- Member of Parliament
- Member of Parliament
- Conservative
- Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa
- Manitoba
- Voting Attendance: 67%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $138,707.52
- Government Page
- Oct/18/23 2:11:04 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years, the Prime Minister has added more to Canada's national debt than all other previous prime ministers combined. The Prime Minister told Canadians that his government would take on debt so Canadians would not have to, but now Canadians are paying the price for the Prime Minister's massive deficits and inflationary spending.
After half a trillion dollars of inflationary deficits, the Bank of Canada was forced to hike interest rates 10 times in just 19 months, and now monthly mortgage payments have increased by 150% since the Prime Minister took office. To keep up with the Prime Minister's inflationary spending, Canada will spend $240 billion over the next five years to service our debt.
The Prime Minister is wrong. It is not the government that is taking on debt; it is Canadians. Canadians will not be fooled. They know that the Prime Minister is not worth the cost.
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Madam Speaker, I will go back to inflation.
The lower-income people the New Democrats say they are defending are impacted more than anybody else. They have fewer dollars to move around. Sure, with our MP wages, people look at us. We are going to stand up for the little guy. We should get the reality here.
These lower-income people do not have extra income, so to put another program on them and say we will save their teeth when they cannot even afford groceries, and are standing in food lines to feed themselves, is absolutely ridiculous. We have to focus on getting the cost of living under control.
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Madam Speaker, we have to address inflation. The problem with the carbon tax is that it impacts everything. We are a big country, and we move goods all over the place. Quebec is somewhat insulated from this because there is no backstop program, but there are six other provinces out there that are charged this directly and paying a disproportionate portion. Ontario is one of them, and in Manitoba, where I live, we are paying a carbon tax that the Quebec people are not. That is a bigger problem in itself. This is how the government is very much dividing our country instead of trying to pull it together.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to Bill C-47, the government's budget implementation bill.
The cost of everything is going up. Why? Because the Prime Minister is directly responsible for creating the cost of living crisis. The Prime Minister has created that cost of living crisis through his out-of-control spending and through his inflationary policies.
The Prime Minister is trying to ram $67 billion of new spending through Parliament before he takes the summer off. We would think that there would be a plan to return to a balanced budget, but there is not. We would think that there would be a detailed plan for how the $67 billion in new spending would be used, but there is not. We would think that the government's finance minister would answer questions about her spending, thoroughly, in Parliament, but she has not. We would think that the Prime Minister would stop raising taxes on Canadians during a cost of living crisis, but he has not.
That is why the Conservatives are blocking the Prime Minister's inflationary budget until he changes course. The Conservatives have asked for two things.
First, the Prime Minister must present a plan to end his inflationary deficits and spending. The Prime Minister has added more debt to our country than all other prime ministers combined. Let that sink in for a minute. It is staggering. Now Canadians are paying the price. Food price inflation is at a 40-year high, and 1.5 million Canadians are eating at food banks.
With higher inflation comes higher interest rates. Recent reports predict that the Bank of Canada will continue to raise interest rates on Canadians. Canadians cannot afford more interest rate hikes to keep up with the Prime Minister's inflation. The down payment needed to buy a house has doubled under the Prime Minister. Mortgage payments for a new house have doubled under the Prime Minister. The cost to rent in Canada has doubled under the Prime Minister.
According to the CMHC chief economist, Canadian households are more in debt than those in any other G7 country, and the amount they owe is now more than the value of the country's entire economy. Even Statistics Canada has proved that Canadian households are paying 72.25% more in interest payments since the Prime Minister took office. It is just staggering.
At what point does the Prime Minister look in the mirror to understand where the problem lies?
The second thing Conservatives are demanding is an end to the Prime Minister's carbon tax hikes. Canadians know that the Prime Minister's carbon tax is not an environmental plan; it is a tax plan. That is why the government's own budget watchdog proved that the Liberals' first carbon tax would cost Canadians $1,500 more than they would get back in rebates.
