- Member of Parliament
- Deputy House leader of the official opposition
- Conservative
- Mégantic—L'Érable
- Quebec
- Voting Attendance: 69%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $94,201.00
- Government Page
- Oct/5/23 2:43:27 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, if the Liberals were sincere, they would have voted for our motion to cancel the carbon taxes, which would have had an immediate effect on every Canadian's wallet.
A month ago, they put on a big media show to say that this year's Thanksgiving dinner would be more affordable for everyone. In the meantime, the price of peas has increased by 22%. Since 2015, the price of turkey has increased by 70%, and the price of potatoes has gone up by 74%. The government has four days left to lower the cost of Thanksgiving dinner.
After eight years of empty promises, will the Liberals finally manage to keep a promise for once?
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- Feb/10/23 11:24:30 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, what we voted against are this government's inflationary policies of the past eight years.
This week, the big grocery store chains announced that the price of groceries is going to increase again in the next few months. Last year, prices went up by 11%. This year, the average family is going to pay $1,000 more for groceries, so they can eat, so they can put butter, bread, meat and vegetables on their table.
That is the reality that the Liberals do not want to see, but that is how it is right now in Canada. Will the Prime Minister admit—
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- Dec/8/22 10:16:15 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Thursday, December 8, may go down in history. It is a great day for all Canadians, because today the House of Commons has a unique opportunity to give some relief to all Canadian consumers who are suffering the effects of inflation, the increase in the cost of living and the increase in the price of food by doing something that is only right.
I am very optimistic and fully hope that all of my colleagues here in the House will finally, this time, do the right thing and vote in favour of our motion, which will cancel the carbon tax applied to all food chain inputs and production.
We are giving all members of the House a unique opportunity to do what is only right to give some relief to all Canadians. This motion seeks to help get things back on track for Canadians who are suffering, those who are struggling to put food on the table.
We asked for this many times. Many times we begged the government and the other parties to support motions simply seeking to reduce the carbon tax, or at least to not increase it. This time we are going a step further. We are asking them to cancel the tax on an essential need, namely food.
This is a day that may go down in history or that Canadians may remember for a long time. In fact, some parties may decide to vote against the motion seeking to give Canadians a break.
I would like to say something right from the start. I know that some members will probably ask why the member for Mégantic—L’Érable has risen to demand that the carbon tax be cancelled when it does not apply to Quebec.
I would remind the members opposite that Quebec is not self-sufficient when it comes to oil, food and supplies. Quebec has to buy products from around the world and especially, we hope, from everywhere in Canada.
The food that comes from the western provinces, the potatoes that come from the Atlantic provinces, all of that has to be brought in by truck. Unfortunately, the carbon tax applies to all of it, and the tax will increase over the next few years. Those are the facts. To deny those facts is to deny the reality that, right now, Quebeckers live in the province most affected by increasing food prices, according to “Canada’s Food Price Report 2023”. This report was issued by Dalhousie University, the University of Guelph, the University of British Columbia and the University of Saskatchewan. We are talking about 11%. Quebec is the hardest-hit province. However, it is the only province that is not subject to the carbon tax. That is what the Liberals are going to say today, despite the fact that I just demonstrated that such arguments are totally ridiculous.
I would like to talk about something else. Who will the carbon tax hurt the most? It will hit agricultural producers and farmers in the western provinces hardest. They will have to pay much higher tax bills, and will probably have to cease production in the coming years if nothing is done, if the government does not do the right thing and eliminate the carbon tax.
What will happen if there are fewer producers in the western provinces to supply food to Quebec? We will have to get our food from farther away and pay more for the same product. If we purchase from farther away and pay more, it will take more fuel to transport the food to Quebec. That will completely offset any positive effects of the carbon tax, and we know full well that the carbon tax has not allowed the government to achieve any of its greenhouse gas reduction targets.
I will not speak any longer about everything happening in the west because my colleague from Foothills, with whom I will be sharing my time, will be happy to demonstrate the effects of the carbon tax on the western provinces.
Where are we today? The newspapers are publishing headlines like “The coming months will be really difficult” and “Multiple devastating effects”. Of course, we are talking about the interest rate hike announced yesterday by the Bank of Canada, combined with the increase in the price of food which I will address in a few minutes and which is clearly explained in Canada's Food Price Report 2023.
