44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 28, 2022 10:00AM
- Apr/28/22 2:06:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians have lost control of their own lives.
Whether we are talking about the individual who lost their job because of a medical decision, the single mom who cannot afford to feed her children because of food inflation or the 32-year-old who is living in his mother's basement because of real estate inflation, people cannot pay their bills because the government is making life too expensive.
The cost of government is raising the cost of living. The more the government spends, the more it costs Canadians. Inflationary taxes are increasing the cost of producing goods and services. Inflationary deficits are increasing the number of dollars needed to buy every product.
Let us stop inflation, lower taxes and give power back to ordinary Canadians, not just bankers and politicians, so they can control their own money. Let us make Canada the freest country in the world to give Canadians control of their own lives.
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- Apr/28/22 2:54:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Royal Bank of Canada says that those most affected by the current inflation crisis in Canada are the poorest Canadians, and that is easy to understand when the price of food, transportation and housing are going up. These are essentials and those most affected by this situation are the poor. What the government needs to do to fight inflation is control its spending. It has not done so in seven years. It must also be sure to freeze all tariffs and tax increases, which it refused to do on April 1.
Why does the government continue to directly attack the poorest Canadians?
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- Apr/28/22 2:57:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, price shocks on everyday items continue to hurt a growing number of Canadians, and it appears the worst is yet to come. Inflation is almost 7%. We have price inflation and currency inflation happening at the same time. Interest rates are on the way up. People of all ages, especially those on the margins, are trimming expenses just to make ends meet. The dream of home ownership is moving farther and farther away from many, especially our youth. The policies of the left are shrinking any disposable income.
When will the Prime Minister stop making one bad mistake after another and outline a clear commitment to control inflation?
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- Apr/28/22 2:58:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we will take no lessons from the Conservatives when it comes to supporting the most vulnerable Canadians with the cost of living. It was our government that introduced the Canada child benefit, which is indexed for inflation and has lifted almost 300,000 children out of poverty. Our government increased the GIS, which is also indexed to inflation and has helped over 900,000 seniors. When we formed government, more than five million Canadians lived in poverty. Today, that number is below 3.8 million.
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- Apr/28/22 4:24:38 p.m.
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- Re: Bill C-8
Madam Speaker, I apologize to the House, but what the opposition member just said is simply not true.
The budget contains a number of analyses that talk about inflation and interest rates, and I can find those page numbers. The budget was subjected to a stress test examining the effects of various scenarios on the economy and the fiscal situation of our country.
With regard to the debt, I want to point out that, for this fiscal year, the cost of paying down the Canadian debt will represent 1% of our country's GDP, which remains a historically low level.
I want to again emphasize that there are several analyses in the budget showing the impact of various scenarios in relation to inflation, interest rates and the war in Ukraine.
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- Apr/28/22 5:22:10 p.m.
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- Re: Bill C-8
Mr. Speaker, as the member of Parliament for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, I welcome this opportunity to put the observations my constituents share with their MP on the public record. I am their servant. While the bill may have many parts, I intend to focus on the sections relevant to Canadians.
With Liberal inflation, tax cuts are non-existent. With Liberal inflation, house prices will keep on rising. This will fuel more Liberal inflation, which in turn raises house prices even higher. It is a vicious circle.
What started this cycle? This cycle was started by huge deficits commencing back in 2015 after the federal election. The Conservatives do not blame COVID-19 pandemic mitigation measures, which we supported. The Prime Minister's inflationary deficits have been a signature policy of the government since long before COVID-19 hit. In fact, billions and billions of deficit dollars are being spent on things unrelated to the pandemic.
In the case of defence spending, the Parliamentary Budget Officer has identified billions in borrowing that are unaccounted for. Taxpayers’ dollars are being poured down a black hole, but this socialist government refuses to tell Canadians what that spending is for. Canadians have a right to know how their tax dollars are being spent.
