Jenny Kwan

Mr. Speaker, Positioning · 13 wordsthere were high expectations for this budget, but unfortunately, it misses the mark.Positioning Claims · 25 wordsThis budget benefits the wealthy at the expense of the working class in this country. The Prime Minister talks about the masters of our destiny, Positioning · 4 wordsbut who are they?Positioning Claims · 27 wordsThey are the billionaires and corporate executives he invited to his exclusive investment summit. When we look at this budget, it is clear whose interests come first.Unearned certainty Positioning · 13 wordsChristmas came early for CEOs, foreign investors and arms dealers in this budget.Positioning Claims · 33 wordsThe single biggest item Santa Claus is bringing is a $36-billion mega deduction, over five years for big corporations, more than all the affordability measures that he purports to champion for everyday people.¹ Positioning · 24 wordsWhere is the mega deduction on grocery bills for everyday Canadians? Where is it on their rent? Where is it on their cellphone bill?Positioning Claims · 204 wordsThe government talks a lot about affordability, but this budget does very little to bring down the cost of living for everyday people. Instead, it doubles down on the familiar promise that if we give enough money to the biggest corporations and investors, somehow everyone will benefit. Canadians have heard that promise before. It has not solved the affordability crisis. The government will say that it is spending $4 billion on a one-time increase to the Canada groceries and essentials benefit, ²which is a fraction compared to the $36-billion mega deduction for corporations. For a single person, that amounts to $267 a year, roughly $20 a month.³ That money will quickly be swallowed up by rising food prices. It is a temporary measure that does nothing to address the underlying causes of the grocery crisis. One in three Canadians is skipping meals.⁴ Food bank use is at a record high.⁵ The government has no plan to confront the market concentration and pricing power of Canada’s major grocery chains. The NDP has proposed real solutions: a network of public grocery stores to introduce competition and bring down prices, and a ban on surveillance pricing so corporations cannot use people’s personal data to charge them more. Reasoning · 24 wordsWe need to tackle the problems at their source, not simply give people a temporary payment while the big grocery chains continue to profit. Claims · 15 wordsOn housing, the government has announced that it will end homelessness and expand non-market housing. Aside · 3 wordsI love that.Aside Positioning · 10 wordsOn the face of it, it sounds like good news.Positioning Reasoning · 9 wordsTo end homelessness, Canada needs deeply affordable non-market housing. Claims · 78 wordsExperts say that Canada needs at least 200,000 net new non-market homes per year for three decades.⁶ Budget 2026 is proposing to deliver 24,000 non-market homes for 10 years.⁷ That is just on capital investment. On supportive and operating costs, at least $5.7 billion per year is needed.⁸ This plan is entirely dependent on the provinces and territories, which are expected to pay for ongoing operations and wraparound services, including health care and mental health and addiction supports. Reasoning · 19 wordsA building without the necessary operating funding for deep core and support services is not a solution to homelessness. Positioning · 10 wordsThe housing minister would know this better than anyone else.Positioning Claims · 42 wordsHe promised to end homelessness in Vancouver when he was the mayor of Vancouver.⁹ Instead of delivering on that promise, homelessness grew under his watch.¹⁰ He blamed the federal and provincial governments for failing to provide the funding at the scale necessary. Procedure · 18 wordsSince the federal government is not stepping up with operating costs under budget 2026, my question is this: ProcedureThe question · 26 wordsHas the Minister of Housing secured the operating and wraparound funding from the provinces and territories to deliver on the Prime Minister’s promise to end homelessness? Reasoning · 9 wordsIf not, this will become just another broken promise. Claims · 57 wordsOn another metric, the government admitted that Canada failed to build enough non-profit housing. We need to build a million non-profit homes to make a dent in the housing crisis, yet the commitments under budget 2026 are not even one-quarter of that ambition, nowhere near the postwar housing program the Prime Minister promised during the election campaign. Procedure · 11 wordsI will say this. The budget is not all bad news.Procedure Claims · 20 wordsThe renewal funding for Reaching Home and the Canada housing benefit is good news and something I strongly advocated for.