44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 31, 2022 11:00AM
- Oct/31/22 2:20:21 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the $500‑billion inflationary deficit has caused the highest rate of inflation in 40 years.
Canadians are cutting back on food so they can afford groceries, and 35-year-olds are having to live in their parents' basement.
The fiscal update presents an opportunity for the government to reverse the policies that have caused this crisis. Is it not ironic that the only solution to this crisis is for the government to reverse 100% of what it has done for the past seven years?
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- Oct/31/22 2:21:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have a concrete plan to address inflation. It involves reducing child care fees for families, doubling the GST/HST credit, providing an additional one-time $500 payment for housing and providing dental coverage for 500,000 kids.
What is ironic is that when the Conservatives had the opportunity to vote to support Canadians, they voted against it.
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- Oct/31/22 2:21:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, future Liberal leader Mark Carney has said inflation is domestically generated, and so has the Governor of the Bank of Canada. After a half-trillion dollars of inflationary deficits, the finance minister is pretending she believes, like Conservatives, that government spending is driving this crisis in the first place.
Is it not ironic that the solution to the problem the government will have to pursue if it wants to make life more affordable is to do exactly the opposite of what it has been doing for the last seven years?
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- Oct/31/22 2:22:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on inflation, the government is taking concrete steps to reduce child care fees. In my own province, it is over $6,000 on average per family. We are doubling the GST credit, providing a one-time, $500 payment for renters, and 500,000 kids will get the dental coverage they have never had before.
What is ironic in the House is that when the Conservatives had the chance to vote for Canadians, they voted against them. We voted for them.
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- Oct/31/22 2:29:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, prices are now so bad that 20% of Canadian families are skipping meals to cut down on food costs. As interest rates continue to rise, Canadians need their government to act to reduce costs.
In the fall economic statement, the government has an opportunity to do that. It can make it easier to prosecute grocery price fixers. It can implement a windfall profit tax to ensure big companies are not using inflation as an excuse for highway robbery.
It took the government six months to take the NDP's advice to double the GST tax credit. How long is it going to take this time for the Liberals to see the light and implement these simple, helpful measures?
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- Oct/31/22 2:31:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Liberal inflation has one in five Canadians skipping or cutting back on meals, with more families pushed to food banks. The Liberals will punish Canadians further by tripling the carbon tax on home heating, groceries and gas.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister sings in luxurious hotels abroad and spends in four nights what an average family spends in a whole year on rent.
Canadians cannot afford this costly coalition anymore. When will the Liberals stop piledriving Canadians deeper into debt, stop inflationary spending and stop raising taxes?
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- Oct/31/22 2:32:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if things are as great as the Liberals say they are, then why are almost 50% of Canadians saying that their finances have not been this bad in a decade? A 40-year high in Liberal homegrown inflation caused by the costly coalition is pushing more seniors, more children and more workers to food banks and skipping meals.
Even future Liberal leader candidate Mark Carney does not believe the Liberals who say inflation is a global issue. He knows that it is a Liberal-made issue.
Will the Liberals do the right thing, stop the pain, stop the empty words, stop the spending and stop raising taxes?
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- Oct/31/22 2:34:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the inflationary spending is the cause of the pain for almost every Canadian, while the Liberals pretend that everything is fine.
Remember that the Liberals told Canadians that interest rates would stay low. They told Canadians that the problem would be deflation, not inflation. We were told then that all of this was temporary so the government could continue to spend and spend. They told us that they would take on the debt so Canadians would not have to.
What else are the Liberals going to get wrong?
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- Oct/31/22 2:35:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Finance contradicted her Prime Minister when she said that the government would have to tighten its belt and rein in spending. Even Mark Carney, the man who wants to replace the Prime Minister, contradicted him when he said that inflation in Canada is a Liberal-made issue. Although the finance minister wants to rein in spending, she is being pressured by the NDP and the Liberals, who are working together to continue the inflationary spending.
Will the minister commit to not raising taxes and to stopping the inflationary spending?
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- Oct/31/22 2:36:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we will always vote for what is best for Canadians. Every time the Liberals present measures that create economic problems, as we are seeing now, inflation rears its head. Interest rates have had to be raised because of the inflation created by the Liberals' spending in various areas. The Parliamentary Budget Officer confirmed that of the $500 billion spent in two years, $200 billion had nothing to do with the pandemic. The Liberals talk all the time, but when it is time to really take action for Canada's economy, they are out in left field.
When will the government take responsibility and stop its inflationary spending?
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- Oct/31/22 2:37:15 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is clear that our plan during the pandemic helped Canadians get through the worst pandemic in 100 years. The Conservatives voted with us. Now they want to rewrite history to their own liking.
On this side, we know that current inflation is a real concern for Canadians, so we are providing $500 in assistance for housing, a dental care plan for children, and double the GST credit. The Conservatives are not interested in that, but Canadians are. That is why we are taking action on this side of the House.
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- Oct/31/22 2:49:17 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the verdict is in. The evidence is clear. The cost of government is driving up the cost of living. The Prime Minister's own Parliamentary Budget Officer said that, of the new spending, 40% was not related to COVID.
Liberal leadership members seem to agree. Mark Carney recently said that inflation is now primarily a Canadian event. Even the deputy leader, with her new religion of fiscal restraint, seems to agree. Does the Prime Minister agree?
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- Oct/31/22 2:51:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let me set the record straight. What Conservatives stand against is high inflation leading to the highest food bank usage, and a third of those users are children. That is what Conservatives stand against.
