- Member of Parliament
- President of the Treasury Board
- Liberal
- Oakville
- Ontario
- Voting Attendance: 58%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $137,107.74
- Government Page
- Jun/17/24 2:25:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, actually, a new report out today says that housing starts are up by 10%. We are now on track to build over 50,000 housing starts this year. We can compare this to when the Leader of the Opposition was the housing minister. Can we count how many housing units were built? That would be six. I wonder about those stats.
On this side of the House, we actually have a plan to build housing; the units continue to go up.
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- Jun/17/24 2:20:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in budget 2024, we are proposing an economic plan for our country. The other side of the House has no plan. We have a plan for the economy, for families, for seniors, for children. Those folks over there have no plan at all.
I hope everyone will vote in favour of our plan this week.
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- Jun/13/24 11:45:31 p.m.
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moved that the bill be read the third time and passed.
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- Jun/13/24 11:42:07 p.m.
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moved that the bill be concurred in.
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- Jun/13/24 11:40:28 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I would like to assure my hon. colleague that, yes, indeed, the form of this bill is the same as that passed in the previous supply period.
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- Jun/13/24 11:38:03 p.m.
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moved that the bill be read the second time and referred to a committee of the whole.
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- Jun/13/24 11:38:03 p.m.
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moved that Bill C-75, An Act for granting to His Majesty certain sums of money for the federal public administration for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, be now read the first time and printed.
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- Jun/13/24 11:36:48 p.m.
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moved:
That the Supplementary Estimates (A) for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, be concurred in.
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- Jun/13/24 11:34:59 p.m.
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moved that the bill be read the third time and passed.
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- Jun/13/24 11:30:32 p.m.
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moved that the bill be concurred in.
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- Jun/13/24 11:28:42 p.m.
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Madam Chair, the presentation of this bill is identical to that used during the previous supply period.
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- Jun/13/24 11:11:40 p.m.
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moved that Bill C-74, An Act for granting to His Majesty certain sums of money for the federal public administration for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, be now read the first time.
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- Jun/13/24 11:11:40 p.m.
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moved that the bill be read the second time and referred to a committee of the whole.
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- Jun/13/24 10:58:46 p.m.
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moved:
That the Main Estimates for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, less the amounts voted in the interim supply, be concurred in.
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- Jun/13/24 6:47:39 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we know that there is more work to do, but I want to underline that this is the first time in the history of Canada that a disability benefit has been introduced. I would like to say that we are the government that put that on the table, and we are the government that will continue to work with persons with disabilities to ensure that we are augmenting the supports across the board.
It is an issue I take very seriously, accessibility across the board, at the Treasury Board Secretariat. I know my colleagues in the House and across government will agree with me that we are standing behind the community of persons with disabilities.
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- Jun/13/24 6:45:12 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate my hon. colleague's question very much.
We continue to support the Canadian Armed Forces, for example by providing $28.8 billion in our budget. We continue to support them with other measures as well.
We recently released an update to our defence policy. It increases our spending for the Canadian Armed Forces, and we continue to increase our spending to achieve the 2% target, but there is still a lot of work to be done on that score, and that includes our procurement and our work with our NATO allies, as well as with the United States.
I would like to mention that when I was minister of national defence, I announced $40 million for NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, for our continental defences, especially in the Arctic. It is a priority for our government and for me too.
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- Jun/13/24 6:43:07 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, as always, I enjoy receiving the hon. member's astute questions, including at committee, but if we look across the departmental results reports and the departmental plans, oversight is being done through those plans and through the results reports that we publish every year.
In certain cases, the targets, if they have been recently set, need sufficient time to be filled in, but let us make no mistake: They will be filled in by the departments' deputy ministers, and we certainly put the message out to deputy ministers to make sure that their departmental results reports are as complete as possible.
We believe strongly in transparency. That is why I recently published our trust and transparency overall strategy for the Government of Canada. That includes not only departmental results reports but also a strategy to engage the Canadian public in ensuring a more transparent government and in ensuring that we have time limits relating to the release of information that is requested through ATIP.
Members can see that we do have a commitment to transparency across the board.
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- Jun/13/24 6:36:32 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I was saying that I really urge all parties to vote in favour of supports for new housing, supports for the Canadian Armed Forces and supports for Canadians via ESDC. These are measures that are important for the functioning of our country and for the protection and defence of our country. I am sure that all members of this House will recognize that importance.
In terms of the supplementary estimates (A), the estimates present a total of $12.7 billion in incremental budgetary spending, which reflects $11.2 billion to be voted on and a $1.5-billion increase in forecast statutory expenditures.
The primary objectives for that new voted spending on the organizations responsible for that spending are settlements to address past grievances and historic harms committed against indigenous peoples. For example, $1.8 billion is for agricultural benefits and claims and $1.5 billion is for federal Indian day schools and Indian residential schools day scholar settlements.
