Routine Proceedings
With regard to tax revenues collected by the Government of Canada: (a) how much does the government collect in tobacco taxes annually; (b) what is the amount of federal tax revenue that is lost annually from the sale of illegal, untaxed tobacco; (c) how does the government track and monitor the sale of illegal, untaxed tobacco in Canada; (d) what resources are presently committed by the government…
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Mr. Speaker, I request a recorded division.
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moved that the bill, as amended, be concurred in at report stage with further amendments.
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Mr. Chair, the key number there is per capita. The growth rate is 0.8% over the last 10 years. That is the worst since the Great Depression. We have record-high deficits. We have record-high debt. We have a slowing economy and record-low economic growth. This is very disappointing.
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Mr. Chair, what has been the growth rate per capita, the GDP growth rate? What was been the per capita GDP debt growth rate in the last 10 years?
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Mr. Chair, will she provide an allocation of the $12 billion unallocated in the budget?
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Mr. Chair, speaking of parliamentary budget officers, our current Parliamentary Budget Officer said he was troubled by the lack of transparency, specifically with respect to $12 billion in unallocated funds. Will the Minister of Finance agree to provide an allocation of that $12 billion?
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Mr. Chair, it went up from 42% to 43%, which is odd because, in this very House, the Minister of Finance said, “On this point, let me be very clear. We are absolutely determined that our debt-to-GDP ratio must continue to decline and our deficits must continue to be reduced. The pandemic debt we incurred to keep Canadians safe must be paid down. This is our fiscal anchor. This is a line we will no…
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Mr. Chair, during COVID, from 2021 to 2022, and then the next year, from 2022 to 2023, the debt-to-GDP ratio went up. Is that not correct?
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Mr. Chair, what was the debt-to-GDP ratio in 2021-22?
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Mr. Chair, what will be the national debt at the end of 2023?
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Mr. Chair, I want to start out with some serious discussion. I believe we had a serious discussion at the finance committee. We are in perilous economic times. We are facing high inflation, high interest rates, increasing unemployment, record-high housing prices, low growth and record food bank usage. I would just like to start to get some basic answers, some straightforward answers to some straig…
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Madam Speaker, I request a recorded vote.
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moved: Motion No. 1 That Bill C-281, in Clause 2, be amended by replacing, in the French version, line 19 on page 2 with the following: “droits de la personne;” Motion No. 2 That Bill C-281, in Clause 3, be amended by replacing, in the English version, line 15 on page 3 with the following: “rules of the Senate or the Standing Orders of the House of Commons for responses to” Motion No. 3 That Bill …
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Mr. Speaker, I am thankful for the quieting of that childish temper tantrum. The Liberal budget bonanza is driving Canadians further and further into debt. Each Canadian family is being driven down, to the cost of $4,200 a month. What are Canadians getting for it? They are getting higher energy and food costs. I am going to repeat this question one more time. Will the minister appear for two hours…
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Mr. Speaker, that is great news. I look forward to having the finance minister for two hours, as she just said. That is terrific. What we do not look forward to is the Liberal budget bonanza that is going to drive Canadians $4,200 deeper into debt per family. What will they get for that? Higher energy costs, higher food costs and a lower standard of living. Will the finance minister finally come t…
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Mr. Speaker, we welcome the finance minister back to the House. However, let us be clear in that what we are asking for is two hours of her time. That is a billion dollars a minute. We have real problems. According to a university report, we have the third-largest increase in total debt-to-GDP ratio, which has resulted in one of the lowest GDP growth ratios. In fact, going forward, we are projecte…
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Mr. Speaker, I am rising on a point of order. There was some surprise when I told the Liberals that in fact some Canadians are facing 50% to 60%. Therefore, I would like to table a document from the C.D. Howe Institute that demonstrates that many low- and middle-income Canadians—
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians are out of money, while the Prime Minister is out of touch, and soon he will be out of a job. Why is that? It is because the Liberal government is driving up the cost of living through its inflationary spending and higher taxes. It used to be that Canadians who worked hard and made the right decisions would get ahead in this country. Unfortunately, more and more Canadians ar…
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Mr. Speaker, in most jobs, if one showed up only a handful of times in the first five months of work, one would be fired, but that is exactly what the Minister of Finance has done. Then she has the audacity to ask Canadians to cough up $490 billion but will not appear in front of their representatives for two hours. We know she has time, because she spent hours last weekend schmoozing with Liberal…
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians are struggling through the effects of inflation, high interest rates and slowing economic growth. Canadians need a finance minister who will stand up and explain to them why they can no longer afford a home, why families have had to cancel vacations and why millions are having to visit food banks. Instead, we have a finance minister who has spoken in the House only seven tim…
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Mr. Speaker, today is Great Lakes Day. We are reminded of this incredible resource that Canada shares with our largest trading partner, the United States of America. These bodies of water have played an incredibly vital role in our shared economy. Roughly 25% of Canada-U.S. trade happens in the Great Lakes Region; that amounts to over $270 billion. In fact, according to the Council of the Great La…
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Madam Speaker, it was an absolute pleasure to work with that member on the rail caucus. I think we are doing great work there. I can tell members that because of those last eight years, just listening to several experts from Transport Action Canada, the rail system with Via and otherwise is in a state of disrepair because of the government's inability to get anything done.
