44th Parl. 1st Sess.
September 27, 2022 10:00AM
- Sep/27/22 1:54:15 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I entered politics and decided to run for the nomination within my riding because the government of the day's economic record was anemic. We had low growth in Canada, a high unemployment rate and we did not have a plan to move the economy forward. Just as important, there was no plan to deal with the issue at hand, which was climate change and how we would part and parcel work together to create a strong economy and also a healthy environment. They go and in hand.
In the global financial market, I saw the transition that was happening to deal with climate change, with new technologies and industries being created. I worked for over 20 years in New York, London and Toronto, and I saw companies moving toward that.
Our party put forward a plan to grow the middle class, strengthen it and assist those working hard to join the middle class. We created an environment for job creation and investments to raise the standard of living for all Canadians. To deal with the issue of climate change, we put forward a real plan on climate change.
That is what we did as a government. We put forward a plan that, over the long term, would lower emissions and get us to net-zero by 2050. A crucial element of that plan was pricing an externality, as we say in economic terms, and create pricing pollution. We put together that plan with applause from across the spectrum. When I use that term, I mean economist and policy-makers, whether they were on the right, the left or the centre. We were using a market system to price something and use those proceeds—
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- Sep/27/22 1:58:42 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, my NDP colleague and I stand on opposite sides of most things.
Our plan for pricing pollution is a realistic plan. During that time, Canada and Canadians have created literally millions of jobs. We have lifted hundreds of thousands of families and children out of poverty by implementing a number of measures. We created a strong economy not only for today but going into the future.
When it comes to the issue of affordability, and all members in the House know what their constituents have and are dealing with, we demonstrate empathy all the time in putting forward policy measures that assist Canadians. As a government, we brought forward the Canada child benefit, which is monthly and tax-free. We are not sending cheques to millionaires.
As a government, we returned the age of eligibility for old age security and GIS to 65 from 67. We brought in two tax cuts, one in our first term and the second one raising the basic personal expenditure amount, returning literally billions of dollars to Canadians. It is their money and they work hard for it. We are fiscal managers on that front. We brought in a 10% increase on the guaranteed income supplement.
We brought in a number of measures that assist Canadians currently, but also going into the future. Those measures assist Canadians and create an environment to create good jobs. We put in place an accelerated capital cost depreciation at a moment in time where Canadian companies could invest. We will continue to undertake those measures that create jobs, support investment and create a strong economy, not only for today but for our kids and future generations.
On the affordability front, we are working judiciously to ensure Canadians are assisted during this time where global inflation has taken afoot. We see it across the world. As a government, we have put forward a number of measures such as the Canada workers benefit, for which I argued for many years that we should introduce and strengthen. We strengthened it three times. We are also going to be strengthening it this year. It is there. Working Canadians can earn up to $2,400 more under the Canada workers benefit.
On day care, which is, for an economist, a great piece of policy, we signed accords with all 10 provinces for it to be introduced. This will be saving Canadian families literally thousands of dollars, before tax, which is a very important. It will save my family—
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- Sep/27/22 1:59:02 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I know everybody is excited to get to question period, but they will first need to listen to this hon. member and then we can get there.
On the affordability front, we introduced a number of measures that will assist Canadians. It is great to see the GST credit being doubled for a period of six months for nearly 12 million Canadians. That is $2.5 billion. This will assist Canadians, especially at this specific period of time. We know Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming. These are important dates in all our calendars.
On the dental benefit, I said this yesterday in the House. As an MP, one encounters a lot of Canadians who are struggling, and it really pains me when I meet seniors who incur high dental bills because they do not have insurance. They are not covered under a private plan and were not fortunate enough to work under a union environment or in the public service, so they need to pay out of pocket. This program is the difference between them putting food on the table for the month or having to pay their dental bill. It will be a promise made and a promise kept by our government. We will come forth with a robust agreement on coverage of dental care.
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- Sep/27/22 3:20:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that was a riveting question period.
We all know that Canadians, along with citizens of countries across the world, are dealing with inflationary pressures. Our government has acted since day one, in 2015, to ensure we work hard to strengthen our middle class and obviously assist those who wish to join the middle class.