However, one carbon tax is not enough for the Prime Minister. That is why he introduced a second carbon tax that would drive up gas prices 61¢ a litre, further hiking the price of gas, heat and groceries.
The Canadians I talk to, especially those who live in rural Canada, cannot afford the Prime Minister's carbon tax. Rural Canadians have no other choice but to drive. There are no subway stations in rural Canada. They cannot rely on bikes for transportation. Rural Canadians rely on gas-powered vehicles to live their lives. The Prime Minister wants to change the behaviour of Canadians but, in doing so, he is making it impossible to live the rural way of life.
One of the most troubling aspects of the Prime Minister's spending is that he is spending billions of taxpayer dollars with little to show for it. Do members notice how the government always talks about how much it is spending instead of how much Canadians are getting in return?
Let us just look at the Liberal government's record when it comes to connecting Canadians with high-speed Internet. The Liberals have announced billions of dollars, paid for by taxpayers, in an attempt to connect Canadians. There are at least—
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- Apr/29/22 11:47:40 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, as inflation and interest rates continue to rise, Canadians are feeling the financial pain, but the NDP-Liberal government does not seem to care. It has no problem with its $53-billion deficit in this year's budget. Experts are sounding the alarm. A new report by RBC Economics reveals that “low-income Canadians will feel the sharpest financial sting from climbing inflation and interest rate hikes.”
Will the government finally admit that its reckless spending is hurting Canadians?
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- Apr/4/22 6:54:36 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the cost of living continues to rise at record rates. In January, inflation in Canada surpassed 5% for the first time since 1991. Last week, we learned that the low-cost dollar store, Dollarama, plans to start selling items for $5 to keep up with inflation. I am sure many Canadians remember when Dollarama was indeed a dollar store. It was not that long ago.
Why is this important? The reality is that many Canadians rely on low-cost stores for essential goods. Canadians want to stretch their income as much as possible. They want to save what they can so they can get ahead one day. However, now Canadians are struggling to get by, never mind about getting ahead.
The price of fish is up 5.5%. The price of bread is up 7.5%. The price of fresh fruit is up 8.2%, and the price of meat is up 10.1%. As inflation continues to rise at record rates, it impacts Canadians on fixed incomes even more. Seniors, in particular, will not see an increase in their income for a long time, if ever, to keep up with the rising cost of living.
I spoke to a mother who told me that she could not afford to buy healthy food for her children. When the price of fresh meat and produce becomes unaffordable, Canadians fill their grocery carts with low-cost goods that lack the nutrition needed to live a healthy life. However, this is not just about food. The rural Canadians I represent are asking how much higher can gas prices go. Everyday errands, such as driving to work, are becoming unaffordable, and rural Canadians, in particular, do not have the option to take a bus or a subway. There is no alternative to filling up their gas tanks. They rely on their vehicles to live their lives.
It is clear that the value of one's hard-earned dollars is becoming worth less and less, and this government is directly responsible. The Governor of the Bank of Canada admitted that the Liberal carbon tax is directly fuelling inflation, and the independent Parliamentary Budget Officer reported what Canadians knew all along, that the carbon tax is leaving the majority of Canadians worse off financially.
The reality is that this Liberal government has no understanding of fiscal responsibility. This is the result of a Prime Minister who has piled on more debt to our nation than all the previous prime ministers combined, and now Canadians are paying the price every single day. Canadians know that higher spending today means rising inflation tomorrow. Canadians know that higher debt today means, unfortunately, higher taxes tomorrow.
This week, the new NDP-Liberal government will present its budget. Canadians are wondering how much more money this government will cost, so, I will ask for them: How much more money does this government plan to spend before it will turn the money-printing machines off?
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- Feb/15/22 3:02:37 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I sent out a survey last month asking my constituents what their biggest concerns were. The cost of living was the number one issue. Rick, one of my constituents, wrote to me and stated, “food prices are out of my pay range”. Inflation is at record highs due to the Liberal government’s spending.
What does the Prime Minister have to say to Rick, who cannot afford to put food on his table?
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