SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 218 - Jun/21/23

Jun/21/23 8:42:37 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, the marginal effective tax rate for people making under $50,000 is more than 50%, so when the member is calling for tax hikes, he is hurting the most vulnerable. The reality is that in Canada the corporate tax rate is 12% and in the rest of the OECD it is 9%, which is 30% to 40% higher. Neil Brooks, NDP member and my law professor, said to me many years ago that corporations do not pay taxes, but workers, shareholders and employees do. Therefore, when the member wants to slash and burn corporations, he is hurting workers, and that is what the NDP desperately needs to understand.

110 words

Mrs. Cheryl Gallant (Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, CPC)

Jun/21/23 8:43:25 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise on behalf of the fiscally responsible constituents of Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke. The Ottawa Valley is as diverse as it is beautiful. The average day of a soldier in Petawawa is very different from a farmer's day. A nuclear scientist in Deep River has challenges very different from those of a logger in Wilno. Despite their different backgrounds and different daily routines, every single one of them understands what it means to be fiscally responsible. Listening to the Liberals and my colleagues, it seems as though the government has a different understanding. For most Canadians, to be responsible with money is to live within their means. Our finance minister's understanding of fiscal responsibility seems to be torn from the pages of a Disney fairy tale. Like a naive, entitled Disney princess, the finance minister has advice to Canadians struggling with inflation: “Let them eat Netflix.” Canadians should set aside the minister's advice on how to save on streaming costs. As with every other policy priority, the Liberals' goal is to make life unaffordable. This costly coalition's online streaming tax will only increase the cost of enjoying a movie. This costly coalition's carbon tax will triple the costs of anything that requires energy, which is everything. This costly coalition's clean fuel regulations will make gasoline more expensive, while simultaneously ruining two-stroke engines as a result of the added ethanol. This costly coalition's latest budget will only spur more inflation. Every extra dollar the out-of-control socialist coalition borrows and spends puts pressure on the Bank of Canada to increase interest rates. Every rate hike means more money going to wealthy bondholders and less money for critical services and national security. Canadians are drowning in a sea of rising inflation, and the Liberal plan is to throw water bottles at them. During his recent speech on the budget, the Conservative leader quoted from Ecclesiastes: What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. When it comes to the government, that quote hits hard. Canadians are learning that there is nothing new under the son of Pierre Trudeau. Just like his father, he swept to power with a mania that seemed to capture the spirit of the times. Within four years, that spirit was dead, and disillusioned Canadians returned a minority government. Like father, like son: Both cut expensive deals with the NDP. Both of them repudiated the fiscal policies of their Liberal predecessors. If someone told me when I was first elected that I would feel pity for the legacy of Paul Martin, I would have suggested they seek professional help, and here we stand in the wreckage and ruins of Canada's consensus that budgets should be balanced. After eight years of Pierre Trudeau, Canadians found themselves living with stagflation. After 16 years of Pierre Trudeau, Canada was on the brink of bankruptcy. Pierre Trudeau was in power for 16 years, and it took another 16 years just to get back to balance. After eight years of the current Prime Minister, the situation might be even worse than it was in 1984. As much as the Prime Minister would like to live in a fantasy world where budgets balance themselves, Conservatives believe in reality-based policy. The hard truth some Canadians will need to relearn is that progressive socialism always fails everywhere it is tried, because eventually they run out of other people's money. Unfortunately, progressive socialists never admit that they are economically illiterate and historically blind. When they have taxed away all of Canadians' income, they will come for their savings next. When progressive socialists turn government into a gravy train, we should not be surprised that groups of people begin to fight for the best seats on board, but it does not have to be this way, and it is not too late for the government to change course. That is why Conservatives are calling on the government to come back with a plan to balance the budget. Canadians should remember that the Liberals claimed that they did have a plan. Originally, the plan was to run itsy-bitsy deficits of $10 billion for two years.

