44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 21, 2022 11:00AM
- Mar/21/22 1:40:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Nanaimo—Ladysmith.
The cost of food is going up. The cost of gas is going up. The cost of housing has been skyrocketing for years, and it continues to shoot up. Canadians are feeling the impacts. They are struggling to make ends meet and to put food on the table, struggling to pay rent and struggling just to afford the basics.
While Canadians are struggling, big corporations are making record profits. In my riding of Victoria, seniors on fixed incomes are coming to me saying that the rising costs mean they are having to choose between paying for food and paying for medication. Families who have been surviving paycheque to paycheque have told me they are going into debt just to get by. Many young people are barely scraping by as it is. Most have completely given up on the idea of ever owning a home and are just worried about how they are going to pay rent.
I sat down with the James Bay Community Project a few weeks ago. They are an amazing non-profit community organization. They help seniors, youth and families by providing community support and volunteer services.
They spoke to me about the impact that the pandemic has had on low-income folks in our community, especially in food insecurity for seniors. The rising cost of living impacts everyone, but it especially impacts the most vulnerable. While people in my community and people across Canada are struggling, the ultra-rich are making more money than ever, raking in record profits and accumulating even more wealth.
Wealth inequality is reaching levels that we have not seen in generations. The past year broke records when it came to creating new billionaires. On average, a new billionaire was created every day—every single day. The number of billionaires on the Forbes annual list of the world's wealthiest exploded to unprecedented levels. The wealth of billionaires has risen more in the past two years during this pandemic than it has in the past 14 years. This is the biggest surge in billionaire wealth since we started keeping records, and a staggering 90% of the Canadian billionaires are richer than they were one year ago.
While everyday Canadians are falling farther and farther behind, worried about the cost of food and worried about the cost of rent, the super-rich are getting even richer. This kind of extreme inequality is outrageous in and of itself.
I spoke to a single mom who told me about how the rising cost of gas, diapers and food has eaten into her budget and how she is scrambling this year, on the first of every month, calling friends and trying to figure out how she is going to make rent, while at the same time, in the same year, the wealthiest shareholders and corporations, the same corporations that are raising prices, are raking in billions. That is outrageous. The members in this chamber should be outraged.
It is outrageous that while families are struggling to pay for groceries, the billionaire Weston family is raking in profits. They own Loblaws, the Real Canadian Superstore and Shoppers Drug Mart. Loblaws has a net profit of more than a billion dollars. As the price of groceries continues to increase, Loblaws paid out half a billion dollars in dividends to their shareholders. Families are struggling to pay for gas, but Suncor made over $4 billion. Gas prices continue to rise, and they paid out $3.9 billion to their shareholders. Oil companies are making record profits off the backs of Canadians, while Canadians are paying hundreds of dollars more at the pump. At the same time, these oil companies are receiving billions in fossil fuel subsidies from the Liberal government.
It is outrageous that the government continues to hand out public money to profitable oil companies, companies that are fuelling the climate crisis. The climate crisis is already threatening everything that we value, with devastating climate fires, extreme flooding and extreme heat.
The Arctic poles are currently experiencing unprecedented heat waves. This is causing alarm among climate scientists. This is a dire warning of a faster and more abrupt climate breakdown. How many more dire warnings do we need? How many more disasters? We are running out of time to stop the worst and irreversible impacts of the climate crisis.
This is a climate emergency, and the government is not acting like it, continuing to pay big oil to pollute while it gouges Canadians at the pump. That is outrageous. Families are struggling to make mortgage and loan payments while Scotiabank had a net profit of over $10 billion. It had the gall to increase fees for customers while paying out $4.3 billion in dividends to its shareholders. That is outrageous.
The economic impacts of the pandemic hit Canadians hard. As families, seniors and young people have struggled with the cost of living, corporations that have been raising prices are making windfall profits. This kind of extreme inequality is outrageous. However, extreme inequality is not only outrageous; it leads to worse health and social outcomes and has a disproportionate impact on women and racialized folks. It also puts a drag on economic growth.
