Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, with respect, I disagree with his characterization of the funding designated for the Canadian Securities Transition Office. That organization co-operates with willing partners at the provincial level on securities regulations and on other important matters, including tax evasion. It is the government's view that this organization does good work, but I would point out that provinces th…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, with great respect for the hon. member, I wholeheartedly reject the notion that we are extending to “only” 26 weeks. The 26 weeks of EI sickness benefits will help thousands of vulnerable Canadians. We based that number, in part, on the recommendation of the Canadian Cancer Society, which requested in its pre-budget submission that we extend EI sickness benefits to at least 26 weeks…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, this is very important. The hon. member has drawn attention to the fact that certain speakers may not be able to advocate on behalf of their constituents whatever their position on the bill may be in Parliament, but there is another effect that is really important to draw attention to. In the limited time window we have before the House is set to rise for the summer, there is other …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, without full knowledge of the background, aside from what was just provided in that question, I would suggest to the hon. member that organizations of various types do in fact qualify for some of the emergency benefits, whether it is the rent subsidy or the wage subsidy. When it comes to ensuring that people have a safe and dignified place to call home, I would point him to the nati…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, as always, it is a pleasure to rise in debate, but in particular on the occasion as we approach what I hope is the expeditious adoption of Bill C-30, the budget implementation act, which will put in place a number of important measures designed to help continue the fight against COVID-19, ensure that our economy has the strength to bust out of the pandemic recession and create serio…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, let me reinforce this essential point. The Canadian Securities Transition Office in no way, shape or form impacts the jurisdiction of Quebec managing its own securities regulations. It is free to behave in the way it deems fit. It is an opportunity for provinces that wish to co-operate on important issues: not just on securities regulations, but also on money laundering, tax evasion a…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, with sincere respect for the hon. member, she knows that when we developed the Canada emergency wage subsidy we did so to protect jobs. I am pleased to share that in excess of five million Canadians were kept on payrolls as a result of that program. Recently, we made an adaptation to that program to ensure that if a company increases executive compensation next year, compared with bef…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, the hon. member criticizes the government's public health response. I would remind him that Canada recently became the highest-ranked country of any G20 nation in terms of the number of people who have gotten the first dose of their vaccine. If he would like to compare us to the Americans, I would point him to the fact that we have now had 80.9% of the jobs recovered compared to 65.…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, this is a key example of where Conservative ideology gets in the way of formulating successful policy. If he has complaints about the amount of money we are spending, I would point him to the major credit rating agencies. He can take his pick. Moody's, S&P and DBRS have all reaffirmed Canada's AAA credit rating. If he is concerned about our debt-to-GDP ratio, I would point him to th…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, I point out to the hon. member that some of the supports he is referring to were offered by independent organizations to the banks, to allow them to loan more money to Canadians to help provide relief for mortgage payments. The reality is the wage subsidy program was designed to support workers. I am pleased to report that it has helped keep more than 5.3 million Canadian workers on…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, I would like to correct the hon. member. As the minister pointed out, the behaviour of Air Canada is completely unacceptable in these circumstances. The notion that it would issue large bonuses to corporate executives, at a time when it is taking public funds designed to support workers, is not fair. Canadians see that. I would like to point out for the hon. member that we have made…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, it is insincere for the hon. member to suggest that we have underperformed compared with our international counterparts. If he actually wants to dig into the raw data, we have more Canadians working as a portion of our labour force today than the Americans. He criticized my argument about the number of jobs recovered. I expressed it as a proportion, so his argument falls apart entir…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, it is sincerely disappointing to see that Canada's Conservative Party is misrepresenting the statistics. What is actually happening is, yes, we have seen a decline in job numbers this month, but it is because provincial governments have done the responsible thing to restrict certain activities to protect the public's health and secure the long-term economic outlook of the Canadian e…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for pointing out that before the pandemic, because of the measures our government had put in place, we actually achieved the lowest unemployment rate since we started keeping track of those statistics in Canada more than 40 years ago. With respect, our strategy in response to the public health emergency has been to launch the strongest public he…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, I would point out the obvious for the hon. member that the recent jobs report is a factor not of some fundamental flaw with our nation's economy, but instead of public health measures that have been put in place to protect the public's health and, in fact, secure the long-term interests of our economy. I would also point him to the fact that after the second wave we saw in Canada in…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, I would be happy to offer the hon. member a basic lesson in civics. It is the responsibility of provincial governments, as he just alluded to in his question, to bear the responsibility for the economic activities that are permissible in a community. Thankfully, his criticism of job numbers is also without merit, as it is a reflection of—
Read full speech →Oral Questions
