Debates of April 30th, 2024

Firearms

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I will repeat once again that we absolutely intend to keep the commitment we made to Canadians to buy back these weapons that we banned.

We will continue to work in a very specific way to ensure that the commitment we made a number of years ago to implement an effective buy-back program is kept. We are not going to stop until we finish this work.

Pensions

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the pension advisory board for our CBSA officers has approved retirement after 25 years of service. Our men and women on the front lines of our country have been defending and enforcing the law, and ensuring trade and travel is safe and secure in our country. They have not been treated equally as other officers. Why has the President of the Treasury Board ignored this case for equality?

Will the President of the Treasury Board now act and make sure there is equality for our men and women of service protecting our front lines?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, actually as a part of the conciliation process, the Government of Canada and PSAC entered into PIC hearings with the Border Services group. We are waiting for the decision of that body. We believe that all deals are best made at the table.

We look forward to reading that report and working very closely with our counterparts. We are optimistic that the PIC recommendations will provide both parties with a plan to go forward, just as past PIC processes have been able to do.

Persons with Disabilities

[Mike Morrice, Green, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, people with disabilities across the country disproportionately live in poverty. As a result of their advocacy, the government committed to a Canada disability benefit back in 2021.

After years of advocacy, what has been proposed in budget 2024 is nothing that the disability community has called for. No one called for 200 bucks a month. Using the disability tax credit, no one called for that. Waiting until July 2025, no one called for that.

Could the minister share who actually asked for what is in the proposed Canada disability benefit?

[Kamal Khera, Liberal, Minister of Diversity]

Mr. Speaker, the Canada disability benefit is a major milestone in our unwavering commitment to creating a more inclusive and fairer Canada. Through budget 2024, we have committed over $6 billion as an initial investment for the Canada disability benefit. This is the first-ever federal benefit designed for persons with disabilities.

We recognize that there is more to do and we will be working alongside provinces and territories to first make sure that there are no clawbacks for persons with disabilities.

This is the next step in the journey for the Canada disability benefit, not the destination.

[Chris Warkentin, Conservative, Grande Prairie—Mackenzie, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order to ask for unanimous consent from the House for a take-note debate on the drug decriminalization policy and toxic drug overdoses to be held later today.

[Some hon. members]

No.

Oral Questions

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it was a remarkable question period. I am sure I can speak for many of us with respect to your effort to maintain decorum under difficult circumstances.

What I want to speak to, with all due respect, is misidentifying members of Parliament who sit here as members of the Green Party as independents. I would like to ask, Mr. Speaker, that in future perhaps your office could reflect on our role and consider that the practice of accepting a list of speakers from the party whips on the opposition benches is not a rule or regulation of the House, but a common habit and practice. The rule is that only you can recognize who speaks in this place and only you can decide who catches your eye.

I would commend to you, Mr. Speaker, if you are willing to look at it, the practice of the Palace of Westminster in looking at written requests from members of the place that the Speaker decides the day before so that there is order in the House and it is no longer controlled by party whips who have an agenda other than decorum.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

I thank the hon. member for Saanich—Gulf Islands for her intervention, which was informative as always. The Speaker will take that into account.

The House resumed consideration of the motion that this House approve in general the budgetary policy of the government and of the amendment.

Financial Statement of Minister of Finance

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is always an honour and a privilege to rise in this House. I would usually call it the most honourable House, but after today's events, I am not exactly sure.

When we speak about budget 2024 and what is involved in budget 2024, it continues to build a strong economy, an inclusive economy.

One of the sectors that I would like to touch upon is here in Ontario specifically, the auto sector. It is a sector that I covered in the private sector for 15 years before coming into public service.

What we announced last week and what we did in collaboration with Honda is a game-changer for the auto sector here in Canada. It is a game-changer for Honda. It is Honda's largest-ever investment in North America, $15 billion to build an electric vehicle assembly plant, a stand-alone manufacturing plant, a cathode active material and precursor-processing plant, a separator plant and a new assembly plant operation, which in 2028 is projected to build over 240,000 electric vehicles per year.

That is a strong vote of confidence in the Canadian economy. That is a strong vote of confidence in Canadian workers. It is the right thing to do to build a competitive economy and an economy that works for all Canadians.

It did not just happen by chance. It happened because our government was laser-focused on attracting business investments here in Canada. With regard to the auto sector, almost $46 billion has been attracted across Canada, not just in the province of Ontario and British Columbia, or in the province of Quebec. The spillover in the whole EV supply chain is across Canada. Again, it is our government being laser-focused in budget 2024. An electric vehicles supply chain credit was introduced, 10% on EV assets, battery and cathode active materials.

