- Member of Parliament
- Minister of Justice
Attorney General of Canada
- Liberal
- Parkdale—High Park
- Ontario
- Voting Attendance: 63%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $120,537.19
- Government Page
- Mar/27/23 2:47:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that question allows us to outline the important initiatives we have taken over these last seven and a half years. We have put in place measures that help alleviate the burdens that are on small business owners in this country. On two occasions, we have lowered taxes for small businesses, the same entities that member is advocating for, and on both of those occasions he and every member of his party voted against those measures.
What we also did at the height of the COVID pandemic was implement a series of measures targeted at wage supports and loan supports for those very same small businesses. Surely, that is something we could have all gotten behind, yet again, the voting record of the party opposite speaks for itself.
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- Dec/9/22 11:30:39 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank the member opposite for her genuine advocacy on behalf of small businesses.
One thing that people learned in her part of the country and right around the country is that ensuring businesses adapt to online commerce is critical to not just their survival but their success going forward. That is why we launched a $4-billion Canada digital adoption program. That is why we are investing in ensuring that small and medium-sized businesses can do commerce online. That is a way of securing their future. That is what we will continue to invest in on this side of the House, ensuring the monies reach those businesses.
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On a third front, what we are doing with respect to house flipping is really critical. We have heard about the commodification of the housing industry. We have heard about people using it as a speculative sort of exercise. The proposal contained in the fall economic statement is to tax the profits as business income for those who would sell a property within 12 months of having purchased it, preventing them from taking the capital gains exemption that is otherwise available to them. That is really critical because we want to ease that speculation in the housing market, not encourage it.
The last piece is also critical for those who want multi-generational housing. This is common in some parts of the country and some parts of the Canadian mosaic. We are trying to facilitate seniors to age at home. For example, for people who might want to have elderly parents live in their homes, possibly having three generations within the same dwelling, the renovation tax credit is being expanded through the multi-generational home renovation tax credit.
It does not stop with those who own homes. What we are doing for renters is very significant. Recently we topped up the Canada housing benefit, which was implemented through a proposal that I believe received royal assent yesterday. That was a $500 top-up. It is unfortunate that not all parties were onside in terms of supporting Bill C-31, which implemented this increase of $500 to the Canada housing benefit. It targets low-income Canadians who are renting in this current financial environment. Approximately 1.8 million people renting in this country will be affected by this one change, which is direct assistance during difficult economic times to help with the cost of housing.
On the broader piece of affordability, I want to highlight two other key facets. The first is the GST rebate, which I believe is in Bill C-30, if memory serves. Thankfully, there was a lot of consent in the chamber for doubling it for the next six months. That affects 11 million Canadians. That is a very significant form of assistance in difficult economic times.
The second is the dental benefit, which will be up to $1,300, in Bill C-31, which I believe received royal assent just yesterday. That will enable children under the age of 12 in low-income families to get much-needed dental care. I will salute the approach that has been mooted in the chamber by various parties about expanding the concept of health care to include dental care. That is a step in the right direction. That is a step we need to take and are taking as a government. This is really critical.
Another point I want to add, if I can open a parenthesis, is that it is critical for people to understand, including Canadians watching right now, in dealing with the rising impacts of inflation, they should note how many government benefits that are currently part of our social safety net are indexed to inflation. They are multiple. The Canada child benefit, the GST credit, CPP benefits, old age security, the guaranteed income supplement and even the federal minimum wage are all tied to and indexed to inflation. We do not want to see inflation rise any further, but if it does, the benefits will also have a concomitant increase. That is very important to give people peace of mind about what their benefits will be assisting them with as we deal with difficult issues about the cost of living.
I want to touch on what we are doing for workers. We are working hard to assist workers directly. The fall economic statement would enhance the Canada workers benefit, which we have implemented. For those who are not familiar with it, there used to be disincentives for people coming off of assistance and taking low-paying work. We did not want to disincentivize people from leaving government assistance and entering the workforce.
The Canada workers benefit creates a top-up for those people who are in that particular situation, so they are encouraged to enter the workforce rather than discouraged. With this change, we are not providing that benefit annually, but on a quarterly basis, so those benefits will be in people's bank accounts more frequently, which helps them deal with the cost of living on a more direct and frequent basis. This one change has the potential to affect as many as 4.2 million workers.
We are also talking about a sustainable jobs training centre. This dovetails exactly with something we have heard a lot about over the past four to five years in the chamber, which is the notion of a just transition. How do we transition good, unionized work from different sectors into good, unionized, high-paying jobs in new, sustainable clean tech sectors? We do that through harnessing the power of unions and also through harnessing the powers of a sustainable economy. The sustainable jobs training centre would do just that. That is part of the fall economic statement.
We are also addressing fairness for workers directly by taxing share buybacks. This is important because, as the Minister of Finance outlined when she announced the fall economic statement, what we want to do is encourage businesses to not hold on to their wealth, to not pay for dividends to shareholders, but rather to reinvest in their businesses, including through R and D, which would empower the workers themselves. That is a critical feature, and that is what we are doing in this fall economic statement.
