44th Parl. 1st Sess.
September 21, 2022 02:00PM
- Sep/21/22 2:56:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am here, and we are here, to support farmers day and night, all year long. We are investing in our farmers. We are investing in the agriculture sector. I will talk about the clean technology program, as one example, because we know that farmers need equipment, and they need new technologies to be more energy efficient to be able to do precision agriculture to fight against climate change, which is the real threat to food security.
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- Sep/21/22 2:57:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, 45-year-old Jake makes $30 an hour and has put in over 200 hours of overtime this year, but he is still struggling to make ends meet for his family. The Liberal government is planning to triple the carbon tax on gas, heat and everything else. It is the most expensive government in history, and the more it spends, the more things cost, and the more Canadians like Jake continue to hang on by a thread.
Will the Liberal government give Canadians like Jake a break and cancel its planned tax increases on Canadian paycheques?
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- Sep/21/22 2:57:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are totally focused on addressing the affordability challenge for Canadian families.
I know that in my home province of Manitoba many families are struggling, and that is why I am so heartened to hear about the measures that have been introduced by the finance minister. That is why it is important that the price on pollution and the climate action rebate will put more money in people's pockets. Eight out of 10 families will be better off. The good news is that these cheques will arrive in the mail in October. It will be orderly, and that will help with cash flow and affordability.
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- Sep/21/22 2:58:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that was an insulting answer to Canadian families everywhere.
This affordability crisis is a mental health crisis. When one cannot afford to put food on the table for one's family, that is a mental health crisis of anxiety, depression and suicide. That is compassion when one can pay to feed one's family.
This Liberal government has doubled our national debt, adding more debt than all previous governments combined, yet it is planning to increase taxes on gas, heat and groceries. I will ask it again: Will this government cancel its planned tax increases on Canadian paycheques?
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- Sep/21/22 2:59:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, just because the Conservatives repeat something does not make it true.
We are not raising taxes. In fact, this government has given more money back to families than any previous government. Let us talk about the Canada child benefit. That could return up to $7,000 for children under the age of six for low-income families. That is different from the $100 in cheques the Conservatives sent every month to millionaires. Let us talk about child care and the 50% reduction in fees by the end of December. That is thousands of dollars for Canadian families. That is real help that is going to help real Canadians.
We understand things are difficult, and we are there—
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- Sep/21/22 2:59:48 p.m.
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The hon. member for Thérèse-De Blainville.
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- Sep/21/22 2:59:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the minister was given the mandate of overhauling employment insurance this summer and she did not do it. On Sunday, the temporary measures will come to an end, and the minister will leave 60% of workers to fend for themselves. On Sunday, she will put them back into the same old program and 60% will not have access to it. The system must be overhauled.
In the meantime, could the minister at least extend the temporary measures? No one should suffer because she failed to do her job.
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- Sep/21/22 3:00:34 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the changes to the EI system put in place during the pandemic were in response to extraordinary economic circumstances, shutdowns, lockdowns, job losses and record high unemployment rates. We are not there anymore thanks in great part to the work of our team on this side of the House. We are proud of the work we have done.
We are winding down our temporary measures, but there is good reason for that. I can assure every worker in Canada that they will still have access to a robust, modern and excellent EI system that will be there for them.
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- Sep/21/22 3:01:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it was supposed to be done this summer; it may be coming at the end of the year. Her government has been promising EI reform since 2015. For seven years the government has been putting it off. For seven years the minister has been meeting with workers who have paid their premiums their entire lives and now find themselves penniless. Today, she is again putting off the reform.
Does she realize that workers who lose their jobs cannot put off their financial problems?
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- Sep/21/22 3:01:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I do not have time in 35 seconds to lay out all the impressive changes we have made to the EI system over the past seven years, but let me highlight an upcoming one.
By the end of this December, workers will have access to 26 weeks of sickness benefits instead of 15. I am looking forward to working with the member opposite as we modernize the EI system and as we allow better access and more adequate benefits for our workers. I can assure her and everyone that by the end of year, they will know what the vision for EI is.
