- Member of Parliament
- Deputy whip of the New Democratic Party
- NDP
- Victoria
- British Columbia
- Voting Attendance: 60%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $127,392.53
- Government Page
- Jun/4/24 12:36:15 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I feel as if this is the kind of stock definition of a “straw man” argument. No one has said the corporations would maybe be making zero profit. No one has said that the CEOs would be making zero dollars. We are saying that maybe at a time when the biggest corporations are making billions of dollars, when they are raking in record profits and Canadians are going to food banks, just maybe, we deserve a government that will take on corporate greed and lower the prices of everyday essentials for Canadians while they are struggling.
100 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/4/24 12:30:43 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, it is really clear to me the Conservatives are so afraid to take on corporate greed that they feel they need to use partisan tactics to try to disrupt a clear call to tackle grocery greed and bring down prices for Canadians.
That said, the Liberals have also failed on this front. I was about to read a quote from the Prime Minister, who said, “If their plan doesn't provide real relief...then we will take further action, and we are not ruling anything out, including tax measures.”
In the past three years, food prices have increased by more than 20%. We need government action to lower the price of essential food. We know it works. We have seen countries like France and Greece take steps to lower the prices of essential foods. In France, the government secured a deal with 75 major companies to lower the price of groceries for 5,000 products. In Greece, the government announced a gross profit cap for key consumer goods and services in the food and health sectors.
In Canada, the government keeps thinking that if we ask nicely enough, big grocery store chains are just going to do it on their own. That is not how corporate greed works. It is not a wild idea; price control measures are being used right now in Canada. Many provincial governments impose limits on rent increases. Prices for most forms of energy, although not gas or refined petroleum products, are already regulated in Canada. The government also committed to forcing big telecom companies to reduce their prices by 25% a couple of years ago.
We can tackle grocery store prices for Canadians. Canadians deserve a government that tackles corporate greed. Unfortunately, what Canadians have is a government that has failed time and time again. It kept in place the corporate handouts the Conservatives put in place. Billions of dollars in taxpayer money has been handed to the biggest corporations.
Today, New Democrats want to lower grocery store prices for Canadians and hold corporations accountable. Will the Liberals and the Conservatives stand with Canadians instead of with the companies that are raking in record profits?
364 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/4/24 12:24:51 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, this is on top of the fact that the Leader of the Opposition was in government when the Conservatives gave out massive corporate handouts, $2.35 billion, to big grocers, which the Liberals have maintained. We can see very clearly that the Conservatives and the Liberals have been making life easier for the biggest corporations, which makes life harder for everyday Canadians.
It is government's responsibility to make life better for Canadians. It is why we, my NDP colleagues and I, are taking corporate greed head on. We are taking it on when it comes to grocery store chains, when it comes to oil and gas companies and when it comes to the big banks. We have been calling for an excess profit tax on all these sectors. We were able to force the Liberals to implement a one-time tax on the biggest banks, but they refused to extend that to big box stores, to the grocery store chains that are gouging Canadians, while Canadians are going to food banks in record numbers. They refused to put that excess profit tax on the oil and gas companies that are fuelling the climate crisis, while raking in record profits and scaling back their climate commitments.
We need to stop greedy corporations from ripping Canadians off on the food they need. We need a government that takes its responsibility seriously to protect Canadians, whether it is from the greed of grocery store chains, whether it is from the greed of oil and gas companies or the biggest banks that are funding and fuelling the the oil and gas companies. These changes are long needed, and Canadians can see clearly that the government is failing.
Food should be affordable for everyone. The Conservatives and the Liberals have a choice. Will they keep standing with the biggest corporations, with the grocery CEOs who are getting million-dollar bonuses, or are they going to stand with Canadians who need a government that has their back, that will take the action needed to lower food prices?
We are asking the government to force big grocery chains and suppliers to lower their prices of essential foods. If they do not, then the government has to put in place a price cap or use other measures and penalties. We have seen this around the world. France and Greece are taking bold action to ensure that on essential commodities, the things that people need to live, companies cannot drive up the price just to pad their pockets, just to give their CEOs millions of dollars in bonuses and their shareholders billions of dollars in profits.
We know that the biggest grocery store chains have control over some of their prices. They have announced price freezes on store name brands. We saw that with no name products. All of these grocery stores have their own brands. A cap on prices on these items is clearly within their control. However, the government cannot just ask nicely if those grocery stores might please, voluntarily, maybe freeze prices. The government needs to force them to make this change.