I will read a paragraph from an article by Michel Girard this morning in Le Journal de Montréal, in which he says that the coming months will be really difficult: “Who is responsible? According to economists Jean-François Perrault and René Lalonde of the Bank of Nova Scotia...federal government spending on COVID‑19 support programs forced the Bank of Canada to aggressively raise interest rates. They believe that federal support for COVID‑19 victims, which amounted to more than $200 billion, was 'welcome, but probably overdone'. This spending created excess demand, which the Bank of Canada is trying to curb by increasing the cost of borrowing.”
There you have it. As we said earlier, the government had to do something, but the Liberals were sloppy once again. That is what the Auditor General said this week in her report. The government was sloppy, it was wasteful, it spent too much, and that is why we are seeing skyrocketing inflation today. That is why the Bank of Canada had to raise interest rates. At the same time, if everything is going up, if inflation is increasing, if the interest rates are skyrocketing, it is not surprising that the price of food is going up as well.
Canada's Food Price Report shows that the price of fish has increased by 10%, and the price of butter, by 16%. Even the price of fresh and dried pasta has gone up. When we were students and did not have much money to spend on food, we bought pasta. We ate pasta five days a week and, on weekends, instead of eating spaghetti, we ate macaroni. The price of pasta has gone up 32%. It is not surprising that students can no longer afford an apartment and have to live in their parents' basement.
The problem is that the government caused this inflation. We could call it Liberal inflation. The price of everything is going up. For example, the report projected that food costs for a family of four would reach approximately $14,700 in 2022. Based on what was observed in 2022, it appears that there will be a $455 increase for 2022. Worse yet, next year, the increase for the same family will be $1,065. That is a lot of money.
As I was saying earlier, Quebec is the province hardest hit by rising food prices. According to the report, the price of food has increased by 11% in Quebec. The increase across Canada varies between 9.2% and 11% in a single year. I do not know many people who received salary increases that will allow them to offset these increases. Moreover, it is not just the cost of food. I have not said anything about the cost of rent, mortgages or the additional costs of car loans. All of these new costs Canadians will have to pay in the coming years are outrageous.
It gets worse. According to HungerCount 2022 published by Food Banks Canada, food bank usage increased by 15% this year. The report states that high food prices are limiting Canadians' access to food. It is estimated that 23% of Canadians eat less than they should. That is what is happening in Canada in 2022. Normally, during the summer, the demand on food banks drops. That was not the case this year. This year, food banks faced their most difficult summer in 41 years.
The government can do something, Parliament can do something, the House can do something. Every member can do something today by voting for the opposition's motion, which asks that the carbon tax on food inputs and production, including all farm fuels, grain drying, fertilizer, transportation and other aspects of the food supply system be eliminated to give Canadians a little respite and allow them to put more bread, butter and milk on the table.
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- Oct/25/22 11:20:02 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague from Charlesbourg—Haute‑Saint‑Charles for his speech.
We are here because our colleagues from the Bloc Québécois decided to present an opposition motion in the House of Commons from which I will read the preamble, which I find interesting. It states that “Canada is a democratic state” and that the “House believes in the principle of equality for all”.
I will focus on those two points from the Bloc motion day because I do believe that “Canada is a democratic state” and that the “House believes in the principle of equality for all”. That is why I prefer today to talk about the fact that 100% of Canadians are suffering every day from the cost of inflation caused by the costly New Democrat-Liberal coalition.
When we look at the numbers, we realize that 80% of Canadians, including Quebeckers, are worried about their finances and wonder if they will be able to make ends meet at the end of the month and pay their bills and groceries each week, while 72% of Canadians feel they pay too much in taxes.
On January 1, 2023, the Liberals are preparing to further increase what they will be taking from the paycheques of Canadians and Quebeckers. They are about to further raise the carbon tax, which will create even more inflation and make absolutely everything cost more. The cost of food alone has risen by more than 11%, something that has not been seen in the last 40 years.
In addition, inflation remains at about 7%. There were reports that inflation had come down slightly, but it only came down by 0.1%, primarily because of a drop in the price of gas, but that did not happen everywhere. Unfortunately, people will not benefit from it for long because, very soon, the Liberals will turn that drop into an increase for all Canadians.
Let me also quote a few figures from Statistics Canada. Last month, the price of meat was up 7.6% compared to last year, dairy was up nearly 10%, baked goods were up 14.8% and vegetables, 11.8%. These figures do not paint a complete picture, however.
