SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 300 - Apr/16/24

Apr/16/24 4:42:51 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have a point that I think it would be good to get the Leader of the Opposition to offer clarity on. We presented a clear choice to Canadians. We said to Canadians that we believe we need the power of government to get things built for young Canadians and to get things built for the people of Alberta, who needed the pipeline that we got built. We presented a clear, fiscally responsible way to finance those essential investments: increasing the inclusion rate on capital gains. However, I think that it is high time for the opposition, which poses as being on the side of working people, to clarify its position today. Will the opposition join us in asking those at the very top to pay a little bit more to support Canadians, or are they going to show their true colours and stand with the 0.1%? That is what Canadians want to know today.

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Mr. Jean-Denis Garon (Mirabel, BQ)

Apr/16/24 4:44:22 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the minister just tabled a centralizing budget with a view to interfering in Quebec's jurisdictions. These are new encroachments on education, municipal zoning and health, new conditions on housing, conditions for child care, and new infringements on property tax. Does the minister realize that these intrusions that use the federal power to spend, demonstrate that the fiscal imbalance is preventing the National Assembly of Quebec from acting freely in its own areas of jurisdiction?

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Hon. Chrystia Freeland

Apr/16/24 4:45:03 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased that my colleague is raising the issue of child care because I think that this issue is a perfect example of the close co-operation between the federal government and the Government of Quebec. The idea for a child care system was initiated by Quebec, by feminists in Quebec. I want to commend them and thank them for that. When we took the initiative to create a national child care system, we reached an agreement with Quebec at the same time to help Quebec do more. That is what we will continue to do. Yesterday, I spoke with Minister Eric Girard about some of the budget initiatives. We are working closely with his government and will continue to do so.

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Mr. Don Davies (Vancouver Kingsway, NDP)

Apr/16/24 4:46:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, New Democrats know that Canadians are facing a serious economic and climate crisis. Millions of people are struggling to make ends meet and are worried about the future of their children. That is why we have used our seats in the House to successfully press for meaningful relief and progress in this budget in numerous areas. Those include building more homes; preserving existing affordable housing and protecting renters; delivering universal public pharmacare, starting with contraception and diabetes medications and devices; establishing a national school nutrition program; reversing damaging cuts to indigenous services; and helping workers transition to a sustainable economy. However, despite record corporate profits across many sectors, from food conglomerates to oil and gas multinationals, there is nothing to ensure the corporate sector pays its fair share so that we can better fund the services Canadians need. Can the minister explain why she declined to raise corporate tax rates in Canada, despite them being among the lowest in the OECD and despite the U.S. doing so, in the face of record prices and profits? Was the lobbying that effective?

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Hon. Chrystia Freeland

Apr/16/24 4:47:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to start by congratulating the member for Vancouver Kingsway on his new role as finance critic. I am going to share with the House that he and I both grew up in Edmonton and first met when I was a teenager and he was working on my mother's election campaign. Life is funny that way. I, therefore, agree with the member for Vancouver Kingsway on so many things and have for so many years. However, I have to say that, on this specific issue, we are going to have to agree to differ. We believe in a fiscally responsible policy and believe that when we make investments, we need to finance them. We also believe in fairness and believe that a fair tax system is essential to building a fair country and to delivering fairness, particularly for young Canadians. It is also really important for us to ensure that Canada continues to be internationally competitive and continues to be an attractive investment destination for foreign and for Canadian investors. It was with that in mind that we were very thoughtful about the revenue-raising methods we chose.

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Mr. Jasraj Singh Hallan (Calgary Forest Lawn, CPC)

Apr/16/24 4:49:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, common-sense Conservatives told the Liberal-NDP Prime Minister to stop his spending, his deficits, inflation and his tax hikes, but the Prime Minister blew right through that stop sign, dumping $40 billion of fuel on the inflationary fire, which he started. This photo op budget would do nothing for average Canadians, who cannot afford a home and groceries today. Will the finance minister tell us how much each Canadian household is on the hook for, for the $54 billion just in interest charges on the Prime Minister's debt?

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Hon. Chrystia Freeland

Apr/16/24 4:50:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let me share with the member opposite the good news we got today, which is that inflation for March was 2.9%. For three months in a row, inflation in Canada has been within the Bank of Canada's target range. Thanks to Canadians, that is very good news for our country.

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Hon. Pierre Poilievre (Leader of the Opposition, CPC)

Apr/16/24 4:50:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, for the ninth time, the Prime Minister promised that if he spent more and taxed more, Canadians would be better off. For the ninth time, we see that quality of life declined, especially for the middle class he is always talking about. The cost of rent doubled, and then there were big government programs for affordable housing. According to the government itself, one in four children do not have enough to eat, even after programs were created to make food affordable. Furthermore, the government talks about a state-funded pipeline like it is the biggest accomplishment there could be in a society. If the government had not gotten involved, it never would have happened. This is a project that is 500% more expensive than planned. The money to buy the project went to Texas. This is another example of massive waste. That is why common-sense Conservatives are going to vote against the budget and in favour of an election that will allow Canadians to choose a party that will axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime. That is common sense. Here we have, today, a ninth consecutive deficit, with the budget still not balancing itself. Everything on which the Prime Minister spends gets worse and gets more costly. He is spent and Canadians are broke. The country is broken. We have a doubling of housing costs. We have 8,000 people joining a Facebook group to study how they can get a meal out of a garbage can after food prices have gone up faster than at any time in a generation because of the carbon tax he is imposing on our food, a carbon tax that, with the help of the NDP, he plans to quadruple to 61¢ a litre. Today, did he learn anything from these catastrophic failures? No. He doubles down on the same failure, with $40 billion of new deficits and $40 billion of new spending, and that is to say, it is $2,400 for every family in new debt and in new inflationary spending. Now, for the first time in a generation, we are spending more on debt interest than on health care. That is money for bankers and bondholders rather than doctors and nurses. The great example of how wonderful government can be, given after a tremendous theatrical pause, was the government's purchase of the Trans Mountain pipeline. What would have happened if the government had just gotten out of the way, asked the finance minister. The answer is that the thing would have been built with private money rather than $30 billion of taxpayer bailouts. In fact, a project the Prime Minister said would cost $5 billion is up to $30 billion. That is 500% over budget. It is $2,000 in costs for every single Canadian family for a project that the private sector was going to be building on its own. The company that was going to build it was bought out, and it took the money to Texas, where it is building Texan pipelines with Canadian dollars. All of our exes are in Texas. Then, to close it off, we have got some of the most hair-raising, ideological fervour from the minister, who says that what Canadians really need is a stronger government. They have created a stronger government in order to make for weaker and more suffering people. This is not a government that gives people everything they want; it is a government that takes everything they have. The good news is that we want big Canadian citizens with a smaller and more efficient government, where the state is servant and not master, where our priorities are clear, to axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime. As soon as the NDP takes away its support from the Prime Minister, we will have a carbon tax election, where the people will be able to make that decision for themselves, in a country where they can earn powerful paycheques that buy affordable food, gas and homes in safe neighbourhoods, the country that we all knew and that we still love, a country based on the common sense of the common people, united for our common home: their home, my home, our home. Let us bring it home. I now move: That the debate be now adjourned.

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The Speaker

Apr/16/24 4:56:44 p.m.
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Pursuant to Standing Order 83(2), the motion is deemed adopted. Accordingly, the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 2 p.m., pursuant to Standing Order 24(1). (The House adjourned at 4:56 p.m.)

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