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Business of Supply

This was a Business of Supply debate taking place during consideration of the government’s recent economic update legislation. Conservatives pressed the Finance Minister on deficit spending, asking when the budget would be balanced, how many homes are being built, the costs of a planned sovereign wealth fund, and details of specific spending items such as a spaceport lease, while repeatedly saying the minister was not answering their questions. Liberals defended the government’s record, saying the economy is strong, the deficit is lower than expected, and housing prices and rents have come down. The Bloc Québécois asked about the exemption of American companies from the global minimum tax in Bill C-31 and about wage subsidies for workers affected by tariffs, and the NDP asked why the government is not taxing oil company excess profits or banning surveillance pricing. Some members also raised local matters such as support for regional media.Written by AI from the debate. Updated .

Official text

366 statements

Raquel Dancho

Conservative
“The Canadian auto industry is losing thousands of jobs because of U.S. tariffs and bad government choices. The minister spent up to $52 billion to support electric vehicles, but many of those projects failed. I want the minister to admit his plan failed.”
Official Hansard

Madam Chair, the Canadian auto sector is in serious crisis. We are facing thousands of job losses, and really that is a result of the U.S. tariffs and, frankly, a disastrous strategic policy by this Liberal government. If I look at 2020 to 2024, when the finance minister was, in fact, the industry minister, he signed off on up to $52 billion with Ontario for electric vehicle subsidies to artificially manufacture an electric vehicle supply chain in Canada. He made very big promises that this was going to deliver huge returns for Canada, yet many of those projects have failed to deliver. In fact, we have seen thousands of job losses because of the failure of those projects to go forward. Can the minister admit that his electric vehicle strategy has been a failure?

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François-Philippe Champagne

Liberal
“We still need to invest in electric cars. Big changes in technology take time, and new kinds of cars have always taken years to become successful.”

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Official Hansard

Madam Chair, I would think it is exactly the opposite. I think electrification is still our north star. Let me just remind my colleague that when Tesla started business, it took 17 years to be profitable. When the Model T Ford was introduced, it was not a success. When we have been doing the same thing for 100 years with internal combustion engines and we switch technology after a century, it is quite normal that we have adjustment of technology, of consumer habits and of markets, and the position that has been taken by our neighbour to the south has affected this. We have seen delays in most of the projects in the G7, but I still believe in investing in the electric stack and in making sure that we have the ecosystem to build a car—

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Raquel Dancho

Conservative
“The government gave billions of tax dollars to electric vehicle projects that failed, lost jobs, or got delayed. I want the minister to tell us if he thinks he kept his promises on electric vehicles.”
Official Hansard

Madam Chair, yes I am, with the member for St. Albert—Sturgeon River. I will just go through the list, because I think the finance minister may not be aware of some of the commitments that he made to Canadians that have since fallen through. At Stellantis in Brampton, the plant laid off 3,000 workers. In fact it took those jobs, sent them to the U.S. and promised 5,000 jobs in the U.S. and $13 billion of U.S. investment, despite hundreds of millions of dollars flowing from the taxpayers through the Liberal government to retool Stellantis’s facility in Brampton. Northvolt in Quebec went bankrupt despite up to $3 billion of commitments from the taxpayer through the Liberal government. Ford in Oakville, despite millions of taxpayer dollars spent, cancelled its project and is now making gas-powered trucks. With Umicore for EV batteries in Loyalist Township, Ontario, millions of taxpayer dollars were spent, and the project was delayed indefinitely. GM POSCO in Quebec is an EV battery plant. Phase 2 is now delayed despite well over $126 million from the taxpayer being spent. GM’s CAMI facility is in Oshawa with $244 million from the taxpayer. Their BrightDrop EV project was shelved. Of course, Honda just recently suspended indefinitely a $15-billion electric vehicle project in Ontario, citing issues with global EV demand. The Liberals’ cornerstone, the NextStar Energy facility that was supposed to build and be a world leader in electric car batteries, is no longer making EV batteries. In fact, the auto company involved with that, Stellantis, has pulled out altogether. I will just ask the minister again if he feels his promises are being delivered on an electric vehicle supply chain in Canada?

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François-Philippe Champagne

Liberal
“Our government brought Volkswagen's largest electric vehicle battery factory outside Europe to Canada. This is good for Canadian workers and the auto industry.”