Importantly, and this is probably the most important thing I am going to say today, this kind of extreme inequality is not inevitable. It is not a fact of life. It is a choice by decision-makers, by elected officials, by the government. It is a choice to protect the profits of the wealthiest while making the vast majority suffer the consequences. Because of choices made by the government, the ultrarich can continue to protect their wealth using a financial system with very little transparency. Because of choices made by the government, the wealthiest are allowed to exploit this crisis for their own profit. They benefit from excess corporate profits while everyday Canadians get gouged by inflation.
Because of choices of the government, money laundering and tax evasion are rampant in Canada, driving up the cost of housing. There is even a name for it: “snow washing”. It refers to how easy it is in Canada to launder money and evade taxes. We have some of the weakest corporate transparency laws in the world. This allows billions to be laundered, and it has been devastating our real estate market. It has led to an overvaluing of the average price of residential properties. On average, it impacts homes in my riding of Victoria by $45,000 to $90,000. This is why we need a publicly accessible beneficial ownership registry.
Housing, grocery and gas prices are the rising costs that people are dealing with every day, so today, members of the House have a choice. Are we going to make big banks, big box stores and big oil companies pay their fair share? Are we going to help the people who are struggling with the cost of living? Are we going to get tough on money laundering and tax evasion?
The Liberal government has the choice today to stop protecting excess corporate profits and to start helping people with the cost of living. One important step would be fulfilling their campaign promise to implement a 3% surtax on banks and insurance companies with net profits of over $1 billion, and extend the surtax to oil companies and large grocery chains. It is also critical to establish a publicly accessible beneficial ownership registry to combat tax evasion and money laundering by the wealthy. Then, let us choose to use the tax revenue from the surtax to fund things that will actually help people who are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. Let us increase the Canada child benefit, the GIS and GST rebates, and build affordable housing. Fair taxation is a key tool for governments to address wealth inequality, provide key public services and increase supports that curb inequality.
When members of the House vote on this motion—
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- Mar/21/22 2:29:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our government remains committed to this platform initiative.
As it pertains to affordability, it is disappointing that the NDP chose to vote against providing more pandemic supports for Canadians and businesses in Bill C-2.
On raising taxes on the wealthiest 1% and lowering them for the middle class, increasing investments for the Canada Revenue Agency to combat tax evasion and increasing investments to combat international tax avoidance, we invite the opposition NDP to vote with us on Bill C-8.
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- Mar/21/22 2:45:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the third of many facts that I will share in this answer is that, at $2.5 trillion, our economy is exactly the same size it was before the pandemic. We are on track and we will continue to fight COVID inflation on behalf of Canadians.
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- Mar/21/22 2:48:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the past two years have been hard on main streets across Atlantic Canada. Due to COVID, our community hubs have been forced to close or to be open for reduced hours. These closures have been especially hard on businesses in the arts and tourism sectors.
Could the minister responsible for ACOA tell this House what the government is doing for Atlantic Canada's main streets as pandemic restrictions start to ease?
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- Mar/21/22 2:55:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canada's supply chains are still reeling from the floods in British Columbia, COVID‑19 and now the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Canadians' interests must be a priority, and I urge the parties to reach an agreement. Canadians have worked together throughout the pandemic to find solutions to our collective challenges, and they expect the same from stakeholders in our national economy.
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- Mar/21/22 2:57:46 p.m.
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Mr. speaker, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Canadians were mandated to get vaccines and vaccine passports and to stay at home. Canadians have complied, and our fragile health care system has survived.
The entire world and 10 provinces in Canada have reopening plans. Federal mandates need to end, and Canadians need to know what the benchmark is and the plan the government is using to end the mandates, so on what date will this government end federal mandates?
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- Mar/21/22 3:54:57 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, this is a very good question. What we are seeing right now through the pandemic is that the rich are getting richer and the number of people struggling to make ends meet is increasing. We need to make sure that we are looking at how we lift everyone up and that we are taking care of one another. Right now the systems that we have are not set up to do that.
