44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 17, 2024 02:00PM
- Apr/17/24 2:18:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, yesterday’s budget just offered more of the same after nine years of the NDP-Liberal government. It was the worst news possible for Canadians struggling to buy food, heat their homes and save for a down payment. The Prime Minister just will not listen to Canadians. He will not stop adding to his inflationary deficits that balloon interest rates. He will not stop putting social programs and jobs at risk. The $54 billion to be spent on debt interest surpasses federal health care spending, and he will not axe the carbon tax on farmers and food.
The budget is about to make life a whole lot worse for Canadians, and their message to the Prime Minister is clear: Just stop. Stop the out-of-control spending, deficits, inflation and tax hikes that are forcing struggling people over the edge. The budget, the government and the Prime Minister are not worth the cost to any generation.
It is time for common-sense Conservatives to clean up the mess and to govern with common sense for Canadians.
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- Apr/17/24 2:31:49 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, this is a budget that invests in fairness for every generation by asking the ultrawealthy to pay a little more.
The Conservative Party is choosing to stand with the status quo and to stand with the ultrawealthy, instead of saying, yes, we need to invest in young people, we need to build more houses, we need to support seniors with dental care, we need to create more spaces in child care and we need to deliver hundreds of dollars a month, tax free, in the disability benefit.
These are the things that we will be doing. Those are the things that they stand against.
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- Apr/17/24 2:38:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, this budget recognizes that our country's success depends on young people's success. That is why we are calling on the wealthy to pay a bit more tax so they can share more of the benefits with young people, to ensure that young families can pay their rent, buy a home and have better access to the care and services they need, particularly when it comes to day care and early childhood centres.
We will continue to be there to support families in need by asking the wealthy to do a bit more.
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- Apr/17/24 2:50:47 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we can see the Conservative leader's philosophy very clearly. He sides with those who are better off. He tells everyone else that they are on their own and that he will not be there to support them. That is what he stands for when he pushes austerity and budget cuts.
We have chosen to work in partnership with the mayor of Montreal, with the Premier of Quebec and with premiers across the country to build housing to address the pressures we are experiencing in Canada, much like elsewhere in the world.
We are here to create a stronger, fairer future for every generation. That is the job of this budget.
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- Apr/17/24 2:57:14 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have continued to step up over the past years for reconciliation and investing in indigenous communities. This budget has put aside a billion more dollars on top of all the investments we have made for indigenous housing. That is part of the $9 billion of investments we are talking about for indigenous communities over the coming years. We know there is always more to do, but we will be there, hand in hand, with indigenous communities and leadership to make sure we are closing the gaps and building the strong future that is part of the journey of reconciliation.
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- Apr/17/24 2:58:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Brampton South for her hard work.
While the opposition leader is taking cues from his lobbyist entourage on how to make the rich richer, we are investing in programs to help middle-class Canadians. Yesterday's budget includes a national school food program. It is expected to provide meals for more than 400,000 kids a year and save the average family as much as $800 per year in grocery costs. This is what the Conservative leader has already announced he will be voting against.
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- Apr/17/24 3:11:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canada's skilled workers and entrepreneurs are our greatest resource. Capitalizing on their ideas, innovations and hard work is an essential way to keep our place at the forefront of the world's advanced economies.
Can the Prime Minister tell the House about the new measures announced in the budget that will support not only our workers, but the Canadian economy as well?
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- Apr/17/24 3:12:25 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, David Dodge, proud Liberal and former Liberal appointee as governor of the central bank, said that this would be the worst budget in over 40 years.
It turned out that he was right. We have had John Manley, a former Liberal finance minister, who said that the Prime Minister is pushing on the inflationary gas pedal.
We now even have Bill Morneau condemning the government of which he is a former finance minister.
Why is it that so many Liberals have come to the conclusion that this Prime Minister is not worth the cost?
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- Apr/17/24 3:13:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, all the adults in the Liberal and NDP parties are saying that this budget is irresponsible. We have John Manley, former Liberal finance minister, saying that this Prime Minister is pushing on the inflationary gas pedal. David Dodge, renowned Liberal, is saying that it could be the worst budget in four decades.
Bill Morneau, if members remember him from before he became “Bill no more”, said that this is a troubling budget.
