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Results: 1 - 14 of 14
View Tako Van Popta Profile
CPC (BC)
View Tako Van Popta Profile
2021-06-22 11:27 [p.8947]
Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Abbotsford for his comments on this year's budget. He mentioned that inflationary pressures are already embedded in the economy. We know that the best way to tackle inflation is to grow the economy to make sure that it is producing all the goods and services that people need.
Does the member have comments about what this budget does to grow the economy?
View Ed Fast Profile
CPC (BC)
View Ed Fast Profile
2021-06-22 11:27 [p.8947]
Madam Speaker, inflation does represent a significant threat to our economy and to Canadians right across the country because as inflation grows, interest rates typically follow. That is something every family who has a large mortgage needs to be concerned about.
My colleague is also right in that the best way to address a recessionary economy, a large budgetary deficit and a massive, growing debt is to grow the economy. What we can do is cut spending, which I do not believe any of the parties in the House of Commons are talking about; increase taxes on Canadians, which is what the NDP, the Bloc and the Liberals always propose; or grow the economy, thereby finding a way to manage the debt and start to return to balanced budgets, at least in the long term.
Given the massive debt we have now incurred, growing the economy is the best way forward. One thing the Conservatives will not do is increase taxes on Canadians at such a difficult time.
View Kristina Michaud Profile
BQ (QC)
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. I think he would agree that it is hard to listen to the Liberals say that we would have ended up in a recession after the pandemic and that they needed to invest a hundred billion dollars.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer believes that $69 billion would have been enough to stimulate the economy. He is also of the opinion that the GDP will increase by 1% after the pandemic and that roughly 70,000 jobs will be created. The Liberals, however, think the GDP will increase by 2% and more than 300,000 jobs will be created.
What does my colleague think of the Liberals' statements, what is presented in the budget and the Parliamentary Budget Officer's projections?
View Blaine Calkins Profile
CPC (AB)
View Blaine Calkins Profile
2021-05-11 17:05 [p.7081]
Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to be in the chamber today to speak to Bill C-30, the Liberals' budget implementation act. It has been more than two years since the government has tabled a budget, and the expectations of Canadians were high. With all the platitudes, like “build back better”, the government had increased expectation and set the stage for something that we were led to believe would be momentous. Unfortunately, the Liberals once again fell back to their default setting of over-promising, overspending and underachieving. Plain and simple, this budget is a letdown for the hard-working Albertans in my riding of Red Deer—Lacombe.
It is reasonable that a number of essential COVID-19 support programs that many Canadians rely on are being extended. This is only fair considering they are necessary because of the failings and mismanagement of the pandemic by the Liberals in the first place. However, while Americans are able to attend stadium sport events and mass gatherings because of a successful vaccination and therapeutic drug strategy, Albertans have just been placed under the most stringent public health measures so far. The Liberals' failure to procure an adequate number of vaccines is devastating, not only to those who will undoubtedly get COVID, but to all Canadians who are being forced to sacrifice more for longer than our friends and families in other countries.
The budget completely fails to lay the road map for how the Liberals plan to get out of the pandemic and get back to life as we once knew it. That is job number one right now, and it was missed entirely in this budget. It is clear that the Liberals have no plan to get back to normal. Instead, they came up with creative solutions to try and mask their failure by trying to compare Canada's first-dose vaccination rate, with our four-month gap between doses, with those of our G20 partners, which are following the manufacturers' instructions on timelines for administering the second dose. Maybe that should not be surprising. After all, this is a government that is well practised at spin, starting with its ethically challenged Prime Minister.
The Liberals' failure to prevent variants of concern from entering Canada and their failure in acquiring vaccines are not just health related. The longer it takes for us to begin the post-COVID recovery, the further we will fall behind.
While the Liberals may be spending money like it grows on trees, which is easy to do when one is printing money to offset spending, the reality is that only the private sector can lead us out of the pandemic, and private sector investment is going to flow to the jurisdictions that welcome it. Unfortunately, with so much uncertainty about when we will be on the other side of the pandemic and with a budget that does nothing meaningful to cut red tape or improve the business climate in this country, Canada is not and will not be prepared for the necessary private sector investments.
The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance has made it clear that the government sees the current quagmire of misery that Canadians are living in as a window of political opportunity. This budget shows us exactly what kind of opportunity the Liberals are seeking: an opportunity to shore up their political fortunes for re-election. This budget is full of unnecessary, unproductive spending and electioneering that the government is trying to disguise as stimulus.
The Minister of Finance promised that they would spend up to $100 billion in stimulus, but only if it was necessary. With many economists speaking out and telling us that stimulus spending of that magnitude was not necessary, I was hopeful that the Liberals would pull in the reins on their spending spree. However, when it comes to the government, the devil is always in the details.
We know that the full $100 billion has been allocated even though the Parliamentary Budget Officer has made it clear that a significant portion of it is not actually stimulus at all. I guess no one told the Minister of Finance that if she does not need the whole $100 billion in stimulus, she should not spend it, because it is borrowed money. It certainly does not mean the government should spend the rest supporting political or ideological goals instead of economic ones.
