44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 15, 2024 11:00AM
- Apr/15/24 2:05:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canada is powered by tourism. That is the theme of this year's National Tourism Week. In my riding, the communities of Niagara Falls, Niagara-on-the-Lake and Fort Erie are definitely powered by tourism.
Niagara Falls alone is Canada's top leisure tourism destination, and the overall visitor experience is enhanced by the beautiful vineyards and wineries in Niagara-on-the-Lake and the rich cultural history, shopping experiences and trail systems found throughout all three communities.
However, Canadian tourism has not fully recovered. Tourism workers and operators can blame the Liberal government's high taxes and out-of-control spending for driving up inflation and the cost of travelling throughout Canada. As a result, recovery is slow and uneven, and Canada is losing its competitive edge.
Canada is powered by tourism, but tourism can be further powered by axing the tax so our tourism workers can once again bring home powerful paycheques and our tourism operators can once again thrive by welcoming the world to our magnificent destinations. Let us bring it home.
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Mr. Speaker, in 2015, Canada was on the wrong track. The Canadian government at the time had no climate plan. It was free to pollute and emissions kept going up. Now, because of work done in Nova Scotia and across the country, our emissions have declined by 8%.
For the first time ever, we are on track to meet our 2026 climate target, thanks in no small part to pollution pricing and the Canada carbon rebate.
Starting today, a Nova Scotia family of four will receive the first instalment of their $824 rebate. For the average family in my province, that is $157 more than they will pay out over the year. For rural families, they will get more when Conservatives finally stop blocking the 20% top-up in Bill C-59.
While the other side tries to ruin the rebate, hurting lower-income Canadians, we will continue our work to help Canadians leave a healthier planet for our grandkids.
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Mr. Speaker, today New Brunswickers can look forward to receiving a Canada carbon rebate payment in their bank account.
For example, this year, a family of four in New Brunswick will receive $760 through the Canada carbon rebate. That is $183 more than they received last year. If the Conservatives stop obstructing Bill C‑59, families in rural communities will receive an additional 20% of the amounts I just mentioned.
Our plan is making Canadians better off. Our carbon pricing system is putting more money back in the pockets of eight out of 10 Canadians through the Canada carbon rebates, while building a better future for our children and grandchildren.
The future of our planet and coming generations is more important than the official opposition's slogans.
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- Apr/15/24 2:08:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight long years of the Prime Minister, residents in my community are struggling. I have received countless emails, phone calls and letters from residents, and the message I am receiving is clear and consistent, life is unaffordable.
Under the Liberal government, people are losing their homes, they are struggling to feed their families and they cannot afford to heat their homes or drive their vehicles. While life has gotten worse for Canadians, the Liberals are spending more than ever. This year, Canada will spend over $52 billion to service the Prime Minister's debt. This is more money than the government is sending the provinces for health care.
In response to the Liberal-made affordability crisis, my common-sense Conservative colleagues and I have three simple demands for this year's budget: number one is to axe the tax; number two is to build the homes; and number three is to fix the budget. The Conservatives will not support tomorrow's budget unless it provides relief to struggling Canadians.
Will the Prime Minister commit today to axe the tax in tomorrow's budget?
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- Apr/15/24 2:09:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today, Canadians who filed their taxes electronically on March 15 or before will receive the new Canada carbon rebate amounts. In the provinces where it applies, the Canada carbon rebate will put even more money back into the pockets of most Canadians than they pay into fighting climate change.
Affordability is front and centre in everything we do as a government and in this system, we are literally putting money into the hands of Canadian families. Families are counting on these cheques. They work them into their monthly budgets, and that is especially the case for low to middle-income Canadians who benefit the most from fighting climate change.
Unfortunately, the Conservatives want to cut these rebates that Canadians rely on, but we will not let them ruin the rebates. Canadian families need them more than ever.
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- Apr/15/24 2:10:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is as if the Prime Minister has forgotten that he has been in power for almost nine years and that he and his policies, all of them, are the direct cause of the housing and mortgage crisis Canadians are facing.
The way he has been parading around the country, blaming everyone else but him for the housing hell reminds me of that old Shaggy song, It Wasn't Me. Well, it was him who was caught red-handed promising to lower the price of housing, rents and mortgages in Canada that have doubled in nine years, pushing middle-class Canadians to live in tent cities in nearly every city.
