Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I think we should have a recorded division.
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Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to rise in this space on behalf of the people of Simcoe North. To those watching at home, “Hello, Alice.” Before I start my comments today on the budget, I just want to take a moment, with the Chair's indulgence, to pay tribute to a former staff member in my office who passed away a couple of weeks ago. Diane Bell had been a staff member of mine since I was ele…
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Madam Speaker, a year and a half ago, the government tabled a fall economic statement that showed a balanced budget in five years. Now the deficit is $20 billion. Since everyone started telling the government to slow down its spending, it has added $103 billion of new spending. That is net. The gross number is $156 billion. What I would like to have seen in this budget is some kind of plan.
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Madam Speaker, I was surprised to see this in the budget as well, but I must admit that I am not an expert in how those kinds of mortgages work. All Canadians would like to believe that Canadians should have access to financial products. I am interested to see how the government is going to consult on this. I do not know what is being proposed. I think we should learn a bit more. I would tell my w…
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Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe the government is applauding the disability program. It over-promised and under-delivered. If we want to talk about line items in the budget, let us talk about debt servicing costs. Debt servicing costs are now the exact same amount that the GST is to require. I have a bunch of friends I like to see on Fridays at Frank's compound, Waxy and Frank. Those guys go for lun…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, today marks the 10th anniversary of the passing of the late Jim Flaherty, former finance minister of Canada. At the time, the news of his passing was a shock to many colleagues in this place. Sometimes the stark recognition of our own mortality puts our minor differences in perspective. His career was dedicated to public service. In fact, his favourite speech was entitled “Public serv…
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Mr. Speaker, I am new in this place, but my colleague mentioned that the NDP member consented to the amendment, as if that had any kind of relevancy. It is the same member who on multiple occasions has said that a private member's accepting an amendment that has been ruled out of order is irrelevant in that circumstance. He will have to tell me how it makes sense in that case and not in this one.
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
With regard to the Select Luxury Items Tax (luxury tax) that came into effect on September 1, 2022: (a) what is the amount of luxury tax assessed by asset class (i.e. aircraft, vehicles, vessels); (b) what is the amount of luxury tax assessed that has been collected by asset class and separated by relative size of the payments received, including how many transactions involved a luxury tax between…
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With regard to the Underused Housing Tax (UHT) that came into effect on January 1, 2022, broken down by year: (a) how many UHT returns have been filed (i) in total, (ii) broken down by census metropolitan area (CMA); (b) how many UHT returns had no amounts owing (i) in total, (ii) broken down by CMA; (c) what is the total amount of the UHT assessed; (d) what is the amount of the UHT assessed that …
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With regard to the Canada Revenue Agency and the Canada Child Benefit (CCB), broken down by year for each of the last five years: (a) what was the total number of overpayments that were (i) assessed, (ii) collected from taxpayers who received overpayments following or due to death of a child; and (b) what is the amount of money represented by the overpayments in (a)(i) and (a)(ii)?
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Mr. Speaker, not every person who jumps off the Golden Gate Bridge actually dies, and in fact a study tracked down 29 individuals who survived. Some 98% of jumpers, by the way, do not survive the jump. A study of 29 individuals who survived their jump off the Golden Gate Bridge revealed that every single one of them regretted their decision to jump the moment they jumped. I was just wondering if m…
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Madam Speaker, my colleague spoke very well in French. I hope that, at some point, I will be able to deliver a speech as the member did, in our nation's second language. I want to ask the member about the temporary foreign worker program. There was an op-ed written in 2014, entitled “How to fix the broken temporary worker program”. It stated: It cuts to the heart of who we are as a country. I beli…
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Madam Speaker, I am not sure if I just heard the member opposite refer to immigrants as a gold mine. One of the other members also referred to immigrants from “puppy mills”. The member opposite made a reference earlier to people dying. Under this government, multiple students a month have been sent home in body bags because they are being invited here without a reasonable prospect of success. By t…
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Madam Speaker, a couple of years ago the immigration department released a study in which it questioned whether Canada had a diversified immigrant pool or not. Also, it has recently been suggested that if one was trying to undermine the great Canadian consensus on immigration, the policies the government has implemented would be indistinguishable from those meant to destroy the consensus on immigr…
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Madam Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to rise today to give a voice to a significant number of constituents in Simcoe North who care about the issue of electoral reform. The petitioners believe that the need for electoral reform continues to be a priority and that we need a non-partisan approach to this, including a citizens' assembly. They are therefore calling on the House to give a voice to…
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With regard to the Canada Revenue Agency and net worth assessments of individuals, broken down by year since 2015: (a) how many net worth assessments have been done; (b) of the net worth assessments in (a), how much additional taxes have been (i) assessed, (ii) recovered; (c) of the net worth assessments conducted, how many were based on leads from the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis C…
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With regard to the Bank of Canada's (BOC) digital Canadian dollar consultation: (a) what are the details of all memorandums or briefing notes that have been sent from or received by the BOC in relation to the topic, including, for each, the (i) date, (ii) type of document, (iii) sender, (iv) recipient, (v) title, (vi) file number; (b) what are the details of all studies the BOC has done since 2016…
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With regard to government statistics on violent offences involving firearms, since 2015 and broken down by year, including 2023 to date: (a) what was the number of violent offences involving firearms, in total, and broken down by type of offence; (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by province or territory and by municipality; and (c) what is the breakdown of (a) and (b) by the number and percentage …