719 words

Mrs. Cheryl Gallant

Jun/21/23 8:48:25 p.m.
Watch

That extra $20 billion over two years was supposed to be invested in infrastructure. What happened when the plan met reality? They doubled their deficits and managed not to spend a single dollar on infrastructure. The Prime Minister thought he could snap his fingers and force the public service to get shovels in the ground. When that plan failed, he hired his friends at McKinsey to form a special advisory council, which recommended that the Liberals create an infrastructure bank as a way to leverage pension funds into investing in public infrastructure. In 2017, when the budget was supposed to be balanced, the Liberals announced plans for an infrastructure bank and even bigger deficits. Coincidentally, when the Liberals needed someone to run their expensive new bank, they appointed one of the members from the special advisory council, who just happened to be the head of the pension fund. At this point, Canada had taken on twice as much debt as the Liberals had promised; still, not a single new infrastructure project had been built. Coincidentally, when the fake infrastructure bank finally announced the first project it would be funding, it just so happened that the project was the very same one the head of the bank had previously lobbied for. The Liberals were so impressed that they made the head of the infrastructure bank the deputy finance minister. That would be the same deputy who oversaw this terrible budget, which commits massive subsidies to foreign tech companies and provincial electricity utilities. Coincidentally, that deputy finance minister and former infrastructure bank head has now left Ottawa to head up a provincial electricity utility. It is just truly remarkable how many coincidences pile up around Liberals and tax dollars, as when some advertising agencies all started making large donations to Liberals after receiving large contracts from the Liberals, or when the government ignored warnings about Communist interference, while former communist cabinet minister and defrocked ambassador John McCallum was encouraging the Communists to support the Liberal Party and warning them of the threat posed by a Conservative government. It is all just a coincidence. I can see from the angry faces across the aisle just how much they appreciate hearing the hard truth. I expect one will jump up shortly to ask me when I stopped beating my husband and how much I want to cut from child care and dental care. After eight years, they have become tired and predictable. The spending on child care and dental care is a tiny fraction of the government's massive deficits. The real money is spent on giant foreign corporations and provincial electricity utilities. This is all part of their green grift. This is the Telford and Butts game plan. In Ontario, they brought the Green Energy Act into force. It drove up the cost of electricity. It forced thousands of manufacturers to leave the province and destroyed 60,000 net jobs, according to the Auditor General. They used tax dollars to subsidize green energy corporations, which coincidentally were all run by well-connected Liberals. After that disaster, they packed up their taxpayer-funded moving vans and came to Ottawa to repeat the plan all over again. The federal government has been saddled with massive deficits to pay for massive subsidies to well-connected companies. Eventually, these progressive socialists will run out of other people's money, but it will be too late by then. They will have hopped on a private jet to go surfing in Tofino. Just like in 1984, Conservatives will have to come in and clean up the mess. It took 16 years of Chrétien slashing public sector payrolls to get Canada back to balance after 16 years under Pierre Trudeau. The longer it takes to throw out this costly socialist coalition, the longer it will take to clean up this mess. Conservatives have a saying: If it is not broken, do not fix it. In 2015, Canada was not broken, and we had a balanced budget. We had passport services we could rely on. Crime was continuing on a 25-year decline. However, the Prime Minister saw Canada as a racist oppressor state that needed fixing. Now our country is broken. Our social fabric is frayed, and our democracy is under attack. It does not have to be this way. Conservatives are ready to get to work. We will balance the budget, restore order and get Canada working again.

741 words

Mr. Ken McDonald (Avalon, Lib.)

Jun/21/23 8:53:50 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, the member opposite gave a somewhat exciting speech condemning the current Liberal government, but I suppose somewhere down the road, the Conservatives will realize that not everything is as it seems. The Bloc members, for example, are saying we are supporting the oil companies too much. The Conservatives say we are ruining the oil industry by not helping it more. How do they square that circle? Yes, I will ask, what program would the Conservative Party cut to help balance the budget? Would the Conservatives cut the Canada child benefit or just make seniors work until 67 or maybe 70? That is what the Conservatives are made of; that is what they have always been made of.

119 words

Mrs. Cheryl Gallant

Jun/21/23 8:54:43 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I do not know how I am supposed to put a circle around the Bloc, but suffice it to say that we are not in agreement with the separatists on what they want to do by taxing and making fossil fuels more unaffordable when that is what is driving people to poverty and making them unable to pay for food. Our people are going hungry specifically because the Liberals are decreasing the availability of our resource, oil and gas. As far as the green experiment goes, we have lived that in Ontario. It drove up the cost of hydro to the point where people had to choose, back then, whether to heat or eat.

