SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 338 - Sep/18/24

Ms. Rachel Bendayan (Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Lib.)

Sep/18/24 6:59:25 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I simply cannot put it any way other than to say that my Conservative colleague is obviously misinformed. When it comes to business investments, I can tell members that Canada is currently third in the world for attracting foreign direct investments, and that is for the very first time in our country's history. It is an amazing achievement that highlights the focus of our government to bring new investments into Canada. One of the problems here is that Conservatives are focusing only on the top capital gains tax rate on very large investment profits. Maybe that is what his donors are talking about, but it is certainly not what middle-class Canadians are talking about around their kitchen tables. In fact, on this subject, Conservatives never talk about regular folks making regular incomes, making regular salaries or hourly wages. A worker in Canada earning an average wage is taxed less than the average across all OECD countries. I can tell members that it is a hell of a lot lower than the 48% rate in Germany or the 47% tax rate in France. In his question, my Conservative colleague is not even talking about the regular capital gains tax rate, which is itself only paid by a very small sliver of well-off Canadians who are able to realize profits on their investments. No, the Conservatives are talking about the very top marginal rate for capital gains, those making a profit of over $250,000 in investment profit in a single year, which is the definition of the one per cent. That is who the Conservatives are so very desperate to defend and make us all feel very sorry for. This is ridiculous. The fact is that the rhetoric, and if I may say the populist rhetoric, that the Conservative leader goes on tour with during the summer is addressed to the hard-working Canadians who work in the construction industry, as nurses or as bus drivers. That speech is directed to folks right across the country. However, in the House, in this chamber, it is clear who Conservatives are defending. They are defending the top one per cent. They are protecting people's stock portfolios instead of their pensions. They are defending people's stock portfolios instead of the wages of the middle class. Let that be clear.

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Investments

Mr. Brad Vis

Sep/18/24 7:01:55 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I could not think of a more out-of-touch answer to the very real concerns that I raised, which were backed by Statistics Canada data. In fact, talking about middle-class Canadians, as I outlined in my remarks, the capital gains tax will often only be paid by 63% of Canadians once in their lifetime. Why is that significant? It is because of the 80-year-old farmer in Hatzik Valley, who does not have any children, who came to me. He wants to keep his family farm in his family, but if he and his wife were to sell the property today, which is worth a few million dollars, they would not be able to have enough money to retire to assisted living, where they should be, because the capital gains tax increase they are paying has completely thrown off their retirement investment. I think of the auto mechanic who invested in a property to start a business and employ people. The government is saying, no, that they need to give more. That is not sufficient—

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

Sep/18/24 7:02:59 p.m.
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The hon. parliamentary secretary.

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Secretary

Ms. Rachel Bendayan

Sep/18/24 7:03:00 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I think that the Conservatives' priority has been rather clear so far. Other than abandoning the fight against climate change, all they talk about is doing whatever they can to protect those who earn more than $250,000 a year in profit on their investments, even if that creates more inequality and raises the deficit that they regularly pretend to complain about. My Conservative colleague is obviously also focusing only on the very highest capital gains tax rate for investment gains. Perhaps that is what his donors are talking about, but that is certainly not what most Canadians are talking about around the kitchen table. I think that the Conservatives' priority is rather clear. The priority of our Liberal government is to defend the middle class.

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Ms. Lori Idlout (Nunavut, NDP)

Sep/18/24 7:04:05 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, Nunavummiut still have the highest levels of food insecurity in the country. My home territory has the highest number of children going to school and to bed with empty stomachs. Mothers are not eating enough so their children can be full and grow up healthy. These conditions are by design of the federal government. These conditions do not happen by accident. These conditions are on purpose. The Liberal government continues to refuse to fix the broken nutrition north program. When will the suffering finally be enough for the Liberals to act? While people are suffering in poverty, the Minister of Northern Affairs' response is to do more studies. His response, when I requested that the Auditor General review the program, was to do an internal review and then, possibly, an external review. The message was clear that he is not committed to helping alleviate poverty. His commitment is to protect corporate greed. The first and only person who has been the Minister of Northern Affairs since his role was created claims to be absolutely committed to 100% of the retail subsidy being passed on directly to northerners. In fact, he said his internal audit will make sure of that. The minister says his internal review will assess nutrition north's performance. I can tell him right now that its performance is terrible. Food insecurity and prices have continued to rise under the program. The minister should recall that when I called the CEO of the North West Company, Dan McConnell, to appear before the indigenous and northern affairs committee, he refused to disclose that he earned $3.9 million in one year. The North West Company uses nutrition north. That means we can interpret that Canadian tax dollars are funding corporate greed. I travelled to 13 Kivalliq and Kitikmeot communities this summer. I heard the same thing everywhere: "We cannot afford the cost of living in Nunavut. We cannot afford groceries. We cannot feed our families." My constituents are yelling for help. I have repeated that in this House so many times. The federal government keeps ignoring us. Nunavummiut do not need another internal study. Nunavummiut need to be able to feed their families. Ten years ago, the Auditor General exposed that nutrition north was not meeting its objective to increase Inuit's northern food access. The Auditor General said the government "has not done the work necessary to verify that northern retailers are passing on to consumers the full government subsidy". The Auditor General revealed that the government is not requiring retailers to tell it where the tax dollars are going or how high the profits have climbed. What a great deal for a big business. My question is simple. Will the Minister of Northern Affairs stop delaying and finally tell us the program will be improved so tax dollars are shown going to alleviate poverty and not going into the pockets of rich CEOs?

