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House Hansard - 75

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 19, 2022 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 75 - May/19/22
Hon. Randy Boissonnault (Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance, Lib.)
  • 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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Context: House Hansard - 75 - May/19/22
Hon. Randy Boissonnault (Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance, Lib.)
  • 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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Context: House Hansard - 75 - May/19/22
Hon. Randy Boissonnault (Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance, Lib.)
  • 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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Context: House Hansard - 75 - May/19/22
Mr. Adam van Koeverden (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health and to the Minister of Sport, Lib.)
  • May/19/22 2:46:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for his collaboration on the health committee. The government recognizes that some Canadians who have contracted COVID-19 are facing a long recovery. Our government is actively working with national and international experts to build the evidence base on post-COVID-19 conditions to support Canadians experiencing longer-term effects. Increasing our understanding of COVID-19, including its longer-term effects, is key to addressing and recovering from the pandemic. To that end, since March 2020, the Government of Canada has invested more than $250 million in critical areas of COVID-19 research. Budget 2022 also proposes over $20 million over five years, starting next year, for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to support additional research on long COVID and the effects of COVID-19.
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Context: House Hansard - 75 - May/19/22
Mr. Pierre Paul-Hus (Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, CPC)
  • May/19/22 6:48:27 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I would like to salute and welcome the minister. Now, on to the first question. The Parliamentary Budget Officer said the following at the February 4 meeting of the Standing Committee on Government Operations and Estimates: “The pattern is that whenever we look at major procurement issues, for example, combat ships, supply ships, and now polar icebreakers, there is one constant: the costs are always higher when an independent office estimates them rather than the government.” Why is that?
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Context: House Hansard - 75 - May/19/22
Hon. Filomena Tassi
  • May/19/22 6:56:21 p.m.
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Madam Chair, we continue to monitor these ships as they are being built. The estimate for the ships that I believe the member is referring to, the two vessels, is projected to be $1.5 billion. We are going to continue to monitor the situation and ensure that the ships being built are required. There may be instances, for certain ships being built, that the design changes, but we continue to work with the shipyard. We are also continuously monitoring the price to see if the ships are over budget. We are constantly looking at that and determining what is bringing them over budget, and we are keeping a close eye on it so we can continue to work with the shipyards and they can deliver things as quickly as possible and respond to the specs.
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Context: House Hansard - 75 - May/19/22
Mr. Pierre Paul-Hus
  • May/19/22 6:58:04 p.m.
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Madam Chair, let us talk about transparency. I will give the minister an opportunity to say more. The committee recently heard from representatives of Irving Shipbuilding. For the contract to build the 15 new frigates, the president mentioned that Irving's bid was under $60 billion and added that the government had announced that it would cost $60 billion. However, the Parliamentary Budget Officer estimated that the frigates would cost $77.3 billion to build. Given that Irving's figure was less than $60 billion, the government's figure was $60 billion, and the Parliamentary Budget Officer's figure was more than $77 billion, could the minister, in the name of transparency, tell us the projected cost of building these frigates?
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Context: House Hansard - 75 - May/19/22
Mr. Pierre Paul-Hus
  • May/19/22 7:00:27 p.m.
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Madam Chair, the Parliamentary Budget Officer, who we are lucky to have, by the way, estimates that the polar icebreakers announced by the government will cost $7 billion, or $3.5 billion each. However, the Government of Canada only announced the purchase of two polar icebreakers, not how much they will cost. Does the Parliamentary Budget Officer have the right figures? If not, what should we expect?
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Context: House Hansard - 75 - May/19/22
Mrs. Julie Vignola
  • May/19/22 7:20:42 p.m.
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Madam Chair, I am not by any means questioning the work of officials. I am simply asking why it is hard to get the figures. Nevertheless, earlier, you were saying that spending is tracked very meticulously, you mentioned it just now. Why is it always so hard, either for a committee or for the Parliamentary Budget Officer, to get detailed expense reports and get clear answers to simple questions, such as explanations for cost overruns?
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Context: House Hansard - 75 - May/19/22
Mrs. Julie Vignola
  • May/19/22 7:27:17 p.m.
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Madam Chair, Cisco is not the only company in Canada that meets international Internet and other technology standards. We should break out of this cycle. Shared Services Canada has requested an additional $60 million for its 2022-23 budget. What is the reason for this? How much of that will go to Cisco or to a company that resells Cisco products?
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Context: House Hansard - 75 - May/19/22
Mr. Gord Johns
  • May/19/22 7:44:34 p.m.
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Madam Chair, given the ongoing issues with the Phoenix pay system, why did the budget not allocate necessary funding to help deal with the now years-long backlog of pay problems for federal public servants?
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Context: House Hansard - 75 - May/19/22
Hon. Filomena Tassi
  • May/19/22 8:08:46 p.m.
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Madam Chair, the project budget is $56 billion to $60 billion. That is an estimate without taxes.
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Context: House Hansard - 75 - May/19/22
Hon. Filomena Tassi
  • May/19/22 8:10:00 p.m.
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Madam Chair, this is an estimated budget, and we are going to continue to work. We will be open and transparent with respect to numbers when they are confirmed.
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Context: House Hansard - 75 - May/19/22
Hon. Kerry-Lynne Findlay
  • May/19/22 9:10:08 p.m.
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Madam Chair, some $15 billion in defence spending was included in the budget but not declared or attached to anything. Can the minister tell us why, and what is that for?
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Context: House Hansard - 75 - May/19/22
Hon. Filomena Tassi (Minister of Public Services and Procurement, Lib.)
  • May/19/22 9:38:32 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, the first two AOPS were delivered in July 2020 and July 2021, and the next three are under construction. The project budget is $4.3 billion.
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Context: House Hansard - 75 - May/19/22
Mrs. Julie Vignola
  • May/19/22 9:38:49 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, will the budget be respected?
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Context: House Hansard - 75 - May/19/22
Mrs. Julie Vignola
  • May/19/22 9:39:02 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, can the minister officially confirm that the budget will be respected?
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Context: House Hansard - 75 - May/19/22
Mr. Ben Lobb
  • May/19/22 10:09:27 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, he was the project manager from 2007 to 2010 for AOPS, so I think he is very well informed. The surface combatant went from $14 billion to $26 billion to $56 billion. The Parliamentary Budget Officer says it could be $77 billion. At what point does the minister say we have got to slow down here and we need to go line by line to understand how this has quadrupled or gone up even more?
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Context: House Hansard - 75 - May/19/22
Mr. Ben Lobb
  • May/19/22 10:11:14 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, that is fine. She also mentioned tax. There is not $40 billion worth of tax on a $14-billion project, unless taxes are really being hiked in the future. Another one is the offshore oceanic vessel. The original price tag was $100 million, and now it is $1 billion. How do we have a ten bagger on a project? That seems like mismanagement. The other question is this: Will she open the books to the Parliamentary Budget Officer so he can go through them? He had to use U.S. numbers to come to his conclusion of $77 billion.
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Context: House Hansard - 75 - May/19/22
Mr. Ben Lobb
  • May/19/22 10:12:03 p.m.
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Mr. Chair, if one comes to committee, they will find out the Parliamentary Budget Officer did not have that much help and he did not really feel like it was transparent. He said that in his statements. One other question I have is about ArriveCAN. How much did ArriveCAN cost the taxpayers of Canada, from the concept to the product being used today? How much did ArriveCAN cost?
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