44th Parl. 1st Sess.
September 27, 2022 10:00AM
- Sep/27/22 2:54:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the government is completely out of touch. Emissions have risen each and every year that the government has been in power, except for the year of the pandemic, when it shut everything down. A third of Atlantic Canadians heat with oil, as do over a million Ontarians and 10% of Canadian households.
When will the government do what other G7 governments have done and provide relief on fuel taxes, cutting the tax on the oil and propane heat that people are so desperate to use this winter?
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- Sep/27/22 2:55:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as our House leader said, in a week in which climate change has ravaged much of Atlantic Canada, it is absolutely astounding that the opposition wants to take a valuable tool off the table that is helping to reduce emissions and put more money in people's pockets. We will be there to help Atlantic Canadians rebuild. We will be there to help them transition from carbon-intensive fuels to greener energy. We will be there for Atlantic Canadians.
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- Sep/27/22 2:56:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, economists agree that payroll taxes like the increase that the government is pushing on Canadians are the most regressive form of taxation, because they lead to lower productivity and jobs leaving Canada.
That is not stopping the government from jamming these taxes onto Canadian workers. Inflation is eroding Canadians' ability to buy the basics, and the government is gouging more of their take-home pay. Canadians get to feel the pain of the government's reckless policies at both ends.
Will the government cancel its planned tax increase on Canadians' paycheques?
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- Sep/27/22 2:56:56 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what Canadians need is for Conservatives to come clean with them on their plan to eviscerate our pension system. Their scheme is highly irresponsible. Do members know who pointed it out this week? It was Rob Carrick of The Globe and Mail. He wrote, “Canada pension plan premiums are not a tax...the CPP is the bedrock of a Canadian retirement plan.” The Conservatives want to undermine the pensions all Canadians depend on, but we will not let them do that.
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- Sep/27/22 2:57:38 p.m.
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We started off really well, but I am not sure what happened. I want to remind all members to look at their whips and follow their instructions.
The hon. member for Calgary Centre.
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- Sep/27/22 2:58:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in the last decade, payroll contributions under the government have risen by 13% for employment insurance and over 60% for CPP. The last year has seen the effects of massive government overspending, showing up in inflation numbers Canadians have not seen in 40 years. Workers' paycheques are not going as far, and now there will be even less in those paycheques.
Given the harsh rise in the cost of living for Canadians, will the minister take heed and cancel the tax increase on Canadians' paycheques?
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- Sep/27/22 2:58:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what I will do is tell Canadians the truth about what is happening with their EI contributions and their pensions. What is true is that in 2015 a Canadian who earned $49,500 paid $931 in EI premiums. Do members know how much that same Canadian will pay next year? It is $807. That is $125 less than she paid when the Conservative leader was the employment minister. That is supporting hard-working Canadians.
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- Sep/27/22 2:59:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, throughout the pandemic, the Prime Minister kept telling Quebec and the provinces that he was prepared to discuss an increase in health transfers, but not until after the pandemic.
The federal government terminated all its health measures yesterday. It is time to address this issue. There is no longer anything to stop the government from tackling the other major public health crisis, namely, the chronic federal underfunding of health care.
The question is simple: When will the Prime Minister convene a summit on increasing health transfers?
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- Sep/27/22 2:59:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am very happy to be asked this question.
This gives me the opportunity to say that once again, next week, I will be speaking with all my fellow health ministers. I plan to tell them that I am their ally and that I am going to help them invest money to reduce the backlogs in surgery and diagnosis, which are huge because of the accumulated effects of COVID-19. I will also help them provide Canadians with access to a family doctor, a family health care unit, long-term care, palliative care and quality home care. Everyone knows that this care is important to Canadians, and certainly to Quebeckers.
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- Sep/27/22 3:00:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the government often boasts that it spent a lot of money on a one-time basis during the pandemic, but that does not solve ongoing problems.
We need the federal government to pay its fair share on a recurring basis. That will make it possible to reduce wait lists, hire more nursing staff and put an end to mandatory overtime. That will make it possible to train and hire psychologists for the public system.
