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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 302

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 18, 2024 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 302 - Apr/18/24
Mr. Jasraj Singh Hallan (Calgary Forest Lawn, CPC)
  • Apr/18/24 1:12:54 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with the great member for Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles. Whether one is an immigrant to this country like myself, or has lived here throughout one's life, it is really hard not to feel like Canada is not the same Canada anymore. After nine years of the NDP-Liberal government, it feels more broken than it has ever felt. It is hard to walk down the streets of our major cities and not see tents everywhere, as well as crime, chaos and disorder, or to walk by a business that has a “for lease” or a “for sale” sign because they became insolvent. We hear stories all the time about mothers having to put groceries back on the shelves because they are not sure if they can afford them or having to buy less nutritious food. Those moms, as well as seniors, have had to find other options because rents have gone up and mortgages have doubled. Now we are hearing stories about students living under bridges. We are hearing about nurses and teachers who have good jobs, but after nine years of the government, they have to live in their cars because they cannot afford housing. It is harder and harder for people to eat, heat and house themselves after nine years of the government. High interest rates have been driven up by the government's deficits. Once again, last week, Canadians looking for any kind of relief when it comes to housing, received none. There is no hope at the end of that tunnel because the Bank of Canada, once again, had to hold the rates higher for longer. Due to rates staying higher for longer, builders are not building, buyers are not buying and developers are not developing. This country used to be one where, if people put in the hard work, they would be able to get something out of that. The member previous to me spoke about personal experience. We moved here as immigrants. We did not come here with much. I was considered an at-risk youth. We went through really harsh poverty. My family and I used to stand in line for low-income bus passes. However, there was a promise that was kept in Canada back then, something that we called the Canadian dream, where if people worked hard, they would be able to see the fruits of their labour. Today, after nine years of the government, the Canadian dream has turned into a nightmare for more and more families. Those who have moved here have said this is not the Canada that was promised to them, one where people could own a business, own a house, afford groceries and have an affordable place to live. Those people who have lived here all their lives are wondering what they are doing here as this place just does not feel like the same Canada anymore. That is because, after nine years of the NDP-Liberal government, life has never been so miserable or more expensive. How did we get here? The Prime Minister, after saying that budgets balance themselves, has delivered eight inflationary budgets that drove up inflation to 40-year highs. Canadians have seen the most rapid and aggressive interest rate hikes that have never been seen before in Canadian history. The Prime Minister slammed a carbon tax scam onto Canadians, making the cost of everything even more expensive. Just recently this month, when 70% of Canadians were telling him to spike the hike and to not go ahead with a carbon tax increase, he still increased the carbon tax by 23%. Just now the government's own Parliamentary Budget Officer once again confirmed what he said before the carbon tax increase, which was that a majority of families will be worse off after this carbon tax scam, factoring in the economic and fiscal impact of what they would get back from the so-called rebate. He also confirmed that they would still be worse off after the hike on April 1. There is misinformation coming from the government. The government does not understand the real pain that all of these bad policies have caused for Canadians and why Canadians feel like this is not the same Canada any more. The dream and the promise of Canada is gone. Just this year alone, the Liberal-NDP government will force taxpayers, Canadian taxpayers, to pay more for the Liberal-NDP Prime Minister's interest on the debt he accumulated than what goes to health care or national defence. Can members believe that? This means that $54 billion is going to go to bankers, bondholders and this Prime Minister's Bay Street buddies rather than going to doctors, nurses and hospitals. That is after nine years of this Liberal-NDP government. There is no relief because, on his way to quadrupling the carbon tax scam, he increased the carbon tax by 23%. We instantly saw, all across the country, what that did when people were filling up their gas tanks or when they went to the grocery stores. There is nothing, also, on top of that to address the productivity issue. Senior deputy governor of the Bank of Canada, Carolyn Rogers, recently said that Canada's productivity is a break-glass emergency. The Bank of Canada saying that should ring alarm bells. When the Bank of Canada is saying it is raining, there is probably a thunderstorm or a tornado coming. That is after nine years of the government. It is not just Conservatives or the Bank of Canada saying this. Liberals are calling out other Liberals about this budget. A proud Liberal, former Bank of Canada governor David Dodge, said that this is going to be the worse budget since 1982. This is because Canada is in a productivity crisis that was created by the government when it drove out investment. In fact, it has driven more than 260 billion dollars' worth of investment out of Canada since 2016 because of its failed policies and its anti-energy, anti-Canada, anti-Alberta, anti-resources agenda. This woke agenda is the reason why people are not investing in Canada and people are leaving Canada. They are leaving everything on the table here and just leaving, and this is because they do not see any reason to invest. There is more of a tax burden. There is a lot more red tape and regulation here than anywhere else, even though Canada has some of the best standards when it comes to environmental standards and human rights standards, yet this anti-energy, anti-business government continues to drive more and more of our powerful paycheques outside to dirty dictators and other places when it should be here for our people. Canada is in that bad of a situation when it comes to productivity. Canada has the worst economic growth in all of the OECD countries. In fact, our GDP per capita, or per person, which is how we consider how each Canadian is determined to be successful in this country, is worse today than it was in 2018. That means that Canadians are poorer. It is clear to see when two million Canadians are going to a food bank in a single month, and a million more are projected to be this year, and when, like I said, students are living under bridges, and nurses and teachers are living in their cars. That is Canada after nine years of this Liberal-NDP Prime Minister. This budget does absolutely nothing but pour another $40 billion of inflationary fuel on the fire that this government started, with higher deficits, higher taxes, more pain and more suffering for Canadians. It was not like this before this Liberal-NDP Prime Minister, and it will not be like this after he is gone. He is not worth the cost. After the next election, the carbon tax election, Canada will see a common-sense Conservative government that would axe the tax to bring down the cost of gas, groceries and home heating. It would also knock off a huge chunk of the inflation we see today, which means that interest rates could come down at a faster rate. Common-sense Conservatives would build homes, not more bureaucracy, like we have seen after nine years of this government, which pumped in $89 billion of inflationary spending to only double housing costs, doubling rents and mortgages. A common-sense Conservative government would incentivize municipalities to increase their permits by 15% so that they could build. We would fix the budget. We would bring in a dollar-for-dollar law so that interest rates and inflation could come down and so Canadians would not have to lose their homes. We would work responsibly with taxpayers' dollars and not throw it away like this government does, and we would stop the crime, chaos and disorder we see in this country. We need to help our loved ones get back on their feet through recovery and not through more drugs. We would bring it home for Canadian people and restore the Canadian dream this great country used to have.
1535 words
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