—the provincial public health restrictions that have been put in place to keep people safe. He interrupted me because he does not have the ability to remain calm when dealing with facts he does not agree with. The fact of the matter is that we have had an excellent record both to protect the public health of Canadians and to support them through this pandemic from the very beginning. We will not s…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member's line of questioning suffers from deficits of both fact and principle. On the facts where he says it has been irresponsible, I would point him to the AAA credit rating reaffirmed this week by Moody's, which has also been upheld by other major credit rating agencies. The fact is that we are on a sustainable path. As a matter of principle, he suggests these programs are…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, we will continue to engage with other developed economies on matters of global concern. However, with respect, I want to reassert that our top priority when it comes to our relations with China is securing the release of the two Michaels. We remain focused on ensuring the fair and equitable treatment of the Uighur population and we are focused on the well-being of Canadians in Hong Ko…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, with great respect for the hon. member, it is deeply disappointing for him to suggest that any member of the House, regardless of party, would put the appeasement of a foreign power ahead of the well-being of two Canadians who have been in arbitrary captivity for such a long period of time. It remains our top priority to secure the release of the two Michaels, and we have a number of …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, the hon. member sees the cost of the measures we have put in place, but he does not see the value in them. I would point out to the hon. member that today is actually the day that families with kids under the age of six are going to receive an enhanced Canada child benefit after months of delay by the Conservatives. They pretend to support our measures when they opposed CERB, voted …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, I will take no lessons from a member of a party that had the worst economic record since the Great Depression before this pandemic. If he wants to see a credible fiscal plan, I would direct him to budget 2021. The plan is to continue to support households and businesses through this pandemic. The plan is to defeat COVID-19. The plan is to ensure that all Canadians, not just wealthy …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to take this question. The hon. member does not tell us that his solution to the supposed inflation problem is to stop spending on supports that are helping businesses stay open and helping workers keep their jobs and put food on the table. The reality is that the inflation target of between 1% and 3% is run independently by the Bank of Canada. The Government of Canada …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, the hon. member is selective in his choice of sources. A number of credible experts, including former governors of the Bank of Canada, have described the fiscal framework outlined in the recent budget as being sustainable. If the member is concerned about inflation, I would point him to the fact that we have been able to lock in long-term interest rates. If he looks at the costs of …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, it is clear that the hon. member has not taken the time to read the budget. He claims there is no fiscal anchor. The fiscal anchor is actually described in those terms as a declining debt-to-GDP ratio. He says there is no debt management strategy when the phrase “debt management strategy” is actually included in the portion of the budget that seeks to explain how we plan to manage o…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, I take great exception to the hon. member's assertion that the families who may live in my community because of my partisan affiliation are somehow less deserving than the families he represents. The reality is that when it came to this pandemic response, we were there for families no matter where they lived, no matter who their representatives were. The issue of housing affordabili…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his legitimate concern for the small business operators in the tourism sector, which we know has been hit disproportionately by COVID-19. The first thing these businesses want back is their customers, and we are working hard to deploy vaccines to ensure that we can have a sense of normalcy return as soon as possible. With respect to the wage subsidy, I wo…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his sincere concern for our relationship abroad and the importance of protecting the environment and working with international partners to do so. However, I do want to point out that when it comes to the investment decisions of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which are designed to protect the retirement security of Canadians, those decisions ar…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, I would like to begin by thanking the minister. Budget 2021 is a transformational document that will allow us to continue the fight against COVID-19, help us punch out of this pandemic recession and, importantly, ensure that everyone gets to benefit from the growth that we expect to see on the back end of this pandemic. The pandemic, quite obviously, has not impacted everyone the same…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Chair, if it is our collective hope as parliamentarians to not only see GDP growth but to actually enhance the quality of life for the Canadians who live in our communities, in my view, it is essential that we become more effective at measuring the things that matter. To me, it is important that we understand there is value in a forest before we cut it down, that the time we spend at home is…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, I was just trying to make the point that as we experience growth on the back end of this pandemic, it is essential that we try to build growth in a way that works for everyone. We know this pandemic has hit women and young people harder than others. We know this pandemic has disproportionately impacted Black Canadians, indigenous Canadians and folks from different walks of life. As we s…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Chair, I would ask the hon. member to bear with me, as we are now at about 12:35 in the morning on the east coast, and it has been an engaging debate every step of the way. In response to the member's question, when I think first about the impact of this budget, I cannot ignore that we continue to be in a public health emergency. COVID-19 has thrust a lockdown on my home province of Nova Scoti…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, the hon. member cited Joseph Stiglitz, who recently put together one of the most important books that I have read over the past few years. He hypothesizes in the book that it is essential that we not only pursue GDP, but that government should focus on improving the quality of life for middle-class citizens who reside within its borders. If it is our collective hope as a nation, and…
Read full speech →Adjournment Proceedings
