“You're wrong about world uncertainty being the biggest problem. Our own Business Council of Canada blames Canada's domestic regulatory burden. It's government that's getting in the way of investment dollars. Do you agree with your own Business Council?”
What they said. What they meant.
Plain-language translations from the House of Commons.
Recent debates
8 latest topics
Spring Economic Update 2026 Implementation Act
57 statements
Spring Economic Update 2026 Implementation Act
19 statements
Arab Heritage Month Act
5 statements
The Economy
15 statements
Government Priorities
2 statements
Government Priorities
2 statements
Housing
12 statements
The Environment
2 statements
Government Orders
Business of Supply
A wide-ranging bill to implement the Spring 2026 Economic Update, touching on everything from tax deductions for tradespeople to aviation fuel taxes to beer excise duty rates. In 5 hours of debate, MPs mostly grilled the Finance Minister on unrelated topics like ride-sharing regulation, StatsCan data collection, and election promises from 2015. Some substantive questions were asked about domestic investment levels and the bill's housing provisions, but mostly talk went in circles without many direct answers.
“I want the minister to admit we need private investment so I can say the government's policies are bad for it.”
“You say investment is up, so tell me: how long did it take you to build TMX? Did your 'conditions' take too long?”
“TMX was slow and expensive. I want you to admit that $28 billion is a lot of taxpayer dollars to spend on a pipeline that isn't even new.”
“You wasted public money and time on TMX. Now your new pipeline plan is just as slow. You don't get things done.”
“Have investments in Canada's resource sector gone up or down since 2015? I want the minister to give a clear answer.”
“I want the minister to admit Shell didn't really invest in Canada.”
“You're praising Canada's investment but I want to change the subject to approval delays.”
“I want to regulate more. The government should have more power.”
“You think CEOs like us, but they're really investing in the U.S. and Mexico. Our Impact Assessment Act is probably why.”
“I'm saying the last industry minister failed because a trillion dollars left Canada on his watch. Now the Prime Minister wants a trillion dollars back but that's just damage control, not ambition. Does the minister admit he's just trying to fix his old failures?”
“The minister won't answer my question. He keeps saying Canada's foreign direct investment numbers are good. He should tell us how much of that investment was really just foreign firms buying Canadian firms.”
“You won't answer the question so I will. A merger doesn't create new jobs or factories. It's not real investment. Why won't you admit that?”
“You're talking down to everyone and ignoring that 'investment' really means foreign takeovers. Admit that buying Canadian companies moves IP and profits out of Canada. The minister is cheering this on even though it won't create jobs. Why are you celebrating the hollowing out of our economy?”
“You know the real measure of our economy's health is domestic investment per worker, and you know that's down. Stop pretending you don't know.”
“Canada's economy is shrinking, not growing. Business investment is falling and projected to barely grow. You should do more to encourage domestic investment.”
“We don't have budget surpluses like Norway to start a sovereign wealth fund. So where will you get the $25 billion to start this?”
“You didn't answer me. Canada's fund comes from borrowing $25 billion. Norway's fund comes from surpluses. How can Canada get good returns without investing worldwide like Norway does?”
“You didn't answer my real question. I asked about diverse investments, not page numbers. Norway keeps their investments out of politics. But you want us to invest inside Canada only, and now you're picking favourites with the money. How can you say the fund will be independent when you're the one choosing?”
“You say the fund is independent. But then you say 'we' will make it invest in the national interest. 'We' will pick the projects. That's not independent. That's political influence. Norway's fund has zero political influence. This one will have tons. You told Canadians this is a normal sovereign wealth fund. But it's not. Why did you mislead people?”