“The government keeps shutting down debate and rushing bills through. The measures in this bill are important, and we want to discuss them properly. Will the finance minister promise not to end our work early for the summer, so we have enough time to debate?”

“Mr. Speaker, regardless of the content of the bill, we know that today we are dealing with a government and a Minister of Finance for whom the democratic process is purely cosmetic. During the committee’s study on Driver Inc. truckers, we saw them shut down debate. We have seen them curtail the work of committees and impose in camera proceedings. As soon as they had their majority, their first move was to order an in camera meeting. The Minister of Finance tells us that this bill contains important measures. We agree. We are willing to debate them. We are willing to discuss them, even though the government is not giving us the chance to do so. The government will likely tell us that time is of the essence and that we will not have enough time to pass all these measures. Given that the government is forcing bills down our throats and cutting off debate in Parliament, will the Minister of Finance commit to ensuring that his party and his government will not adjourn the proceedings of the House of Commons before the June 18 deadline, so that we have all the time we need to debate the bills, since he seems to be in such a hurry?”

“The government is rushing to shut down debate. The House is scheduled to sit until June 18. I want the Minister of Finance to promise he will stay here and debate bills until that date, instead of travelling to Europe.”

“Mr. Speaker, my colleague, the Minister of Finance, cannot stand up and say how much he respects his colleagues and then not answer any of their questions. He cannot stand up and say that he respects the House of Commons and then avoid the questions. I asked a simple question, and I know that the minister is a smart man who is capable of understanding it. The government is shutting down debate, saying that they are in a hurry and that things need to move forward. According to the official schedule, the House of Commons is scheduled to sit until June 18. Since we are in a hurry, can the Minister of Finance guarantee that he will be here, sitting in his chair, debating bills until June 18? Can he guarantee that, a week or so before the House rises for the summer, he will not be travelling all over Europe and that he will be sitting here debating bills until the last day? That is the question.”

“The government claims to support workers, but it does not. The Liberals have promised employment insurance reform for ten years and have done nothing. They refused our bill to fix it, and they are not helping seasonal workers who lose their jobs.”

“Mr. Speaker, I would like to ask the Minister of Finance how he can boast about his support for workers. He mentioned seasonal workers. There are some in my riding. The Liberals have been promising EI reform for over 10 years now, but they have not proposed anything. We offered them a ready-made bill, but they did not take it up. They could have introduced it themselves if they had wanted to. This is a persistent problem in my riding. There is still no assistance to maintain the employment relationship with businesses that are forced to close. There are people back home who have lost their jobs and who are wondering about their future. The government denied them that support. We are talking about working conditions. I would add that this is happening just as the government is threatening gains related to the Canada Labour Code, so I wonder how the government can claim to be working for workers when it is doing exactly the opposite.”

“Canada needs 690,000 new homes, but the government's plan only builds 26,000. I want the finance minister to explain how this solves the housing crisis when it only covers a tiny part of the problem.”

“Mr. Speaker, the finance minister mentioned affordability. Let us talk about that. We are in the midst of a housing crisis. The Liberal government, which has been in office for a whopping 10 years, launched a national housing strategy in 2017 that never dealt with the crisis. Now, the government has come up with a new gimmick to lull us into complacency: Build Canada Homes. Build Canada Homes provides for the construction of 26,000 new housing units. How many are actually needed? According to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, we need 690,000, so either the government cannot do math or this is not a priority. I would like the finance minister to tell us whether he is really going to resolve the housing affordability crisis when he is addressing only 5% of the problem, if that.”

• Echo ×3

  A repeated line

  “We are in the midst of a housing crisis.”

  Said 3 times by 2 members since May 25.

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“The government is only allowing three hours of debate on this 34-page bill. That leaves about a minute and a half to talk about each part. I want the Minister of Finance to tell us if he really thinks that is enough debate for a democracy.”

“Mr. Speaker, I am going to ask the Minister of Finance a question. I know he will not answer it because he is an expert at avoiding questions. We are debating a bill that is 34 pages long and contains 52 clauses. The minister says he likes to debate. However, by limiting the entire debate to three hours, he is leaving us with three minutes and 27 seconds of debating time per clause in the bill. If we deduct the time the Liberals will take reading the notes written by the minister or the Prime Minister’s Office in order to toe the party line, that leaves roughly one minute and 30 seconds for members of Parliament to present their comments on the bill. I hope the minister is looking at me. Does Canada’s Minister of Finance believe, yes or no, that one minute and 30 seconds per clause of a budget bill represents a healthy debate in a democracy, when his government tells us that its generational role in history is to defend democracy?”

“The finance minister says he wants Canada to lead in innovation, but he is cutting millions of dollars from college research. I want him to explain how a country can lead in innovation while cutting funding for science.”

“Mr. Speaker, in the last budget and economic update, the Minister of Finance boasted about wanting to make Canada a global leader in innovation. However, in his last budget, he cut $40 million from the college and community innovation program. We reminded him of that and pointed out the inconsistency. The Liberals say they want to be leaders, but then they turn around and make cuts. The minister ended up reversing course in the economic update. He announced funding that basically reduces the cuts, but the program’s budget is still being cut by $5 million. I would like the Minister of Finance to answer the following question. Does he know of any country in the world that wants to excel in innovation but that is cutting its investments in science and research?”