A bill to implement the government's Spring Economic Update. The debate mostly consisted of the Conservatives criticizing the bill for increasing deficits and not doing enough to support the oil and gas industry, while the Liberals defended the bill, saying it provides relief for low-income Canadians. The Bloc Québécois raised concerns about foreign control of Canadian banks. Some time was spent on personal anecdotes and tangents like the history of a hospital emergency room.
“I want to cheer for our health care system. It's a moral victory that Canadians aren't bankrupted by medical costs. We should keep teaching the world this lesson. I'm filling time with nice words.”
“Maybe if I say we need to talk, you won't notice I didn't promise to do anything. Ontario and Canada need to sit down and talk sometime. We'll see if I actually push for pharmacare later.”
“I want to look good by praising my political opponent. But I also want to push her to say whether she thinks the government is going slow on climate change. I'm using a doctors group to pressure her on that.”
“I talk about people struggling but I'm not really asking to help them. I'm just setting up a contrast. Then I say the government spends too much on many things. It should spend less and give people lower taxes instead. I want lower taxes and less spending. I don't think the government is transparent. I say some spending on sports is good but I don't care about the rest.”
“I don't understand that program but it sounds like it costs a lot. I think the government is hiding some of the cost because I want to make them look sneaky.”
“The government is using a fancy name to make their program sound good, but it's just more debt. The Prime Minister helped set up the same trick in England. He knows he's fudging the name.”
“The government should spend lots of money! That will make good things happen. The other parties are bad people because they don't want it. Why do they oppose progress?”
“The Liberals spend without restraint. They go further into debt year after year. The country's finances are not getting better. They gamble with taxpayers' money, and it is a mistake.”
“$12 billion a year is a lot of money to waste on vanity projects. Canadians are struggling. Does my colleague really think we should make life harder for Canadians just to score political points?”
“$300 billion is a lot of taxpayer money to spend competing with the private sector. Families won't use this train but they will be paying for it for generations. The government is hiding the true costs.”
“$300 million in taxpayer money wasted on PrescribeIT for almost nothing in return. A non-profit CEO paid nearly $900,000 a year while the program failed. The Liberals quietly shut it down and hoped no one would notice. No accountability for massive waste. That's the real result of Liberal spending.”
