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Business of Supply

This was a Business of Supply debate taking place during consideration of the government’s recent economic update legislation. Conservatives pressed the Finance Minister on deficit spending, asking when the budget would be balanced, how many homes are being built, the costs of a planned sovereign wealth fund, and details of specific spending items such as a spaceport lease, while repeatedly saying the minister was not answering their questions. Liberals defended the government’s record, saying the economy is strong, the deficit is lower than expected, and housing prices and rents have come down. The Bloc Québécois asked about the exemption of American companies from the global minimum tax in Bill C-31 and about wage subsidies for workers affected by tariffs, and the NDP asked why the government is not taxing oil company excess profits or banning surveillance pricing. Some members also raised local matters such as support for regional media.Written by AI from the debate. Updated .

Official text

132 statements

Kyle Seeback

Conservative
“If electric cars are the future, why did the government give Ford $464 million to switch a factory back to making gas cars?”
Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, if electrification is the future, as he keeps saying, then why did he just give $464 million to Ford to convert its factory, which was going electric, back to an internal combustion engine factory?

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Kyle Seeback

Conservative
“Canadian car makers cannot switch from making mostly gas cars to only electric cars in eight and a half years. The minister promised not to let in cheap Chinese cars, but his government is letting 50,000 of them into Canada each year. Does he still stand by his promise?”
Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, so in eight and a half years, he is saying that Canadian auto manufacturers will go from producing 1.6% of their vehicles as fully electric to 100%. No, that is absolutely impossible. The minister said Canada “would never be a back door to cheap Chinese vehicles which are overly subsidized”. Does he still believe that, in light of his government letting in 50,000 Chinese vehicles into Canada every year?

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Kyle Seeback

Conservative
“The minister said Chinese electric car makers use unfair practices and break labour and environmental laws. Yet the government is letting 50,000 of these cars into Canada each year. I want the minister to explain why his actions do not match his words.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, the minister also warned that Chinese EV producers benefit from “unfair, non-market practices” and “don’t respect labour law and environmental laws”, and yet his government is letting in 50,000 Chinese electric vehicles every year. Were his words wrong then, or is his position wrong now?

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Kyle Seeback

Conservative
“If electric cars are the future, why did Honda just cancel its 15-billion-dollar electric vehicle plant under this government?”
Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, if electrification is the future, as he keeps saying, then why did Honda just cancel its $15-billion electric vehicle manufacturing plant under his government’s watch?

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Kyle Seeback

Conservative
“I want the minister to explain how Canadian car makers can switch from making almost no electric cars to making only electric cars in eight years.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, how will Canadian auto manufacturers go from producing 1.6% of their vehicles as full EVs to 100% to meet their EV target, zero-emission vehicle target, in eight years? Can the minister please explain exactly how that is going to happen?

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Kyle Seeback

Conservative
“I want the minister to answer my question. The government wants all new cars to be zero-emission in eight years. Right now, only 1.6% of the cars we make meet that goal. What is the plan to get to 100%?”
Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, what I am looking for is an actual answer tonight to a single question I have asked, which has not happened, so I will reiterate. There are eight short years to get to the government’s zero-emission vehicle mandate. We manufacture 1.6% of vehicles in Canada that will meet that mandate now. What is the plan, if the minister can lay it out now, for the Canadian auto sector to get from 1.6% to 100% in eight years?

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Garnett Genuis

Conservative
“The board that manages the Canada Pension Plan spends over $1.7 billion on costs and pays each employee an average of over half a million dollars. Will the new Canadian fund spend that much money on its costs and staff too?”
Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has operating expenses of over $1.7 billion. It has an average of over half a million dollars in compensation per employee. I wonder if the minister expects the so-called Canadian sovereign wealth fund to have similar operating costs and expenses.

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Garnett Genuis

Conservative
“I want to ask the minister about young people who cannot find work. Does the minister agree that this is a crisis in our country?”

