Parliamentary Speeches
1,397 speeches by François-Philippe Champagne — Page 11 of 28
Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it will not be a surprise that as a finance minister, I like revenue. Revenue allows us to provide services to Canadians, to make financial transfers to provinces and territories for Canadians, and to maintain the social fabric of our country. It will not be a big surprise that a finance minister always likes revenue.
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Mr. Speaker, the member probably will not be asking if I can say “oil and gas” or something like that. I can assure him that we are proud of what we produce in Canada, and we want to build infrastructure so we can—
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Mr. Speaker, what I think is fair is that we join together in building this country. I am speaking with premiers in western Canada. They are very happy to work with this new government so that we can build Canada strong. I know that Conservatives, in their hearts, want to build this Canada. They want to join us. That is why they voted for the first ways and means motion we presented.
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Mr. Speaker, I believe my colleague should be very happy. There is a lot for him to be happy about, because now we are talking about projects of national interest. Just recently we had all the premiers get together with the Prime Minister to build Canada strong. We want to build an energy corridor. We want to build this country. I can see in his eyes that he is happy as well because we are going t…
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Mr. Speaker, I just wish the member had been in Saskatoon recently. He would have seen that there is unity in this country like we have never seen before. People want to build. They want to make sure our resources go to market. That should have been a moment celebrated by all Conservatives. I know many of the western premiers, who text me quite often. They want to make sure that we build things to…
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Mr. Speaker, it is public record. I know there is not much time left for good questions, and I know my colleague wants good answers, but the time is short. The things in the public domain—
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague will be happy. I can see it in his eyes. He will be happy to learn that there are already programs in place to help businesses with cash flow. I recently talked about it with people from the steel industry, including people from Quebec. Since programs are already in place to support them, I suppose that he is going to be pleased tonight.
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Mr. Speaker, it is simple. We have to fight these unjustified and illegal tariffs every day. I would like our Conservative colleagues to join us in this fight. I know that people in the industry support us.
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Mr. Speaker, members are free to speak. This is the House of Commons. This is the House of the people. Everyone is free to speak their mind, and I would invite every member to do so. I have been here for a decade, and I have always spoken my mind.
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Mr. Speaker, I am so glad to hear that my colleague is actually paying so much attention to what I do. I also travel to Shawinigan every weekend, and I would be glad to invite him there as well. He seems to be very interested in where I am going. It is great. I travel—
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Mr. Speaker, I am here at the behest of the members. Members voted for us to be here at 9:55 p.m. I am making myself available to the House to answer members' questions, especially questions from my Bloc Québécois colleagues, whom I hold in high esteem.
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Mr. Speaker, the member went from travel to tariffs; I guess that is because they both start with “T”. That must be in the order of questions. Colleagues would know that there is a great framework in place. My colleague is an experienced member—
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Mr. Speaker, I am very proud to answer questions from my colleague. Like I said, he comes from a great region, where my family is also. I have seen him in action. It is great to see that—
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Mr. Speaker, I would be pleased to speak to the member's constituents. I know a few of them, and they are great people. I can refer them to the April 15 press release. There is a lot of good information there. I know our Conservative colleagues would like to read the press releases of the Liberal government—
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Mr. Speaker, that is a very important question. Like I said, when we had the G7 meeting, we had the opportunity to show the world that Canada and the other G7 finance colleagues were standing shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine. In fact, there is good news in the main estimates: There is an increase in the development and financial intermediary response for Ukraine of $200 million. What the Ukrainia…
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Mr. Speaker, first of all, I am happy to say hello to my colleague. He was my critic when I was a young man, when I started in this House. Now I see that, 10 years later, I still have the pleasure to have to answer his questions. He comes from a great region. My dad lives next to him—
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Mr. Speaker, the member should be proud. It is a bit late, but if my memory serves me well, we ranked number three in the world for attraction of investment just last year or the year before. Canada is the place to invest and investors know that. We do not need to argue that in the House. Investors—
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Mr. Speaker, it will take me less than a minute to provide good news to Canadians. If we look at the increase for the Canada health transfer, we are talking about an increase of $2.6 billion. This is money that would go to support health care in Toronto—St. Paul's, in Shawinigan, in Brampton and everywhere across the country. This is really good news. We have a government that is standing up for C…
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Mr. Speaker, I would be more than happy to refer my colleague to the press release of April 15. He will find a lot of good information there, and he can direct his constituents to apply—
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Mr. Speaker, I will provide an equally clear answer: It is to fight every day. The Prime Minister is fighting, the ministers are fighting, Canada is fighting against these tariffs. I invite my colleague to join us in this historic battle. He will be able to tell his grandchildren that he did something good for the country.
