44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 3, 2024 11:00AM
- Jun/3/24 2:10:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Bill Morneau, John Manley, David Dodge and even future Liberal leader Mark Carney all agree that our lack of economic growth is making Canadians poorer, and things just got worse. Statistics Canada revised Canada's GDP growth for Q4 from 1.0 to 0.1. Further, our GDP per capita fell again 0.7%, marking the eighth quarter of decline.
While Canada is just barely avoiding a technical recession, Canadians themselves have been in the longest recession since the Great Depression. Canada's stagnating economy is having a devastating impact on Canadians. Food banks are overwhelmed. Students are living under bridges, and workers are living out of their cars.
There is no denying it: After nine years of the NDP-Liberal government, it is not worth the cost.
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- Jun/3/24 2:54:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yet again, the Conservatives are relentlessly talking Canada down and concealing their austerity agenda. The reality is that Canada has added 1.3 million more jobs than we had before the pandemic. The Canadian economy is 104% the size it was before the pandemic, a rate of growth second, in the G7, only to the United States. We have preserved our AAA credit rating with a stable out—
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- Jun/3/24 2:54:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the latest number from Stats Canada shows that, under the Liberal government, Canadians have seen one of the steepest falls in living standards in our country's history. This means that our quality of life has now dropped to the same level it was eight years ago, while the unemployment rate is up from last year. After nine years of the Liberal government, Canadians are worse off. They are working twice as hard to take in half as much. In fact, Canada's economy has stagnated and Liberal policy is to blame.
Why is the Prime Minister spending so much to make Canadians so poor?
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- Jun/3/24 2:55:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is amazing to hear the Conservatives talking down Canadians, Canada and our prospects. Around the world, people are talking about Canada. Do we know what? As my colleague said before, we have received the largest level of investment in our economy. Do we know why? It is because we have the best workers in the world, because we have renewable energy, because we have trade agreements with our G7 partners and because we know how to make things in this country.
While they talk down Canada, on this side of the House, we will keep pumping up Canada, we will keep improving this country, and we will bring jobs in this country.
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- Jun/3/24 2:56:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are ruining the economy. Production of made-in-Canada goods and services has declined for the fourth straight quarter; the latest drop was by 0.7% in the first three months of this year. Canada remains last of 37 market-based countries that have not recovered from before the pandemic. In fact, Canada underperforms the American economy by the widest margin since 1965; sadly, Canada's economy continues to stagnate under the current Prime Minister's uncontrolled spending and punishing taxes.
Why is the Prime Minister spending so much to make Canadians so poor?
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- Jun/3/24 6:24:13 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am aware that there will be about three minutes for my speech. I am not sure if the time carries forward or whether we are done debate, but if it does I will be splitting my time with the member for Fort McMurray—Cold Lake.
It is my pleasure to rise in this House. I want to put a little context around the pharmacare situation and, really, the economy in general. The future Liberal leader Mark Carney said that it is impossible to redistribute what one does not have. That is the very scenario that we find ourselves in.
Over the last nine years, we have experienced incredible fiscal and monetary, I might add, mismanagement of our economy. When the Liberals took the reins of power nine years ago, we had a balanced budget and we had a low GDP-to-debt ratio. Now, some nine years later, we have one of the worst debt-to-GDP ratios. We are looking at about 43%, in terms of debt-to-GDP ratio, which is shocking because the finance minister clearly said in 2022 that the government has a “fiscal anchor”, a line it shall not cross, and that the debt-to-GDP ratio would not increase.
Then what did it do? It went up. According to the PBO, who we heard from today, it is actually going to go up the next two years. Speaking of the PBO, I am not sure if anyone caught this because it was only audio, unfortunately, but members will not believe what the Parliamentary Budget Officer said. He was getting challenged by Liberals for the error he made with respect to the calculation of the carbon tax, and what he said is that he actually knows his numbers are right because he has the numbers in front of him, the same numbers that the Liberals would not release to the public.
It is incredible. The PBO came out and said that he has their analysis, but he just cannot share it because the Liberals will not share it. They have a carbon tax analysis that shows six out of 10 Canadians pay more in carbon tax than they get back in rebate.
That being said, I will just sum up my three minutes with this comment from the great Margaret Thatcher. She said, “The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money.” We have hit that point. We are now paying more in interest than we are in health care transfers. Let us have a little common sense, the government cannot redistribute what it does not have. An obsession with redistribution to the extent that it is no longer focusing on growth will hurt everyone, most notably the most vulnerable.
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- Jun/3/24 7:28:41 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, what a curious land Canada is, where a handful of grocery moguls control all the food supply. In 2022, the three most affluent grocers in the land—Loblaws, Sobeys and Metro—reported over $100 billion in sales and drew in profits exceeding $3.6 billion.
Unfortunately, small operators and local shops find it very hard to get a foothold in this vast land. Financial and logistical constraints make it nearly impossible to open new businesses. In the meanwhile, the grocery store giants, firmly rooted in Canadian customs and traditions, thrive as they operate thousands of stores.
We watch with a mixture of amazement and dismay as the growing concentration of this sector makes it even more complicated for new players to enter the arena and grow, rendering competition almost non-existent. Food prices are going through the roof. Of course, fingers point at the rising cost of raw materials, the upheaval caused by the war in Ukraine and supply chain disruptions. That is true.
