Gérard Deltell

“Canadians cannot afford food, housing, or gas after 10 years of this government. I want the Prime Minister to realize that his overspending causes inflation and debt for our children.”

“Mr. Speaker, if all of these wonderful promises had worked, then Canadians would not be having such a hard time putting food on the table. That is what is happening after 10 years of rhetoric. The Liberals say nice things and claim that everything is fine, when Canadians are experiencing the exact opposite. One in four families is experiencing food insecurity. The cost of basics is rising for Canadian families. The price of housing has reached record highs. The cost of gas jumped 29%. That is what Canadians are experiencing every day. Will the Prime Minister understand that spending money that we do not have racks up debt for our children and fuels inflation?”

In response to a question from Andrew Lawton

“The government is spending too much money. This creates debt and deficits. Every cent we pay in GST now goes just to pay interest on the national debt. The government broke its promise to balance the budget.”

“Mr. Speaker, I hear my colleagues from the Bloc Québécois applauding my colleague, who speaks impeccable French, with genuine enthusiasm. Incidentally, I urge everyone to read the biography he published a few months ago of our leader, the Leader of the Opposition. My colleague’s question is essential and fundamental. When someone lives beyond their means, sooner or later, they have to pay for that spending. What does that lead to? It leads to debt, deficits and interest on the debt. We know that every penny of GST we pay is used solely to pay the interest on the debt. That is terrible. It is great for bankers but terrible for Canadians. That is why we need to adopt a responsible and realistic approach. Unfortunately, the government that was elected in 2015 on the promise that there would be no deficit in 2019 has thrown that promise away.”

“The Liberals have mismanaged Canada's finances for ten years. The deficit is now $65 billion, and we spend nearly $60 billion just on debt interest instead of services. The government needs to balance the budget, stop spending so much on outside consultants, cut red tape, and lower taxes so Canadians can keep more of their money.”

