44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 15, 2022 10:00AM
- Feb/15/22 10:07:37 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise today to present a petition on behalf of my constituents from Kelowna—Lake Country, including many who are employed by our largest private sector employer, KF Aerospace.
The petitioners state that the Okanagan Rail Trail serves as an important recreation and commuter path for pedestrians and cyclists across the region. Seven kilometres of the trail remaining incomplete poses a safety risk as users have no option other than to divert onto a busy highway. To summarize, the completion of the Okanagan Rail Trail will be an important link to provide a more healthy activity space for residents and visitors in the Okanagan.
The petitioners are calling upon the federal government to expeditiously complete the federal commitments to the Okanagan Indian Band and Duck Lake Indian Reserve No. 7 to complete the Okanagan Rail Trail.
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- Feb/15/22 2:56:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the excise escalator tax increase will crush the bottom line of wineries, breweries, cideries and distilleries. The excise escalator tax is automatic, and here is the kicker: It is based on the CPI index, meaning that because inflation is so high, the tax will be even higher than ever before, starting April 1.
This tax is based on inflation. It is taxing inflation, which will make inflation go up even more on these important value-added agricultural products. Will the Liberals commit to cancelling this inflationary excise tax increase?
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- Feb/15/22 2:57:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that was not an answer to my question at all.
When Canadian winery, brewery, cidery and distillery workers and owners wake up on April 1, they will be hit with this automatic tax increase on excise, thanks to the Liberals. Of these producers, 95% are small businesses that have already been hit with payroll tax increases, labour shortages, increases in debt and slower sales due to perpetual lockdowns. Now is not the time to be increasing any taxes on small businesses, so will the Liberals cancel this bad April Fool's Day tax increase?
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Mr. Speaker, the government says this is really important. It is clear that this legislation is to fix errors from former legislation that the government put forth. I know it is something I have heard about extensively in my riding of Kelowna—Lake Country from seniors, who were affected by the errors made in the legislation. They said how they affected them.
My question to the hon. member is this. If this was so important for the government to fix, why did we have an election in the summer? Why did it take the government two months to be recalled, and why did it wait so long for this legislation, Bill C-12? Why did it wait so long? Why was it not one of the most important pieces of legislation that was brought forth as soon as the House resumed?
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Mr. Speaker, the member referenced that some people in the House only want to play political games, to use his words. It sounds like he feels the parliamentary process is a political game or that legislation going to committee is a political game.
Does he feel that no legislation should be going to committee or only some legislation should be going to committee? What does he base that opinion on and what is the rationale for his thoughts on what should be going to committee?
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for Hastings—Lennox and Addington for her caring and professional leadership on this file.
One of the things that really impacted me during the member's intervention was the reference to the minister's briefing binder, which had a lot of the information regarding the issues with the original legislation, which we are trying to correct here today. She also referenced some constituents from her riding, and I have heard very similar stories in my riding.
I am wondering if the member can comment, based on what she saw in the briefing binder, on whether there would have been opportunities over the last 21 months to resolve this prior to today.
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