This follows Volkswagen's $7-billion investment in St. Thomas, Northvolt's $7-billion investment in Quebec, the $5-billion investment by Stellantis and LG Energy Solutions in the beautiful city of Windsor, Ford's $1.8-billion commitment to repurpose its facility, and the list goes on. The Canadian automotive sector builds 1.5 million vehicles per year. It supports 550,000 direct and indirect jobs here in this country and contributes about $18 billion. Canada is home to Stellantis, Ford, General Motors, Toyota and Honda. We have been able to secure a commitment from Honda for generations now, and for generations to come, with over 4,000 jobs, over 1,000 new full-time jobs, and we can multiply that by five to seven, in terms of the multiplier, for literally decades, plus all the construction jobs that will come.

I will now turn to something that is near and dear to my heart. I read the IMF projections for economies around the world. The “Fiscal Monitor” came out. The world economic outlook came out. For 2025, Canada is forecast to lead economic growth in the G7 at almost 2.5%, something that we should be very proud of. We are leading the pack because we are making strategic investments in Canada. We are making strategic investments in Canadians. A confident country invests in its citizens. A confident country will always do so. That is what we will continue to do.

With regard to matters that I hear quite a bit about, I would like to reference a Financial Times article that came out about a week ago, entitled “US deficit poses ‘significant risks’ to global economy, warns IMF”. One looks at Canada's fiscal framework, its fiscal management and our AAA credit rating from all the credit rating agencies: Moody's, S&P, Morningstar DBRS.

I can hear some chirping from the other side. I understand that when it comes to being polite and when it comes to decorum, sometimes people need to take further lessons. It is unfortunate that they need to.

When we look at overall government fiscal balances, the net lending/borrowing for Canada is -1.1% of GDP; the United States, -7.1%; the U.K., -3.7%; Italy, -3.2%; Germany, -1.3%. Canada's fiscal framework is the strongest in the G7. It is the strongest in the G20. There is a reason why we have AAA rating. There is a reason why, when we look at our fiscal framework in this country, we have a solid, strong, robust balance sheet.

Those are the facts. Members on the other side can quibble as much as they want. They may not like science, and they may not like data. They may not like looking at the financial numbers, but I do. We will continue to do so. It is very important.

There is another item that I would like to raise, something that may surprise some folks on the other side and may surprise some folks on my side. I am actually very happy that the Trans Mountain pipeline is now in operation. The twinning of those two pipelines is going to boost economic growth here in Canada: this year, by about 0.5%. For a $3-trillion economy, 0.5% is actually quite important. The economic benefits of that pipeline are going to outweigh significantly the cost of building that pipeline and the debt that is carried on it currently, absolutely. It is going to lower the spread between WTI and WCS in terms of the price differential. For the time being and for many years to come, the oil that is sent from Alberta through the province of British Columbia is going to receive a higher price. Some estimates show a $9 benefit. We will earn billions of dollars in tax revenue to support hard-working Canadians across this country.

We made that investment, and I am very proud of that investment. It replaces almost 1,500 railcars that were carrying crude oil. It provides lower-cost access to markets abroad, and it raises producer prices here. It is something we need to be proud of. Again, it lowers the differential in the price we were getting for our product, so that now we are earning more on that front. Just in the second quarter of this year, the Bank of Canada estimates that it is going to boost economic growth by 0.25%. It is going to provide over $70 billion in revenues for the entities involved and tens of billions of dollars in tax revenues to pay for the services that we need.

Trevor Tombe, one of the economists I talk with quite a bit these days, put out an excellent piece today on why it is so important that we have an additional outlet for Canada's resources. As we decarbonize our economy, we need to do it in such a manner that the transition ensures good future for Canadians. The funds received will allow us to reinvest in our economy to green it and to make sure our electrical grid is fully decarbonized by 2035.

Finally, on the housing front, we are going to build in the years to come and we are building currently. Housing is very important for the residents of the 905 region, where I live. We see the activity at the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre. We see the activity across our region in terms of the housing builders getting to work. To the wonderful construction workers who are trained at the LiUNA 183 training centre or the Carpenters' Regional Council and the local 27 training centre, I visit with them and I want to give them a big shout-out because they are doing the heavy lifting to build our communities and the infrastructure in our communities.

