44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 17, 2022 10:00AM
Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise in the House on behalf of the residents of Calgary Skyview.
Albertans and Canadians are feeling the squeeze due to the rising cost of living. I have had numerous conversations with my constituents of Calgary Skyview. I talked to workers, small business owners, families, newcomers, seniors and students. The message is crystal clear from them: An affordable cost of living is a top priority. That is why I am so proud to rise today to speak about the real actions our Liberal government is taking to support Canadians through the recently released fall economic statement.
Our government's plan outlines a responsible and fiscally prudent path to help the economy grow and prosper while making life more affordable for Canadians. We are doubling the GST tax credit for six months. This is important. This will provide an estimated 11 million low- and modest-income Canadians a much needed credit top-up. This means somebody living in Calgary would receive an additional $234, and a family of four would receive an additional $467 to assist with the rising cost of living.
I recently had the opportunity to talk to Raj, a university student. He told me about the challenges he faced as a post-secondary student due to the rising cost of living and how important it is for the government to support students. That is why I am proud to say the fall economic statement will make all Canada student loans and Canada apprentice loans permanently interest-free, including those currently being repaid, so that we can continue to support young people during these turbulent times.
Half of all post-secondary students in Canada rely on student loans to help them afford the cost of tuition and essentials during their studies. By eliminating interest charges for student loans, we are helping ease the burden students face after graduating. Our government is committed to strong fiscal prudence. It is a promise we made to Canadians, and one we continue to uphold.
Canada has one of the lowest net debt and the lowest deficit-to-GDP ratios in the G7. Our economy had one of the fastest job recoveries in the G7, and we have a near record-low unemployment rate of 5.2%. Throughout the pandemic, we took quick and decisive action to support Canadian families with emergency payments. Through responsible investments in our communities, we are continuing to support Canadians by sustaining an economy that works for everybody.
We understand that through a responsible fiscal strategy, Canada's economy can continue to be resilient and well positioned to endure challenging and ever-changing global conditions. The transition to a greener economy requires significant investments. In the fall economic statement, our government has announced new initiatives to help support the economy through a green transition. These investments will ensure we build a globally competitive, sustainable economy that is fair and leaves nobody behind.
This includes a $6.7-billion investment tax credit for clean technologies, which will provide a refundable tax credit of up to 30% for investments in various green technologies such as solar, electricity storage systems and heat pumps, so Calgarians and indeed all Canadians can afford the transition to greener technologies.
To further our commitment to support sustainable jobs, we created the Energy Transition Centre to help equip Canadian workers with the skills of the future. These key investments are necessary to ensure Canada becomes a world leader in the net-zero transition. We are focused on supporting businesses and creating high-paying jobs. This is why, similar to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, we are taxing stock buybacks to make sure businesses pay their fair share and to incentivize the reinvestment of their profits in Canadian workers.
From the devastating effects of the COVID–19 pandemic to the recent cost of living crisis, our government is committed to helping Canadians through tough times. While we take strong action and provide tangible results for Canadians, the only ideas we hear from the Conservatives include cutting essential government programs and providing financially illiterate advice to Canadians to purchase cryptocurrency to opt out of inflation.
I am proud of the government's work. I know it will help my constituents in Calgary and Canadians from coast to coast to coast.
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Mr. Speaker, the residents of Calgary Skyview have been working tremendously hard and have been feeling the impacts of inflation. They worked on the front lines during the pandemic. We were accused of spreading the pandemic, yet we have the highest rates of vaccinations in the province of Alberta. They are the folks who drive our buses, clean the snow off our streets, work in the nursing homes or work in the airport that many of my colleagues in southern Alberta use to get here. They are the frontline heroes from my community who are helping to keep our city functioning and our economy moving forward.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Beauport—Limoilou for her advocacy on behalf of seniors. Our government increased the OAS top-up by 10%. I regularly engage with seniors at various seniors centres. In my constituency of Calgary Skyview, I was at a seniors centre last week and the seniors were happy with it. That has supported them and provided additional supports for them to pay their bills.
It is important that we do more, and we continue to work together across party lines to support seniors during this difficult time to make sure they have more resources to help support them in the future.
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Mr. Speaker, it is important that we find new measures to support seniors as quickly as possible, but we are supporting them with additional investments. We can see in the fall economic statement that there are many ways we are doing that. The rental support is another support that we provided seniors. Low-income Canadians will have the $500 rental top-up, which will support them through this difficult time.
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