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The Economy

During Question Period on the economy, the Conservative leader said the government’s carbon tax, energy policy and spending caused inflation and a recession, citing declining investment and high housing costs, and asked why the Prime Minister was not answering questions himself. Liberal ministers replied that the Conservatives vote against programs and tax cuts that help people, and said Canada has one of the fastest-growing economies in the G7 with record investments in housing, defence and infrastructure. Each side asked the other to say what it actually supports.Written by AI from the debate. Updated .

Official text

4 statements

Pierre Poilievre

Conservative

Linked statement

“The Prime Minister will not answer questions because his economic choices have failed. His carbon tax, his energy policy, and his spending caused inflation and put the country into a recession.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, do people know why the Prime Minister cannot stand to answer a question in the House of Commons? It is because he has been wrong about every single economic issue of the last decade. He was wrong to push bigger and broader carbon taxes. He was wrong to say that we should keep half our oil in the ground. He was wrong to say that COVID would lead to deflation or dropping prices. He was wrong to say that governments should print hundreds of billions of dollars, the reason we have the inflation. Now he is wrong again, as the only G20 leader out of 20 countries to lead his country in a recession. Does the Prime Minister realize that when he gets it wrong, Canadians pay the price?

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Steven MacKinnon

Liberal
“The Conservatives say they care about struggling people, but they vote against our tax cuts and programs to help them. They also criticize our plans to build housing and major projects, and they do not support us in trade disputes. I want to know what their leader actually supports.”

  • Government answer in Question Period

    Relevance 0 of 100

    None of this answer addressed the specific question that was asked.

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  • Government answer in Question Period

    Signal 16 of 100

    Much of this statement went to praise, blame, greetings, routine procedure or general stories rather than reasons, requests or specific points.

    See full analysis
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, we have been having an interesting conversation this week in this very forum. The Conservatives pretend to stand up for and care for vulnerable people in this country, yet every time we propose a program, a tax reduction or a hand-up to people, they vote against it. When we talk about the unjustified trade war being perpetrated on this country, what do they do? They say that we are having a hissy fit. When we try to build this country up, build housing, build major projects like high-speed rail, build critical minerals, what do they do? They criticize that. What, for the love of all that is good, is the leader for?

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Pierre Poilievre

Conservative
“We want lower costs, higher pay, and safer streets. Under the Prime Minister, the economy has shrunk, investment has dropped, and Canada now has high debt, expensive housing, and high unemployment. I want him to stand up and answer questions about his record.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, I will tell the member what we are for. We are for an affordable Canada, a Canada with growing paycheques and safer streets, which is the exact opposite of what the Prime Minister has delivered. This is his record: Count them; there have been five consecutive quarters of declining investment. In three of the last four quarters, the economy has declined. In fact, the GDP of Canada today is smaller than when he became Prime Minister. In fact, the GDP was bigger on the last day of Justin Trudeau in office. We now have the most expensive real estate, the highest household debt and the second-highest unemployment in the G7. Is that why the Prime Minister is afraid to stand in the House and answer a question?

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François-Philippe Champagne

Liberal
“Our economy is growing faster than almost any other top economy in the world. We are investing record amounts of money in housing, defence, and building projects. We will keep supporting Canadian workers and businesses, and the Conservatives should support our plan.”

  • A repeated line

    “We are going to build Canada strong.”

    Said 33 times by 14 members since April 24.

    Every time it was said
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, let me remind the leader that we will take no lessons from the Conservatives. He needs to be reminded. We have the second-fastest growing economy in the G7. We have made record investments in infrastructure, generational investments in housing, generational investments in productivity and innovation and generational investments in our defences. We are going to build Canada strong. We are going to support our workers and our industries. We are going to build Canada like never before. Get on board, man.

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