44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 8, 2022 10:00AM
- Feb/8/22 1:54:40 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is great to be here with all my colleagues, both physically here in the House and virtually. I am honoured to take part in this debate, as a westerner by birth and someone who lives in Ontario now. It is always great to support my colleagues in the beautiful province of Saskatchewan.
Today we are considering a request from Saskatchewan to amend a part of the Canadian Constitution. It is a small part, it is true, but such a request deserves our immediate attention because it is long overdue. Parliamentarians who wish to do so should have a say. We are having this debate because on November 29 of last year, the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan unanimously passed a resolution to repeal a section of the Saskatchewan Act.
History buffs, and I know there are many in the House, will know this act received royal assent in 1905. It is best know for having created the province of Saskatchewan, and it was adopted at the same time as the Alberta Act, creating the province of Alberta. Both were created from parts of the Northwest Territories. Alberta and Saskatchewan became the eight and ninth provinces of Canada on September 1, 1905. Both acts were enshrined in the Canadian Constitution in 1982, and this why the change requested by Saskatchewan requires an amendment to the Canadian Constitution.
The resolution passed by the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan specifically calls for the repeal of section 24 of the Saskatchewan Act. This section relates to the clause of a contract signed in 1880 between the Government of Canada and the founders of the Canadian Pacific Railway company.
I want to note that I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Winnipeg South Centre.
At the time, Saskatchewan was not yet a province and Sir John A. Macdonald was the Prime Minister. In a nutshell, the clause exempted the CPR from certain federal, provincial and municipal taxes.
As noted in Saskatchewan's resolution, a large corporation should not be exempt from paying provincial taxes. I agree with this assessment. Our government has been very clear that everyone should pay their fair share of taxes, and that certainly includes corporations.
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- Feb/8/22 1:57:25 p.m.
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We are focused on strengthening the middle class and building an economy that works for everyone. To do that, Canadians need a tax system that is fair and equitable. It is why we cut taxes for the middle class and asked the wealthiest 1% to pay a little more. It is also why we want to make sure companies, including large digital corporations, pay their fair share of tax in Canada.
Corporations need to pay a fair share of tax in the jurisdiction where their users and customers are located. Whatever the historical context, there is no reason in this day and age the CPR should get the benefit of a tax exemption that no on else receives. It is not consistent with Canada's current tax policies, nor with its fiscal policies.
If the Government of Saskatchewan wants to make the tax system fair, it will wholeheartedly find support on this side of the House. It is great to see collaboration among the parties. It is what Canadians sent us here for: to work for their interests and make this country a better place.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shed new light on the importance of delivering services to Canadians in a timely and efficient manner. Our economic response plan has helped Canadians and businesses weather the storm, including the wonderful and kind people of Saskatchewan. Let me share some of the specifics with the House.
Thus far, the federal government has allocated more than three million doses of COVID vaccines to Saskatchewan. Several million rapid tests have also been shipped to the province. All of that was free of charge.
The Canada emergency wage subsidy has protected more than 100,000 jobs in Saskatchewan. About 30,000 loans totalling $1.6 billion have been made to Saskatchewan businesses through the Canada emergency business account. More than 240,000 Saskatchewan residents received support through the Canada emergency response benefit at some point. Out of a population of 1.1 million, that is more than one in five people, or over 20%. In addition to this, in 2021-22, Saskatchewan is receiving $1.3 billion through the Canada health transfer and an additional $478 million through the Canada social transfer.
Canada works best when governments work collaboratively in the interest of Canadians. In this regard, I would like to point out that the “land of living skies” is one of the jurisdictions with which the federal government has entered into an agreement to build a Canada-wide early learning and child care system.
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- Feb/8/22 3:34:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is great to resume the debate today on the opposition motion and see unanimity between the government and the official opposition party.
I was talking earlier about our support for the Province of Saskatchewan throughout COVID. Some of the numbers I announced or detailed earlier are that more than 240,000 Saskatchewan residents received support through the Canada emergency benefit at some point. That is approximately 20% of the population. In addition, Saskatchewan is receiving $1.3 billion through the Canada health transfer and nearly $500 million this fiscal year through the Canada social transfer.
Canada works best when governments work collaboratively and in the interests of Canadians. In this regard, I would like to point out that the land of the living skies is one of the jurisdictions the federal government has entered into an agreement with to build a Canada-wide early learning and child care system.
