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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Carol Hughes)

Apr/4/22 12:56:28 p.m.
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Order. I just wanted to make sure that there is no cross-debate going on. The hon. member for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon has the floor.

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Mr. Brad Vis

Apr/4/22 12:56:34 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-8

Madam Speaker, let me just start by saying one thing. My staff were up in the village of Lytton the other day, and the village of Lytton has not had much luck as of late. Finally, after months, we have seen debris removal take place. Some of the archeological assessments mandated by the provincial government have been completed in conjunction with Lytton First Nation. Everyone is hoping to just move forward and see something built now. This is a provincial matter in one respect, but I had a constituent reach out to me and share an email that the Province of British Columbia had issued tender for housing for firefighters to be placed in Lytton in preparation for the fires that will invariably take place, God willing hopefully not, throughout the interior of British Columbia in just a few months' time. The same constituent pointed out to me that, after the truckers blockade here in Ottawa, the federal government, through the Ontario economic development agency, put forward some funds to help Ontario businesses recover from being shut down for a few weeks. I am not opposed to that, but I wish the federal government would have done something similar for Lytton. During this debate today, my constituents in Lytton are still looking for some answers. This week, they did get some help in the fall economic statement; I will acknowledge that. However, we are hoping this week, in the budget, there is going to be a bit more for B.C., because the village of Lytton is still suffering and the people I represent just want to go home. The next point I would be remiss if I did not raise is the infrastructure challenges facing the City of Abbotsford. The Fraser Valley Current put out a story on some of the options that are before my hometown and where I live today. The money required to account for the disasters that took place and to plan for future disasters is anywhere from just over $1 billion to $2.8 billion. It is really bad. A few weeks ago, a number of B.C. MPs went on a tour throughout the region and the city officials pleaded with us to keep pushing the federal government so that we get the resources we need to protect the Fraser Valley, the most economically significant region of the province of British Columbia. These resources and these contributions are taxpayer money well spent, and I am really hoping to see something more from the federal government on the infrastructure challenges facing Abbotsford and the eastern Fraser Valley. I am part of a group called Lets'mot community forum. It brings together many of the Stó:lō nations of the eastern Fraser Valley, the District of Kent, Sts'ailes Nation and the Village of Harrison Hot Springs. They too, like the City of Abbotsford, are hoping to see more from the federal government in respect to infrastructure dollars. We know that the Canada Infrastructure Bank has not spent nearly as much money as it could have. Here is an opportunity to use those funds wisely to support British Columbians when all of the engineers and all of the people are on the same page. We all know that this work needs to get done. Let us do it now before inflation makes it even more expensive in six months' to a year's time. We have to recover appropriately, and we have to plan for future disasters in the province of British Columbia. I would also be remiss if I did not talk about housing. In my neighbourhood, like most other neighbourhoods in Abbotsford or Mission, we have seen a 100% increase in the cost of housing in the last year or so. Young families, people I know and people I grew up with seem to fall into two camps: They won the housing lottery or they lost the housing lottery through no fault of their own. People are losing hope, and they need to see the government completely overhaul its approach to housing. Just this morning in The Globe and Mail, the Liberals touted their answer to the housing crisis that we face: the shared equity mortgage programs. We have the information tabled here before Parliament showing that it did not work. The money was not spent and people do not want to share their home equity with the Government of Canada. The government has to acknowledge that it got this program wrong, and it needs to put that money into something else. It is not working. Nobody wants to do it. The government tried adjusting it once. It increased the family income levels and increased the price of a home that one was allowed to purchase under the program. It has not worked and it needs a new approach. Canadians need something now. We cannot wait three years for the next election. A young family came to visit me in my office last week, and they said they sold their townhouse in Maple Ridge thinking they would wait a few months to live with their parents and then buy again, but in those few months there was such an inflationary impact on the cost of housing that they have now been priced out of the market. They do not know what to do. They are looking for options. We know some of the problems that relate to housing do lie with the municipalities, but I believe the federal government does have a role to incent the construction of more housing across the board. This is something all Canadians could get behind, to build more homes and to build more homes for young families. We have to get it done. The government has not been getting it done, and the programs it has put forward are complete failures. I was speaking to a vegetable grower last night on my way to the airport. Another major issue that is not being addressed by the government is the extreme labour shortages facing Canadian businesses, especially in the agricultural sector. The challenges in the agricultural sector are especially acute right now because Canada is poised to play a greater role in key crops because of the conflict in Ukraine. We need to be looking very closely at ways to help our producers get the labour they need, both domestic and foreign, onto farms as soon as possible because they cannot keep up. They cannot keep up with inflation, and if they do not have enough workers, they will have lower profits. Combine that with the inflationary impact, and they are facing a really challenging year. The government needs to drastically look at how it is dealing with the labour shortage on farms. The price of food is already going up. I do not know about others, but my trips to Costco seem to be getting more and more expensive every single week. The hothouse tomatoes that I love eating on my sandwiches are costing more and more as well. We have to do more. We have the infrastructure in Canada to produce more food. We have the land, but we need the policies to attract labour to the agricultural sector to get our crops grown. Finally, I would be remiss if I did not talk about gasoline. Like a lot of young dads, I went to soccer practice recently and I had to fill up my 2015 Toyota RAV4. It cost me over $100. In Abbotsford the cost of gas was $2.01 a litre when I filled it up. For a number of years, the government has done everything in its power to prevent Canadian oil and gas getting to tidewater, and oil and gas getting shipped to refineries. Everyone in the House has recognized that we need a new approach to oil and gas that would allow us to process it efficiently in Canada and get the pipelines built so there would not be such an affordability crunch on young families. People are really feeling the crunch. To put this all in summation, my constituents cannot afford to drive to work anymore. Driving into Vancouver five days a week, with the cost of gasoline, costs a couple of extra hundred bucks every month. If people do not own a home right now, they are screwed. A buddy of mine I went to high school with reached out to me the other day. He said he had been renting a house for 10 years and paying $1,700 in rent. The owner just sold it, and now he has to go into a smaller place where his rent is doubled. He does not know what he is going to do for his kids. He is in a tight bind. He does not know if he has a future in our province anymore. We have to look very closely on what we are doing on housing and the inflationary impact of all this spending. There are a lot of things going on in our country. I am thankful for the time to share a little of that today.