I spoke about Jocelyn, who is a constituent in my riding of Nanaimo—Ladysmith. Without her knowing that this motion was coming forward, she spoke about the barriers that she was experiencing in being able to get ahead and that we need to stop and look at the systems that we have so that everybody has an opportunity to—
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- Mar/21/22 4:09:54 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to rise today and speak to the opposition motion before the House.
We are acutely aware that many Canadians are being squeezed by higher prices for groceries and gasoline. Our government knows that elevated inflation, a global phenomenon, is driven by the unprecedented challenge of restarting the world's economy and the instability of global markets as a result of Russia's attack on Ukraine. These factors are leading Canadians to worry, and rightly so, about the cost of living.
The pandemic also continues to be a threat to global supply chains and inflation, with a surge in cases in China and another wave beginning in Europe. As global economies have unwound COVID-19-related restrictions and re-opened their economies, the price of goods has gone up around the world.
This is a result of several factors. One is that during the pandemic, millions upon millions of people redirected the money they usually spent on in-person services towards durable physical goods. This has put an extraordinary strain on global supply chains, leading to shortages and bottlenecks. This has been a significant driver of inflation around the world. Furthermore, the droughts in key food-producing regions, including our prairies, have caused grocery bills to go up, and energy prices have increased at rates not seen in decades.
Indeed, the Bank of Canada and private sector economists anticipate that inflation may stay higher for longer than initially expected, but they expect it to ease back towards the 2% target over the next two years as pandemic-related forces start to fade and as market conditions begin to rebalance and equalize and hopefully return somewhat to normal.
As we have always said, restarting the economy is a complex process, and the Canadian and global economies are still feeling the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, along with higher prices for a broad range of commodities, the Russian invasion threatens renewed supply disruptions, all of which are expected to add upward pressure on prices.
Our government has been swift and decisive in its actions, along with Europe, the United States and the United Kingdom, to put in place the toughest sanctions ever imposed on a major economy. We remain steadfast in our support for Ukraine and we will do whatever is needed to continue to put pressure on Russia and choke President Putin's ability to fund his illegal and unprovoked war of aggression on Ukraine.
However, in order to really be effective, in order to really have an impact, we are going to have to be prepared for some adverse consequences for our own economy, which could also temporarily affect Canadians' cost of living. That said, Canadians should rest assured that when it comes to government benefits and concerns over inflation, the government indexes the Canada child benefit to inflation, as well as old age security, the guaranteed income supplement, the goods and services tax credit, and other benefits for the most vulnerable people.
Our government has also cut taxes for the middle class while raising them on the top 1%, and we are working to address the housing affordability issues that we see across our country as well. In fact, we have put in place Canada's first-ever national housing strategy, a $72-billion investment over 10 years that has created hundreds of thousands of affordable housing units, and we have now added a large package of new measures in addition to the national housing strategy, which should help to control the affordable housing problem.
We are also working with provinces and territories to implement a Canada-wide $10-a-day community-based early learning and child care system that would make life more affordable for families, create new jobs, get parents back into the workforce and grow the middle class while giving every child a real and fair chance at success. Ontario is the only province that has not signed on to these agreements, and we are looking forward to getting that done. It would save families in my riding of Whitby up to $600 per month in just the first year through a 50% reduction in fees. That is a pretty significant amount of savings for the average family. We could think about that in terms of per-child savings, so if a family has two or three children, there would be even more savings.
I also want to mention renewing Canada's monetary policy framework. Additionally, a strong monetary policy framework is the best weapon in our arsenal to keep prices stable and keep inflationary pressures in check.
Our government and the Bank of Canada believe that monetary policy can best serve Canadians by continuing to focus on price stability. That is why, last December, our government and the Bank of Canada announced the renewal of the 2% inflation target for another five-year period. This renewed framework will keep the bank focused on delivering low, stable and predictable inflation in Canada.