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Mr. Jaime Battiste (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, Lib.)

Sep/18/24 7:07:49 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, nakurmiik to my colleague. Food security is one of the most pressing issues in the north and one of the top priorities of the minister. The nutrition north program is helping communities address food insecurity, a significant and complex issue requiring shared solutions and partnerships across governments. Until recently, the program's main focus was its retail subsidy, which lowers prices on foods and essential items. Today, after extensive reforms informed by indigenous and northern partners, nutrition north's expanded food security programming takes a holistic food systems approach to strengthening locally led food security and food sovereignty initiatives. An investment of $164 million over three years from budget 2021 expanded nutrition north's ability to help eligible northern and isolated communities address local food security priorities. The investment included an additional $36 million for the harvesters support grant and nearly $61 million to launch the new community food programs fund under the grants to support community food-sharing activities. An additional $1.5 million over two years was allocated for nutrition north's Canada's food security research grant to study the effects of retail subsidy and inform ongoing improvements to the program. These initiatives make a difference for northerners. Since the launch of the harvesters support grant in 2020, over 15,000 harvesters have been supported with more than 717 new food-sharing initiatives and 410 community hunts and harvests taking place. I would also like to highlight the community food programs fund, co-developed alongside indigenous partners, including 24 recipient organizations and ITK. This fund directly supports indigenous recipients in culturally appropriate and community-led food security activities, such as school food programs and elder meal programs. The newly established food security research grant funds indigenous-led research on food access and cost of living in the north to inform ongoing improvements to the retail subsidy program, including subsidy pass-through. We believe in “by the north, for the north” solutions. To that end, since 2019, nutrition north has transferred over $76 million for the four regional Inuit organizations through the harvesters support grant and community food programs funding. This includes over $27.8 million for NTI. The retail subsidies help save money on essential food like eggs, which cost $7.99 for 18 in Cape Dorset in February 2024. This represents a 46% savings to consumers. In Igloolik, in the same month, four litres of milk only cost $5.69 as a result of the subsidy. Retailers and suppliers have regular independent audits to ensure compliance with program requirements, and we also seek input for ongoing improvements from indigenous and northern partners. For example, recent program adjustments now require retailers to submit monthly price data for all products in the communities. An internal evaluation is also under way, targeted for completion in March 2025, which includes indigenous partners, local communities, elders and knowledge-keepers in the evaluation working group. Nutrition north will not solve food insecurity, but it is part of a long-term strategy to address the factors affecting food security, such as income, employment and access to food distributors. We are committed to continuous improvement of the expanded nutrition north program and to working with indigenous and northern partners to ensure it meets local community needs.

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Ms. Lori Idlout

Sep/18/24 7:11:47 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, Amautiit Nunavut Inuit Women's Association released a report on child poverty in April 2024, and its report showed that those dollars are not working because children are still in poverty. The close to $100 million that you mentioned in your response is going to corporate greed. Your government's data on the nutrition north program—

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

Sep/18/24 7:12:13 p.m.
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I would remind the hon. member to speak through the Chair please and not directly to the member.

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Remind
Speak

Ms. Lori Idlout

Sep/18/24 7:12:23 p.m.
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Uqaqtittiji, I apologize. The government's data on the nutrition north program includes prices and the subsidy paid for some products. Since the voices of constituents are not enough, I will cite a researcher. Nicholas Li is one of just two or three researchers who have confidential access to that data. In April, Nicholas told APTN that when he last checked, there was a lag in the data reporting. Can the Minister of Northern Affairs confirm whether the government is currently even collecting data on the prices and subsidy paid for food products?

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Mr. Jaime Battiste

Sep/18/24 7:13:10 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate the concerns of the member opposite over the nutrition north program subsidies and the reforms to the program. The harvesters support grant and the community food program are part of the expanded nutrition north program and provide significant support for indigenous recipients with culturally appropriate and community-led food security activities. We remain determined to help reduce food prices through the expanded nutrition north program, which has also helped to increase food security throughout the north. The newly established food security research grant supports indigenous-led academic research into food security and existing federal food programs. Access in the north is informing ongoing improvements to the retail subsidy program. I look forward to continuing to work with the opposition and our partners to ensure the transparency, accountability and effectiveness of nutrition north. I will pass the member's concerns on to the minister.

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

Sep/18/24 7:14:07 p.m.
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The motion that the House do now adjourn is deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 10 a.m. pursuant to Standing Order 24(1). (The House adjourned at 7:14 p.m.)

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