Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question.

The government remains committed to taking steps toward pharmacare, and it is in active discussions, as you would expect, with not only the NDP — because, as you properly mentioned, this is part of the supply and confidence agreement — but as you also appreciate, Senator Osler, this is also a matter over which to engage the provinces and territories. Any sensible plan needs to make sure it will land properly with the partners in the jurisdictions that have primary responsibility.

As well, the budget to which you made reference had to strike an important balance between continuing to invest in the future, providing assistance to Canadians who have gone through difficult times and being fiscally responsible. It is the position of the government that it did strike that balance, but this particular budget, for several reasons, was not one in which additional expenditures could be made, above and beyond the massive investments in health care to which I have already referred.

But the government continues to treat it seriously and is working with its partners to move it forward.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question and for underlining the terribly difficult circumstances that all people, including Canadians, are experiencing in Sudan.

The government is looking at every possible option to support Canadians in Sudan. Last week, the Canadian Armed Forces Strategic Advisory Team, as well as liaison officers from the military, were deployed to Djibouti to support the evacuation of Canadian personnel from the Canadian embassy. As you know, services are being provided from outside the country as best as they can be. They are working in collaboration with their allies and partner nations.

Over this past weekend, additional personnel from the Armed Forces and Department of National Defence, including a military assistance team with additional liaison reconnaissance elements, were deployed to begin planning for non-combatant evacuation. We have approximately 200 Canadian Armed Forces members deployed to the region to assist with this line of effort. The government will do everything it can to assist.

The circumstances are challenging on the ground, as you would expect, and the government is hopeful that its efforts will bear fruit so that all Canadians can be evacuated safely as soon as possible.

[Translation]

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate) moved second reading of Bill C-46, An Act to amend the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act and the Income Tax Act.

He said: Honourable senators, I rise today as the Senate sponsor of Bill C-46, also known as the cost of living relief act, no. 3.

The government introduced this bill following Budget 2023 to quickly implement measures that would help Canadian families cope with the increasing cost of living, and help provinces and territories deliver the high quality and timely health care Canadians both expect and deserve. The bill was adopted unanimously in the other place, with support from all parties, on April 19, 2023.

More precisely, Bill C-46 would deliver the new grocery rebate and a $2 billion Canada Health Transfer, or CHT, top-up to help reduce backlogs and wait times and to support paediatric hospitals and emergency rooms.

As we all know, with grocery prices going up, far too many Canadians are struggling to make ends meet.

[Translation]

In response to global inflation and rising costs, the government is providing much-needed help to Canadians to ensure that they can continue to put food on the table and pay their bills. Inflation in Canada was 8.1% in June 2022 and is now 4.3%, as Statistics Canada announced last week. Even though the rate is much lower than it was last year, it is still too high, and far too many Canadian families still need support.

As you probably read earlier this week, food inflation continued to outpace headline inflation in March. According to Statistics Canada’s latest consumer price index, the price of groceries increased by 9.7% last month, compared to the same period last year.

That is why the government is helping those who need it most with the grocery rebate. The one-time grocery rebate included in Bill C-46 is there to support the Canadians who have been hit hardest by the increase in the price of food.

[English]

This targeted inflation relief would provide about $2.5 billion for 11 million low- and modest-income Canadians and families who need it most. This would mean a one-time payment of up to an extra $467 for eligible couples with two children; up to an extra $234 for single Canadians without children; and an extra $225 for seniors, on average. It is estimated that 9 million single people and 2 million couples will receive the rebate, including more than half of Canadian seniors.

Following the passage of Bill C-46, the grocery rebate would be delivered to eligible Canadians as soon as possible by direct deposit or cheque through the Canada Revenue Agency’s GST credit system.

[Translation]

Dear colleagues, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the health care system and the workers that keep it going are under enormous pressure. This situation was exacerbated by the pandemic, and immediate intervention is needed to provide better health care for Canadians.

Across the country, patients who need urgent medical attention are confronted with emergency rooms that are overflowing or even closed. People are waiting for surgeries that get either delayed or cancelled. The postponement of a good number of these procedures only makes the wait lists longer, which affects the health and quality of life of the people affected and their families.

