Anthony Housefather · TranslatePolitics.ca

Government Orders

Business of Supply

2026-04-30

“Our Prime Minister is so wise to create this big new fund for the government to control all the way into the 2030s, 2040s, and 2050s.”

“I want to correct two things. First, the point isn't that these projects are too risky. The point is that if the government puts money in, it will attract other investors to put their money in too. Second, I would invest my own money, but I'm not allowed. My money is in a blind trust and I can't touch it.”

“Canada needs to borrow money to build big projects. It's not new. Yes there should be fiscal prudence, but we have the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7. We need to build projects for the country's long-term benefit. And individual Canadians can invest their own money in the projects too.”

“We should cheer because the government is spending a lot of money. We will spend $25 billion on a new fund. The government will put taxpayer money into some companies and not others. Then the government will take credit for any good result. You can give the government your money to invest too. This is all very exciting. I want Canadians to get excited about all the money we are spending. I want Canadians to feel good about our spending in an uncertain world.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands. It is a pleasure to participate in today's debate on the government's plan to build a stronger, more independent and more resilient Canada for all. It is a plan that builds more affordable homes. It is a plan that builds major infrastructure. It is a plan that will help transform our economy. It is also a plan that will bring down costs to help Canadians get ahead. With the spring economic update announced earlier this week, we are providing a clear and transparent account of how Canada's economy is performing in an increasingly uncertain world. We believe this transparency is critical to help businesses seize new opportunities and give families the confidence to plan for their future. Central to this plan is an announcement made earlier this week by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance that we are launching Canada's first sovereign wealth fund, the Canada Strong fund. Through an initial federal contribution of $25 billion over three years, the fund will strategically invest, alongside the private sector, in Canadian projects and companies driving our economic transformation. This includes projects in clean and conventional energy, critical minerals, agriculture and infrastructure. The returns will be reinvested to grow the Canada Strong fund, strengthening its capacity over time. As the fund grows, it will direct capital towards investments with the highest potential return for Canada and Canadians. To ensure that Canadians have the option to invest in the growth of our nation and share in returns, the government will launch a retail investment product. This will give Canadians a direct stake in our nation's long-term prosperity and help build long-term national wealth. The federal government will be holding consultations in the coming months on the specifics of this new initiative. Further details about the fund will be provided in the coming months. Canadian companies and investors are coming forward to build Canada's future, and investors from all around the world are choosing to invest in that future. The transformative projects and companies they will help build will create a stronger, more independent and more resilient economy for all Canadians. The Canada Strong fund takes that one step further, making sure that all Canadians are the beneficiaries of the financial results that these projects will generate. That, quite simply, is a vote of confidence in Canadian entrepreneurs, Canadian businesses and Canadian workers, because on this side of the House we know that despite the tremendous economic headwinds we are facing, the Canadian economy is uniquely positioned to grow and thrive in the 21st century. The private sector knows this; the international community knows this, as evidenced by the fact that foreign direct investment just reached a 20-year high; and Canadians know it, which is why they are so excited to invest in our future shared prosperity via this fund. We are doing this because we know that the geopolitical and economic changes we are witnessing are sudden and unprecedented. As the spring economic update outlines: The global economy is more than a year into a profound rupture. Economic security, industrial policy, and geopolitical competition are increasingly shaping investment, trade, and financial decisions. The recent conflict in the Middle East—which has disrupted key shipping routes and damaged energy infrastructure—has pushed energy prices higher, underscoring the fragility of global supply chains, and adding to the already elevated uncertainty. Despite this environment, Canada's economy continued to expand, growing by 1.7 per cent in 2025. The economy avoided a recession and domestic activity remained solid, even as tariff increases [from the United States] and trade tensions weighed on activity. North American supply chains [were more resilient] than expected, with...