44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 23, 2023 10:00AM
- Nov/23/23 3:20:08 p.m.
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I thank the hon. member for St. Catharines for his comments.
I see that the member for Miramichi—Grand Lake would like to get up. I do hope the member will be brief and succinct.
The hon. member for Miramichi—Grand Lake.
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- Nov/23/23 3:20:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, can I ask what the exact thing is that I am being accused of? It is unclear to me. I need to know the exact words, and then I will talk.
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- Nov/23/23 3:20:50 p.m.
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I will ask members for their patience for a second.
Colleagues, I am not inclined to repeat unparliamentary language in this House. I will review the tapes.
If the hon. member for Miramichi—Grand Lake would like to get up, I would be happy to recognize him.
The hon. member for Miramichi—Grand Lake.
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- Nov/23/23 3:21:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will gladly rise. I still have not been told completely what—
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- Nov/23/23 3:22:19 p.m.
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Order. I ask all members to please allow the hon. member for Miramichi—Grand Lake to respond.
The hon. member for Miramichi—Grand Lake.
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- Nov/23/23 3:22:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, number one, I directed nothing at the member who is over here in the corner. My exact words, and I know the NDP is not going to like it, are I said that they were Hamas supporters, and they are.
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- Nov/23/23 3:22:56 p.m.
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Colleagues, we are not doing ourselves any favours as members of Parliament in terms of the use of unparliamentary language. Especially if it is directed to an individual, it is clearly unparliamentary. To make statements which create disorder in the House is also unparliamentary.
The Speaker is going to review the tapes and return to the House on this matter.
On another point of order, I recognize the member of Parliament for Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes.
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- Nov/23/23 3:24:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, during question period, while the member for South Shore—St. Margarets was asking a question, the Minister of International Development called him a liar. Sitting so close to the good folks from Hansard, I can tell that they captured it in Hansard.
There is an opportunity for the minister to apologize to an hon. member of the House for calling someone a liar. It is, of course, unparliamentary. It is, of course, unbecoming of a member of the King's Privy Council, a member of the government. He should not be recognized until he apologizes to the hon. member for South Shore—St. Margarets.
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- Nov/23/23 3:24:47 p.m.
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The hon. minister is rising.
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- Nov/23/23 3:24:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I apologize and I withdraw the remark.
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- Nov/23/23 3:25:04 p.m.
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I would like to thank the hon. minister for doing the appropriate thing.
The hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby is rising on a point of order.
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- Nov/23/23 3:25:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the minister has done the right thing.
I would like to come back to your commitment to review the tapes with respect to the member for Miramichi—Grand Lake. What he said was clearly unparliamentary. You have called upon him to apologize. I believe that if he has not apologized, he should not be recognized in the House.
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- Nov/23/23 3:25:42 p.m.
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I have already made my intentions clear about that, and I will come back to members.
The hon. member for Yorkton—Melville is rising on a point of order.
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- Nov/23/23 3:25:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my understanding is that we cannot say indirectly in the House what we cannot say directly. I am of Canadian Ukrainian heritage. My grandfather came here just before the Holodomor, and every statement today that was said against me on that side of the House, in regard to my decision on my vote, is—
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- Nov/23/23 3:26:41 p.m.
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Order.
I thank the hon. member for Yorkton—Melville. I am afraid that this is moving into a matter of debate.
The hon. member for Kelowna—Lake Country is rising on a point of order.
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- Nov/23/23 3:27:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, during question period, I heard the member of Parliament for Cambridge yell across the way, “Let's take it outside.”
This is physically threatening and unparliamentary, and he should apologize.
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- Nov/23/23 3:27:25 p.m.
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I thank the hon. member for Kelowna—Lake Country. It is not considered unparliamentary language, but I will review Hansard to see what I can detect from that.
We have now come to my favourite question of the week, the Thursday question.
The hon. member for Mégantic—L'Érable.
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Mr. Speaker, today is dark day. Although I have made several attempts to have Bill C-56 debated in the House, considering that it has not been on the agenda since October 5, we are currently witnessing a government manoeuvre to muzzle the House and limit debate on this bill.
Given that we will be sitting until midnight tonight and voting on Bill C-56, can the government House leader tell us what is in store for us tomorrow and next week in terms of business?
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Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question. As the Chair said, it is the most anticipated question of the week.
We are of course expecting unanimity on Bill C-56 tonight. Perhaps we can count on Conservative votes to help Canadians at this time. That is our hope.