When will this government understand that the future of public, universal health care requires $28 billion in recurring health transfers with an annual escalator of 6%?
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- Sep/27/22 3:01:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague is quite right. The Canadian government invested $73 billion in health and safety for Canadians during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has continued to spend on vaccines sent free of charge to the provinces and territories, rapid tests and Paxlovid.
Hundreds of thousands of courses of Paxlovid treatment are now available in the provinces and territories to help Canadians with serious health problems related to COVID-19. There is also the personal protective equipment and all the other services that we provided to the provinces and territories and paid for.
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- Sep/27/22 3:02:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, under the Liberal government the cost of living is skyrocketing. However, do not fret, because the government has an affordability plan; the same government that got Canadian families into this affordability crisis.
The truth is that families are spending more of their income on taxes than on food, shelter and clothing combined. That is 43% of their income on taxes and just 35% on essentials. Will the government end its planned tax increases on gas, home heating and groceries?
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- Sep/27/22 3:02:38 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we understand that Conservatives have seen the light when it comes to our plan to support Canadians with the cost of living. They kicked and they hollered at the beginning of this parliamentary session, but over the weekend they did a very Conservative flip-flop and said that they are going to support the GST credit. They did the right thing. I hope that this weekend will see them supporting another important measure: the $500 payment to support Canadians with the cost of housing.
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- Sep/27/22 3:03:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the average Canadian family now spends more of its income on taxes than it does on the necessities of food and shelter combined. Farmers in Bow River are paying millions in carbon taxes annually just to power their irrigation systems. Their hard-earned dollars are being syphoned off by the NDP-Liberal government rather than being reinvested in local economies, local infrastructure and local goods. Will the government end its planned tax increases on gas, home heating and groceries so farmers can get back to feeding the world and so Canadians can afford nutritious food?
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- Sep/27/22 3:03:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member knows, on-farm fuel for farmers is exempt. As he would remember as well, through the fall economic statement last year we provided a carbon tax rebate for farmers, which they are eligible for this year, based on farm expenses.
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- Sep/27/22 3:04:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government takes more out of a working Canadian's paycheque for taxes than is left to take home to pay for groceries or their mortgage, that is if they can afford a home, and to put gas in their vehicle. That is not right.
The Prime Minister is out of touch, but he has an opportunity. I would ask him this. Can he promise to this House today that there will be no more taxes on Canadians?
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- Sep/27/22 3:05:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Conservatives seem to think Canadians are not smart, but I know that Canadians are really smart. I know Canadians are responsible, and I know that Canadians understand the value of the Canada pension plan. Canadians understand the importance of saving in the Canada pension plan. That is why Canadians see right through the Conservatives, who are irresponsibly suggesting that we eviscerate the CPP. That should not be a surprise, though. They told Canadians to invest in crypto.
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- Sep/27/22 3:05:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it was so tough to see the devastation caused by hurricane Fiona over the weekend. It is a sobering example of the climate crisis that we all face here and in our communities.
Could the Minister of National Revenue give us some concrete examples of this reality?
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- Sep/27/22 3:06:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Pontiac for her important question.
With devastating storms like Fiona, we are no longer talking about climate change. We are talking about a climate crisis. One of my constituents from the Magdalen Islands told me that he had never seen such rough seas. He said that it would be impossible not to believe in climate change after a storm like that. The climate crisis is real, and we must take action.
What do the Conservatives not understand? When will they wake up and understand that we are in the midst of a climate crisis?
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- Sep/27/22 3:06:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in January 2017, the Prime Minister invited the world to come to Canada via Roxham Road. The Prime Minister's invitation created some very lucrative opportunities for his Liberal friends. Radio-Canada reports that at least half a billion dollars has been spent simply managing Roxham Road in Saint‑Bernard‑de‑Lacolle.
For example, he awarded untendered contracts totalling no less than $14 million to his friend Pierre Guay, a gentleman who, coincidentally, contributed more than $16,000 to the Liberal Party of Canada. Contracts like that, awarded by this Prime Minister, smack of corruption.
Can the Prime Minister explain his actions?
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