The Prime Minister is set to rack up more debt than every prime minister preceding him. The real issue is that the Liberal government does not even seem to see this as a problem. Time after time we see the government brag about the size of the investment instead of the quality of the return on the investment. That is the problem when a government is all talk and no substance. The Liberals value the press releases more than the result reports, and they clearly plan to continue this trend with budget 2021.
The Liberals promised that they were going to build back better. Well, for central Albertans, this is a plan that will ensure that we build back poorer, as sectors of the economy that Albertans rely on have been largely ignored in this budget, if not outright attacked.
Small businesses that are a critical part of our economy and our communities have been let down. While some much-needed pandemic relief programs were extended and loans remain on offer to those able to shoulder even more government-forced debt, the lack of certainty is crippling. Last year, 60,000 small businesses failed and another nearly 200,000 are in danger of closing now. Small businesses in the tourism sector have been especially devastated.
A single mom in my riding who has been a self-employed travel agent for 30 years recently had to go out and start looking for a new career. This is in large part because the government did not ensure any safeguards for small, independent business people when they were dealing with the airlines. Their commissions are now being clawed back by airlines for services rendered months or even years ago.
In 2020, countless community events were cancelled because of COVID-19, events that our communities rely on to bring in tourists. Many of these community events are once again faced with a fast-approaching deadline to decide what 2021 is going to look like for their events and their businesses.
My riding is home to the Ponoka Stampede, Canada's largest seven-day rodeo. Losing an event like the Ponoka Stampede is not just a loss for the competitors or spectators. It is a loss to the community and surrounding areas, which would otherwise benefit from the event. The estimated economic impact for the local area is $150 million every year. That is a lot of money anywhere, but especially in a rural community like Ponoka with a population of just 7,200 people.
We are getting to a point where organizers need to make these tough decisions again, but the government has not given them the certainty they need to make them. We can see how that ripples across the community. Just last year in Red Deer, the Black Knight Inn closed its doors after running successfully for nearly 45 years.
Guides and outfitters are another part of the tourism sector that have been left behind by the government. With many businesses getting 90% or more of their clients from the United States or other foreign countries, times have been tough for the industry, causing spinoff problems related to food security for local communities and wildlife management. These businesses have lost nearly all of their clients and have no way or ability to pivot to clients from the domestic market.
The budget implementation act has no mention of the tourism relief fund committed to in the budget, which many of these businesses could certainly use. We would expect that a fund geared toward helping businesses adapt their services to public health measures and start to recover would be implemented right away. While funding for Destination Canada could have been helpful in promoting our world-class hunting and fishing opportunities to other Canadians, the government quietly stopped letting lodges access the fund for this purpose a number of years ago.
The agriculture sector was also essentially forgotten. Throughout the pandemic, it has become routine for the government to point to the original set of business risk management programs, which were in need of a overhaul long before the pandemic, as somehow now a solution to the problem. The proposal to refund a portion of the carbon tax on natural gas and propane for vital activities like grain drying is a pittance of what farmers pay to run them. Hopefully, we can get this corrected through the private member's bill of my colleague from Northumberland—Peterborough South, which would remove the carbon tax from a broader list of farm fuels. The Liberals, I might add, recently voted against it at second reading.
When it comes to the oil and gas sector, there was literally no support whatsoever. In fact, we can see the next step shaping up in the Prime Minister's plan to phase out the oil and gas sector entirely, through the proposed changes that ensure several types of fossil fuel powered energy equipment are no longer eligible for accelerated capital cost allowance deductions. In other words, the Liberals are driving away investment.
When it comes to Alberta's energy sector, the budget is also ensuring that the modest money that is being committed for carbon capture is not eligible to companies that perform enhanced oil recovery. During past challenging economic times, Canada's energy sector has been able to be an integral and central part of our recovery.
Instead of working to empower our world-class oil and gas sector, which abides by the strictest environmental standards in the world, the government prefers to increase the pace with which they are mothballing this industry. They work to end the Canadian industry and ironically welcome oil from places like Venezuela and Saudi Arabia, which lack our commitment to environmental standards and human rights.
This budget is extremely frustrating to my constituents. A recent survey in Alberta by ThinkHQ Public Affairs suggested central Albertans are more likely to report a negative financial impact from the pandemic. It is about 57% in the place I call home compared with 46% for the provincial average. With these realities, we would think that if the government is going to spend money to stimulate our economy, it would ensure that industries important to local economies in places like central Alberta are included.
I do not know what would matter to the government. It simply does not seem to care about the needs of central Albertans. I look forward to the day when a Conservative government once again takes care of the needs of all Canadians.
View James Bezan Profile
CPC (MB)
Madam Speaker, I am glad to speak to the budget implementation act, and I want to congratulate my friend from Carleton for an excellent speech.
