Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member opposite's speech, but obviously I do not share his pessimism about the sovereign wealth fund. Generations ago we had examples with victory bonds, with war bonds. We have had examples of Canadians stepping up, especially at times when Canada's sovereignty has been tested, throughout our history, when Canadians want to participate in investing in the future that…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, that question is one that I feel very passionate about answering, because there are many things we are doing on many fronts. The Major Projects Office obviously addresses challenges that this country has faced, in terms of streamlining projects and getting approvals where investment has not been strong enough in Canada. That is exactly the intent of the Major Projects Office, to remov…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I do not know why the member opposite has such an opposition to the thought that everyday Canadians should be able to do this. When I was a kid, I had a paper route. I saved money every month, and my parents encouraged me to buy Canada savings bonds. This is essentially doing a similar thing. The Government of Canada is saying that it is going to help attract investment and build a st…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I know the member opposite and I share many differences, but the one thing we can agree on is that Canada is the greatest country in the world and has the greatest potential to be even stronger and more prosperous than it is today. This is exactly what the sovereign wealth fund intends to do. Again, it is to help all Canadians be able to participate in the prosperity that we are build…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I know there is much we can learn from other entities around the world that are similar to the Canada sovereign wealth fund. We can draw lessons from Quebec's generations fund and from Alberta's heritage savings trust fund. We can draw learnings from Norway and Singapore. Many of these large income-generating national wealth funds have been built over decades. The idea for Canada to b…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, the groceries and essentials benefit that we announced will put almost $1,900 into families' pockets this year, which is significant support. I would offer that this is significant direct support to 12 million Canadians. We also offered immediate expensing for greenhouses and an injection of funds to the local food infrastructure fund, as well as $500 million more in support through t…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is great to have the member ask the question again. What I have pointed out in my response is that, every time the Conservatives say they want to do more for Canadians, we actually propose to do more, and they vote against it, so I do not know how to take the comments of the member opposite in the House at face value. We offer opportunities, such as the groceries and essentials ben…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I know it is a lot to ask, but the Conservatives could finally give up their infatuation with our former prime minister and just face reality for once. Canada is strong and resilient, and only getting more so under this government's leadership. The evidence is in, in the spring economic update: $11 billion less in deficit, and a fiscal track with a declining deficit-to-GDP. Operating …
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is shocking to me to hear the hon. member talk as if somehow she believes we operate in a vacuum and apart from global forces beyond the government's control. Certainly, we do not control oil price shocks that are the direct result of the Strait of Hormuz being blocked. We did not start the war in Iran. It is not a conflict, unfortunately, that we can stop or control. What we have …
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, I do not mind the crosstalk. It actually encourages me quite a bit to keep telling the truth in the House. I know it is hard for the Conservatives to accept the truth sometimes. We announced a package of supports, including the groceries and essentials benefit—
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, one thing Canadians can count on is that the pessimism of the Conservative Party will never infect the members on this side of the House. Do members know why? It is because we will never apologize about being optimistic about Canada's future. That is why we are here. We are here in government to build Canada strong. Just shortly, in under an hour, the Minister of Finance will give a p…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the member opposite is more concerned with conspiracy theories than with the truth. This is the problem with the pessimistic politics of the Conservative Party; they do not correspond with the truth. The truth is that there are signs of progress. There are very clear signs that our plan to build a stronger economy is working. We see generational investments coming to fruition througho…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I certainly appreciate the sentiments from my colleague, wanting to hold the government to account. As an opposition MP in the House, he is well aware that is his job. It is the same with the Conservative Party. How did we hold Stephen Harper to account when he had a majority in the House? How did the opposition hold our government accountable from 2015 to 2019? There are tools that a…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member's question, but how have opposition parties held majority governments to account since Confederation? It is by doing their job, and they can do that job at committee and in the House just as they have done throughout our entire history. It is just the case that the member takes issue with the fact that the motion proposes to reflect the majority of seats that t…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, certainly I believe in tradition. I believe in the Standing Orders, although I understand that they evolve over time. This is what I was trying to point to with the fact that the Conservatives, during the middle of a pandemic, filibustered in committee and made arguments that we should never change the traditions of the House. I see that there are moments within an emergency situation…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague from Humber River—Black Creek for her 26 years of serving in the House and for her mentorship and friendship. The speech she made today was great. She is a testament to parliamentary tradition and also to a very progressive agenda for her community that I know she has pursued all throughout her career. I am very proud to call her a friend. After six a…
Read full speech →Government Orders
