44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 29, 2023 02:00PM
Mr. Speaker, yesterday’s budget tried to fool Canadians into thinking the Liberals had capped the tax on beer, wine and spirits, but they did no such thing. If it was actually capped, the tax would not be going up on Saturday. Canada already has one of the highest excise duty rates in the world, and the tax is still going up on Saturday, and it will still go up automatically next year.
New spending in the budget will cost $4,300 per Canadian family. The budget promises Canadians more taxes and more deficits, which means more inflation. Taxes and inflation are crushing Canadians to the point that having a beer with friends or enjoying a bottle of wine with a loved one are becoming unaffordable luxuries for the middle class and those desperately trying to cling to it.
I call on MPs to support my private member's bill to repeal the automatic escalator tax and bring back happy hour for Canadians.
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- Mar/29/23 2:24:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, one year ago, the Minister of Finance admitted that deficits add fuel to the fire of inflation.
She promised four things. She promised that the debt-to-GDP ratio would decline, but it is going up. She promised that the deficits would be reduced, but they are going up. She promised that the debts incurred due to COVID-19 would be paid down, but they are going up. She promised that the budget would be balanced in 2027, but now she is promising that it will never balance itself.
How can Canadians believe anything this minister and the Prime Minister say about money?
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- Mar/29/23 2:26:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are going to take no lessons from a Leader of the Opposition who tells Canadians to hedge on inflation by putting money into crypto.
Let us look at fiscal responsibility. Canada will have the lowest deficit and the lowest net debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7. The deficit is projected to decline every year. Public debt charges, as a share of the economy, will remain historically low. We have the strongest economic growth in the G7, with 830,000 jobs created since the beginning of the pandemic, and a record 85.7% participation of Canadian women in the labour force.
The future is bright for Canada, and this budget delivers that future.
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- Mar/29/23 2:28:39 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, they admitted that deficits drive inflation and promised restraint. Instead, what they delivered was $60 billion of brand new spending. That is $4,200 for every family in Canada. These are families that are already skipping meals because they cannot afford food, and 35-year-olds are living in their parents' basements because they cannot afford housing.
How will Canadian families carry on their backs an extra $4,200 in government costs when we are already going broke as a country?
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- Mar/29/23 2:29:53 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we had eight years of these multi-billion dollar government programs, and what has it given us? We have 40-year highs in inflation, one in five Canadians skipping meals because they cannot afford groceries, nine in 10 young people stuck in their parents' basements because they cannot afford housing, and students living in homeless shelters because the cost of living has risen so fast. These hard-working Canadians who do the work deserve a country that works for them, not an out-of-control tax-and-squander NDP budget like the one we have before us today.
When will they rein in their spending so Canadians can pay their bills?
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- Mar/29/23 2:46:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the minister of inflation said she did not want to add fuel to the inflationary fire, yet in yesterday's budget she literally threw a $43-billion jerry can on the inflationary fire that she created in the first place and literally put $4,300 of extra cost on each and every Canadian household. Inflation is at a 40-year high. Gas, groceries, home heating, mortgages and rents have all doubled because of the failed policies of the Liberal-NDP government.
In what world is it fair to add an extra $4,300 on the backs of hard-working Canadian households?
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- Mar/29/23 2:49:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday, after eight years, the Liberal government clearly demonstrated that the out-of-control spending is not over.
We have a $43-billion deficit. That is $43 billion that we do not have. That is $43 billion that our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren will have to pay back. That is $43 billion that will contribute to inflation. Furthermore, taxes will increase on Saturday.
Ultimately, the $43-billion deficit means an extra $4,200 in debt for every Canadian family.
Is the Prime Minister prepared to rise in the House and repeat his famous line, “The budget is going to balance itself”?
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- Mar/29/23 2:54:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, increases in duties such as those on alcohol can sometimes provide predictability to businesses. However, as all members of this House know, we are in an unusually high inflation situation. On April 1, the excise inflation adjustment on alcohol was set to increase by 6.3%.
I am asking the Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance to tell this House what the government is doing to assist breweries, wine makers and spirit providers in this country.
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- Mar/29/23 2:55:29 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague and friend from Etobicoke—Lakeshore and indeed all members of the Liberal caucus for raising this important issue for the government and for the hard work on the file.
In the budget we tabled yesterday, we temporarily capped the excise inflation adjustment for alcohol at 2% for one year as of April 1, 2023. This important—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Mar/29/23 2:56:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Etobicoke—Lakeshore and all Liberals for leaning in on this issue. In the budget yesterday, we capped the inflation excise tax at 2%. That is great news for the tourism sector and great news for Canadians. We listened, and we delivered.
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- Mar/29/23 2:57:45 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if they really cared about the price of food, they would decrease the carbon tax because then Canadians would not need a grocery rebate.
