MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT

Hon. François-Philippe Champagne

Liberal Minister of Finance and National Revenue 265 statements translated

Champagne is a cheerleader for the Liberal government, frequently touting Canada's economic growth and the government's spending on programs and investments. He often deflects criticism by accusing the Conservatives of talking down the economy and highlights the government's 'generational investments' in housing, infrastructure, and innovation. He is skilled at filling time with kind words and praise for his colleagues while avoiding committing to specific actions or answering questions directly.

Government Orders

Business of Supply

2026-05-26

“I want to praise the program and say it's the best. That's all I have to say.”

“My colleague said things I agree with. I'm going to talk about those things. The government should spend money to train young people. If the government spends money, more young people will become trades workers. I want the government to spend money to make this happen.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, my colleague is so right. We want to do more transformation, and I think she will be happy with team Canada strong. The fact is that we say we are going to train and help 80,000 to 100,000 young people with their Red Seal and to get into the trades, because if we want to build this country, we need young people. We need young people to get into the trades. This is going to help provide more opportunities for young people in this country to participate in building this country at a speed and scale we have not seen in generations. We are very much focused on the youth. We are very much focused on helping workers. We are very much focused on working with unions as well. They do great work in training workers. We want to build together, because we want to build a Canada for all. That is why we are focusing on workers, on young people and on small and medium-sized businesses to help us build this country.

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“I like to talk about the things we're doing. It makes us sound good. We gave the Competition Bureau more power. And we let businesses write off investments faster. That's supposed to make them more productive. The OECD says it's a good policy.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, I can hear, from my colleague's question, the depth of analysis that she has made. That is why it is always a pleasure to engage with her in this House. She is right on competition. We know that competition is key to providing more choices and better prices for consumers. That is why, when I was the industry minister, we put more tools in the tool box of the Competition Bureau. She will remember, for example, that I gave it subpoena power. At the time it was asking for information and people voluntarily could decide whether to give it. Now it has more enforcement power. When it comes to productivity and innovation, the member would see that the productivity superdeduction is one of the tools that we have made in order to allow small and medium-sized businesses to make more investment, because they can immediately expense their expenses. They have immediate expensing of what they invest in capital, R and D, buildings, innovation and AI. We wanted to help companies with tax measures to make sure that they could make these capital investments that would help them to grow their businesses. The member may have seen the publication from the OECD or the International Monetary Fund that identified the productivity superdeduction, one of the tools in the tool box, as one of the best practices in the G7. Canada has been very much incentivizing small and medium-sized businesses to make these capital investments to become more productive.

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“I'm glad you're here. But actually, Fatih Birol said countries want Canada's energy. We're going to build even more energy. I want you to feel good about that. And our tax credit is already enough to support renewables. We don't need to spend more. Let's keep investing in all the energy.”

Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, my colleague is a very close colleague in the House, and I am delighted and honoured that she is staying so late to participate in this debate. I did, in fact, meet with Fatih Birol. I had dinner with him when he came here to receive a prize. In fact, what he said to us and also to the G7, and I will give members a preview, is that the world energy infrastructure is being redesigned and that countries are looking at countries like Canada, which offer stability, predictability and opportunity over the long term. That is why we said that Canada is an energy superpower. We can play a big role in conventional, renewable and also nuclear energy. I think more and more we will see countries wanting Canada to be their partner of choice, whether in Asia or in Europe. However, I want to reassure her that with respect to the investment tax credit, I think Canada stands out as one of the countries among the G7 that support more investment into renewable energy.

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“I want you to remember I spent money on it.”

“We found $60 billion to cut without hurting anything important. We were very careful not to cut from indigenous programs.”

“Canadians know the world is dangerous. We must spend a lot of money to protect ourselves. Record amounts of money!”

“I'm going to ignore your real question and just say we spent a lot of money. $56 billion sounds big, right? Surely that means we're doing enough.”

“I'm filling time with kind words and saying nothing anyone could pin down later.”

“I'm ignoring your specific point. Have some kind words about government support instead.”

“I'm filling time with kind words and saying nothing anyone could pin down later.”

“I'm filling time by quoting someone official saying there's a crisis.”

“I like that you brought up the gas tax holiday. It's a good thing that helps Canadians! The price of crude is a big part of gas prices and it's been going up.”

“I'm filling time with kind words and saying nothing anyone could pin down later.”

“You say we have lots of debt, but other countries have more debt. I say that means we did a good job.”

“I want the member to celebrate our spending. We spent a little less than the most money ever. We are managing the public purse. I'm sure everyone wants this.”

“The Parliamentary Budget Officer says our fiscal position is sustainable and we're on track to meet our targets. I'm going to quote him because that makes me look good.”

“I'm glad you asked that question because it lets me repeat a talking point. I want to brag that the deficit is $11 billion lower than predicted in the budget. I'll even tell you the IMF thinks we're doing great. I want you to go tell your voters how great we're doing.”