44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 8, 2024 02:00PM
- May/8/24 2:26:11 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, instead of stirring up anxiety with misinformation, the member should give Canadians the true facts.
The fact is that Canada's fiscal position is the strongest of the G7 countries. We have the highest credit rating of almost any country in the world. We are investing responsibly to ensure that we are putting the government's assets in the service of Canadians and their interests. Our investment in housing is based on a highly comprehensive plan to create housing for all generations.
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- May/8/24 2:27:28 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, for months, years even, we have heard the Conservatives say that our policies of investing in Canadians are the reason Canadians are facing challenges.
On the contrary, Canada has the strongest fiscal position in the G7. We are investing and using that strong position to help families who are struggling. These investments in housing, dental care, senior care and child care are all investments that help Canadians and put the government in service of Canadians.
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- May/8/24 2:31:31 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, here is the question Canadians should be asking the Leader of the Opposition.
Given that Canada has one of the strongest economic balance sheets in the G7 right now in a country-to-country comparison, should we invest in supporting Canadians and creating housing with that solid balance sheet, or should we, as the Conservative leader is proposing, cut programs, reduce investment and do less for Canadians?
We should be putting the strong fiscal position of the government in service of Canadians. That is what we are doing. That is what the Conservative leader opposes.
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- May/8/24 2:53:13 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we clearly see the fundamental choice Canadians are facing in the next election.
Should a government put its fiscal position in service of Canadians to invest in communities and invest in housing, or should it make cuts to programs to further improve its fiscal position, which is already the best in the G7?
The Conservative leader wants ideology-driven austerity and cuts. We want to make investments for Canadians.
I know what Canadians are going to choose.
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- May/8/24 2:54:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, thanks to our sound fiscal management, inflation is coming down and is back in the Bank of Canada's target zone. Interest rates will also begin to fall in the months ahead, we are almost certain of it.
The reality is that the Leader of the Opposition is conflating two things: the government's very strong fiscal position and the situation of families who need more help.
I suggest using the government's strong position to help families. The Conservative leader, in contrast, says that the government should cut services to Canadians. He is wrong.
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- May/8/24 4:40:32 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, we are talking about budget 2024 and the budget implementation act. In the budget report, the Liberal government makes a claim that the GDP, the gross domestic product of our economy, is set to grow by 3.5% this year. GDP is a good measurement because it talks about the health of the economy, and admittedly, a 3.5% growth is not bad, if that is indeed what it is going to be, but members are not to forget that this is just a forecast. However, factoring in unprecedented population growth in Canada, and we are 3.5 million people more now than we were in 2019, the statistics look rather anemic.
David Williams, vice-president of policy at Business Council of British Columbia, notes that annual GDP per person in the province of British Columbia is actually shrinking. Per person GDP has been decreasing steadily under the Prime Minister. The calculations have been done by economists, and it works out to about $4,200 per person. Canadians are not getting richer, despite the optimistic spin the Liberals and the finance minister are putting on what is really an anemic economic performance.
Budget 2024 also announces once again, just as the Liberals have done in every budget since I was elected five years ago, that their economic policies will improve Canada's productivity numbers. Our poor productivity metrics is a well-known problem, which has been admitted to by our current Minister of Finance.
It works out to the following: For every $100 an American worker produces, their Canadian counterpart pumps about $72 into our economy, so only 72% is efficient. That does not mean Canadians are not working as hard as Americans. We are probably working as hard or harder than our American counterparts, but we do not have the tools, the technology or the investment to grow the economy. As America's productivity improves, Canada's is lagging due to mismanagement and bad leadership by the Prime Minister.
His former minister of finance, Bill Morneau, in a book he published shortly after he resigned from his position as the finance minister, said that he tried try to get his boss, the Prime Minister, to focus on the problems with Canada's lagging productivity, but the Prime Minister showed little interest. He said that the Prime Minister was more focused on wealth redistribution rather than on wealth growth, looking at the things that grow the economy, such as encouraging private investment in innovation and resource development, making strategic tax cuts and deregulation, getting new Canadians working sooner and developing strategies for scaling up our technology sector so that job growth happens here in Canada rather than south of the border in Silicon Valley, Boston or Texas.