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Mr. Mark Gerretsen (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons (Senate), Lib.)

Apr/4/22 1:06:11 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-8

Madam Speaker, the member started his speech by talking about how we are now in the spring and we are talking about the fall economic statement. As he would know, the only people who are still debating this are the Conservatives. Every other party has given up on it. I am wondering if he could provide some insight into how much longer the Conservatives are going to keep this up and drag this on. Before I get any fake outrage about everybody needing to speak to this at every stage repeatedly because it is part of the democratic process, and I fully understand that, I am hoping that the member can provide some insight into when we will actually allow this to collapse so we can vote on it and move forward. I am really hoping that we can pass this before we pass the spring budget.

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Mr. Brad Vis

Apr/4/22 1:07:06 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-8

Madam Speaker, I think I agree with something from the member for Kingston and the Thousand Islands—

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Mr. Mark Gerretsen

Apr/4/22 1:07:16 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-8

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I only represent two of the Thousand Islands. It is is Kingston and the Islands, not the Thousand Islands.

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Mr. Brad Vis

Apr/4/22 1:07:25 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-8

Madam Speaker, my apologies, it is Kingston and the Islands. I was on the red eye last night, as I figured I was going to be voting on time allocation this morning, but apparently the agreement between the Liberals and the NDP for supporting time allocation failed. The member is talking about the Conservatives, but it was actually the failure of the House leaders of the Liberal Party and the New Democratic Party to reach an agreement on time allocation.

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Mr. Denis Trudel (Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, BQ)

Apr/4/22 1:08:00 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-8

Madam Speaker, I will continue with the question I asked another Conservative colleague earlier about the housing crisis. This morning, Radio‑Canada posted a very interesting article on housing, which reads as follows: The largest program under the national strategy is the rental construction financing initiative. This program has a budget of nearly $26 billion, or 40% of the national housing strategy....According to the initiative's rules, 20% of the units have to be affordable....The problem is that only 3% of the units funded by the initiative meet the needs of low‑income households. We are spending 40% of $26 bilion on this affordable housing program, but only 3% is effectively being used to build affordable units. My Conservative colleagues are always worried about inflation, but how can we both house people and prevent inflation from rising?