¹¹ Procedure · 6 wordsLet me turn to another issue.Procedure Claims · 122 wordsWhile the government finds billions for corporate tax breaks and military spending, the cupboards are bare when it comes to essential public services. There is no new investment in child care.¹² There is no increase to the Canada health transfer.¹³ The NDP called for an escalator of at least 6% to help the provinces and territories meet growing health care needs. Pharmacare is not even mentioned once in this 511-page budget.¹⁴ People cannot find family doctors. They wait months for treatment. They pay out of pocket for medication. Rather than strengthen the public services Canadians depend on, the government is allowing them to erode. Meanwhile, one in five federal dollars is going to military spending, rising to one in four by 2030.¹⁵ Positioning · 26 wordsCanadians deserve to know why there is so much money for weapons and war, but so little for the services that help people live with dignity.Positioning Claims · 26 wordsThis budget also lays out the groundwork for the privatization of Canada’s airports, with $37.6 million allocated to prepare for that process and the expected legislation.¹⁶ Positioning · 5 wordsCanadians should be very concerned.Positioning Claims · 37 wordsYVR is one of the best airports in the world. Privatization can mean higher costs for travellers, pressure to cut jobs and working conditions, and public assets being turned into opportunities for private investors to extract profits. Reasoning · 30 wordsOur airports are essential infrastructure. The Prime Minister does not have the mandate to privatize them. They should serve the public interest, not become another vehicle for private wealth accumulation. Procedure · 8 wordsThere is another glaring omission in this budget.Procedure Claims · 76 wordsThere is nothing meaningful to ask the wealthiest Canadians and largest corporations to pay their fair share. Canada’s 40 billionaires increased their collective wealth by $95 billion in 2024-25, a 20% increase, ¹⁷yet this budget offers no new wealth tax and no serious new revenue measures targeting those with the greatest ability to pay. The NDP has called for a wealth tax on very rich Canadians, and that could generate up to $40 billion a year.¹⁸ Procedure · 3 wordsThink about that.Procedure Reasoning · 78 wordsInstead of giving corporations a $36-billion annual mega deduction, we could be asking those who have accumulated extraordinary wealth to contribute more to the country that helped make that wealth possible. Public money should come with public interest conditions, good union jobs, Canadian investment, accountability and a fair return to Canadians. We should be investing in productive infrastructure, in public services and in things that make life better, not simply hoping that corporate tax breaks will trickle down. Procedure · 10 wordsOn climate, the government’s priorities are equally difficult to reconcile.Procedure Claims · 76 wordsThere is approximately $4 billion over 10 years for clean electricity, compared to $55 billion in public financing and investment for a pipeline.¹⁹ Bill C-39 attacks the environment and indigenous and labour rights. We cannot claim to be building a clean energy future while continuing to put enormous public resources behind fossil fuel infrastructure. The Prime Minister is driving up emissions, the same person who used to be the UN special envoy for climate and finance.²⁰ Reasoning · 22 wordsCanada needs investment in renewable energy, a modern electricity grid and a just transition that puts workers and communities at the centre. Claims · 18 wordsThe Prime Minister tells us that the masters of our destiny are those who will build Canada’s future, Positioning · 15 wordsbut the masters of our destinies in this budget are not Canadians and their families.Positioning Claims · 14 wordsThey are the CEOs, billionaire and investors invited to the Prime Minister’s investment summit. Positioning · 22 wordsBrookfield, BlackRock and the big banks will be happy, but Canadians deserve a budget that puts the affordability crisis for families first.Positioning Procedure · 10 wordsLastly, let me turn to immigration for a brief moment.Procedure Claims · 12 wordsThe government has committed to transitioning 100,000 temporary residents to permanent status, ²¹Positioning · 9 wordsand it is about time. That transition is welcome, PositioningPromise · 11 wordsand I hope it is only the first step in regularization. Claims · 63 wordsI also want to note that outside of the budget, there is a one-time addition to the levels plan of 100,000 PR spots, ²²which will include humanitarian applications for Hong Kong lifeboat people and Ukrainians.²³ I have stood with them to fight for this from day one, and this announcement shows what happens when impacted communities and allies come together to demand fairness. Positioning · 6 wordsThat is justice. That is fairness.Positioning