Last week, CMHC confirmed that it has been him causing less affordable housing and higher rents because fewer homes are being built than we did in the 1970s. Worst of all, it is him who has dealt a devastating blow to young Canadians hoping to enter the housing market, young people who feel like they have been lied to and let down by the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister has a chance to axe the tax in tomorrow's budget to make life more affordable for Canadians. The question is: Will he, or will he continue to blame others for the problems he has caused and say, “It wasn't me”, because Canadians know it is the Prime Minister?
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, Canadians are going hungry.
Feed Nova Scotia reports that food bank usage is up 26%, with increased visits as high as 50% in Cape Breton. In Sydney, food banks are experiencing record-breaking increases in the number of new clients, with new visits up 80%. The Souls Harbour Rescue Mission kitchen is up 280%.
Instead of providing relief to Canadians, the government has hiked its costly carbon tax on Nova Scotians by 23%. The Liberals do not understand that if we tax the farmer who grows the food, the trucker who trucks the food and the retailer who sells the food, we tax all those who buy the food. The Prime Minister is not worth the cost.
The Conservatives have a solution, and that is to axe the tax on farmers and food by immediately passing Bill C-234 in its original form. To be clear, the Conservatives want the entire carbon tax axed, but in the meantime let us at least provide some relief to Canadians by immediately passing Bill C-234.
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- Apr/15/24 2:13:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in 2015, Canada was obviously on the wrong track with respect to carbon emissions. The Conservatives did not have a climate plan, pollution was free and emissions continued to rise.
Today, thanks to the work accomplished across the country, including the north, Canada's emissions have dropped by 8%. For the very first time, we are on the right track to meet our 2026 climate target.
My constituents in Yukon expect commitment on climate action. The price on pollution encourages us to find greener alternatives in our day-to-day lives while we benefit from the rebate, and the plan is working. A family of four in Whitehorse will receive over $1,200 through the Yukon carbon rebate this year, while a family of four living in rural Yukon gets $1,488 in automatic quarterly payments.
If there is one thing going up, it is the temperature. On this side of the House, we are reducing emissions while making life better for Canadians.
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- Apr/15/24 2:14:24 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, to be from northern Ontario is to live and breathe hockey.
Whether at local arenas, frozen ponds or in the streets, we love our national hockey game. However, it has been a difficult year for hockey in Elliot Lake.
The Centennial Arena was forced to shut its doors in September due to structural damage. The communities of Blind River and Massey stepped up to give our youth a place to play in the short term, but these youth deserve an arena in their own hometown. Organizers rallied through voting campaigns, and I rise to thank all of those across the country who helped Elliot Lake be crowned Kraft Hockeyville 2024, giving them $250,000 toward arena repairs and a pre-season NHL game.
However, that is not all. Last week, former Elliot Lake residents Jamie and Jo-Ann Armstrong donated $300,000, which kicked off a campaign to raise another $200,000 for repairs to the arena so that next year the Elliot Lake Vikings and the Elliot Lake minor hockey leagues can be back on home ice.
Now that is a hat trick of which to be proud.
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- Apr/15/24 2:15:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Bloc Québécois, I want to begin by commending the member for Madawaska—Restigouche for his courage and determination in fighting to ensure that members who do not wish to do so no longer have to swear an oath to the king when they are sworn in.
The history of Acadia is the history of a people who were persecuted by the British Crown. Thousands of Acadians died when they were deported during the Great Upheaval. The Liberal ministers are saying that that is not important, that there are things that matter more than Acadians' pride and honour and that talking about the monarchy is a waste of time.
Quite frankly, that is embarrassing coming from a party that claims to be democratic and anti-colonial. However, it is not as embarrassing as seeing the Conservatives behave like rowdy bar patrons at 3 a.m. shouting “God save the King”. They are proud of the fact that they are governed by a foreign monarch, a king by right of birth. I call that voluntary servitude.
The member for Madawaska—Restigouche deserved better than the sorry spectacle that exposed some members' lack of sensitivity toward Acadians. It is shameful.
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- Apr/15/24 2:16:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, both the Bank of Canada and a former Liberal finance minister told the Prime Minister that he was pressing on the inflationary gas pedal with his spending that ballooned interest rates, but he did not listen. As a result, the Bank of Canada went on the most aggressive interest rate hike campaign in Canadian history.
The Prime Minister is leaving behind a legacy like no other. Under his regime, rent, mortgage payments and down payments have doubled; record deficits have driven interest rates sky-high; and food bank usage is at a record high. On April 1, he increased the carbon tax by 23%, which is causing even more pain in the pocketbooks of Canadians.
Common-sense Conservatives will not agree to support the budget unless the Prime Minister axes the carbon tax on food, builds homes not bureaucracy and caps the spending. The Prime Minister is just not worth the cost.