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Mr. Brad Vis

Apr/4/22 1:08:59 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-8

Madam Speaker, I believe that in this specific case the federal government needs to give up some of its programs under the national housing strategy and turn the construction of housing for young families over to Canada's provinces and territories.

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Mr. Randall Garrison (Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke, NDP)

Apr/4/22 1:09:31 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-8

Madam Speaker, I listened to the member's speech with great interest. I think we share some characteristics in our ridings, where a lot of people do not have good alternatives for getting to work other than to drive their cars. They are facing really, really high cost increases from the gas increases. I wonder whether the member is also on board with me in hoping that the budget that comes forward will include significant financing for public transit, so people would have affordable alternatives, and will include significant financing for the transition to electric cars.

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Mr. Brad Vis

Apr/4/22 1:10:01 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-8

Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague for Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke has a very fair question. Back 100 years ago, in the Fraser Valley, we had electric rail that went from Vancouver to Chilliwack, yet we moved away from that. We need to get back to rail infrastructure to ease the congestion and get people to where they need to go faster. People want it. It is good for the economy, and it is good for people's well-being. We need to make investments in rail infrastructure. Back in 2015, the Liberals promised they were going to get SkyTrain built, and it still has not been built out to Langley. We need to move faster on critical rail infrastructure in this country to move people and our goods faster. It is good for the economy, and it is good for everyone.

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Mr. Glen Motz (Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, CPC)

