With regard to the automotive and manufacturing industry in Canada: (a) has the government worked with any global automotive or manufacturing companies to increase existing, or to bring in a brand new automotive investment in the form of new factories, products, including electric vehicles or batteries, or jobs, to Canada since 2018; (b) is the government considering greenfield or brownfield investment for the automotive and manufacturing industry in Canada; (c) what efforts have been made to invest in existing automotive plants in Canada; (d) has the government requested that the Canadian Automotive Partnership Council meet and consider new investment and greenfield or brownfield investment in the automotive and manufacturing industry in Canada; (e) has the government considered investments for new plants, and, if so, what municipal locations were considered; and (f) what departments, programs and funding have been allocated for the use of hydrogen as part of the auto sector? With regard to spending directed towards children in foster care, broken down by fiscal year since 2015-16: (a) which programs, initiatives, and funding streams have received funding; (b) what accountability measures does the government use to ensure that the funding is spent in the best interests of the children in care; (c) how much funding in (a) has been recalled due to accountability measures in (b); (d) what enforcement actions have been taken by the government to protect the best interest of children in care; and (e) what is the total number of First Nations, Inuit, and Metis children in care, reflected as a percentage of all children in care and as a number? With regard to employee diversity at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), since 2015: (a) what are the titles of reports or reviews commissioned by IRCC relating to (i) workforce diversity, (ii) workplace culture; (b) what reports or reviews commissioned by IRCC are currently ongoing relating to (i) workforce diversity, (ii) workplace culture; (c) broken down by year, occupational group and process (advertised process or non-advertised process), what is the number and percentage of positions that were filled by equity-seeking groups; and (d) broken down by year, occupational group, hiring process used and equity-seeking group, what is the number and percentage of positions that were filled by equity-seeking groups? With regard to enforcement of quarantine and COVID-19 testing orders, broken down by period (May to June 2020; July to December 2020; January to June 2021) and nationality of the traveller: (a) how many travellers who were required to quarantine received at least one call to verify compliance; and (b) how many travellers who were required to quarantine were not verified to be in compliance? With regard to harassment complaints, workplace violence complaints, and disclosures of wrongdoing related to harassment and discrimination in federal organizations (departments, agencies, Crown corporations, etc.), for fiscal years 2019-20 and 2020-21, broken down by federal organization, by fiscal year, and for each type of complaint mentioned: (a) how many decisions were made by the organization without conducting an initial assessment; (b) how many complaints were (i) dismissed, (ii) accepted? With regard to government measures to address systemic racism in Canada, since January 1, 2016: (a) has the government conducted research to identify and quantify the specific barriers preventing Black, Indigenous, and other minority communities from receiving equal access to financial services; (b) what were the dates and parameters of the research referred to in (a) and what were the institutions directed to carry out this research; (c) what were the conclusions and recommendations of the analyses referred to in (a); (d) which of the recommendations referred to in (c) have been implemented by the government; (e) when and by whom were the recommendations referred to in (c) implemented; (f) has the government conducted research to identify and quantify the specific barriers preventing Black, Indigenous, and other minority communities from receiving equal access to higher education; (g) what were the dates and parameters of the research referred to in (f) and what were the institutions directed to carry out this research; (h) what were the conclusions and recommendations of the analyses referred to in (f); (i) which of the recommendations referred to in (h) have been implemented by the government; (j) when and by whom were the recommendations referred to in (h) implemented; (k) has the government conducted research to identify and quantify the specific barriers preventing Black, Indigenous, and other minority communities from receiving equal treatment in the justice system; (l) what were the dates and parameters of the research referred to in (k) and what were the institutions directed to carry out this research; (m) what were the conclusions and recommendations of the analyses referred to in (k); (n) which of the recommendations referred to in (m) have been implemented by the government; and (o) when and by whom were the recommendations referred to in (m) implemented? With regard to the salmon farming industry and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans: (a) what is the (i) total economic impact