Finance

During Question Period on finance, the Conservatives asked about government spending ahead of the fall fiscal update, saying high spending and deficits are driving up costs for Canadians and interest rates, and pointing to items like the Alto high-speed rail project, consultants and the gun buyback program as cuts they would make. The Liberals said the Conservatives should table a list of cuts, and cited the International Monetary Fund’s view that Canada has the strongest fiscal situation in the G7, saying the government would use that capacity to fund building projects across the country.Written by AI from the debate. Updated .

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4 statements

Melissa Lantsman, Thornhill

Conservative
“The government spends too much money, and that is making life more expensive. The Bank of Canada says government spending is driving up interest rates. I want the Prime Minister to stop spending so much money.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, next week, the Liberals are set to release their fiscal update. The Prime Minister is copying Justin Trudeau’s playbook as he burns through more taxpayer dollars, goes deeper into debt and piles even more inflationary spending on every Canadian family. After more than a decade, none of the Liberals have realized that the more they spend, the worse affordability is for everyone. The Bank of Canada confirmed last week that rising interest rates are directly tied to excessive government spending. If the Prime Minister will not bother with this place, will he at least call his friends at the Bank of Canada and get his spending under control?

Steven MacKinnon, Minister of Transport and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Liberal

Linked statement

“I want the member to show us the list of cuts she wants to make, and we will look at it.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, I would ask the member to table immediately a list of the cuts she would like to make, and we will look into that.

Melissa Lantsman, Thornhill

Conservative
“The government's high spending and deficits hurt our economy and cost Canadians money. When will this stop, and who will take responsibility for it?”
Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, there is the Alto high-speed train, consultants and the gun buyback program. There are a number of them, and we can discuss those at length in the House. However, the C.D. Howe Institute also said today that persistent Liberal deficits are undermining “growth and living standards” rather than supporting them, the very thing they claim to do. Every dollar the Prime Minister spends comes out of the pockets of Canadians. When will all of that stop and when is anybody over there going to be held accountable for any of it?

Steven MacKinnon, Minister of Transport and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Liberal
“The International Monetary Fund says Canada has the strongest finances in the G7. We are going to use that money to build projects across the country with Canadian workers and materials, even if the Conservatives object.”
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Official Hansard

Mr. Speaker, we can believe the deputy leader of the Conservative Party, or we can believe the International Monetary Fund, which says that Canada has the best fiscal situation in the G7 and has lots of fiscal capacity. Do colleagues know what we are going to do? We are going to use that fiscal capacity to build Canada, to build it strong, to build with Canadian products and with Canadian men and women in the skilled trades. We are going to build projects from coast to coast to coast in this country, and we are going to build it over the objections of that member.

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