44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 25, 2022 10:00AM
- Oct/25/22 10:29:02 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I do not understand why the leader of the Bloc decided to introduce this motion here today. Quebeckers are concerned with other, more important problems, such as the cost of gas, food and heating, and immigration at Roxham Road.
Does the leader of the Bloc believe that the matter he is raising is more important than inflation and immigration at Roxham Road?
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- Oct/25/22 11:08:27 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will begin by saying that I will be sharing my time with my colleague from Mégantic—L'Érable.
The subject today on opposition day is the motion moved by the Bloc Québécois. Is the issue raised in the motion relevant?
I could say yes, the same way Canada's intervention in support of Ukraine is relevant, or the treatment of the Uighurs by the Chinese Communist regime is relevant. There is no shortage of important topics in the House of Commons. Everyone has their own opinion on various topics, and the relationship with the monarchy is no different.
The real question is, is it essential that this issue be debated at a time when Quebeckers are more concerned about the impact of inflation on their lives?
Inflation and interest rates keep going up and up, even though the Prime Minister and the Governor of the Bank of Canada said not so long ago that there was no need to worry. I wonder how many people and young families decided to buy a house or a new car because interest rates were really low and they had been reassured by their Prime Minister, who was spending taxpayer money recklessly while saying that it was the right time to do it, that interest rates were low and would remain low for a long time. This was an extremely dangerous attitude that is now being confirmed as a disaster.
Let me get back to the Bloc Québécois.
What are the Bloc members doing today? They want to talk about the monarchy and changing the Constitution that has governed the country for over 150 years. The Bloc used to be the farm team for the Parti Québécois, but it has found a new vocation as the Parti Québécois's big brother. After throwing themselves wholeheartedly into the last Quebec election, the Bloc troops returned to Ottawa disappointed, having only succeeded in getting three Parti Québécois candidates elected. The leader of the Bloc threw his full political weight behind his separatist friends, but the result was very disappointing. That too was a disaster. In a sign of the times, Quebec chose a government that is prioritizing the economy and growth, rather than division.
Quite simply, the Bloc claims to speak for Quebec's National Assembly. In the recent election campaign, the Bloc went up against the Coalition Avenir Québec, the party now forming government. Now, the Bloc members are claiming to be the political arm of the National Assembly, whereas in truth, they represent three members of the third or fourth opposition party, which does not even have official status. They do not represent the CAQ government. Is there anyone left who believes in the Bloc Québécois's strategy?
When a party is searching for a purpose, a reason to exist, what could be better than talking about the Canadian Constitution?
If we pay attention, we see that the Bloc Québécois is proposing that we sever ties with the monarchy. However, what are they proposing instead? Are they suggesting that we swear allegiance to a president of the republic of Canada? In that case, the Bloc's next motion would be about severing ties with the republic.
As we can see, the Bloc Québécois is searching for a purpose. The Bloc members are looking for an excuse to justify their presence in the House, which they call a foreign parliament.
An hon. member: That is true.
Mr. Pierre Paul-Hus: Madam Speaker, one of my Bloc colleagues just said that it is true. He considers himself to be in a foreign parliament. That is the background for our speeches. I am not making it up. This form of belligerent rhetoric is the Bloc Québécois's standard discourse.
The fact remains that today's motion is part of a long tradition of political spinning by the Bloc. The Bloc members get up in the morning and wonder what could get people talking today, what would make a good headline. They find an issue they can spin in a way that will make the news and be fun for them. They try to figure out how they can make the federal parties look bad, meaning the Liberals, the Conservatives and the NDP.
As I always say, the easiest job in Ottawa is being the leader of the Bloc Québécois. They just have to spin issues and will never have to shape the country's destiny. Today, the Bloc Québécois chose to spin an issue so as to help their Parti Québécois friends in the National Assembly.
My priority is to influence the Liberal government so it looks after Quebeckers' future properly. The current economic situation and the imminent recession require that federal elected representatives who believe in economic success from coast to coast work together for that common goal.
The rhetoric from the leader of the Bloc Québécois is not going to impress anyone whose mortgage is getting so big that the only option is to give the keys to the bank.
No one is interested in that rhetoric when groceries cost 11.4% more, when families have to cut back on their meals and when food banks are struggling to meet demand. To use a very Québécois expression, we wonder, “What planet are they living on?”