It is very clear that the Liberals' so-called stimulus fund in this budget is really all about spending on Liberal pet projects and partisan priorities, not creating jobs and growing our economy. We continue to see no plan to get back to a balanced budget. We know spending in certain areas is completely out of control. This budget has been panned by the parliamentary budget officer and a number of financial experts. Editorials in major newspapers have not given it a passing grade.
It has been said many times through this debate that the Prime Minister of Canada, the Liberal Prime Minister, has racked up more national debt in the past six years than all previous prime ministers and governments of all political stripes in the 150-year history of Canada.
My granddaughter's birthday is today, and Sarah turns one, and I wish her a happy birthday. When she was born last year, she was already on the hook for over $31,700 of her share of the national debt. Today, she is now on the hook for almost $40,000. That is how much it has gone up because of the Liberal government.
There is no doubt we are dealing with a pandemic and there is no doubt a lot of emergency spending had to happen. However, we also know that a lot of money has been wasted and has gone into Liberal priorities, not the priorities of Canadians. As has been said many times, we are getting very concerned about the cost of this borrowing and how all this new printed money that is being pumped into the economy is going to impact inflation.
Whether we are looking at new home prices or when trying to buy lumber at a local lumber store to rebuild a fence or put a new deck in the backward, all these prices are skyrocketing because of this injection of cheap money printed by the Government of Canada.
We went through this once before under Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau. I took out my first mortgage to buy some farm land back in 1984. Because inflation was out of control and the Bank of Canada was trying to control it, interest rates were pegged at over 21% for mortgage borrowing. If we have that type of escalation in the cost of borrowing, there is no way people will be able to afford the homes they bought. They will be more than mortgage poor; they will be into foreclosures. The Government of Canada's borrowing will grow exponentially and it will have to take money from other programs just to pay down the interest on this huge debt, totalling over $1.4 trillion.
In this budget, we have another $101 billion in new spending over the next three years. We have a deficit left over from last year of $354 billion. This is not sustainable and we need to ensure we do not bring forward programs that will be structural and cause structural deficits. We have to ensure the assistance is there, but that it is short-lived and is removed as soon as we start to recover. The PBO has already said that we need to continue to balance our spending so we can adjust as people come of the recession caused by COVID.
We have to remember that today's deficits are tomorrow's taxes, and 74% of Canadians, according to a Nanos poll, have already said that they are incredibly concerned about the deficits the government is racking up under the Liberals.
One of the things missing in this budget is that there is nothing to increase productivity and competitiveness. When we were in government under Stephen Harper, we provided dollars to businesses to accelerate their capital gains losses against any equipment they were buying to increase productivity. They could buy new machinery or tools for their shops.
By increasing productivity and increasing competitiveness so they would be able to compete on the world market, they were creating more jobs. By creating more jobs, Canadians are back at work. They are stimulating the economy, because they are spending more, and they are paying taxes.
The budget we have in front of us right now is not a growth budget, and it fails to have any way to get Canada into a position of prosperity down the road. As I said, the Parliamentary Budget Officer said that a significant amount of the spending in this budget by the Liberals will not stimulate the jobs or create any economic growth, and that is going to hurt the long-term outlook on this budget, which is that they are expecting to see growth exponentially to fund that debt down the road.
I am really concerned about how this is affecting local businesses, especially in my riding of Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman. So many businesses are slipping through the cracks, especially seasonal operations. Here we are, going into a second summer under COVID with lockdowns and no ability for so many different businesses to operate.
I am thinking about caterers. I had a conversation with Danny's Whole Hog recently. All the weddings that were booked for this summer have now been cancelled. The company went last summer with almost no events to do and no catering available, and its barbecue business right now is pretty much dead. Instead of running 20-plus teams around the province, doing barbecues every weekend, it is down to only several staff. The owner is glad that he has had access to the wage subsidy program, but there is no guarantee that it is going to be extended down the road, especially as these seasonal businesses do not have revenues once they get through the summer and fall, and by then it is going to be too late for many of these companies.
There are summer camps in my riding, along beautiful Lake Manitoba, Lake Winnipeg and over in the Whiteshell: Camp Arnes, Camp Massad, Gimli Bible Camp and Camp Cedarwood. They did not have any campers last summer and again camp has already been cancelled for this summer, so they are looking for help.
One of my constituents, Jennifer Mills, has just been so tenacious in dealing with the loss of revenues to her company. She is in the carnival business. I have a neat industry in my riding where we have three main carnivals that go and set up at the midways, local fairs, rodeos and festivals: Canuck Amusements, Select Shows and Wonder Shows. Again, they are going into the second summer, over 20 months now without any revenue, and there have been no programs to support them. Jennifer has emailed the Liberal government over 200 times over the last 20 months, and still nobody has bothered to respond to her, whether the Minister of Small Business, the Minister of Finance or anyone.
That does not even deal with hairdressers, restaurants, libraries, outfitters and museums. They are all suffering, yet there is no help coming from the government for most of those businesses.
