Parliamentary Speeches

Mr. Speaker, I would like to first thank the Leader of the Opposition for this opportunity. On behalf of the Government of Canada and, I believe, all members of the House, I want to begin by expressing our deepest condolences to the family, loved ones and colleagues of Ms. Ben Salem. Ms. Ben Salem was a valued member of the Canada Revenue Agency. She was dedicated to serving Canadians, which is what she was doing at the time of the attack. The Government of Canada and all members of the House will do everything we can to support our police forces to ensure that the perpetrator of this despicable crime is brought to justice.

Mr. Speaker, I would draw the attention of the Leader of the Opposition and this whole House to the fact that there are things in Canada called provinces. The provinces put taxes on diesel. The provinces put taxes on gasoline. The biggest difference between Canada and the United States is the provincial taxes on those carbons. Also, I will draw attention to the building Canada strong act, which will allow this country to build new refineries and keep diesel prices lower.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Leader of the Opposition on his 20th anniversary in the House of Commons. I have been here for a little more than a year. We passed the Building Canada Act for major projects, and we are putting in front of this House the building Canada strong act so that all projects in this country are “one project, one review, one year”. We will build Canada strong. They will have an opportunity to join us, and he will have an opportunity to do something for the first time in two decades.

Mr. Speaker, this House will have an opportunity to pass Bill C-38, which will lower the tax on diesel. This House will have an opportunity to vote on the building Canada strong act, which will move this country forward. Let me make sure Hansard is correct. The government passed the act last year, and Contrecoeur, the Mackenzie Valley pipeline, Darlington, the north coast transmission line and the Matawinie mine are all major projects now being built thanks to this government.

Mr. Speaker, the clean fuel standard implications at the end of this decade are lower than all the numbers the member opposite just quoted. One thing that the clean fuel standard does do, though, is it raises the price of canola. If I were a farmer in Battle River—Crowfoot or in Red Deer County, I would like my bushel of canola to get 10% more, which is what the clean fuel standard does. Come join us in support.

Mr. Speaker, I join with the Leader of the Opposition and all members of this House in offering our thoughts and prayers for officer Smith, for his family, for the Jewish community in Belleville and for the Jewish community across Canada. We stand against all forms of violence, all forms of hate, and may this House continue to come together to support the Jewish community in Canada and all Canadians to live their full lives.

Mr. Speaker, there is a reason we have Hansard. This government will continue to work, without fail, to improve affordability for Canadians, cutting taxes on income and cutting taxes for first-time homebuyers. The groceries and essentials benefit's next cheque is coming in October, with 12 million Canadians getting the benefit. Above all, we will be providing the essential social services that the member voted against, every single one: child care, dental care and the national school food program, with $20,000 of savings for Canadian families.

Mr. Speaker, what this government knows is that there are three wars affecting Canadians: the tariff war from the Americans, the war against Iran and the war against Ukraine. They are pushing up fuel prices. They are pushing up grocery prices, so we are providing immediate support to Canadians. The next groceries and essentials benefit cheque is coming next month, up to $1,900 for a family of four. Across that, we support Canadians with the school benefit and beyond.

Mr. Speaker, let us walk through those in order. With the industrial carbon tax, the impact on groceries is zero. The impact of clean fuel regulations on a bushel of canola is over a dollar. For a bushel of canola in Battle River—Crowfoot, it is over a dollar. The impact on fuel prices is zero. This government is cutting taxes for business. The head of the CFIB praised the productivity mega deduction. I look forward to the member opposite voting in favour.

Mr. Speaker, this government is working for Justin. This government is working for Justine, and the Justins and Justines across this country. We are working to create jobs, 200,000 jobs net over the course of the last year, with the fastest growth in the G7 in the last quarter. We are making this country more independent from the United States, more resilient and more prosperous. While we are doing that, we are providing Canadians like Justin with a boost today and a bridge to tomorrow.

Mr. Speaker, we are in the midst of the biggest transformation of the Canadian economy in decades. We are building a stronger economy, a more resilient economy and a more independent economy, and our plan is taking root. Last week, we just heard that we have created over 88,000 jobs, all full-time, all private sector. This economy is creating jobs at twice the rate of the United States. More Canadians are in work than the Americans, and more Canadian women, by seven percentage points, than the U.S.

Mr. Speaker, what matters is that people believe in this economy and are moving forward. The Leader of the Opposition does not believe in Canada. This is what is happening. More Canadians are in the workforce than the Americans. More Canadian women are in the workforce than the Americans by seven percentage points. Investment in machinery and equipment by businesses is up 10%. We have the highest level of foreign direct investment in 20 years. A trade surplus was just registered. We are building Canada strong.

