Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, in 2016, Canadians built 2.3 million vehicles. Just last year, that number dropped to 1.2 million cars. Last week, there was more devastating news for Canadian auto families as General Motors laid off 1,200 employees. When will the government stop telling people it is eventually going to be okay and start delivering results for Canadian auto workers?
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Mr. Speaker, of course we denounce those tariffs, but with all due respect to the minister, she has had 10 years with her Liberal colleagues to protect the auto sector here in Canada. Now it is being reported that the government is going to reintroduce subsidies for Canadians to purchase electric vehicles. Really? Does the government really think the way to save Canada's auto sector is to give tax…
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Madam Speaker, I believe I need to seek unanimous consent to split my time with the esteemed member for Wellington—Halton Hills North.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my friend for his partnership, which was for a long time, on the finance committee. We did such a good job, they actually moved us to other committees. He is a very thoughtful individual, and I am proud to serve with him in this place. I do think it is important to consider labour rights, especially for young people. I note that the Bloc has a bill regarding forced lab…
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Madam Speaker, my hon. colleague has brought to this chamber a bill that, on its face, may receive some positive reviews from our side, but we will have to wait to hear and see the bill and examine it at committee. The minister mentioned rules-based trade. I wondered if he would state for this House whether he agrees with the Prime Minister, who said the rules-based trading system is dead, or whet…
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Mr. Speaker, from the very early days of this country, and even before it was formed, Canadians and those before us realized the importance of trade. We cannot satisfy ourselves with exactly everything that we need, but it is not just that; we actually have many things that the world needs, and we can trade those things for what we need here at home. From the earliest days of the founding members …
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Madam Speaker, I always listen intently when the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands speaks in this chamber. The member opened the door on trading with democracies. She mentioned China by name. I wonder if she would offer an opinion on the Prime Minister's recent deal, if we want to call it a deal, or agreement with the CCP.
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Mr. Speaker, that is my first question from that member, although I do hear him often in question period. I welcome him to the chamber. I would agree with the member in the sense that there are opportunities for Ontario, especially as it relates to agriculture. This is also something that applies across the country. Indonesia is poised to become one of the largest markets, not only by population b…
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Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise in the House of Commons. I consider it a distinct privilege every time I am given the opportunity to use my voice in this place on my constituents' behalf and on behalf of the country and Canadians. It is also a pleasure to rise on a bill on which I think there is general consensus that, speaking for myself, we should send this bill to committee for further …
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to just let the member's comment stand and correct the record. I appreciate that, but I do appreciate her judgment when she said that she has been misled by the government in what she has read and what its actions are.
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Mr. Speaker, that is a great question from a wonderful MP. It is the first time I have received a question from her in this chamber, and it definitely will not be the last. Forty-one per cent of Canadians voted for the Conservative platform in the election. That is a substantial number of Canadians, and a record, in fact, in this modern age. I think the government would be well placed to take some…
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Mr. Speaker, in other countries, including Israel, if a company has been subsidized by the government for the research and development of its intellectual property, when that company is purported to be sold or the IP is transferred out of the country, the company is required to send a payment back to the government that is a multiple of the subsidy it received. That money then provides additional …
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Mr. Speaker, I thank our pages for all the great work they do to keep us on the straight and narrow. Before I start, I would like to mention that I am splitting my time with the wonderful, esteemed member for Northumberland—Clarke, who has a new riding name. I am sure his speech will be absolutely excellent. It is important that we are here today at this moment to discuss areas in which the govern…
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Mr. Speaker, I would like to update the member on some developments. We are working with the government. In fact, we just had the Minister of International Trade at committee today to help the Liberals fast-track their bill on the U.K.'s accession to the CPTPP. We have also told them that we will help them get their Indonesian trade deal passed. However, Canadians voted for a minority government. …
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals committed $15 billion to Stellantis only to have it ship 3,000 jobs south of the border. In fact, just in the White House yesterday, Stellantis says it is investing $13 billion in the U.S. to create 5,000 jobs. Every time the government makes a deal, it seems like executives get taken care of while employees get overlooked. When will this Liberal government prioritize job…
