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Finance

Question period focused on government spending and affordability ahead of a federal budget update. Conservative members said the government is spending too much, citing $90 billion in new spending and a doubled deficit, and asked whether the government would keep the deficit under $31 billion, saying high spending drives inflation, debt and higher costs for groceries and housing. Liberal ministers replied that the government is investing in skills training, unions, major projects and community buildings, and pointed to programs such as affordable child care, school meals, dental care, a grocery and essentials benefit, lower fuel costs and tax cuts, saying Conservatives voted against these measures and asking them to identify what they would cut. Liberals also said Canada has a strong fiscal position among G7 countries and noted a newly announced sovereign wealth fund.Written by AI from the debate. Updated .

Official text

14 statements

Stephanie Kusie

Conservative
“The Prime Minister is spending too much money. Government spending went up by nine per cent and ninety billion dollars this year. I want the finance minister to promise to stop borrowing money in his update today.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, a year after the federal election, the Prime Minister has shown that he is just another high-spending Liberal. His costly credit card budgeting is forcing Canadians to use their credit cards. We have $90 billion in new spending and spending is up 9% this year alone. When the finance minister presents his spring economic statement this afternoon, will he commit to no credit card budgeting so that Canadians can finally afford to live again?

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Patty Hajdu

Liberal
“Today is the national day of mourning for workers killed or hurt on the job. We are also investing in skilled trades, large projects, and community buildings, and labour leaders support this.”

  • Government answer in Question Period

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Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, I want to take a moment to acknowledge that it is a national day of mourning for workers who have lost their lives or become injured at work. I know all of the members in this House are thinking about their families, communities and colleagues today. I also want to speak about the investment that we have been making in skilled trades, major projects and community infrastructure across the country, in fact, so much so that we are getting the support of people who I think the members opposite know. We hear from people like Joe Mancinelli from LiUNA, who says that the true economic strength begins with those who build it, and Marc Arsenault from the Provincial Building and Construction Trades Council of Ontario, who says that they are pleased to see the federal government’s—

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Stephanie Kusie

Conservative
“The government needs to stop overspending because deficits hurt our economy and workers. Will the Prime Minister promise to keep the deficit under $31 billion this year?”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, as a former governor of the Bank of Canada, the Prime Minister should know that fiscal discipline is non-negotiable and that deficits undermine investor confidence and harm Canadian workers. Conservatives are asking the Liberals to stop their credit card budgeting and to show some fiscal restraint. When the Prime Minister presents his spring economic statement this afternoon, will he commit to a deficit of no greater than $31 billion for the sake of Canadians?

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Patty Hajdu

Liberal

Linked statement

“Workers want us to invest in job training and support their work. We are giving money to unions to train skilled trades workers to build projects across Canada. The Conservatives keep voting against this help.”

  • Government answer in Question Period

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Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, I speak with workers across this country, as all members of this House do, and what I hear them say is that they want us to invest in their success. They want us to invest in the great jobs of today and tomorrow. We want to make sure that they can access skills training through things like the union training investment that we have been providing to unions, ensuring that we can attract and retain skilled trades workers to build the major projects and local infrastructure all across this country. The Conservatives voted against these measures time and again. They keep voting against workers. Is this a pattern? Are we going to see them continue to vote against the very people out there building up our country?

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Sandra Cobena

Conservative
“The government is spending too much money and raising taxes while Canadians struggle. This spending is causing higher prices. I want the Prime Minister to stop this spending so life is affordable.”

  • A repeated line

    “When will the Liberal Prime Minister end his costly budgeting so Canadians can afford to live?”

    Said 13 times by 12 members since April 28.

    Every time it was said
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, we are seeing more debt, more spending, more taxes and more of the same. That is what the Liberals are toasting champagne to today. While Canadians are tightening their belts, the Liberals are celebrating massive deficits. This is the inflationary spending that will force Canadians to take on more debt and make real sacrifices just to get by. Will the Liberal Prime Minister end his costly credit card budgeting so Canadians can afford to live?

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Rechie Valdez

Liberal
“That member votes against our programs that help people in Ontario save money. We cut child care costs by $10,000 per child, gave kids almost 100 million school meals, and gave income support to over 300,000 people.”

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Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to affordability, that member voted against every measure we have put forward for Ontarians. Here are the facts. Parents are saving $10,000 per child for affordable child care; kids have received 99.8 million meals through a national school food program, and by the way, we are making it permanent; and we have delivered income support for over 300,000 Ontarians. These are the types of support that member opposite always votes against. I do not know why she does, because we build Canada strong by making sure we are making it in a way that is also affordable for Canadians.

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Sandra Cobena

Conservative
“Canadians are struggling with high food prices, housing costs, and debt because of government deficits. When will the Prime Minister promise to keep the deficit under $31 billion?”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, we have quite the contradiction. We have a Liberal government celebrating bigger deficits and an entire country struggling under them. Canada now faces the worst grocery inflation in the G7, the worst household debt and the highest housing costs, and lineups at the food banks are surging. There is nothing to celebrate about that. When will the Liberal Prime Minister commit to capping the deficit at no more than the already reckless $31 billion that the last guy left behind?

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Rechie Valdez

Liberal
“We know families are having a hard time with costs. Our government is helping them save 10 cents a litre on gas, up to $10,000 on child care, and an average of $1,900 a year for groceries and essentials.”