It is clear something is going on when you go to the grocery store and see how people have been acting over the past few months. People are looking for products, they cannot find what they are looking for, or they are leaving products on the shelves because they simply cannot afford it. Another change is that people are going to grocery stores as soon as the flyers come out so they can take advantage of the discounts as quickly as possible. That way, they can save money on products that inflation would otherwise prevent them from buying. That is the reality.
What is in store for us tomorrow? The Bank of Canada is going to raise its key interest rate again, making housing even more expensive and making home ownership even less likely for young families and young people entering the workforce. That is the reality. We do not know by how much the rate will go up, but it will definitely go up.
The Liberals keep saying that they are not responsible for inflation because it is caused by the global economy and all sorts of other reasons and people. However, that is not what the head of the Bank of Canada thinks. According to Mr. Macklem, inflation is the result of many factors that are becoming purely domestic. In other words, inflation in Canada is created by Canada.
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- Sep/27/22 12:19:34 p.m.
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Madame Speaker, I would like my colleague, who comes from a large family, to tell me what his parents' reaction would be tomorrow morning if they were told their gas bill was going up by 40¢ a litre.
Right now, British Columbia is one of the places where people pay the most for the gas they need to get to work or drive their kids to school. The price of a litre of gas in British Columbia is up to $2.33, according to what I hear lately from people in that province. They are bracing for a further increase of about 40¢, which would bring the price up to nearly $3 a litre.
Is that really what the member wants for the people of British Columbia? I, for one, do not want that.
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- Sep/27/22 12:11:49 p.m.
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They can use words like “hypocrisy” to describe what happened and our leader's position, but what is really hypocritical is what the Bloc Québécois is trying to sell us. They know full well that Quebeckers, fathers and workers will end up paying more because of the Liberal government's decision to triple the carbon tax. Ultimately, the government's intention is to force the provinces that are not imposing the carbon tax to increase their system.
The worst part is that the government's carbon tax has successfully demonstrated that its targets do not reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Canada. The Liberal government failed to meet any greenhouse gas reduction targets with its promise that the carbon tax would be capped at $50 per tonne. After the election, we learned that the government intends to triple the carbon tax because it was a failure and they were unable to meet their greenhouse gas targets. Now people will have to pay three times as much. They will not be able to use their vehicles because it will cost them more, so they will emit fewer greenhouse gases. Where is the logic in the current Liberal government's attitude, other than making workers and families pay for its policy that fails to reduce greenhouse gases?
That is the reality. At this time, with the carbon tax and the government's desire to make Canadians pay more and more in taxes, with its excessive spending policies and its use of public funds to create new programs, and considering Canada's rising debt levels and record deficits, it is not surprising that everything is more expensive.
Let us imagine a mother who goes to do her grocery shopping. The first thing she sees at the grocery store is how much more fresh fruit and vegetables cost. In the meat section, a small package of chicken that used to cost $8 now costs $16. We are told that meat prices have increased by 6.5%, but that is an average of different kinds of meat. The cost of basic meat, the kind we buy to feed our families, has gone up a lot more than 6.5%, according to statistics.
Dairy prices have gone up by 7%. We need to put bread and butter on the table, but the price of bread has risen by 15.4%. In the fresh produce section, prices are up by 13.2%. Many fruits are not grown in Canada. It is expensive to ship them. We cannot produce all fruits, because many do not grow in Canada.
We are feeling the effects of this inflationary crisis. Transportation, which will be hardest hit by the tripling of the carbon tax, is the main reason prices are going up, and things are going to get even worse. The price of sugar is up 11%; fish is up 8.7%. That is what families have to contend with.
People can argue about the effects of the carbon tax, claim it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and say we all need to do our part, but experience has shown that it does not work. For it to work, people have to pay three times more tax. The government decided it was up to individuals, and only individuals, to make all the sacrifices and go without so that it can move toward meeting its own targets.
I recently witnessed what goes on at grocery stores. This is what happens in times of crisis. Stores put out flyers on Tuesdays or Wednesdays. It used to be that people would wait until the weekend to do their shopping because sale items would still be available then. That is no longer the case. Visit a grocery store any Thursday or Friday. The place is packed, and there are lineups everywhere.