Since Canada adopted an inflation targeting framework 30 years ago, inflation has averaged close to 2%, which has contributed to our country's strong labour market performance, to our economic growth and to our prosperity. Maintaining a stable environment for the prices that Canadians pay is a paramount objective for Canada's monetary policy. That has been the case for 30 years and it will remain the case for the next five. Doing so supports a strong and inclusive labour market that provides every Canadian with opportunities for a good, high-quality way of life. That is why the review and renewal of Canada's monetary policy framework every five years is such an important moment for our country. This renewal of Canada's monetary policy framework is fundamental to Canada's economic success. It is about continuity and about continuing to do what we know works.
As members can see, our government is already working hard to address the cost of living and to make life more affordable for Canadians. Thankfully, by delivering significant fiscal policy support to Canadians during the pandemic and avoiding harmful austerity policies, we have seen a rapid and resilient recovery so far. The vast majority of the government's recovery plan is targeted towards growth-enhancing and job-creating initiatives, such as investments to support child care and the adoption of new technologies that will help boost supply and increase space for the economy to grow without the risk of higher inflation. Our government has moved from very broad-based financial supports to more targeted measures that will provide help where it is needed and when it is needed.
I am pleased to say that our plan is working. Canada has exceeded its goal of creating a million jobs, well ahead of expectations. It has the strongest job recovery rate in the G7. In fact, as of February, despite the temporary effects of the omicron variant on Canada's labour market, 112% of the jobs lost since the peak of the pandemic have been recouped in Canada. That is significantly outpacing the U.S., which is at just about 90% of jobs recovered.
Canada's GDP has now returned to prepandemic levels. It was reported in the fourth quarter of 2021 that the annualized growth rate of GDP in Canada was 6.7%, which is a pretty incredible economic recovery. We are well on track, and we focus now on shifting to sustaining and enhancing Canada's growth potential. That is going to be important as we move forward.
However, we know that more can be done, especially as we emerge from COVID-19. Despite impressive economic performance in certain parts of the economy, as I stated, our government is mindful of the global phenomenon of elevated inflation and its impact on the cost of living, and mindful that housing continues to be top of mind for many Canadians. As we look to the years ahead, the government's focus will continue to be on jobs and growth and making life more affordable, priorities that will form the foundation of the upcoming budget. The cost of living crisis and making life more affordable have been priorities for our government, and I have given many examples in my speech today. There is much more work to be done, of course, and this is an ongoing concern for Canadians.
To wrap up, there are many factors due to the current geopolitical context. Our country and Canadians have gone through many crises over the last two years, and our government is doing its very best to remain responsive to the needs of Canadians and address the affordability challenges that every Canadian experiences. By no means have we solved it all, but at the same time we have made a lot of progress, and we will continue to work hard to alleviate the stresses and strains that many Canadians face with the cost of living challenges.
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- Mar/21/22 5:27:17 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the member for Churchill—Keewatinook Aski.
The pandemic has made it very clear that we are not all in this together. We are living in a growing corporate dictatorship where some of us are on lifeboats and some of us are sailing on yachts, where the privileges of corporations are increasingly usurping the rights of workers, Mother Earth, individuals and families, and where the divide between the haves and the have-nots is growing in favour of the ultrawealthy who are becoming richer by the minute while more and more people are finding it increasingly difficult to survive.
Meanwhile, many of my constituents are barely able to make rent. The rising cost of food is making food insecurity even more common. The most basic human rights continue to be up for debate in this House while the government continues to reward its corporate friends on the backs of people, including my constituents in Winnipeg Centre. For workers, real wages are falling and Canadian billionaires are becoming richer, including a $78 billion annual increase in their wealth a year after COVID began, an unprecedented pandemic that has left more and more people scrambling to survive.
This increase in their wealth has been generated with a complete disregard for human rights, including the rights of workers. Take, for example, Sobeys, one of Canada's largest grocery chains, its parent company Empire got rid of its $2 an hour pandemic hero pay, like Loblaws and Metro. It was hero pay for workers who put their lives on the line during the pandemic so that people could continue to be fed. Adding insult to injury, most Sobeys stores are not even unionized. It is a company that has fiercely and fearlessly resisted organizing efforts, showing a total disregard for the rights of workers.