Did the people who voted for the Bloc expect their members of Parliament to be this disconnected? In the last provincial election in Quebec, I expected to see several Bloc members take up the baton of sovereignty and jump into the fray. If they want a country, they need to work from Quebec City. Instead, they chose to stay on the bench and pray hard for the junior team to win. It was a wasted effort, however, as only three members of the Parti Québécois managed to get elected. The dream of a country called Quebec is just that: a dream.
As a result, they needed to find a purpose. What better way than wasting an important day in the House of Commons proposing that we create a republic of Canada so they can come back later with another motion to abolish the republic? The Bloc strategy is very easy to understand, and I have just lost 10 minutes of my time explaining it. I would have preferred to find ways to help Quebeckers pay their mortgage and put food on the table for their children.
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- Oct/25/22 11:24:32 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I think there must be a conspiracy between the Liberals and the Conservatives because the whole lot of them are completely off topic. My colleague is talking about inflation when the topic of the motion is the monarchy. Where is the connection?
There may be one because the monarchy costs us dearly and we could, in abolishing it, solve some of the problems we have in Quebec. However, my colleague is still completely off topic.
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- Oct/25/22 11:25:20 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I refer to the motion.
What is driving inflation to this point? Our national debt. The national debt has increased by $100 billion, despite Liberal promises. We remember the promise they made in 2015 to run small deficits for three year and then return to a balanced budget. That was forgotten and there is now a deficit of $100 billion.
Before the crisis in Ukraine, the Liberals increased our national debt by $500 billion, $200 billion of which was in no way related to COVID‑19 expenditures. The Prime Minister's mindset was plain to see when he said in his inaugural speech that it was time to borrow because interest rates would remain low for decades to come. I again refer to the motion, which states at point (ii) that the “House believes in the principle of equality for all”.
Unfortunately for the poor, the price of inflation means that they cannot buy and acquire goods. That is the reality and I thank the Bloc Québécois for giving me that opening and this opportunity to talk about equality for all, here in Canada, because it is important. Unfortunately, due to the costly NDP-Liberal coalition, that is no longer a reality; the poorest are finding it increasingly difficult to buy most things.
Let us talk a bit about the Bloc Québécois. If there is one good thing about their motion today, it is that it shows Quebeckers what the Bloc Québécois's main priority is. Contrary to what I have just said and the concerns of Quebeckers each day, the Bloc Québécois has shown today what its priority is. The Bloc Québécois supports a general federal carbon tax for all Canadians because they refuse to vote in favour of our motion to not increase the carbon tax for all Canadians. How ironic that the Bloc Québécois should support a federal tax on all the provinces.
The Bloc Québécois and its leader have always claimed they want to be the voice of Quebec's National Assembly in Ottawa. Unfortunately, what we have just seen proves that the Bloc Québécois talks a good game, but when the time comes to act, it cannot deliver.
Quebec just held an election to which the Bloc Québécois devoted all its energy. All the Bloc Québécois members worked really hard. They invested resources, and the leader gave speeches in support of one political party in Quebec's National Assembly, the Parti Québécois. Did the Bloc Québécois, the Bloc members and the party staffers who claim to represent Quebec's National Assembly remain neutral in the recent provincial campaign? The answer is obviously no. They dedicated their hearts, their energy, their resources and their speeches to supporting the candidates from a single political party, Quebec's separatist political party. It is the only party whose ultimate goal is Quebec independence, which is far from the goal shared by all the members of Quebec's National Assembly. I think if we did a quick survey of the National Assembly, we would see that most do not want Quebec independence.
In the election, only three Parti Québécois candidates won seats, despite all the resources that the Bloc Québécois had put into campaigning in Quebec. After campaigning against all the other parties represented in the National Assembly, and after Quebeckers only elected three Parti Québécois members, the Bloc Québécois still claims to be the voice of Quebec's National Assembly in Ottawa. That is not true, and the motion is clear proof of that. Rather than talk about Quebeckers who cannot make ends meet, rather than condemn the Liberal government's encroachment on areas of provincial jurisdiction, the Bloc Québécois chose to ask the House of Commons to debate an issue that only got three members elected to the National Assembly.
In closing, I just want to state that I speak for many Quebeckers when I say that people do not really care whose face is on the $20 bill. What they care about is having enough $20 bills in their pockets to pay for their groceries at the end of the month.
