SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 302 - Apr/18/24

Apr/18/24 12:33:27 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, the member talked about Canada's ranking among OECD countries. Does he not also note that Canada is the top among all OECD countries when it comes to per capita foreign direct investment in the last year? He knows very well that this did not happen in a vacuum. It is Canada's focus on climate change, the focus on the generation of clean energy, the availability of good, skilled workers and the overall fiscal prudence the government has shown and the economic stability it has shown. Are these not reasons why foreign companies are still interested in investing in Canada today?

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Context: House Hansard - 302 - Apr/18/24

Mr. Don Davies

Apr/18/24 12:34:20 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, I have seen the numbers and I listened to the finance minister state that Canada is leading the G7 in foreign direct investment. I would turn my attention to domestic investment. I am not interested in having only foreign companies come into Canada to develop our economy. I want to build strong Canadian businesses and strong champions here at home. We have a lack of investment by Canadian companies in machinery, equipment, technology and innovation that has been lagging and dropping for many years. That is one of the prime reasons Canada is not reaching its potential as an economy. We should be the wealthiest country in the world. We have everything in this country: land, minerals, oil and gas, food, a well-educated population and strong social supports. However, we are not reaching our potential. That is because of decades of poor economic decisions made by successive federal governments that failed to fully harness the potential that is here.

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Context: House Hansard - 302 - Apr/18/24

Mr. Chandra Arya

Apr/18/24 12:57:29 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, the point that the member raised is very important. We are a global leader in artificial intelligence, and Montreal and Quebec play a major role. However, so far, we are dependent on jurisdictions outside Canada for the compute access that is very critical for artificial intelligence. We have now proposed a $2-billion investment so we can provide compute access from within Canada. In addition to that, we have proposed $200 million for AI start-ups and to help companies in other critical economic sectors, such as health care, agriculture or manufacturing, to use and embrace the artificial intelligence that is available.

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Context: House Hansard - 302 - Apr/18/24

Mr. Francis Scarpaleggia (Lac-Saint-Louis, Lib.)

Apr/18/24 1:22:54 p.m.
Watch

Madam Speaker, the facts seem to contradict what the hon. member is saying. Canada is one of the top countries for attracting direct foreign investment. In fact, it is the top country per capita in attracting direct foreign investment. However, I will admit that there are pressures on capital in Canada to go to the United States specifically in green industries, and that pressure was caused by a $400-billion Inflation Reduction Act in the U.S. Does the hon. member think that we need to spend much more on green technology in this country to counterbalance that attraction that is coming from the United States?

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Context: House Hansard - 302 - Apr/18/24

Hon. François-Philippe Champagne (Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, Lib.)

Apr/18/24 2:30:46 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am very glad that, the day after the budget, my colleagues give me the opportunity to talk about the great investments we have been attracting to this country. For example, last year, Canada ranked third in the world and first per capita for attracting foreign investment. I think about Northvolt in Quebec, the largest private investment in the province's history. I will talk about Volkswagen in St. Thomas. This is going to change the whole region. We are creating jobs. We are creating prosperity. We are creating opportunities for generations. I think about Windsor and the investment we have seen from Northstar. We are going to fight every day for Canadians.

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Context: House Hansard - 302 - Apr/18/24

Mr. Kevin Lamoureux (Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Lib.)

Apr/18/24 3:57:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, there are many things I can go to, in terms of what the Minister of Finance and Deputy Prime Minister said in introducing the budget. One of the things that really stood out for me, and it contradicts many of the things the leader of the official opposition and the member who just spoke have said, was to take a look at the amount of foreign investment on a per capita basis. When we take a look at the G7 countries in the world, we will find that, in the first three-quarters of 2023, we were number one in terms of that foreign investment. That speaks volumes. Next to that, I would remind the member of something I said earlier. It took Stephen Harper just over nine years to create just under a million jobs. We have been able to create over two million jobs in less time. I am wondering if the member opposite can explain to me why he believes we should take economic advice when our performance has far outweighed and benefited Canadians, more so than the Stephen Harper era.

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Context: House Hansard - 302 - Apr/18/24

Mr. Majid Jowhari

Apr/18/24 4:28:02 p.m.
Watch

Mr. Speaker, we are not doing the same thing over and over again. If the member looks at it, starting back in 2016, we made a historical investment, and we continue to do that. We also introduced partnerships with the provinces and territories. When it became clear that we needed other partnerships, such as the municipalities, we started working with them. When it became clear that we needed to remove the red tape, we started working on that. We have been working consistently on that, looking at what we need to focus on and introducing new programs.

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