This disregard for workers by Sobeys was not because it wanted to keep food costs down for consumers. In fact, people are paying more for groceries than ever, 6.5% grocery inflation, the highest in more than a decade. It is because of greed, uncontrolled greed with CEOs laughing all the way to the bank. Sobeys just reported a quarterly profit of $203.4 million, up from $176.3 million last year, and it is not the only one laughing. In fact, Loblaws saw its fourth-quarter profit more than double compared to last year, with its net earnings available to common shareholders rising to $744 million. Metro grocery reported net profits of $207 million at the end of 2021.
It is uncontrolled greed with no shame, as we witnessed from Sobeys president and CEO Michael Medline, who boasted on a conference in December about how much money they were raking in, stating, “It was a straight-up good quarter, well-executed by our teams across the country.”
It was not “a straight-up good quarter” for my constituents who shop at FreshCo on Sargent Avenue, struggling to put food on the table because every trip to the grocery store is more expensive than the last. It was not “a straight-up good quarter” for workers who had their hero pay taken so that CEOs could line their very deep pockets with more cash. Our economic system is rigged, with corporate greed and wealth borne on the backs of individuals and families that is even impacting their ability to have their most basic human rights respected, including the right to food security.
Seriously, workers and consumers are seeing no benefits from the major grocery chains' record profits, which are rising because prices are rising. Profits are growing because they are cutting workers' pay and sometimes even violating their human rights, including the profits that were made possible by the many migrant farm workers who grow the food that is sold in these stores, some of the most exploited and mistreated workers in the country.
In fact, last December the Auditor General found that the government failed to protect migrant farm workers during COVID-19, revealing that the federal department responsible for keeping them safe did not properly enforce health and safety measures related to the pandemic. At least three migrant farm workers died from COVID, and many more became sick.
For the Liberal government to wilfully turn a blind eye to this human suffering is unacceptable, demonstrating time and time again that it is way too close to its corporate friends. What has the Liberal government done to require large companies like Sobeys, Loblaws and Metro, which have earned windfall profits during the pandemic, to share this wealth with workers and communities to ensure the human rights of workers are upheld? Nothing. In fact, the government has yet to implement a tax on excess profits of banks and insurance companies, despite promising to do so in the last election.
What are Liberals waiting for? They need to immediately implement the 3% surtax and expand it to include big grocery chains, big-box stores and big oil companies that continue to earn record profits. We need this revenue to make life easier for individuals and families who are struggling to afford to live with the skyrocketing cost of living.
It could fund, for example, a new and expanded income support program for seniors, students, people with disabilities and individuals with complex mental health needs and trauma, who are some of the hardest hit by these price increases. It could pay for a national school meal program that would ensure no child ever has to attend class on an empty stomach. It could help fund a guaranteed livable basic income like the one I am proposing in Bill C-223.
It is clearer than ever that we are not all in this together. So many people are just trying to survive at this point, while the wealthy elite have never had it so good. They are in their luxury yachts and rocket ships while more and more people are surviving in lifeboats.
Enough is enough. It is time to grow workers' paycheques, and not CEO bonuses and shareholder dividends. It is time for the biggest corporations that have made a killing during the pandemic to pay their fair share. It is time to put people before profits and give people who are struggling the support they need to survive, and not just to survive but to thrive. It is time for all people to have what they need to live in dignity.
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- Mar/21/22 5:57:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would say the first step is to support our motion.
We based our motion on the recently published report about Canada's reputation as a great place for tax evasion. That is appalling, it is unfair, and it calls for urgent action.
Obviously, we need to see action on multiple fronts to recoup money from big corporations that profited from the pandemic crisis, as my colleague said. That money then needs to be reallocated to help workers, Quebeckers, Canadians and our communities.
That is clearly not something the Liberals are doing right now.
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