of the industry per year from 2011 to 2021 in terms of jobs created, broken down by province, (ii) number of First Nations or Indigenous groups who benefit from agreements with salmon farming companies, (iii) names of First Nations groups who have signed economic benefit agreements with salmon farming companies, (iv) total federal, provincial, and municipal taxes paid per year from the industry, (v) total exports generated per year in terms of tons of salmon and dollar value, (vi) total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contribution of the industry; (b) what is the total economic impact of the salmon farming industry expected per year between 2021 and 2031 in terms of (i) jobs expected to be created in each province, (ii) the number of First Nations or Indigenous groups who are expected to benefit from agreements with salmon farming companies, (iii) the names of First Nations groups who signed economic benefit agreements with salmon farming companies, (iv) the expected value of benefits in terms of dollars per year to Indigenous or First Nations group by nation and province, (v) total federal, provincial, and municipal taxes expected to be paid by salmon farming companies, (vi) total exports expected to be generated per year in terms of tons of salmon and dollar value, (vii) total projected GDP contribution of the industry to the economy by province; (c) what is the impact of the decision to close the salmon farms on Discovery Island in terms of (i) lost jobs, broken down by province, (ii) lost economic revenue and future revenue by First Nations and Indigenous groups, (iii) the specific actions taken to ensure those who lost jobs have been retrained, (iv) the cost of retaining those who have lost jobs, (v) the estimated cost of reimbursing Indigenous or First Nations groups for lost opportunity, (vi) the incurred cost to date and estimated total cost of litigation to defend the decision to close salmon farms on and around Discovery Island; (d) were prior and informed consultations undertaken by the Crown with each and every impacted First Nations group impacted by the Discovery Island decision prior to the decision being made by the Crown, and, if so, what were the results of the related consultations, including the (i) name of each impacted First Nation or Indigenous group that was consulted, (ii) date and number of times each impacted First Nation or Indigenous group was consulted, (iii) feedback from each impacted First Nation or Indigenous group; (e) what are the details of all consultations the government held with senior officials in the British Columbia government before making the Discovery Island decision, including (i) the name and title of each official, (ii) the dates of the consultations, (iii) the number of times each official was consulted, (iv) whether the official was in support of or opposed to the decision that was eventually made by the government; and (f) what are the government’s plans to support the salmon farming industry between 2021 and 2030, including any (i) proposed tax incentives, (ii) research grants, (iii) export or trade promotion support, (iv) innovation and technology support, (v) other incentives to support foreign direct investments in the salmon farming industry in Canada? With regard to the National Shipbuilding Strategy: (a) what is the total cost, including working hours, of the first delivered Arctic and Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS) (Harry DeWolf), broken down by amount spent on (i) engineering, (ii) design, (iii) construction, (iv) commissioning, (v) total hours it took to construct, (vi) overhead under the contract, (vii) the project office; (b) what is the total expected cost for each AOPS from ships one to eight, specifically, the amount spent to date; (c) what is the total spent to date redesigning the AOPS for the Coast Guard and the total expected to be spent by the end of the re-design phase; (d) what are the specific design changes which are to be made on the AOPS for the Navy and the AOPS for the Coast Guard; (e) what is the total anticipated cost to date for the Canadian Surface Combatant (CSC), broken down by amount spent on (i) engineering, (ii) design, (iii) construction, (iv) commissioning; (f) how many hours will it take to construct the CSC; (g) what are the specific itemized differences between the T26 and the CSC; (h) what are the top ten risks identified on the CSC program; (i) what are the expected costs of any additional infrastructure required to construct the CSC; (j) are there risks related to the radar systems for the CSC, and, if so, what are they; (k) will the CSC be capable of travelling to the Canadian arctic unescorted and, if so, for how many months of each year during its anticipated 40 years of operational life will it be able to do so; (l) what is the expected date each CSC will achieve full operational capability to replace the Halifax Class Frigates; (m) what is the anticipated total cost for the Polar Icebreakers, broken down by amount spent on (i) engineering, (ii) design, (iii) construction, (iv) commissioning; (n) what is the total hours it will take to construct the Polar Icebreakers; (o) what are the top ten risks identified on the Polar Icebreakers program; (p) what are the expected costs of any additional infrastructure