“Mr. Speaker, I wish to inform the House that I will be sharing my time with my colleague, the hon. member for Middlesex—London. We have reached this stage of the debate on the changes in Canada’s financial situation. Let us remember that the Liberals have been in office and have been managing the public purse for over 10 years. Let us remember that most of the members on that side of the House who were elected in 2015 promised to run three small deficits and deliver a zero deficit in 2019. Obviously, that was not at all true because, in the past 11 years, the Liberal government has never kept that promise to balance the budget. It has done exactly the opposite. When the new Prime Minister took office a year ago, no one would have thought that we would end up where we are today, seeing as how he has an international reputation in public finance, served as the governor of the national banks of two G7 countries and is widely recognized for his business acumen. With this fresh energy, we might have expected a much more rigorous approach to managing public funds than the one taken by the Right Hon. Justin Trudeau, who failed to deliver on his promise of a zero deficit in his nine years in office. With the new Prime Minister, anything seemed possible. However, after a year under this new Prime Minister, the member for Nepean, it is quite the opposite. He is doing a worse job than the drama teacher, even though he is an internationally renowned banker who promised a bright future in terms of the management of public funds. As for the debt, it has been roughly $1 trillion for the past 10 years. Interest on the debt costs $58.7 billion. That is nearly $60 billion. For those watching at home, and even for me, when we are talking about billions of dollars, it is hard to picture what that actually means. It is important to understand that every penny we pay in GST is not going toward services from the federal government. It is not going toward having more doctors or more services. It is solely going toward paying the interest on the debt. That is right. Ten years of irresponsible Liberal governance has increased the debt by $1 trillion. Every family in Canada is spending an average of $3,400 just on interest payments. It is worth noting that a deficit means that the government is living beyond its means. It means that it is kicking the can down the road and not facing its responsibilities. Above all, it means that the government is acting irresponsibly toward our children, our grandchildren and even our great-grandchildren. Sooner or later, that debt will have to be paid. That is what happens with the interest on debt. When we pay, we are paying for the mistakes and mismanagement of the past. The worst legacy we can leave our children and grandchildren is a massive debt, massive interest and a chronic deficit. Speaking of deficits, it is quite extraordinary. A year and a half ago, under the former prime minister’s watch, we were all outraged to learn that the deficit might be as high as $31 billion. Some people said that a $31‑billion deficit was insane. Now, a year later, it is twice as bad. The deficit now stands at $65 billion. As I was saying earlier, who would have thought the new Prime Minister could be worse than the old one? He doubled the deficit. It is also worth noting that direct spending on services has increased by 12.4% and that, over the past 10 years, 100,000 new public servants have been hired. At the same time, there has been a massive increase in outsourcing contracts for consultants. The government cannot do both at the same time. It should either hire more public servants to deliver more services and rely less on consultants, or rely more on consultants and make less use of the public service. If it is doing both at the same time, it is because the system is being mismanaged. That is what we have seen over the past 10 years. The reality and the impact of all this is that when we have to pay interest on the debt, as I mentioned earlier, the money is not going toward improving services. It is going toward paying for expenses were not covered previously. Who benefits most from this? The bankers do, because that is exactly how they make a living: from interest. We do not take issue with that. The issue is when interest levels are far too high and become astronomical. When taxpayers’ money from the GST goes directly towards paying interest on the debt, we are propping up the banking system rather than the system we expect to support public services in Canada. What is the reality after 10 years? We have the worst food inflation in the G7. My colleagues should talk about this with people in their ridings, with families, with friends, with people they know well. Everyone is affected by food inflation. Canada has the worst food inflation in the G7. This is happening under the leadership of the world-renowned banker who has failed to keep his promises. We are still waiting for him to deliver on all the promises that were made and the major projects that are supposed to be carried out. Housing prices are skyrocketing across Canada, and families are the ones directly paying the price. It is also important to keep in mind that when there are taxes to pay, people end up with less money in their pockets. That is why our proposal was clear and positive for Canadians, because everyone is affected by the oil price hikes. We proposed temporarily suspending all federal gas taxes until December 31. We agreed on that proposal because it would have left $5 billion more in Canadians’ pockets. However, the government accepted only a small portion of our suggestion, which involved removing the 10¢ per litre excise tax to give people a little break. Obviously, we had no objection to that, but it was barely a third of what we had suggested. Our approach as Conservatives is not so much to give people money as to let them keep more money in their pockets. The best way to let them keep more in their pockets is to cut taxes. However, this government has been raising taxes for 10 years. Contrary to what the Liberals are going to say in a few moments when they ask me questions, it is important to point out that we were in agreement on the tax cuts. Small as they were, we supported them. We only wished they had been larger. That was the point of our suggestion. One of our suggestions is to leave more money in people’s pockets by cutting taxes, which is what we wanted to do with the federal fuel tax, because it has a direct impact on everything. It affects people who travel, but the federal taxes on transportation and gasoline consumption also directly affect the price of goods and food that are transported. We should also get rid of some of the measures that create too much red tape, because there is no doubt that this directly affects us and stifles economic development. We must streamline bureaucracy and reduce our reliance on outside consultants. I mentioned that over the past 10 years, we have seen an increase of up to $20 billion. We see that the government has listened to us and reduced the amounts allocated for consultants, but it needs to go even further. We must also put an end to the tax loopholes that can arise from certain investments that are so difficult to understand that they ultimately become tax loopholes. We also need to review some of the benefits paid to bogus refugee claimants. Unfortunately, for 10 years, we had a government that took a completely irresponsible approach to immigration. The primary victims of this irresponsible immigration policy are the immigrants themselves, particularly those who have illegally made bogus asylum claims. We need to cut red tape, dial back the use of external consultants and leave more money in people’s pockets by eliminating some taxes and lowering income tax. That is how we can deliver an economic recovery for all Canadians.”

• Echo ×10

  A repeated line

  “Canada has the worst food inflation in the G7.”

  Said 10 times by 4 members since April 30.

  Every time it was said →

“The government predicted a $31 billion deficit, but it reached $65 billion instead. The government plans to add another trillion dollars to the debt by 2031. Future generations will have to pay for this spending.”