I want to point out the fact that during the election in 2021, the Conservatives campaigned against this early learning child care system. In fact, they would have scrapped it had they won. However, they did not win, and we are proceeding forward, with all provinces and territories having signed, except for the Province of Ontario. I encourage the Province of Ontario to come to an agreement with our government. I have a great respect for all the ministers involved, who are working judiciously and diligently, and I know that at a certain point in time we will get there.
I would like to announce that all Canadians will be covered, hopefully sooner than later, with a national early learning and day care plan. That is not only good for the economy, which I talk about quite a bit in this place, but is great for families, including my own. With a four-month-old at home, I hope to take advantage and have the opportunity to utilize lower day care fees, especially in the area of York Region, where fees can be anywhere from $1,000 to $2,000 a month in after-tax dollars. By the end of this year, Saskatchewan families will see a 50% reduction in average parent fees for children under the age of six in regulated child care. That is real progress with respect to affordability for Canadian families, in this case Saskatchewan families.
In addition to significantly reducing the costs of child care, federal funding of close to $1.1 billion over the next five years will also lead to the creation of 28,000 new regulated early learning and child care spaces in that beautiful province.
Providing services to the public requires an ongoing commitment on the part of governments to ensure that everyone pays their fair share. This is something we need to keep in mind as we look at the provincial government's request. I support the province's request to amend the Saskatchewan Act. This amendment would be made under section 43 of the Constitution Act of 1982, because this change affects only one province.
This amending formula has been used before. For example, it allowed enshrining the equality of New Brunswick's English and French linguistic communities in the Canadian Constitution. It allowed for the construction of the Confederation Bridge to replace the requirement for a ferry service to Prince Edward Island. It allowed Quebec to abolish its Catholic and Protestant school boards and replace them with an education system organized along linguistic lines. It allowed for the name of the Province of Newfoundland to be changed to the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. In all these cases, the provincial legislatures adopted the change, and the House of Commons and the Senate did the same after considering the matter judiciously, as we are doing today.
These changes reflect what Canada is today, and so does Saskatchewan's request. The amendment would strengthen the fairness of Canada's tax framework, as our government has done and has continued to do since 2015, when in our first mandate we raised taxes on the wealthiest 1% of Canadians because it was the right thing to do. We also brought in two middle-class tax cuts, one in 2015 and one in 2019, which have returned literally billions of dollars to middle-class Canadians from coast to coast to coast.
Saskatchewan is one of our partners in Confederation, and it can be sure that the federal government is there to support it, not only in this matter but also in getting through the pandemic.
Those are my remarks this afternoon. I look forward to entertaining questions and comments from my hon. colleagues.
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- Feb/8/22 3:40:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when we are looking at an amendment to the Canadian Constitution and the Saskatchewan Act, it is the right thing to do to work with the provinces.
A collaborative fiscal federation, which Canada is, requires responsible leadership. That is what our government has demonstrated on this file by working with the Province of Saskatchewan and the official opposition and ensuring that the province's requests are listened to and acted upon. This is the right thing to do for the Province of Saskatchewan and all the wonderful people who currently reside in that province.
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- Feb/8/22 3:41:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question.
I want to comment on the importance of the French language for me and my family. Since I was elected in 2015, I have taken it upon myself to learn French as well as possible, but more importantly, both of my daughters are in French immersion.
French is very important to me and my family. My daughters are studying the language so that they can speak it proficiently.
Speaking French is quite difficult for me.
I hope it will be easy for my daughters to learn French and be fully bilingual. I will be very proud at that moment.
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- Feb/8/22 3:43:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Winnipeg North for all the work he does in the House.
This is the right thing to do. Canadians sent us here to work collaboratively with all members of this House to get things done. This is, yes, long overdue. It will provide for a fairer taxation system for the Province of Saskatchewan and for the residents of Saskatchewan, and we will work with the Province of Saskatchewan to get this completed.
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- Feb/8/22 3:44:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have a wonderful Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Minister of Environment and Minister of Finance, and our bar is very high on reducing greenhouse gases across Canada and transitioning to a low-carbon economy. If the Province of Saskatchewan meets that bar, then it would implement its own carbon pricing model, but until it does, the federal government's model will be the one in place.
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