Agriculture is key to this economy. It is key to my riding. It is in my blood, as I am a farmer myself. I look at my family and immediate family and I am worried about young farmers and how they are going to be bearing the cost of these programs. I am glad to see that after we asked the Minister of Agriculture for a year to exclude the carbon tax on propane and natural gas that is used for drying crops, the Liberals are finally doing that and refunding it. It is a start.
This budget is proposing funding for more efficient grain dryers and farm equipment not powered by diesel fuel. There are no alternatives out there, and young farmers depend upon having to use used equipment. They buy used equipment, which is going to be based on older technology, so diesel fuel is the lifeblood of agriculture. If we want to eat, diesel fuel is going to be part of that for a very long time to come. There is no reference here to how the government is going to reward farmers for bringing in better crop rotation, low-till practices, zero-till practices and carbon sequestration. It is a public good, but there is nothing there.
Farming depends upon trade, and there is no funding in this budget to help our farmers trade more, especially as places like Communist China become more unpredictable on whether we will be able to access it.
I have more to say, and I will deal with that in the questions and answers afterwards, but I am glad to be able to get on the record talking about the gaps and the failures of the Liberal budget.
View Michael Cooper Profile
CPC (AB)
View Michael Cooper Profile
2021-05-06 16:30 [p.6817]
Madam Speaker, I will be splitting my time with my friend, the hon. member for Elgin—Middlesex—London.
It took the government two years to table a budget, this in the midst of a social, health and economic crisis that this country has not experienced in generations. In the face of that, one would have expected the government to put forward a comprehensive economic plan to get Canada out of this crisis and on the road to recovery.
This budget is a long budget. It is a 739-page budget. Despite its length, when it comes to the fundamentals of getting Canada's economy back on track, it is, to put it generously, wanting. This budget has no plan to get Canadians vaccinated, no plan to get Canada's economy safely reopened and no plan to encourage innovation. There is no plan to address Canada's lagging competitiveness or attract investment to Canada. Simply put, when it comes to growing Canada's economy, when it comes to getting Canadians back to work and when it comes to sending a message to the rest of the world that yes, indeed, Canada is once again open for business, this budget misses the mark.
What this budget does do is usher in a sea of red ink, the likes of which this country has never seen. This budget provides for, last year, a deficit of $354 billion. To put that in some context, the deficit for last year is three and a half times the size of the total debt that the government accumulated of $100 billion prior to COVID.
It is hardly as though the government had a record of being good fiscal stewards prior to COVID. Indeed, the government left the cupboard bare during the good times, leaving Canada in a fiscally vulnerable position to weather the COVID storm. That is why, within months of COVID after the first tranche of COVID-related spending, Canada's credit rating was downgraded by Fitch and S&P threatened to do the same unless the government reversed course and got back on track with a fiscally responsible approach.
This budget does not provide any confidence in that regard. This budget will result in the national debt rising to $1.4 trillion by the end of this year, which is double the national debt from a little more than a year ago. That is truly staggering.
This budget will put the Prime Minister in the history books, but for all the wrong reasons. The Prime Minister will go down in history as the Prime Minister who accumulated more debt in the span of seven years than all Canadian prime ministers combined going back to Canada's founding in 1867. Again, that is hardly a record to be proud of.
In the face of all of this red ink, it is no surprise that there was no plan to get Canada's fiscal house in order and no plan to eventually see a return to a balanced budget, which the government inherited from the previous Conservative government under Stephen Harper, and completely missing from the budget was any meaningful fiscal anchor.
The only plan this budget provided is for spending, spending and more spending, burdening future generations like never before, with no end to deficits. This budget lays the framework for forever deficits.
The government likes to say that as we are in a pandemic, we have no choice and these are unprecedented times. That is true, and the COVID pandemic has necessitated some significant spending to help Canadians and businesses get through it, because Canadians are out of work and businesses are unable to operate in the way they were prior to COVID. At every step of the way, we in the official opposition have tried to work constructively with the government to see that there is targeted support and that it is delivered in a timely way to Canadians and Canadian businesses that need help. However, the government's excuse that all of its spending, deficit and debt are attributable to COVID can only go so far.
Under this budget, total program spending for the fiscal year 2021-22 is projected to be $475.6 billion. Of that $475.6 billion, only about 12% is related to COVID. In other words, 88% or so of the government's total program spending is unrelated to COVID. When we consider the $475.6 billion in program spending, that is an increase of a staggering 40.5% from 2019-20 levels.
What this budget contains is massive spending, including billions and billions of dollars of new permanent program spending, despite the fact that the Prime Minister's mandate letter to the Minister of Finance called on the minister not to include any new permanent spending. It turns out that the Prime Minister's mandate letter to the minister was not worth the paper it was written on.