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Official Hansard

Madam Chair, I am so happy to have that line of questioning. I almost hope that time would stop for a minute, because honestly, I could go on and on. Let us talk about Volkswagen, one of the largest automakers when we landed the gigafactory. It is the largest gigafactory outside of Europe of Volkswagen. In which country did they decide to put it? It was in Canada. It is amazing that, for the first time in Canada’s history, we have attracted a European automaker to Canada. I see in her smile that the member knows in her heart that we have done good things for the workers and that we have done good things for the industry. She is a good member. She is experienced. She will appreciate that—

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Raquel Dancho

Conservative
“Car companies are losing billions of dollars on electric vehicles because people are not buying them. Why is the government still spending billions of tax dollars on them?”
Official Hansard

Madam Chair, I do believe Volkswagen has written down $6 billion because of losses in electric vehicles. These CEOs are really showing what the market is demanding, and that is not electric vehicles. If we look at Stellantis, for example, it wrote down $26 billion on EV investments. Stellantis cited that its customers were not buying them, and that is why it just could not make a profit from EVs. Just in January, GM, which also received subsidies from the Liberal government and the taxpayer, announced $6 billion of write-downs as well on EV operations. They warned that more EV writedowns may be happening. In December, Ford announced nearly $20 billion of writedowns. It just keeps coming on EV productions. After years of trying to make them profitable, they are just not profitable. Again, how can the minister stand here and say that the government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars and committed billions more, yet the CEOs themselves are saying that they cannot make a profit with these EVs?

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François-Philippe Champagne

Liberal
“We have been smart and careful with our deals to attract green investments. We only pay companies after they build and sell their products.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, it is a pleasure. I know the member knows the sector because she has New Flyer in her riding, which I am still looking forward to visiting because it is a great company, and it is also looking at electric buses. My colleague will be happy to learn we were very disciplined. The Chair will remember this because I know he took note at the time. We were talking about production subsidies. This was on the back of the Inflation Reduction Act. In order to attract these investments, we were very smart, because we said we would only pay out when a number of units had been built and sold. Members should be reassured that we have been good fiscal stewards. We have attracted investment. We have been very disciplined in how we structured these deals. I would say to my colleague that she should keep in mind that the electric stack is the—

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Raquel Dancho

Conservative
“The electric vehicle market is failing and Canadian autoworkers are losing their jobs. The government wants to spend 2.3 billion dollars on electric car subsidies. Most of that money will help American car makers, not Canadian workers. I want the minister to explain why.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, if we listen to the CEOs who are writing down up to $25 billion because of EV losses and if we look at the thousands of job losses at the Brampton facility and the CAMI facility, I think it is very clear the EV market in North America is struggling. That is despite billions of dollars of promises from the Liberal government and hundreds of millions of dollars flowing. They are still struggling to make a go of it. We see in North America that EVs do not really sell unless they are receiving huge subsidies from the taxpayers, so that is exactly what the Liberals are doing. They are doubling down on this failing strategy and have brought forward a $2.3-billion EV subsidy so that Canadian taxpayer dollars can go to those purchasing electric vehicles. However, the reality is a lot of that money is not going to benefit the Canadian auto sector, which is struggling and needs the support. No, It is going to go to foreign-made electric vehicles, because Canada, despite all these promises and all this money, makes one, maybe two, eligible vehicles. How is it that our auto sector is struggling, we are losing thousands of jobs, and the finance minister has brought forward a $2.3-billion subsidy that will largely go to benefit Donald Trump’s American auto sector? How is he justifying benefiting the Trump auto sector when our auto sector needs the support?

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François-Philippe Champagne

Liberal
“Our investment in the Volkswagen plant in St. Thomas is a big win for Canada. Projects sometimes face delays everywhere, but this will help our economy for a long time.”

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Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, let me talk about Volkswagen for a minute. I can see the smile coming back on the member’s face, because Volkswagen will be one of the largest industrial sites in North America. She should be celebrating. I am sure she likes St. Thomas and southwestern Ontario as well. This is going to be an investment that is generational. If she had been with us when we announced that in St. Thomas, she would have seen the community members and the mayor. Everyone was there celebrating the fact that, for the first time in the history of Canada, we were able to attract a European manufacturer. When I started that journey, people thought it would be impossible. We made it possible. Canadians understand that obviously a number of projects get delayed. It is not unique to Canada. This is what we are seeing in all the other G7 countries, but smart countries invest not only for now, but for the future. These investments will provide benefits to Canadians in the long term.

