Official Hansard
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to address our Conservative motion calling on this House to recognize that Canada is in an affordability crisis. For workers whose paycheques are barely covering their monthly expenses, families worrying about whether they will be able to provide nutritious food for their kids or even put them in extracurricular activities, low-income seniors whose pensions are dwindling by the day and young people who cannot even dream of ever owning a home, let alone starting a family, this affordability crisis is clear to them. However, unfortunately, to the Liberal government, it seems unclear. For 11 years, the Liberals have been in power, controlling the levers of government spending and implementing policies that have negatively impacted the economy and social fabric of this nation, yet there is always someone or something else to blame but themselves. True leadership means taking responsibility, not passing the buck. After 11 years, the bank is dry. There are no more bucks to be passed. Canadians are living through it every day at the grocery store. “Canada’s Food Price Report 2026“ estimated that a family of four would spend an average of $17,500 on food. That is up nearly $1,000 from the year before. One-quarter of Canadian households are food insecure. That is 2.75 million households, or nearly 10 million people. In Canada, a G7 country, that is a shocking number. In Red Deer, the food bank distributed more than 1.6 million pounds of food in 2025 and helped more than 30,500 families across the region. MNP’s latest consumer debt index found that 54% of Canadians say they “do not have enough savings to support themselves or their family for six months” if they were to lose their job, and 44% of Canadians report “being $200 or less away from financial insolvency each month.” These are not just numbers in reports. There are real Canadians and real people behind these unfortunate statistics, and things are not getting better. Let us talk about housing. Habitat for Humanity reported that 56% of Canadian non-homeowners do not expect to ever own a home. That is the highest number among the 22 countries surveyed. The Liberals have spent 11 years announcing housing plans, but their own agencies keep confirming that nothing is getting built. For young people in Canada, it is even worse. Almost two-thirds are saying housing costs are making it difficult to start a family. The family unit is the backbone of a cohesive and flourishing society. No matter what kind of NGO or special interest group tries to change that, it will always be true. When families are not treated as the base formation of our society pyramid, everything begins to crumble. As more and more young Canadians are struggling to start a family, our social fabric unravels. Canada is then stuck in a feedback loop of endless waves of unaffordability, unemployment and immigration. Rinse and repeat. Affordability, taxes and the cost of living are some of the primary determinants of how many Canadians start a family. It is incumbent on the government to make life more affordable, not less. How does the government make money? Of course, there is no such thing as government money. The answer is taxes. The government collects taxes from Canadians and in turn provides services and protection. That is the basis of the social contract, but the social contract that Canadians are obligated to agree to has been ripped up by the Liberals. Their services are not serving and Canadians do not feel safe. Why is that? Why, after over a decade of the Liberal government, has Canada gone from being the envy of the world to having that reputation reversed? Of course, as Carville famously said, “It’s the economy”. For over a decade, the Liberal government has blocked, stalled, delayed and denied nation-building, enriching and unifying projects. Liberal politics of division and pitting one region against another to score political points have sacrificed Canadian unity and economic prosperity for election results. Canada should have some of the most affordable energy on the planet. We have the resources, we have the workers and we have the know-how. Recently, the Liberals found something else to blame: foreign wars. Here is the truth. Foreign wars and conflicts outside of our borders should not dictate whether Canada could be a self-sustaining energy superpower. It should already have been done. Record fuel costs did not magically appear. They are a result of a government that treats the Canadian energy and natural resource industry as a problem to be managed rather than the advantage it is. The Conservatives would provide emergency prepermitting and tax relief for the construction of refineries, pipelines, rail and storage; eliminate all federal taxes on diesel consumption until at least Canada Day 2027; permanently eliminate taxes on diesel production; and increase production to one million barrels per day so that Canadians are never again dependent on foreign oil. Speaking of buying foreign products, how about buying Canadian? Just yesterday at the health committee, the Liberals made a decision to decimate another Canadian industry. It was the quiet killing of small businesses in a sector millions of Canadians rely on every day. I am speaking of the natural health products industry. For decades, NHPs like vitamins, minerals, probiotics, herbal remedies and traditional Chinese medicines have been regulated and approved by Health Canada. The system worked as intended and the natural health products industry thrived across Canada. It was thriving so much that 80% of Canadians use NHPs. Canadian-owned small businesses like health food stores were growing and thriving. However, in 2023, the Liberal government decided to seize more bureaucratic power and regulate natural health products in the same way as therapeutic drugs manufactured by big pharma and multinationals. That meant more regulations for small businesses, including new labelling, new fees and new penalties. A system that had been functioning properly for decades changed overnight. Canadian products were now required to go through more government, while any product could be purchased over the Internet and shipped into our country with no safety standards or approval. Products are disappearing from Canadian shelves. Customers are ordering from the United States. Jobs are leaving and businesses are closing. The Conservative private member’s bill, Bill C-224, would have reversed the Liberal big government decision and brought NHPs back to the way they were regulated before 2023, when they were working just fine. However, just yesterday, the Liberals unashamedly stripped this bill word by word and will now return a blank piece of paper to this House. Millions of Canadians who rely on natural health products have just been told by the Liberal government, “Too bad”. Pay more or buy American is not pro-Canada, but after 11 years, this is the pattern of the Liberal government. A common-sense bill that would have supported small businesses and consumer choices has been killed by the Liberals. Another main street employer has been told to absorb more cost, making the affordability crisis worse. That is why the Conservatives brought forward this motion today. It is time for the Liberal government members to tell the truth. After 11 years of the Liberal government, Canada is in an affordability crisis. The Conservatives will always fight to save Canadians money. We have an economic action plan to save Canadians money and jobs. We would green-light the 500 projects waiting for approval, take the GST off Canadian-made autos, have zero capital gains on reinvestment in Canada, end the industrial carbon tax and repeal job-killing bills, Bill C-48 and Bill C-69. The Conservatives will fight for common-sense policies that would improve Canadian lives with stronger paycheques, lower food costs, homes Canadians can afford and an economy that rewards hard work. The Liberals must acknowledge the crisis of their making and vote for this Conservative motion.