required to construct the Polar Icebreakers by shipyard; (q) what is the expected delivery date for each Polar Icebreaker; (r) what is the itemized breakdown of the expected savings or value for money for taxpayers from building two identical ships in different shipyards; (s) what is the total cost to date or estimated total cost for the Joint Support Ship (JSS), broken down by amount spent on (i) engineering, (ii) design, (iii) construction, (iv) commissioning; (r) what is the total number of hours it will take to construct the JSS; (t) what are the itemized specific savings or value for money of building two identical ships in the same shipyard; (u) what is the cost of repair for the Halifax Class Frigates between 2019 and 2021 at each shipyard, broken down by the (i) name of shipyard, (ii) name of frigate repairs, (iii) total hours per ship; (v) what is the total anticipated cost to maintain the Halifax Class Frigates from 2021 to 2040, broken down by ship; (w) what is the date of anticipated end of life service for each Halifax Class Frigate ship; and (x) what are the top ten risks related to maintaining each frigate to the end of their anticipated service life, broken down by ship? With regard to the Canada Student Financial Assistance Program since October 1, 2020, broken down by month: (a) what is the total amount the government has collected in repayments of student loans; (b) what is the total amount of new loans and grants delivered to (i) full-time and part-time students, (ii) students from low-income and middle-income families, (iii) students with dependants, (iv) students with permanent disabilities; and (c) how many new applications have been received under the (i) Repayment Assistance Plan, (ii) Repayment Assistance Plan for Borrowers with a Permanent Disability? With regard to government funding for fiscal years 2019-20 and 2020-21 allocated within the constituency of Edmonton Griesbach: what is the total funding amount, broken down by (i) fiscal year, (ii) department or agency, (iii) initiative, (iv) amount? With regard to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), Public Services and Procurement Canada, and Visa Application Centers (VAC): (a) what differences were there between the VAC tender notice posted in June 2020, and the VAC tender notice posted in June 2021; (b) why was the tender notice re-posted; (c) how many bids have been submitted for each tender notice; (d) broken down by start and end date, how many reviews have been conducted on VFS Global since learning that one of their subcontractors was controlled by the Beijing Public Security Bureau; and (e) what recommendations have been made by any such reviews? With regard to the information collected by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) regarding electronic funds transfers of $10,000 and over, broken down by fiscal year since 2019-20: (a) how many audits were completed; (b) how many foreign jurisdictions have been reviewed; (c) how many financial institutions have been reviewed; (d) how many international electronic funds transfer operations have been analyzed; (e) what is the total dollar value of the transactions analyzed in (d); (f) how many new files were opened; (g) how many files were closed; (h) of the files closed in (g), what was the average time it took to process the files before they were closed; (i) of the files closed in (g), what was the risk level of each file; (j) how much was spent on contractors and subcontractors; (k) of the contractors and subcontractors in (j), what is the initial and final value of each contract; (l) among the contractors and subcontractors in (j), what is the description of each service contract; (m) how many reassessments were issued; (n) what is the total amount recovered; (o) how many taxpayer files were referred to the CRA's Criminal Investigations Program; (p) of the investigations in (o), how many were referred to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada; (q) of the investigations in (p), how many resulted in convictions? With regard to housing and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC): (a) how much insured lending did the CMHC approve for rental financing and refinancing of multi-unit rental assets since 2010, broken down by (i) year, (ii) type of investor (e.g. Real Estate Income Trusts, other capital corporations, property companies, holding companies, individuals, etc.); and (b) how much insured lending approved in (a) is associated with the purchase of existing moderate rent assets, further broken down by (i) average rent of units prior to the acquisition, (ii) the rent trajectory for each year following the acquisition that can be linked to the use of the Annual Rental Market Survey managed by CMHC? With regard to the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA), between March 2020 and now, broken down by month: (a) how many air passenger complaints have been received, broken down by the subject matter of the complaint; (b) of the complaints received in (a), how many have been resolved, broken down by (i) facilitation process, (ii) mediation process, (iii) adjudication; (c) how many air passenger complaints were dismissed, withdrawn, and declined, broken down by (i) subject matter of the complaint, (ii) mediation process, (iii) adjudication; (d) for each