44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 7, 2022 10:00AM
- Apr/7/22 2:29:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, well, let us talk about investments. We have all heard of the Midas touch. It turns things to gold. We have the Liberal touch, and it is not gold.
Liberals have invested billions of dollars to increase housing affordability. What has happened? Housing prices have doubled. They spent $60 billion to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and emissions went up. Helping the middle class? Sixty per cent of Canadians are having trouble making ends meet.
How is it when the Liberal government spends money, Canadians just end up further behind?
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- Apr/7/22 2:43:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives often bring up the very important issue of affordability.
Let us talk about the Conservatives' voting record. We proposed the Canada child benefit and the Conservatives voted against it. We proposed a plan to help seniors and the Conservatives voted against it. We put money in teachers' pockets and the Conservatives voted against the measure.
We care about affordability on this side of the House. Who knows what they care about on the other side.
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- Apr/7/22 3:10:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, since the fall, we have invested over $12 billion in tourism, the hardest-hit sector, so that every single tourism operator in this country can have a chance to get back on their feet. We have reduced the border restrictions. Tourism is now on the rise.
If the opposition, which is opportunistic and obstructionist, wants to help Canadians and focus on affordability, they can do the right thing, bring Bill C-8 to a vote, get us past 40 hours of debate and actually get affordability back on the table for Canadians.
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- Apr/7/22 4:38:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I notice the minister is wearing Conservative blue today, but that does not in any way transform her budget from being the first left-leaning NDP-Liberal budget.
The most pressing issue facing Canadians today is the cost of living, especially the housing affordability crisis. Millions of Canadians have seen their dream of home ownership slip through their fingers, and uncontrolled spending from the NDP-Liberal government has had a lot to do with that.
The minister's budget includes $10 billion for housing and homelessness, including $4 billion for a housing accelerator that will actually go to municipalities and not to those who wish to purchase homes but cannot afford to do so right now. In her speech, the minister made the following promise: “Over the next 10 years, we will double the number of new homes we build.”
This is a serious question. Can the minister tell us exactly how many homes she and her government have actually built over the past, say, seven years? I would like just the number, please. I know she has to have the number because she made the claim. Again, how many homes has her government built over the last seven years?
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- Apr/7/22 4:49:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” That is a proverb one of my Liberal colleagues used earlier today, but it was in a different context. It was used in the context of Easter. However, the context in which I am going to use it is the budget, which is absolutely bereft of any vision.
The budget is bereft of any vision to meaningfully address what currently matters most to Canadians, which is the skyrocketing cost of living and the housing affordability crisis. There is no real plan to fight the inflation that has exacerbated this government's tax-and-spend profligacy. There is no overarching investment into economic growth, and no growth plan to improve our productivity and our ability to compete in the global marketplace. There is no grand plan to restore Canada's tarnished reputation as a good place to invest. Right now, we are dead last among the OECD countries when it comes to investment. Nor is there is a grand vision to manage the massive debt load that my children and grandchildren will be left to repay, with interest, of course.
Like last year's budget, this one fails to put forward a credible fiscal anchor that outlines a clear pathway and a firm target to return to balance. There is no grand vision for restoring Canada's reputation as a trusted middle power among the world's nations, neither is there a serious plan to harness the power and potential of our sustainably produced natural resources to address the environmental challenges facing our world. In short, this budget fails to deliver the visionary leadership that these times call for. Instead, this budget is emblematic of an unserious Prime Minister, an unserious Minister of Finance and unserious government.
“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” That is from the Proverbs of Solomon, who is considered to be one of the wisest men ever to walk the earth. We need a vision, and I will have more to say in the days ahead.
Until then and until tomorrow, I move:
That the debate be now adjourned.
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