44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 1, 2023 11:00AM
Mr. Speaker, certainly the focus of the conversation in the House is on the budget and the budget implementation bill.
We are very pleased to bring forward a budget that focuses on affordability for Canadians, health care and dental care for Canadians and the transition to a prosperous, green economy in the future. We certainly want to move forward with the budget implementation bill, including the automatic advance for the Canada workers benefit and a range of other measures.
It is important for us to actually have this conversation, but it is also important to move this bill through to committee.
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Mr. Speaker, we heard the Minister of Natural Resources reference the just transition, the transition to a renewable economy and we heard him reference the VW deal.
As a New Democrat, and recognizing today is May Day, one of the things I think is incredibly important in this conversation is the idea of equivalency. That when workers in the oil patches of Alberta are being transitioned, that they are not just being sent to some job retraining centre and they are actually given prevailing wages and equivalency in their work.
I have not quite heard the government tell Canadians, tell working-class people, those who are currently in a carbon economy, what its plan is to ensure that, when announcement like a $13-billion deal is set for a corporation, it is the workers who are not left behind.
I will say this on May Day, on international labour day, that it cannot just be about talking about jobs. It needs to be talking about good work, good unionized work with benefits and pensions and the security a collective agreement provides. Can the hon. Minister of Natural Resources please enlighten us on the government's plan to make sure the billions of dollars it is sending to corporations actually make it to the tables and bank accounts of working-class Canadians?
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Mr. Speaker, I want to assure my colleague that we are very focused on creating good jobs for Canadians going forward. That was really the focus of the work that was done on the sustainable jobs action plan. If one reads the document, it is focused on creating good jobs and economic opportunity in every province and territory in this country.
If we reflect on the investment tax credits that are part of the economic strategy to create those jobs, there are labour requirements that are baked into the investment tax credits. We have been working very closely with the labour movement across the country, but, in particular, the labour movement in Alberta, as we move through this. We are very focused.
I would also say that my concern about the future with respect to the economy is that this economy and the opportunities that are available to Canada are going to enable us to create so many jobs if we are to seize those opportunities. We are actually talking about skill shortages and the need for us to be upgrading and retraining people, ensuring that we are bringing the right skills into Canada.
We have enormous economic opportunities in this country. We intend to seize them and we are certainly going to work with the labour movement and with industry to do so.
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Mr. Speaker, I would start by encouraging my hon. colleague to look at Canada's critical minerals strategy, which has been lauded by business organizations and governments across this country. It will enable us to move forward in a thoughtful and strategic way. We, of course, need to be working to ensure that our regulatory and permitting processes are as efficient as possible. Certainly, what Stephen Harper did, by gutting the environmental assessment process, set us back a long way.
The Impact Assessment Act enables us to take steps forward, but we are continuing to work internally. We are working with provinces and territories to expedite things. I would just note that the Mining Association of Canada, in responding to the budget, noted that Canada “is a leading mining nation, producing some of the lowest carbon materials and metals” and that this budget “recognizes our industry’s central role in [accelerating] the transition to a net zero economy and building [a strong economic] future”.
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Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise today to debate Bill C-47, the budget implementation act, 2023. The budget shows our commitment to strong, sustainable economic growth while supporting the most vulnerable among us and moving toward a greener future for Canadians.
By investing in our physical and social infrastructure and by seizing the unprecedented opportunities at hand in clean energy and critical supply chains, Canada will become a world leader in the economy of tomorrow. That is exactly the vision we have as a federal government, and that is exactly what is reflected in our budget.
Before delving deeper into the budget implementation act, I want to take a step back and take stock of where we find ourselves after three tumultuous years, three years marked by a global pandemic, by war, by global economic instability, by supply chain breakdowns, the list goes on. Despite the proclamations of some in this chamber, I would like to speak today about where we are as a country and why we are privileged to be here in Canada, despite the tumultuous times that we have faced.
In fact, Canada is one of the best places to be in the world right now. As we sit in this chamber, Canada’s inflation rate is the lowest is has been since 2021, despite continued global inflationary pressures. In fact, Canada’s inflation rate has decreased consistently over the last nine months.
Our fiscal balance sheet remains by far the best among among G7 counties, with both the lowest debt and the lowest deficit. Our AAA credit rating was just recently reaffirmed. Our economic growth was the strongest of all G7 countries over the last year. Nearly 900,000 jobs have been created and the labour force participation of women is at an all-time high in our country. These are facts.