Government Responses to Order Paper Questions—Speaker's Ruling

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

The Chair would like to make a statement concerning the question of privilege raised on April 10, 2024 by the member for Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, about the government response to Order Paper Question No. 2340.

That day, the member contended that the response to Question No. 2340, answered on Monday, April 8, 2024, was inconsistent with previous announcements made by the government.

On April 11, 2024, the member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, who had originally submitted the written question, intervened on this matter. He further noted that a similar inconsistency appeared in the government's response to another of his questions, Q‑2142, answered on January 29, 2024.

The parliamentary secretary to the government House leader acknowledged that, in both instances, there were administrative errors that led to inaccurate information being provided in the responses. He committed that the government would be tabling revised responses to both questions in short order to address the matter. Those responses were tabled yesterday. Considering the explanations, apologies and revised responses provided by the parliamentary secretary, I consider the matter closed.

The Chair does note, however, that this is the second instance in the last sitting weeks where the government has had to table revised responses after members complained about receiving inaccurate information. I trust that these are isolated mistakes. I nonetheless invite the government to take swift action to develop stronger internal checks and ensure that it does not happen again. The Chair is keenly aware of this problem and expects that members’ rights and privileges are to be respected.

I thank all members for their attention.

The House resumed consideration of the motion that this House approve in general the budgetary policy of the government and of the amendment.

Financial Statement of Minister of Finance

[Greg McLean, Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, parts of my colleague's speech were spot-on. The amount of economic activity that is going to be engendered by the completion of the Trans Mountain pipeline is very significant for this country. It has been held up by this government's process for far too long, and we need to get past it. I thank the member for that acknowledgement here on the floor of the House of Commons. The member has always been a supporter of Canada's oil and gas industry, and I really appreciate what he brings to that bench in that respect. However, he was a data analyst in finance before he came to the House, and I will question his numbers as far as Canada's economic performance goes.

Canada's finance minister manages to come up with a number where she plays games by including a whole bunch of assets on Canada's balance sheet that are not assets of the Government of Canada, such as Canada Pension Plan Investment Board money, which belongs to Canadians and is not going to be retracted from, and the Quebec pension plan, where the money belongs to Quebeckers and will not be pulled back from them. To actually include that is—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

For this five-minute question and answer period, so that all members have an opportunity, I would ask the member to just put the question, please.

[Greg McLean, Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, how does the member justify the use of manipulated statistics in order to get the numbers so he actually looks like he is performing?

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I do count the hon. member as a friend and colleague, and I always enjoy chatting with him.

I will say that the IMF statistics are there, and the member can look at gross governmental debt and the net debt bases. The standards are developed by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. They are commonly accepted standards. They are principles.

Canada's fiscal situation is measured by the rating agencies. I worked for a rating agency for a number of years before I went into the bond side of the business. I understand it quite well. Our AAA credit rating, which has been there since finance minister Martin's years, is there for a reason. We have a solid balance sheet, which is something we should all be proud of and something that I know Canadians hold near and dear to their hearts.

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am sure the member has heard from constituents who are upset about the paltry Canada disability benefit included in this budget. It is not just the amount; it is the process by which the government arrived at that amount. I will read what the National Disability Network noted: “These specific programmatic details were announced without consultation of the disability community and do not align with the principle of 'nothing about us, without us.'”

Does my colleague not agree that the Canada disability benefit should have been a higher amount to actually lift people out of poverty and, more importantly, that the amount should have been arrived at in consultation with the people who are most affected?

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, to my colleague and friend from my old hometown of Prince Rupert in Skeena—Bulkley Valley, I will be very personal on this front. We have a little nephew, Ethan, who has a rare genetic condition. Probably one out of five or six individuals in Canada has this condition. I know full well the amount of expenses that my brother and sister-in-law incur for their son. It is not just in the thousands of dollars; it is literally, in the last couple of years, in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. I know what they face, so I do appreciate the sentiment coming from my colleague.

I will say that the Canada disability benefit does move the needle, and we will continue to work, also in conjunction with the disability tax credit, which is in place ensuring that disabled Canadians have the support they need to live a dignified life and to lead a life where they can fulfill their capacity in terms of what God has given them.