(CUSMA) protecting approximately 85 per cent of Canadian goods exports from recent U.S. measures. That is not to say that, for the 15% that are not protected, there is not significant uncertainty that we need to work together to deal with. The update continues: Businesses and workers have shown remarkable resilience in the face of [significant] uncertainty. Business sentiment has recovered and firms are diversifying suppliers and markets. Canada also continues to attract significant global capital—leading the G7 in per capita direct investment inflows— and the Statistics Canada survey of planned capital expenditures for 2026 indicates that businesses plan to step up capital spending this year. Reflecting this adaptability, the International Monetary Fund...expects Canada to post the second-fastest growth in the G7 over 2026 and 2027. Labour market conditions have remained resilient. Since the start of 2025, Canada has added nearly three times as many jobs per capita.... The majority of those jobs have been in the private sector.... Wage growth has now outpaced inflation for more than three consecutive years, supporting continued gains in real incomes. From a fiscal perspective, economic resilience, bolstered by government policies to respond to immediate challenges through temporary supports, is delivering an $11.5 billion improvement in the projected 2025-26 budgetary balance.... This strength carries into future years, improving the budgetary balance, relative to budget 2025, by an average of $10.7 billion per year from 2026-27 to 2029-30 before new measures. [This fiscal room allows the government] to improve affordability and raise Canadians' standard of living through targeted and responsible policy measures, particularly in the areas of fuel, food, and housing affordability. The move to invest more in Canadians started with budget 2025. According to the spring economic update: Budget 2025 marked a strategic shift in the government's management of public finances, focused on expanding federal capital spending to mobilise investment, while maintaining fiscal responsibility. With significant investments to support infrastructure, innovation, and the development of domestic industrial capabilities, Budget 2025 set out a clear plan to build the strongest economy in the G7. This fiscal plan remains rooted in fiscal responsibility—not for its own sake, but to create the capacity to invest in long-term economic strength and greater self-reliance. Consistent with this approach, decisions in the Spring Economic Update are guided by the government's two fiscal anchors: balancing operating spending with revenues by 2028-29 and maintaining a declining deficit-to-GDP ratio. This is good news for Canadians, even if it is bad news for my Conservative colleagues. I think we need to talk Canada up. We need to boost our economy. We will continue to move our plan forward. These are serious times, and in a world of geopolitical instability, governments need to rethink how they respond to headwinds and build resilience for the future. Standing still is not an option, as inaction and underinvestment can carry significant costs, including slower growth, diminished competitiveness and weaker security. Thankfully: Canada starts from a position of strength to turn this moment of global uncertainty into one of national opportunity. Canada's net debt-to-GDP ratio stands at just 10.2 per cent, compared to the G7 average.... Canada's net debt burden today is lower than that of any other G7 country, and is even below the levels of those countries prior to the pandemic. Canada also has one of the smallest deficits in the G7 as a share of the economy. This fiscal advantage gives the government the capacity—and the responsibility—to act to build a stronger economy to make life more affordable, to create high-paying jobs, to take care of each other and to determine our future. Canada's fiscal position also stands out among 30 other advanced economies, with a below-average deficit-to-GDP ratio and one of the lowest net debt-to-GDP ratios in the group. Canada is also one of the only two G7 economies, alongside Germany, to maintain AAA ratings from major global credit rating agencies. These AAA ratings support investor confidence and help keep borrowing costs as low as possible. As I indicated before: In [an] uncertain world, the government's focus on what [we] can control—delivering lasting economic benefits for Canadians who are reinforcing fiscal discipline—will help ensure Canada maintains this fiscal advantage going forward. With the spring economic update, the government showed that Canada's fiscal strength remains strong while we continue to invest for Canadians where it counts, building Canada's prosperity today and for the next generation. The Canada Strong fund is a key pillar of that plan. We are catalyzing a series of nation-building projects in energy, trade, critical minerals, transport, data and beyond, projects that will make Canada stronger, more resilient and more independent. Through the Canada Strong fund, all Canadians will have the opportunity to share directly in the benefits. This is their country. This is their future. This is our country. This is our future. We need to build it together, and I would encourage all my colleagues to support the Canada Strong fund.