I would add to this as well that a strategy for growing our productivity is freeing up interprovincial trade. Economists say that would add substantially to our productivity. What are we getting instead are tax increases on Canadian investors, which is scaring people away so their investment dollars might just go somewhere else.
I pointed out that the current Minister of Finance has also commented on this, and she has recently said that economic growth, business investments and productivity are an urgent challenge for Canada, if not the most important challenge for Canada. It sounds like the Minister of Finance understands that this is a challenge for Canada, as did the former minister of finance, but in Canada, our Prime Minister admits he does not spend a lot of time paying attention to these sorts of things, such as monetary policy or the impact his fiscal policy might have on inflation and interest rates.
Leadership sets the tone. What we have here again is lots of promises. The Liberals will say, “Sunny ways are just around the corner”, and that we should just believe them this time. As always, our Prime Minister gets an A for announcements and an F on delivery.
In talking about the budget, I just want to touch on inflation, interest rates and debt servicing. Under the misguidance of the current Prime Minister, Canada's inflation hit an all-time high. The Bank of Canada had to respond with higher interest rates, which are having a negative impact on citizens, on homeowners and on businesses, as well as on the national economy. With a debt of over a trillion dollars now, interest rate payments are over $50 billion a year, which is more money than Canada transfers to provinces for health care.
I just want to summarize with this: Struggling families cannot afford higher taxes and more inflationary spending that drives up the cost of everything and keeps interest rates high. There used to be an understanding here in Canada, an unwritten social contract saying that if one worked hard, got an education or on-the-job training, and then got a good job and a powerful paycheque, that one could save up to buy a house. One could buy the house, maybe pay the mortgage off in 25 years, or if one made a few extra payments early on, in 20 years, and then save up for one's retirement. It was simple but secure. Under the Liberal government, that dream is all but dead. To hear the Liberals speak, sunny ways are just around the corner. The Liberals have been around for nine years, promising that “this time you can believe us”, but they are not delivering.
It is time for the Conservative Party to take over the governing side of the House to get Canada's economy back on track. It is time to turn the hurt that the Liberals have caused into the hope Canadians desperately need.
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- May/8/24 6:32:02 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, as always, it is an honour to rise and represent the good people of Battle River—Crowfoot in the House of Commons.
Today, I do so to enter into debate on what is, ironically, the fall fiscal update. Many people watching must be wondering why we are debating, come springtime, a bill that was tabled in the fall. I had that same question, but it simply comes down to this. While the Liberals tabled their budget a couple of weeks ago, which I will talk about here in a moment, we are still debating the fall economic statement in the spring.
That is a clear example of the utter incompetence that we have seen from the Liberal Party. The Liberals cannot manage their legislative agenda, and they certainly cannot manage the economy. We are seeing debt spiralling out of control. We are seeing pain and suffering in people's lives. We are seeing pain and suffering in the lives of so many Canadians. That is a perfect example.
The reason I wanted to start my speech emphasizing that is that, when folks watch this, they will look on the screen to see that it has “Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023” written across it. Earlier today we were also debating the budget implementation act, 2024, highlighting the true incompetence and inability of the Prime Minister, the Liberals and their coalition partners who prop them up. Come storm or sunny day, their coalition partners are always there to stand with the Liberals, propping up their corruption, their incompetence and, ultimately, the pain that Canadians are feeling from coast to coast. When it comes to the true root of what I hear as I travel across my constituency, related to both the fall economic statement and the budget that was tabled here a couple of weeks ago, there is crime and chaos in our streets and gravel roads.
It is interesting. I am sure many MPs and, hopefully, some Liberal and NDP members as well, keep something similar to what I affectionately refer to as my “call list”. It can take some time to get through that call list, as there are a whole host of people who want to speak to me out of the 110,000 or so people I represent. I find it incredibly important to speak with individuals who are—
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