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Mr. Speaker, I always want to inform the member's constituents. We are going to fight. That is something Canadians understand; they know how to fight. That is why we said, “elbows up”. I think it has galvanized Canadians across the nation.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague, the Minister of International Trade, and I are finding new markets for certain steel and aluminum products. It is important to diversify exports and we are working together with the industry.
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Mr. Speaker, I would even invite my colleague to give my number to this Beauce business owner. I would very much like to speak with him. I recently hosted Beauce residents who thanked me for being there for them, for defending them and for providing liquidity to industry. These are tangible ways to help people in Beauce and across Quebec and Canada defend themselves against these unjustified, unfa…
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Mr. Speaker, there is no inaction. We are taking action over here. Just talk to people in industry. They know what a tool box is and they know that in our Liberal tool box, there are tools to help them.
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Mr. Chair, it is a great pleasure to be with you this evening and with my colleagues, whom I truly appreciate. We will be spending a wonderful evening together. I want to begin by thanking all the deputy ministers who are with us this evening. This is an important evening during which I will have an opportunity to address this important committee of the whole. I would also like to thank all the se…
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Mr. Speaker, we are not waiting; we have already taken action. We already have tools in the toolbox. My colleague is from Beauce, so he should be familiar with toolboxes. We have plenty of tools in our toolbox to help our people.
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Mr. Speaker, I would first like to congratulate my colleague from Toronto—St. Paul's. She is an extraordinary colleague. I have had a chance to see her in action in so many ways. She held various senior posts in finance as well, and we could see that in her speech. I am sure the people of Toronto—St. Paul's have been watching tonight at home and listening to her and saying that this is someone who…
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Mr. Speaker, as the Minister of Finance, I always want the economy to grow because it allows us to have revenue to provide services to Canadians and transfers to provinces and territories. I think my colleague also wants to see revenues grow.
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Mr. Speaker, as the Minister of Finance, I always want to see revenues grow because revenues allow us to deliver services to Canadians. Obviously, we will continue to be fiscally prudent but, at the same time, look at ways to support Canadians.
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Mr. Speaker, let us look at the chart. Ten years ago, the public debt charge was $24.2 billion and represented 1.2% of GDP. If we look at 2023-24, it represents 1.6%. Canada has been consistently maintaining a low level as—
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Mr. Speaker, we inherited what we all have as Canadians. We have a country that has a AAA credit rating and the lowest debt-to-GDP. We should be very proud. I was at the G7 meeting, and next time I might invite the member. He will see how G7 colleagues appreciate Canada—
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Mr. Speaker, we always do what is appropriate to defend our industry and our workers. I would hope that our Conservative friends would join us in the fight. This is an existential fight for Canada, and I know that in their heart they would want to be part of this generational opportunity to fight along with us.
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Madam Chair, as I said, I have a lot of respect for the member for Mirabel. I am not here to tell him things that he already knows.
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Mr. Speaker, if my colleague were to look at the public debt charge percentage of nominal GDP, he would see that, over the last decade, they have always been in the range of 1% to 1.5%. It is a great position to be in as a country.