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member sincerely for his approach to this issue and so many others. In the one minute that I have to conclude, it is essential that we see the value of a forest before it is cut down. It is essential that we see the value in the time we spend with our families, not just at our desks or at our places of work. If we want to focus, as we should, as I ment…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, at the outset of this pandemic we moved forward with a suite of policies that were designed to support as many businesses as possible, as quickly as possible. In order to protect the integrity of the systems that we put in place, we used the revenue from the year prior as a comparator to ensure that we were providing funding in a targeted way to help businesses survive. Going forwar…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, with great respect, our government has put a series of programs in place to support households and businesses from the very beginning of this pandemic. That is why so many have been able to survive the storm. We have even made changes to many of the programs, including for certain businesses that have had a change in ownership. With respect to the member's assertion about vaccinatio…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, it is important in the middle of a global public health emergency that we do not take our eyes off what is most important. We need to continue to support Canadians through the ongoing public health emergency that the COVID-19 pandemic represents. I would remind the hon. member that during their time of need we supported 9 million Canadians with CERB, so they could keep food on the t…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Madam Speaker, with respect to the hon. member's assertion, I would point him to the testimony of the Governor of the Bank of Canada, who appeared before the finance committee and explained in clear terms that the inflation we have seen in the Canadian economy is precisely where he predicted it would be and is well within the 1% to 3% goal. I would remind the hon. member, however, that his solutio…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her remarks, although I was particularly put out by the aspersions she cast upon the independent Governor of the Bank of Canada. She has made wild allegations, which I can only describe as a conspiracy theory, that somehow the Governor of the Bank of Canada has lost his independence from the Government of Canada. I attended the same finance committee meetin…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is wrong as a matter of fact and as a matter of principle. On the facts, his partisan argument contradicts the evidence of the IMF, private-sector forecasts outlined in the budget, and major credit-rating agencies that have reaffirmed Canada's AAA rating. As a matter of principle, his solution to the false problem that he depicts is to yank supports for households and …
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member ought to appreciate that the economic growth projections included in the budget are the result of the private sector forecasts, on average, by the major economists at Canadian banks. This is not something that the government has done for partisan reasons; it is designed to ensure objectivity. One of those particular banks, Scotiabank, actually pointed to the growth age…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, it is that member who is misleading the House with his very question. The PBO report that he refers to examined only a portion of Canada's pandemic recovery strategy, and left out over $30 billion in emergency supports to ensure households and businesses would be bridged through this pandemic so they can contribute to the recovery on the back end. Canadians can rest assured that, unli…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Mr. Speaker, the member spent a significant portion of his time decrying what he suggests is a lack of support for young Canadians. I find that hard to believe, given that there is more than $5.7 billion in dedicated support specifically for young people in this budget, which constitutes the largest dedicated youth support package globally of any developed economy and is likely the largest dedicat…
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, in my response to the member for Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, I had a small slip-up. I referred to our debt management strategy being in annex 3 of the budget. It is in fact in annex 2 where the member will find the government's debt management strategy, including the reaffirmation of our AAA credit rating and the fact that Canada currently has the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7.
Read full speech →Oral Questions
Mr. Speaker, I direct the hon. member to annex 3 of the budget, which lays out in specific detail the debt management strategy of the government. I point in particular to the fact that by fiscal year 2022-23, we anticipate that the raw debt servicing charges for Canada will be $1.6 billion less than was projected in the fall economic statement of 2019, before the pandemic. The reality is that our …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I would have to save an entire day to discuss some of the questions around jurisdiction. My question is about the government's fiscal policy in terms of the macroeconomic approach, which I know my colleague has serious expertise in. At committee, we have heard the Governor of the Bank of Canada describe the monetary policy to be the effective lower bound of the interest rate the ban…
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, while I quite like and respect the member personally, I am disappointed with the number of falsehoods that characterize his remarks today. In particular, he criticized our plan for growth. I would point him to Scotiabank Economics that has said our measures were well-targeted to raise potential output by focusing on economic inclusion, the green transition and measures to encourage …
Read full speech →Government Orders
Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the minister for her work in putting together this transformational document that is going to support Canadians. The pandemic has not impacted everyone equally. A lot of people are doing just fine from an economic perspective, notwithstanding the public health crisis we are facing. However, women, young people, Black Canadians, indigenous Canadians and other gr…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Madam Speaker, for reasons others have articulated previously this evening, I vehemently disagree with the member on the success of Canada's vaccine procurement. However, if I accept her position that the federal government's procurement strategy has been insufficient, I cannot find a charitable interpretation of her argument that would suggest that public health measures today in Alberta would no…
Read full speech →Emergency Debate
Mr. Speaker, it is important we reflect on the fact this motion is about an absolute public health crisis going on in a Canadian province right now. It is not just the risk to an individual. When our health system's capacity is overwhelmed, if someone gets in a car accident there may not be a place for them to go. The Conservative argument has been essentially that their vaccines did not come quic…
Read full speech →