44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 21, 2022 11:00AM
- Mar/21/22 1:12:58 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, let me begin by saying I will be sharing my time with the member for Terrebonne.
On this first day of spring, and I wish you an excellent spring, Madam Speaker, I see that the NDP is dedicating its opposition day to the Liberal Party's election platform. I wonder why. Part of the Liberal platform was to charge this surtax on the profits of the big banks.
I think maybe the NDP no longer has confidence in the Liberals. However, the budget is coming up and I have seen the NDP declare its confidence in the Liberals several times. It even did so when it came time to support the emergency measures, even though several legal experts confirmed that those measures breached the fundamental rights of Canadians. I wonder what has the NDP so concerned on the eve of the budget. The Liberals themselves proposed going after the big banks to the tune of $10 billion over four years.
I am thinking that it is probably because the Liberals are in the habit of listening to what Bay Street has to say. What happened when the Liberals suggested imposing this small surtax on banks during the election campaign? The banks made threats. Top bankers and their associations came out and started saying that they would increase consumer fees and eliminate jobs in the banking sector and that this would be catastrophic.
We are all worried that the Liberals will listen to Bay Street bankers. Not so long ago, a former finance minister came from Bay Street. We understand that he is no longer talking to them, but he was so charming that he surely still has friends there.
What surprises me the most is that we are discussing a surtax. The reality is that our banks are undertaxed. Our banks and the businesses that provide all manner of other goods and services are not on an equal footing.
Do we pay the GST on financial services? No, because financial services are generally exempt from pretty much all taxes. However, when we purchase goods and other services, they are taxed, even in the riding of the member who just spoke about buying goods.
Banks offer financial services and are funded in a somewhat underhanded way. We know what happens. When my constituents put their money in the bank, what kind of interest rate do they get? They basically get no return on their investment. However, the bank turns around and lends money at a rate of 22% on credit cards, 15% on lines of credit, 5% on other things and so on. The bank makes money because of this credit spread, but there are never any financial service transactions. That circumvents the principle of value-added taxation, which all other businesses support.
Banks are undertaxed, but there are ways to tax them. Great Britain's Mirrlees Review, a major tax commission led by a Nobel prize recipient, explained that, in order to remedy this problem, banks' cash flow and financial services could be taxed. However, it is surprising that no tax is proposed when it comes time to collect from banks to level the playing field for our companies.
When banks need funding, they turn to the Bank of Canada, which loaned them money at a rate of a quarter of a percentage point during the pandemic. This system is supported by the public trust and the taxpayer. Did banks complain when they were charging higher mortgage rates in a completely inflationary market? The answer is no. Bank lobbyists never told us that people were paying too much.
When banks seek funding by issuing debt obligations or bonds, they pay less than all other companies with similar capitalizations, and this is because banks will not be able to declare bankruptcy. They are too big to fail. People purchasing obligations from banks know very well that if disaster ever strikes a bank and there are problems with the financial system, Canadian and Quebec taxpayers will come to their rescue through the Bank of Canada as the lender of last resort.
This means that banks make more profit because they pay less for their debt certificates. We must stop calling this proposal a surtax. Our banks have access to many tax advantages based on the nature of the services they provide and on the fact that they benefit from a system that is less competitive than in other places, which means that they make more profit.
For the sake of fairness, justice and efficiency, we need to get an additional contribution, in the absence of more appropriate tax reform.
We hear them talk about the banks. We hear the Conservatives. There is no shortage of arguments against this tax. The first argument is that the banks are owned by large Canadian investment funds and those Canadian investment funds generate dividends. We hear them say that there will be fewer dividends if we tax the banks' profits a little more and that the big investment funds will pay, except that during the pandemic, profits were higher than normal. There were excess profits. No investment fund manager in Canada, whether they work for the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan or private funds, had anticipated those returns and the difference in performance from companies whose security is not guaranteed by the Government of Canada. We are in a situation where, if we tax a portion of excess profits, we are not even getting back to the profits already anticipated by all Canadian investment fund managers. This is therefore a bad argument.
