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Mar/31/22 3:37:41 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, in the election, we made a commitment to increase OAS for seniors 75 and over by 10%. I can assure the member, that is not cheap. It is a substantial amount of money. We are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars. At a time when we really need to continue to support seniors, this government has been there. It has demonstrated its presence and support for seniors from virtually day one, as I pointed out, back in late 2015 going into 2016 and to this very day. I look forward to seeing yet another budget and the ways in which we will continue to see a Liberal government supporting the seniors of Canada because we truly care.

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Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)

Mar/31/22 3:38:31 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am sure you are very tired. You are working a lot and, while I am talking about the amount of time you have been here, I want to pass on my wishes to the Speaker to get well soon. I have heard the Liberals talk about affordability. We have watched while they have let big oil get a free ride. Big oil has had record profits, and what did they do? They gave record dividends out to their shareholders, and then we saw gas prices go up for everyday consumers. We saw the big banks do the same thing. They had record profits and gave out record dividends. They then increased fees to their regular consumers. Grocery stores made record profits in the pandemic while grocery bills went up by almost $1,000 for the average family. The Liberals continue to support this corporate welfare, just as the Conservatives did, instead of supporting everyday Canadians. The Conservatives put forward a motion today where they actually want to increase taxes on people's retirement by not recognizing that the CPP is actually deferred wages that everyday people actually need. When will the Liberals stop supporting corporate welfare and make corporations pay their fair share of taxes?

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux

Mar/31/22 3:39:38 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, one of the very first things we did was indicate that Canada's 1% wealthiest needed to give a fairer contribution. That is why we had the tax increase on Canada's 1% wealthiest. That was one of the first actions we did back in 2016. Albeit the NDP did not support that motion, but we still moved ahead with it.

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Mr. Francesco Sorbara (Vaughan—Woodbridge, Lib.)