So far, the Liberals have promised Canadians that they will stabilize food prices, but they have failed to do it. The Prime Minister has asked the grocery store chains to come up with a plan to lower prices. When asked what would happen if they did not, the Prime Minister said, “If their plan doesn't provide real relief ... then we will—
583 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/27/24 6:58:09 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the member mentioned orphaned wells. When a company goes under, I can understand potentially helping communities clean that up. However, I am curious why the government decided to give out money to companies that are actually making record profits right now and that could be cleaning up their own orphaned wells and why it has also refused to put in the conditions that would make polluters pay. Making polluters pay is a principle the government should stand behind, but instead, it actually pays polluters. It hands out billions of dollars to profitable oil and gas companies. The government is not getting support for the oil and gas industry right. It is buying pipelines, handing out fossil fuel subsidies and missing every single target.
125 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/21/24 10:37:13 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, I think the member does not understand an excess profits tax. It is a tax on the excess profits, the windfall profits, and it is not a radical idea. It has been implemented in the UK with respect to oil and gas. It has been implemented in 20 European countries, and it has been shown that taxing excess profits, windfall profits, disincentivizes price gouging. It disincentivizes the greedy corporations from making even more money and putting it in the pockets of their shareholders at the expense of everyday people.
91 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/21/24 10:34:50 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, we need to tackle grocery store chain profits: all the big grocery store chains. Unfortunately we have seen from the Conservatives that half of their national executive, their governing body, is made up of lobbyists from the big grocery store chains, from big pharma and from oil and gas. The same CEOs are flocking to Conservative fundraisers to donate to them because they know, as they have seen it time and time again, that Conservatives in power make rich CEOs richer, and Canadians get their services cut. They get the programs they depend on cut. This is what we get with Conservatives.
104 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- May/21/24 10:22:36 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, corporate greed is driving up costs.
At a time when Canadians are struggling, it is unacceptable to see a government fail to tackle a key driver of inflation. It is one key reason that families are having a hard time putting food on the table, paying rent, paying their mortgages and paying for essential medication.
So many Canadians are struggling right now. They have been doing everything right, yet they still cannot get ahead. The cost of living has gotten out of hand. At the same time, the biggest corporations and their rich CEOs are doing better than ever. Between 2019 and 2023, the Liberals decided to give out $25.5 million to Loblaws and Costco. This is while these grocery store chains were making record profits.
No matter where people live in Canada, they should be able to buy the food they need. Canadians are worried about how to put food on the table; the Liberals are worried about how many millions of dollars they want to hand out to their wealthy friends and people at the very top.
Considering that they gave out over $25 million to corporations that were already making massive profits, it is no surprise that we have people across Canada boycotting these chains right now. It is because the Liberals and the Conservatives have failed to tackle corporate greed. Really, they lack the courage to do so.
It is the role of government to make our country fair. Instead, the Liberals and the Conservatives before them have been making rich CEOs even richer. This $25 million is in addition to the $2.35 billion in handouts to the three big grocery chains given by successive Liberal and Conservative governments; taxpayer money is handed out to corporations that are making record profits.
It is no wonder that the majority of Canadians support an excess profit tax. We are talking about a tax on grocery store chains, but I also want to take a moment to talk about the need for a windfall tax on oil and gas. On the eve of the federal budget, it was reported that the Minister of Finance was considering a windfall tax on oil and gas. However, according to the Globe and Mail article, multiple sources confirmed that she backed down “in the face of strong lobbying from oil patch executives and the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.”
The same lobbyists and executives are raking in record profits, increasing their emissions and gouging Canadians at the pump, all while handing out millions of dollars in bonuses to their CEOs. Luckily for them, the Liberal government has their back.
Canadians are not so lucky. They have been experiencing the dual crisis of the cost of living and the climate crisis. There are wildfires, heat domes that kill hundreds of people and multi-year droughts; at the same time, communities are evacuated because of extreme flooding. This is costing our economy and our communities billions of dollars in damages. It has taken the lives of hundreds of Canadians.
While Canadians are struggling with the impacts of the climate crisis, they are also struggling with the price gouging from big pharma, big grocery chains, real estate developers and investors, and oil and gas corporations, which are driving up prices while corporate profits hit record highs. Left unchecked, soaring corporate profits are a major driver in the recent inflation spike. These inflationary price increases hurt workers' pockets while padding corporate profits, particularly in oil and gas.
Most Canadians can see that greedflation is a problem. The majority of Canadians support a windfall tax on oil and gas. The concept of a windfall profits tax or an excess profits tax is not a radical solution. It is a pragmatic approach that has been adopted by countries around the world. A windfall tax has been implemented by the United Kingdom and more than 20 European countries. It has raised over $10 billion. In response to record profits, these countries decided to put in place a windfall profits tax.
