Official Hansard
Madam Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to participate in today’s debate and to set the record straight in response to the opposition’s frequent attempts to talk down the Canadian economy, Canadian industries and Canadian workers. Before I launch into my speech, I want to take a moment to thank the member from northern Saskatchewan on this side of the House, who is, by far, the best representative for that province sitting in the House of Commons. He has advocated to ensure that Saskatchewan can supply uranium for the nuclear energy that India needs, and he has also advocated for our canola producers to ensure that we unlocked access to the Chinese market for them again. He has done an incredible job since he has joined the House, and members opposite should be ashamed for talking him down like they do the Canadian economy every single day. While the members opposite seem to wake up every morning hoping for bad news in this country, on this side of the House, we wake up every day and get to work for Canadians. We know that Canada did not create the tariff and trade disputes that have knocked the global economy off its moorings. On this side, we also know that Canada did not create the war in the Middle East. It seems obvious to say this in the House of Commons, but sometimes the obvious avoids the minds of the Conservatives for some reason. Energy prices have pushed higher as a result of the war in the Middle East, which are, again, beyond our control. Increased market volatility and geopolitical instability are fracturing supply chains and weighing on the global outlook across the world economy. Neither our economy nor any economy can escape the impact of these unfortunate developments. We cannot control everything that happens abroad, but we do control what we do here at home. That is exactly what we are focused on. We are focused on what we can control. Ascribing responsibility for the impact of world-shaking developments onto the government of Canada is like seeing a bride dance with her father and concluding that the two are getting married. In short, it involves ignoring the full range of facts relevant to the analysis, which the Conservatives always seem to leave out, and jumping to the wrong conclusions. That would be no way to run a country. The origins of the challenges being faced by Canadians and their government are beyond our borders. Countries around the world are being hit, and in some cases, they are being hit extremely hard. Let us take, for example, some things that we know. The Canadian economy is highly integrated with our southern neighbour’s, making us even more susceptible to the impacts of the trade relationship that has often been one that we have relied upon. That is why the most trade-exposed industries, such as automotive, steel, aluminum, etc., are where the job losses are the most concentrated, but we also see half the sectors in our economy growing. Those that are less exposed to trade are expanding. Despite the challenges we see in the Canadian economy, with some of our industries being impacted by trade and tariffs and others growing at a time of crisis, the IMF still says that Canada has the strongest fiscal position in the G7 and expects Canada to record the second-strongest growth in the G7 this year and the following year. The IMF believes, as we do, that the Canadian economy remains resilient, with ongoing growth in household spending and business investment. We have seen consumer spending rise by 1.5% over the last quarter, and it is up nearly 2% year over year. We we have also seen business investment in new equipment, machinery and IP protection grow by over 10% this year, but Conservatives conveniently ignore this fact. It is a direct result of the productivity superdeductions and immediate expensing measures that we put in budget 2025, which are focused in those areas to help businesses make those capital investments at a time of global uncertainty. This may be bad news for the Conservatives, but it is good news for Canadians. The Conservatives like to paint a picture of doom and gloom because it suits their narrative, their social media clips and their fundraising emails. All of that seems to be the only thing they care about when they are speaking in the House. They ignore that our per capita GDP is rising. In quarter one, GDP per capita grew by almost 1% at 0.9%. The Conservatives stood up in the House, and I cannot remember, but it must have been for five years, talking about GDP per capita as being the core measure of the strength of our economy. They went on and on about it, and today they do not give a hoot about GDP per capita. It rose by almost 1%, and we do not hear Conservatives say anything about it, not one word, despite having advocated for GDP per capita to be the core measure of the strength of our economy for over five years in the House. They look past the fact that foreign direct investment is at a nearly two-decade high and is running at twice the rate of our nearest G7 peer. They also conveniently ignore the fact that credit arrears and insolvencies remain broadly in line with historical averages. We just did a study on this at the finance committee, where our government and the members on our side all supported the Conservative motion to study household debt. What we saw was that household debt is at historical averages after being at a pandemic low. What is really interesting about household debt in Canada is that Canadians have five times the wealth compared to the debt they have on average. They have five times the wealth. This is a significant stat that, obviously, the Conservatives would like to ignore, because it is not convenient for them to admit. They conveniently gloss