Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, let us talk about how Canada is one of only a handful of countries around the world that maintain a AAA credit rating. That stamp of approval means that we have not just a strong fiscal position but also an enviable one. The head of the IMF has said that Canada is acting decisively to use its fiscal space to make the investments that are going to boost our productivity and growth. We …
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Mr. Speaker, the other side of the House does not want to listen to the facts and to the stakeholders that work in these areas, so let us come back to the Conservatives' record. Let us talk about the measures this House has put in place to make life more affordable for Canadians. That side of the House says child care does not create spaces and dental care is a duplication. They say pharmacare is …
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Mr. Speaker, the member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan is concerned about the issue of employment, and indeed, the Canadian labour market is going through a period of disruption. A massive retirement wave is leading to a critical labour shortage. In fact, 300,000 skilled workers are expected to retire by 2033. This is a difficult situation, but the Government of Canada is committed to prepari…
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Mr. Speaker, do not take it from me; take it from Sean Strickland from Canada's Building Trades Unions, who commented on our budget. He stated, “The 2025 federal budget contains strong commitments to unionized labour and skilled tradespeople. “It goes to show it’s possible to create policies that are mutually beneficial when industry and government come to the table together.... “Strong labour con…
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Mr. Speaker, I think it depends on the types of books a member might want to read. Let us talk about books. This week in the House, the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations has been on the Hill representing students from across the land. Here is what Abdul Abbasi, the Chair of CASA and a student from the University of Alberta, had to say about the budget: “Students are pleased to see that the…
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Mr. Speaker, let us talk about two of the main areas of costs for families; let us talk about taxes and let us talk about housing. The budget cuts taxes for 22 million Canadians, bringing the basic tax rate down from 15% to 14%. This is a major tax cut. It is about $5 billion a year in tax relief for Canadians, and 85% goes to the lowest income tax brackets alone. With regard to housing, we are ma…
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Mr. Speaker, that is a bit rich coming from Poilievre's biographer, but let us talk—
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Mr. Speaker, let me keep going. Let me talk about the youth in Toronto—St. Paul's, because this side of the House knows that our economic future depends on them. That is why we are saying that whatever ambition means to Canada's youth, whether it is to shape the future of AI, whether it is to join the climate corps, whether it is to make a great Canadian film, whether it is to study higher educati…
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Mr. Speaker, let me talk about the people in my riding, like seniors, who are benefiting from the budget. When I talk to them, I hear about dental care and their saving $800 a year. I hear about our new horizons program for seniors, supporting projects that affect seniors' quality of life. I hear about $5 billion in the budget going to health care and hospital infrastructure. Most importantly, I h…
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Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives think they know best, but they are actually ignoring the experts. They are ignoring the Coalition for Healthy School Food, which calls this budget a “great step forward to support children and youth in Canada.” They are ignoring the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Breakfast Club of Canada, which also applaud our commitment to making the national school food progr…
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Mr. Speaker, what is remarkable about this budget is that it builds for the future but helps people today. This is a budget that cuts taxes for 22 million Canadians, saving families up to $800 a year. It makes the national school food program permanent, helping over half a million kids. It delivers automatic federal tax filing for five and a half million Canadians. It invests in housing, it invest…
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Mr. Speaker, on this historic day, I rise to recognize the life and work of the late Andrew Moor, who served 18 years as CEO of EQ Bank and who was a long-time resident of Toronto—St. Paul's. We lost him suddenly this summer. Our thoughts are with his wife, Mags, and his three children, Dan, Cat and Sarah. Andrew was a true Canadian pioneer driven by an unwavering belief that banks should, above a…
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with the member opposite that Canada has been built on the strength of our labour movements. This government strongly supports labour in Canada. We have banned replacement workers. We have introduced 10 days of paid sick leave. Just today, the Minister of Jobs and Families announced a major reinvestment in the union training and innovation program to create tens of thousands o…
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Mr. Speaker, our new government is proud to support a commitment to collective bargaining. Free and fair collective bargaining is at the heart of a stable labour relations regime. Tonight, I will provide an update on the ongoing labour dispute between Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. I will also highlight the work we are doing to to help the parties reach an agreement. First, …
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Mr. Speaker, licensing is a provincial responsibility, so it is up to the provinces to take appropriate action. We will stand up for truckers who deserve to receive fair wages and to be protected under the law. More than 1,000 inspections have been carried out, and truckers can confidentially report offences. We are protecting those who speak up. Our priority is to keep our roads and drivers safe.