Funds are also requested by Citizenship and Immigration Canada for support and services for migrants, such as $411 million for the interim federal health program.
Finally, $604.9 million is requested by Transport Canada for purchase incentives for zero-emission vehicles.
The main estimates also include additional information about an important priority for our government: refocusing government spending, as first announced in budget 2023. At the beginning of this exercise, I asked ministers to find savings in their organizations. We have already announced some results. I also want to say that, with this initiative, we will refocus our government's spending on Canadians' current priorities while ensuring that we do not reduce the direct supports and services Canadians need.
As indicated in the main estimates, the government is on track to refocus $15.8 billion over five years and $4.8 billion annually thereafter. This is a very important exercise. It is our government's first initiative to address government spending. The goal of the exercise is to refocus spending, in other words, to spend smarter. The goal is not to reduce the programs and services Canadians rely on.
The fact of the matter is that the government is doing what Canadians across our country are doing, which is examining their own pocketbooks. By refocusing funds to Canadians' most important priorities in this way, the government is ensuring that it can continue to invest in Canadians and in the Canadian economy for years to come.
I want to assure members that this process is and will continue to be fully transparent, as it has been from the start. The government will continue to provide details on the initiative through departmental plans and departmental results reports. To that end, the estimates support Parliament's review of proposed new government spending and the bills ensuring appropriation that will occur thereafter.
Every year, the main estimates and related documents provide clear insight into how the government proposes to allocate taxpayer dollars and help to ensure that our spending is transparent and accountable. I cannot overstate the importance of this information to the functioning of our system of government and our parliamentary democracy.
In safeguarding our democracy, exercising oversight of government spending is one of the most important roles that parliamentarians can play on behalf of our citizens.
To conclude, I would like to say that funding in the main estimates and supplementary estimates (A) is important to delivering on the government's commitment to the health and well-being of Canadians as well as other key priorities: affordable housing, health care, dental care and supports for Canadian families, the elderly included.
That is what we will continue to put on the table. That is what we urge all members of this House to vote in favour of, and to that end, I will encourage us all to support the motion before us.
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- Jun/13/24 6:32:24 p.m.
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moved:
That the main estimates for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, less the amounts voted in the interim supply, be concurred in.
She said: Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Pickering—Uxbridge.
Before I begin, I would like to acknowledge that the lands on which we are gathered are part of the traditional unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe peoples.
Today I rise to speak to the 2024-25 main estimates and supplementary estimates (A). The estimates help to ensure that parliamentarians and Canadians are informed of the government's expenditures and their resource plans so that we can be held to account for the allocation and management of public funds. The estimates, in conjunction with the budget and the economic and fiscal updates, reflect the government's annual resource planning and allocation priorities.
I will now talk about the 2024-25 main estimates. The document is divided into two parts.
Part I presents a summary of three main elements: the federal-government-wide projected expenditures for the 2024-25 fiscal year, a historical comparison from one year to another, and a breakdown of planned spending on transfer payments, operating and capital expenditures and public debt charges.
Part II presents the estimates by organization. It also provides more detailed information on the planned expenditures.
Of the 129 organizations presenting funding requirements in the main estimates, 11 are seeking more than $5 billion in voted budgetary expenditures. I want to outline these because they are so very important to the functioning of our country.
Let us think about the $28.8 billion for national defence, including support for Ukraine, and training and equipment for the Canadian Armed Forces. Let us think about $20 billion for Indigenous Services Canada for programs for indigenous communities and legal settlements, $11.4 billion for ESDC to build a stronger and more inclusive Canada to help Canadians live productive and rewarding lives, and $8.4 billion for Global Affairs Canada to advance Canada's place in our international relations.
Let us not forget the $8.4 billion for Health Canada, including funding to expand the Canadian dental care plan. By 2025, the fully rolled-out dental plan will cover nine million Canadians who currently do not have dental insurance.
I would be remiss if I did not take this opportunity to mention that budget 2024 lays out a bold strategy to unlock 3.87 million new homes by 2031. This includes a minimum of 2 million net new homes, on top of 1.87 million homes already expected by 2031. Federal actions will support at least 1.2 million new homes, and the federal government is calling on all orders of government to build at least 800,000 more homes by 2031.
I urge all parties to support these measures. They are necessary for—
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- Jun/13/24 2:51:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this week showed that the best deals are reached at the table and that the collective bargaining process works. The Canada Border Services Agency employees keep our country safe every single day, and I am pleased to announce in the House that a tentative agreement has been reached that is fair for Canadian taxpayers and reasonable for public servants.
On this side of the House, we will always stand up for public service employees, and we thank them for their work every single day in protecting our country.
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