Mr. Speaker, we are growing an economy that is stronger, more resilient and more independent. The flash GDP estimate for April is 0.4% growth. I will annualize that to help out the Leader of the Opposition. That is 5% growth. A trade surplus just registered the strongest job growth in the G7 in just this last month, at 88,000 jobs, which is twice the rate of the United States', and twice the rate of foreign investment.

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois always opposes everything. It is opposed to major investments in culture, including francophone and Quebec culture. It voted against major investment tax credits for the electricity sector in the last budget. It opposes the agreement with Quebec announced last week that includes $10 billion in investments across all sectors, particularly in health care and public transportation.

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the opposition leader was at the Calgary International Airport. Yesterday, I was here with other members of Parliament at the installation of the Governor General. She said our project is a “common project”. The Premier of Alberta said, “the current Prime Minister has worked very constructively with our government to craft an Alberta...MOU”. It has already attracted tens of billions of dollars in investment for new pipelines, natural gas, data centres, electricity and much more. That is how we build the province, and that is how we build this country.

Mr. Speaker, first, may I wish the Leader of the Opposition a very happy birthday? Second, I will even give him his question back. It is my little gift to him. What the government is doing is putting in place the foundations of an economy that will be stronger, more resilient and more independent. In the face of U.S. tariffs, in the face of global uncertainty and in the face of higher energy prices, we are seeing business investment accelerating. We are seeing wages growing at twice the rate of those in the United States. We are seeing this country put in place the conditions for sustained prosperity.

Mr. Speaker, it is very painful, on someone's birthday, when you give them a present and they give it back to you. I will do a little research for the Leader of the Opposition. If he would like to ask the C.D. Howe Institute, it knows the answer to that question. He could ask the OECD, which today predicts that Canada will have the second-strongest economy in the G7 this year and next. That is the answer.

Mr. Speaker, once again the official record of Parliament needs to be corrected. I made a number of promises during the election campaign. The first was to save Canadians from the horrible policies of the Leader of the Opposition. The second was to introduce policies that would create a more resilient, more prosperous, stronger, more sustainable and more independent economy. This is what we are doing.

Mr. Speaker, what I will tell the House is what I hear from international investors and businesses when we travel. What I heard in New York is that Canada is the most attractive destination for foreign infrastructure investment. What I hear from major global investors, who want to invest more than $100 billion in this country, is what we are already seeing, which is foreign investment that is running in this country at twice the rate of any other G7 economy. That is—

Mr. Speaker, we are in an economy that is fundamentally being transformed by a government that has a plan to create a stronger, more independent and more resilient economy, a sustainable economy, an economy that moves from reliance to resilience. We are already seeing business investment, Canadian business investment, up 10% in machinery equipment. We are seeing our non-U.S. exports up, and they are on course to double. We are seeing the strongest inbound investment in—

Mr. Speaker, I would like to wish the Leader of the Opposition a happy birthday. I hope his day improves. The government is focused on building a stronger economy. We recognize the scale of the challenges that this country is facing from abroad. We are focused on that administrator. We are focused on farmers in Battle River—Crowfoot. We are focused on a future that is stronger, more durable, more independent, more resilient and more sustainable.

Mr. Speaker, as I rose in this House a few weeks ago and made clear, this government will always defend private property rights. That is why this government immediately appealed the decision with respect to Cowichan, on September 8. We fundamentally disagree with the B.C. Supreme Court's decision. We will use all viable legal options to address and protect private property rights, always, in this country.

Mr. Speaker, it is sad. The person who is tossing and turning every night is the Leader of the Opposition, trying to come up with new ways to stoke fear and division in this country. We will always defend private property rights in this country. That is why we immediately appealed. That is why we are acceding with the Montrose claim. That is why we are supporting the City of Richmond and the Province of B.C. in this important case. We will take all viable legal options. We respect property rights and indigenous rights to reconciliation.

Mr. Speaker, some things have changed since the Harper days, thankfully. One of them is refinery margins, which are up by 40¢ in Canada. Forty cents, that is a curious number. Refinery margins are up because of the loss of petrol. One other thing that has not changed is that the Leader of the Opposition is against child care. He is against dental care. He is against pharmacare. He is against everything that supports Canadians in this affordability crisis.

Mr. Speaker, Liberal policies are delivering wages for Canadians that are growing faster than inflation. The government's policies are delivering inflation that is lower in Canada than in the United States. The Liberal government's policies are delivering female employment that is five percentage points above the United States. This country is working. We are moving forward. He is trying to hold it back.

Mr. Speaker, we need to respect democracy, we need to respect the laws of Parliament and the decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada. Under the Clarity Act, the House of Commons must consider the following factors to establish the definition of a clear vote: “the size of the majority of valid votes cast in favour of the secessionist option [and] the percentage of eligible voters voting in the referendum”. It is not 50% plus one.