What I hear from Canadians in my community and throughout the country is that these tumultuous times are difficult, that the instability the world is seeing is impacting our economy, our political institutions and our lives, but that we need a responsible government, that we need responsible leadership and that Canadians are thankful for that leadership in us.
At a time of global economic and geopolitical instability, our government continues to focus on managing our finances responsibly while investing in the future of our country. That is what our budget does. Speaking of responsible management, I want to quickly mention the tentative agreement that was reached between the government and the public service union this morning. It is a balanced agreement that respects employees of the public service and the Canadian taxpayers who are funding it.
We are committed to protecting the collective bargaining process both now and in the future. That is why, in our budget, we have committed to introducing legislation this year to ban the use of replacement workers during a strike or lockout in order to protect that very important right. That is just one of the many measures in budget 2023 that invests in Canada's workforce, because we know that the only way to realize our ambitions for the economy of tomorrow is to invest in Canadian workers. Whether they work in auto manufacturing, construction, aerospace, smelting or fisheries, our workers will lead the just, green transition that we want. Our budget focuses on them.
This budget builds on the foundations our government has built over the past few years to make life more affordable and create well-paying jobs. I would like to highlight a few lesser-known measures in the budget about which Canadians may not yet have heard.
Let me begin with one measure that would significantly support small business owners across the country. For small businesses, we have reduced credit card transaction fees that allow them to reduce their costs and improve their bottom lines. This will make a huge difference.
For Canadians who need to borrow, cracking down on predatory lending by lowering the criminal interest rate by over 25% will make a real difference.
For consumers, we are tackling junk fees in this budget. Those are added costs that make our bills higher. From extra roaming fees to excessive baggage fees, tackling these will make a real difference.
For workers, imposing fair labour requirements for clean-tech workers and extending employment insurance support for seasonal workers will make a real difference. For people looking to enter the trades or the job market for the first time, our doubling of the tax credit for tools will make a real difference.
For first-time homebuyers, the brand-new tax-free home savings account will make a real difference for those looking to purchase a home. For consumers, we are implementing a right to repair instead of being forced to buy new products when we do not have to. We are going to ensure that Canadians can repair what they have already bought. That is going to make a real difference.
For students, increasing Canada student loan grants by 40% and broadening the waiving of the interest on student loans will make a real difference for young people across the country.
For the third of Canadians who do not have dental insurance, our new Canadian dental plan will make a real difference.
We know that to deliver on and maintain these achievements, we need to address the looming climate crisis head-on. That is why we made the green transition the pillar of our budget 2023.
Our government's recent decision to update the social cost of carbon further underscores our commitment to solving this problem. This measure quantifies what every one of us knows, which is that every tonne of greenhouse gas emissions causes not only environmental damage, but also economic damage. This is an essential tool for conducting evidence-based cost-benefit analyses.
Although significant progress has been made, there is still a lot of work to be done to meet the target we set for 2030, namely reducing emissions by at least 40% below 2005 levels and achieving net-zero emissions by the middle of the century.
That is why our budget is focused on building the green economy of tomorrow. Our budget acknowledges the global shift to clean energy and the need to reduce our dependence on dictatorships for critical supply chains.
Unlike the Conservatives, we understand that we need to address climate change head-on, and this budget reflects that urgency with historic investments in clean technology, green infrastructure and renewable energy projects.
The thing I find most interesting about the debate around the price on pollution is that Conservatives used to be advocates for market-driven mechanisms as a means to address economic and social issues. In fact, they were in favour of a price on pollution. However, the new Conservative opposition is of a completely different ilk. It has decided that a price on pollution is not the way to go; however, we do not know what its plan is.
Our price on pollution relies on the power of the market to drive behavioural change and incentives. We would think the Conservative Party would be in favour of that. However, instead of embracing this market-driven mechanism, Conservatives have been laser-focused on demonizing pollution pricing while putting nothing else forward. This is not simply about safeguarding our planet for future generations; it is also about seizing the moment in this global race to attract investments in clean technology. According to the International Energy Agency, the global market for clean-tech manufacturing alone will triple by 2030. That is $650 billion per year.
This is an immense opportunity for Canada, and the government is seizing that opportunity.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague from Montreal mentioned the tool tax credit at the beginning of her speech. That is one provision in the budget that I think a lot of people in the trades are happy about. That said, at the same time the budget was announced, Statistics Canada outlined that there is a statistical drop in the number of people who are self-employed and starting businesses in this country. In fact, it is at a 40-year low. What that signals in our economy is that Canadians do not want to take entrepreneurial risks anymore. They do not feel that the economy is working for them.