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Mr. Speaker, as the member wants to talk about numbers, I will go to the numbers. In 2023-24, the public debt charge percentage of nominal GDP was 1.2%. In 2023-24, it was 1.6%. Canada is in a very enviable position as a member of the G7.
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Mr. Speaker, the member is talking about the G7. I intend to continue as the chair of the G7 finance ministers' meeting with central bank governors. We continue to provide leadership. We even came out with a communiqué in Banff. It was more than people had expected. We came out with a communiqué.
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Mr. Speaker, I get my colleague's enthusiasm. I know him. He is an enthusiastic guy, and he wants to see things right away. I am sure my colleague will have an opportunity to read the plans as soon as they are available. The important thing is that he already has the financial framework, which he saw in the main estimates. That alone gives him a good overview of the government's priorities.
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Mr. Speaker, I am a Quebecker, and I think that Quebeckers and the Bloc Québécois members want the tariffs gone. The main thing we want is no tariffs. Then there would be no retaliatory measures. That is why our priority is to fight the tariffs and protect our sectors, our industry and our workers as we build one Canadian economy.
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Mr. Chair, first of all, let me congratulate you on your role as the Chair this evening. As well, I thank the officials for being with us tonight. As the member should know, we had the largest countermeasures to face—
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Mr. Speaker, I am sure that my colleague is going to like this, since he is a numbers guy. In the spending plan for the Department of Finance, 99% of planned expenditures are statutory expenditures. Less than 1% of these expenditures are departmental operating expenditures. I think my colleague can see that the Department of Finance budgets are really transfers to the provinces, including Quebec.
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Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his excellent question. He is a very well-informed man. Obviously, he knows or he will know that we are discussing with the aluminum and steel industry to take the appropriate measures to defend our industries and protect our Canadian industries, while encouraging Canadian procurement to support our steel and aluminum industries. I can confirm that we are work…
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Mr. Chair, it is a real privilege to be with you tonight and to answer questions from the member. As he knows, we have mounted the largest number of countertariffs, probably in Canada's history, to face the unjustified and illegal tariffs that have been imposed by the United States.
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Mr. Speaker, I have shared several numbers tonight. To date, we have raised $1.7 billion from the retaliatory measures. It is important to note that we have imposed tariffs on $95 billion worth of goods imported from the United States. We have implemented historic measures to protect our industries and respond to this American threat to Canadian industry.
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Mr. Speaker, again, the member should take comfort in his heart that Canada, with its AAA credit rating, is the only country, with Germany, in the G7 that has that fiscal position. That is a very strong position, and that is why he should be happy to have a finance minister with fiscal discipline.
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Mr. Speaker, we need to look at every possible measure to support the steel and aluminum sector. That is why we are having intense discussions with our colleagues. Both he and I want the same thing. I know him, and I know that he, too, wants to stand up for workers in the industry. We have the same goal. That is why we are working hand in hand with the industry.
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Mr. Speaker, it is good to hear that my colleague is looking at my Twitter account. I might even suggest that he follow me. The numbers I post on social media are accurate. We obviously want to keep Canadians informed. I am pleased to see that my colleague pays close attention to what we post on social media, because this is important information for Canadians and for the industry.
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Madam Chair, I am happy to confirm what the member can read in “The Fiscal Monitor”. The number in “The Fiscal Monitor”, from April 2024 to March 2025, in terms of a budget deficit, is $43.2 billion.
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Madam Chair, my colleague will have to wait for the budget to be tabled. I know that he is looking forward to it. It is coming in the fall. When fall arrives, he will be very happy to see a budget that will build a strong and ambitious Canada.
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Mr. Speaker, this question was addressed with the premiers at the great meeting we had in Saskatoon. Everyone wants to see more being done for energy corridors in this country. We want to bring our energy and our natural resources to market.
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Mr. Chair, the member will be able to see that when the tariffs have been collected. We always render the number publicly, but so far it has been $1.7 billion.
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