Mar/31/22 3:40:05 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we are talking about the Canadian economy, and we see today the Q1 gross domestic product report came out from Statistics Canada. Again, the Canadian economy is outperforming expectations. Again, Canadians, Canadian businesses and Canadian workers continue to have the confidence to move the economy forward as we recover from the pandemic. As we do our part as a nation based on shared democratic values fighting with Ukraine and making sure that Ukraine has the resources it needs, we are standing with the Ukrainian people. I will just read from an article, which says: Canada's economy is exceeding [Bank of Canada] expectations.... Canada's economy is growing...faster than the [Bank of Canada] forecast. Despite restrictions, the economy still grew in January... ...and ripped in February. Again, we are seeing the Canadian economy outperforming expectations. Again, we are seeing Canadian businesses and Canadian workers investing in Canada. Our government understands that Canadians are being hit hard at gas pumps from coast to coast to coast as the prices of gasoline and diesel are reaching new records. While at first the idea of reducing taxes on gasoline and diesel may seem to be a good one, it is quite simply the wrong solution to a complex problem. This is simply not the right way to make life more affordable for Canadian families. It is important to understand that the price of a variety of goods, including gas and diesel, is going up because of a global phenomenon driven by the unstable situation in Ukraine and the unprecedented challenges of rebooting the global economy after the COVID‑19 pandemic. Market forces are behind the price of gas and diesel, among other things. This means that even if our government were to cut prices in Canada by 5% today by eliminating the GST, the benefits to consumers could be completely cancelled out in the days to come. The point here is that prices are very often tied to events that are out of our control and that are happening thousands of kilometres away. There are much better ways to continue to make life more affordable for middle-class Canadians dealing with high inflation and high gas prices. I will provide very concrete examples of the actions our government is taking to help Canadian families make ends meet. This week, we signed a historic child care deal with the Province of Ontario in which the federal government will be investing $10.2 billion over the next five years to reduce child care fees, first on April 1 and again on December 1, getting it down within the period of time the agreement takes place by 50% and creating 86,000 news spaces for Ontario families much like my own. My daughter will be going to day care come this October, and we will be able to place her not only in excellent care, but also where she will be learning with her classmates at the same time and at a much lower rate. That is improving affordability for Canadian families. We have done that since 2015, since day one. I would like to remind my hon. colleagues that our government understands that in order to ensure a strong economic recovery it is necessary to be prudent and responsible fiscal managers. Our economic recovery plan is working. Canada has exceeded its goal of creating a million jobs well ahead of expectation and has the strongest job recovery in the G7. As of February, 112% of the jobs lost since the peak of the pandemic has been recouped in Canada. I say this to all sides of the House: That is due to our government's focus on investing in Canadians and having the backs of Canadians so our economy could come rip-roaringly back as we exit and continue to exit the COVID‑19 pandemic. Furthermore, Canada's GDP has now returned to its prepandemic levels, and in spite of the unprecedented measures we had to take to combat COVID‑19, our net debt-to-GDP ratio continues to be the lowest in the G7 by far. We do not want future generations to be saddled with pandemic-related debt. We also want to ensure that Canada keeps its debt levels low. That is why we remain committed to the fiscal anchors we announced in the budget last spring. In terms of Canada's pollution pricing system, we are placing a price on carbon, which is a negative externality, and if one studied economics they would know about Coase theorem. We put a price on negative externalities that are not borne directly by the producers. We put a price on carbon. That is actually the best way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to do it in the most efficient manner, while transitioning to a low-carbon economy by adopting technologies that are done through innovation. We have seen that. We have seen the announcement down in Windsor, Ontario, where LG and Stellantis will be investing nearly $5 billion and creating 3,000 jobs in a sector of the future: batteries. We will see, in the days going forward, further investments, not only in the auto sector but across our economy. We are seeing it in the oil and gas sector as it transitions to produce those energy sources in a low-carbon manner. That is what we need to do. We need to see the electrification of our electrical grid and make sure that grid is producing low greenhouse gas emissions when it is in operation. On jurisdiction, in 2022-23, payments for the climate action incentive will increase. A family of four in Ontario will receive $745, in Manitoba $832, in Saskatchewan $1,100 and in Alberta $1,079. In addition, rural and small communities are eligible to receive an extra 10%. Our carbon pollution pricing system is innovative. It is groundbreaking. We know other jurisdictions and other countries are looking at it. We know the world needs to transition to a low-carbon economy. It is happening. It is happening quickly. We can look at Tesla and other companies. We can look at every auto company in the world. There is more than $515 billion globally being invested into the electrification of the global auto fleet. That is something that the Conservative Party of Canada is not going to stop, so it should get on the train. It should get on board and it should move forward like the Liberal Party of Canada has. That is the right thing to do for our environment. It is the right thing to do for our economy. It is a win for workers and it is a win for our standard of living. What is more is that the remaining fuel charge proceeds that we gather are used to support small businesses, farmers, indigenous groups and other organizations. Going forward, the federal carbon price will continue to be revenue-neutral for the Government of Canada. This is how we make life more affordable for everyone from coast to coast to coast, while also protecting the environment. Since we were elected in 2015, one of the key priorities of our government was to reduce taxes for middle-class Canadians, while raising them on the wealthiest 1 %, something that the Conservative Party of Canada voted against. We lowered taxes twice for middle-class Canadians. Once was in the 2015 budget, and then we increased the basic personal amount, which will reach $15,000 for every working person in Canada on which they will not have to pay federal taxes. That is a winner. It is a multi-billion dollar tax cut, year in and year out, and it is something I am proud I championed. I think it is fair to say that we have delivered on the commitment in real terms: promise made, promise kept. Our government has increased support for families and low-income workers through programs like the CCB and the Canada workers benefit, which have helped lift hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty since 2015. We increased the basic personal amount that Canadians can earn before paying federal income tax to ensure that the middle class benefits from this support. We will strengthen the middle class. We will continue to assist those working so hard to join the middle class. The advantages of the increase are progressively eliminated for high-income taxpayers. When the measure is fully implemented next year, single people will pay $300 a year less in taxes and families will pay $60 a year less. In addition, we have increased the guaranteed income supplement, the top-up benefit for low-income single seniors. I look forward to this July with a 10% increase to old-age security payments for over 3.3 million seniors, which is almost $800 a year for so many seniors in my riding.

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Mr. Greg McLean (Calgary Centre, CPC)

Mar/31/22 3:50:17 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague who is quite gifted in the area of economics. I love asking him questions. I love hearing him speak in this House of Commons, especially when he delivers a speech that is full of meat. I will ask him some questions that, I hope, will give him an opportunity to put some more meat on the bones of what he gave us here today. One of the things I like that he said was “promise made, promise kept”, and he talked about externalities of pollution. Let me ask about those externalities of pollution and the promises made around planting two billion trees, which he knows his government has not even come close to delivering. He also talks about the affordability that Canadians have at this point in time, a point when inflation, according to Statistics Canada, is going up 5.7%. It is actually much higher. Debt is ramping up at an unsustainable pace. We are reaching an actual cliff point here where we will not be able to manage it anymore as a country. We are subsidizing industries in Canada more and more, and we are putting competitive industries out of business. How does he see this path, economically, moving forward along these current lines?