How does the member opposite justify all those things in the budget when the reality we see is that the small business and self-employment sector of our economy is dropping off a statistical cliff?
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Mr. Speaker, the reality is that the member opposite began his question by indicating that the budget includes an important measure for entrepreneurs and an important measure for workers. When he talks about the importance of our small business owners, I could not agree with him more. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy here in Canada.
I would point the member to some of the comments made by the CFIB, the Canadian Federation for Independent Business. Its members were extremely pleased to see in our budget a long-standing request, which was to reduce credit card transaction fees. This is something that we worked on with CFIB and our entrepreneurs across the country; we got it done.
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- May/1/23 2:09:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today is Great Lakes Day.
We are reminded of this incredible resource that Canada shares with our largest trading partner, the United States of America. These bodies of water have played an incredibly vital role in our shared economy. Roughly 25% of Canada-U.S. trade happens in the Great Lakes Region; that amounts to over $270 billion. In fact, according to the Council of the Great Lakes Region, if we grouped together the states and provinces that surround the Great Lakes, we would have the third-largest GDP in the world.
Let us join together and celebrate the amazing accomplishments we have had in protecting the environment and growing the economy, but let us also recommit to protecting this incredible resource for decades to come.
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- May/1/23 3:00:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we agree that more needs to be done to help Canadians, especially at times like these, when we are just recovering from the pandemic and inflation rates are quite high.
That is why our budget addresses the priorities of Canadians. It helps those who really need it. It will help improve our health and dental care across the country and create the clean economy of the future that will enable us to meet our net-zero targets.
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- May/1/23 3:05:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives continue to talk down the Canadian economy, but on this side of the House, we know that Canada is the best country in the world. That is why I am glad to share some good news today. According to preliminary data published by Statistics Canada on Friday, Canada's GDP is on track to grow by 2.5% in the next quarter; inflation was down to 4.3% in March and the Bank of Canada predicts it will fall to 3% in the summer; and last month, S&P Global reiterated our AAA credit rating.
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Mr. Speaker, now that question period is over, my text is truly up to date. Earlier, we were talking about employment insurance, and we are extremely disappointed that it is not part of the budget.
The Bloc Québécois members are the ones that can actually stand up for Quebeckers. I often hope that the Liberals from Quebec will bring the government to its senses. If they did, we might not have the budget we have now.
Employment insurance is an economic stabilizer. Those are not my words. In fact, the Governor of the Bank of Canada said that on April 16, 2020. We were in the midst of a pandemic, and I was on the Standing Committee on Finance, and I asked Mr. Poloz a question about the need to make the EI system cover a greater number of workers than it does now. Here is what he said:
Certainly.
We've known for a long time that automatic stabilizers aren't very sensitive to the economy. In another era, one study estimated that automatic stabilization was almost equivalent to a change of less than 1% in the interest rate.
Very recently, we talked about the renewal of our target and our agreement with the government on inflation targets. We live in a world where interest rates are already lower than usual. [This was in 2020.] The tax authority doesn't have many stabilizing powers. In this respect, it might be better to have more automatic stabilizers in the system, or at least something more sensitive.
Today is May 1, 2023. It has been three years since Mr. Poloz appeared before the Standing Committee on Finance. I still remember his testimony, but what I remember more is the fact that the government failed to take action. It did not undertake a reform. It did not even listen to the experts. I feel rather discouraged.
With regard to seniors, the Liberal government likes to repeatedly tell us that it is generous, so generous that it is taking care of citizens and seniors. However, in the budget, we once again see that there is nothing for seniors. My Bloc Québécois colleagues have asked the government hundreds of times to make massive investments to increase the old age security pension as of age 65.
This winter, my colleague from Shefford organized a consultation on the needs of seniors with representatives of the FADOQ, community organizations and round tables. Everyone unanimously told us that the government should do away with the two classes of seniors. Once again, the government is dragging its feet and slow to act. I would have liked to be able to tell my constituents in Laurentides—Labelle that the government cares about them. That is what we wanted. I hoped that the government would hear what we had to say about our concerns regarding seniors' income. We even made recommendations. However, once again, the government chose to ignore Quebec's demands.