However, the profit margins of these grocery titans keep growing, and the phenomenon is nothing new. It is becoming critical for Canada to find ways to stem the tide of skyrocketing grocery prices. More competition seems essential to make this positive outcome a reality.
In June 2023, a Competition Bureau report on the retail grocery sector was made public, revealing the underbelly of the sector. Canada is at a turning point and needs to develop an innovative strategy to encourage the creation of new businesses in the grocery sector in order to diversify the supply for consumers. Some ambitious companies are looking to revolutionize the sector by offering online groceries. It is crucial that the different levels of government work together to encourage these bold initiatives, which are ready to shake up the established order.
Ottawa should support the grocery sector by encouraging the growth of independent retailers and welcoming international grocers to the Canadian market. While there are already several renowned independent grocers in Canada capable of standing up to the industry giants, their modest scale prevents them from competing on a national level. It is critically important that Ottawa embrace informed policies that encourage the growth of independent grocers and facilitate the entry of foreign grocers and discount stores. The addition of new competitors and the growth of existing independent retailers will bring in a healthy breath of fresh air, thereby strengthening consumer purchasing power. This healthy rivalry will encourage our retailers to lower their prices, improve the quality of their products and do more to innovate.
Ottawa should also consider introducing clear, harmonized requirements for the display of unit price. It is often time consuming to compare prices, even just for a few items at different grocery stores. People need tools to help them compare prices at the grocery store and make informed choices. This information is essential in helping people make wiser, smarter choices and in promoting competition in our industry.
To meet these noble objectives, our governments will have to work together to develop and implement accessible, harmonized standards for the display of unit price. When I say “work together”, I mean that we, of course, do not want Ottawa to interfere again. This work needs to be done with other levels of government. Measures must also be taken to limit or even ban property controls in the grocery sector. Such controls restrict the use of real estate by grocery competitors and make opening new grocery stores difficult, if not impossible. They also reduce competition in our communities.
Why is competition so important? Basically, competition is a critical economic lever.
When the economy becomes more competitive, both businesses and consumers—Canadians and Quebeckers in this case—benefit substantially. Competition encourages companies to innovate, to perfect the products and services they offer and to increase operational efficiency. As a result, consumers benefit from greater choice, higher quality goods and services and inevitably lower prices. Competition is crucial in all industries and sectors of our economy.
The reason it is so important here is that the Canadian grocery sector, as has been said before, is concentrated. This can make it much harder for small and medium-sized businesses to really compete with the Canadian grocery giants. It is difficult for new companies to successfully penetrate this market. Without a change in this competitive landscape, Canadians and Quebeckers will not be able to fully enjoy competitive prices and a wide range of products.
In its report, the Competition Bureau recommended more competition in Canada's grocery sector. That is the way forward. We need to adopt measures that are going to encourage and support more competition in this sector. Accordingly, we must also avoid simplistic solutions. Through its amendment, the Conservative Party of Canada is trying once again to replay its opposition day. It feels like Groundhog Day. The opposition day motion was defeated just a few hours ago. It does not hold water for all the reasons that were outlined last week during the debate on that ridiculous proposal.
On that, I would be pleased to engage with all of my colleagues.
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- Jun/3/24 9:17:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is always nice to be in the House in the evening with my colleague from Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon. I thank him for the opportunity for an adjournment debate on this important issue.
Small and medium-sized businesses are the backbone of the Canadian economy, and over the last four or five years, business owners have had a really challenging environment to operate in. Depending on what sector and where they are located, the pandemic has had an outsized impact on a lot of small businesses. However, throughout that tumultuous period, our government was there for small business owners. We paid much of their salaries, and we paid a lot of that rent. We kicked in wherever we could. We provided CEBA loans, and we kept the Canadian economy afloat.
We took on some debt so that the business owners would not have to and the result is that, over the last two years, the recession that so many economists, pundits and op-ed writers indicated was on the horizon in Canada has been avoided. It is really worth pointing out that, despite all the gloomy talk of the Conservative Party of Canada, Canada's economy is doing very well compared to our colleagues in the G7 or our partner countries. It is always easy to find a statistic to point out that it is bad here or it is bad there, but overall, Canada's wage growth has caught up to inflation, which is excellent news for workers. We have seen more than one million, the last figure being 1.3 million, new jobs compared to before the pandemic.
The member was talking about inflation and accusing this government of contributing to that inflation. He does not really give our government or the institution across the road, the Bank of Canada, too much credit for that inflation coming down. In the last 20 months consecutively, it has come down to a more reasonable rate of somewhere between 2.3% and 2.7%, which is getting really close to the Bank of Canada's target rate of 2%. We are getting there as a country.
I am not taking credit, as a member of this side. I want to give credit to Canadian workers, to Canadian innovators, to Canadian small business owners and to people who worked so hard during the pandemic and who took advantage of some of those government programs, which they were entitled to. They have continued to fight through the headwinds. The reason we are not in a recession now, in June 2024, is because of their hard work and ingenuity. As the member rightly pointed out, budget 2024 proposes to invest $2.5 billion to support 600,000 businesses across Canada. For context, the CEBA loans supported Canadian businesses with upward of $45 billion or $50 billion.
Our government has been there for small and medium-sized businesses. As we fight climate change and innovate to lower our emissions together, we will continue to serve Canadians, employ Canadians and make sure that Canadians have all of the opportunities they deserve. In the future, we will be there. We will have their backs, and we know that they will continue to do their great work in driving our economy forward to a green future.
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