44th Parl. 1st Sess.
February 14, 2023 10:00AM
- Feb/14/23 3:14:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is always great to rise to address the House on a very important topic, which is the opposition motion today.
Since being elected in 2015, the government that I am part of has put middle-class Canadians first and has been there to assist Canadians working very hard to join the middle class.
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- Feb/14/23 3:14:57 p.m.
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Our government is well aware that many Canadian families are struggling to make ends meet. Families across the country are facing a rising cost of living and high inflation.
We know Canadian families have endured a lot these last couple of years, including COVID and the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine by Russia, which has caused economic consequences such as inflation. Our government has been there to assist Canadians as we go through these events. We have also been there to put down a long-term plan for economic growth and for job creation. That is what we are seeing. We see Canada at a level of 126% with regard to job numbers. That means our economy is growing and Canadians are working and finding employment, but we do face some challenges.
Canadians are feeling the pinch when they buy groceries, fill up with gas, and pay their rent or mortgage.
However, I would like to remind my hon. colleagues that inflation is high around the world and that no one is being spared, sadly. Canada has never been immune to it.
As we know, we have been through a once-in-a-generation pandemic, and we are still suffering the consequences.
China's zero-COVID policy resulted in plant closures and supply chain disruptions, and the impact is still being felt around the world. We are still grappling with the economic impact of Vladimir Putin's illegal and brutal invasion of Ukraine.
These factors continue to hinder the flow of goods, creating shortages and exacerbating price increases.
Prices have gone up in Canada, and inflation has taken hold. Thankfully, we have seen some strong indicators that inflation is slowing down and it is coming under control.
We put in place a number of policies in the last year to help Canadians. We doubled the GST tax credit, which helped over 11 million Canadians in this beautiful country. We implemented a $500 supplement for Canadian renters, which over 500,000 Canadians have utilized. We instituted a dental care plan, and in the initial step, over 200,000 children went to see the dentist in 2022, and this year they have received benefits from that. Those are real, tangible measures where we help on affordability.
At the same time, we laid the foundation through the fall economic statement, through our budget 2022 and the forthcoming budget 2023, where we continue to grow the economy. We demonstrate the values of why Canadians have sent us here to the House to build an economy based on inclusive economic growth, where every Canadian succeeds. It allows them to fulfill their potentials and their passions in life. Those fundamental policies that we put in place reflect our values of building a strong and inclusive economy and an economy that works for all Canadians.
Our national day care and early childhood learning plan that we put in place has reduced fees in the province of Ontario by over 50%. For example, at the day care that my beautiful daughter, whom I love so much, attends, the fees have gone from $1,500 a month to $700 a month. That is a savings of almost $800 for families. We are very blessed. This is for families not only in that day care but also day cares across Canada. It is very important to identify for Canadians how we are helping.
We put policies in the fall economic statement. We are reacting, much like the Europeans are reacting, to the IRA and the CHIPS Act from the United States. We will ensure that we entice investment to this country.
Last night, I was joined by the Minister of Innovation in a meeting with representatives from Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters. They talked about the opportunities that Canada has for job creation, for growth, and to continue generating economic growth and prosperity for all Canadians. It is not just for the top 5% or 10%, but it is for all Canadians. That is what is important. That is what is driving us.
On affordability, we put in place two massive cuts to reduce taxes and put more money in the pockets of Canadians through our tenure. We cut taxes for the middle class. We raised the basic personal expenditure amount to $15,000. Just that one measure means $350 to $400 a year extra in the pockets of seniors, students and individual working-class Canadians, those who go to work, save every day, work hard, do the right thing and who want to create a better future for their families. We have their backs.
During COVID, we put in place measures that would prevent the scarring of our economy, which is something I do not believe the official opposition understands, so our economy could bounce back very quickly from the pandemic when the economy opened up, and it did, faster than almost every other developed economy. We were there. We supported our businesses and workers, which was so important.
