SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 252 - Nov/21/23

Mr. Luc Berthold (Mégantic—L'Érable, CPC)

Nov/21/23 2:40:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of Liberal inflationary spending, the Prime Minister is not worth what inflation is costing Quebeckers. In October, Quebec's inflation rate of 4.2% was the worst in Canada yet again. According to Scotiabank's calculations, government overspending has added two percentage points to interest rates in Canada, raising monthly mortgage payments by $700. In today's mini-budget, will the Liberal Prime Minister announce a plan and a deadline for balancing the budget to bring interest rates down so Canadians and Quebeckers can keep their homes?

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Context: House Hansard - 252 - Nov/21/23

Mr. Charlie Angus (Timmins—James Bay, NDP)

Nov/21/23 2:53:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are getting the fall economic update from the government today. Let me give an update from small businesses in northern Ontario. First, they were hammered by the pandemic. Then they were hammered by high inflation. Now they are being hammered by Liberal indifference. If the Prime Minister does not change course on the CEBA repayments, many of our businesses are going to be forced to close their doors in January. Will the Prime Minister do the right thing and extend the loan repayment deadline so that our small businesses can get back on their feet?

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Context: House Hansard - 252 - Nov/21/23

Hon. Rechie Valdez (Minister of Small Business, Lib.)

Nov/21/23 2:54:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we know times were tough and are still tough for small businesses. If they are unable to repay by January 18, they still have a full three years to repay their CEBA loan. We extended the term loan repayment deadline to make sure that small businesses are able to focus on navigating pandemic recovery. We are also cutting taxes for growing small businesses and lowering credit card fees by up to a quarter. We will always be there for small businesses. That will never change.

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Context: House Hansard - 252 - Nov/21/23

Mr. Daniel Blaikie (Elmwood—Transcona, NDP)

Nov/21/23 5:31:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the NDP shares my colleague's disappointment about the Canada emergency business account. That was our position, and in letters and in conversations with the government, we repeatedly asked it to extend the deadline for repayment of the emergency account. What I do not understand is how the federal government can expect to receive more money by forcing companies to repay their loans when they are not currently in a position to do so. We know this will cause bankruptcies. Would my colleague care to comment on that?

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Context: House Hansard - 252 - Nov/21/23

Mr. Gabriel Ste-Marie

Nov/21/23 5:31:53 p.m.
Watch
Re: Bill C-56

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from the Standing Committee on Finance. We just spent the last week touring western Canada. We visited every region to hear from people. All the organizations, the chambers of commerce, the organizations representing SMEs are asking for the deadline to be extended by one year. It is the same in Quebec. We hear it everywhere. When we speak with the ministers individually, most of them agree with this call. Most of them do not understand the Minister of Finance's reaction. That is what is throwing a wrench in the works. The Minister of Finance and senior civil servants are saying that it is going to be expensive. We have been leading the charge for quite some time. We just want to be the voice of the SMEs we represent. We were ready to negotiate with the government. For example, if the government wants Bill C‑56 to pass, in exchange, we would like the government to extend the deadline by a year. With all due respect, we wish the NDP had followed our lead. I hope they keep this example in mind so that, in future negotiations, they can ask for this in exchange. It would be a big win for SMEs. It would mean 20% fewer bankruptcies, according to figures from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. It would make a big difference.

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