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Context: House Hansard - 131 - Nov/21/22

Hon. Randy Boissonnault (Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance, Lib.)

Nov/21/22 12:06:28 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-32

Madam Speaker, I think some facts are in order. Already with this very important piece of legislation, which will get much-needed support to Canadians, we have had 18 hours of debate and 120 interventions, and there will be a lot more opportunity at second reading for members in all parties to debate this really important piece of legislation. The time has come for us to get to the next stage, because Canadians I have talked to are very much looking forward to having no more interest on their student loans, and they are looking forward to the supports in the fall economic statement, which is why we need to get to second reading.

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Context: House Hansard - 131 - Nov/21/22

Hon. Randy Boissonnault

Nov/21/22 12:08:51 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-32

Madam Speaker, I have a great deal of respect for my Bloc Québécois colleague when it come to this issue. I think that it is worth noting that we really need to do our homework as parliamentarians when it comes to House procedure and the important Bill C-32 in order to provide Quebeckers and Canadians with the support they so desperately need. With regard to the duration of the debate, I want to mention that we have had 18 hours of debate and 120 speeches so far. As members are well aware, the issue can be examined more closely during the in-depth discussions held in committee and members will have more opportunities to speak there. Members will also be able to debate the bill at third reading.

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Context: House Hansard - 131 - Nov/21/22

Hon. Randy Boissonnault

Nov/21/22 12:10:47 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-32

Madam Speaker, my colleague asked a very good question. We are grateful for the NDP's support in the House to move this bill forward to the committee stage. This is a serious situation. The supports in this bill will help Canadians at a time when they need it most. As my colleague said, we need to eliminate interest on student loans, cut taxes for small but growing businesses and make it more affordable to buy a first home. My constituents have asked me to take action here in Parliament to provide that help, and that is what we are doing today.

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Context: House Hansard - 131 - Nov/21/22

Hon. Randy Boissonnault

Nov/21/22 12:13:27 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-32

Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. colleague for her support of Bill C-32. I was not on the opposition benches at time to which she is referring. As a member and as a minister, I can say that I talked to Brad in my riding this week, who thanked us for making sure we got Bill C-30 and Bill C-31 done so quickly, because he wanted and needs the $500 housing support in that legislation. On the weekend, I talked to Mike and Laurie, who thanked us for our child care supports. They said to me at the All is Bright festival, “It's making a real difference, and we're able to make it through this inflationary cycle.” There are millions of other Canadians waiting for us to get to work, to get to committee and to get Bill C-32 passed so that the people who need the help the most can get those supports when they need them the most.

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Context: House Hansard - 131 - Nov/21/22

Hon. Randy Boissonnault

Nov/21/22 12:17:14 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-32

Madam Speaker, the only dog that we have in this fight is getting supports to Canadians. I am never going to apologize for or run away from lowering taxes on growing small businesses. Maybe the Conservatives have difficulty reading that, because every time we have lowered taxes on Canadians, the Conservatives have voted against it. We are talking about taking interest off federal loans for apprentices and students. We are talking about reducing taxes for small businesses. We are talking about making housing more affordable. With 18 hours of debate, 120 interventions and more time for clause-by-clause when it gets to committee, it is time the Conservatives stopped obstructing and let us get it past second reading and get these supports into the hands of Canadians.

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Context: House Hansard - 131 - Nov/21/22

Hon. Randy Boissonnault

Nov/21/22 12:19:02 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-32

Madam Speaker, the point of the matter is that the fall economic statement would do three things: It would provide supports to Canadians who need it the most at a time when they need it the most; it would give us extra fiscal firepower so we can manage whatever the world throws at us in the coming months; and it would also put generational investments in the competitiveness of our economy and the ability of our economy to grow, so we can grow and see inflation reduced over time. We are talking about families that want the ability to save for their first home. That is embedded in this legislation. Students and apprentices have already asked us to please get rid of the interest on their student loans. Apprentices and students want the interest gone. We would also make it easier for companies to grow and scale in this country, paying lower taxes.

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Context: House Hansard - 131 - Nov/21/22

Hon. Randy Boissonnault

Nov/21/22 12:20:32 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-32

Madam Speaker, the government has multiple projects on the go at the same time. That is why, as a country and a government, we need more hours of debate in the House to explore all the issues before us. Extending sitting hours in the House of Commons has nothing to do with today's situation. The fact is that Canadians need support. We have had 18 hours of debate and 120 interventions, and the clause-by-clause study will be carried out in committee. Canadians need these support measures. That is why we are here today.

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Context: House Hansard - 131 - Nov/21/22

Hon. Randy Boissonnault

Nov/21/22 12:22:04 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-32

Madam Speaker, the hon. member is about to vote against tax credits that, quite frankly, are essential to Alberta, tax credits for green investments and for hydrogen. I am not sure if the member heard, but my hon. colleague, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, was very clear in this House on Friday when he told the House and Canadians about the fact that we had a $300-million investment in Air Products in Alberta, and that we will build a $1.6-billion net-zero hydrogen complex, the largest in the world, right in Alberta. I am never going to stand here and say that we are somehow restraining or constraining the oil and gas sector in Alberta. In fact, we are doing the opposite with pathways and with our shared contribution to making sure we get to net zero. We are going to make sure we get to net zero with the oil and gas industry, making sure Alberta and Canada continue to be the fourth-largest producer of oil and gas. The Conservatives can vote against tax incentives for Alberta petroleum. I will not.