Now we are being told this will affect housing prices. That is both practically and theoretically untrue. Why? The reason is that our banks structure their costs in such a way as to maximize profit. They have revenue and expenses, and their goal is to achieve the biggest gap between the two. That is called profit.
However, whether the government taxes that profit at 15% or 18%, the bank's recipe is exactly the same. It will still maximize profit, the same as before. Higher tax rates will make absolutely no difference. In fact, this approach to taxing banks' excessive profits is one of the most effective and one of the least likely to create distortion and to be passed on to consumers.
I have been listening to my Conservative colleagues. It almost sounds like they are talking about a sales tax. Taxes vary in the type of damage they can do, in their economic impact. This particular tax is justified and equitable.
The Bloc Québécois has already put a similar idea forward. We proposed a retroactive tax because the situation with excessive bank profits was unusual. Our thinking was that, in a full-blown pandemic, what people need is health care and health transfers. Governments are under extreme pressure, and never before have we been in such dire need of government support. That is exactly why we suggested it.
When I meet people in my riding, people who have lived through two years of a pandemic, and the hospitals are cutting staff, when the Quebec government is asking for transfers and the nine other provinces and the territories agree but Ottawa turns a deaf ear, I figure that at some point we will have to find a way to finance these services. Now the federal government has a way.
I am tired of hearing that the banks will pass on the costs to consumers, and so on. What we are proposing is justice. Banks are undertaxed and are legally avoiding paying tax. Since the 2006 crisis, taxes on corporate profits have been significantly and systematically reduced for all businesses. We are now at a crossroads where we must reflect on this and decide whether all businesses should be treated equally or banks should be taxed differently.
Are banks really different? Obviously, the answer is yes. Should we find other ways of taxing financial products and the credit spread? The answer is yes.
Let us think about this logically. The government is under pressure. It had to increase service delivery. It has to increase health transfers, listen to the provinces and find new sources of revenue. It is not surprising that the Conservatives and some of my colleagues are against this. They are against everything.
The only way they understand how to finance any service is through oil, oil, and more oil. However, because of their oil, before the last increase in the price of a barrel, the government of Alberta projected a $500-million deficit. It is obvious to me that taxes need to be fair and equitable. This is a motion that, in principle, supports this idea, and that is why I will vote in favour.
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- Mar/21/22 2:12:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today marks the end of mask mandates in Ontario and Nova Scotia. Quebec has already ended their vaccine passport requirements. As of March, P.E.I. no longer requires proof of vaccination. Saskatchewan has not had vaccine mandates since February 14, the same day that New Brunswick ended all COVID-19 restrictions, and Alberta ended its mandates back on February 8.
Across the country, provinces are following the science and they are removing their restrictions. The government must follow suit. Vaccine mandates have cost Canadians their jobs, have restricted travel and are hurting our tourism sector here at home.
Canadians have done their part to fight COVID-19. They have done their part to get through this pandemic. It is time that they get their lives back. The federal government must put an end to all pandemic restrictions that are in its jurisdiction.
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- Mar/21/22 2:16:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this week, Quebec is recognizing the professional contribution of social workers.
Social workers put people first. They make it easier to access basic social services. They make the voices of the most vulnerable and overlooked members of our society heard. They innovate and make lasting improvements to society. They are true agents of change.
We see what social work is really all about through the independent community organizations that perform miracles on a daily basis, through every individual citizen who moves one step closer to realizing their full potential, and through the roughly 15,500 social workers who lead, organize and participate in the development of their communities. Every day, these professionals guide us toward a more welcoming, warm, respectful and fair society. I am proud to be a social worker.
I wish all of my dear colleagues a happy social workers' week.
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- Mar/21/22 2:40:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we absolutely take this crisis seriously. We know there are many prongs to solving the issue of guns and gangs.
That is why, just last week, the Minister of Public Safety was in Quebec, speaking with organizations, and announced funding for communities, for municipalities and for indigenous groups to deal with the scourge of guns and gangs.