I want to give a shout-out, a prayer and a big hug to my little nephew.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Madam Speaker, to my hon. friend from Vaughan—Woodbridge, this is very disturbing from a member in this place who has participated more than anyone else in terms of understanding the Kinder Morgan pipeline, being an intervenor in the NEB process, having read all the material put forward by that particular private sector promoter, and knowing full well that the pipeline is not complete. It does not have permissions from the regulator, will not have a leak detection system in place for a full year and has several kilometres yet to be built. However, we have members in this place, the budget itself and the finance minister herself proclaiming that the pipeline is finished, that it is good news, and a further fanciful offering that we will get more money per barrel once the diluted bitumen is offloaded in Aframax tankers.

I would like to ask the hon. member for Vaughan—Woodbridge if he would be prepared to press the government to provide to each member of Parliament a cost-benefit analysis, which I do not believe was ever presented, for buying the TMX pipeline.

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Madam Speaker, we all believe in achieving net zero by 2050. We all believe in decarbonizing the economy. At the same time, we must also understand there will be a need for natural resources of oil and natural gas, whether it is in situ for oil and conventional natural gas or whether it is western Canadian—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

We need to resume debate, unfortunately.

The hon. member for Saint-Laurent has the floor.

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to contribute to this debate today in support of budget 2024.

The budget aims to make our country fairer for everyone, for all generations. As one of the younger MPs in this place, I have heard countless times from people my age and younger how difficult it is for them to visualize the future they had always imagined for themselves.

Millennials and gen Zs are the first generations who are not doing better than their parents. They grew up with a promise that they can do well in school, work hard, get a good job and live a great life. Today's economy is proving all of that to be difficult. Many did really well in school and have great jobs, yet they are still finding it difficult to make ends meet.

Many of my friends, my age and younger, still live with their parents because they cannot afford to buy their own place. At this point, rent is so expensive that it simply is not worth it. Young Canadians are having a hard time getting approved for a mortgage, and some are requiring their parents to act as guarantors. That is if they are lucky enough to come from a family who is well off enough to provide that signature.

This has to change. The backbone of our economy is our youth. They are our present and our future, and they deserve their hard work to pay off. They deserve at least the same opportunities as their parents and grandparents had in order to achieve a good life.

This is why our government put in place, in the last couple of years, the tax-free first home savings account to make it easier for Canadians to save for their first homes. Up to now, over 750,000 Canadians have opened an account to save money to put into a down payment faster, with the help of tax relief.

Budget 2024 proposes an additional support for Canadians to be able to afford a home faster. First off, we know that for homes to become more affordable we need to increase supply. Budget 2024 would include an additional investment of $15 billion in new loan funding for the apartment construction loan program, bringing the program's total to $55 billion since 2017. This new investment would help build more than 30,000 additional homes across the country.

Budget 2024 would also top up the housing accelerator fund to increase the supply of housing faster. This fund would work with municipalities to cut red tape and to fast-track the creation of at least 100,000 new homes across Canada. The investment in budget in 2024 is $400 million over four years and would help fast-track 12,000 new homes in three years.

Another measure that would be extended for an additional two years is the ban on foreign buyers of Canadian homes. People who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents would continue to be prohibited from buying homes in Canada, as this practice has brought up the value of our homes.

While building new homes is a longer-term solution to bringing down the cost of housing, there are other ways that budget 2024 would aim to help young Canadians buy and keep their first homes. The budget proposes to enhance the Canadian mortgage charter in several ways. It would allow a five-year increase of the amortization period, allowing for a 30-year amortization for first-time homebuyers purchasing newly built homes and making it possible for more young Canadians to qualify for and afford their monthly mortgage payments.

For those who already have a mortgage and whose terms are coming to an end, renewing one's mortgage with today's rates seems quite daunting. However, the Canadian government will be working toward making permanent amortization relief available to protect homeowners who meet specific criteria. Eligible homeowners would be able to reduce their monthly mortgage payment to an amount they can afford for as long as they need to. This would give them an opportunity to stay in their homes for longer.

While housing is one of the most important points in budget 2024, I would like to turn to a few other great supports for Canadians that would be funded in this budget. I will not spend too much time talking about the national school food program because I have already spoken about it at length in this place. I could not be happier that this investment of $1 billion to help kids eat a healthy meal at school has seen the light of day. The only private member's bill I have ever had the opportunity to present in this place, in my time as an MP, was on this very program, because as a teacher, I know just how badly it is needed.

Budget 2024 proposes an investment of $1 billion over five years for the federal government to work with provinces, territories and indigenous partners to expand access to school food programs, with support beginning as early as the new school year. The program is expected to provide meals for more than 400,000 kids each year and is expected to save the average participating family with two children as much as $800 per year in grocery costs, with lower-income families benefiting the most.