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Raquel Dancho

Conservative

Linked statement

“The minister did not explain why Canadian tax dollars are helping the American electric vehicle market. Now the government is letting in 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles. This will hurt our own auto workers, who cannot compete with heavily subsidized Chinese cars.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, it is not necessarily other countries creating electric vehicle subsidies that benefit the American EV auto sector. Again, I do not understand. The minister did not answer my question about why our taxpayer dollars are going to benefit the American electric vehicle market when our auto sector needs support. He did not answer that at all, but we will move on. It is very clear that the government is going to keep doubling down, but what is really shocking is that, despite all the struggles he is having in getting this electric vehicle strategy off the ground and despite billions of dollars that the government is trying to get out the door to attract this investment, the minister is bringing in 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles, which will represent a third of the electric vehicle market in this country. We cannot hope to compete with the subsidies that China provides. How can he justify this when our auto sector is struggling?

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François-Philippe Champagne

Liberal
“Our government has always supported auto workers and manufacturers in Ontario. We are investing money to help the industry grow and adapt to the future.”

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Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, I think everyone watching, particularly those in Oshawa and in southwestern Ontario, know that this minister and this government have been standing shoulder to shoulder with them. We can talk to the unions, the local union members, the industry partners and the manufacturers. We have stood with industry and workers every step of the way. When I started in my previous job as minister of industry, we made investments to make sure that the sector would grow and adapt to the new reality. This is a fast-evolving market, but the investments we are making today need to take into account the future as well, and I think the member will recognize—

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Michael Cooper

Conservative
“The government signed a $200-million lease for a spaceport and backdated it by a full year. I want to know why.”
Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, in March, the Liberals entered into a $200-million lease for a so-called spaceport with a company called Maritime Launch Services. The lease was backdated by one full year to April 1, 2025. Why?

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François-Philippe Champagne

Liberal
“The space industry is important in Canada. I used to be in charge of the space agency, and I am glad to answer questions about it.”

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Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, my colleague is asking questions about space. I think space is an important industry in Canada. I hope he is going to have many more questions. As a former minister responsible for the space agency, I will have a lot to say about that.

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Michael Cooper

Conservative
“Why did the Liberals give Maritime Launch Services $20 million for no work by backdating a lease to April 2025?”
Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, in backdating the lease to April 2025, the Liberals handed Maritime Launch Services $20 million for no work and no value to taxpayers. Why?

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François-Philippe Champagne

Liberal
“The member should be careful with what he is accusing us of. Investing in the space industry is a good idea.”

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Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, I know that my colleague is an experienced member of the chamber. He is making allegations. It is not the first time that he has made allegations like this, but I think he should be careful in his line of questioning. At the same time, he should realize that the space industry is a great place to invest.

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Michael Cooper

Conservative
“The lease was backdated to April 2025. An audit showed that Maritime Launch Services was close to going bankrupt. Did the government backdate the lease to bail out this failing company?”
Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, the lease was backdated to April 2025. An independent auditor’s report revealed that Maritime Launch Services was not a going concern and that they were on the verge of bankruptcy. Is the real reason the lease was backdated to bail out a nearly bankrupt company? Is that not what happened?

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François-Philippe Champagne

Liberal
“The member should support our space industry instead of attacking it. We should be proud that a Canadian is going around the moon.”

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Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, my colleague should, instead of going after the space industry, celebrate what we have achieved recently. We had our first Canadian to go around the moon. We went back to the moon as humanity. I think he should be proud. Instead of talking down a whole industry and talking down the space industry in the country, he should—

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Michael Cooper

Conservative
“Why did the government sign a lease for a spaceport with a company that is almost broke?”
Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, why would the Liberals enter into a lease for a so-called spaceport with a nearly bankrupt company?

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François-Philippe Champagne

Liberal
“I support our space industry and astronauts. Canada needs to be able to launch into orbit from our own site in Nova Scotia.”

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Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, he can talk down the industry. I will stand up for astronauts and the industry at every step of the way. If he was talking to our southern neighbour, he would understand that it is important for Canada to be able to launch from a Canadian site in order to get into a certain orbit, and we can do that in Canso, Nova Scotia.

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Michael Cooper

Conservative
“How many successful space launches has Maritime Launch Services done in the past 10 years?”
Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, in 10 years, how many successful space launches has Maritime Launch Services undertaken?

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François-Philippe Champagne

Liberal
“Canada is in a great spot to launch things into space. The member should talk to American officials or astronauts to learn about this.”

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Official Hansard

Mr. Chair, I do not know if there is a space parliamentary committee but the hon. member would gain knowledge by talking to our American colleagues. He would learn that having a location in Canada is very strategic in order to launch into a particular orbit, and I can put him in touch with a few astronauts if he wants.

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