Even Tom Mulcair says that there is too much going to debt interest.
Is this not like the NDP-Liberal marriage? The parents went away, and the rambunctious, reckless kids went and trashed the place.
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- Apr/17/24 3:17:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have been hearing from young people in my riding that home ownership is just out of reach. The 2024 budget puts forward the government's housing plan to build more affordable homes faster and to make it more affordable to buy or rent.
Can the Prime Minister please share with the House how the government plans to support young people?
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- Apr/17/24 4:16:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we were the 24%; we were not the 76%. We did recruit over 50 people to work on the ArriveCAN application and over 100 people in totality at CBSA.
The answer is that we did as we were told. We invoiced monthly. At any time, we could have been stopped. This was not that we were given $20 million and then walked away to build an app. This was not our app. We were paid to recruit and find the resources who built the app within 20 days and did subsequent new releases for 18 months on time and on budget.
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- Apr/17/24 7:31:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his brilliant advocacy and for his question on behalf of persons with disabilities. The member knows, as does everyone in this place, that protecting and helping the most vulnerable in our society is a fundamental Canadian principle, and it is a fundamental principle of our government.
When it comes to people with disabilities, we have invested more money in the last eight years than ever before. I take the point: Is it enough? Absolutely not. Do we need to do more? Absolutely we do, but we have made progress. In comparison, the previous Conservative government promised and failed to deliver a national disability act. Our Liberal government made the Accessible Canada Act a reality, but there is still a lot more to do. That said, we are moving as quickly as possible on the Canada disability benefit.
Of course, we understand that the disability community is anxious to see extra dollars in their bank accounts, but we must get it right to make the delivery of the benefit as smooth, as targeted and as effective as possible. Budget 2024 proposes funding of $6.1 billion over six years, beginning in this fiscal year, 2024-25, and $1.4 billion per year ongoing, for the first-ever federal Canada disability benefit. This represents an important next step in the journey for this.
I cannot talk about the journey of the Canada disability benefit without talking about the years of relentless advocacy from the community. I want to thank all of those who have been relentless in their advocacy as they championed the needs and priorities of persons with disabilities. I encourage them to continue to engage with our government as we move forward in the next chapter.
The lived experiences of persons with disabilities has been a key part of the consultation process. In the true spirit of “nothing without us”, we engaged with persons with disabilities, stakeholders and all Canadians on key issues. In the coming months, once we have published the draft regulations in part I of the Canada Gazette, Canadians will again be invited to provide feedback. As the hon. member knows, the act requires that regulations be in place by June 2025, with money flowing into bank accounts by July 2025. Let me assure all members in the House and all Canadians that we are on track to meet this timeline.
This is the first federal government step-up in support of persons with disabilities by creating a new and specific benefit just for them. The budget 2024 announcement unlocks the ability to proceed with the extensive and intense behind-the-scenes work needed to deliver the CDB. We need the time not just to be focused on the developing regulations, but to build the internal infrastructure and support systems necessary to deliver the program and to allow the provinces and territories to adjust their policies to ensure that there are no unintended clawbacks.
This is a crucial time as we carefully balance the need to strengthen our social security net while making sure government spending is able to help with the everyday costs of living. We are committed to creating a better, fairer country for generations to come, but, as I said, there is more work to do. It is the next stop in the journey of building a barrier-free Canada.
I thank the member for Kitchener Centre for his ongoing excellent advocacy on this.
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- Apr/17/24 7:35:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we have had this conversation dozens of times in the House over the last three years. I have heard, time and again, about a need for time for the regulations, negotiations with provinces and territories, “nothing without us” and that they need to do more. The difference now is that, with this budget, their cards are on the table. There was a dollar amount in that budget, and that dollar amount was $200 a month.
The government set the expectation that this benefit was meant to lift people out of poverty. The Liberals find money for the Trans Mountain pipeline; they find $35 billion for that. They send $18 billion to oil and gas companies that are already making tens of billions of dollars in record-breaking profits. However, when it came time to step up and demonstrate that there was well-placed trust from the disability community, the community was let down.
Are the parliamentary secretary and others going to put pressure on the government to expand what was in the budget and do better?
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