Also incredibly important is that the federal government recently introduced legislation that would help make essential medications more accessible and affordable for Canadians, which is a landmark move toward building a national pharmacare program that is comprehensive, inclusive and fiscally sustainable. Bill C-64, the pharmacare act, describes the federal government's intent to work with provinces and territories to provide universal, single-payer coverage for a number of contraception and diabetes medications. Now, budget 2024 proposes to provide $1.5 billion over five years to help Canada support the launch of the national pharmacare program.

We also need more support for persons with disabilities who face significant barriers to financial security, Budget 2024 proposes funding of $6.1 billion over six years and $1.4 billion per ongoing year for a new Canada disability benefit, with payments to eligible Canadians, which would start in July 2025. The Canada disability benefit would establish an important support for persons with disabilities and would ensure a fairer chance for persons with disabilities. It would fill a gap in the federal government's social safety net and is intended to supplement, not to replace, existing provincial and territorial income support measures.

Another aspect I was thrilled to see in budget 2024 is continued mental health support for our young people. The budget proposes an investment of $500 million over five years, beginning in 2024-25, with the goal of reducing wait times and providing more options for youth in need of mental health care. The reason this is so important is that 32% of young people who seek mental health support are unable to access care because of the cost. Whether we are talking about mental health issues brought on by the pandemic or those brought on by the postpandemic economy, gen Z needs that extra help, and the government is here to provide it.

We know that Canada's success, now and tomorrow, depends on the success of its youngest generations, but too many young people feel as though the reward for hard work, which is a secure, prosperous, comfortable middle-class life, is out of reach. For students, even with increases in financial supports, many still need more help to cover rising costs. Budget 2024 announces the government's intention to extend, for an additional year, the increase in full-time Canada student grants from $3,000 to $4,200 per year and interest-free Canada student loans from $210 to $300 per week, in time for the new school year. With this change, Canada's student grants will have doubled in size since 2014.

Grants for part-time students, students with disabilities and students with dependents would also be increased proportionately. Increased grants would support 587,000 students, and increased interest-free loans would support 652,000 students, with a combined $7.3 billion for the upcoming academic year. However, since federal student grants and loans are intended to help cover the cost of shelter, the formula used to estimate students' housing costs has not bee updated since 1998.

Budget 2024 proposes to modernize the shelter allowances used by the Canada student financial assistance program when determining financial need. This new approach would provide additional student aid to approximately 79,000 students each year. The government would also incentivize post-secondary institutions to build more student housing, and would provide the low-cost financing needed so that more students could find an affordable place to call home.

To aid the transition from school to the work world, work-integrated learning opportunities, such as co-ops and internships, are a proven way for post-secondary students to gain the valuable skills, education and real-life experience necessary to get good-paying jobs in important and growing fields.

To create more work-integrated learning opportunities for post-secondary students, budget 2024 proposes to provide $207.6 million for the student work placement program, which has already created over 192,000 work opportunities for post-secondary students since 2017-18. Likewise, the government would invest to create more youth job opportunities to build their skills and to gain meaningful work experience, which will be critical to Canada's economic growth potential in the years to come.

To create 90,000 youth job placements and employment support opportunities, budget 2024 proposes to provide $351.2 million for the youth employment and skills strategy. This includes $200.5 million for Canada summer jobs, including in sectors facing critical labour shortages, and $150.7 million for the youth employment and skills strategy program.

We cannot ignore those younger Canadians who choose to work for themselves and to launch their own businesses, which is an important part of a growing economy. To empower young entrepreneurs, budget 2024 proposes to provide $60 million over five years for Futurpreneur Canada, a national not-for-profit organization that would provide young entrepreneurs with access to financing, mentorship and other business supports to help them launch and grow their businesses.

I can see that my time is up, so I would like to wrap up by saying once more that I support budget 2024.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Madam Speaker, a generation of young people has become acutely aware of the fact that the government has put their future at risk.

I would like to ask the member this. In light of the fact of all this spending that people hope is for real, what has the government done to create funding to be available? How many of its consultants has it fired and how much money has it set aside now of real money to do these things on behalf of young Canadians?

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

Madam Speaker, I regret that my earpiece was not working for the first part of the member's question, but I think I got the gist of it. I do think that the government has the best of intentions with this budget to help Canadians now that they need help the most.

Our young Canadians are in a place where past generations have not been at the age they currently are. We obviously need to step it up and help Canadians, and meet them where they are in order to give them the supports they need to live the lives they deserve to live.