In this Parliament, we have put forward a number of measures to assist Canadians from coast to coast to coast. It is great to see that the opposition will be joining and supporting us in the GST tax credit, which would assist nearly 12 million Canadians, which is great news, and would allow for the doubling up of the GST credit for the next six months. The payments would be received prior to the end of the year, which would obviously be a big help for families as we enter the fall and Christmas period.
We are putting forward the rental benefit, a $500 top-up, which would assist 1.8 million Canadians, those who really need the assistance the most, such as seniors, people on fixed incomes and lower income families. We need to be there for those Canadians. That is what this country is about, and that is what our government has been about since day one, ensuring that Canadians have access to the resources they need to provide for their families while we continue to grow our economy and generate the investments we need to create jobs for our citizens. We have done this since day one, in complete contrast to what I would call the anemic record of the prior government, which we defeated in 2015.
I would also like to comment on the dental benefits, which I touched upon very briefly before question period started. As members of Parliament, we deal with cases consistently. There are those cases that really leave an impact on how we could help, not only for today, but also for the future. We are creating a dental benefit for Canadians, especially for seniors and lower income folks, so they do not have to make a choice about whether they can go to the dentist to get that dental work done, to pay $500, $1,000 or even more out of pocket to get assistance. We are acting on that.
First, we would introduce the Canada dental benefits for kids under 12 who do not have a proper insurance coverage. This is obviously means tested, which is important and something I believe in. It would then be introduced for seniors and families. That is what I would define as responsible and prudent leadership from any government, and specifically from our government.
Going back to my original comment, I ran for office as an economist. I ran as somebody who worked in the global financial markets for over 20 years, and I ran as someone who grew up in a small town in northern British Columbia to immigrant parents who worked hard, saved, sacrificed and did the right thing. They were provided with the opportunity to push their kids forward to not only create a better environment and brighter future for their children but also for them to have the opportunity to do so. That is why I ran for office.
Our government has continued to do that since day one, whether it was the redesign of the Canada child benefit or the implementation of the Canada workers benefit, which which we would see by the end of this year up to $2,400 more in the pockets of hard-working Canadians. This is, again, means tested, and has helped literally three million Canadians since the inception of our changes. We have done that.
We have cut the small business tax rate for our businesses across the country, from 11% to 9%, providing the necessary support during the COVID-19 pandemic. Those supports were essential for so many businesses, for so many employers and for so many Canadians and Canadian workers. That is what our government has done since day one.
Our fiscal position remains strong as we continue to deal with the issues of the day. Affordability is something that I know all my constituents are dealing with. I ask the opposition parties to join us in pushing this legislation through quickly and efficiently to ensure that Canadians get the help they need, especially folks on fixed incomes, seniors and working families.
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- Sep/27/22 3:26:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I must admit that the family of the member for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo and mine have known each other for over 50 years, since they immigrated from southern Italy to Canada, and I consider the member a great friend.
I will say that our government has focused on returning money to the pockets of Canadians. We have introduced two tax cuts directly aimed at middle-class Canadians, one in 2015 with the raising of the basic personal amount. We will continue to return money into the pockets of hard-working Canadians from coast to coast to coast, including the residents in the member's riding.
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- Sep/27/22 3:27:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Shefford for her question.
From our government's election in 2015 to today, we have helped seniors.
We have been there for seniors since day one, and we will continue to be there for seniors. The10% increase in old age security was introduced, with $800 more in the pockets of seniors, to over 3.3 million seniors across Canada, which is a great benefit. We know that seniors who are living in poverty tend to do so later on in their years, which is why we put in a measure for seniors when they hit 75. We have also increased the guaranteed income supplement for seniors by 10%, and we returned the age of eligibility for old age security and GIS back to 65, as the Conservatives had raised it to 67, which was very important for many seniors in my riding and in all members' ridings.
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- Sep/27/22 3:29:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have introduced a suite of measures to ensure that, by 2050, we will be net zero. Those measures include putting a price on pollution and innovation, which we are seeing in many industries across the board, such as the auto industry as well as companies like ArcelorMittal and other steel companies where they will be switching from carbon-intensive energy sources to less carbon-intensive energy sources. That is the way we will get down to net zero by 2050.
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