A food professor, Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, said the grocery rebate is not going to help because it is the carbon tax and not climate change that is driving food inflation, and he is right. The Liberals' new spending in this year's budget would cost every Canadian $4,300 a year, and when the Liberals triple the carbon tax, it will cost Alberta families a net loss of $2,200 a year. How many families are going to have to go hungry before the Liberals realize that this is a mistake, and axe the carbon tax?
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- Mar/29/23 4:10:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is insane.
The government has already caused the highest inflation in 40 years by doubling the national debt and adding more to our debt than all the other prime ministers in the history of this country combined. He admitted that government spending is increasing the cost of living for ordinary Canadians.
For three years, I have been warning the House of Commons. The so-called experts, including the Governor of the Bank of Canada, former finance minister Bill Morneau and others, have admitted that the government's spending is driving up inflation. The minister herself finally came to that same conclusion. Two weeks ago, she said that she did not want to add fuel to the fire of inflation, so yesterday, we expected the government to introduce a budget that would curb the inflationary spending that is harming ordinary Canadians. What we got was the exact opposite.
The Liberals made four promises, but they broke them all. They said that the debt-to-GDP ratio would decline, but every year, it goes up. They said that the deficits would come down but they are going up. They said that the pandemic debt incurred would be paid down. It has not been and it continues to rise. Finally, they said that the budget would be balanced in 2027. Now, they admit there will never be a balanced budget.
We realize that the government can only give what it has taken. The government has no money. Every cent spent by the government must come from taxpayers. There are three ways to pay for expenditures: through inflation, by printing money; through debt; and through taxes. This government has chosen those three methods.
I am going to share some shocking figures about government expenditures with my colleagues. I would like to thank the official opposition's innovation, science and industry critic, the member for South Shore—St. Margarets, for this data. The budget sets total expenditures for the next five years at a record $3.1 trillion.
An hon. member: Billion.
Hon. Pierre Poilievre: Mr. Speaker, it is not a billion; we are talking about a trillion. We have a problem here. There is not actually a word for trillion in the French language. It does not actually exist. The government's debt is so big it violates the Official Languages Act.
Today I am announcing that we will be filing a complaint with the Commissioner of Official Languages.
The reality is that it is 3,000 billion dollars. That is how much the Liberals are going to spend over the next five years. That is more than this country's annual economy.
Then, if these numbers are to be believed—but their numbers are never to be believed—and if they do not increase spending until the end of their term, the projected deficits will add another $130 billion to the national debt. The national debt will reach a record $1.3 trillion. Interest on the national debt will increase from $44 billion today to $50 billion in five years, if the interest rate calculations are correct.
That is not all. The Prime Minister laughed when a reporter asked him how we were going to pay for all this debt. He said it was not an issue, that interest rates were low, that we were never going to have to pay for this spending. That was two years ago. Two years ago, he said interest rates were going to stay low for the rest of our lives.
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- Mar/29/23 7:12:11 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate my hon. colleague's concern for Canadians dealing with the rising cost of living.
It is true that throughout the world, people are living in times of economic uncertainty. Inflation is driving up the price of necessities like groceries and rent and Canadians have been feeling it greatly. I certainly agree with the hon. member.
Canada Post was there for us as the needs of Canadians changed dramatically in recent years, connecting this country from coast to coast to coast. We know that Canadians continue to rely on the essential service that Canada Post provides us.
The inflationary pressures are happening across the board, including at Canada Post, where the cost of its operations has risen. It should be noted that this Crown corporation is funded by the sales of its products and services. This government has consistently worked with Canada Post to ensure that Canadians get the services they need. Those actions include searching for opportunities to improve the financial sustainability of its operations, which are so vital to us all.
While Canada Post operates at arm's length from government, as the Minister of Public Service and Procurement stated in this House, we are monitoring this issue of fuel surcharges closely. Canada Post manages the largest transportation network in Canada and fuel surcharges are applied year-round, which is a standard industry practice for parcel shippers.
I can say that fuel surcharges are being reviewed every week and are lowered and raised based on the average price of diesel across the country.
We know that Canada Post greatly values its relationship with all Canadians and the investments that are being made in its operations and client service are all in the name of meeting its mandate to serve every address in Canada while remaining financially self-sustaining.
When it comes to dealing with higher costs of living, the Government of Canada is working hard to make life more affordable for Canadians. That is what the budget was all about.
For example, our government is supporting about 3.5 million families annually, through the tax-free Canada child benefit. We have increased old age security benefits for seniors over 75 by 10%.
We have reduced the cost of regulated child care by 50% on average across the country. We are also strengthening the Canada pension plan and enhancing the Canada workers benefit for our lowest paid and often most essential.
Let me conclude by saying that we are building on these supports in our latest budget, for example, through the newly proposed grocery rebate that I know the hon. member will support. Budget 2023 will deliver targeted inflation relief for 11 million Canadians and families who need it most.
Our government will continue to be there for Canadian families.
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