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for Calgary Crowfoot for his diligent work on this file and for helping me in my quest to draft this legislation. Absolutely, I do not believe that a corporation deserves any privacy when it owes the treasury or the CRA any money that is all of a sudden waived. There should be no expectation of privacy when that occurs, especially as those amoun…
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Madam Speaker, I spent a number of hours with my hon. colleague at the finance committee as he made sure that the previous government got its budget bills passed all the way through. It might have been a painful process, but the Liberals did get through it in the end. I would say that I am open to reasonable suggestions. It was not my intention to create additional problems with respect to partner…
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moved that Bill C-230, An Act to amend the Financial Administration Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts (debt forgiveness registry), be read the second time and referred to a committee. Madam Speaker, I am thankful for the opportunity to rise on behalf of the people of Simcoe North and to advance an issue that has been of great importance to me, which is increasing the level of …
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate my fellow colleague from the Bloc. He always has a very thoughtful question and intervention in this place. As I mentioned in the speech, transparency is very important. In terms of cost, I would just say that much of the work is already being done in these departments to understand what corporations owe what money. This bill would just require some of that information …
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Mr. Speaker, Andrew Moor was a warrior for more competition in the financial services sector and the most respected and passionate advocate for open banking. Under his leadership, Equitable Bank grew from $3 billion in assets to $125 billion. It was deemed Canada's challenger bank. Andrew and EQ Bank challenged more than their competitors. They challenged the system, they challenged bureaucracy an…
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Madam Speaker, I might be younger, but I was not born yesterday. If Canada had not sold its gold, we would have $125 billion U.S. of extra money in the government coffers. I appreciate that the member might question that strategy, but it is entirely reasonable to ask why we have been selling gold, why we do not hold any gold and why central banks are borrowing it. With respect to the member's fund…
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Madam Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise today. Before I get into my speech, I have to chuckle a bit about the last intervention by the member for Winnipeg North. At every opportunity, whenever there is anything negative to be said about the legacy of the last 10 years, the Liberal government says that was an old government and this is a new government. However, whenever there is something it wants…
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for using the opportunity to discuss process in this place, which is very important. There is actually no reason why there seems to be a rush to have the bill come to the table today. The Liberals could have provided the appropriate notice, as my colleague points out. This place and the level of debate would be improved if we had further scrutiny and an …
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to ask my colleague some questions. I have had the chance to meet and work with him on the trade committee. He has wonderful insights, but I think he is missing a key component. Canada has agreed to allow the U.K. to join the CPTPP, but what did Canada get for allowing the U.K. to join? There are outstanding trade disputes with the U.K., especially with …
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Madam Speaker, I guess we will have to get a ruling on whether we can say a member is intentionally misleading the House, but I cannot believe the government broke its own trade agreement with Ukraine. Do members know what it did? It got rid of the carbon tax. It broke its own agreement. It is unbelievable. I appreciate the member mentioning that we have all of this wonderful gold production in Ca…
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Madam Speaker, I thought my hon. colleague was also going to ask about the gold standard, but maybe that is for another day. He is correct. About 48 million dollars' worth of U.K. beef comes into Canada, and virtually zero, or a very small amount, leaves Canada and makes it into the U.K. This is solely on the basis of non-tariff barriers related to trade and unscientific questions about the use of…
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Madam Speaker, mark the time and the date, because I agree with my hon. colleague in the NDP in his intervention with respect to U.K. pensioners. This is the moment that the current government has let pass to negotiate on behalf of U.K. pensioners. If and when the bill is passed, we will have lost negotiating leverage with the U.K. to support U.K. pensioners living in Canada, and of course I have …
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Mr. Speaker, I had the wonderful opportunity to work for finance minister Jim Flaherty, who said what everybody knew at the time: Quantitative easing is inflationary and harmful to the overall economy. The central bank never did quantitative easing until COVID. It is doing quantitative tightening now. The government's fiscal policies are putting the bank in a very difficult position whereby it may…
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Mr. Speaker, I cannot help but weigh in on the most recent intervention. I have heard many great things about the hon. member who just spoke, but surely he would know what happens to the money supply when the Bank of Canada purchases the debt that the government issues. While there is no money printer printing physical bills, the money supply increases substantially, which is, in effect, like prin…
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Mr. Speaker, never before in history has there been an example of increasing taxes on businesses resulting in lower prices to consumers. I do not think we are going to get to a full discussion of that issue here today, but I welcome follow-up discussions with the member at a future date.