Apr/4/22 1:10:52 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-8

Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise in the House in all circumstances. Unfortunately today, when we talk about the economy of this country, there is certainly a lot to be desired. For the last couple of years I have had the privilege of serving my constituents in the capacity of their member of Parliament, we have used surveys to ask for feedback from them respecting things they are facing from an economic perspective. I just got the results back, and I think it is timely that today I would be rising to talk about the fall economic perspective, although I choose not to call it that, as it is more of a doomsday story. However, it is an opportunity for me to rise to speak about what my constituents have had to say about what they are facing today and will be facing moving forward. The first I will go to is our businesses, which have been impacted greatly by this. This is one of the questions we asked of them: What impact has the global pandemic had on their business? Ninety-six percent of the businesses in my riding who responded to this survey said that it was bad or very bad for them and their business. The impacts are far-reaching. We also asked them what their expectations were for 2022 as they went into the new year. Almost 30%, 29.5%, of the respondents said that they were not sure. The government had not given them confidence as to what to expect, and they were not sure how that was going to impact their business. However, 22% were hopeful that they would restore some semblance of normality in their business. When the pandemic began, there was already a high level of uncertainty with the economy, but few thought the pandemic would last as long as it has, which is two years now. We asked another question: How are businesses positioned to manage the ongoing impacts going into 2022? Fifty-one percent said that they are managing, but the revenues are substantially lower, and they anticipate those revenues to remain low. Twenty-two percent said that they were struggling and will continue to struggle in their fight to keep their businesses operating. They need the economy to return to normal in order for them to just survive as businesses. The federal Liberals have promised stimulus spending in the next budget. Experts such as the Parliamentary Budget Officer have said that stimulus is unnecessary and could harm our economy with more inflation. We asked a question about this: Would stimulus help their industry or their company? Forty-eight percent said no, they do not need more government stimulus. They need employees and the opportunity to get their economy back to normal. They need the pandemic and the restrictions to end, and they need skilled workers to be able to function as they did previously. We asked them what barriers they thought their company had to growth currently and what they would be facing in 2022. It was interesting to note that almost 82% of respondents said that higher taxes and rising costs were some of the barriers they were facing with respect to their company's growth. We know that this government likes to increase, has increased and will continue to increase payroll costs. Sixty-seven percent of respondents said that payroll costs were costing their businesses significantly. Government red tape and regulations from a federal level was almost 56%, and a lack of supplies and resources due to the pandemic at almost 40%. We have to access the market and, depending on clients' situations, these are all factors that businesses in my riding were very concerned about with their ability to continue in business. We asked them pre-emptively about the April 1 carbon tax increasing to $50 a tonne and what that would do to their business. We had 89% of businesses say that it will have a very negative impact and another 8% said that they would have somewhat of a negative impact on their businesses and their ability to continue to function as businesses. We asked another question: How much would they expect to spend on carbon taxes this year? Surprisingly, the majority, 40%, said they were uncertain exactly what that amount will be. However, about 20% were in the range of $10,000 to $25,000 and another 20% were in the range between $5,000 and $10,000, just in extra carbon taxes for this year alone. It makes one wonder what the current government is doing. It talks a big talk about what it is going to do to impact business and the economy, yet the very nature of some of the policies it puts in place does the exact opposite. They thwart growth and the ability of businesses to thrive, and we know that when our businesses thrive, our economy thrives. We conducted three surveys. As I said, there was one for businesses, one for municipalities and one for individuals. Some of the individuals provided some very interesting feedback. We asked them what measures would improve their life and that of their family. It was interesting that 40% said it would be to end the mandatory restrictions and lockdowns and return life to normal, and 35% said it would be to lower the cost of everything from food to gasoline to utilities. Those were the majority of the responses we received. We asked them what their expectations were in 2022. A full 72% said they hoped and prayed there would be an end to the perpetual pandemic that seems to be going in this country. One of the other questions we asked was with respect to the inflation rate climbing to between 5% and 6% on essentials this last year and whether they had noticed that in their daily living. Of the responses we received, 92% said everything in their life was more expensive. The previous speaker, my colleague from Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, mentioned this as well, and it is very true. Individuals have indicated that significant increases in the price of food and gasoline continue to plague them and their households. Many people reported that their mental health had been impacted during the pandemic, so we asked them what changes people had seen in not only their own mental health but in that of those around them in the past year. Surprisingly, 39.5% of individual respondents said their mental health has been declining, and another 32% said it has been declining significantly. To me, those are alarming numbers, indicating that we need to realize the significant impacts the pandemic has had on our mental health. Further, we asked individuals if they, their family or friends had access to mental health supports. Thankfully, about 65% said they did, but 25% or almost 30% said they did not, which is alarming. We asked them what the government should focus on to support long-term growth and jobs. Of the responses we received, 45% said agriculture, 53% said energy, 30% said manufacturers, another 30% said new technologies, and 16% said green technology and renewables. Tourism was at 18%, and 58%—and these are individuals—recognized the value of small business and said it should be the government's focus. I will wrap up with this. Although the current government talks a good talk about what it wants to do for the economy, we can see that is having a negative impact on the people on the ground who are experiencing what is or is not happening with respect to the economy in this country. People are struggling to make ends meet. Everything is getting more expensive, and the carbon tax is exacerbating an already difficult situation. I would like to thank the constituents of Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, its businesses, municipalities and individuals for the great information they have shared with us and their perspectives on what they need from the government moving forward. I look forward to entertaining questions.

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Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Apr/4/22 1:20:35 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-8

Madam Speaker, it is truly amazing that when the Conservatives talk about inflation, they often forget to mention that it is not unique to Canada and that it is happening around the world. If we compare Canadian inflation to the average inflation rate in the G20, Canada does well. Ours is lower. If we compare our inflation rate to that of the United States, again ours is less. Therefore, I find it somewhat disingenuous that the Conservative Party is providing a false narrative by saying that it is our government's policies that are directly causing inflation when in fact government policy is protecting and covering the backs of Canadians by ensuring we have jobs well into the future. In hindsight, I wonder if the member is implying to Canadians that the money we spent on the wage subsidy and the CERB is money we should not have spent. Is that what the right wing of today's Conservative Party is saying today?

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Mr. Glen Motz

Apr/4/22 1:21:42 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-8

Madam Speaker, I am glad the member finally got to a question, rather than just his usual spouting off of rhetoric. This particular government is responsible for the inflation in this country. It is easy for the Liberals to talk about it being a global problem and say we do not have to worry about it because it is a global problem. However, the policies of this government, in this time, are the ones that are directly responsible for the inflation we are experiencing in this country right now. Take ownership. Live up to it. Develop some policies that will give people some hope moving forward.