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With regard to the government’s policies governing information technology (IT) projects, delivery, and contracting: (a) what policies and procedures are in place to ensure independent assessment and oversight, as well as ensuring value-for-money, on IT projects over $2.5 million; (b) what contract vehicles are in place for departments and agencies to secure the resources needed to perform the proc…
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With regard to the government’s approach to information technology (IT): (a) what were the total expenditures on (i) research or IT database subscription services, (ii) benchmarking, (iii) value-assurance services for IT, in total, and broken down by department or agency and by each client department of Shared Services Canada; (b) which companies or stakeholders were consulted when Public Services…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for her many years of service. It gives me great pleasure to comment on her very long career. As the member and I share a great love of Georgian Bay, I expect to see her spending more time there, perhaps finishing her book on democracy, which we will all take great lessons from. When I was first elected, I was provided advice by many people, and someone said …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Liberal government, everything is up. Mortgages are up, rent payments are up, inflation is up, groceries are up and taxes are up, yet the Bank of Canada has asked for help keeping inflation down. It has asked for governments to limit their spending growth to 2.5% each year, except guess what the government just announced: An increase in growth of spending of o…
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Mr. Speaker, the government's record is inflationary deficits driving up the cost of living. In fact, one year ago, the finance minister stood in the House and presented a plan that would balance the budget in 2027. When asked whether that was by mistake or by design, the minister took great boastfulness in saying that it was deliberate and by design. Except now we learn that the budget will be ba…
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With regard to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and CRA call centre operations, broken down by fiscal year from 2015-16 to 2023-24: (a) what was, or is, the total budget for all CRA call centre operations; (b) what was, or is, the total employee count for all CRA call centre operations; (c) for each 1-800 number which Canadians can use to call the CRA, broken down by number, (i) how many calls were…
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Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. During question period, I compared the government to drunken sailors. I regret that comparison because drunken sailors spend their own money. I would like to apologize to drunken sailors everywhere.
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Mr. Speaker, my message for any provincial premier is the same as the message for the Prime Minister: Take responsibility for government spending because it is driving inflation and making interest rates unaffordable for Canadians. The Bank of Canada says that all governments need to spend less than 2% growth in order to keep inflation under control. The government's own projections in the budget …
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of out-of-control spending by the Liberal government, experts at Scotiabank now say that two percentage points of interest rate increases are due to government spending. An extra 2% on mortgage costs means over $8,000 a year for Canadian borrowers. Canadians are realizing the Prime Minister is not worth the cost. When Scotiabank says, “You're richer than you think”, …
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With regard to the government's Debt Management Strategy from 2023 to 2028: what are the financial assumptions used by the government to calculate the debt service cost projections, including (i) the weighted average interest rates used, (ii) the amount of new debt issued, (iii) the yearly rollover, (iv) any other financial assumptions?
Read full speech →Routine Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, there has been plenty of legislation that Conservatives have agreed with and voted for. There were bills on disabilities, child care and extending COVID support payments. If it is good legislation, we will vote for it. In fact, the Liberals have legislation they still have not brought back to the House, such as Bill C-56, which Conservatives have indicated they would support. Canadian…
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Mr. Speaker, the government's recent announcement is a comedy in the making. The Liberals said they could not deviate from the carbon tax plan. They said that extreme weather, hurricanes, floods and fires demanded that they quadruple the carbon tax. They said anybody who challenged it was a Luddite. They said people get more in rebates than they pay, except last week they said that pausing the tax…
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Mr. Speaker, as inflation continues to remain, Canadians are realizing the Prime Minister is not worth the cost. The Bank of Canada is concerned that the soft landing it once projected is now much narrower. That is because economic uncertainty is increasing while inflation still has not been tamed. Two things the government could do to help the Bank of Canada tame inflation are cancel the carbon t…
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Liberal-NDP government, spending is out of control and inflationary deficits are pushing up mortgage costs. The Parliamentary Budget Officer says that the deficit this year will increase to over $46 billion. Everyone now agrees that spending is driving interest rates. Every month, 70,000 households are renewing their mortgage and they are realizing that the Pr…
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Mr. Speaker, maybe the government has not received the memo. Nobody cares about meaningless G7 comparative statistics. After eight years of prolific spending, the bills are finally coming due. The government borrowing is driving interest rates. This year, the government has to borrow $421 billion. Next year, the government has to borrow over $350 billion. That pushes up mortgage costs for everybod…
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Mr. Speaker, it is nice to welcome back the finance minister. I was beginning to think she had forgotten the address of this location. After eight years, Canadians are realizing that the government is not worth the cost. Canadians are struggling and the government continues to increase its deficits and inflation. Everyone now agrees that deficits increase interest rates. Will the finance minister …
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Mr. Speaker, while households are dealing with higher interest rates, taxpayers are now on a bigger hook. That is because interest on the debt is going up. The government projected just a few months ago that it would spend $44 billion on debt-servicing costs this year, but that assumed that interest rates would go down. Instead, interest rates have gone up. Will the Minister of Finance finally tel…
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Mr. Speaker, I very much look forward to some of the guidance you have for members when you come out with that later this week. I hope you will also consider how members can hold government ministers accountable for their willingness to show up for question period when you provide your guidance.