You are right, Mr. Speaker. I contravened the rules unintentionally there. My apologies to you and all the members. With that said, those members and I served on the procedure and House affairs committee. We looked at Centre Block revitalization. We talked about foreign interference, which we studied for nine months in committee. We studied the hybrid provisions during the pandemic to change stand…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the question is about more or less. The Conservatives want us to believe that they would actually do more for Canadians but, every chance they get, they would do less. They would do less on child care. They would do less on dental care. They would do less of an income tax cut. They would do less investing in infrastructure, less investing in housing and less investing in defence. In e…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Canadians can rest assured that the Conservatives would do much less in every category. They pretend, in the House, to say that they would do more. Let us just take food prices for example. We have cut, just recently, 10¢ per litre off gasoline at the pump. That is in addition to 18¢ cut earlier in this government's mandate. That is 28¢ per litre, which is more than what the Conservat…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
As usual, Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives do not actually read the reports they quote in this House. As the Minister of Industry said, that RBC report on foreign investment said that “Canada is back on the radar of global investors” and has attracted over $100 billion, “the highest level since 2015.” We also have a number of commitments from other countries, including Australia and the U.A.E., with…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, it is quite the contrary. We take any abuse of the tax system not lightly but very seriously. It is obviously illegal to take advantage of the tax system. The CRA takes enforcement action when instances of abuse are identified. While we cannot comment on specific cases that are matters before the courts, obviously opposition members can see documents when they are publicly available. …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, every single day in this House, this government works toward making life more affordable for Canadians, authentically making every effort and taking every step to ensure that Canadians can get through the challenging times that our economy is experiencing due to global shocks. Canadians know that our government is stepping up with real support. The groceries and essentials benefit is …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I have already answered this question multiple times today, but I will just add that when debt is established to the CRA, the agency takes legal action if necessary, using all available measures to ensure compliance. To safeguard taxpayer information and prevent misuse, the CRA has strong controls in place to verify accounts and transactions. The agency also collaborates with law enfo…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I have already said multiple times that abuse of our tax system is illegal. The CRA takes enforcement action when it can identify suspicious activity. Safeguards have been put in place. The matter that the member is referring to is before the courts, and I cannot comment further, obviously.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we know that any abuse of the tax system is completely illegal and unfair to Canadians, and we take those matters seriously. The CRA has implemented additional safeguards to help ensure greater consistency and accuracy in refund processing. We also strengthened controls, intensified oversight and tightened authority levels. We will continue to strengthen the integrity of our tax syste…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I have said numerous times that any abuse of our tax system is illegal and unfair. It is certainly something the CRA takes very seriously and our government takes seriously. Enforcement action is under way here. There is an attempt to address the issue. The matter is before the courts, which we cannot comment on, of course. Additional safeguards have been put in place. I have already …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the CRA deals with millions of tax filings and does its very best to ensure a high quality of service. There have been improvements to that service over the last year, since the government has been in power. Any abuse of the tax system is illegal. The CRA takes enforcement action whenever it can identify instances of abuse. We certainly cannot comment on cases that are before the cour…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the hypocrisy is dripping from the walls in this place. Conservatives, over the six and a half years that I have been in this House, have opposed every affordability measure that helps real Canadians and families. For six and a half years, we have seen them vote against child care, dental care and the Canada child benefit. They voted against feeding 400,000 more kids in school. They v…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, it seems the Conservatives are fiercely determined to become even more unpopular. It is due to the Conservatives, I am sure, playing political games with Canadians and the struggles they are facing today while opposing affordability measures. It is just disingenuous. The woes of Canadians are not to be trifled with. On this side of the House, we know that. That is why we are providing…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, for generations, Canada has been a place where people come to build a better life. During my last constituency week, I had the privilege of attending the grand opening of the Oshawa Clarington Welcome Centre and Durham Resettlement Assistance Program House, both of which provide essential settlement services to newcomers in our region. Canada's immigration system has always been about…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, it is hard to take this member seriously when she has voted against every affordability measure that impacts families in Durham Region. She stood up in this House and voted against the groceries and essentials benefit. She has voted against a tax cut for 22 million Canadians. The Conservatives say they want us to cut taxes at the pump. That is exactly what we are doing and yet they ar…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, far be it from any member on this side of the House to deprive the Conservative leader of driving the Conservative bus deeper down into the valley of unpopularity. They can rest assured that we will save the Conservatives money at the gas pumps along the way, with savings of 10¢ per litre with the excise tax having been suspended for the next four months and 28¢ per litre since this g…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to answer this question. What the Conservatives usually do, as we see in the House, is this kind of “back of the napkin” math. They did not really look at exactly how much revenue is going to be generated through additional taxes, in this particular case. They are forecasting a lot more that they think is going to come in but that has not come in yet. They a…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, it is great to be here this afternoon. I will be sharing my time with my hon. colleague from Kingston and the Islands. I am thankful for the opportunity to warm up the crowd before he knocks it out of the park. I will start my remarks by thanking the people of Terrebonne, the people of Scarborough Southwest and the people of University–Rosedale for electing three strong, powerful wome…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I know the member opposite knows that this government is working to make Canadians less reliant on fossil fuels in many ways. We are also supporting Canadians where they are at, which is struggling with affordability challenges and cost of living challenges at home. In their daily lives, they need to fill up at the pump. We are giving them a break right now, just as we introduced many…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the member opposite's interventions in this House. He is a wonderful member, and we welcome collaboration with him at any moment. What is great is that there is no real limitation on us taking good ideas that are generated by any party in the House and implementing those on behalf of Canadians. We have done that numerous times with proposals from multiple parties. We have…