116 words

Mr. Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre, GP)

Jun/21/23 8:55:37 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, the member spoke about a grift. How is this for a grift? Oil and gas companies, last year alone, raised the price of fuel, on their margins alone, by 18¢ a litre. That helped the five biggest oil and gas companies to create profits of over $38 billion. On top of that, the federal government gave them what the member would call a handout of $22 billion more. How is that not the biggest grift in the country? Is the member going to stand up and say that it is time to get rid of that grift?

100 words

Mrs. Cheryl Gallant

Jun/21/23 8:56:18 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, let us talk about “grift”, or should we call it “dark green money”? Not half an hour outside of Ottawa, there is what at one time was the most massive solar farm in Ontario. It was owned and leased by the government of France. Ontario Hydro maps out all the electricity generators in Ontario; it also puts on this map how much electricity they have produced. We have been paying all the hundreds of millions, and every month, we continue to pay this green grift to the country of France. In turn, France puts it in different foundations. These foundations make it into family trust funds to eventually reward the people who directed the money in the first place. After all those millions, not one single watt of electricity has ever been generated in what used to be the largest solar farm in Ontario.

150 words

Mr. Blaine Calkins (Red Deer—Lacombe, CPC)

Jun/21/23 8:57:33 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, could my valued colleague from Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke just remind Canadians why a carbon tax is a tax on everything, why 61¢ a litre for the cost of fuel is going to make life even more unaffordable? Would she remind them that the policies of the current government are a disaster for inflation and that we need to get back to balanced budgets?

68 words

Mrs. Cheryl Gallant

Jun/21/23 8:58:00 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, the cost of fuel impacts the cost of everything. In fact, it takes fuel to manufacture fertilizer. Then they have to use energy to force the fertilizer, spread it across and ship it to the different farmers. Then it costs money to spread the fertilizer. It costs energy that comes from people's money to plant the crops. It takes energy to harvest the crops, ship the crops to the processors, process the crops into food and ship the food to stores. All this costs energy. When the Liberals drive up the taxes on energy, Canadians starve.

100 words

Mr. Michael Coteau (Don Valley East, Lib.)

