“World events beyond our control are raising prices. We cut taxes on fuel and gave money to help families with these costs. The Conservatives say they care about high prices, but they vote against our programs that help people buy food and feed school children.”

“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 done, and the members opposite know this very well, is suspend the excise tax on fuel. We cut the consumer carbon tax. Those combined are 28¢ per litre. That is saving families money. What is concerning to me is that Conservatives do not stand up to support the very measures that we put in place to help families out with the cost of living challenges that the member rightly points out. It is not as if the government is somehow blind to the fact that Canadians are experiencing challenges due to shocks in the economy and that the prices of almost all goods have been rising for quite some time, since the aftershocks of the global pandemic. There has been one shock after another. Again, we have offered the groceries and essentials benefit, which the members opposite did not support. They do not seem to want to put more money back in people’s pockets. We offered a middle-class tax cut for 22 million Canadians. We also offered the Conservatives the opportunity, multiple times in the House, to support a national school food program, which feeds 400,000 kids per year. When the member opposite is talking about food prices and is concerned about the cost of living, she has actually chosen not to support feeding 400,000 kids and not to take those kids out of food bank lineups. What is strange to me is that the hon. member can stand in the House and lecture Liberals. It seems a little bit hypocritical for the hon. member to say that she cares about people’s expenses and their cost of living challenges when she would not take 400,000 kids out of poverty. We offered a package of supports with the groceries and essentials benefit— An hon. member: You do realize how ridiculous you sound. Ryan Turnbull: 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— Some hon. members: Oh, oh!”

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  “We introduced the Canada groceries and essentials benefit.”

  Said 29 times by 19 members since April 23.

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“We are helping 12 million Canadians buy groceries by giving them up to $1,900. We are also spending money on greenhouses and supply chains, and we are making a plan for food security. At the same time, we cut government spending and lowered the deficit by $11 billion.”

“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 the strategic response fund geared toward supply chains in Canada. We are also developing a food security strategy. I have long advocated for the fact that the Government of Canada needs to have not only a national food policy, which we developed back in 2018, but an actual food security strategy for the country. It is great to see us having made that commitment. Consultations are under way. I know that this plan will provide benefits to Canadians in the future, so that is exciting. With all that said, we are also doing it well, managing the resources of the country in a responsible way. We have seen that the deficit, just in the spring economic update, is down by $11 billion. That is significant. We have brought operational spending back into check, with reducing day-to-day operational spending over the time horizon.”

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“The Conservatives say they want to help Canadians, but they vote against our programs that do. We have created school food programs, child benefits, and cheaper child care. We also temporarily lowered the fuel tax.”

“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 benefit, the national school food program and the Canada child benefit. There are so many supports the government has stepped up with. One that I am particularly fond of is the reductions in the cost of child care for families, which is saving families in my riding at least $1,200 a month. That is significant support, and the Conservatives voted against that. Here we are. We are at a moment where we have suspended the excise tax on fuel temporarily. We will evaluate at the end of Labour Day—”

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  “Such as the groceries and essentials benefit.”

  Said 5 times by 5 members since April 29.

  Every time it was said →