44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 19, 2022 10:00AM
- May/19/22 2:31:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the last time we saw the price of groceries jump 10% was in 1981, when another big tax-and-spend Liberal prime minister was in office. What was his name again? It is like déjà vu.
Doug Porter, the chief economist at BMO, said that inflation “is spreading much more broadly, and at clear risk of getting firmly entrenched”.
Will the Liberal government acknowledge today that its big tax-and-spend policies are entrenching inflation? When will it start to address the cost-of-living crisis that we are in?
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- May/19/22 2:31:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, one of the first things we did when we formed government in 2015 was to lower the taxes on the middle class twice and tax the wealthiest 1% more. In budget 2022, we have increased taxes on Canada's banks.
The illegal war in Ukraine that Putin has started is driving up inflation. If the Conservative Party is serious about supporting Canadians, it can start supporting smart legislation and smart results, stop blocking the BIA and finance, get it to a vote and put money in the pockets of Canadians.
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- May/19/22 2:32:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the minister is still using talking points from 2015. He has the time machine. He is going back to 1981 with those policies.
Other energy-exporting countries, like the United States and Australia, are taking action to protect their consumers from record-high gas prices. Trevor Tombe, an economist at the University of Calgary, has found that when Alberta dropped its gas tax, it successfully reduced its inflation rate in April.
Since the Liberal government obviously has no ideas about how it can improve gas prices, will it at least reconsider the Conservative proposal to exempt the GST on fuel? Will it at least do that?
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- May/19/22 2:33:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we know that inflation is affecting the lives of Canadians, and that is why our budget stepped up to the plate. I know the Conservatives do not like it that we have been delivering for Canadians for seven years. I know it offends their sensibilities, but the reality is that in our budget we have dental care for Canadian families, a doubling of support through the first-time homebuyers credit, a multi-generational home renovation tax, and 500 bucks to those concerned with housing affordability.
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
Hon. Randy Boissonnault: Mr. Speaker, they can scream and shout. We are going to keep delivering for Canadians.
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- May/19/22 2:33:40 p.m.
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Order. Yelling does not help.
The hon. member for Richmond-Arthabaska.
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- May/19/22 2:33:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday we learned that inflation has reached 6.8%. The last time it was that high was 31 years ago in 1991.
This year, Canadians are paying 10% more for groceries than they did last year, and that is not to mention skyrocketing gas prices.
Will the Liberal government take real action now to address the rising cost of living that all Canadians are currently experiencing?
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- May/19/22 2:34:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I respect my hon. colleague's question.
We know that inflation is affecting the lives of Canadians. That is why we once again increased the basic personal amount in budget 2022. That means that Canadians will keep hundreds of dollars in their pockets starting this year. We reduced taxes for the middle class, while raising them for the wealthiest 1%. We indexed the Canada child benefit to inflation.
We will continue to focus on affordability. While the Conservatives seek to block the business of the House, we are focusing on making life more affordable for Canadians.
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- May/19/22 2:35:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, inflation keeps going up and the government keeps doing nothing about it.
Gas prices across the country were at over $2 a litre this morning and the price of diesel keeps going up. It is 35¢ more than it was just a month ago. This is having a direct impact on the cost of transportation, which automatically affects the cost of consumer goods, including groceries, which everyone needs.
I will repeat my question. Will the government get its hands out of its pockets, start working for Canadians and lower the cost of living for once and for all?
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- May/19/22 2:35:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we well know, as do all Canadians, that inflation is caused in part by Vladimir Putin's illegal war in Ukraine. That is why we are focusing on affordability for Canadians.
In budget 2022, we proposed dental care for Canadians, doubling the tax credit for purchasing a home, and a one-time payment of $500 for seniors.
We will continue to focus on affordability. While the Conservatives focus on picking fights, we are focusing on the lives of Canadians.
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- May/19/22 2:36:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this week's diesel prices averaged $2.30 per litre, compared to just $1.45 last year, and prices are still on the rise. Diesel is a fuel that powers our economy and powers our critical supply chain from coast to coast. This is going to impact the cost of food, clothing and other goods. This is going to lead to an economic catastrophe.
When will this tone-deaf government provide immediate relief to Canadians by cutting the taxes and ending the crippling and punitive carbon tax?