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- Oct/25/22 1:26:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I think that the Bloc Québécois motion is designed to distract attention from what they just did.
Yesterday, they voted in favour of a stronger, tougher federal government that is going to triple the carbon tax for Quebeckers.
However, right now, inflation is the highest it has been in 41 years and the cost of living is rising. I am therefore wondering why the Bloc Québécois moved this motion. Do they not see that their motion does not really affect the daily lives of Quebeckers?
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Mr. Speaker, all day long, both the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party have been trying to dodge the issue. They say it is not the right time to talk about this and we should talk about inflation and fighting the pandemic instead.
Over the past few weeks, however, we have talked about bills C‑3, C‑5, C‑9, C‑20 and S‑4, none of which have anything to do with inflation or fighting the pandemic.
Does my colleague think we waste our time in the House every day? Should we talk about nothing but inflation and the pandemic? Can we not walk and chew gum at the same time?
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- Oct/25/22 2:19:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after causing the highest rate of inflation in 40 years with $500 billion in inflationary deficits, the Prime Minister is trying to blame the rest of the world. However, the future Liberal leader, Mark Carney said that inflation is principally a domestic story. Inflation is mostly caused by domestic factors.
Should the Liberals believe their current leader or their future leader?
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- Oct/25/22 2:19:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we know very well that global pressures cause inflation. These consist mainly of supply chain disruptions, the cost of oil and pressure on food prices caused by Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine. That is why we have taken concrete steps to help Canadians by providing GST rebates, assistance for children's dental care and assistance for low-income renters.
However, we do not understand why Conservatives continue to oppose measures that will help Canadian households.
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- Oct/25/22 2:20:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister loves to blame the war by Russia against Ukraine, but less than 0.3% of our trade is with those countries. In fact, the things they make are things we already have here, energy and food, if the Prime Minister would get out of the way and let Canadians produce it.
Maybe that is why Mark Carney disagrees with him. He said of inflation, “It’s quite broad, so it’s not all imported inflation. In fact, most of it is now domestically generated inflation.”
The Prime Minister is responsible for that inflation. Why will he not take responsibility?
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- Oct/25/22 2:21:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is the half trillion dollars of inflationary deficits that have bid up the cost of the goods we buy and the interest we pay. Inflationary taxes are making it worse, including a tripling of the carbon tax, which will raise home heating prices.
Maybe that is why Mark Carney, the future leader of the Liberal Party, is saying, “Really, inflation is principally a domestic story.” He disagrees that it can all be blamed on the rest of the world. Who should the Liberals believe, their current leader or their future one?
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- Oct/25/22 2:31:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the finance minister would have people believe she had a financial epiphany recently. We are not sure the Prime Minister has started thinking about monetary policy just yet, but this is a start. She finally admits the fiscal disaster her government created is not working, and the only way to fix Liberal inflation is to rein in spending.
Canadians are skeptical, though, given the Liberals are the ones who caused this inflation in the first place. Did the finance minister really wake up to reality, or was this peer pressure?
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- Oct/25/22 2:33:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, many of our allies are seeing inflation at a rate above 10%. We here in Canada are faring relatively better, but we are still seeing prices rise, which is why we put forward a comprehensive affordability plan.
However, I would like to get back to something the Conservative leader said in the House. He said, “It is true that dumb governments...all have inflation problems.” That statement is dangerous for many reasons.
Canada is a trading nation. We export more than we import. To say that our closest trading partners are led by dumb governments is to risk harm to the economy and to millions upon millions of Canadian jobs.
These are serious times. Serious times deserve—
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- Oct/25/22 3:01:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, even the Parliamentary Budget Officer said half of the COVID spending was not even spent on COVID. The government said interest rates would remain low. It said there would be no inflation and then it said inflation would be temporary. Now inflation is out of control and the government is going to spend more on interest on the debt than we do on national defence.
The government's plan has not worked. How can Canadians afford any more of the government?
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- Oct/25/22 3:04:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have mismanaged our national debt. They counted on low interest rates to continue spending. Now they will have to tax people and tax them again to make it all work. After undermining our energy sector, the government was unable to adequately prepare for the global economic shock. Inflation is devastating families, and people have no money and no breathing room.
Will the Liberals promise to show some compassion and cancel the carbon tax increase?