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- Sep/21/22 3:02:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the price of food keeps going up in our country. Instead of addressing inflation, this government wants to keep saddling Canadians with higher grocery bills. The planned carbon tax increase will only make it harder for farmers to put food on the table, not to mention raising the price of transporting these products. Canadians are having a tough time, and they want to see a light at the end of the tunnel.
Will the government cancel these tax hikes on Canadian farmers?
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- Sep/21/22 3:02:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after listening to the Conservative leadership race over the last number of weeks, the party is still debating whether climate change is real. That is not surprising since the Harper Conservatives did absolutely nothing for 10 years on the climate file.
While the Conservatives are stuck in the past, we are looking to the future. We are building the economy of tomorrow and the clean jobs of tomorrow, and we are working for affordability.
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- Sep/21/22 3:03:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the proposed carbon tax will increase the cost of home heating fuel by 80%, as pointed out by Liberal Premier Furey. Seniors in my riding of Cumberland—Colchester, such as Catherine, June and Carol, reach out to my office every day because they are in dire straits. Sadly, Carol had to sell her wedding rings to pay for food.
On their behalf, will the government cancel new taxes on gas, home heating, groceries and their paycheques?
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- Sep/21/22 3:04:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think all sides of the House are concerned about affordability and our citizens. One party on this side of the House is doing something about it, and that is why our climate plan is designed so that the majority of Canadians receive more in climate action incentive payments than they pay at the pump. The hon. member will also know that as the carbon price increases, so do the climate payments. They will now be paid quarterly to help with both cash flow and affordability.
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- Sep/21/22 3:04:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, well, I think we know from the PBO that the carbon pricing plan is a failure. We also know that almost 40% of Atlantic Canadians currently experience energy poverty, by far the highest rate in the entire country, which is vocalized by all of the Atlantic premiers. Clearly, Atlantic Canadians are being priced out of their own lives. They cannot afford to house themselves, heat their homes or feed their families.
The government needs to commit today to cancelling tax increases. The question is simple: Will it do this, yes or no?
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- Sep/21/22 3:05:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we on this side of the House realize that there are unique affordability challenges in Atlantic Canada. That is why the Minister of Environment, just last week, announced $120 million from the low carbon economy fund to help Atlantic Canadians transition away from heating oil to cleaner energy.
We have a plan for the environment. We have a plan for affordability. Every time that plan comes to the floor, the Conservatives vote against it. They have no plan.
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Mr. Speaker, in 2017, our government accepted all the recommendations in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's report and committed to implementing the 94 calls to action.
One of the main recommendations was that the government establish a permanent, independent, indigenous-led national council for reconciliation to monitor and evaluate progress on reconciliation at all levels of government and in civil society.
Could the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations tell the House what measures the government has taken to establish this council and support its operations?
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his important question about the national council for reconciliation.
Today we are set to begin second reading of Bill C‑29, a bill that will establish an independent, permanent and non-political council to monitor long-term progress on reconciliation and implement the commission's 94 calls to action.
Bill C‑29 fulfills calls to action 53 to 56. I urge all parliamentarians to support this bill and take concrete steps toward reconciliation.
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- Sep/21/22 3:07:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, LaRue's Haulage in Keswick has served the community of York—Simcoe for over 75 years, but the future is looking bleak for small businesses like theirs because of the carbon tax. LaRue's has paid more than $65,000 in carbon taxes since May, and that is with just 20 trucks on the road. They are holding on by their fingernails, but with the carbon tax tripling, local businesses like LaRue's could go under. This is happening right across the country.
The carbon tax is crushing Canadian small business. Will the Liberals scrap this tax?
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- Sep/21/22 3:07:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have put a price on pollution, indeed, but we have also introduced a number of measures that will build the future economy as well as create jobs and make life more affordable for Canadians. Perhaps the hon. member has heard of our emissions reduction plan, which is going to get us to our 2030 targets. It has broad support, from environmental groups to industry to farmers.
Unfortunately, every single time this comes to the floor, the Conservatives vote against it. They have no plan for the environment. They have no plan for the economy.
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