over the fact that non-U.S. exports are on track to double over the next decade, up 36% with 20 new trade and security agreements having been signed in just over one year. Their petty partisan slogans conveniently ignore the fact that wages have outpaced inflation every month that the government has been in office. In fact, wages have outpaced inflation and have been double the rate of inflation in the most recent statistics. The Conservatives, again, have sat in the House for years and years. I am looking at two members who are relatively new, so they would not have an institutional memory of this, but Conservatives sat here and told us that wages needed to rise and that people needed stronger incomes and reduced taxes. This is exactly what the government has done. We have achieved wages growing higher than the pace of inflation every year that the government has been in the House. The Conservatives would rather ignore the fact that Canada now ranks as the most attractive country in the world for infrastructure investment. To top it off, Canada has added more jobs per capita than the United States has. In fact, we have added double the number of jobs the United States has. Let me also say that our biggest bank, our biggest pension plan, even the central bank governor, the governor of the Bank of Canada, have all come to the finance committee and said that Canada is attracting global investors at a rate they have never seen before. I know that is not convenient for the Conservative narrative that they love to perpetuate, which is that Canada is broken. They are simply choosing to ignore Canadian ingenuity, Canadian hard work, Canadian resilience and that grit of the Canadian people to grow, despite the challenges we face. It is not true. It is just not true. The truth needs to be spoken in the House. The resilience is rooted in the fact that our government has taken action to support Canadians through these challenges by building a stronger economy at home, protecting Canadian jobs and sectors, diversifying our trading relationships, making life more affordable for Canadians, attracting investment and boosting productivity. We know, for example, that as a result of the ongoing global instability, Canadians are facing challenges in managing the cost of living, and they are facing them right now. This means that, while our plan to build the strongest economy in the G7 takes effect, affordability pressures, especially those related to food and essentials, demand immediate support for Canadians, so that is why we are stepping up. The Canada groceries and essentials benefit, for example, will help Canadian families by building on the former GST credit. The amount is increasing by 25% for five years as of July. In addition to that, it will provide a one-time payment, to be issued this Friday, June 5, which is equivalent to a 50% increase in the 2025-26 annual value of the GST credit. Combined, this means that a family of four will receive up to $1,890 this year and about $1,400 a year for the next four years. A single person will receive up to $950 this year and about $700 a year for the next four years. That is literally making life more affordable for millions upon millions of Canadians. In fact, the new Canada groceries and essentials benefit will provide additional significant support for more than 12 million Canadians. That is a significant number. The Conservatives fail to recognize that we are stepping up to provide these supports. They would call the tax measures and programs that we offer “garbage”. They do not seem to want to help Canadians at all. While we are reining in government spending on operations, we are also investing in the Canadian economy and offering federal benefits, supports and tax measures to help Canadians. Not only are we putting more money in the pockets of those who need it most, but we are also leaving more money in their pockets with our middle-class tax cut. By lowering the first marginal personal income tax rate from 15% to 14%, since July 1, 2025, we are saving two-income families up to $840 this year. That measure is for 22 million Canadians. The first measure, as I mentioned, is for 12 million Canadians. This tax cut is for 22 million Canadians. That is over half the Canadian population. It is a significant number of people who are going to benefit from that income tax cut. This rate reduction is providing meaningful relief to middle-class Canadians during the current period of economic uncertainty. What is more, the bulk of the relief will go to the incomes in the two lowest tax brackets. This is a commitment that we have always had, one that I know the Conservatives do not share, which is to help the people who need it the most. That is a core Liberal value. It is a core value on this side of the House. I know the Conservatives have always just supported tax cuts for the rich, but at least we understand the challenges that Canadians face. We are stepping up to help the people who need it the most. We know that no one is more important to consider through the lens of economic security than our kids. I have three young girls at home, and I would bend the space-time continuum to ensure their health, safety and prosperity and to ensure that their lives are protected and that they live the fullest lives possible. I am sure every parent would say that about their kids. That is why we made the investment in a national school food program permanent, which Conservatives have, on the other side, called “garbage”. They have misinformed Canadians, despite the fact that I have seen the programs deliver food to schools and to kids in classrooms. I have actually participated in that program, and I have seen the good that the program does across my region