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Mr. Speaker, as Conservatives, we want to make sure that a government spends its money properly so that it has money to spend on health care and social services for those who need them the most, including seniors, young people and those with families. We have to be judiciously focused on every single line item so that the government has the money to spend on vulnerable people and those in low-inco…
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Mr. Speaker, the risks he raises are important. The reason we had quantitative easing in the first place is that no one else who was willing to purchase our debt. That might happen again. With 40% of those who purchased our debt being hedge funds or financial speculators, if they are unable to purchase our debt, who is going to? We will see rates increase or we will see the Bank of Canada forced t…
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Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise today, along with my colleague in the Liberal Party, to present a petition representing the voices of many parents across the country who are concerned about social media use and smart phone use by children, especially those much younger than 18 years old. These parents have recognized that smart phones have become a direct gateway to harmful content for child…
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Mr. Speaker, he said a “disciplined budget”. The deficit has doubled. Almost 100,000 Canadians are now out of work. The government still does not have a deal with the Americans. Auto plants are being mothballed, manufacturing is slowing, $54 billion in investments have left this country and tariffs are higher today than when the Prime Minister took office. When will he deliver on his promise to se…
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Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister promised he would negotiate a grand security and economic deal with the Americans, and then went on to make concession after concession, with little to show for it. He cancelled the DST. He cancelled reciprocal tariffs. He withdrew complaints on softwood lumber. Now, he is gushing over the President of the U.S., calling him a “transformative” leader once again. What…
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moved for leave to introduce Bill C-230, An Act to amend the Financial Administration Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts (debt forgiveness registry). Mr. Speaker, in 2023-24, the government wrote off record amounts owed to it by corporations. In fact, the top 100 corporations had amounts written off totalling $1.8 billion. That is an average of $18 million per corporation write…
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Mr. Speaker, the government's plan is to pile on debt, but to obscure that picture with accounting changes. Now the Parliamentary Budget Officer is warning against making these changes, saying that, if the government obscures its own books, it will, in the PBO's words, “bet your boots...paying more for debt”. Will the finance minister agree that doubling the size of the deficit not only puts Canad…
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With regard to the National Research Council of Canada's Industrial Research Assistance Program funding, since January 1, 2016: (a) how many firms in the program's database have left Canada; (b) how many different firms received financial support, broken down by year; (c) of the recipients in (b), how many have since either left Canada or been acquired by foreign owners; and (d) for each National …
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With regard to the Canada Student Financial Assistance Program: (a) what is the total amount of outstanding student loans; and (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by academic discipline and level (undergraduate, doctoral, etc.)?
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With regard to the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, since 2016 and broken down by year: (a) how many awards were provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada to individuals and organizations located outside of Canada and what was their total value; (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by country; and (c) what are the details of each award in (…
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With regard to the education of government officials: how many government officials, broken down by department, have post-secondary education from an institution other than a university, such as a college or technical school?
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Mr. Speaker, does the minister believe that how much money the Government of Canada borrows impacts the borrowing rate Canadians pay for their mortgages?
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Mr. Speaker, to read the press release, which would only become more clear after the election. Will the minister answer whether he believes Canadians who voted for reciprocal tariffs and elbows up did so with full knowledge that the government, quietly and secretly, under the cloak of a vague press release, removed tariffs during the election?
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Mr. Speaker, this is for the Minister of Finance. It has been reported that the government needs to issue or borrow over $600 billion of debt this year. Is that true?
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Mr. Speaker, it is getting late, so I will circle back one last time. Does the minister believe Canada's AAA credit rating is safe?
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Mr. Speaker, is the finance minister aware that despite the Bank of Canada not lowering interest rates, both the 10-year yield and the five-year bond rate for Canada have increased?
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Mr. Speaker, one of the gentlemen at Fitch recently said that the lack of a budget “raises questions about transparency and contributes to [Canada's] greater economic...uncertainty”. Does the minister agree with that statement?
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Mr. Speaker, is the finance minister saying that Canada's AAA credit rating is safe?
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Mr. Speaker, I would like just a confirmation: Does either minister support both the digital services tax and the electric vehicle mandate that the government imposed last term?
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Mr. Speaker, we have confirmed discussions are ongoing with the Americans. We have confirmed the digital services tax and electric vehicle mandate are, in fact, trade irritants that the government imposed. Will either minister admit that the Liberal government's previously imposed digital services tax and electric vehicle mandate are the reason we have challenges with the American relationship?
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