The global surge in energy prices that has been exacerbated by geopolitical tensions, market manipulations and corporate greed has generated a response; countries levied additional taxes on the surplus profits of oil and gas companies. However, in Canada, both the Liberal government and the Conservative opposition have shown a disheartening reluctance to take on big oil and gas. While New Democrats successfully forced the Liberals to put a surplus profits tax on the big banks, the Liberals refuse to ruffle the feathers of their friends in oil and gas. The Liberals lack the courage to take on corporate greed.
Of course, then there are the Conservatives, who continue to do the bidding of the oil and gas executives who are flocking to the Conservatives' fundraisers. Conservatives champion increasing production and emissions; they disregard the long-term environmental and economic consequences of these policies. The corporate-controlled Conservatives have no climate plan. They have no problem letting oil and gas companies pollute and gouge Canadians without consequence.
It is not surprising that the Conservatives will not even talk about corporate greed or about a windfall profits tax when the Leader of the Opposition's top adviser had to use a shell company to try to hide her lobbying, which she denies. The fact is that their party is run by lobbyists. However, no matter what the Conservatives believe, climate change is real; the cost of living crisis is real. These crises are costing Canadians. They are costing our economy billions of dollars in annual disaster response, mitigation and adaptation. Canadians are struggling. However, the Liberals have shown that, despite a clear mandate from Canadians, who support a windfall tax and demand accountability, the Liberals would rather be wined and dined by big oil, big grocery store chains and big pharma. For years, Liberals have sat on their hands while Canada's biggest polluters have made more money than ever before and while the biggest grocery chains are gouging Canadians and price-fixing with no accountability.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer reported that, if the Liberals just made oil and gas companies pay their fair share and just implemented a windfall tax on oil and gas companies, the government would generate $4 billion a year. This could be invested in helping Canadians who are struggling with the cost of living, in clean energy, in public transportation and in helping families switch to heat pumps, ultimately driving down emissions and helping people with the cost of living. A windfall tax on the profits of grocery store chains and on oil and gas profits is not just wise; it is essential. It is a needed policy to support Canadians when they are struggling.
I want to take a moment to talk about an amazing organization in my community: Flourish! School Food Society. It is a school food program for many communities in my region. Canada is the only G7 country without a national school food program, so we need to generate funds to ensure that we can support Canadians and make sure that kids never have to worry about where their next meal will come from, that they never have to worry that they cannot focus on school, cannot learn or cannot grow. We need to invest in Canadians, tax the corporations that are making record profits and ensure that every Canadian can make a good life.
1238 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Apr/16/24 2:30:15 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, while Canadians are struggling and food bank use is at an all-time high, rich oil and gas CEOs are making record profits. Canadians are frustrated.
Sources say that the finance minister backed out from an excess profits tax in this budget. Why? It was because oil and gas lobbyists asked her to. Just as the Conservatives do, the Liberals keep caving to big oil and gas.
Why do the Liberals keep protecting the profits of big oil and gas instead of everyday Canadians?
86 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Mar/19/24 11:02:02 a.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, it does feel as though the Conservatives do not have any plan to address the climate crisis. They cannot even really admit that there is a climate crisis.
However, the Liberals have failed to communicate what their silver bullet solution is for carbon pricing. To double the rebate right now for rural Canadians and try to gain back some ground, they will be increasing the carbon price on small businesses. The Liberals already owe small businesses and indigenous groups $3.6 billion.
Why would the Liberals not make big oil pay what it owes by implementing an excess profits tax? We just saw polling that says the majority of Canadians wants an excess profits tax on big oil and gas. Why will the Liberals not do it?
129 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jan/29/24 3:11:06 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, Canadians are worried about the climate and they expect their government to take action.
People are struggling to pay their bills, yet oil and gas CEOs are polluting our planet while raking in record profits and bonuses. In some cases, they have upped their own salaries by 75%.
For far too long, the Liberal government has been stacking the deck in favour of billionaires at the expense of Canadian workers and the environment.
Will the Liberals rein in these obscene bonuses by making oil and gas CEOs pay what they owe?
93 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Feb/10/23 11:46:07 a.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, a report released yesterday shows clearly that carbon capture and storage is not an effective net-zero solution, so why did the Liberals plow ahead with this flawed approach, committing $8.6 billion? Well, they were listening to big oil. Here is a hot tip: If the government wants to make good climate policy, stop listening to oil and gas lobbyists, who, by the way, are making record profits while destroying our planet.