People want to be sure they get the products that are on sale that week at the grocery stores so that they can put a bit more food in their cart. That is what we are seeing at the grocery stores today.
I would love for the Prime Minister to go to the grocery store every Tuesday and Thursday for two or three weeks to see what is going on. Then he could go to the store on Saturday and Sunday, and he would see that there is absolutely nothing left on the shelves, no more of the discounted products, because everything sold out quickly since people have no choice.
According to the statistics, 24% of Canadians say they have cut back how much food they buy. That means a quarter of Canadians are buying less food because everything costs more. We are in Canada. Things like that should not be happening here.
I also wanted to tell Mike's story, but I am running out of time.
We cannot allow the Liberals to make people across Canada pay the price for their decision to triple the carbon tax. If this tax hike goes through, things that people cannot afford today will become even more unaffordable tomorrow.
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- May/11/22 2:31:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, all of that happened after, but the RCMP had said that it wasn't needed. That is what the Prime Minister is trying to avoid saying. The Prime Minister is good at spinning tales and denying the facts. That is his specialty.
Even though the Prime Minister's Office is in possession of a study saying that Canadians now have to take on a second job to make ends meet, to delay retirement or to press pause on their summer vacation plans, the Prime Minister is doing absolutely nothing. We are two years in and Canadians deserve better.
When will the Prime Minister wake up and give Canadian families a break by lowering the price of gas?
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- May/10/22 2:24:37 p.m.
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More disinformation, Mr. Speaker.
On the contrary, the Parliamentary Budget Officer says that money will not end up back in the pockets of Canadians. I look at the Prime Minister today and he is smiling: He is happy to see that the price of gasoline for all Canadians is over $2 dollars a litre. He just did that in front of all members of Parliament and all Canadians. He is happy to have put a price on pollution that empties all Canadians' pockets.
When will the Prime Minister show some compassion and give Canadian families a break?
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Madam Speaker, yes, I recognize that. However, what is this government doing for Canadians other than saying that Canada is handling this crisis better than other countries? It is doing absolutely nothing.
Today, the cost of gas in Vancouver is $2.11 per litre. That is the reality. When the government was asked to temporarily remove the GST to help Canadians currently struggling here, in Canada, what did the NDP-Liberals say? They said no. That is the reality.
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- Apr/25/22 2:20:20 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have travelled around the country over the past 15 days to hear what Canadians have to say.
Inflation, at 6.7%, is driving up gas prices. Housing prices and rental costs are skyrocketing. Canadians are finding gas prices less and less affordable. Conversely, Liberal ministers spent a fortune over the past 15 days to promote the NDP‑Liberal budget, which will just sink Canadians further into debt.
My question is a simple one. Why is the Prime Minister so out of touch with the reality of Canadians that he is doing nothing to help Canadian workers face this difficult crisis?
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- Apr/6/22 2:28:12 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, when it comes to public finances, the Prime Minister has even less credibility than Pinocchio.
Just talk to young Canadian families who, since 2015, have literally seen their dreams of home ownership evaporate. The inflation created by this Prime Minister has made it impossible to buy a home. Houses cost twice as much and interest rates are only going to go up.
Will the Prime Minister admit that his promises are empty and will he do something to give Canadians of all ages a break?
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- Dec/9/21 5:11:19 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate my hon. colleague on her great speech.
I think it is important to remember why we are here today. The opposition believes it is extremely important to address this cost-of-living crisis. Everything costs more, especially housing.
My colleague from Edmonton Riverbend would agree with me, since he is the one who moved this very important motion for all Canadians.
I would like to take a moment to read it.
That, given that, (i) the government has failed to increase the housing supply in Canada, (ii) the government's $400 billion of new spending has produced a surge of inflationary pressure that has driven home prices more than 30% above pre-pandemic levels, the House call on the government to: (a) review and consolidate all federal real estate and properties in Canada in order to make at least 15% available for residential development; (b) ban foreign investors from purchasing Canadian real estate; and (c) commit to never introducing a capital gains tax on the sale of primary residences.
The motion is that simple.
I just received a message from my colleague from Lévis—Lotbinière that is hot off the press. It is a press release that was just issued by one of my colleagues, the finance critic, the member for Carleton.