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Mr. Speaker, former Bank of Canada governor David Dodge said the burden of past debts is catching up with us, and governments cannot spend their way out of problems, except the issue for the current government is that for every problem it sees, the solution is to spend more money. Everybody now knows that when the government spends money, the Bank of Canada raises its interest rates. When the Bank…
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Mr. Speaker, while households are struggling with higher mortgage and interest costs, the Canadian taxpayer is going to get side-swiped. That is because this year the government has to borrow over $420 billion just to satisfy its spending and deficits. It also expected to pay almost $44 billion in servicing the debt, except that assumed interest rates were going to come down by the end of this yea…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, John Maynard Keynes said when the facts change, he changed his opinion. What changed in the last few years is that we are now in a cost of living crisis. Someone does not have to be Einstein's cousin to understand if we reduce the carbon tax, we will reduce inflation. Everybody is saying that. Why can this member not exercise some independent thought for once?
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Madam Speaker, we heard it here first. History was made when someone entered a shrug emoji into the Hansard. I commend the hon. member for that. I want to talk about process for a second. The government tables legislation twice per year as major money bills. For some reason, the government is now touting this bill as a marquis bill that would make a massive difference in the lives of consumers, ex…
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Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. I agree with some of what my colleague has said with respect to unchecked capitalism creating market failure. On that, I think we should all listen to the member. He is very well versed in economics when it comes to that issue. I want to ask the member two questions. First, does he think it is a problem when the CFO of Pepsi brags, on national te…
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate the comments from the minister today, but I also listened to the press conference the minister gave with four other ministers last week, where he said that these are some of the most fundamental changes to the Competition Act that are being made. I want to focus on process. Why were these changes not made in budget 2022, when at that time the minister said that these ar…
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Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to be here with you today. I happen to rise one more time to talk about this important issue. I had an opportunity to get some questions in. It was nice to hear from the minister how much affection he has for me. Perhaps I will save members the suspense. I can be persuaded to vote for this bill, not to fast track it all the way to the Senate, because maybe we have s…
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Madam Speaker, the parliamentary secretary has been around a long time, and as a rookie member of Parliament, I am speaking only for myself. I cannot speak for my entire party. I am just saying I am encouraged to see it go to committee when it gets there. Let us talk about rapid housing. Those funds have not been delivered at all rapidly. How about the shared equity mortgage plan that has barely g…
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Madam Speaker, there may be multiple ways the government can support co-op housing. Why not allow co-op housing to qualify for the GST rebate for rentals? Why can it not get the same rebate? All kinds of different housing can be supported through the GST rebate. I would support an examination of how we could best do that. If the hon. member has an amendment to the bill that could include co-op hou…
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Madam Speaker, I will note that a very big difference between the leader of the official opposition's bill and the government bill is that the actual Leader of the Opposition's bill would have required that a certain number of the units in an apartment complex, in order to get the GST rebate, had to be affordable. That might surprise some members in this place, but the Conservative position was th…
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Madam Speaker, build, baby, build. We need to build it all: market-rate, affordable and everything in between, and in all different sizes, shapes and everything else. I would welcome any thoughtful amendments to the legislation that would see us build more homes of all types faster for Canadians.
Read full speech →Private Members' Business
Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise this evening to speak to this very thoughtful motion by my colleague from Edmonton—Wetaskiwin. Before I get started on this speech, I did want to give a special shout-out and acknowledgement to the members of Canada's Special Olympics teams who participated in the 2023 World Games in Germany this year and brought home significant amounts of hardware, includi…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, how about a fact? When one month in 27 months the interest rate goes below 3% the current finance minister declares victory. She said that the government's plan to bring inflation down is working, but that is not what is happening. In fact, it is going up because of rising energy costs, but the current government is determined to make energy more expensive by increasing the carbon tax…
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Mr. Speaker, mortgage costs for Canadians are going up because of the Liberal-NDP government's spending and deficits. Even the current finance minister said that spending and deficits are like pouring fuel on the inflationary fire. John Manley said that it is like pressing on the gas pedal while the Bank of Canada is pressing on the brake with higher interest rates. Canadians are realizing that th…
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