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- Mar/21/22 2:40:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is not enough. Every time there is a shooting, we ask questions. Every time, the minister answers that he is taking action, that he will take action or that he is aware of the situation. However, there is no sign of concrete action. We only hear rhetoric, and the situation is getting worse. This cannot go on any longer.
Montreal is telling us that the federal government is not doing enough. The Government of Quebec is telling us that the federal government is not doing enough.
When will the minister finally come up with a real solution to cut off access to illegal firearms?
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- Mar/21/22 2:46:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for giving me the opportunity to stand here today and talk about the great news that I helped announce just last week.
Our government is committed to moving forward with the investment in the high-frequency rail along the busiest corridor in Canada, where 95% of Via passengers use the train to commute between Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and stops in between. This is great news for Via Rail. This is great news for Canadian travellers, and this is great news for public transportation.
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- Mar/21/22 3:01:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question. I also want to acknowledge the extraordinary work he does for the people of Bourassa.
Our government is working closely with Black business owners and organizations, such as the Côte-Des-Neiges Black Community Association, Audace au féminin, the Centre d'encadrement pour jeunes femmes immigrantes, the African Business Network and many others that will receive substantial support.
In Quebec and across Canada, the fund aims to strengthen support for Black entrepreneurs and business owners. We will support them during this period of economic recovery.
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- Mar/21/22 4:56:20 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise and speak on the NDP opposition motion today. It is also a pleasure to see you in the Chair this afternoon. It is great to be back in Parliament and doing the work our constituents sent us here to do. It is always a privilege and honour to represent the wonderful residents of Vaughan—Woodbridge. The great folks in my riding are entrepreneurial, hard-working and quite passionate.
I would like to add that I will be sharing my time with my wonderful friend and colleague for the amazing riding of Davenport in downtown Toronto.
We speak about affordability, strengthening our middle class and helping those who are working very hard to join the middle class. Our government, since 2015, has put forward a number of measures that continue to pay dividends today. The first thing we did when we assumed power in 2015 was cut taxes for middle-class Canadians. It was literally billions of dollars a year, and in over six years we have probably returned over $20 billion in tax savings to hard-working middle-class Canadians from coast to coast to coast. We also increased taxes on those Canadians who are in the top 1%. This is something that was the right thing to do, and it showed our efforts to make sure that everyone paid their fair share. We also closed tax loopholes. As a finance committee member for my first five years in Parliament, I was very proud to work in that area.
The Liberal government has continued to cut taxes for Canadians. I put forward an idea in our 2019 platform that called for the lifting of the basic personal exemption amount, to expeditiously keep it for middle-class Canadians and not give it to the wealthiest Canadians. That is exactly what we did. It is a great policy, with literally billions of dollars in tax cuts. When it is fully phased in, the first $15,000 of what every Canadian makes would not be taxed at the federal level. I believe that would be fully phased in next year, in 2023.
Again, we are taking necessary steps to help put more money in the pockets of hard-working Canadians. This is something I believe in and something that our government believes in. At the same time, we are investing in Canadians. We have the Canada child benefit, which in my riding of Vaughan—Woodbridge benefits nearly 20,000 kids. It is over $60 million a year, from the last estimate we got, that goes directly into the pockets of hard-working families. It is tax-free and monthly. It is not sent to millionaires. It is sent to hard-working Canadians in my riding and from coast to coast to coast.
We enhanced the Canada pension plan. This is something we worked together with the provinces on, and rightly so, to help Canadians so they could ensure their retirement. We know defined benefit pension plans are fading in the private sector quite quickly. We know that Canadians need to have a secure and dignified retirement. That is why we have undertaken a plethora of measures to help Canadians in their retirement. We made some commitments in our 2021 platform that we will be fulfilling. It is great to see our government continuing to aid seniors.
One thing I am very excited about, and I know that over three million seniors are very excited about in Canada, including many thousands in my riding, is that effective this July, old age security will be increasing by 10%. That is nearly $800 a year in the pockets of seniors. That is something that would assist them, especially with affordability.
With regard to today's opposition motion, we know affordability is of paramount concern to all families. I have three children at home. We go grocery shopping literally almost every day. We know what the cost of formula is, and we know what the costs of cereal and other necessities are for our kids and what they like to eat. Prices are elevated. Prices are higher. We all know that. We know it is having a real impact on the lives of many people in Canada.