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Mr. Francesco Sorbara

Mar/31/22 3:51:22 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague and more so a dear friend, the hon. member for Calgary Centre, for the question. There were lot of questions within that statement. First, I very much look forward to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance delivering the budget next Thursday here in the House. I always like to see a budget that is full of measures that encourage business investment, encourage job creation and encourage productivity. That makes more efficient our tax system and our regulatory burdens on industry and on the private sector, and it ensures that we are good fiscal managers of the purse, which we have been to date and we will continue to be in the future.

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Ms. Andréanne Larouche (Shefford, BQ)

Mar/31/22 3:52:07 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. Today, we are talking about inflation. One aspect of the Conservatives' motion is about inflation. I am sick and tired of hearing the Liberals say that they are listening and that they are helping seniors when they are leaving out an entire huge segment of seniors, those between 65 and 74 years of age, who make up more than half of the senior demographic. Those hardest hit by inflation are those on fixed incomes. The government talks about the guaranteed income supplement and says it wants to increase it by 10% to help seniors 75 and up, but that is not enough. It is not just us saying this. Community organizations in Quebec need more help. What are my colleague's thoughts on that?

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Mr. Francesco Sorbara

Mar/31/22 3:52:47 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question. We have taken care of the seniors in Canada, like my parents, from day one, since we reversed the increase in the eligibility for old age security and GIS from age 67 to 65. That was one of the first things we did. We increased the GIS top-up. During the pandemic, we instituted a number of measures to assist seniors, and we sent them funds during that time. Yes, inflation is obviously on everyone's top of mind, as well as affordability. Much like all over the world, it has been caused by many factors. The heart of the matter is that for Canada's seniors rest assured we have their backs. We will continue to have their backs. I look forward again to seeing more measures in the upcoming federal budget that will assist those hard-working seniors that I call the greatest generation that is currently alive.

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Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)

Mar/31/22 3:53:41 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, here we are listening to Liberals, and today Conservatives actually want to go after seniors' retirement income. Together, they helped reduce corporate taxes from 28% to 15%. Meanwhile, people cannot even afford a place to live. We have seen how these tax breaks have worked out. I appreciate being heckled by the— Some hon. members: Oh, oh!

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

Mar/31/22 3:54:04 p.m.
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Can we allow the hon. member to ask the question without interruption? The hon. member for Courtenay—Alberni.

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Mr. Gord Johns

Mar/31/22 3:54:13 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, BMO made a net profit of $7.7 billion. It paid out $2.74 billion in dividends to shareholders. Loblaws made a net profit of $1.9 billion and paid out $484 million in dividends. Suncor made a net profit of $4.1 billion and paid $3.9 billion to its shareholders. In the meantime, gas prices went up. Food prices went up. Bank fees went up. The corporate welfare needs to end. Motions like today's need to be defeated and instead the government needs to support our call to action, which is to charge 3% on the profits of those big corporations that have earned over $1 billion so that we can actually get people the help they need now and make life more affordable.

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Mr. Francesco Sorbara

Mar/31/22 3:55:02 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am in favour of all measures that encourage business investment and job creation. I am not for measures where we see increased regulatory burden or increased taxes on job creators, on companies. That is where I stand. I am in favour of job creation and business investment. That is what we must encourage. We must drive productivity in this country and improve the standard of living—

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

Mar/31/22 3:55:29 p.m.
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We have to resume debate. The hon. member for Barrie—Innisfil.

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Mr. John Brassard (Barrie—Innisfil, CPC)