Jun/21/23 8:59:03 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, it is an honour, as always, to be in the House of Commons to speak to this opposition day motion. I will be sharing my time with the member for Richmond Centre. What the House will be hearing from for the next 10 minutes is pretty much a direct contrast to what we heard for the last 15 minutes from the member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke. I am pleased to speak to this motion, because this allows me to reinforce the objective of the 2023 budget that just recently passed. We know that the Conservatives voted against that budget because they saw that the investments we were making were the opposite of the direction they feel this country should be going in. They see it as a waste of money. I have always seen this budget as an investment in people. I am proud to stand in the House of Commons and speak to this motion, because it allows me to speak about the direction of the Liberal government. There is no question that we have a challenge in Canada. I think we could all agree, on all sides of the House. There is an affordability challenge. Anywhere one goes in the country, many people are struggling. We see it every single day. If one were to go into my community, one would see that people are challenged. We agree on that. What we disagree on is how to respond to that challenge. When we can take resources and invest in children, families, health care, education, seniors and the people of Ontario, it is the best investment we could make. When we invest in our economy and infrastructure, and when we support the belief that polluting is not good for our environment, and therefore not good for our economy, these are the types of things that help define who I am and what brought me to this House. I have been elected for 20 years. It was not all in this House; I have only been here for two years. I was elected to the school board, and I was elected to the Ontario legislature. I have seen the two different responses happen over and over again. One could be at the local municipal level and see Conservative ideology jump in, of course at the Ontario legislature and here. This is nothing new to me. The Conservative game plan is always the same. If they are in opposition, they attack the way in which government is spending. They will criticize and do something to portray that there is a better way going forward, that they could offer a better solution to the challenges that we have. However, we can just look to the past and remember Harper's time in government. When we went through one of the worst economic challenges, back in 2008 and 2009, we saw how the Conservatives responded, and we paid a huge price for it. On that side of the House, people forget that Stephen Harper ran the largest deficit in the history of this country. I do not know if Conservatives remember that. Maybe they have forgotten. Stephen Harper ran the largest deficit in the history of Canada, up until COVID. This is 100% true. One just has to check the records. It seems that Conservatives have forgotten this. During that time, when we were going through our worst economic challenge, back in 2008-09, the Conservatives responded by cutting, not investing. I was around. I was at the school board and then the Ontario legislature, and I saw the cuts that the House made. I will give a couple of examples. They made the largest single cuts in the history of this country for literacy and basic skills. It is hard to imagine. When 42% of our country was struggling with some form of literacy back in 2008-09, the Harper government decided to make the largest cuts ever to literacy and basic skills. Even the statistics by the Conference Board of Canada, a decade ago, said that a 1% increase in literacy and basic skills was like a 2.5% increase in our economy. I do not think there is anyone in the House who could deny the correlations among literacy, education and economic output. No one could deny that. However, the Conservatives made cuts. Let us talk about immigration. In 2011-12, during that challenging time, the Harper government decided to cut health care services to immigrants. Anyone in Canada knows that part of our economic success in this country has been from bringing newcomers into the country, having them working in the economy and boosting the economy. It is what has made Canada great since its inception. However, during those economically challenging times, the former Harper government decided to do what was unthinkable: cut health care services to immigrants and refugees. That was the response by a Conservative government. Our approach has always been different. Liberals in this country invest in education. They invest in the economy. They invest in people. I want to remind anyone who is watching that, during COVID, the Conservatives voted against investing in people. Think of their rhetoric today. They do not want to invest in people. They would rather take the approach of cutting taxes and giving money to big corporations to generate more wealth and more economy. It is based on 1978 Reagan economics, the 1980 Reaganomics ideology, which is so old. It does not work. We know it does not work, because we have seen that. We have seen it fail in the United States and we have seen it fail in Canada. What we decided to do as Liberals is to invest in people. We decided to make sure the young people in our country today have the type of investments necessary so that, when they get older, they can actually contribute to the economy. I brought this up during debate on the fall economic statement. We heard the rhetoric from the other side of the House, rhetoric that said we should not invest in dental care for children. We heard rhetoric around not investing in child care. How about a $500 rebate to help with the affordability issue of housing or different types of incentives that help Canadians, like the grocery rebate? People were debating these, saying they are not good. I will tell members that when people are down, when people are feeling like they are struggling to get by, what they need is investment so they can go ahead and build themselves up to contribute to our great economy. I want to talk about some of the changes we have seen over the last few years. Since COVID, we have seen an increase of almost 900,000 jobs in this country. Correct me if I am wrong, but something must be working if 900,000 jobs have been created since the pandemic. I will go from saying 900,000 to almost a million jobs. If almost a million jobs have been created in that time period, how can anyone on that side of the House argue that the strategy that has been put in place is not working? With a million folks working in the economy, and taking down interest levels from 8.5% to 4.4%, we are doing the best compared to other jurisdictions around the world. Almost a million jobs and cutting the inflation rate by half suggests that something is working, and our economy, the numbers, say everything. The Conservatives will twist things; it is part of the strategy they use. Conservatives will use any tool necessary to divide Canadians in order to seize power. Rather than running on ideas, beliefs and approaches, what Conservatives do is to pick and poke at anything that is frustrating a person out there in Canada, and they leverage it in such a way as to divide Canadians. Once they divide Canadians, they use that to get back into power without offering any solutions. I challenge the Conservatives' approach to building our economy. I will always stand here as a Liberal and speak about how we can invest in people, in this country and in families, and support our seniors and students. I believe without question that the approach we have taken by investing in people will be the approach that will help build Canada up to even stronger economic outputs in the future.

1410 words

Mr. Marty Morantz (Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, CPC)

Jun/21/23 9:09:09 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I listened with interest to the member's speech. He said something to the effect that Liberals do not cut anything, that they never cut anything and they always make investments. I wonder if he is aware of the most draconian budget in Canadian history, by a government that did not just cut program spending but actually also cut health transfers and education transfers to provinces. It was delivered on February 27, 1995, by then finance minister Paul Martin. I wonder if he could advise us whether he is aware of those cuts.