If Liberals do not believe me, they should ask the governor of the Bank of Canada who said that high inflation is leading to hard times for Canadians, particularly the most vulnerable in our communities.
Will these Liberals stop their inflationary spending, and cancel their planned tax hikes on groceries, gas and home heating?
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- Oct/31/22 2:52:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians are downgrading their lifestyles because of Liberal inflation. They can no longer live comfortably on their income. What is worse, some of them are no longer able to put enough food on the table. In a single month, Canadians visited food banks 1.5 million times. That is an increase of 35% compared to 2019. That is unacceptable in a country as industrialized as ours.
When will the Liberals stop impoverishing Canadians?
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- Oct/31/22 2:52:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it does not matter that Canada has the lowest inflation rate, since that does not help Canadians here at home. That is why we have an affordability plan. The party across the aisle just wants to make cuts. That is what they want to do. They would have preferred to have no Canada recovery benefit during the pandemic. They would have preferred to forgo the wage subsidies for Canadians. They would have preferred that we not support businesses.
We are here to support Canadians. That is what we did during the pandemic, and we will do so again during this period of inflation.
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- Oct/31/22 2:53:09 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals need to stop making excuses and start taking responsibility. They attacked the Canadian energy sector, and now the price of gas is nearly $2 a litre, and winter is not even here yet. On top of that, Mark Carney, former governor of the Bank of Canada, told a Senate committee recently that inflation in Canada is domestically generated by the Canadian government. Inflation is a Canadian problem.
Will the Liberal Canadian government commit today to not raising taxes?
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- Oct/31/22 2:53:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we know very well that inflation is being caused by Russia's illegal war in Ukraine, supply chain disruptions and China's zero-COVID policy. That does not help Canadians. What does help Canadians is our affordability plan, dental care for children, and housing for the vulnerable. The Conservatives voted against these measures, while we voted for them.
Who is supporting Canadians? Our government.
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- Oct/31/22 2:58:23 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, indeed, across the world, the problem of making ends meet and paying bills is being felt profoundly. What is irresponsible for those who are struggling is that the Conservatives are going to amplify their fears and anxieties and are going to mislead them about their situation.
Let us talk about inflation. When Canada has one of the lower rates in the world for inflation, that is not acceptable and does not help pay the bills. What does help is concrete actions on affordability. What does not help is amplifying an anxiety and giving no answers. Unfortunately, that is what we hear from the other side.
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- Oct/31/22 2:59:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is Halloween and Canadians are spooked. They are spooked by having to pay 28% more for costumes and candy and spooked by the government's indifference about the inflation crisis, which the Liberals just wave away as being globally brought into this country. The central bank governor has said inflation is now more of a homegrown problem and Mark Carney, the former central bank governor, agrees with him.
Will the government show some compassionate, reduce its inflationary spending and put a pause on its tax hikes?
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- Oct/31/22 7:07:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for his motion, which was debated in this place earlier in the month. I was pleased to see it received unanimous support.
My colleague across the way is right. Canadian families are struggling with the rising cost of essential purchases. For seven years now, our government has been working to build an economy that works for everyone, and for seven years we have been doing just that. We have introduced measures that have helped grow the economy, created jobs and created a fairer and more level playing field for Canadians.
Our government is keenly aware that rising prices, which have been seen around the world, are impacting Canadians. High inflation is a global phenomenon caused by events beyond our control. The root of the problem is not Canadian, but we have a made-in-Canada solution to help people who need it the most.
Now that Bill C-30 has received royal assent, individuals and families receiving the GST credit will receive an additional $2.5 billion in support starting in early November.
With Bill C-31 and the support of the New Democratic Party, we are proposing to create the Canada dental benefit for children under 12 in families with annual incomes under $90,000 who do not have access to a private dental plan. The bill also proposes a one-time top-up to the Canada housing benefit, which would put $500 in the pockets of nearly two million renters who are struggling to pay their rent.
These two bills stand as a testament to what can be achieved in this place when members from all parties work together, and I am sure the hon. member can appreciate the impact these measures will have for Canadians who are struggling to make ends meet.
I am also happy to see the Competition Bureau has launched a study on food pricing in the grocery sector. It is completely unacceptable to take advantage of a crisis to raise prices on consumers. We expect the Competition Bureau to act swiftly if there is evidence of unlawful or anti-competitive behaviour in the marketplace. If there is evidence of anti-competitive behaviour, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry will ask the Competition Bureau to investigate promptly and take appropriate action.
We brought in universal child care that is helping young families, including my own, as my son and his family benefit from the program. I would also like to reassure my hon. colleague our government firmly believes in tax fairness. Since 2015, we have worked to ensure the wealthiest people and businesses pay their fair share, and we will continue to do so.
In budget 2022, we announced a permanent increase in the corporate income tax rate by 1.5% on the largest, most profitable banks and life insurance company groups in Canada. Budget 2022 also announced a temporary Canada recovery dividend, under which banks and life insurance groups would pay a one-time 15% tax on the 2020 and 2021 average taxable income above $1 billion to recover some of the benefits conferred to financial institutions from the government's pandemic supports.
Later this week, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance will release the fall economic statement, which will lay out some of the steps our government will take toward a brighter future for our country. Our government is doing everything we can to make life affordable for Canadians. We will also continue to make the Canadian tax system fairer so we can continue to deliver the effective programs and services Canadians deserve.
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