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Mr. Mario Beaulieu (La Pointe-de-l'Île, BQ)

Apr/4/22 1:22:18 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-8

Madam Speaker, Bill C-8 marks the first time we see the federal government interfering in the area of property taxes. We moved just one amendment and tried to find a compromise to ensure that property taxes do not apply in a province without its consent. The Liberal chair of the committee ruled that the amendment was out of order. I would like to know what my colleague thinks of that.

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Mr. Glen Motz

Apr/4/22 1:22:49 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-8

Madam Speaker, I am not familiar specifically with the issue that he raises with respect to the impact of property taxes and Quebec's desire to have a say in that area. Our party certainly supports some provincial autonomy and the ability for provinces to make decisions on issues that impact them, rather than the “federal government knows best” policy. I certainly do not support any measure whereby the federal government imposes some of their measures on the responsibilities of the provincial governments.

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Mr. Peter Julian (New Westminster—Burnaby, NDP)

Apr/4/22 1:23:32 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-8

Madam Speaker, I have two comments and two questions for the member. We know when we talk about Canadians filling up their tanks that the oil and gas companies have price-gouged Canadians for many years. It has been documented in many studies. They jack up prices far beyond what they should normally charge and they keep those prices high even when the price of crude has come down. Does the member agree that price-gouging is not something that oil and gas companies should be doing to Canadian consumers? My second question is around the transition to clean energy and the fact that the federal government plays a role in a just transition and making sure Canadians can go to electric vehicles, which are very much more cost effective. Does the member agree with me that this would be an important initiative for the federal government to undertake?

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Carol Hughes)

Apr/4/22 1:24:30 p.m.
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The hon. member for Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner has one minute to respond.

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Mr. Glen Motz

Apr/4/22 1:24:34 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-8

Madam Speaker, I hope to take the entire minute. I thank my friend for his question. While we disagree on many fronts, I have always appreciated his approach and the depth of his questions and I know he cares deeply about his constituents. It is important to recognize that in a fair market, we would hope that companies would be responsible to the consumer. We have seen in many different sectors, and not just in the energy sector, that this is not always the case. I do not have an easy solution to that issue. It is exacerbated by the government continuing to raise taxes at all levels, including excise taxes and carbon taxes on the price of fuel. With respect to the transition to electric, I find it difficult when I see electricity generators being operated by diesel in many vehicle charging stations across the country. They are diesel-powered electricity generators. I find that ironic, quite honestly. In my own riding, I could not travel across my riding in an electric vehicle without having to charge it a number of times if I wanted to get back home in the same day. I—

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Carol Hughes)

Apr/4/22 1:26:01 p.m.
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I have allowed the hon. member some additional time over the one minute, but there is no more time. Resuming debate, the hon. member for Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan.

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Mr. Fraser Tolmie (Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, CPC)