Will the Liberals cancel their carbon capture handouts to big oil and instead invest in real climate solutions?
93 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jan/30/23 2:51:56 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, Canadians are dealing with the costs of the climate crisis while everyday costs are soaring. People are having to cut back on their already tight budgets, while huge grocery chains and oil and gas companies make billions.
A windfall tax would force those rich CEOs to finally pay what they owe. With this, the government could put money back into the pockets of Canadians and invest in clean energy.
Will the Prime Minister implement a windfall profits tax to make Canada more affordable for people instead of more profitable for billionaires?
93 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Dec/1/22 2:47:36 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, Canadians are living with more frequent and extreme weather events that have left Canadians devastated. While people are dealing with the impacts of the climate crisis and trying to keep up with rising costs, the biggest polluters are getting even richer.
Like the NDP, 350 Canada, Leadnow and Greenpeace are calling on the Liberals to tax the excess profits of oil and gas so they pay their fair share. When will the minister stop defending the interests of the oil and gas industry and start making them pay what they owe?
93 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Oct/31/22 2:45:05 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, this weekend, the environment minister criticized oil and gas companies for paying out huge profits to their shareholders instead of taking climate action, but it is hard to believe the minister's fake outrage when the Liberals are still handing out billions of dollars to big oil, all while these corporations rake in record profits.
The minister will not put a windfall tax on these excess profits to invest in climate action and make life more affordable. Will the minister finally stand up to big oil by making them pay what they owe?
95 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Sep/29/22 4:59:04 p.m.
- Watch
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member for his speech. I was interested to learn that he used to teach economics.
I apologize, but I will have to stop for a moment because I can hear the interpretation in my earpiece.
As the member mentioned, many economists have said that broad-based tax cuts would lead to inflation. People are frustrated about having to pay more for their rent and their groceries while rich CEOs rake in huge profits.
Would my colleague agree that a better strategy would be to tax companies that increase the prices that Canadians pay at the grocery store and at the pumps?
109 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Sep/27/22 2:49:13 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, big oil has been making record profits off the backs of Canadians who are struggling, all while refusing to clean up its climate mess. The environment minister said he is not opposed to a windfall tax, but he is waiting to see if big oil will invest in climate action on its own. Instead, it is paying out huge dividends to its shareholders and bonuses to its rich CEOs. If the minister is waiting for big oil to do the right thing he is going to be waiting a long time. Time is running out for our planet.
Will the Liberals tackle corporate greed, implement a windfall tax and make big oil pay its fair share?
118 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Madam Speaker, a report came out this summer showing that one in four Canadians are spending less than they need to on groceries. Many are going hungry. I want to thank him for his support for the critically important NDP initiatives, such as doubling the GST credit, ensuring we have a targeted support for people struggling to pay their rents and ensuring kids under 12 receive dental care as a first step toward a federal dental care program.
One thing I did not hear about in his speech, which is a crucial part of this equation when it comes to rising costs, is corporate greed. The Liberals, so far, have refused to put a windfall excess profits tax on corporations that are making record profits. Would the member support an excess profits tax, or are the Liberals going to keep protecting corporate profits while Canadians go hungry?
147 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Sep/22/22 2:48:12 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, while Canadians are struggling, oil companies are making record profits. Last quarter alone, Imperial Oil made $2.4 billion. New Democrats have been calling for a tax on these excess profits to help put more money back in people's pockets, but the Liberals have refused.
Now, the UN Secretary General is calling on countries to implement a windfall tax on big polluters. Will the Prime Minister finally do the right thing and make big oil pay their fair share?
82 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- Jun/23/22 3:14:00 p.m.
- Watch
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals should never have bought the Trans Mountain pipeline. It threatens our climate and our coasts, and now the Parliamentary Budget Officer, the government's own watchdog, has confirmed it will lose money. Unbelievably, the Liberals promised to use the profits from TMX to fight the climate crisis. What is their excuse now?
Losing money is not a plan to fund climate action. This pipeline has always been a lose-lose for Canadians and a failure for the Liberals. Therefore, why does the Prime Minister keep doubling down on this economic and environmental boondoggle?
97 words
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
Mr. Speaker, this bill is a step in the right direction, but web giants like Netflix, Facebook and YouTube still do not pay their fair share. What is needed is a digital services tax, a tax that would require these web giants to pay their fair share on the profits they are earning here in Canada. I wonder if the member would commit to pushing his party to ensure that web giants pay their fair share.
76 words
All Topics
- Hear!
- Rabble!
- add
- star_border
- share
- menumenu
- notificationsnotifications
- home
- mailmail
- searchsearch