95 words

Mr. Michael Coteau

Jun/21/23 9:09:49 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, if one goes out there and speaks to the average Canadian, they will tell us they appreciate the work of Jean Chrétien. He is probably one of the most loved prime ministers we have had in this country, so he must have been doing something right. It is wrong for the member to take one specific incident and apply it to everything Liberals do. I can take hundreds of incidents when Conservatives have made cuts and made them part of the way they actually run government. That is just their ideology; it is what their approach has always been, and I do not think it is something the member can actually use as a comparable.

119 words

Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)

Jun/21/23 9:10:37 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, today I stood with the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs, and its members talked about the emergency we find ourselves in in Canada. We are short 15,000 volunteer firefighters. They have seen a rapid decline, while the government has been in power, of 29% of volunteer firefighters. We know they are dealing with inflation. They have not seen an increase in their firefighter tax credit since 2013, which is a decade. They are asking for $30 million to be spread out over the 90,000 firefighters each year. We are talking about less than a 5% increase in overall firefighting costs since 2013. We know public servants have seen it, and we have seen it with the private sector. Liberals continue to find billions of dollars to finance corporations. Does he not agree the government should be increasing the volunteer firefighter tax credit to help with recruitment, respect for firefighters and retention of firefighters?

157 words

Mr. Michael Coteau

Jun/21/23 9:11:36 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I am happy the member opposite brought up firefighters and acknowledged their value in our country, our provinces and our municipalities. In fact, I was proud to work with firefighters for many years to look for ways to increase the number of types of cancer for which firefighters or their families would be able to claim some type of compensation should a firefighter be afflicted with cancer. I know there are members on this side of the House who have been championing these issues. Firefighters in Canada are valuable, and without question, as a government and as members, we should continue to look for ways to support them and invest in them.

114 words

Mr. Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre, GP)

Jun/21/23 9:12:33 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I really appreciate that the member for Don Valley East spoke about needed investments. I know he is a supporter of investing in people with disabilities. We are on the verge of seeing Bill C-22 receive royal assent, but we still do not have any money in the budget to deliver the Canada disability benefit. Can he speak about what he can be doing over the coming months to ensure that in next year's budget we see a historic investment in Canadians with disabilities being lifted out of poverty through the Canada disability benefit?

98 words

Mr. Michael Coteau

Jun/21/23 9:13:13 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I am a fan of much of the advocacy work the hon. member does. The question was what we should do over the next few months to build more supports for people with disabilities, and it is to do exactly what we have been doing in the last year. It is to identify the issues that are important to us, build it into a budget, consult people and come back to the House and vote for a budget that actually invests in people.

85 words

Mr. Wilson Miao (Richmond Centre, Lib.)

Jun/21/23 9:13:51 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I am privileged to rise in the House today on behalf of the people of Richmond Centre, and I am grateful for the trust and support from my constituents that allows me to be their representative in the chamber. Before I speak to the opposition motion, I have very exciting news I would like to share with Canadians. On July 1, as we know, it is Canada Day. However, the first-ever Chinese Canadian museum in Canada will officially open for exhibition in Vancouver's Chinatown. This July 1 is also the 100-year anniversary of the enactment of the Chinese Exclusion Act. As a Chinese Canadian, I am proud of my Chinese heritage. Chinese Canadians have made remarkable sacrifices and shaped our national fabric. We are excited to see our rich history and foundational contributions to Canada showcased at the newly opened, first-ever Chinese Canadian museum. We shall not forget the story of the determination of Chinese Canadians. We must continue our commitment to reconciliation and continue our efforts to build a stronger and more inclusive Canada for everyone. An hon. member: Oh, oh!

188 words

The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Carol Hughes)

Jun/21/23 9:15:18 p.m.
Watch

Order. There seems to be a member online who has his mike open. I think we have remedied that now. The hon. member for Richmond Centre can continue.