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Mr. Speaker, we are making generational investments into Canada to build this country strong for the next generation. We are building housing. We are investing in skills. We are building major projects to create jobs. Our plan is working. We are making progress. We have more to do. On November 4, Conservatives have the ability to stand up and support us as we build this country to make it better f…
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Mr. Speaker, let me take an opportunity to shed some light on the Conservative youth plan, which borrows heavily from the MAGA playbook. It includes restricting student financial aid to the programs the Conservatives like and defunding the ones they do not like. With their track record, we should be worried about basic science, arts, literature, culture, environmental studies, public health and ea…
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Mr. Speaker, in our budget, what people will see are the kinds of investments that are actually going to set young people on the right path forward, creating jobs, investing in skills and apprenticeships, investing in affordable homes and making it easier for young people to get into those homes. Those are the kinds of investments we are making. When members on the opposite side of the House stand…
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Mr. Speaker, when we talk about spending less to invest more, it is because we believe that we need to create prosperity for the younger generations of Canadians. When we look at our track record, we see that housing starts are up under the Prime Minister, construction investment is up and wages are up, and we have created over 100,000 full-time jobs in the past month alone. We have a responsible …
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Mr. Speaker, our government has said that in the upcoming budget, it is going to be making generational investments. They will be generational because we know that youth are at the heart of Canada's future, and we have a plan to ensure that they succeed. It is why we are going to be creating tens of thousands of jobs thorough major projects that the Conservatives call “pathetic”. It is why we are …
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Mr. Speaker, Conservative members pretend to care about food insecurity, but then they call feeding children “garbage”, which is completely unacceptable. Up to 400,000 more kids are getting healthy meals in their school. This is saving parents up to $800 a year on their grocery bills. That is meaningful change. How can Canadians take the party opposite seriously when it literally wants to take foo…
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Mr. Speaker, the reason we are making generational investments in young people is that we believe they are the future. When we think about affordability today, it is also why we listen to groups like, for example, Right To Food, because it talks about the need to strengthen our social safety net, including affordable child care, dental care, the workers benefit and the child benefit. It is why we …
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Mr. Speaker, we are protecting the trucking industry. We have taken steps to ensure that truck drivers have fair pay. We have taken steps to ensure that misclassification is made illegal; we are enforcing that more than ever. We continue to work with the provinces, especially with Quebec, on this issue. Our priority remains making sure that we are keeping our roads safe and that we are supporting …
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Mr. Speaker, when we talk about making generational investments in our upcoming budget, it is because we believe, on this side of the House, youth and young people are the drivers of our future economic growth, and we have a responsible plan to ensure they have the skills and opportunities to succeed. We built on the work we are doing to support apprenticeships and Red Seal trades, co-ops and acce…
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Mr. Speaker, visiting Ottawa today are two incredible athletes, Ava Walsh and Gracie Ryckman, as well as coaches, staff and volunteers from Special Olympics Canada. For more than 50 years, the Special Olympics have shown us the power of inclusion, creating opportunities for Canadians with disabilities to build on their strengths, foster lifelong friendships and shine on and off the field. Across t…
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Mr. Speaker, as the member opposite knows, licensing is a provincial responsibility, so it is up to the provinces to take appropriate action. We will stand up for truckers who deserve fair wages and who deserve to be protected under the law. Misclassification in the trucking industry is illegal and we are ensuring that the law is enforced. More than 1,000 inspections and awareness activities have …
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Mr. Speaker, let us talk about those jobs numbers today. Statistics Canada reported that employment has increased by 60,000 jobs. That includes 28,000 jobs in manufacturing, 14,000 new jobs in health care and 106,000 full-time jobs. We have a plan. We are making progress, and we are going to be there to create good-paying, career-starting jobs for all Canadians.
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Mr. Speaker, let us deal in facts. These jobs numbers are for September. At the end of a summer, many youth are leaving jobs and going back to school or back to other work. Coming back to what the Liberal government is doing, we are investing a billion dollars, for example, in Red Seal trades for apprenticeships. We are investing in work-integrated learning. We are investing in co-ops. Most import…
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Mr. Speaker, the data does not lie. In September, we created over 100,000 new full-time jobs in this country. Those are good jobs for all Canadians. We are embarking on a plan that is not only going to build projects, but build homes and make those homes more affordable for young Canadians. We are bringing forward a budget next month that is going to make a generational investment in Canadian indu…
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Mr. Speaker, we are supporting the retirement security of health care and home care workers. We are investing in union training and in the skilled trades. We are building major projects and new homes. We are creating tens of thousands of quality jobs across the country for unionized workers. Our government will continue to support unions and unionized workers.