complaint in (a), how many cases were resolved by a settlement; (e) how many full-time equivalent agency case officers are assigned to deal with air travel complaints, broken down by agency case officers dealing with the (i) facilitation process, (ii) mediation process, (iii) adjudication; (f) what is the average number of air travel complaints handled by an agency case officer, broken down by agency case officers dealing with the (i) facilitation process, (ii) mediation process, (iii) adjudication; (g) what is the number of air travel complaints received but not yet handled by an agency case officer, broken down by agency case officers dealing with the (i) facilitation process, (ii) mediation process, (iii) adjudication; (h) in how many cases were passengers told by CTA facilitators that they were not entitled to compensation, broken down by rejection category; (i) among cases in (h), what was the reason for CTA facilitators not to refer the passengers and the airlines to the Montréal Convention that is incorporated in the international tariff (terms and conditions) of the airlines; (j) how does the CTA define a "resolved" complaint for the purposes of reporting it in its statistics; (k) when a complainant chooses not to pursue a complaint, does it count as "resolved"; (l) how many business days on average does it effectively take from the filing of a complaint to an officer to be assigned to the case, broken down by the (i) facilitation process, (ii) mediation process, (iii) adjudication; (m) how many business days on average does it effectively take from the filing of a complaint to reaching a settlement, broken down by the (i) facilitation process, (ii) mediation process, (iii) adjudication; and (n) for complaints in (a), what is the percentage of complaints that were not resolved in accordance with the service standards? With regard to the Public Health Agency of Canada’s designated quarantine facility (DQF) program: (a) of the $200 million or more spent to house incoming travellers at DQF sites, what is the complete and detailed accounting of how much Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has spent, from March 2020 to August 2021, broken down by (i) hotel property, (ii) monthly revenue per hotel, (iii) daily room rate per quarantine hotel; (b) for each of the existing DQF hotels, what is the complete and detailed accounting of how much PHAC has spent, from August 2021 to December 2021, broken down by (i) hotel property, (ii) monthly revenue per hotel, (iii) daily room rate per quarantine hotel; (c) for each of the 13 DQF hotels, what is the number of guest rooms designated under quarantine order; (d) what hotels, if any, are no longer participating in the DQF program as of December 2021; (e) for hotels no longer participating in the DQF program, what was the process for ending the quarantine order at that hotel; (f) what was the process for entering into contracts or, if no formal contract was entered into, the financial arrangements to secure each hotel for the DQF program; (g) what oversight mechanism is in place to review the financial arrangements with DQF hotels; (h) for DQF sites at Pacific Gateway and Westin Calgary Airport, what was the process for selecting these sites for the quarantine program; (i) for the DQF at Pacific Gateway, what is the number of contractors hired by PHAC at this site and what services do they perform; (j) for the DQF at Pacific Gateway hotel, what is the complete and detailed accounting of how many travellers have been housed at this facility, since March 27, 2020, including the (i) daily occupancy or number of rooms occupied by travellers, (ii) daily number of rooms occupied by staff or contractors (non-travellers); (k) for the DQF at Pacific Gateway, what efforts did PHAC undertake to seek out an alternative DQF site in 2021; (l) what future plans does PHAC have to contract out management of the DQF program; (m) what is the end date for use of Pacific Gateway hotel as a DQF site; (n) what is the end date for the DQF program at all current sites; (o) how did PHAC apply a gender-based analysis to the impact of the quarantine program on hotel workers displaced by the program; and (p) if undertaken, what was the conclusion of any gender-based analysis to examine the impact of the quarantine program on hotel workers? With regard to Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) and the government’s arrangement with the Royal Canadian Legion (RCL) pertaining to accessing VAC’s clients’ files and My VAC account: (a) what are the confidentiality policies currently in place within (i) VAC, (ii) the RCL, pertaining to the privacy of a client’s files and My VAC account; (b) which employees of (i) VAC, (ii) the RCL, are authorized to access a client’s files and My VAC account and under what conditions are employees authorized to access a client’s files and My VAC account; (c) what steps are taken by (i) VAC, (ii) the RCL, if confidentiality policies pertaining to a client’s files and My VAC account are violated; (d) what vetting procedures are (i) VAC, (ii) RCL, employees empowered with the ability to access a client’s files and My VAC account subjected to, such as security clearances and background checks; and (e) since January 1, 2016, broken down by year, how many instances is VAC aware of where an