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Context: House Hansard - 131 - Nov/21/22

Hon. Randy Boissonnault

Nov/21/22 12:24:13 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-32

Madam Speaker, I respect the hon. colleague and his views on this very serious matter of the existential threat of climate change. On Friday, in my riding of Edmonton Centre, I met with the president of the Alberta Federation of Labour, Gil McGowan. We had a long and detailed conversation about greening the economy and making sure we are working with workers who are going to be responsible for greening the sector. Who is going to green the sector? It is not government, but the workers and companies walking down the path of making sure we focus on emissions, which is why we put billions of dollars in budget 2022 for carbon capture, use and storage. My friend from Calgary can be upset about the fact that we are supporting Alberta industry, which is more than he did when he was a provincial minister, but I can tell the House that we are here, focused on oil and gas, focused on the future and focused on reducing our emissions. Today is about getting to vote, so Canadians can have what they need in their pockets, which is more money.

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Context: House Hansard - 131 - Nov/21/22

Hon. Randy Boissonnault

Nov/21/22 12:26:00 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-32

Madam Speaker, I heard my hon. colleague's remarks on this and I agree that the value of a post-secondary education accrues to the student and that, on average, they are able to have a good life. Whether they are an apprentice or a student in the arts, philosophy, science, engineering or STEM, the point is that this is a mechanism we can use to make life more affordable for the students, young professionals and young workers we need right now, to make sure they are able to make it through this inflationary cycle. The hon. colleague knows very well that admissions numbers are part of the post-secondary system at the provincial level. That is why we made sure that indigenous and non-indigenous students could have access to more grants and loans so they could continue to study. It is this government, not the former Harper government, that has invested billions of dollars into research to make sure our universities can compete on the global stage, so if the Conservatives want to talk about who boosted the post-secondary system, let us have a coffee and I will give them the answer.

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Context: House Hansard - 131 - Nov/21/22

Hon. Randy Boissonnault

Nov/21/22 12:28:11 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-32

Madam Speaker, that is not what I said. I guess my hon. colleague is really good at clipping subsets of comments. I said that we are focused on emissions. We have invested $100 billion into greening this country. If we go back to the last campaign, who had the plan that was rated the best to actually deal with the climate change crisis? It was not the Greens, the NDP or the Conservatives. It was the Liberal Party. We are focused on emissions. We are focused on making sure that we have hydrogen as part of our energy mix. We have phased out coal. We are making sure that we have industry partners that are part of this reduction of emissions, so we can heat our homes and power the world, and do so in an environmentally friendly way.

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Context: House Hansard - 131 - Nov/21/22

Hon. Randy Boissonnault

Nov/21/22 12:29:44 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-32

Madam Speaker, as members know very well, we have indicated very clearly in the fall economic statement that we want to continue to double the GST credit. Millions of seniors across the country could benefit from that. We have also made it very clear that conversations are taking place with the provincial health ministers. The thing that matters today is that we lower the interest on federal loans for apprentices and students, reduce taxes for small and medium-sized businesses that want to grow here in Canada, and make it more affordable for people to buy a home. These are very important measures for Canadians. That is why we want this bill to move on to third reading stage.

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Context: House Hansard - 131 - Nov/21/22

Hon. Randy Boissonnault

Nov/21/22 12:31:17 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-32

Madam Speaker, I understand the economics of making sure that supports are in place, such as CPP and EI, for people who need it the most when they want it the most. It is a particular Conservative trope to try to raid these important supports that Canadians build up over a lifetime. Let us just be really clear that, when it comes to the supports in the fall economic statement, they have been very carefully calibrated not only to provide supports to Canadians who need it the most at a time when they need it the most, but also to not increase inflation and to put billions of dollars against the deficit. Canada has the lowest deficit in the G7, the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7 and a AAA credit rating based on Moody's and the other agencies. The economic fundamentals of this country are strong and we need to get this bill to committee and to third reading so Canadians can get the supports.

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Context: House Hansard - 131 - Nov/21/22

Hon. Randy Boissonnault

Nov/21/22 12:33:25 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-32

Madam Speaker, I respect my hon. colleague and his comments on making sure we use time efficiently in the House. I will take his comment under advisement and discuss it with the government House leader. Today is about making sure we can get Bill C-32 to committee so we can get back here for third reading, and then we would be able to get housing supports to people, get student loan interest removed for apprentices and students, reduce taxes on small businesses and do all the other good things for growing the economy that are included in the fall economic statement.

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Context: House Hansard - 131 - Nov/21/22

Hon. Randy Boissonnault

Nov/21/22 12:34:54 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-32

Madam Speaker, I will point the hon. colleague to my mandate letter, which talks about working with a number of colleagues in cabinet on the futures fund. Quite frankly, we are moving past this conversation of just transition to really talking about the evolution of energy, and more importantly, sustainable jobs. We are working at the community level to make sure people have the training and supports they need to have the jobs they want and need in a whole range of industries. We are going to continue to do what we need to do to heat our homes, power our communities, power the world, reduce emissions and make sure good-paying jobs are in rural Saskatchewan, rural Alberta and across rural Canada.

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Context: House Hansard - 131 - Nov/21/22

Hon. Randy Boissonnault (Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance, Lib.)

Nov/21/22 2:31:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I respect my colleague and his question. In the budget, we asked the banks to pay their fair share. We increased the tax rate for banks. In our fall economic statement, we implemented a 2% tax on share buybacks. Here in Canada, we are asking every business and every individual to pay their fair share of taxes. We have an affordability plan, and it includes having businesses and individuals pay their fair share.

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Context: House Hansard - 131 - Nov/21/22

Hon. Randy Boissonnault (Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance, Lib.)

Nov/21/22 3:08:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, our government implemented a plan to fight climate change. Let me just say that the only plan the Conservatives and their leader have offered up is encouraging Canadians to invest in crypto. A leadership role comes with responsibilities. When will the Conservative Party leader apologize to the people who lost their life savings because they followed his advice? It is criminal.

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