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- May/19/22 2:37:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as the other side knows, eight out of 10 Canadians get more back than what they pay for the price on pollution. That is verified in the numbers, and that is why we are using a market mechanism. There is no evidence that reducing taxes on fuel is passed to consumers.
At a time when this House should be focused on getting Vladimir Putin and his army out of Ukraine, the other side is playing games. We are focused on making life more affordable for Canadians, and that is exactly what we will continue to do.
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- May/19/22 2:37:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals keep blaming Russia's war in Ukraine for the big price difference for gasoline between Canada and the United States, but that is Liberal disinformation. The objective of Canada's carbon tax is to make gasoline more expensive, and it is working. The Liberals should be taking credit for making energy more expensive with their punitive carbon tax.
After the exchange rate, gasoline in my riding is $2 a litre, and it is only $1.50 in the state of Maine. That difference is all tax. What does Russia have to do with that?
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- May/19/22 2:38:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this is a serious issue, and Canadians deserve a fact-based discussion, not partisan talking points from the Conservatives. The fact is that this global phenomenon is caused, in part, by the illegal invasion of Ukraine by Putin.
We continue to propose concrete measures to make life more affordable for Canadians. The Conservatives focus on political talking points. We are focused on Canadians.
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- May/19/22 2:38:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if the Paris climate change targets are not met, Canada and its carbon bombs will be partly to blame. These are projects that will result in billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. We are not talking megatonnes, but gigatonnes. These projects will create so much pollution that it will be impossible to limit global warming to 1.5°C.
Researchers have a solution. These projects must be cancelled. Will the Minister of the environment do it?
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- May/19/22 2:39:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for her question.
As she is well aware, just over a month ago we presented our plan to fight climate change. It clearly shows how Canada will meet its greenhouse gas reduction targets by 2030. Our plan will work regardless of whether oil production goes up, down or remains constant. Our emissions in 2019, before the pandemic, show that greenhouse gas emissions dropped, despite the increase in Canada's oil production.
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- May/19/22 2:40:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, something that we are hearing about is climate bombs. If all the climate bomb projects were to go ahead, the planet would be in big trouble. We have learned that global warming could reach 3°C, which is double the Paris target of 1.5°C. That is dangerous.
Canada has 12 climate bombs. Researchers say that defusing these bombs should be a priority in a climate change mitigation policy. Of those 12 bombs, several have not yet been developed. Will the Minister of Environment make a clear commitment to prevent the development of any new climate bombs in Canada?
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- May/19/22 2:40:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would remind my hon. colleague that the issue of climate bombs is not new. When I was at Greenpeace in the 1990s, we actually published a report on this. This is not a new issue, for one thing.
The other thing is that we made a commitment to cap greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector, and we are working on that. This is one of the things that will allow Canada to meet its greenhouse gas emission targets by 2030. They include cutting emissions by 40% to 45%, whereas the IPCC is calling on countries to cut them by at least 43%. We are doing exactly what the science is telling us to do.
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- May/19/22 2:41:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canada is one of the 10 worst countries in the world for climate bombs. It is on the same list as Russia, China and Saudi Arabia, the list of rogue countries that together threaten our climate future. Canada is also one of the countries that has the most to gain from the green transition, and yet the development of fossil fuels still comes first.
These gigatonne carbon bomb projects must be scrapped altogether. We also need to ask ourselves why, in 2022, the fossil fuel sector is still receiving public funds.
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- May/19/22 2:42:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for her question.
As she is probably well aware, the independent international NGO Energy Policy Tracker has shown, quite independently, that the Canadian government is investing more in clean technology and renewable energy than in fossil fuels. Our recovery plan is the greenest of all G7 countries and the second greenest of all G20 countries.
That said, we have committed to eliminating all fossil fuel subsidies by 2023, two years earlier than all our G20 partners. That is exactly what we are going to do.
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- May/19/22 2:42:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, two of my constituents, Audrée and Nicolas, contacted me about a very serious issue. Each of them has a baby with serious allergies to breast milk and regular formula, so they absolutely have to use hypoallergenic formula. A product recall caused a shortage, and now, extremely worried parents are seeing empty shelves. Apparently Health Canada has implemented an interim import policy that will get the product back on store shelves in a month, but that is too late.
Is the government telling families they will have to wait a month before they can feed their children?
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