The government hangs its hat on and touts the $101.4 billion in so-called stimulus spending. However, the Parliamentary Budget Officer notes that only $36.8 billion of that so-called stimulus spending is related to COVID, leaving $69.2 billion in so-called stimulus spending. The catch, however, is that, of the $69.2 billion in so-called stimulus spending, some $52.1 billion does not go out the door until 2022 and all the way to 2024. In other words, it will have no immediate impact, which is the very purpose of stimulus spending. It is no wonder that the Parliamentary Budget Officer has said, with respect to the government's so-called stimulus spending, that the government has “miscalibrated”.
With all of the spending, massive deficits and debt, where are Canadians as a result of the government's approach? Canada has among the slowest economic growth rates in the G7; one of the highest unemployment rates in the G7, a full 25% above the G7 average; and the highest level of debt, save for Japan. On top of that—
View Kristina Michaud Profile
BQ (QC)
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech. He clearly indicated how the Liberal budget overestimates the impact of stimulus spending on the economy. That is what the Parliamentary Budget Officer thinks. He said that there is only $69 billion in economic stimulus.
In my colleague's opinion, could the government have limited itself to that $69 billion or could it have invested the $100 billion that it invested but in a different way? That way, the government could have dedicated $28 billion to health, as per the request of the provinces and Quebec. Which of the two options would my colleague choose?
View Michael Cooper Profile
CPC (AB)
View Michael Cooper Profile
2021-05-06 16:43 [p.6818]
Madam Speaker, with respect to the member's latter point about health, it is disappointing that we have seen zero dollars in the way of new transfers to the provinces for health, despite the fact that all 10 provinces have been begging and pleading with the government. I note that under the Harper government, health transfers increased by 6% annually.
With respect to the Parliamentary Budget Officer's findings, the Parliamentary Budget Officer projects, as the hon. member noted, that growth from the government's so-called stimulus will be half of what the government projects in its budget. As for new jobs, the PBO estimates only 74,000 new jobs, compared with the 344,000 projected in the budget. Without more, the government's so-called stimulus is a total flop.
View Anthony Rota Profile
Lib. (ON)

Question No. 479--
Ms. Rachel Blaney:
With regard to consultations held by the Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages since January 2021 to launch a regional economic development agency for British Columbia: (a) how many meetings were held; (b) who attended each meeting; (c) what was the location of each meeting; (d) excluding any expenditures which have yet to be finalized, what are the details of all expenditures related to each meeting, broken down by meeting; (e) what is the itemized breakdown of the expenditures in (d), broken down by (i) venue or location rental, (ii) audiovisual and media equipment, (iii) travel, (iv) food and beverages, (v) security, (vi) translation and interpretation, (vii) advertising, (viii) other expenditures, indicating the nature of each expenditure; (f) how much was spent on contractors and subcontractors; (g) of the contractors and subcontractors in (f), what is the initial and final value of each contract; and (h) among the contractors and subcontractors in (f), what is the description of each service contract?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 480--
Mr. Brad Redekopp:
With regard to communications, public relations or consulting contracts signed by the government or ministers' offices since January 1, 2018, in relation to goods or services provided to ministers offices: what are the details of all such contracts, including (i) the start and end date, (ii) the amount, (iii) the vendor, (iv) the description of goods or services provided, (v) whether the contract was sole-sourced or tendered?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 481--
Mr. Brad Redekopp:
With regard to meetings between ministers or ministerial exempt staff and federal ombudsmen since January 1, 2016: what are the details of all such meetings, including (i) individuals in attendance, (ii) the date, (iii) agenda items or topics discussed?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 482--
Mr. Brad Redekopp:
With regard to the relationship between the government and Canada 2020 since January 1, 2016: (a) what is the total amount of expenditures provided to Canada 2020, broken down by year, for (i) ticket purchases, (ii) sponsorships, (iii) conference fees, (iv) other expenditures; and (b) what is the total number of (i) days, (ii) hours, government officials have spent providing support to Canada 2020 initiatives or programs or attending Canada 2020 events, broken down by year and initiative or event?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 483--
Mr. Ben Lobb:
With regard to contracts provided by the government to McKinsey & Company since November 4, 2015, broken down by department, agency, Crown corporation, or other government entity: (a) what is the total amount spent on contracts; and (b) what are the details of all such contracts, including (i) the amount, (ii) the vendor, (iii) the date and duration, (iv) the description of goods or services provided, (v) topics on which goods or services were related to, (vi) specific goals or objectives related to the contract, (vii) whether or not goals or objectives were met, (viii) whether the contract was sole-sourced or tendered?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 485--
Mr. Ben Lobb:
With regard to meetings between the government, including ministers or ministerial exempt staff, and MCAP since January 1, 2019, broken down by department, agency, Crown corporation, or other government entity: what are the details of all such meetings, including the (i) individuals in attendance, (ii) date, (iii) agenda items or topics discussed?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 486--
Mr. Rob Moore:
With regard to An Act respecting the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, since October 21, 2019: (a) how many directives has the Attorney General issued to the director of public prosecutions as per (i) subsection 10(1) of the act, (ii) subsection 10(2) of the act; and (b) broken down by (a)(i) and (a)(ii), what (i) were those directives, (ii) was the rationale for these directives?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 488--
Mr. Phil McColeman:
With regard to Canada’s relationship with the Government of China, since October 21, 2019: (a) what is the total amount of official development assistance that has been provided to the People’s Republic of China; (b) what are the details of each project in (a), including the (i) amount, (ii) description of the project, (iii) goal of the project, (iv) rationale for funding the project; (c) what is Global Affairs Canada’s (GAC) best estimate of China’s current annual military budget; and (d) what is GAC’s best estimate of the total annual budget of China’s Belt and Road Initiative?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 489--
Mr. Phil McColeman:
With regard to the government’s announcement of $2.75 billion to purchase zero emission buses: (a) what is the estimated median and average amount each bus will cost; (b) in what municipalities will the buses be located; and (c) how many buses will be located in each of the municipalities in (b), broken down by year for each of the next five years?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 491--
Mr. John Nater:
With regard to the Highly Affected Sectors Credit Availability Program: (a) how many applications have been (i) received, (ii) approved, (iii) denied; (b) what are the details of all approved fundings, including the (i) recipient, (ii) amount; and (c) what are the details of all denied applications, including the (i) applicant, (ii) amount requested, (iii) reason for denial?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 492--
Mr. John Nater:
With regard to the government funding of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the genocide of the Uyghurs in China: does the government know which of the projects currently funded by the AIIB and located in China are using forced Uyghur labour, and if so, which ones?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 495--
Mrs. Cheryl Gallant:
With regard to how the Canadian Armed Forces deal with sexual misconduct: (a) since November 4, 2015, what is the total number of alleged incidents of sexual assault; (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by type of allegation (for example male perpetrator and female victim, male perpetrator and male victim, etc.); (c) what is the breakdown of (b) by type of force, (for example Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal Canadian Naval Reserve, etc.); (d) for each breakdown in (c), in how many cases did the (i) Canadian Forces National Investigation Service assumed jurisdiction, (ii) local military police detachment assumed jurisdiction, (iii) local unit assumed jurisdiction; (e) for each breakdown in (c), in how many cases (i) were charges laid, (ii) were cases proceeded by a summary trial, (iii) were cases proceeded by a courts martial, (iv) was there a finding of guilt, (v) were administrative actions taken, (vi) was the complaint withdrawn or discontinued by the victim; (f) since November 4, 2015, what is the total number of alleged incidents of sexual harassment; (g) what is the breakdown of (f) by type of allegation (for example male perpetrator and female victim, male perpetrator and male victim, etc.); (h) what is the breakdown of (g) by type of force (for example Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal Canadian Naval Reserve, etc.); and (i) how many of the incidents in (h) resulted in (i) an investigation, (ii) a finding of harassment, (iii) administrative actions or sanctions, (iv) disciplinary actions?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 498--
Mr. Tako Van Popta:
With regard to government statistics related to small businesses: (a) how many small businesses have debt levels that put them at serious risk of insolvency or closure; and (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by sector?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 503--
Mr. Blake Richards:
With regard to the government's statistics and estimates related to small businesses: (a) how many small business have filed for bankruptcy since March 1, 2020, broken down by month; and (b) how many small businesses have either closed or ceased operations since March 1, 2020?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 505--
Mr. Daniel Blaikie:
With regard to call centres across the government, from fiscal year 2019-20 to date, broken down by fiscal year, department and call centre: (a) what is the rate of inaccurate information provided by call agents; (b) what is the annual funding allocated; (c) how many full-time call agents have been assigned; (d) how many calls could not be directed to a call agent; (e) what is the wait time target set; (f) what is the actual performance against the wait time target; (g) what is the average wait time to speak to a call agent; (h) what is the established call volume threshold above which callers are directed to the automated system; and (i) what is the method used to test the accuracy of responses given by call agents to callers?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 506--
Mr. Daniel Blaikie:
With regard to the compliance monitoring of the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) since its inception, broken down by period of eligibility, category of eligible employers (corporation, trust, charity other than a public institution, partnership, non-resident corporation), value of claim (less than $100,000, $100,000 to $1 million, $1 million to $5 million, and over $5 million), size of business (small, medium and large), and industry sector: (a) how many prepayment review audits were conducted; (b) of the audits in (a), what is the average audit duration; (c) how many postpayment audits were conducted; (d) of the audits in (c), what is the average audit duration; (e) how many times has the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) determined that an amount of the CEWS is an overpayment; (f) to date, what is the total amount of the CEWS overpayment; (g) how many notices of determination for overpayment have been issued; (h) what is the total amount and interest refunded to date as a result of the notices of determination for overpayment; (i) how many applications for the CEWS have been denied; (j) of the applications denied in (i), how many were subject to a second level review; (k) of the second level reviews in (j), what was the average processing time for the review; (l) of the second level reviews in (j), in how many cases was the original decision upheld; (m) of the cases in (l), how many of the applications were the subject of a notice of objection or an appeal to the Tax Court of Canada; (n) what was the rate of non-compliance; (o) excluding applications from businesses convicted of tax evasion, does the CRA also screen applications for aggressive tax avoidance practices, and, if so, how many applications were denied because the applicant engaged in aggressive tax avoidance; (p) among the businesses receiving the CEWS, has the CRA verified whether each business has a subsidiary or subsidiaries domiciled in a foreign jurisdiction of concern for Canada as defined by the CRA, and, if so, how many of the businesses that received the CEWS have a subsidiary or subsidiaries in foreign jurisdictions of concern for Canada; and (q) among the businesses in (p), has the CRA cross-referenced the data of businesses submitted for the CEWS application and their level of risk of non-compliance with tax laws?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 507--