The Department of Finance decided to perpetuate the discrimination that started in the 2022 budget, which increased old age security only for seniors aged 75 years and over. According to the OECD, Canada's program is one of the worst in terms of income protection for seniors. The government needs to stop leaving seniors to struggle. They are the ones who built our society, yet the government thanks them by marginalizing them. This is preposterous. Inflation affects everyone.
Mortgage rates are going up, gas prices are going up, the cost of groceries is going up, the price of everything is going up, but old age security is not going up for seniors aged 65 to 74. This is preposterous.
I will now talk about social and community housing. According to a report released on March 8, the Laurentides RCM is trailing, along with the Pays‑d’en‑Haut RCM, which is in my riding of Laurentides—Labelle, when it comes to the state of the rental market.
I will provide some statistics. The vacancy rate in the Laurentides RCM is bordering on 0%. I worked in community services for a long time. This is unheard of. The rising cost of rent has seen one of the most significant increases in Quebec.
As I was saying at the beginning of my intervention, an hour and a half ago, in a region where nearly half of the economy is tied to tourism, people are struggling to find housing. Prices are going up because the region is beautiful and the riding of Laurentides—Labelle is a great place to live.
According to the same report, nearly one in four people spend more than 30% of their income on housing, and 30% of those people are in single parent families. That is unacceptable.
In closing, it comes as no surprise that I will be voting against this bill. As members can see, the needs of Laurentides-Labelle have been completely ignored by the Liberals and the Deputy Prime Minister. We are a proud, dynamic and strong region. We will not be taken for fools.
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Madam Speaker, that was a very important question on electric vehicles, on our economy, on Volkswagen and on what our government is doing to be there.
Our Prime Minister just announced with our Minister of Innovation one of the largest investments in our country's history for what is going to be the largest industrial plant in our history. It is going to bring over 30,000 good-paying jobs across Canada, with 3,000 jobs in St. Thomas. That is only an hour and a half away from Brampton. We know that when that plant comes up, indirect jobs will be coming up in Brampton, and I know many of my constituents are looking forward to that. In addition, we have the Stellantis plant in Brampton East, which will soon be producing electric vehicles. I know many of my constituents are excited about that too.
I think it is imperative that all of us in this House play a collective role in reducing emissions and fighting climate change.
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Madam Speaker, after the 2021 election, we got a clear message from Canadians. They wanted us to come back and actually make this Parliament work and not just stand in the corner, light our hair on fire, jump up and down, and scream.
I wanted to focus on the climate crisis through the need to invest in well-paying jobs to build a clean-energy economy. We spent the last year negotiating with the Minister of Natural Resources and the Minister of Labour.
I want to ask my hon. colleague about the importance of finally getting the tax credit incentives that are tied to well-paying union jobs and apprenticeships. We have $85 billion to kick-start a clean-tech economy, a revolution that Calgary Economic Development says will create 170,000 jobs in Alberta alone. Why do the Conservatives continue to oppose anything that has to do with a clean-tech economy?
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Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to take part in this debate on Bill C-47, an act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on March 28, 2023.
Over the past number of years, I have heard from my constituents about how difficult life is getting to sustain. They want to take care of their families and ensure they are doing well, that they are living comfortably and that they are continuing to be part of the middle class and among those who are working really hard to join the middle class. We have worked so hard over the past seven and some years to ensure that those Canadians are able to sustain themselves. Whether it is through reducing taxes on the middle classes and increasing them for the wealthiest; including early learning and child care within our Canadian system; enhancing health care; or providing supports for small businesses and students, we have been working hard to ensure that the middle class thrives.
I know, because I hear from my constituents, that people in the middle class have had trouble and have really been struggling over the past year to thrive. That is not just a Canadian problem. It is a global catastrophe that economies across the world are dealing with. However, we are really lucky that here in Canada we are doing well in comparison to the rest of the world. We are doing better than most G7 nations. We are doing better by our middle class. We are doing better by our students, by our single mothers and by our children to ensure that they are thriving despite the challenges they are faced with not just here in Canada but across the world.
Budget 2023, then, is really significant. It is really important that we make sure that those working hard to join the middle class and those who are a part of the middle class are well supported as we buckle down and ensure that we get through this and weather the storm.
What I really appreciate about budget 2023 and what I hear from my constituents is what I would like to highlight today in my remarks. That includes our grocery rebate, which would really impact the middle class in my community. They will be able to keep the lights on, work and take care of everybody in the family on a regular basis.