28 words

Mr. Wilson Miao

Jun/21/23 9:15:34 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, this government has been working on creating a more inclusive Canada since day one. I am pleased to note the opposition party is as focused as our government on cost of living issues. In the current global inflationary environment, it is appropriate that we are discussing the issue of the rising cost of living, but it is also important to bear in mind that this issue has been top of mind for our government since long before the global pandemic struck and before Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine. In fact, making life more affordable has been a central focus of our government's effort from day one. The measures we have introduced to make life more affordable include reduced child care costs, the Canada child benefit, the Canada dental benefit and tax relief through an increased basic personal amount. Through climate action incentive payments, our government is keeping affordability in mind as we fight climate change. Since 2015, close to 2.3 million fewer Canadians are living in poverty. Income inequality has continued to fall. The labour force participation rate for women aged 15 to 64 years is at record highs, and young Canadians have access to a greater number of good-paying jobs than before the pandemic. There are 890,000 more Canadians employed than before the pandemic, which is more people than the entire population of New Brunswick. These are strong fundamentals, but we know there are challenges ahead. We must contend with a slowing global economy and elevated interest rates around the world, and we will continue to take action to do so. We are fortunate that Canada's inflation rate is lower than that of our G7 partners, such as the U.K., Germany and the United States. Also, inflation is down from its peak last year, but it is still high. This means that, despite Canada's strong recovery from the pandemic, and despite all the new supports we have provided, there are still too many Canadians who are struggling with the impact of the recent ongoing wave of global inflation, especially lower-income Canadians, who are more exposed to the impact of rising costs. This is precisely why, by introducing the one-time grocery rebate in budget 2023, our government is providing much-needed relief to those who need it most and helping to ensure they can continue to put food on the table. We know that it would not be reasonable to provide this support to everyone, as it would put pressure on prices for everyone and complicate the Bank of Canada's effort in addressing inflation, so the new, one-time grocery rebate will deliver targeted inflation relief to 11 million low- and modest-income Canadians and families who need it the most. The grocery rebate is being delivered to eligible Canadians on July 5 by direct deposit or cheque. I ask those who are watching to please make sure to check their account or mailbox. The royal assent of Bill C-46 has made this benefit a reality. The passage of Bill C-46 is also allowing us to deliver a one-time top-up to the Canada health transfer for provinces and territories, which is worth an additional $2 billion. This will allow them to reduce wait times for surgery and support emergency rooms across Canada. This funding is to be used to improve and enhance the health care Canadians receive and is not to be used by provinces and territories in place of their planned health care spending. However, as announced by the Prime Minister in February, we will be providing nearly $200 billion in additional federal health funding to provinces and territories over the next decade. Our actions show that health care is a top priority for our government because health care is a priority for all Canadians. Canadians are proud of our universal publicly funded health care system. It is at the very heart of our identity as a country. Dental care is an important component of our health, too, but seeing a dentist can be very expensive. That is why our government has committed to fully implementing a permanent Canadian dental care plan by 2025. Currently, the Canada dental benefit is providing eligible parents and guardians with direct, upfront, tax-free payments to cover the costs of dental care for their children under 12 and has supported more than 305,000 children to the current date. However, it is not just children who need affordable dental care. That is why budget 2023 delivered a transformative investment to provide dental care to Canadians who need it, with $13 billion over the next five years and $4.4 billion ongoing to implement the permanent Canadian dental care plan. The plan will provide dental coverage for uninsured Canadians with annual family incomes of less than $90,000, with no copays for families with incomes under $70,000. The plan will begin to roll out by the end of 2023, which will both improve the health of Canadians and make life more affordable. Of course, it is not just the cost. There are also other factors that may prevent Canadians from accessing dental care, such as living in a remote community or requiring specialized care due to disability, which is why budget 2023 proposed funding to establish an oral health access fund. This fund will complement the Canadian dental care plan by addressing oral health gaps among vulnerable populations and reducing barriers to accessing dental care, including in rural and remote communities. Our government is investing in health care because it matters to Canadians. It matters to their children, parents, seniors, friends and neighbours. Investing in health care is critical to building healthier and safer communities across Canada. Whether they are ensuring they have money to put food on the table or the health care they need when they need it, Canadians can be sure of one thing: Our government will continue to support them. We will continue to be there to provide more help to those who need it most. We will continue to make life more affordable. We will continue to support the middle class. We will continue to build a stronger economy, and we will continue to make sure no one is left behind.

1050 words

Mr. Marty Morantz (Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, CPC)

Jun/21/23 9:24:06 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, that seemed like a very well-reasoned, well thought-out speech. However, the motion that we are debating right now has a question, and the question is whether or not the government should be called upon to table a plan to return to balanced budgets. I wonder if the member would agree that governments, no matter what their political stripe, should strive to at least create a plan to have balanced budgets?

74 words