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- Apr/15/24 2:17:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I watched a video from a proud Albertan, who did her family's taxes and got over $800 back through the Canada carbon rebate. Her family even got a little bump. They lived in a rural environment. She said that she probably ended up better off with that transfer. Who said this? Premier Danielle Smith.
While she should be supporting Albertans, the Conservative premier of my province is now playing politics, and since April 1 has even reinstated her 13¢-per-litre gas tax.
Our government instead is doubling down on protecting the environment, slashing emissions and putting more money in the pockets of hard-working Canadians.
The Canada carbon rebate gives eight out of 10 families more money than they pay in carbon pricing. Canada is also on track to meet its climate target for the first time ever. The carbon pricing alone will account for a third of our emission reductions by 2030. Carbon pricing is not just a feel-good measure; it is something that works.
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- Apr/15/24 2:19:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, common-sense Conservatives will axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime. This Prime Minister is not worth the cost of interest rates after eight years. The government is going to spend more on interest on our national debt than on health. That is more money for bankers and less money for nurses.
When will the Prime Minister accept my common-sense plan to fix the budget by finding a dollar in savings for every dollar of new spending to lower the interest rates for Canadians?
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- Apr/15/24 2:19:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, is that common sense? That is more like nonsense. He wants to make cuts to programs that support the middle class. He wants to make cuts to the program that helps build housing. He wants to make cuts to the program seeking to protect our environment. That is not common sense. It is incompetence.
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- Apr/15/24 2:20:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the minister talks about incompetence, yet he is the one who has lost a million Canadians and is the worst immigration minister in our country's history. His own Prime Minister even admitted that his management of the immigration system has been out of control. They say that is why the cost of housing has doubled. Now they are inflating costs even more. Inflationary deficits have added two percentage points to interest rates, which works out to $6,000 for a family with a $300,000 mortgage.
Will the government reduce the deficit, cut interest rates so Canadians can keep their homes?
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- Apr/15/24 2:20:52 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, six is the number Canadians at home need to remember. The man we just heard, the Conservative leader, the one who wants to advise Canada on what plans to make, managed to build six units of affordable housing when he was the minister responsible for housing. I have said it before and I will say it again: We will not take any lessons from the Conservatives. On this side, we have a plan to build homes, create jobs and create prosperity. Canadians know that slogans do not build homes, they do not build prosperity and they will not help Canadians.
Every day is a good day to fight for Canadians. That is what we are going to do.
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- Apr/15/24 2:21:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, common-sense Conservatives will axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime. This Prime Minister is not worth the cost of interest.
According to Scotiabank, the Prime Minister's deficits are adding two full percentage points extra in interest costs for the average family. That works out to about $6,000 for a modest mortgage of $300,000. That is six grand in extra mortgage payments from these deficits alone. Will they finally wake up to the fact that this NDP-Liberal Prime Minister is not worth the cost?
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- Apr/15/24 2:22:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition seems to know the cost of everything but the value of absolutely nothing. Does he not see value in the measures that are building more homes in this country? Does he not see value in programs that are going to put food on the table for hungry kids through a school food program? He continues to oppose measures that are helping students with the cost of their education and families with the cost of housing.
We will continue to put measures on the table to make life more affordable for middle-class Canadians and do right by a generation of young people who have been priced out of the housing market. It is a shame his policies would have the exact opposite effect.
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- Apr/15/24 2:22:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we cannot see the value of homes and food that do not exist after eight years. The Liberals have a food program that, after eight years, has no food, and an affordable housing program that has doubled housing costs. They are not worth the cost, and now their deficits are driving up the interest obligations for the average family. For a family with a $500,000 mortgage, deficits are adding 10 grand in additional interest payments per year. When will they realize that, after eight years, this NDP-Liberal Prime Minister is not worth the cost?
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- Apr/15/24 2:23:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if the Leader of the Opposition wants to talk about homes that do not exist, perhaps we should look at the 800,000 affordable housing units that were lost while he was housing minister. Perhaps we should examine the fact that, while he was minister, zero new apartments were supported by the federal government and a total of only six affordable housing units were built nationwide.
Now, he likes to talk a big game, but let us look at the plan he is putting on the table. He wants to raise taxes on home construction and cut funding for the cities that are making it easier to build homes.
We have advanced programs that are going not just to build more homes but to allow people to save up more money for their down payment and reduce their monthly mortgage costs when they go to enter the housing market for the first time.
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