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Mr. Speaker, we continue to invest in our workers right across the board and in making EI easier to access. In addition, we are investing in all sorts of union training and skilled trades, building major projects and new homes, and creating tens of thousands of good jobs right across the country. Our government is going to continue to stand with workers, making sure they have access to the program…
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Mr. Speaker, we know that income insecurity touches a lot of people in Canada. It is one of the reasons that today we announced that the national school food program, a program that is going to help feed nearly half a million kids, is being made permanent. That program is going to save families up to $800 a year. We are also making progress on another important driver of income insecurity, and tha…
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Mr. Speaker, Statistics Canada, this morning, told Canadians that last month, this new government created over 100,000 new full-time jobs. That is progress. This government is committed to building a strong Canadian economy, the strongest one in the G7. That involves creating major projects and building affordable housing. These plans are going to help employ tens of thousands of people and create…
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Prescott—Russell—Cumberland for the question. Good news: Our new government is making the national school food program permanent. This will provide access to the nutritious food that all students need to learn. It will also save families approximately $800 a year on their grocery bills. We are lowering costs for families so that children can thrive an…
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Mr. Speaker, today's job numbers are actually good for Canadians. They show that there are 60,000 net new jobs, 100,000 new jobs in full-time work and over 28,000 new jobs in manufacturing. The government is squarely focused on young people and making sure that we are going to have good, career-building jobs for the future. That is why we are making major investments right now in major projects ri…
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Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we are in the business of getting things done. The member opposite can claim that he supports whatever he wants, but when it comes to implementation, it is the government that has the responsibility of putting forward legislation and making sure that we deliver for Canadians, which is what we are doing. We are going to build major projects. We have set up th…
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Vancouver Kingsway for his question and for his continued interest in young Canadians and the challenges they face in finding employment. I want to assure the hon. member and all colleagues that we share his concern, and I will point to the plan we have and the array of programs we put together to build a skilled workforce for the future. That is why we are…
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Mr. Speaker, we are on track to deliver a budget that is going to invest in Canada. It is going to be a generational budget, a transformational budget. Many of the priorities we are looking at are priorities that we have spoken to the House about already. We are going to build thousands of new homes that Canadians can afford. We are going to build major projects that are going to put tens of thous…
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Mr. Speaker, there is no question that it is crucial for all Canadians to have a secure footing in the workforce, especially in this unusual period when our economy is under threat and when many people are feeling anxious about their job prospects. That is why our government is committed to preparing the workforce. We are ensuring that workers of all ages have access to training, retraining and up…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to share my concerns about many of the instances across our past in which Canada has fallen short in terms of the safety, rights and protections that are owed to indigenous peoples. It is one of the reasons our government has prioritized reconciliation and the journey that this is over the course of years and decades. I thank the member for his comment that the legislatio…
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Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time today with the member for Guelph. Before I begin, I would like to acknowledge that Canada's Parliament is located on the traditional, unceded and unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial. I am pleased to speak about the proposed commissioner for modern treaty implementation. The creation of…
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Mr. Speaker, it is indeed the opposition's role to ensure that the government is held accountable, but these agents of Parliament actually help all parliamentarians fulfill their roles. They help the government. They help the opposition. They help us find non-partisan ways of sharing information within government. They hold governments across mandates to account and provide us with the kind of ins…
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Mr. Speaker, I wholeheartedly agree that the legislation is fundamental to prosperity for all Canadians. We need to have stability. We need to have predictability. We need to understand the treaties that underpin the relationship we have with indigenous peoples. When we have that transparency, when we have that predictability, it actually lets us all move forward toward greater prosperity and a st…
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Mr. Speaker, let us be clear right off the top that there are no hidden taxes on food and that this is a phantom that is created by the Conservatives. Do members know what is true? What is true is the fact that the Conservatives have voted against the very things that are supporting families in my riding, whom I hear from all the time. There are families who talk about making sure their kids are g…
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Mr. Speaker, we are not going to accept lectures from that side of the House when the record is crystal clear. Under the last Conservative government, Canada lost hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs. It will not on our watch. That is why we are building major projects that are going to create tens of thousands of good-paying union jobs right across the country. We are building affordable h…
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Mr. Speaker, the member opposite talks about having a heart. Let me tell members about having a heart for kids and our national school food program. That program is going to help half a million kids across the country. It is going to save parents up to $800 a year. The Conservatives voted against it. If the member opposite wants to talk turkey and wants to talk about how supply chain costs are com…
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Madam Speaker, let me tell the member about the impact of some of those Liberal policies. Here is a fun fact for a Friday: Since the time when the Leader of the Opposition was the minister of employment and social development, the Liberal policies that the member opposite referred to have reduced seniors poverty by 30% and child poverty by 38%. This year alone, we have increased the Canada child b…
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Madam Speaker, I want to talk about the things that the government is doing to make life more affordable for Canadians. In doing that, I want to talk about Mya, a woman in my riding, who wrote me a letter this week. Mya said that she moved back to Toronto to be closer to family, which meant leaving a corporate job and its benefits behind. She was particularly concerned about how to manage the expe…
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Mr. Speaker, when we talk to experts who know about food security, they talk about the things that are going to make a difference for families, things like supporting families through the Canada child benefit. They recommend we feed kids in school with a national food school program, and they recommend that we build affordable housing, because that is the number one driver of costs for Canadians. …
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Madam Speaker, food prices have increased. That is why we are taking concrete action to lower costs for Canadians. We have cut taxes for 22 million Canadians. We have 3.6 million Canadians who now have dental coverage. We have also established a national school food program for over 400,000 kids across the country. I met with the Canadian Teachers' Federation, which said this program is so success…
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