On trade, the opposition motion talks about items that are very important to Canadian citizens, but it ignores the circumstances that we have come through, such as COVID, the war in Ukraine and supply-chain issues, which are being ironed out. We need to put in place that long-term economic plan, which we are continuing to do. It is so great to be part of a government that understands that not only is it important to take care of the affordability factor, which we are doing with these measures, but it is also very important to continue putting in place measures that will support economic growth.
We just had the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance in northern Ontario to announce with the provincial government a very large energy storage project, $200 million or $300 million. We are partnering with other levels of government. We know that the transition is taking place within the energy sector. We know the transition is taking place to cleaner, lower GHG energy sources. We are there, again, dealing with the long-term issues that face us, but also assisting Canadians with a number of measures that we have implemented.
On jobs, which is very important to note, we are now at a point where our employment participation rate in Canada is at its highest on record for women. Why? We put in place a Canada child benefit. We no longer send cheques to millionaires and people who make a lot of money and really do not need it. God bless them. They work hard, they pay their taxes and they create jobs but they do not need that monthly cheque of a hundred bucks. We sent it to families who needed it the most. Those are based on the values of this government to ensure that middle-class Canadians and those working hard to join the middle class have that opportunity.
God bless the entrepreneurs. I have so many of them in the city of Vaughan, and it makes my heart warm because I know they are working hard and they are creating tens of thousands of jobs. God bless them. We will always be there to support them. Whether it is through putting in place policies like the strategic innovation fund, the Canada growth fund and the Canada Infrastructure Bank and ensuring taxes are competitive versus our peers, we will always be there for the entrepreneurs. Our values guide us to ensure that those hard-working Canadians, those middle-class Canadians working hard and those working hard to join the middle class have that opportunity.
For students, we eliminated the interest on student debt and apprenticeship loans. It is very appreciated by all the private sector unions. It is very appreciated by the Carpenters Union and its trade headquarters in my riding. It is very appreciated by LiUNA Locals 183 and 506. Local 183's training centre and its headquarters are in my riding. It is very appreciated by the hard-working electricians, millwrights and tinsmiths. It is not like the Conservatives who put in place anti-union legislation that we had to repeal. That is their record, so they can stand and take responsibility for it.
With respect to the Canada workers benefit, we put in place measures to help a lot of individuals, which was good to see.
We have much more work to do. We have a budget coming out. Competitiveness and productivity is something I am very proud of as well as economic growth. That is what our government is delivering upon day in and day out.
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- Feb/14/23 3:25:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will be more than happy to explain the math. In the province of Ontario, the federal government came to an agreement with the Province of Ontario to implement a national day care accord. The first reduction was a 50% reduction by the end of 2022, which was done. Now we will work toward a $10-a-day reduction.
Is the member opposite forgetting that the Conservative Party just voted for Bill C-35 to support the national day care plan or are you going back on that already?
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- Feb/14/23 3:27:06 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his very important question about housing across Canada. We have to do many things to reduce the cost of housing.
We need to do everything we can on the housing front, working with all partners and collaborating with the provinces, municipalities and regions. That is how our country is made, and that is what we must do. We unveiled the rapid housing initiative and the national housing strategy.
The Bloc Québécois member has many ideas.
I encourage the member to put forward those ideas to the government, and we will most certainly look at them, as we would any good idea that comes forward.
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- Feb/14/23 3:28:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, since 2015, we have put in place a number of measures, beginning with asking the wealthiest in Canada to pay a little extra on their personal income taxes. We even increased corporate tax rates on a number of different sectors with the Canada recovery dividend tax that we put in place. We put in place a special tax on share repurchases by corporations, which will be coming into effect.
We always look at measures that will improve the competitiveness of our economy, but also ensure that the government is collecting the revenues to produce and to provide the services Canadians depend on day in and day out.
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- Feb/14/23 3:29:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the indexing of all benefits will allow Canadians to alleviate inflation. We allowed increases for old age security, GIS, the Canada child benefit and a number of programs that we put in place to benefit Canadians and help with affordability. Our government is about helping Canadians and having the backs of Canadians, whether it is today or tomorrow.
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