SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 150 - Jan/31/23

Mr. Terry Beech (Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Lib.)

Jan/31/23 3:14:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is important to everyone in this chamber that everyone pays their fair share of taxes. That is why we decreased taxes for the middle class by increasing them for the top 1%. We actually introduced a 15% recovery dividend to banks and insurance companies, which is going to bring in about 4 billion dollars' worth of income. We have put in place a permanent 1.5% tax on profits over $100 million. This has allowed us to make life more affordable for Canadians. It has also allowed us to lower taxes for small businesses.

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Context: House Hansard - 150 - Jan/31/23

Mr. Terry Beech (Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Lib.)

Jan/31/23 6:02:51 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I think we have to say that we all know global inflation is stretching the budgets of many Canadians. This is why we have put together a comprehensive affordability plan. Whether someone is a student, in a young family, a working professional or a senior, our government has worked hard to make life more affordable and to build an economy that works for everyone. While Canada's inflation is down from 8.1% to 6.3%, and has continued to trend down over the last six months, it is still far too high. Our fiscal prudence to date has ensured that Canada's inflation levels have remained below those of our economic peers, including the United States, which is currently at 6.5%; Europe, at 9.2%; and the United Kingdom and the OECD, each of which are over 10%, but there is obviously more work to do. Our government's track record of continuously ensuring that we lower our debt-to-GDP ratio, outside of the pandemic, has helped assure that Canada has retained its AAA credit rating. In fact, Canada now enjoys both the lowest deficit and the lowest net debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7. Our job recovery plan has also paid dividends. We have recovered 121% of jobs lost since the pandemic; that is 659,000 jobs created by Canadians. It is this economic strength that allows our government to fund programs like the GST rebate, an initiative that helped 11 million Canadians, more than 50% of our seniors, cope with the increases in prices. I think this is an excellent example to share in the House tonight, and to start with, because it is an initiative that my hon. colleague supported. I rightfully thank him and his party for their support. We have also taken other measures, such as eliminating interest on student loans and introducing dental care for children under 12. In fact, I am happy to report that more than 150,000 children have now had a chance to see a dentist, thanks to the program, which lifts a significant burden from those kids' parents. Those parents should also benefit from our Canada child benefit and our new child care program. The Conservatives said child care was wasteful, but now they seem to be leaning toward supporting it. I welcome their support. It is a great program that will allow hundreds of thousands of parents to go back to work. This is good for young families, and it is also good for our kids and our economy. I think putting a price on pollution will be a similar lesson for Conservatives. They are opposing it today, despite the fact that they supported it in the last election. They campaigned on it, in fact. It was a worse version of it, but it was putting a price on pollution nonetheless. Contemporary Conservative policy is actually pretty hard to follow overall, ever since the new leader took over. If we look closely at the solutions they suggested, we will discover that they are not solutions at all. They want to raid the pension benefits of seniors. That is the payroll taxes my friend opposite was referring to. They want to stop fighting climate change. That is the “triple, triple, triple” or eliminating the price on pollution. Their plan is literally to make pollution free again. The leader of their party has even recklessly offered investment advice, and now many Canadians took that advice and lost their life savings as a result. The Leader of the Opposition does not think it is reckless, does not think it is inappropriate and will not even apologize for it. We, as a government, are going to continue finding innovative and responsible solutions to make Canada more affordable, to create high-paying sustainable jobs and to build an economy that works for everyone.

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Context: House Hansard - 150 - Jan/31/23

Mr. Terry Beech

Jan/31/23 6:07:28 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I think if individuals were to objectively go through the speech I presented with the solutions that are being proposed by the government, in fact some of those solutions are already implemented, and the non-solutions I also presented on behalf of some of the things the Conservatives have brought forward over the last six months, I think that they would see objectively that we are actually doing things that are helping make life more affordable for Canadians. At the same time, we are doing it in a fiscally prudent way to make sure we get inflation under control. We can help get Canadians through these tough times in an appropriate and responsible way while simultaneously ensuring the government acts with prudence while addressing the impacts of global inflation.

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