  • Question or comment in debate

    Signal 35 of 100

    Much of this statement went to praise, blame, greetings, routine procedure or general stories rather than reasons, requests or specific points.

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Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, that obviously had nothing to do with the question, unfortunately. I now want to ask about youth unemployment. It is a deep concern of mine and for many Canadians. I wonder if the minister agrees that we are facing a youth unemployment crisis in the country.

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Garnett Genuis

Conservative
“I want the minister to tell us the current youth unemployment rate and say whether he thinks it is a crisis.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, of course, we are always concerned about this issue, but these are not normal times. I wonder if the minister can confirm that he knows what the rate of youth unemployment is right now in the country and whether he thinks we are in a youth unemployment crisis.

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Garnett Genuis

Conservative
“Youth unemployment is at 14.3%, which is very high. A committee report agreed to by all parties recommends cutting taxes and red tape to help young people find jobs. I want the minister to say if he agrees with this idea and if he will act on it.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, clearly the minister was not aware. The number is 14.3%, according to the latest StatsCan numbers. That is a very high youth unemployment rate, including against international peers. I am sorry that the minister is not willing to acknowledge tonight that we are facing a youth unemployment crisis. He should acknowledge that, and he should support the necessary actions to address it. In particular, in today’s human resources committee report, there is a recommendation endorsed by all parties to reduce taxes and red tape in order to address concerns about how the taxation and regulatory environment has limited productivity growth and held back youth unemployment. Does he agree with that all-party recommendation, and will he act on it?

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Garnett Genuis

Conservative
“The minister does not care about young people who cannot find work, and he has not answered any of my questions tonight. A committee of all parties recommended cutting taxes and rules to help youth employment. Does he agree with that recommendation, and will he follow it?”
Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, I am happy to be focused on the youth unemployment issue, but he is not focused on the youth unemployment issue. He did not even know the rate of youth unemployment in this country. He has not answered a single question for me. He has not answered a single question all night. Again, I want to ask if he agrees or disagrees with the recommendation, from the all-party report from the human resources committee, that the government reduce taxes and red tape in order to address concerns about how the taxation and regulatory environment has limited productivity growth and held back youth employment. Does he agree with that recommendation, and will he act on it?

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Garnett Genuis

Conservative
“I want an answer. Does the minister think the government's immigration rules have caused more young people to be out of work?”
Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, again, there were no answers. Does the minister believe that the immigration policies of the government have contributed to youth unemployment?

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More from sitting 122

All 46 items ·
  1. Government Orders Business of Supply 64 statements
  2. Government Orders Business of Supply 45 statements
  3. Oral Questions Indigenous Affairs 4 statements
  4. Oral Questions Taxation 4 statements
  5. Oral Questions The Economy 4 statements
  6. Oral Questions Justice 6 statements
  7. Oral Questions The Economy 16 statements
  8. Oral Questions The Environment 4 statements
  9. Oral Questions Finance 6 statements
  10. Oral Questions Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship 10 statements
  11. Oral Questions Public Safety 8 statements
  12. Oral Questions Women and Gender Equality 2 statements
  13. Oral Questions Indigenous Affairs 6 statements
  14. Oral Questions Natural Resources 2 statements
  15. Oral Questions Fisheries and Oceans 2 statements
  16. Oral Questions Labour 2 statements
  17. Oral Questions The Environment 2 statements
  18. Oral Questions Business of the House 2 statements
  19. Government Orders Government Orders 2 statements
  20. Oral Questions Taxation 4 statements
  21. Oral Questions Emergency Management 3 statements
  22. Government Orders Business of Supply 15 statements
  23. Government Orders Business of Supply 15 statements
  24. Government Orders Business of Supply 27 statements
  25. Private Members' Business An Act to repeal certain restrictions on shipping 12 statements
  26. Adjournment Proceedings Adjournment Proceedings 4 statements
  27. Government Orders Business of Supply 366 statements
  28. Adjournment Proceedings Adjournment Proceedings 4 statements