Committee
Consult the user guide
For assistance, please contact us
Consult the user guide
For assistance, please contact us
Add search criteria
Results: 106 - 120 of 420
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
—about the independence of the Bank of Canada.
Yes, that is not responsible behaviour.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, the Bank of Canada is ably and independently run, and perhaps members of this committee would like to invite representatives of the bank to come and speak to the committee and answer your questions.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, I cannot emphasize too emphatically the importance that our government attaches and that I attach to the independence of the Bank of Canada and—
Hon. Pierre Poilievre: Mr. Chair—
Hon. Chrystia Freeland: —I will always speak out against efforts to undermine that or cast doubt on the independence of this critical Canadian institution. Canadians trust the bank, and they're right to do so.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
I thought the chair had turned the floor over to me, and I would simply like to endorse our chairman's comments that the independence of the bank is important.
I would urge members who wish to ask questions of the Bank of Canada to invite the very able leadership and representatives of the bank to this committee.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, as all Canadians know, the Bank of Canada is a Canadian government institution. It is, however, an independent institution, and its independence was a very important innovation at the time. It is something that I as finance minister prize and respect, and I think that all MPs should do likewise.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, I didn't “admit” that the Bank of Canada was accountable to the people of Canada; I proudly stated it. I really cannot emphasize too strongly the importance of a respected and independent central bank to the functioning of our economy.
As a journalist, I had the privilege of quite often interviewing finance minister Jim Flaherty. I can tell you from personal experience that he respected the independence of the Bank of Canada. I would hope that today's Conservative Party would do the same.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Okay.
Well, Mr. Chair, as I had to point out yet again that in question period, the member opposite and some of his colleagues seem to be making a habit of misconstruing my words.
In no way does the government seek to conceal or keep secret the activities of the Bank of Canada. The Bank of Canada is a highly transparent, highly responsible institution, and I have a question for the Conservative members. Do they respect the independence of the Bank of Canada as previous Conservative finance ministers like the late Jim Flaherty did? I hope they do. The Canadian economy depends on it.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
The time's up. I'm sorry. It's called a rhetorical question.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
This is an issue very dear to my heart, and I really believe it's an issue whose time has come.
Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the tabling of the report of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada. That report, among other things, called on the federal government to urgently begin negotiations with the provinces and territories on building a universal national child care system. That was 50 years ago. It has remained something that Canadian women, Canadian mothers and, I would say, Canadian parents have been hoping for and pushing for over those 50 years.
I think there are two things that make now a moment when we really can have a breakthrough.
The first is the coronavirus and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The spring particularly, when so many schools and day cares were closed down, was when I think many business leaders became more aware than they had been of the necessity of child care to keep women in the workforce.
We're seeing now that women's labour force participation has really taken a hit because of this pandemic. One of the things I am so struck by right now is that it's not just the usual suspects—early learning child care advocates and feminists—who are talking about child care; it is also corporate leaders. People are talking about child care as what it is, which is a driver of economic growth.
Early learning and child care can help parents participate in the labour force, and it can also create a better labour force when those well-educated little children grow up. I think we need to see it, of course, as a feminist issue, but we also need to see it as a real growth driver. I think our country is starting to look at it that way.
The second really important thing, Julie, is that we now have the example of Quebec, so talking about early learning and child care is no longer a theoretical exercise. It's no longer like some of the debates that we have in the House of Commons or at committee where everyone has their pre-baked, entrenched, ideological positions. When it comes to early learning and child care, we can look at Quebec and say that it works.
Labour force participation in Quebec, particularly of mothers of children three and under, is off the charts. It's one of the highest in the world. This has been a major contributor to economic growth in Quebec. It's worked in Quebec. It's time for us to learn from la belle province and to find ways to make it work across the rest of the country.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Of course. We put in some measures on climate change in the fall economic statement as a down payment on the growth plan we were discussing earlier today. They include grants for home retrofits, grants of up to $5,000 to help people make their homes more energy-efficient. That's sort of a double win, because it will put people to work retrofitting your home and at the same time help our whole country to become more energy-efficient. Maybe it's even a triple win, because it will lower your electricity bills.
We also announced investment in the infrastructure for zero-emission vehicles across the country. Again, it's a double win there, because we'll create jobs in building that infrastructure and will make it easier for people to shift to zero-emission vehicles.
There are significant investments in nature-based solutions to climate change. Again, building those nature-based solutions is also a job creation program.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Wayne, can I just offer one final final thought?
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
It's something I meant to say, which is that we have some of Canada's hard-working public servants from the Department of Finance here with us. They have been working just like Stakhanovites to prepare the fall economic statement, and they were working really hard before that to support Canadian businesses, Canadian families and the Canadian economy through this crisis. I think this is a good opportunity. Maybe all of us will agree on one thing and only one thing—all members of this committee—that Canada is very lucky to have such fine, smart, hard-working and dedicated public servants.
Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, I thank the hon. member for his question.
I agree with him that Canada and Canadians are doing an excellent and difficult job in the fight against coronavirus. As for the economy, our government is there for Canadians, for workers and for businesses, and it will continue to be.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Chair, Canadians know that the government is there to support them. Eight—
Results: 106 - 120 of 420 | Page: 8 of 28

|<
<
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
>
>|
Export As: XML CSV RSS

For more data options, please see Open Data