  • Government answer in Question Period

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Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, we recognize that families are still having challenges. Families are now going to the pumps. They are saving 10¢ per litre thanks to our government. We are also ensuring that when they are buying groceries and essentials, through the Canada groceries and essentials benefit they are receiving an average of $1,900 per year to ensure that we can help Canadians. They are also going to save up to $10,000 on child care. We are doing everything we can to make life more affordable while also investing in Canadians, providing more jobs and, of course, building our strong country.

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Shannon Stubbs

Conservative
“The Prime Minister broke his promise to spend less and added billions to the deficit. This high spending and high taxes make food, housing, and life too expensive for Canadians. I want to know when he will stop spending so much money.”

  • Opposition question in Question Period

    Respect 54 of 100

    This statement targeted a person rather than their actions or views: “when will the self-identified European PM stop his high-spending, high-flying lifestyle that everyone else pays for”.

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  • A repeated line

    “The Prime Minister promised to spend less.”

    Said 5 times by 5 members since April 28.

    Every time it was said
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister promised to spend less, but a year in, he spent $90 billion more. Who thought Trudeau could be outspent? Well, his former adviser, the PM, said “watch me” and doubled his deficit. Deficits drive inflation and higher credit card, grocery and mortgage bills here at home. Deficits, taxes and red tape cause the worst food inflation in the G7. With high housing costs, high food bank use and a jobs crisis for young Canadians, when will the self-identified European PM stop his high-spending, high-flying lifestyle that everyone else pays for so Canadians can have a high quality of life?

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Tim Hodgson

Liberal
“The opposition says they care about making life cheaper. But they voted against lower taxes for 22 million people, cheaper groceries, and 10-dollar-a-day child care.”

  • Government answer in Question Period

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  • A repeated line

    “They voted against the Canada groceries and essentials benefit.”

    Said 3 times by 3 members since April 28.

    Every time it was said
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, the opposition members claim they care about affordability, but they voted against a tax cut for 22 million people. They voted against the groceries and essentials benefit. They voted against $10-a-day day care. I could keep going. We have nothing to learn from them about affordability.

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Shannon Stubbs

Conservative
“Government rules make it take too long to build energy and mining projects, and life is unaffordable. When will the Prime Minister stop high government spending so Canada can compete?”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, the government has made it so Canadians cannot afford essentials, and experts say Liberal red tape is worse for Canada than Trump’s tariffs. Businesses say Liberals must cut their own red tape for investor confidence so proponents can build. The PM says Canada is in a crisis but will not match U.S. emergency timelines, put two-year reviews in the law or even define Canada’s national interest. Here at home, it takes over two years to approve a domestic natural gas line expansion and 20 years to do a mine, and the Liberals say we are not grateful enough. If the PM says Canada is in a crisis, when will he scrap his costly credit card budgets so Canadians can compete?

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Wayne Long

Liberal
“Our economy is one of the strongest among rich nations. We have a plan to invest more in Canada and keep growing. The opposition should help us.”

  • Government answer in Question Period

    Relevance 44 of 100

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  • A repeated line

    “We are going to build the strongest economy in the G7.”

    Said 15 times by 6 members since April 23.

    Every time it was said
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we are going to build the strongest economy in the G7. We have the best fiscal position in the G7 and second-fastest growing economy in the G7, ahead of Italy and Germany. Just yesterday, our Prime Minister announced the sovereign wealth fund, which will spark massive investment by Canadians in Canada. In an hour and a half, our finance minister is going to table the spring economic update to continue our historic growth. It is time for that side to get off the sidelines and help us build Canada strong.

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Connie Cody

Conservative
“The government is spending too much money and doubling the deficit instead of cutting back. Most of this new money goes to government bureaucracy, not investments. This overspending makes life more expensive for Canadians, and I want to know who the Prime Minister expects to pay for it.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, Canadians were promised restraint. Instead, they got more Liberal overspending, more debt, higher costs and more of the same. The Prime Minister did not change course from Justin Trudeau. He doubled down, doubling the deficit and, according to the independent budget watchdog, sending nearly two-thirds of new spending into day-to-day operations and a growing bureaucracy, not real investment. Those choices are hurting Canadians’ daily lives. The cost of living has skyrocketed, food bank use is rising, and more households are maxing out credit cards just to afford groceries. After blowing past Trudeau-era spending and deficits, who does the Prime Minister think pays the bill?

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Adam van Koeverden

Liberal
“I want the member to tell people in her riding what programs she plans to cut. Thousands of people in Cambridge rely on our dental care and child benefit programs, and she wants to end them.”

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  • Government answer in Question Period

    Respect 67 of 100

    This statement targeted a person rather than their actions or views: “why will the member not be honest with her constituents”.

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Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, why will the member not be honest with her constituents and tell them exactly what she is willing to cut in order to achieve her very irresponsible plans? We can start with dental care. In Cambridge, we have 11,355 members of that community accessing the Canadian dental care plan. That is 11,355 people who visited a dentist and had an opportunity to get their teeth fixed last year. What about the Canada child benefit? In Cambridge alone, 19,621 kids are having a better life and a better start because of the Canada child benefit. Those are programs she is willing to cut for her reckless agenda.

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