Bill C-46 would transfer an additional $2-billion top-up to the Canada health transfer, as announced in February, to alleviate these immediate pressures on provincial and territorial health care systems, including the pressures on children’s hospitals and emergency rooms. The provinces and territories asked for more money, and the federal government is honouring its commitments by making more investments.

[English]

This CHT top-up is an additional, incremental investment, and builds on the $6.5 billion in previous one-time top-ups provided through the pandemic to address immediate health system pressures. The block funding structure of the CHT provides provinces and territories with the flexibility to invest the funds according to the needs and priorities of their residents. However, funds would be expected to respect the conditions of the Canada Health Act, including those respecting universality, comprehensiveness, portability, accessibility and public administration.

This investment is part of the government’s $198.3-billion plan to improve health care results for Canadians, to which nine provinces have already agreed in principle. In exchange for the new funding under the government’s plan, the provinces and territories must commit to not diverting health care funding of their own, and commit to improving how health information is shared, used and reported to Canadians in order to help manage public health emergencies and deliver better health outcomes.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw all levels of governments working together across the country to tackle big challenges. Bill C-46 demonstrates a willingness to continue to work in collaboration with the provinces and territories on the next steps in the best interest of Canadians, their families and health care workers. This will allow the delivery of concrete outcomes for Canadians, and improve the health care system that Canadians value and upon which Canadians depend.

Honourable senators, Bill C-46 will help support Canadians with the high cost of groceries, while improving access to the better health care that Canadians expect and deserve. Canadians need the government to continue delivering targeted support to those who need it the most — when they need it the most — while also remaining careful and proven fiscal managers.

Many of you, with good reason, will ask if government spending at this time can — or will — accentuate pressures on inflation. Honourable senators, a government must account for a variety of factors before intervening in the economy — this includes being especially attentive to the most vulnerable members of society, and acting in such a way as to allow actors in the market to innovate and develop efficiencies. There is a balance to be struck, and the government is doing just that. This is not only an assessment that I share, or the position of the government, but, more importantly, it is one shared by the Governor of the Bank of Canada as well.

Commenting on the government’s spending in a recent appearance before the Standing Committee on Finance in the other place, Mr. Macklem stated:

. . . government spending patterns aren’t contributing to the slowing of the economy, they’re not contributing to the easing of inflationary pressures, but they’re not standing in the way of getting inflation back to target and in our projections which incorporate those measures, we have inflation coming back to target.

Honourable senators, there is no doubt that strengthening Canada’s public health care system — and ensuring better health care outcomes for Canadians across the country — is critical at this time. Bill C-46 will facilitate much-needed targeted inflation relief, and strengthen our public health care system at a time when provincial and territorial governments are eager to receive additional financial support.

Honourable senators, I thank you for your attention, and I hope we can adopt this bill as soon as possible. Thank you for your kind attention.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for your question.

The impetus for providing assistance to Canadians was very much a function of the rising cost of groceries, a rise that continued even when global inflation came down through the combination of efforts of the Bank of Canada, the government and the operation of our economy more generally.

It is not misleading to identify this particular assistance as a grocery rebate, because that was really what was at the heart of it.

However, what the government chose to do was to deliver it in the most efficient, effective and dignified way to those Canadians and households — half of Canadian seniors — with moderate incomes.

It would be wrong to ask people who are struggling to pay their bills to not only continue to struggle but to keep their IGA clips for their litres of milk. This is the most efficient and quick way to get it into the hands of Canadians who need it most. It is designed to help them with the cost of groceries, and this government’s position is that it would be completely wrong to demand that; we’re not talking about huge sums of money. This is a prudent and practical way to assist, in some measure, those households. Nobody believes that this will solve the problem of the rising cost of groceries, whether it is a family of one, a single person or a family of five. It is help that the government can afford to provide and is happy to provide.

Hon. Marc Gold (Government Representative in the Senate): Thank you for the question.

This government is of the view that Canadians make responsible choices in their lives and that it is not the business of government to tell them what to do.

It is the business of government to help Canadians when they are in need, and in this regard, the position of this government is the same as the traditional position — or at least the position of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and, I would hope, the Conservative Party of Canada of today — and that is that we trust Canadians to make responsible decisions when they are given the benefit of either assistance or tax breaks.

We trust Canadians. We know that those who are in need will use the money responsibly for their families, and in this moment in time in our country, they need help putting food on their tables.