trying to grapple with the scourge of inflation. The problem is that the fiscal policy of the Government of Canada is running counter to that. We have loose fiscal policy in this country, meaning that billions and billions of dollars are still going out the door of the budget this year. It was $495 billion, almost half a trillion dollars. Mr. Speaker, I know you have been here for a while, and I know you know that is a lot of money. It is way more than it was even in 2019. We have a real issue in this country, and I think we need to bridge the gap. We need the government and its coalition partners to take this concept seriously, go back to the drawing board and at least come back with a plan. That is all this motion asks for, not to balance the budget tomorrow or at two o'clock this morning when we are voting on the appropriations, but to come back soon with a plan, just like they had for 2027, to bring the budget back into balance.

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Context: House Hansard - 218 - Jun/21/23

Mr. Marty Morantz

Jun/21/23 9:42:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, finally I hear another member of Parliament say it is a good idea to have a plan to balance the budget. I hope that the members of the Liberal Party are paying attention to the good common sense of the Bloc MP, the instruction of the IMF, and not just relying on how they view partisan interests of other members of Parliament.

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Context: House Hansard - 218 - Jun/21/23

Ms. Monique Pauzé (Repentigny, BQ)

Jun/21/23 10:24:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to begin by wishing you and all my colleagues here in the House a wonderful summer. Regarding my colleague's speech, I would like to share one of the conclusions reached by the Centre of Excellence on the Canadian Federation, which has analyzed federal spending since 2015. It found that “the current trend is toward a more directive and less collaborative use of the spending power....Partnership seems to be conditional on a province accepting the federal government's policy vision”. I would call that federal paternalism. In other words, if the provinces want money, they have to do what the federal government wants. The federal government can behave this way because it has too much revenue for its budget items. I would like my colleague to comment on the fiscal imbalance, which is precisely why the government is increasing its initiatives in areas of jurisdiction that are not its own.

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