The budget means cracking down on junk fees to ensure that businesses are transparent with their prices. That is another way to ensure that access to the economy and to capital is fair and equitable so that those who need support are able to get support without having to be gouged for it.
The budget also means securing commitments from Visa and Mastercard to lower fees for small businesses and cracking down on predatory lending. What that means to my community and my riding of Mississauga—Erin Mills, which is a significant small business community, is that small business owners who hire five, 10, 15, 20 or 50 people in my riding will be able to save and make their overhead costs balance out because of the reduction in credit card fees. It is a big deal. It is something that I have been hearing from my constituents on a very regular basis, and I am so happy that budget 2023 ensures that we tackle this issue. This is a really important issue that businesses in my community and across Canada deal with.
Since 2015, our government's focus has been on investing in the middle class. It has been about growing the economy. It has been about strengthening Canada's social safety net and making life more affordable for Canadians. We know that investments in our economy are basically investments in Canadians. Canadians do not need handouts; they need a leg-up.
Canadians have the capacity to take care of themselves. They just want a foundation, that equality of opportunity, and, when they are down, to know that their government will look out for them. That is exactly what this government represents.
The important budget measures I have outlined really provide additional support for inflation relief. They will help put money in the pockets of people who need it the most and who need help to make life affordable. I have advocated for these measures in my role as the previous chair of the women's caucus and in my community. I am hearing directly from my constituents to ensure that their voices are carried here in this chamber.
In budget 2023, the government outlines how targeted inflation relief is going to support Canadians, including the proposed grocery rebate, which will support the many Canadians and families struggling to put food on the table due to the rising cost of groceries. For 11 million low- and modest-income Canadians and families, the one-time rebate would provide eligible couples with two children with up to an extra $467, single Canadians without children with up to an extra $234 and seniors with an extra $225 on average. This would be delivered through the GST credit system.
By targeting the grocery rebate to Canadians who need it the most, the government will be able to provide important relief without making inflation worse. Let me be clear: It is going to get better for Canadians.
As I mentioned, we know that inflation is still too high, and the steep increase in interest rates has caused economic pain for a lot of Canadians, including small businesses, which need to pay more for their lines of credit to keep business rolling and keep capital circulating. We saw that the pandemic led to an increase in people using credit cards when they shop. Canadian small businesses pay significant fees to provide Canadians with the ability to process credit card transactions. The largest component of that is the interchange fee paid to credit card issuers.
To support hard-working small business owners, budget 2023 has outlined the government's efforts to work closely with small businesses and the payment card industry to lower these fees. This includes the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, which represents over 97,000 small and medium-sized enterprises. I have had the pleasure to sit down with some of them and learn more about the challenges that small businesses, these mom-and-pop shops across our country, go through on a regular basis and how we can help.
This issue has been a number one issue not just for this year but for many years. I was really happy to see that budget 2023 addresses it with a concrete measure that is going to make small businesses more and more sustainable when doing their daily transactions as the consumer base changes and as transactions happen.
In budget 2023, the government announced that it secured commitments from Visa and Mastercard to lower fees for small businesses, while also protecting reward points for Canadian consumers, because Canadians love their reward points. Over 90% of credit card-accepting businesses in Canada will benefit from these small reductions. Small businesses will see their interchange fees reduced by up to 27% from the existing weighted average rate.
I know I have been a bit passionate in my remarks so far, and there is so much more I want to talk about, but in conclusion I just want to say how important it is for us as a government to support the little guy, whether it is students who are getting out of school and who now no longer have to pay interest on their student loans, the small business person who now has lower interest fees on credit cards or the small families having difficulty putting food on their tables that are now able to access the grocery rebate. This budget is about Canadians, and I am so happy to support it.
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- May/1/23 7:14:47 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we had an election, and in that election the member opposite supported pricing carbon pollution. That is exactly what happened. That is a fact that anybody watching at home can look up.
Canadians can count on our government to continue supporting those who need it most while carefully managing our finances and protecting our environment. We have a responsible plan, and we are doing our part to make sure we bring down global inflation in Canada. In fact, inflation has come down every month for the last nine months and is forecast to be back within the target band later this year.
Despite these global challenges, we have continued to deliver for Canadians in the areas of affordability, child care and health care, and in transitioning to a sustainable economy with good, high-paying jobs. We have done this while maintaining our AAA credit rating and the best fiscal framework in the G7. We just came off a year with the best economic growth.
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