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- Oct/25/22 4:13:47 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, no, I have not brought it up with any of my colleagues, nor have they, in seven years, brought it up with me, because every time we get together to talk about issues, there are many issues that are so much more important than this.
There are issues so much more important than this that we get together to talk about. Forgive me and my colleagues for not having stood up and asked, “By the way, I know we are dealing with all of this other stuff, and there is a global pandemic, along with everything else that is going on, including inflation, which is all a big deal, but by the way, how do we happen to feel about the monarchy? Is that something we are still good with?”
No, I am sorry. I have not brought that question to their attention.
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- Oct/25/22 4:17:25 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is making sure that we can properly take care of Canadians in their time of need and making sure that, when we have inflation at the rates that we do now, we can do everything to support those who are struggling the most. The impacts of inflation right now and the impacts of the pandemic, generally speaking, certainly drove the division between the haves and the have-nots—
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- Oct/25/22 6:53:53 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, there are a lot of points in that speech that I would like to address, but perhaps I can invite people who are listening today, if they want to get the story on exactly what we are doing with our plan for the economy and the plan for the environment to visit my website at Terrybeech.mp.ca. I draft very fulsome reports, and anybody who is interested can go to those and follow up with me.
Our government does understand that Canadians are having trouble making ends meet. However, inflation is a global phenomenon. It is a lingering result of the COVID pandemic, which has been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine and by snarled supply chains that are affecting people and businesses right around the world, not just in Canada.
While Canada's inflation rate is less severe at 6.9% than that of many of our peers, like the United States at 8.2% and the United Kingdom, the euro area and the OECD all at above 10%, Canadians continue to experience a higher cost of living when they go to the grocery store, fill up their tanks and pay their rent. This is why we are moving forward with our affordability plan, which includes measures worth $12.1 billion to support the Canadians who need it the most, particularly those with lower incomes and those who are most exposed to inflation.
Our plan includes an enhanced Canada workers benefit for low- and modest-income workers, which will put up to $2,400 more into their pockets; cutting regulated child care fees by an average of 50% by the end of this year and to $10 a day by 2025; a 10% increase in old age security for seniors over the age of 75; dental care for Canadians with family incomes under $90,000 per year; a $500 payment, coming this year, to help people who have low incomes, are renting and are struggling with the cost of housing; doubling the GST credit for six months, which was supported by the member opposite and will go to 11 million households and over 50% of seniors; and, of course, our main support programs, including the Canada child benefit, OAS, GIS and others, which are indexed to inflation. That means those benefit will actually increase as the cost of living increases.
We are supporting Canadians while controlling our spending. The International Monetary Fund expects Canada to have the lowest federal government deficit as a percentage of GDP in the G7 this year, a track our country is forecasted to maintain for at least the next three years, and the lowest net-debt burden as a share of GDP in the G7. In fact, we have strengthened those advantages over the course of the pandemic.
Now, when it comes to pollution pricing, I would like to say that climate action is no longer a theoretical, political debate, it is an economic necessity, and a national price on pollution is the most effective market-based system for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It is actually designed to work in a capitalistic society. In 2022-23, in the four provinces where the federal system price applies, climate incentive payments mean that life is more affordable for eight out of 10 Canadian families. In addition, families in rural and small communities are eligible to receive an extra 10%. In areas like B.C., my home province, where the price of gas has gone up by more than a dollar a litre over the last three years, the carbon price has gone up by only two cents.
This highlights the fact that Conservatives continue to mislead Canadians by ignoring 98% of the real problem when it comes to inflation and high energy prices. The reality is that most households are getting back more than they pay as a result of the federal pollution pricing system. We have a plan to grow the economy while lowering emissions and making life more affordable for Canadians.
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- Oct/25/22 6:58:25 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, our government understands quite well that Canadians are feeling the effects of elevated inflation, which, as I outlined in my previous speech, is a global phenomenon. They can count on our government to continue supporting them through this cost of living crisis while remaining prudent fiscal managers.
However, the Conservatives, under their new leader, have presented basically a three-point affordability plan. First, they are suggesting that they would destroy the independence of our institutions that have been built up over generations, institutions like the Bank of Canada. Second, they would stop fighting climate change. Third, they are proposing to raid the pension benefits of our seniors by attacking agreements that we have made on the Canada pension plan. Their plan is not reasonable. It is not responsible and, really, it directly reflects their current leader.
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