RCL employee improperly accessed a VAC client’s files or My VAC account, and what corrective action, if any, was taken by VAC in response? With regard to expenditures on social media influencers, including any contracts which would use social media influencers as part of a public relations campaign, since January 1, 2021, and broken down by department, agency, or other government entity: (a) what are the details of all expenditures, including the (i) vendor, (ii) amount, (iii) campaign description, (iv) date of the contract, (v) name or handle of the influencer; and (b) for each campaign that paid an influencer, was there a requirement to make public, as part of a disclaimer, the fact that the influencer was being paid by the government and, if not, why not? With regard to the increases in the federal carbon tax or price on carbon: (a) has the government calculated or estimated how much the increase in the carbon tax on April 1, 2022, will cost a family, and, if so, what are the projections; (b) has the government calculated or estimated how much the increase in the carbon tax that takes effect on April 1, 2023, and in subsequent years, will cost a family, and, if so, what are the projections; and (c) what is the detailed breakdown of how the projections in (a) and (b) were arrived at? With regard to the seizure of drugs by the Canada Border Services Agency since 2018, broken down by quarter and by type of drug: (a) what is the quantity of drugs that were seized; (b) how many shipments were seized; (c) what is the estimated street value of the drugs that were seized; (d) what is the breakdown of (a) through (c) by country of origin, or suspected country of origin; and (e) what is the government doing to prevent the future attempted importation of drugs from the countries with significant amounts referenced in (d)? With regard to expenditures on outside auditors to audit government financial statements, since January 1, 2016, broken down by department, agency, or other government entity: what are the details of each expenditure, including (i) the vendor, (ii) the date, (iii) the amount, (iv) which financial statements were audited related to the expenditure? With regard to the comments from the Director of Media Relations at the Bank of Canada (BOC) that "I do not want to be in a situation where we're allowing Blacklocks' to be asking us": (a) how did the BOC determine that they did not want to be in a situation where they're allowing Blacklocks' Reporter to ask them questions; (b) has the BOC received any advice or direction from anyone outside of the BOC, including the Privy Council Office or the Office of the Prime Minister, related to Blacklocks' Reporter, and, if so, what are the details including the dates and summaries of the advice or direction; and (c) what corrective action, if any, is being taken by (i) the BOC, (ii) every other department or agency, broken down by each department or agency, to address any biases against Blacklocks' Reporter, including what measures are being taken to ensure that Blacklocks' gets their fair share of questions in government news conferences? With regard to the 2021 Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) program: (a) how many employers were randomly selected for inspections or audits; (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by federal riding; (c) how many employees hired through CSJ were interviewed by government officials as part of the inspections or audits; and (d) what is the breakdown of (c) by federal riding? With regard to the $2,959,500,151 in expenditures on transportation machinery and equipment, as listed in Volume Ill of the 2021 Public Accounts of Canada: what are the details of each expenditure, broken down by department and agency, including, for each, the (i) vendor, (ii) amount, (iii) date, (iv) description of goods, including the volume purchased, as well as the make and model, if applicable? With regard to reports to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and media reports that applications for Permanent Residency which are listed under officer DM10032 have not been advanced through the process since March 2020: (a) who or what is DM10032; (b) how many applications are currently assigned to or marked with DM10032; (c) of the DM10032 applications still awaiting a decision as of January 31, 2022, how many were received more than (i) 30 days, (ii) 60 days, (iii) 6 months, (iv) one year, (v) two years, ago; and (d) why have numerous applications assigned to or marked with DM10032 been subject to significant delays? With regard to the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS): (a) how many companies who received payments under CEWS have since entered receivership or bankruptcy proceedings; and (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by industry sector and by province or territory? With regard to expenditures by the government on data and telecommunication services related to mobile devices, such as smartphones or tablets, and broken down by month, since January 1, 2020: (a) what are the total expenditures; (b) how many devices' services are being paid for; (c) how much of the expenditures in (a) are related to roaming or similar charges, such as usage while travelling; and (d) how many devices incurred roaming or similar charges?