The press release reads as follows: “JustinFlation is coming to a grocery store near you. Families will pay an extra $1,000 to feed themselves in 2022 as inflation balloons. Inflation hurts Canadians, and 80% say that the cost-of-living crisis is making their lives less affordable. Sixty per cent of families with children under the age of 18 are afraid that they will not have enough money to buy food. The report released today only makes the situation worse. The Prime Minister's inflation tax is eating into the paychecks of middle-class Canadians while the Liberals plan to spend even more, pouring inflationary gas on the fire. Government spending increases the cost of living. Spending more money to buy fewer goods results in price increases. Enough is enough.”
That is exactly what we are talking about today. There is a report that tells us the cost of living is going up, not just for housing, but across society, particularly when it comes to groceries. That is worrisome.
The last line in the press release is also worth reading. It says, “It is clear that the Conservatives are the only party looking to lower prices, fight the rising cost of food, and bring an end to just inflation”.
I thank my colleague from Lévis—Lotbinière for sending me this press release. I thought that it was important to share it with all of my colleagues in the House, because this is exactly what we are talking about. We are talking about the cost of living. We are talking about young families who are struggling to make ends meet and are stretching their budgets so that they can have a decent standard of living. We are talking today about how more and more young families across Canada are having a tough time realizing their dream of owning their own home.
The member for Durham, the leader of the Conservative Party and the official opposition, said that a poll released yesterday shows that half of Canadians under the age of 30 have given up on the dream of home ownership. Canada is a country of wide open spaces, with room for everyone, and everyone should be able to realize that dream. When half of all young people under 30 give up on the dream of one day owning a home, we certainly have a problem as a society.
To make things worse, this dream will become even less attainable in the coming days, weeks and years, because real estate prices continue to rise. Some say that prices could rise by over 9% again next year. Add to that an expected rise in interest rates, and the dream of home ownership for young Canadian families is becoming increasingly out of reach.
I looked for information to find a way to keep the dream alive for young families and to give them hope.
I have done a lot of research and analysis, and I have talked to all kinds of banks and financial services, but I do not see good news on the horizon under the Liberal government.
The National Bank of Canada released a major report on housing affordability by Kyle Dahms and Alexandra Ducharme. Here is what it says:
Housing affordability in Canada worsened by 1.7 points in Q3’21, marking a third consecutive deterioration since the beginning of the year. Over the last 12 months, affordability has worsened the most in a decade.
It would now take 46.5% of income for a representative household [of the average population] to service the mortgage on a representative home in Canada.
That is not necessarily good news. I have more like that. I did my research, and I tried to find some way to give back hope to young families under 30.
A survey conducted by the Regroupement des comités logement et associations de locataires du Québec found that the scarcity of housing has led to an explosion in costs, which the government's figures do not reflect at all. We see the numbers, but the reality is even worse than what the numbers suggest. According to this study, which was released in June 2021, there is a 49% gap between what the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation studies say and the reality.
The average cost of a rental unit is $1,302 in the metropolitan Montreal census area, which is up 8% over last year. In Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivières and Granby, the situation is untenable because prices have increased there too. The situation is difficult because there has been a jump of about 12% compared to last year in what people have to pay for housing.
Other cities in Quebec are also affected. Rents in Granby have increased by 15% compared to last year. Prices have jumped by 10% in the cities of Drummondville, Joliette, Saint-Hyacinthe and Victoriaville. In short, it is never-ending.
A recent December 8 article in Le Devoir indicates that the price of houses spiked by 21%. According to the Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers, residential property sales in the Montreal area are down and the number of new listings has dropped. There are fewer sales, but the prices have spiked by more than 20% compared to last year, not compared to six years ago, but compared to last year. It is incredible. These people know that to be true because they are the ones selling the homes and making the transactions. They have to know what they are talking about.
The median price of buildings with two to five units increased by 15%. The median price of a single family home rose by 21% to $525,000, and the median price of a condo rose by 18% to $374,000.
I will keep going. I have more examples. Unfortunately, I have pages full of bad examples that will discourage Canadians and young families from finding the means to buy and own a home.
The motion being debated is clear and simple. It calls on the government to do something after six years of inaction. In my view, if the government is sincere about wanting to ensure that young families under the age of 30 can realize their dream of buying a home, it will do the only logical thing it can in the House. It will support the motion moved by my colleague from Edmonton Riverbend and vote with the opposition and the Bloc Québécois in favour of the motion.
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