Mr. Kenny Chiu:
With regard to government statistics related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on racialized Canadians: (a) how many racialized Canadians, in total, were employed at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic or as of March 1, 2020; (b) how many racialized Canadians are currently employed; (c) how many racialized Canadians, in total, have left the workforce since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic; (d) what information or statistics does the government have on how the pandemic has hurt self-employed racialized Canadians; (e) how many businesses owned by racialized Canadians have seen their earnings decrease over the pandemic, and what was the average percentage of those decreases; and (f) how many businesses owned by racialized Canadians have ceased operations or faced bankruptcy as a result of the pandemic?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 508--
Mr. Dan Mazier:
With regard to Service Canada, since January 2020, and broken down by month: (a) how many calls did Service Canada receive from the general public via phone; (b) what was the average wait time for an individual who contacted Service Canada via phone before first making contact with a live employee; (c) what was the average wait or on hold time after first being connected with a live employee; (d) what was the average duration of total call time, including all waiting times, for an individual who contacted Service Canada via phone; and (e) how many documented server, website, portal or system errors occurred on the Service Canada website?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 509--
Mr. Charlie Angus:
With regard to the Fall Economic Statement 2020 and the additional $606 million over five years, starting in 2021-22, to enable the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to fund new initiatives and extend existing programs aimed at international tax evasion and abusive tax avoidance, broken down by year: (a) how does the CRA plan to allocate the additional funding, broken down by CRA programs and services; (b) what is the target number of auditors to be hired in terms of full-time equivalents, broken down by auditor category; (c) what portion of the additional funding is solely directed to combating international tax evasion; and (d) what portion of the additional funding is solely directed to aggressive international tax avoidance?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 510--
Mr. Charlie Angus:
With regard to the government's commitment to launch consultations in the coming months on modernizing Canada's anti-avoidance rules as stated in the Fall Economic Statement 2020: (a) is funding already allocated to the consultation process, and, if so, what is the amount; (b) are staff already assigned, and, if so, how many full-time equivalents are assigned; (c) what is the anticipated list of issues and proposed changes to the consultation process; and (d) when is the consultation process expected to begin?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 511--
Mr. Charlie Angus:
With regard to budget 2016 and the government's commitment to provide $350 million per year in ongoing funding to enable the Canada Revenue Agency to combat tax evasion and abusive tax avoidance, broken down by fiscal year, from 2016 to date: (a) how much of this annual funding has gone to programs and services for (i) high-risk audits, (ii) international large business sector, (iii) high net worth compliance, (iv) flow-through share audits, (v) the foreign tax whistleblower program; (b) has this annual funding resulted in the hiring of additional auditors, and, if so, how many additional auditors have been hired, broken down by the programs and services in (a); (c) has this annual funding resulted in an increase in audits, and, if so, how many audits have been completed, broken down by the programs and services in (a); (d) has this annual funding resulted in an increase in assessments, and, if so, how many reassessments have been issued; (e) has this annual funding resulted in an increase in the number of convictions for international tax evasion, and, if so, how many convictions for international tax evasion have occurred; and (f) how much of this annual funding was not spent, and, if applicable, why?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 512--
Mr. James Bezan:
With regard to Canada-Chinese military cooperation, since January 1, 2017: (a) how many joint exercises or training activities have occurred involving the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of the People’s Republic of China; (b) what was the date of these exercises or training activities; (c) what was the nature of these exercises or training activities; (d) what was the location of these exercises or training activities; (e) how many PLA and CAF personnel were involved; (f) what was the rank of each of the PLA personnel involved; (g) what were the costs of these exercises or training activities incurred by the Department of National Defence; and (h) who is responsible for approving these exercises or training activities?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 513--
Ms. Michelle Rempel Garner:
With regard to the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI) and Health Canada respectively: (a) what scientific evidence, expert opinions, and other factors went into the decision to extend the dosing schedule up to four months between doses of the COVID-19 vaccines; and (b) what is the summary of the minutes of each meeting the NACI had in which dosing timelines were discussed?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 514--
Ms. Michelle Rempel Garner:
With regard to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC): (a) how many doctors and other designated medical professionals have been employed by the agency, broken down by year since 2015; and (b) what percentage of PHAC employees do each of the numbers in (a) represent?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 516--
Mr. Dave Epp:
