44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 18, 2024 10:00AM
Madam Speaker, it is always nice to see you in the chair, and today is no different.
I am very proud to have the opportunity today to speak to budget 2024, a budget with a special focus on Gen Z, one that aims to ensure a better future for all Canadians.
Budget 2024 ensures that Canada's social safety net will work for every generation. When our government was first elected in 2015, we recognized that the economy had changed. People needed more supports and supports of a new kind. The government got to work immediately.
We introduced the new Canada child benefit. We have helped cut child poverty by more than half in the last eight years with this measure. We reinforced the security and dignity of retirement by strengthening the CPP, increasing the old age security for seniors 75 and over, indexing it for inflation and making the CCB, in particular, tax-free. We then permanently eliminated interest on all federal student and apprenticeship loans for Canadians of student age. We also made generational investments in $10-a-day child care, which cut Canadian child care costs by at least half in every province and territory. That gave families more money back in their pockets, and it gives kids the best start in their lives.
When I walk the streets of Milton, I see a lot of strollers. There are a lot of young people per capita in Milton. Parents stop me all the time to say that they are saving a lot of money on child care costs, and they recognize that was a measure the federal government campaigned on and made happen.
With budget 2024, we are making more transformative investments that will continue to level the playing field and lift up every generation. Top of mind is universal public health care. We made a promise to Canadians that if they get ill or injured, or if they are born with complicated health issues, they do not need to go into debt just to get essential care. Unlike in other countries, we depend on our health care, not our credit card, to get the attention we require when we go to a doctor or a clinic. That is why, last year, the federal government announced our 10-year health care plan, providing close to $200 billion to clear backlogs, improve primary care, cut wait times and deliver the health outcomes that Canadians need and deserve.
With budget 2024, we are introducing new measures that would strengthen Canada's social safety net to lift up every generation. Chief among those is national pharmacare. This includes our landmark move towards building a comprehensive national pharmacare program. Bill C-64, the pharmacare act, proposes the foundational principles of national universal pharmacare in Canada. It describes the federal government's intent to work with provinces and territories to provide universal single-payer coverage for most prescription contraceptives and many diabetes medications.
This is something that I campaigned on and that I strongly believe in. Canada continues to be the only country in the world with socialized medicine without national pharmacare, but that is changing now because our government took action.
We are also very aware of the fact that mental health is health. Our government is aware that young Canadians are facing extremely high levels of stress and mental health challenges. That includes depression and anxiety. It is a tough time to be a millennial. Many of those young people are still in school or are just starting out in their careers, and they are struggling with the costs of private mental health care. The rising cost of living has further exacerbated these concerns. That is why our government remains committed to ensuring that future generations have access to basic mental health supports, so that they can have a healthy start to adulthood.
Budget 2024 also proposes to provide $500 million over five years for the creation of a new youth mental health fund, which will help younger Canadians access the mental health care they need.
We are also supporting children in an incremental way in budget 2024. We know that children are the future of Canada. Many of them are the leaders of today. They will become tomorrow's doctors, nurses, electricians, teachers, scientists and small business owners. Every child deserves the best start in life. Their success is truly Canada's success.
In budget 2024, our government is advancing progress through investments to strengthen and grow our Canada-wide early learning and child care system, save for an education later in life, have good health care and unlock the promise of Canada for the next generation.
Budget 2024 also includes taking decisive action to launch a new national school food program to help ensure that children have access to the food they need to get a fairer start in life, regardless of their family circumstances. The $1-billion program is expected to provide meals for over 400,000 children in schools every single year.
This is very personal for me. I benefited quite a lot from school food programs in my community. I was lucky. I grew up in a town that had lots of volunteers and great community-serving organizations, ones like Food for Life, Halton Food For Thought and Food4Kids in Halton Region. When kids needed a snack then or need a snack now, they can access a snack, but that is not true in every single school.
I am really proud of the fact that Brent Mansfield was here. Through the work that the Coalition for Healthy School Food did and the advocacy that all the food security organizations have done over the last decades, we are building Canada's first-ever national school food program. It would build on the work that great charities, such as Food for Life, Food For Thought, Food4Kids and many others, have been doing in their regions. It is important to note that this is all made possible through volunteer work and teachers taking on expenses themselves, sometimes bringing food from home, and sometimes taking time out of their curriculum to teach edible education and nutritional literacy. These are really important skills.
I am a big fan of Jamie Oliver. I saw on social media yesterday that he congratulated the mayor of London, in the U.K., for introducing more healthy school food for kids. I am a huge supporter and advocate for a national school food program, and I am thrilled that it is reflected in budget 2024.
We are also supporting millennials and gen Z. We must restore a fair chance for them. If they stay in school and study hard, they should be able to afford college, university or an apprenticeship. They should be able to graduate, get a good job, put a roof over their head and build a good middle-class life for them and their families. Budget 2024 would ensure the government's help to restore generational fairness for millennials and gen Z by removing the interest on Canada student loans; unlocking access to post-secondary education, including for the most vulnerable students and youth; investing in the skills of tomorrow; and creating new opportunities for younger Canadians to get the skills they need to get great jobs.