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Madam Speaker, Tiff Macklem, in response to my question, wrote to the finance committee and said that half a percentage point of inflation was directly related to the carbon tax. That means that if we want to reduce inflation by 20% today, we can get rid of the carbon tax.
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Madam Speaker, the challenge is that those benefits do not come from air; they come from taxpayers, and my constituents are tired of paying the bills for the government. Not all that money comes back to Northumberland. There are sticky fingers here in Ottawa that keep a large portion of that money. That money is better to keep in the pockets. I believe that a Canadian can spend the money better on…
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Madam Speaker, I am disappointed in that member. I would direct him to the C.D. Howe Institute. You can look at the reports, and they will show the numbers. Does the member know what the clawback is for the GIS? It is 50¢ on the dollar. That is just the GIS alone, sir. You are so far off, it is ridiculous—
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Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure and honour to rise in this House. Of course, today we are speaking about the budget implementation act, Bill C-47. Before discussing the substance of this act and why I, and I believe most Canadians, must oppose it, I have to explain the broader economic context in which it falls. I will endeavour to explain the challenges that our country is facing. Those ch…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to build on the previous question, if I could. I am going to give a secret away to the Canadian people. Those folks on the other side do not have any money, not a penny. That is taxpayer money. In order to give something, something has to be taken away from someone. The Liberals are taking credit for taking other people's money. That is not cool. Does the member agree?
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Mr. Speaker, I listened to the member's speech, and it was great. Also, I must say that his mother is a very good cook, so a shout-out to Helen out there. We have the GST rebate, which the Liberals call, in a gimmicky way, the “grocery rebate”, but is not the real solution to making life more affordable getting control of this government's out-of-control spending, because the more this government …
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Madam Speaker, he is so far ridiculous. I will walk him over today, and I will show him my calculations on the Ernst and Young calculator that shows, with clawbacks and with the income tax, that many Canadians are paying over 50¢ on the dollar. The fact that he does not know that shows how out of touch the government is and why we need a new direction and a government that will make life easier fo…
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Madam Speaker, today is a good day for the cause of human rights in Canada. Bill C-281, the international human rights act, has passed in the foreign affairs committee. Bill C-281 would help hold human rights violators accountable, raise awareness of prisoners of conscience, prevent genocidal regimes from broadcasting their propaganda on our airwaves, and it would help eliminate the vile cluster m…
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Mr. Speaker, while the Prime Minister was off enjoying a free luxury trip last Christmas, many Canadians were wondering if they would be able to make their mortgage payment or their rent payment. It is clear that when the Prime Minister was talking about sunny ways back in 2015, he was actually talking about his Trudeau Foundation funded trips to Jamaica. We already know the Communist regime in Be…
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Mr. Speaker, if we want to talk about a losing strategy, they have hit zero emissions targets. That is a victory rate of 0%. That is just how out of touch they are. However, that is not surprising given that we have an out-of-touch government with an out-of-touch Prime Minister. He gets on a plane, goes to Jamaica and takes an $81,000 free vacation from a donor to the Trudeau Foundation. Moreover,…
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Mr. Speaker, there has been plenty of debate in this House on what the impact of the carbon tax is on Canadians. However, I want to put that debate to rest once and for all. I am going to read right from the Prime Minister's own parliamentary watchdog: “Most households in provinces under the backstop will see a net loss resulting from...carbon pricing.” If members do not believe me, it continues: …
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With regard to section 19 of the Conflict of Interest Act: (a) what is the government's understanding of Parliament's requirement that "Compliance with this Act is a condition of a person's appointment or employment as a public office holder"; (b) does the understanding described in (a) vary with respect to (i) the Prime Minister, (ii) ministers and ministers of state, (iii) parliamentary secretar…
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With regard to the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner's February 14, 2023, recommendation "that the government consider mandating all ministers and parliamentary secretaries to receive training from the [Commissioner's] Office": (a) does the government accept the commissioner's recommendation and, if so, when will training (i) begin, (ii) be completed by; (b) on what date is the Prime Mi…
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Mr. Speaker, earlier this month, the Governor of the Bank of Canada warned that the recent pause on interest rates was dependent on limited government spending. Excuse my skepticism, but Conservatives know of, and Canadians have witnessed, record uncontrolled deficit spending. Will the government, in tomorrow's budget, commit to no new spending, or will it continue its reckless tax-and-spend polic…
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Madam Speaker, here is a little late-night levity, maybe, to bring a smile to everyone's face. To the member, does it make him scared that this bill would twist the arms of Canadians to watch what bureaucrats want them to watch? Would it make some providers feel like they are “locked in the trunk of a car”, and does he believe Conservatives “are ahead by a century” on Bill C-11?