Mr. Speaker, I would ask that all remaining questions be allowed to stand. The Speaker: Is that agreed? Some hon. members: Agreed.

I wish to inform the House that I have received a notice of a request for an emergency debate. I invite the hon. member for Sarnia—Lambton to rise and make a brief intervention.

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 52, I am seeking leave to adjourn the House for the purpose of discussing an important and urgent matter. On Saturday, March 19, the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference commenced a strike in advance of a lockout by CP Rail. This is having immediate and serious consequences in our country. Those in the agricultural sector, in advance, had people not sending them feed for their animals because they did not want the feed to get stuck in railcars and go bad. At the same time, planting season is upon us, and the fertilizer that is needed is not going to get there. The automotive sector has been suffering. Two years of lockdowns in the pandemic have been compounded by border disruptions that shut down its production, and it has not recovered. These are not normal times. It simply cannot take another hit. The Chamber of Commerce has called on the House to bring forward back-to-work legislation. This is an urgent issue requiring immediate attention from the House. I am requesting an emergency debate tonight.

I thank the hon. member for Sarnia—Lambton for her intervention, however I am not satisfied that her request meets the requirements for the Standing Order at this time. I wish to inform the House that because of the deferred recorded divisions, Government Orders will be extended by 13 minutes.

The hon. member for Nanaimo—Ladysmith is up, and I know there were approximately six minutes or so left in her time. The hon. member for Nanaimo—Ladysmith.

Mr. Speaker, right now we are seeing how big corporations spend their record profits. As just one example, last year Scotiabank made a net profit of over $10 billion. After jacking up fees for customers throughout the pandemic, it paid out over $4 billion in dividends to its wealthy shareholders. The same applies to many large grocery store chains that are seeing profits like never before, while the price paid by hard-working Canadians for groceries continues to increase. While corporations raised their prices throughout the pandemic, wages have remained stagnant. It is a broken system and it is only getting worse under the current Liberal government. Instead of following through with his most recent election campaign promise of raising taxes on the most profitable big banks and insurance companies, the Prime Minister continues to make life easier for the wealthiest and largest corporations. On this side of the House, we know that this surtax cannot come quickly enough. It is also vital that Canada goes beyond just banking and insurance and extends this surtax to oil companies and large grocery store chains with net profits over $1 billion. Canadians know that these record-setting profits are due to big companies taking every penny from regular people that they can. Supporting this motion will show that the government is ready to stand up for Canadians who elected them instead of just wealthy stockholders. For months now we have seen Liberals and Conservatives try to score political points around who is to blame for the rising cost of living in Canada, but neither really understands the challenges that everyday people are facing and just how out of reach life is becoming for regular people. In some parts of British Columbia, we have recently seen rent explode by almost 20% in the last six months alone. The price of the average home in Nanaimo, in my riding, recently rose above $1 million. These prices are absurd and out of reach for seniors on fixed incomes or new families looking to buy their first homes. They are a by-product of investors and private equity firms buying up homes, reducing supply and then driving up prices. Shamefully, while Canadians continue to struggle to find homes, they do not have any way to see who they are competing with when trying to do so due to Canada's weak public beneficial ownership registry laws. That is why our motion today also calls for the government to get serious about a beneficial ownership registry. Canada's weak disclosure laws allow for an estimated $130 billion to be laundered through Canadian corporations each year, and the real estate market is a huge part of this illegal activity. In British Columbia, the provincial NDP has moved forward with a publicly accessible beneficial ownership registry, but it cannot do it alone. Unfortunately, the current government has barely begun to scratch the surface. At the rate we are headed, we will not see anything to curb money laundering and tax evasion until at least 2025. One thing that continues to be true prior to the pandemic and remains the same today is that it is not the workers or those living in the communities who are benefiting from the billions in corporate profit. Instead, it is the wealthy corporate shareholders. It is time to start holding these large corporations to account by paying their fair share and putting it back where it belongs, in our communities. One of the truly remarkable things about our community in Nanaimo—Ladysmith is the strength of our small and medium-sized businesses. These are businesses that have made our region their home and want to see it thrive. They are invested. Like everyday Canadians, these businesses are also feeling the pinch. Our local chambers of commerce are seeing businesses struggle. They are struggling to find employees because people are being priced out of the housing market. They are struggling to make their businesses work with increased costs from high gas prices and banking fees. This motion is critical to allowing our local small and medium-sized businesses to operate on an even playing field. I want to close my thoughts by speaking about people like Jocelyn, who feel like they have been left behind, who feel like the system has been built to keep them down while the wealthiest keep getting richer. We can build a system where people are not left behind, where prescription medications, dental care, eye care and mental health services are all part of a public health care system, where we invest in programs to better support seniors living on GIS and CPP and we ensure that everyone is able to afford a roof over their heads and groceries for their families. A better, more compassionate system starts with the Liberal government getting serious about putting people before corporate greed. It is about the government living up to its campaign promises and getting serious about taxing Canada's wealthiest corporations, and it is about making sure that Canadians can finally have more corporate accountability through a publicly available beneficial ownership registry. A more compassionate future is possible. We can build a future where everyone has the support they need. I hope every member in the House will help us move forward toward a better future and support this motion.