Read full speech →Statements by Members
Mr. Speaker, I could not be more proud to support our region, town and community partners in compassionately and effectively addressing homelessness in our community. The site at 1635 Dundas Street East is a lifeline in Whitby, a place where people facing some of their hardest moments can find safety, care and dignity. Our new government is backing that critical work with a $40-million investment,…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we acknowledge that oil price shocks due to the war in the Middle East are rippling across the world and increasing the cost of living pressures on Canadians here at home. That is why we recently worked with our international partners to release hundreds of millions of barrels of Canadian oil as part of an effort to provide stability for businesses and consumers. We cannot unblock the…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we know nostalgia is not a strategy. We cannot go back to 1965, to a tariff-free auto pact. What has Unifor said about the Conservatives' so-called plan? It said this plan cannot achieve its intended objectives, it is mathematically incorrect, and it may prevent potential future growth in our automotive industry. Unlike them, we actually sit down with the workers and the unions and co…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I have good news for the hon. member. Just yesterday, our Bill C-4 on affordability measures got royal assent in our Senate, which is fantastic news. That means 22 million Canadians will receive a tax cut on their income tax, saving $840 for dual-income families. Families that are trying to purchase their first home will save up to $50,000 on homes under $1 million. That is good news …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, Canadians all across the country know that we were thrust into a trade war not of our choosing. Our government is doing everything in its power and using every lever at our disposal to support the Canadian economy and insulate it from further shocks that are, again, beyond our control. What we are doing is diversifying trade. While the Leader of the Opposition was trotting around Lond…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we will never adopt the Conservative plan because the Conservatives do not have a plan. They do not propose anything that works on behalf of Canadians or that will deliver results for them. Our plan is the plan that we are following. That is the plan that Canadians voted for. That is the plan that is working to create jobs for Canadians. Yes, there are choppy waters. We are in a trade…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, do the Conservatives live under a rock? We are in a trade war. We have a war raging in the Middle East. Those are not of our choosing. Those global issues and forces, just to explain causality, are not the fault of the federal government. There are factors in the world that are affecting the Canadian economy. We are moving through a period of unprecedented economic turbulence. Canadia…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, very simply put, no, I do not agree with the member opposite. I do not agree with his assessment of the problem. I do not agree that the free market is actually going to solve the problem he is talking about. I think we have seen evidence of that with the federal government under Conservative leadership. It made no investment in housing for over a decade under Stephen Harper, and we s…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, in relation to development charges, our government has incentivized municipalities to freeze or lower those development charges through the housing accelerator fund. All of those funds that go directly to municipalities are predicated on municipalities either freezing or lowering those charges to make it easier for developers to afford and to make the math work on new housing developm…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, it is great to be back in the House after a short time of being away. I was fortunate, and I will start by thanking my wonderful wife, who has delivered another baby girl to our family. That is our third girl. It is great to be back in the chamber and in debate with members opposite, whom I respect, even though I strongly disagree with the premise of the member's question. In response…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Mr. Speaker, to the member opposite, yes, there are families in my riding purchasing homes that are in the average of $700,000 to $800,000, which I admit is a high price for a new home, but it is the case in many parts of where I live in the GTA, the greater Toronto area. Cutting the GST on new home purchases for homes under $1 million, which is what the policy does, is actually very beneficial. H…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we know that “Bah humbug” is just a name for the opposition leader's management style. Thank God the human emotion of joy is not deductible, because the Conservatives would find a way to claw it back right before Christmas. They will not help us feed children in school. They will not help us build affordable housing. They will not help us give and to deliver to families a well-earned …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, it is almost the holidays, with goodwill to all. The opposition leader says no, let us circle back next year after his leadership review. Meanwhile, hard-working Canadians wait for a well-earned tax break. They wait for a $50,000 tax cut for first-time homebuyers. Children wait for healthy meals at school. Families and seniors wait for affordable housing. In addition to that, this mem…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I agree with the member that the budget bill is full of really great measures for this country. One thing we can all acknowledge is that Canada has world-class innovators and entrepreneurs, those of whom will help us build the strongest economy in the G7. As part of that process, we are reducing red tape to broaden the use of something called regulatory sandboxes to help foster and sp…
Read full speech →