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Mr. Speaker, unlike the member I heard earlier, I am burdened with a legal education from the best law school in Canada, Osgoode Hall Law School. I very much enjoyed the member's speech. My question is about what she said when she was talking about the freedom to speak but not necessarily the freedom to be heard. My understanding is that this would give the CRTC the ability to control algorithms, …
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Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Liberal Prime Minister's inflationary taxes and deficit spending, it no longer pays to work in Canada. One in five Canadians are skipping meals, and many are going to food banks just to survive. February marks the seventh consecutive month of double-digit food inflation. Rent and mortgage payments have doubled under the Liberal Prime Minister, and the dream of…
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Mr. Speaker, Conservatives know that every dollar the government spends is another dollar out of Canadians' pockets. That is a dollar that could have been spent on groceries, as Canadians line up for food banks. That is a dollar that could have been spent on a down payment on a new house. Instead, Canadians are struggling to pay their rent. When will the government finally give Canadians a break a…
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Madam Speaker, while sitting through this debate, I observed that it has been one of the highest in quality since I have been in the House. It has been a substantive discussion of a very important issue. I am proud today, as I always am, to be a member of Parliament and to be sitting in the House of Commons. Today, we are speaking to Bill C-26, an act respecting cybersecurity, amending the Telecom…
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Mr. Speaker, there are a series of provisions talking about frameworks and giving the government powers to put itself within the private sectors to direct them without providing specific delineation of how that would happen. Like I said, it is difficult to get this type of legislation through in expedient ways without the government fully explaining what it wants to accomplish in this legislation.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for bringing forward this important area of discussion with respect to this debate. It always merits taking time on the floor of the House of Commons to discuss these issues. Unfortunately, my time is very brief. I believe that any child, born on or off reserve, deserves an equal opportunity to be successful in this country. It is my commitment to do that. I have th…
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Mr. Speaker, I agree with the government's recommendation or policy to remove TikTok from all government devices. I believe the CEO of TikTok is testifying in front of U.S. Congress today, so we will see what comes from that. I would agree with him that we need to be on guard against foreign interference in all forms.
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Mr. Speaker, the short answer is that I agree. The longer answer is that I agree with the comment the member made earlier with respect to modernization. We need to modernize our view on security. The world changed dramatically a year and a half ago, and it continues to change. We need to be adept and agile, and quite frankly, willing to put the resources where they are needed for the future.
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Madam Speaker, it is great to see my fellow 2019 member in the House. My question is with respect to a theme from all the opposition parties. We generally support the idea of cybersecurity legislation and it is actually well overdue. The challenge is that many of the powers are not sufficiently delineated, and it gives the government quite a bit of power. Without being partisan and talking about p…
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Madam Speaker, I very much enjoy working on the finance committee with the member and enjoyed his thoughtful remarks. I hope my question hits the other Liberals' concerns about partisanship, as this is substantive criticism and not partisanship. We have heard concerns from both the NDP and from the Conservative Party that the bill would provide a broad swath of powers to the minister. Is the gover…
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Madam Speaker, the member talked a bit about silos and the inability for governments to sometimes work in them. I know he has a great background in innovation and business. Maybe he could expand a bit more on the importance of collaboration with respect to cybersecurity and in business in general.
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Madam Speaker, there is some overlap, I believe, between the NDP and the Conservatives. We both see the affordability crisis affecting all of us and, of course, the most vulnerable at the lower end of the economic spectrum. Where Conservatives, I guess, differ from the NDP is that we believe one of the most effective ways to help individuals is to stop taking their money. We have marginal effectiv…
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