We know high inflation is also a global phenomenon. Rising prices are the result of unprecedented challenges in reopening the global economy. We have talked about the supply chain and its impacts. We could look at what the shortage of chips, which are used in almost every product in the world, has limited. It has limited vehicle production, and it is impacting used vehicle prices. It is something we need to be very aware of.
That is why, as a government, we are not standing idly by. We are focused on supporting families and, again, growing and strengthening the middle class, which is the heart of the Canadian economy, and on improving the standard of living for Canadians.
We are taking real action to support Canadian families and making life more affordable for them. This includes historic investments in early learning and child care. Because I am an economist, early learning and child care excites me. It increases the productive capacity of our economy. It is a supply side measure. That improves the standard of living for Canadians and makes our economy more productive. I am very happy to see that nine out of 10 provinces, and all of the territories if I am not mistaken, have signed on to agreements.
I look forward to seeing, fingers crossed, an announcement between the federal government and the Province of Ontario on a child care deal sooner rather than later. My wife and I are putting our young daughter Leia in child care in September or October, so hopefully we will have that child care agreement in place. We know that it is the right thing to do. The $10-a-day regulated child care spaces for children under six years old are a nearly $30-billion investment over five years to help reduce child care costs across Canada. We have signed agreements with all of the provinces except Ontario, and we are working hard to help Ontario families like the ones in my region of Vaughan—Woodbridge.
For those of my colleagues who may not know, child care costs in York Region are among the highest, if not the highest, in the country. I am one of 10 members from that area. We need this deal. This will literally save families thousands of dollars a year in after-tax money. This is not before tax, but after tax. Finance folks should think about the before-tax costs of child care when paying $1,500 to $2,000 a month for a child. It is quite expensive.
The Canadian and Quebec governments have also signed an asymmetrical agreement to strengthen the early learning and child care system in that province, a system that already provides affordable services. Access to quality, affordable child care is not only an important economic policy, it is also a major social policy. It makes life more affordable for families with children. It enables mothers and fathers to work, increasing the workforce.
It creates more labour force participation. That is a great thing for the economy.
It also creates good, well-paying jobs for educators. It will give kids the best possible start in life.
The Canada child benefit is another key part of our efforts to make life more affordable for Canadian families. This program helps 3.5 million families with children every year and puts more money into the pockets of nine in 10 Canadian families, compared to previous child benefit programs. The Canada child benefit has already lifted 435,000 children out of poverty. Payments are indexed yearly to keep up with the rising cost of living.
We realize that COVID‑19 has made life harder for Canadian families, which is why, in 2021, the families that are eligible for the Canada child benefit received up to $1,200 extra during the pandemic for each child under the age of six. This was our way of directly giving more money back to Canadian families to help them deal with pandemic pressures.
The government has also introduced a number of measures to help those who need it the most, some of which complement existing protection. Seniors, as I said at the beginning, will get a 10% increase in old age security payments starting in July for those aged 75 and older. That is almost $800 more for pensioners over the first year. We have to remember that old age security is indexed. That is wonderful. It is great to see, and it will help the 3.3 million seniors who will receive this 10% increase. This is the first permanent increase in old age security since 1973.
I want to mention housing. The city of Vaughan in my riding, which is where I live, has the largest housing developers in the country. We are home to housing and infrastructure. There are so many builders in my riding that I think they control nearly the entire housing market in Ontario. I interact with them all the time. We need to get housing supply built. We need more homes for Canadians. These participants, the developers, builders or however we refer to them, are ready. They have the resources. They want to get the zoning bylaws passed more quickly and get the regulations reduced so that they can build more housing for Ontarians and all Canadians.
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- Mar/21/22 5:09:09 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I visited Quebec City over the weekend.
I know how important tourism is to all of Canada, and especially to the province of Quebec.
I agree.
We should look at measures that entice and that keep folks from exiting the labour market across the country. We did something in the budget by raising the guaranteed income supplement earnings exemptions so seniors could keep more of their hard-earned dollars as they stayed in the labour force.