When the NDP-Liberal socialist alliance inflates the monetary base, it is effectively devaluing the spending power of the money people have. By devaluing that spending power, it is actually hurting the people who have to spend that money on basic goods. The only way to get ahead of the inflationary spiral is to quit printing money. By continually printing money, which is called running a deficit, our currency is debased. This leads to greater deficits and more Liberal inflation. This in turn makes everything more unaffordable.
Canadians who contact me are fearful about any Liberal plan to implement an electronic currency, or e-currency. They have no confidence that the money they earn and the money they save will keep its value. My constituents have read about negative interest rates, the seizure of bank accounts and social credit scores that Communist China keeps on its citizens, and they do not like what they hear. Accounts can be seized with the stroke of a keyboard. Just ask any “freedom convoy” supporter.
Canadians who contact me tell me how divisive to society these socialist policies are. Since 2015, the gap between the rich and the poor in Canada has actually widened. Nowhere has this policy failure been more evident than in the rise in the cost of a single-family home. This is a big problem. Unaffordable housing prices are a direct result of the NDP-Liberal socialist coalition’s monetary policy. Blaming the Russians, Chinese, new immigrants, unseen foreigners or whoever else the socialist coalition wants to reserve this week’s two minutes of hate for is divisive, hateful and just another diversionary tactic to draw attention away from the real problems Canadians face.
Young Canadians who call me simply expect a fair chance. They would like to believe that Canada is a country in which hard work and savings are realistic paths to home ownership. Young people in Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke want affordable housing where they can raise families, while not losing more than half of their paycheques each month to put a roof over their heads. Seniors want to grow old living in their own homes. This is not an unrealistic ask in a functioning democratic and free-market society.
The socialist coalition wants to move away from this successful model. Since the government came to power or shortly thereafter, six years ago, the average price of a family home in Canada has shot up 87%. In 2016, the average price of a new house was $476,000. It is now $811,000, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association. What was the coalition's response? It was another tax.
Starting in the 2022 calendar year, Bill C-8 will charge a 1% federal surtax on non-resident owners of passively held real estate in Canada. That means even Canadians who own a home but live abroad for work are going to pay an extra 1% annually on the value of their home back here. It is like a municipal tax for those people who own property or their own single-family home, only the money goes to the feds. I am still waiting for a credible explanation of how this will create more affordable housing.
The proposal is troubling in other ways. Taxing properties is municipal jurisdiction. Municipalities in my riding of are having serious financial difficulties. Now the federal government wants to pick their pockets too.
Interfering in property tax is a serious mistake. It sets a dangerous precedent of interference from the federal government. Municipalities in the counties of Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke charge a range of development fees. In Arnprior, development charges for a single or semi-detached dwelling run around $16,000. In Renfrew, it is $9,000. In Petawawa, development charges are over $6,000. In Cobden, the cost is roughly $5,800, and it is under $4,000 in Pembroke.
Six municipalities in Renfrew County do not charge development fees: Admaston/Bromley; Bonnechere Valley; Laurentian Hills; North Algona Wilberforce; the township of Killaloe, Hagarty and Richards; and the township of Head, Clara and Maria.
In a recent presentation to county council, which is looking to increase development charges, fees in the rest of Ontario were examined. Some counties across Ontario charge almost $25,000 in development charges for a single detached or semi-detached dwelling. Others, such as my neighbour to the south, Lanark County, charge on the lower end of the scale at roughly $1,500 for development charges on a new residential home.
The federal government needs to be working in co-operation with municipalities to help them decrease development fees. Only by increasing the housing supply will prices stabilize. Residents in Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke are very concerned about the planned home equity tax. That is another idea that undermines the municipal property tax base.
With record sales, high prices for real estate, and the recent disclosure about CMHC funding studies to look at ways to raise revenues by taxing principal residences, Canadians have every right to be skeptical when half-hearted denials are made by the federal government. Canadians will have to wait and see when a new federal home equity tax, currently under consideration, will be implemented.
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