Mar/31/22 3:55:34 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Calgary Centre. Far too often, it is easy for us to sit in this symbol of democracy and lose perspective on what is happening within our constituencies. The affordability factor is real right now. What many people were saying was a transitory inflation period has actually become a state of permanent inflation, and it is affecting everything from gasoline to home heating. The impact it is having on Canadians is very real, specifically in my constituency of Barrie—Innisfil. A little later I am going to be talking about some of the impacts that were told to me directly from people so that not only this place but Canadians can understand the real impacts inflation and the affordability crisis Canadians are facing today are having on my constituency. Canadians have been resilient for the past two years dealing with COVID. There have been many government programs that have been implemented. As a result of that, we have seen increases in debt and deficit. The latest figures I heard were $400 billion in deficit and $1.3 trillion in debt. What we are saying, through this motion, is that there needs to be some semblance of getting back to a fiscal framework where we are not seeing those levels of increase in debt and deficit through unsustainable government programs. There is no question some of these measures that were implemented needed to be implemented. They needed to be targeted. In many ways, Conservatives supported some of those measures, especially at the beginning of the pandemic. We are getting to a point right now where many Canadians, young Canadians, seniors and families, are losing hope that there is a prosperous future for them because of the fiscal situation they are in. This is a fiscal situation that has been exacerbated by government debt and deficit, which is leaving us vulnerable. We are starting to see increases in interest rates and the service level of that debt is going to have a profound effect on families with mortgages, lines of credit and credit cards. However, it is even going to have a more profound effect on government as this debt piles up and the cost of servicing that debt increases. I would argue there is an attack on many aspects of revenue in this country. We have seen certain sectors of our economy, like the natural resource sector, the fisheries over the last several weeks and other sectors, attacked through legislative and regulatory burdens. Traditional sectors that normally create revenue for the government have been attacked, and that is increasing the vulnerability of not just government revenues but the ability to pay for those increases in servicing costs. Canadians are struggling more than ever as a result of inflation, which is now at 5.7% and is the highest inflation in a generation. It is the highest inflation rate in over 30 years. Canadians are being burdened not just by the inflation but by the level of debt. We saw just recently a Statistics Canada report that showed $1.86 of every household income coming in is going toward servicing debt. Think about that. Just a year ago or two years ago we were at $1.70. That number is steadily increasing and it is causing a problem. The amount that households have added to their debt burden has amounted to $50 billion just over the last quarter. These are staggering numbers that really put at risk those working-class, middle-class and lower-class households in this country that have been struggling and will continue to struggle under this burden of debt. What we are talking about today is at least attempting to get this fiscal house in order. History in this country has shown that previous Liberal governments like the Martin and Chrétien governments were very good at fiscal responsibility and social Liberal tendencies. This is where I would classify my politics. I believe we need to be responsible in our finances, but we also need to look after the most vulnerable. It is the most vulnerable who are at the greatest risk as a result of this debt increase, this debt burden and this out-of-control government spending, debt and deficits. The social safety net programs that many Canadians rely on are at risk as a result of the servicing costs of debt. We really need to get to a point where we are focused on this fiscal framework and getting things aligned. It does not have to come from austerity and it does not have to come from cuts. I will speak about that in a couple of minutes. We know that the government's spending is certainly out of control. Two-thirds of Canadians say that inflation and an affordability crisis are their top economic concerns. Canadians are requiring real solutions to skyrocketing inflation and the cost of living. This is not just hitting households; it is hitting businesses. I just had a meeting with the Barrie Chamber of Commerce, and the increase of costs is a very a real and serious threat and concern to the economic recovery of businesses. A friend of mine who owns a local business just got his carbon tax bill, for example, and that bill alone was $1,384. Businesses with tight margins of, say, 10%, have to come up with 13,800 dollars' worth of sales just to pay for the carbon tax. Again, businesses are getting to a point right now where they are becoming uncompetitive. Gas price is another significant concern. It is up 30% since last year. The price of gas in Barrie today is 167.9¢. Tomorrow the carbon tax is going to see a 25% increase, which means that the price of fuel is going to go up by 11¢. This may not be a problem in downtown Toronto, downtown Montreal or downtown Vancouver, but it is a problem in Barrie—Innisfil, where there are a lot of people who drive to the GTA. They drive for an hour and are filling up their tanks for over $120. I have heard stories that it is costing $120, whereas a year ago it might have cost $65 or $70. This is how much of an impact it is having on affordability for families, and it is taking away from other things. There are seniors who are no longer driving to places for fear that they will have to put gas in their cars, so they are limiting their social interaction at a time when they should be increasing it after the COVID crisis. It is becoming a real problem. There is a story about the Innisfil Food Bank. It is seeing an increase in demand, but it is also seeing an increase in the costs of servicing that demand because of grocery prices. Here is what happens. When the prices increase and the carbon tax increases, the manufacturers and wholesalers pass that on and we end up paying a price for it at the grocery store. We are already seeing that day in and day out every time people go to the grocery store. The Innisfil Food Bank says that more donations will not be enough because as prices skyrocket, more people can no longer afford to buy groceries. Just a month ago, I took advantage of the resources available to me through the House. I sent out a householder to my residents and asked this question: “How concerned are you about the rising cost of groceries, gas and heating your home?” I will give a sample of some of the responses that I heard from Barrie—Innisfil. “I fear my children in their 20's will never be able to afford a home of their own. It's quite heartbreaking”, says Christine of Barrie. “The price of living makes things extremely hard to live. The amount of taxes we pay is ridiculous. If you don't save while you're young, by the time you retire how will you survive? You work for 30 years in a job and just have a Canada pension”, says John of Innisfil. In another one from Innisfil, Garry says, “$6.00 increases in OAS. It's time to get something for seniors. We are staving.” Robert from Barrie says it is “$1.50 per a litre of gas”. That was last month. It is $1.67 this morning. He says it is “$255.00 for 1 month's heating bill. Housing prices + rent [are] out of control.” Monica from Innisfil says she is “finding it difficult to advance and afford an adult life (kids) and keep up with bills even on a teacher's salary”. She is worried about inflation and says, “a recession will happen”. Those are examples of what I am hearing. How do we recover from this? We do not attack those sectors that produce. We make sure that it is about the power of businesses, the people who they employ and the products and services they produce in every sector and region of this country, and that Canada becomes competitive, not just domestically but internationally, so we have the confidence for domestic investment and foreign investment. Let us make sure that we are firing on all cylinders. We have focused on the expense side of the ledger for the last two years. It is time we focus on the revenue side of the ledger, have a budget that Canadians expect, with no wild, out-of-control spending, and make sure that we do things right in this country.