Any measure that increases labour supply and the productive capacity of the Canadian economy should always be examined. I know, for my part as an economist, that I always take a look at those types of measures because they improve the standard of living for all Canadians and they help provinces such as Quebec fulfill their labour needs. We know that, in Canada, we have a great economy and a strong economy, and we need more workers.
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- Mar/21/22 5:40:19 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague and her party for bringing this issue forward today. Like most of my colleagues, I believe the rising cost of living is having a big impact on people in my riding who are trying to make ends meet. With the rising cost of rent, groceries and gas, it is becoming harder and harder to get by, so I think this surtax is a good idea.
Still, there are other ways to find money. We need only think of the fight against tax evasion and tax avoidance. I know my colleague agrees with this kind of proposal, but I wonder whether she thinks the government should put other measures in place, as well.
What would she say to amending the Income Tax Act and its regulations so that corporate income repatriated from tax havens would no longer be exempt from taxation?
Furthermore, would she agree that the government could decide to tax multinationals based on profits made in Quebec and Canada rather than where they are registered?
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- Mar/21/22 7:54:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, esteemed colleagues, and, especially, Mr. President, it is difficult for me today to express myself in simple words, which cannot convey or express all the sadness, indignation and anger roused by the dirty war inflicted on your great nation and your great people.
It is also difficult for me to admit to a certain powerlessness to do much more than express our compassion and our desire—which is only a shadow of your own—to awaken from this nightmare that haunts our television screens every day.
Of course, the Quebec nation—I believe it is safe to say—is overwhelmingly behind you, behind your people. Of course, we have asked that Canada act in the only viable way, together with the free countries of the world and with major international organizations, including economic, military or humanitarian groups. Of course, we are also calling for increasingly severe economic sanctions to ensure that this senseless attack is brought to an end from within Russia itself and through balanced negotiations.
We are strongly urging the Canadian government to reduce the barriers to welcoming refugees from Ukraine. There are people, families and Ukrainian nationals in both Quebec and Canada who want to welcome these refugees. We must also put in place a humanitarian bridge between your nation and our nations.
It was difficult to hear your call for more weapons. You are entitled to these weapons. You need them. The Quebec nation is a peaceful nation. The Ukrainian nation is a peaceful nation. I think it is with a heavy heart that you ask for these weapons. Your people have the right to defend their loved ones. They have the right to defend their land. Yes, we need to get more weapons to Ukraine and quickly.
We realize this is far too little, every time a man, woman or child is killed, or every time a hospital, day care, school, park or even a single flower is destroyed. Every single time we are reminded that we have done too little, too late, in some respects.
Mr. President, I like to think that we cannot judge a people by its leader. I believe that the people of Russia are the first victims of the dictator in the Kremlin, but there are leaders, officials, governors, who do speak on behalf of their people. There is no doubt that you are one such leader.
You have managed to turn one of the enemy's biggest weapons against itself. The Kremlin's powerful, vicious and malevolent deception and disinformation machine was designed to promulgate a false narrative rewritten by the dictator to serve his own ends and for his own personal glorification.
You, on the contrary, took a simple, honest and courageous approach to force the hand of the entire world, to make everyone across the globe see what is happening to your people and, in doing so, you have managed to get the help that you might otherwise not have received, and you must still ask for more.
Mr. President, what we cannot do is experience the brutal reality of this vile war. That is the cruelest thing of all. We cannot sit in dark basements as the walls rattle from the bombs being unleashed on your cities and towns. We cannot know what it is like to worry about your loved ones or be unsure of the future. We cannot know what it is like to dread a rebuilding that will last at least a generation or to be afraid.
There is little we can do to allay the deep fear the children of Ukraine are feeling, and we are so sorry about that. Mr. President, your enemy does not have the heart, the courage, the strength or the dignity to overcome the bravery of the Ukrainian people.
You, President Zelenskyy, will be victorious. Freedom will be restored, and Quebec, in its own humble way, will celebrate with Ukraine.
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