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“I want to cheer for Canada's performance. I don't like that you ignore some statistics but use others. I think that's a contradiction.”

“You talked down our new fund. But other countries have similar funds. Those funds worked well in other countries. Why do you think this fund will be unsuccessful? I want you to explain why you don't like it.”

“I want to change the subject. I want you to think about election results instead. I want you to feel good about my party winning.”

Adjournment Proceedings

2026-04-23

“We eliminated the carbon tax you asked for. We're building projects everywhere. We're doing many things. We always listen. Our budget will give young people opportunity. Let's keep doing that.”

“I'm filling time with kind words and not saying anything anyone could pin down later. I think the government should spend money to fix this. I want to cheer for a program that spends money in my riding. If I talk a lot maybe it will make me look good.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, I do not share the pessimistic outlook of my colleague on this issue or others. I do believe that we want to make sure every young person in this country has the chance to find gainful employment, because young people are the drivers of Canada's future economic growth, and everybody has a right to live in this country with opportunities. I want to talk about some of the opportunities that we are providing right now. For example, a career often starts with a summer job. Since 2019, the Canada summer jobs program has helped more than 600,000 young people find a summer job. Over 75,000 of those jobs were created last year, and up to 100,000 opportunities will be available for young people this summer. All told, we are supporting over 175,000 opportunities for youth and students this year under the student work placement program and the youth employment and skills strategy, which includes Canada summer jobs. We need to make sure we support young people getting into our skilled trades. I was the parliamentary secretary for labour a few years ago, and one of the most important things we all know is that we need to build more homes and build more transmission lines to power AI. We will be building ports, rail and pipelines to move critical minerals. We cannot do that if we do not have electricians, carpenters, plumbers and bricklayers. We also need millwrights and many more tradespeople, and we need them right now. This is where an enormous opportunity lies for many young Canadians. We are investing nearly $1 billion annually in apprenticeship support through loans, tax credits, employment insurance benefits during in-school training, project funding and support for the Red Seal Program. In November, when we presented budget 2025, we updated the government's plan to make a generational investment in young Canadians, prepare them for good jobs and renew Canada's workforce. To train the newest generation of Canadian builders, budget 2025 expanded the union training and innovation program with $75 million over three years. This will boost union-based apprenticeship training in the Red Seal trades and make sure there are Canadian workers to help build major infrastructure and millions more homes across the country. Since 2017, the union training and innovation program has invested $278 million to modernize training equipment, strengthen union training centres across the country and support skilled trades training opportunities for more than 173,800 individuals. This is a critical time, but Canadians are meeting this moment with strength and conviction, and the Government of Canada is looking right now to help Canadians unlock Canada's economic potential. Through 2033, over eight million jobs will become available in Canada, and we are taking action to make sure that people get these jobs and that young people are prepared to meet the demand.

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“Farmers are very important. We should spend money on them. We'll work with you and think about your ideas.”

“I want Canadians to know our government is working hard and spending a lot of money to make life more affordable. We cut some taxes and gave people some money for groceries.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, it is always a pleasure to hear from my colleague. The agricultural sector is an incredibly important sector in Canada. I think the minister had explained in that answer why that decision was made. I am pleased to hear, in terms of the five priorities he outlined, that the consumer carbon tax was eliminated as one of the very first acts of this government. As we know, the global economy is more than a year into a profound rupture, with economic security, industrial policy and geopolitical competition increasingly shaping economic, financial and supply chain decisions. In addition, heightened geopolitical tensions, including recent events in the Middle East that disrupted global energy markets and shipping routes, have further underscored the fragility of global supply chains and are now contributing to elevated uncertainty. We, as a government, have been relentlessly focused on bringing down costs for Canadians, because when Canadians keep more of the money they earn, they can better support their families, invest in their communities and build the future they want. Of course, that includes Canadians in all industries, including the agricultural one. Since July 1, 2025, Canadians have been paying less tax, after the government announced lowering the first marginal personal income tax rate from 15% to 14%. We, as a House and Senate, adopted that as our very first law. The rate reduction applies to taxable incomes of up to $58,523 in 2026. This change ensures that nearly 22 million Canadians benefit from tax relief of up to $420 per person, saving two-income families up to $840 this year. Notably, most of the tax relief will go to Canadians with incomes in the two lowest tax brackets. Canada's new government is also using the improvement in the fiscal outlook associated with higher oil prices to provide targeted relief to households and businesses. Specifically, we are reducing pressure on fuel prices at the pump by suspending the application of the federal fuel excise tax on gasoline and diesel, effective April 20, until August 31, 2026, delivering over $2.2 billion in relief. The temporary suspension of the excise tax for gasoline and diesel is expected to save Canadians up to an estimated $5.75 on regular gasoline and up to $2.30 on diesel when filling up a typical 50-litre tank of fuel. To make everyday essentials like groceries more affordable, we introduced the Canada groceries and essentials benefit, which builds on the GST credit and will provide additional support for more than 12 million Canadians. We are providing a one-time payment equivalent to a 50% increase in the 2025-26 value of the GST credit, which will be delivered on June 5, and we are increasing the benefit by 25% for five years, beginning in July 2026. We are also setting aside $500 million from the strategic response fund to help businesses address the cost of supply chain disruptions without passing those costs on to Canadians at the checkout line. We are creating a $150-million food security fund under the existing regional tariff response initiative for small and medium-sized enterprises and the organizations that support them.

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Government Orders

Government Business No. 9—Changes to Standing Orders

2026-04-23

“I want to give the Bloc half of what they want so they'll vote for my government's larger plan.”

“I'm fishing for historical gotchas. Has my party ever let an opposition party chair some committees before? I want to imply that the current situation is unfair.”