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Mr. Chris Bittle (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage, Lib.)

Mar/31/22 4:05:47 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I have been hearing speeches from Conservative members, and there is some convenient amnesia across the way. A short six months ago, they all ran on a carbon tax. Every single one of them ran on a carbon tax. Theirs was “the more you burn, the more you earn”. It benefited the wealthiest Canadians, whereas this government's price on pollution gives money back to Canadians. It benefits lower-income Canadians. Why are they forgetting that fact and why do they not mention the rebates when they talk about a price on pollution?

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Mr. John Brassard

Mar/31/22 4:06:27 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, that is a great question and the answer lies in the report of the Parliamentary Budget Officer. While the Liberals say that 60% of Canadians will get more back in the carbon tax, the Parliamentary Budget Officer says that 80% will receive less than what they pay in carbon tax. This is a fallacy that is spread by members of the Liberal government. They stand up here in the House and tell people things that are not exact. The Parliamentary Budget Officer answered that question, and the people of Barrie—Innisfil are not getting back what they are paying in carbon tax. In fact, it is costing them more.

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Mr. Luc Desilets (Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, BQ)

Mar/31/22 4:07:11 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. I would like him to comment on the fact that the Liberal government plans to increase oil production by 200,000 barrels in the very near term and gas production by 100,000 barrels. Given that we all think that is incompatible with our desire to move away from fossil fuel production, what are his thoughts on increasing fossil fuel production like this?

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Mr. John Brassard

Mar/31/22 4:07:34 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is not going to be a surprise to the hon. member that an attack on our natural resource sector is not what I believe in. I think the natural resource sector has clean, Canadian, ethical oil that has the best environmental standards. Natural gas, as well, has the best environmental standards in the world, the best labour standards in the world and the best human rights standards in the world. I think we should be supplying the world with clean, Canadian, ethical oil and gas. We have the fifth-largest reserves in the world. At a time when we are dealing with geopolitical crises around the world, like the one happening in Ukraine and Europe, we have the ability to meet that supply and demand with clean, Canadian, ethical energy.

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Mr. Alexandre Boulerice (Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, NDP)

Mar/31/22 4:08:27 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. We agree to some extent on the analysis of the cost-of-living situation and the fact that things are tough for people, but unfortunately, we get yet another unsuitable Conservative response. We in the NDP have a crazy idea: We think we should go look for the money where it is. This year, the big Canadian banks made record profits of $77.7 billion. That is a 39% increase over last year. It is indecent, when people are suffering and are having a hard time paying for groceries and rent. Does my colleague not think it would be a good idea if we increased taxes on companies that make billions in profits on our backs and used that money to invest in people?

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Mr. John Brassard

Mar/31/22 4:09:14 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I do not happen to believe that earning a profit is a bad thing. I also do not happen to believe nor share the view of the NDP regarding businesses earning a profit. Whether it is a small-town business in Barrie—Innisfil or a large corporation, they pay their fair share of taxes. The NDP talks a lot about a 1% tax on the rich. That is going to generate about $7 billion a year in revenue, according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer. We have a debt right now— Some hon. members: Oh, oh! Mr. John Brassard: Do not clap right now, because we have a deficit of $400 billion, and $400 billion minus $7 billion is $393 billion. Where are they going to get the rest of that money back? Where are they going to get the rest of the money to pay for that deficit? They are going to get it with an economy that is firing on all cylinders, not by picking and choosing winners, and by making sure that every sector in every region of this country is economically firing on all cylinders.

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