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The Economy

Question period focused on the economy and the cost of living. Conservative members cited constituents struggling with housing, food, and rent costs and said government policies were not working, urging the government to adopt the Conservative plan of cutting taxes on building, faster permits, and more land for housing. Liberal members pointed to their housing plan, job growth, and foreign investment, and asked why Conservatives had voted against programs like child care and grocery support. Members also asked about turning last week’s investment summit commitments of nearly $500 billion into projects, and the Minister of Energy urged support for Bill C-5, which applies the major-projects approval approach to projects across Canada.Written by AI from the debate. Updated .

Official text

8 statements

Scot Davidson

Conservative
“Young people work hard and get an education, but they still cannot afford homes or stable lives. I blame the government for failing to build housing and lower the cost of living. The Prime Minister is wrong to claim life is affordable.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, Margaret Haddon from Bradford wrote me to say she raised her children believing that if they worked hard, stayed focused and pursued an education, they would be able to build stable and independent lives, but today she is watching that promise slip further out of reach for them. An entire generation is in this position because of the Liberals’ failure to get housing built and rein in the cost of living. How can the Prime Minister still think affordability is the best it has been in a decade when Canadians like Margaret are watching their children do everything right and still fall behind?

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Kody Blois

Liberal

Linked statement

“We have a plan to build affordable homes across Canada. The member needs to explain why he and his party voted against national child care and against money for groceries that helped millions of people.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, our message to Margaret and to individuals across this country would be that we have a concrete plan to build housing in this country. The Minister of Housing, through this government, has been working to build affordable units from the east coast of Canada all the way through to British Columbia. What I hope the member has the time to explain to Margaret is why, at every single turn, he and his party have voted against the affordability measures that matter for Margaret and the people she cares about in this country. He has voted against national child care. He has voted against the food and essentials rebate that we put out to 12 million Canadians. The member has voted against those measures at every single turn.

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Gérard Deltell

Conservative
“Food, rent, and travel costs are going up for families and seniors. The government's economic policies are failing. It should use the Conservative plan instead.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, at a charity event in L’Ancienne‑Lorette this past weekend, I met a senior couple named Pierre and Nicole, who told me about the day-to-day reality they and their adult children are facing. Food prices are going up; rent is going up; transportation costs are going up. That is the reality facing seniors and their adult children as they try to build a prosperous life for their families in Canada. Clearly, the Liberal policies are failing. Will this government face the fact that it should adopt the Conservative economic plan?

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Rachel Bendayan

Liberal
“We created programs to help Canadians, but the Conservatives voted against them. Our policies helped our economy grow faster than any other G7 country last quarter, and we brought in the most foreign investment.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, we introduced a number of programs to support Canadians. For some unknown reason, the Conservatives decided to vote against these measures. Now my colleague is talking about the Liberal government’s policies, the very policies that have led to the strongest economic growth in the G7 over the last quarter. Canada has also attracted the most foreign investment.

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Gérard Deltell

Conservative
“Liberal policies are not working, and hard-working people still cannot afford to buy a home. Conservatives want to cut taxes on building, speed up building permits, and make more land available. When will the government use our plan?”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, if the Liberals’ policies were as good as they claim, we would know it, but they are not working. There is a lot of talk, but no real results. Just ask Marie-Pierre, a young woman in her thirties who lives in Lebourgneuf, in my riding. She has a good education, has worked very hard and earns a good living, but she is unable to save enough money to buy a house. The Canadian dream of home ownership has evaporated under this Liberal government. We have a concrete plan to help families and help people buy homes: axe the tax on construction, incentivize municipalities to speed up permits and free up land. When will the Liberal government implement the Conservatives’ policies?

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Rachel Bendayan

Liberal
“Our economic plan is working. We have a plan to double home building, we are creating jobs faster than the United States, and we are bringing 500 billion dollars in foreign investment to Canada.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, my colleague is once again asking me about the concrete measures we have put in place. We have a plan to double housing construction here in Canada, and we are starting to see concrete results. We are creating jobs nearly three times faster than the United States. Just last week, investors from around the world came to Toronto, and that is $500 billion of investment that we are going to bring back into this country.

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Matt Jeneroux

Liberal
“Investors committed nearly $500 billion to Canada last week. I want the minister to explain how the government is cutting red tape so these projects can start.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have heard a clear message from investors. They are ready to invest in Canada. Last week’s investment summit generated nearly $500 billion in investment commitments. Now we need to turn those commitments into projects, jobs and economic growth. Could the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources tell the House how the government is working to reduce regulatory duplication, cut red tape and get shovels in the ground?

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Tim Hodgson

Liberal
“I want the opposition to vote for this bill. It takes what we learned from building major projects and applies it to all projects across Canada.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, I was speaking with my sister Sharon and my brother-in-law Jim, and I explained to them that when we passed Bill C-5, we would apply everything we learned from major projects to all projects in Canada. We would learn from the shovels in the ground at the Darlington nuclear project, from the shovels in the ground at the Montreal port and from the shovels in the ground at the north coast transmission line, and we would apply that to all projects in Canada. That is what Bill C-39 does. We really hope the members opposite will join with us and help us build Canada strong.

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