“Mr. Speaker, let us remember that a year ago, the Liberals were forecasting a $31‑billion deficit. One year later, it is twice that—$65 billion. That is the reality after one year of Liberal governance. Worse still, the outlook from now to 2031, according to the economic statement, is another trillion dollars added to the debt. More and more spending is an indication that the deficits will increase. Do the Liberals realize that spending money we do not have leaves our children and our great-grandchildren holding the bag and that future generations will have to pay for the Liberals’ irresponsible management?”

“The member talked about ethics. I want to know his thoughts on the Liberals putting a member who crossed the floor onto the ethics committee.”

“Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for his interesting speech. He made a lot of historical references. When he talked about the Aquarius song from the 1970s, however, I must confess that I tend to associate Aquarius with the name of the Apollo 13 lunar module from April 1971, which saved the lives of the three astronauts on that mission. Let me be more serious about this and talk about ethics. The member raised a lot of issues about ethics. This is very difficult, because we are talking about the new government, which is now a majority because of the people who crossed the floor. Is the member surprised to see that, when the Liberal Party first appointed new committee members, it appointed a floor crosser to the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics? What was the member’s reaction when he noticed that, with the ethics committee, we were talking about someone who crossed the floor?”

“The parliamentary secretary used to balance the budget in Quebec, but now his government has a 67-billion-dollar deficit. The Liberals spend money on programs that do not work, and over two million Canadians use food banks. How can he be proud of his government's bad record?”

“Madam Speaker, the parliamentary secretary knows very well that I have a great deal of respect for him because, when he was a member of the provincial government, he ran a zero deficit. However, he is currently a member of a government that has run up a $67‑billion deficit. The problem is that these Liberals have launched all kinds of programs over the past 10 years, all with zero results. Some 2.2 million Canadians are going to food banks. Is the parliamentary secretary proud of how poorly his colleagues are handling things, considering how well he managed Quebec’s affairs?”

“One in three seniors in Quebec relies on low-income support, and their groceries are not getting any cheaper. Food prices are rising faster in Canada than in any other G7 country. I blame the Prime Minister and the Liberal government.”

“Mr. Speaker, 600,000 Quebeckers are being forced to make ends meet on the guaranteed income supplement. That is one in three seniors, and 600,000 people is more than the entire population of Quebec City. I am going to address Quebec’s seniors directly and ask them whether, over the past year, their situation has improved when they go grocery shopping. Unfortunately, the answer is no. For the past year, Canada has had the worst food inflation of any G7 country. It has been the worst for the past year, ever since this Prime Minister was elected. That is the result of a Liberal government.”

“The government wants to end debate on a democratic issue. This is wrong, especially one year after the election. I want the Green Party member to tell us why we must respect how Canadians voted.”

“Mr. Speaker, of course, I listened carefully to what my Green Party colleague had to say. Unlike the Bloc Québécois member, who refers to her as a member from British Columbia, I refer to her as a member of the Green Party. That is simpler and members know right away who I am talking about. It is like the good old days because the member is now sitting on the same side of the House as the official opposition like she was in 2015. Speaking of elections, I would like to remind the House that, tomorrow, it will be exactly one year since almost all members of the House, except two, were elected. It is rather odd that the government wants to shut down debate on a democratic issue on the eve of the anniversary of the 2025 election. In her case, the member was elected to the House of Commons for a fifth time. Since we are talking about elections and anniversaries, I would like to hear her thoughts on the importance of respecting the will of Canadians as expressed at the polls without taking floor crossers into account.”

“April is Daffodil Month. I support people and families facing cancer, including a member of my team. We must keep funding cancer research to end the disease.”

“Mr. Speaker, April is Daffodil Month. For the Canadian Cancer Society, this flower is a symbol of resilience and solidarity. When a person is diagnosed with cancer, it turns their whole world upside down, but they do not have to fight this battle alone. Today, my thoughts are with the families across the country who are battling cancer because, behind each statistic, there are faces, families, friends and colleagues who are courageously facing this disease. My thoughts go out to Lyne Bernatchez, a valued member of the Louis-Saint-Laurent—Akiawenhrahk parliamentary team who is currently battling cancer with amazing strength and dignity. The whole team stands with Lyne. Together, let us continue to support research so that, one day, we will finally be able to say that cancer is a thing of the past.”