and Durham region. Conservatives have said that there is no food in the food program. They have said that multiple times. They have tried to misinform people about feeding hungry children. They have actually voted against feeding over 400,000 more hungry children in the country, while standing up in the House every day and claiming that they are with the people, that they support families, that we need to do more to support people who are food insecure. What a crock. I have never heard a bigger crock of nonsense in my whole life than the Conservatives feigning and faking that they somehow care more than we do about Canadian families and kids who are in food bank lineups. We are the ones stepping up to support them with a billion dollars over five years, as well as having made that program permanent. That was an ask from Food Secure Canada and the Coalition for Healthy School Food, which has been around for decades. Our government is delivering the investments needed in that program to make sure kids are fed all across the country. I could not be prouder of that measure. On the home front, we are boosting housing supply across Canada through the improving housing supply act, which means that $1.7 billion would go to provinces and territories to remove barriers and accelerate homebuilding, such as through reducing development fees and levies on new home construction. To help Canadians buy their first home, we introduced the first-time homebuyers GST rebate. With this rebate, we have effectively eliminated GST for first-time homebuyers on new homes up to $1 million and reduced GST for first-time homebuyers on new homes between $1 million and $1.5 million. That tax cut for homebuyers will save Canadians up to $50,000, allowing more young people and families to enter the housing market and making the goal of home ownership a reality for more Canadians. In my home province of Ontario, the agreement that we signed with Ontario will effectively achieve a 13% reduction of the HST charged on a new home purchase. That is up to $130,000 off a $1-million home, and then with a 50% reduction in development charges, that is significant support. It is up to $200,000 in savings. One cannot argue with that. If we want to increase housing supply, deal with affordability in the housing market and help our young people, as Conservatives often say in this House they do, we have to support those measures. Those measures are making an impact. We have already seen and heard anecdotal evidence from our development industry. To further make life more affordable for Canadians, we are also reducing fuel prices and the pressure on Canadians at the pump by suspending the full amount of the federal fuel excise tax on gasoline, diesel fuel and aviation fuels until Labour Day, September 7, 2026. This is expected to reduce price pressure at the pump and lower Canadians’ bills at the gas station, with an expected savings of up to $5.75 on gasoline when filling up a 50-litre tank of fuel. All told, it is estimated this will provide over $2.4 billion in total tax relief in 2026, intended, obviously, to continue to ease the pressure on families. This builds on one of the very first actions we took as a government, which was to lower costs at the pump in provinces and territories, having suspended the divisive consumer carbon tax. I could go on, but maybe I will just say that we have also supported Canadians with child care, dental care and the Canada child benefit. I know that families in my riding are saving a lot of money by having access to dental care and child care. The average family in my riding will pay about $1,800 per child per month for child care. After we introduced our program, those fees went down by 50%. They have gone down even further. Families are paying about $410 per month right now. Let us just think about how much savings that is on a monthly basis. Families are saving $1,400 a month in my riding of Whitby. That is significant support for families that have young children. We have also preserved all the federal benefits that Canadians rely on. We have cut taxes. We have not raised one single tax. We have saved over $60 billion, over the next five years, by finding savings within government operations. That is significant. I was at the OECD last week. I had the chance to present on a panel on public finances with Greece, Argentina, Portugal, the U.K. and Ireland, and I can say that our peers across the world look at Canada and envy the fiscal position and the responsibility we have shown in relation to stewarding public finances in this country. I know Conservatives do not believe that, and that is fine. They are often out of touch with reality, and we see more displays of that in this House every single day. These are just a few examples that I have covered in this speech of how we are bringing down costs for Canadians. The bottom line is that to support Canadians through the current global energy market disruptions, our government is delivering timely, tangible, fiscally sustainable and targeted relief for Canadians at a time when they need it, and we are doing so across a wide range of fronts. Today’s motion, by failing to account for the most prominent causes of the economic pressures that Canadians are struggling with, presents an incomplete and therefore faulty analysis. The bride is not actually marrying her father, and Canada is not doing as poorly, in comparison to the rest of the world, as this motion would suggest. As the famous American philosopher and pragmatist William James rightly concluded, “Pessimism leads to weakness. Optimism leads to power.” We choose optimism and power. That is what building Canada strong means, and we urge this House to reject today’s motion accordingly.