This afternoon, we will continue with debate on the government business motion relating to Bill C-56, the affordable housing and groceries act. Tomorrow, we will resume second reading debate of Bill C-58, relating to replacement workers. We will return to Bill C-58 debate on Monday. Tuesday will be an opposition day. On Wednesday, we will call second reading of Bill S-9, concerning chemical weapons.
I would also like to note that it is the intention of the government to commence debate next week concerning the bill relating to the fall economic statement that was tabled earlier this week by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance.
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Madam Speaker, I rise to speak to Bill C-56, the Liberals' so-called affordable housing and groceries bill. I say “so-called” because nothing in the bill would make housing affordable or reduce grocery prices.
After eight long years of the Liberals, Canadians are facing an unprecedented affordability crisis. Let us look at the facts. After eight years of the Liberals, housing costs have doubled; rent has doubled and mortgage payments have more than doubled, up 150% compared to eight years ago. After eight years of the Liberals, Canadians have seen 40-year-high inflation. Meanwhile, interest rates are rising at the fastest rate in Canadian history and have reached a 22-year high. Interest rates are projected to be hiked even further. When it comes to essentials like groceries, prices have gone up a staggering 70%, resulting in nearly two million Canadians a month going to the food bank. What Canadians are facing after eight years of the Liberals is a dire situation in which Canadians are struggling to put food on the table and to keep a roof over their head.
This begs the question “Why is it that Canada faces an affordability crisis?” There is one person who bears primary responsibility, and that is the Prime Minister. It is the Prime Minister who has created an affordability crisis as a result of eight years of reckless spending. This is the Prime Minister who, in eight years, has run up the largest deficits and has managed to double the national debt. So reckless and so out of control is the spending on the part of the Prime Minister that he has managed to do the seemingly impossible: rack up more debt in eight years than all of his predecessors over the previous 150 years combined. This is the Prime Minister who thought it was a good idea to pay for his out-of-control reckless spending by printing, through the Bank of Canada, $600 billion. As a result, the money supply has increased eight times faster than economic growth. Is it any wonder that, in the face of that, Canadians have seen 40-year-high inflation and interest rates rising faster than ever before?
That is the record of the Liberals after eight years. That is what they have to show. They have manufactured a cost of living crisis, and everyday Canadians are hurting. In the face of that, what have the Liberals done and what are they doing to address the issue of affordability, the mess they have created? Earlier this week, Canadians got the answer, and that is based upon the finance minister's presenting the government's fall economic statement. What did we get from the finance minister? We got $20 billion in new deficit spending on top of the more than $100 billion of deficit spending that the finance minister has racked up in the three years that she has held the portfolio. There is $20 billion in new deficit spending that pours fuel on the inflationary fire and is sure to keep interest rates high. There is $20 billion in new deficit spending, notwithstanding the fact that even the Bank of Canada is calling on the Liberals to rein in their spending, and has made clear to the Liberal government that its reckless spending and money printing are contributing to inflation.
There is $20 billion in new deficit spending, notwithstanding Scotiabank's issuing a report recently that confirmed that a full 2% of interest rates is directly attributable to the government's inflationary spending. Canadians have been hit, after eight years of the Liberals, with a double whammy: high inflation and high interest rates. They are now also being hit with a third whammy by way of the Liberals' punitive carbon tax. It is a tax that the Liberals falsely sold as a means to reduce GHGs, but we know, after eight years of the Liberals, that GHGs have gone up and not down. I would remind Liberals across the way, who talk so much about climate action, that the COP27 rankings ranked Canada, after eight years of the Liberals, at 58 out of 63 countries.
However, I digress. The carbon tax is nothing more than another tax, but I qualify that because it is not quite that. It is, after all, a tax that disproportionately impacts lower- and middle-income Canadians. It is a tax that increases the cost of everything, including essentials such as food, fuel and heating. It is a tax that, according to both the Bank of Canada and the Parliamentary Budget Officer, is exacerbating inflation. Despite that and despite the fact that Canadians are facing an affordability crisis, with nearly half of Canadians $200 away from insolvency, the Liberal government's plan is to quadruple its punitive carbon tax for hard-working, everyday Canadians.
I say to the Liberals across the way that I would be keenly interested to see whether one of them can stand up in their place and explain to Canadians how the policies of the government, namely money printing, massive deficits and the quadrupling of the carbon tax, all of which are exacerbating inflation and increasing interest rates, are a policy prescription that is going to make life more affordable for Canadians. Very simply, those policies are making life less affordable. Canadians are paying a very dear price after eight years of the costly policies of the Liberal Prime Minister.
After eight long years of the Liberals, costs are up. Rent is up, taxes are up and debt is up. The government's time is up.
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