Madam Speaker, we know that in 2018, the amount of money laundering was estimated at $5.3 billion just in British Columbia, my home province, through the real estate sector. We know that money laundering through home purchases is putting an upward pressure on prices. I think we can all agree on that. We need to see the Liberal government implementing transparency tools that discourage money laundering by criminals and the wealthy at a pace that is much quicker than what we are seeing today. That is why we are putting forward in this motion the need for a beneficial ownership registry that creates a means for us to shine a light on the assets and properties that are owned and may be otherwise hidden by shell companies. I am in agreement that we need to do all we can to move forward.

Madam Speaker, it has been interesting for me to observe NDP members over the last few days speaking about gas prices and wanting gas prices to be lower. I thought that Liberal and NDP politicians actually wanted gas prices to be higher. Is it not the point of their carbon tax policy to raise the cost of gas? They think that will discourage people from driving more. It is curious for me to hear, in the vein of affordability along with the concerns being raised, the New Democrats, in particular, saying that affordability is a problem because gas prices are too high. Why would the NDP not simply reverse its position with respect to the carbon price if it wants gas prices to be lower?

Madam Speaker, we know that we need to be doing all we can to reduce pollution. We are in a climate crisis and we need to be ensuring that we are investing in renewable energy sources and moving away from our reliance on oil and gas. Bigger than that, we need to look at ensuring that the big oil and gas companies that are reaping profits like we have never seen before are paying their fair share. Their fair share of taxes can then be put back into the community where it belongs. We know the impacts from this high cost of living crisis are being felt disproportionately by those with lower incomes. We need to take the money that is taxed from big oil and gas corporations and put it back into the pockets of everyday people.

Madam Speaker, the government members are talking about a tax for the super-rich. In 2015, shortly after being elected, this government offered what it politely called a tax cut for the middle class. In reality, Canadians whose taxable income was between $90,000 and $230,000 are the ones who benefited. Can my colleague tell me whether we can still trust the Liberal Party when it comes to taking care of the middle class and voters?

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—

We have to resume debate. The hon. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance.

Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Whitby. We are fully aware that the effects of high inflation are being felt across the country. As the member for Burnaby South surely knows, it is a global phenomenon, and the price of goods has increased around the world. This is due to a number of factors. First, during the pandemic, millions of people reallocated money they usually spent on services to the purchase of physical goods. This put extraordinary pressure on global supply chains and led to shortages and bottlenecks. Furthermore, droughts in the main food-producing regions, including the Canadian Prairies, resulted in higher grocery bills. All of this has been exacerbated by the current instability of global markets following Russia's illegal and unwarranted attack on Ukraine. President Putin's unjustified war has led to an increase in the price of raw materials and again threatens to disrupt the supply of goods. This puts upward pressure on prices. There is also the pandemic, which continues to threaten global supply chains and increase inflation as a result of a resurgence of cases in China and another wave starting in Europe at this time. Many factors are putting upward pressure on prices. Canadians are worried about the rising cost of living and I am too. The Bank of Canada and private sector economists predict that inflation could remain higher for a little longer than initially thought. However, they expect it to go back down to the 2% target over the next two years, as the repercussions of the pandemic start to fade. Let us face it, these are truly uncertain times on many fronts. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a new major source of uncertainty. The price of oil and energy have recently spiked. Our government acted swiftly and decisively with the European Union, the United States and the United Kingdom to impose the harshest sanctions ever placed on a major economy. For those sanctions to be truly effective and have a real impact, we must be prepared for any adverse consequences to our own economy. This could temporarily affect the cost of living for Canadians. Opposition members often bring up the rising cost of oil and gas. It is true that prices have risen sharply as of late. However, my colleagues have an unfortunate tendency to make obscure connections to explain this increase, for example by tying it to our pandemic spending or our tax on pollution. They are obviously ignoring the main factor behind this increase, which is, of course, Russia's unjustified war against Ukraine. The Conservatives like to say that we must do more for Ukraine. They even brought up a no‑fly zone over Ukraine before changing their minds a few hours later. They seem to be not only unsure of where they stand, but also completely oblivious to the economic consequences of this war and of our sanctions. That said, I remind members that the federal government's assistance programs, such as the Canada child benefit, old age security, the guaranteed income supplement and the GST credit are indexed to inflation. This ensures that the benefits will increase in tandem with the increase in the cost of living. In recent years our government has also lowered taxes for the middle class and increased taxes on the wealthiest 1% of Canadians. We are also working very hard to address the high cost of housing. Over the longer term, Canada's monetary policy framework is the best weapon in our arsenal to keep prices stable and keep inflationary pressures in check. 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 for Canada. Since Canada adopted an inflation targeting framework about 30 years ago, inflation has averaged close to 2%. This has contributed to our country's strong labour market performance, to our economic growth and, of course, to our prosperity. Maintaining a stable environment for the prices that Canadians pay is a paramount objective for Canada's monetary policy, as implemented by the Bank of Canada. I trust that my fellow members are aware of the efforts that our government is making to address the rising cost of living and to make life more affordable for Canadians. It is also important to remember that the significant support our government delivered to Canadians and businesses during the pandemic has contributed to a rapid and resilient recovery so far. Canada has far exceeded expectations, surpassing its goal of one million new jobs and posting the strongest job recovery rate in the G7. Still, we recognize that the recovery is happening more slowly in some sectors. That is why the government has shifted from very broad support to more targeted measures that provide help when and where it is needed. It is also true that some sectors and businesses have seen their profits go way up during the pandemic. We know that banks have continued to make a lot of money during the pandemic. That is why one of the planks in our campaign platform was to raise corporate income taxes on the largest, most profitable banks and insurance companies in the country and on corporations earning more than $1 billion per year. That is very important, because we want to build a sustainable, united Canada. We want to build a fairer, more equitable Canada where nobody is left behind. That means focusing on jobs and economic growth. It means making sure the cost of living is within everybody's reach. I know our government will have much more to say about this in our next budget. I am looking forward to debating it here in the House.

Madam Speaker, it has been scientifically proven that prosperity gaps have been increasing steadily over the past few decades. Many economists concur. Does my hon. colleague not think the government should do more to go after wealthy companies and make them pay more, in order to help the most vulnerable? Does she agree that this motion makes sense and is entirely valid?

Madam Speaker, of course I agree. For me and for many of my constituents, raising taxes on the largest and most profitable banks was an essential part of our election platform. However, that is not the only thing included in the motion we are debating today, and that is why we are discussing it.

Madam Speaker, I have a simple question for my hon. friend with respect to affordability. Gas prices are top of mind for many Canadians. Does the government wish to see gas prices higher, lower or where they are right now?

Madam Speaker, I was very interested by my colleague's earlier question on this same topic. I would like to remind the member, as well as all members in the House, that the price on pollution that he likes to refer to as a gas tax, which I am fine with, is actually completely compensated, for Canadians and all members of the middle class, through our climate action incentive. Canadians do not pay a higher rate at the pumps because of our price on pollution. They are paying a higher rate at the pump at the moment because of several factors related to the pandemic, which I detailed in my speech, and because of the unjustified and illegal war that Russia has begun against Ukraine. I would be happy to engage with my colleague further on the topic, if he likes.

Madam Speaker, I really am in favour of this motion, and one of the things I want to highlight in it is the last point: a publicly accessible beneficial ownership registry. Just within the last few days, an important report was released called “Snow-washing, Inc: How Canada is marketed abroad as a secrecy jurisdiction”. This is not just federal. I want to emphasize that this happens provincially too. However, non-Canadian corporations can register and take housing out of our markets for speculators. Does the hon. member have a comment on that?