More specifically, in budget 2024, we are announcing the government's intention to extend for an additional year the increase in full-time Canada student grants from $3,000 to $4,200 per year and interest-free Canada student loans from $210 to $300 per week. The increased grants would support 587,000 students across Canada and increased interest-free loans would support 652,000 students with a combined $7.3 billion for the upcoming academic year. I cannot think of a better investment.
While I am proud of the social safety net that our government has provided Canadians since 2015 and certainly before that, we are aware that too many Canadians are not feeling as though their hard work is paying off. I am here today to reassure Canadians that it does not have to be that way. I am regularly heard in this House talking about co-op housing, and I am really glad that we are advancing on the promise to restore co-op housing in this country, to build more co-operative housing and to invest in more non-market housing solutions.
Our government is working hard to ensure that Canadians can keep more of their money. In many respects, this would ensure that they can invest in the economy; however, it is also about the well-being of families. We are taking action to hold to account those who are charging Canadians unnecessarily high prices, whether it is corporations charging junk fees or banks charging unnecessary banking fees. This budget would also better assure that corporations are not taking advantage of Canadians. It would make sure the economy is fair and affordable, as well as that everybody is set up to get a good deal. Budget 2024 would also build on these efforts and give people back control over their personal finances and banking choices, with action to cap banking fees and give better access to digital banking, lower-cost accounts and stronger consumer protection.
While the Conservatives continually prioritize the interests of wealthy CEOs and corporate lobbyists, particularly from the oil and gas sector, we will stay focused. We know that we work for Canadians here in the House, not the greedy corporate interests of the top 0.1% of earners. With some of the measures in budget 2024 that I have touched on today, we are ensuring that the support and advocacy continue.
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- Apr/18/24 1:08:57 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I always take the opportunity to talk about co-op housing in the House because it is where I came from, and I will never forget where I came from.
Back in the nineties, various governments decided that they were getting out of the game. They were going to stop building co-operative housing and leave it up to the market. They said they were going to download that responsibility onto other levels of government and ignored all the good work that non-market housing solutions were doing. It is really unfortunate.
We do not have a time machine, but we do have a budget. In the last three budgets, our government has invested in co-operative housing. Shockingly, we are the first government to do that since the early 1990s. Recognizing there is a problem is the first step, and actually doing something takes a bit of courage and bold action. Our government is not afraid of that courage and bold action. We have taken on that responsibility to invest in co-operative housing.
I have worked really closely with the Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada. It is an amazing advocate. I should declare my personal conflict: I grew up in Chautauqua co-op, and my mom still builds co-op housing and manages a co-op in Mississauga. It means that some families and communities are fortunate enough to have co-ops.
I would say that there are more co-ops in Quebec and British Columbia than there are anywhere else in the world because those provinces have done an extraordinary job ensuring there are co-ops in their budgets and on their agendas. I am really proud of this government for taking on that courage as well.
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- Apr/18/24 1:11:23 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the answer is yes, every province has had the opportunity to submit provincial budgets. The provinces and territories have a lot of opportunities to discuss their priorities with our government. I am open to having this kind of conversation with my provincial and territorial colleagues at federal-provincial-territorial meetings or on other occasions.
At the same time, I think that the best way to ensure and encourage the protection of French in Canada is to promote French in all the provinces, including Ontario. Personally, improving my French is a priority, and I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to work here with a teacher. In Canadian schools across the country, however, students do not have the same opportunity to practise their French.
It is an important part of being Canadian.
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- Apr/18/24 2:35:10 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when the Conservatives blame the cost of living crisis on carbon pricing and proven emissions reduction strategies, they are only serving the greedy corporate interests of billionaire grocery and oil and gas executives.
There is no rebate on the provincial gas tax that Danielle Smith jacked up on Albertans on April 1. There is no rebate on the summer fuel surcharge or excessive oil and gas profits. However, the Canada carbon rebate has four quarterly payments per year as an incentive to use a little less and get a little more tax-free cash in one's account four times a year.
The Conservatives do not have a plan for affordability. They do not have a plan for the environment. They consistently prioritize the corporate interests of their greedy oil and gas masters over the needs of everyday Canadians.
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- Apr/18/24 2:36:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there was an election on the carbon tax. In fact, there were three of them. We won them all.
Last election, the Conservatives ran on a promise with Erin O'Toole. Do members remember his little cover that he cared about the environment for a change? All of a sudden, Conservatives cared about climate change, and they were going to use carbon pricing to lower emissions. Well, they lost, but they still all ran on that promise to price carbon. However, when a new member of parliament the petro-puppet of Carleton, came into play as the leader of the Conservatives—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Apr/18/24 2:38:07 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, these Conservatives can dish it out, but they ran on carbon pricing. They have no integrity for fighting it at this stage.
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- Apr/18/24 2:38:36 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I apologize for causing a little bit of disruption. It seems that the Conservatives—
Some hon. members: Oh, oh!
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- Apr/18/24 3:16:42 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I withdraw the comment.
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