Another component is addressing fairness for small and medium enterprises. I am proud to serve as the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Small Business. Insofar as we addressed the small businesses stakeholders around the country, we heard repeatedly from entities about the prohibitive costs of credit card transactions, which only escalated during the pandemic as people turned to cashless methods of payment.
The charges that are part of the credit interchange fee structures are proving to be more and more prohibitive on small business owners. What we have committed quite openly in the fall economic statement is that we will doggedly pursue a negotiated agreement with financial institutions to reduce those fees. If those negotiations prove futile or unsuccessful, we have made a public statement in the chamber and through the fall economic statement that we will actually legislate in this area to bring down those fees. That would have a direct impact on small and medium businesses.
On this point, I want to read some of the reaction we have heard. The Convenience Industry Council of Canada has said, “CICC is pleased that the government has responded to our calls for action and has acknowledged the impact that credit card fees are having on convenience stores across the country.” They also said that Canadian convenience stores “have reached a tipping point & we need the feds to act NOW.”
That is exactly what we are doing. We are responding to this. When one responds to the needs of small business owners, one also responds to the people who use small businesses, the consumers who are facing escalating costs because credit card transaction fees are passed on to them.
That is part of what we are doing in the fall economic statement. It is critical to address the cost of living needs of Canadians, my constituents of Parkdale—High Park, the constituents of every member in this chamber. That is why I will be voting in support of the fall economic statement, Bill C-32, and I encourage every member of this chamber to do the same.
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- Nov/16/22 2:41:44 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, what we are hearing about over and over again from small and medium-sized businesses is the issue of supply chains, which the member opposite mentioned. The Minister of Finance announced how we plan to address that in the fall economic statement. As she said, we will support our small and medium-sized businesses.
We will, for example, use an investment tax credit for clean technologies. We will also ensure that there are new sustainable jobs under the union training and innovation program.
The last part is critical to enterprises. What we are doing, by getting tough on share buybacks, is ensuring that people are supporting their employees and not their board of directors.
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- Nov/16/22 2:40:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for his question. What we have heard from business groups in Canada, including the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, is that we have to support our small and medium-sized businesses.
In the fall economic statement, we announced plans to work on the credit card system to support small and medium-sized businesses by lowering credit card transaction fees charged by big institutions and big banks.
If we cannot negotiate a solution to this situation, we will introduce legislation. That is how we are supporting small and medium-sized businesses here in Canada.
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- Oct/18/22 3:02:18 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I welcome that question from the member opposite.
First of all, in terms of making Canadian businesses competitive, we are aggressively pursuing trade agreements around the planet to diversify our supply chains. Second, what we are doing with respect to small businesses is empowering inclusive trade, which means supporting women entrepreneurs with a $6-billion program. It means empowering Black entrepreneurs with a $200-million program. It means supporting indigenous people on this land so they can reach their economic potential. We will continue that work because we know that what is best for inclusive businesses is best for Canada.
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- Oct/7/22 11:36:28 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, that question is critically important because we know small businesses are drivers of the economy. What we have been doing consistently on this side of the House for the past three years is proposing measures that support our small business entrepreneurs, help keep their employees well paid and remunerated, and help them keep the lights on.
In particular, what we have done most recently is the Canada digital adoption program. We know that the entrepreneurs of the future are moving more and more consistently online. That is why we are providing a $4-billion program to help them do it.
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- Oct/6/22 2:37:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite for this important question about the small business entrepreneurs that are at the heart of the Canadian economy. What we have been doing in the past three years is supporting small business entrepreneurs through the pandemic, with targeted support for wage subsidies and access to finance to support them and their employees.
What we are doing since the pandemic is targeting entrepreneurs that will promote inclusive recovery. That means women entrepreneurs. That means Black entrepreneurs. That means indigenous entrepreneurs. What we are doing is understanding that small businesses will carry us through and out of this pandemic, and that is where our priority lies.
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- Oct/3/22 2:46:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite for her persistence on this issue about supporting small businesses.
We share that persistent prioritization. What we have been doing for the past two and a half years is supporting small businesses through the pandemic with targeted wage supports and supports for rent. What we have been doing since the pandemic is launching a women's entrepreneurship strategy and a Black entrepreneurship strategy, and we are empowering indigenous businesses. We know the power of small businesses will be unleashed through inclusive growth, and that is what we are prioritizing.
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- Sep/20/22 3:07:16 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, let me outline what we have done for small businesses during the past two and a half years. We have supported small businesses throughout a pandemic. What we have also done, a matter that I am sure the member opposite is very concerned about, is support small businesses in their inclusivity with the women's entrepreneurship program. We have launched a Black entrepreneurship program. We are supporting indigenous businesses.
The Conservative record on supporting small businesses leaves a little to be desired. When we have proposed rebates for small businesses, the Conservatives have opposed them in their voting record. When small businesses in the city were under siege by an illegal blockade, the man who is now the Leader of the Opposition supported that blockade and the impediments it caused to small businesses. That is the Conservative record.
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