Apr/4/22 1:26:13 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-8

Madam Speaker, I had no problem with my colleague continuing on. I appreciate my colleague from Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner. It is an honour to rise today to speak to Bill C-8, the economic and fiscal update implementation act, 2021. I would like to thank the people of Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan for their overwhelming confidence in sending me to Ottawa to serve them as their member of Parliament. In my maiden speech, I recognized the sacrifices of my family. I would be remiss today if I did not recognize the team of volunteers who door knocked, canvassed, made phone calls and contributed to help get me here today so that true Saskatchewan values have a voice in this House and so that people from Saskatchewan can participate in Confederation and bring a voice of reason to this House. I want to focus today on something that affects everyone daily but that the government seems to have forgotten about: the skyrocketing costs of living. Last Friday, Canadians got a rude April Fool's joke played on them in the form of a 25% hike to the carbon tax. This means that when I drove to the airport last night, the price of gas in my riding had gone up to $1.68 per litre. This came at a time when inflation had already hit a 30-year high of 5.7%. The Liberals, when challenged on this issue, always compare us to other countries. I have just witnessed that. We are not here to compare ourselves to others. We are here to fight for the interests of our constituents. Just because inflation here is not as bad as it is in another country does not mean that it is good. The Liberals must address this and take responsibility for it. Inflation is increasing the cost of everything, including groceries, housing and everyday essentials that Canadians rely on. How did the Liberals decide to try to help Canadians who are already struggling? It was by hiking their taxes yet again. The problem with raising the carbon tax is that it does not just target the cost of gas; it hits everything that is transported or harvested with gas. Essentially, everything we buy is affected. Raising the carbon tax even increases inflation. The Bank of Canada told us recently that the tax accounted for 0.4% of the latest inflation numbers. A few weeks ago we, the Conservatives, offered a solution to these high gas prices. We proposed a motion to pause the GST on gas. Unsurprisingly, the Liberals voted this down. We are saying, and I have been saying since my maiden speech, that policy needs to be there and exist to help people, not punish them, and hiking the carbon tax during the current inflationary crisis is hurting Canadians. The least the government could do is postpone this tax grab. The largest contributor to the global economy is the consumer. Those consumers in this case are citizens and taxpayers. Reducing their buying power actually slows down the global economy. This has created a bureaucratic cycle implemented by this Liberal government. How does this happen? The Liberal government taxes someone with one hand and then, with the other hand, gives the money back to them. That bureaucratic cycle costs the taxpayer their hard-earned dollars, because someone has to administer and oversee the tax. This lost money should be used by consumers to purchase goods and services to support their own households. We see this in every policy that the Liberal government comes up with. It is like going to the carnival and seeing the giant pea and shell game. It is just moving money around. Everyone knows that this is a bureaucratic mess. Leading up to the federal budget, we are hearing more and more about the number of big-spending promises that the Liberals have made to buy the support of their coalition partner, the NDP, such as national dental care and national pharmacare. On top of these pet NDP causes, we have the Russian invasion of Ukraine that is forcing the government to finally rethink defence spending. I am glad to see that the government is finally buying the F-35s that Stephen Harper, the former prime minister, agreed to buy nearly a decade ago, but it is coming at a higher cost and at a time when Canada will struggle to afford it. As someone who has served in the Royal Canadian Air Force, increasing Canada's defence spending is something that I wholeheartedly agree with. However, times like this are why we need a prime minister who thinks about monetary policy. A leader who spent any time thinking about it would know that all of these big-spending promises cost Canadians. The Canadian debt is skyrocketing under the Liberal government. According to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, the national debt is now over $1 trillion. It is growing by $16 million per hour, and each Canadian's share of it is over $31,000 at this point in time. My youngest daughter is six years old. We are spending money that her children will be paying back, and probably her grandchildren, too. We expect the government to set an example and be reflective of who we are as a society. We do not remortgage our homes to buy something for ourselves. We mortgage our homes to have a place to raise our families and to leave something to our children when we have paid it off: to leave a legacy. What legacy are we going to be leaving behind at this point? I talked about this theme in my maiden speech. It is our shared responsibility to leave something to our children and to future generations. Leaving them a trillion-dollar national debt is not what I had mind. Last week, we debated another Conservative motion calling on the government to exercise any semblance of fiscal restraint in the upcoming budget. We voted on that and, unsurprisingly, the NDP-Liberal coalition voted against it. Let us not fool ourselves. Pierre Elliott Trudeau was a member of the CCF: It was the precursor to the NDP, prior to 1965. Now, this coalition is coming full circle and showing the current Prime Minister's true colours. It took this country decades to dig our way out of the debt that Pierre Trudeau left us. How many decades will we be cleaning up his son's mess for? I would like to spend a bit of time talking about Canadian veterans. I sit on the veterans affairs committee, which has been studying the rising backlog of cases under the current government. The average wait times are bad enough, but they get even worse if people are francophone or female. Heaven forbid if someone is a female francophone. I expect we will see some mention of this in this week's budget; however, I know that it will not be enough to fix the lingering issues. The fact that we are planning to spend nearly a billion dollars on electric infrastructure just shows how out of touch we are, and that we are not focusing on veterans: that number is a sizable chunk of the entire budget for Veterans Affairs Canada that could be used. I am concerned about the future of our country.

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