With regard to all contracts awarded by the government since November 1, 2019, broken down by department or agency: (a) how many contracts have been awarded to (i) a foreign firm, (ii) an individual, (iii) a business, (iv) another entity with a mailing address outside of Canada; (b) what is the total value of the contracts in (a); (c) for each contract in (a), what is the (i) name of the vendor, (ii) country of the vendor's mailing address, (iii) date of the contract, (iv) summary or description of goods or services provided; and (d) for each contract in (a), was the contract awarded competitively or sole-sourced?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 517--
Mr. Dave Epp:
With regard to the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), since January 1, 2019: (a) what was the call volume, broken down by month and by type of caller (personal, business, professional accountant, etc.); and (b) what was the (i) average, (ii) median length of time callers spent on hold or waiting to talk to the CRA, broken down by month and type of caller?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 518--
Mr. Dave Epp:
With regard to government statistics on wireless service prices for Canadian consumers: (a) what was the average wireless service price as of November 1, 2019; (b) what is the current average wireless service price; and (c) what is the average decrease in wireless service price since November 1, 2019?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 520--
Mr. Blaine Calkins:
With regard to government contracts, since January 1, 2020, and broken down by department or agency: (a) how many tendered contracts were not awarded to the lowest bidder; and (b) what are the details of all such contracts, including the (i) vendor, (ii) value of the contract, (iii) date and duration of the contract, (iv) description of goods or services, (v) reason the contract was awarded to the vendor as opposed to the lowest bidder?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 521--
Mr. Blaine Calkins:
With regard to government statistics on the effect of the pandemic on the workforce: what are the government's estimates related to how many Canadians, in total, have left the workforce since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 522--
Mrs. Kelly Block:
With regard to government contribution agreements: (a) how many contribution agreements ended or were not renewed since January 1, 2016; (b) what is the total value of the agreements in (a); and (c) what are the details of each agreement in (a), including the (i) summary of agreement, including list of parties, (ii) amount of federal contribution prior to the agreement ending, (iii) last day the agreement was in force, (iv) reason for ending the agreement?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 525--
Ms. Jag Sahota:
With regard to the report in the March 9, 2021 Toronto Star that federal officials are researching and monitoring problematic supply chains, in relation to the use or forced labour to produce imported goods: (a) which supply chains are problematic; (b) how many supply chains have been identified as problematic; (c) in which countries are the problematic supply chains located; (d) what specific issues had the government identified that made the government identify these supply chains as problematic; and (e) has the government purchased any products that were either made or potentially made from forced labour, since November 1, 2019, and, if so, what are the details of the products, and why did the government purchase products that were potentially made using forced labour?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 528--
Ms. Jag Sahota:
With regard to the government's plan to use the savings of Canadians to stimulate the economy: what are the government's estimates or calculations related to the average per capita amount of savings for each Canadian family?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 531--
Mr. John Barlow:
With regard to government programs, and broken down by department, agency, Crown corporation, or other government entity: (a) how many programs were ended or have been suspended since January 1, 2016; (b) what are the details of each such program, including the (i) name of the program, (ii) date the program ended or was suspended, (iii) reason for ending or suspending the program, (iv) dollar value in savings as a result of ending or suspending the program?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 533--
Mr. John Williamson:
With regard to government contracts, since October 21, 2019, broken down by department, agency, Crown corporation, or other government entity: (a) how many contracts have been awarded to companies based in China or owned by entities based in China; (b) of the contracts in (a), what are the details, including (i) the value, (ii) the vendor, (iii) the date the contract was awarded, (iv) whether or not a national security review was conducted prior to the awarding of the contract, and, if so, what was the result; and (c) what is the government’s policy regarding the awarding of contracts to (i) companies based in China, (ii) companies with ties to the Chinese Communist Party?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 534--
Mr. John Williamson:
With regard to foreign investments, since January 1, 2016, broken down by year: (a) how many foreign takeovers of Canadian companies have occurred in accordance with the Investment Canada Act; (b) how many of the takeovers were initiated by Chinese state-owned enterprises; (c) for the takeovers in (b), what are the details, including (i) the name of the company doing the takeover, (ii) the name of the company subject to the takeover, (iii) whether a national security review was conducted, (iv) the result of the national security review, if applicable; and (d) what is the government’s policy regarding foreign takeovers initiated by Chinese state-owned enterprises?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 535--
Mr. Charlie Angus:
With regard to the Canada Infrastructure Bank, since May 2019: (a) what is the number of meetings held with Canadian and foreign investors, broken down by (i) month, (ii) country, (iii) investor class; (b) what is the complete list of investors met; (c) what are the details of the contracts awarded by the Canada Infrastructure Bank, including the (i) date of the contract, (ii) initial and final value of the contract, (iii) vendor name, (iv) file number, (v) description of services provided; (d) how many full-time equivalents were working at the bank in total, broken down by (i) month, (ii) job title; (e) what are the total costs of managing the bank, broken down by (i) fiscal year, from 2019-20 to date, (ii) leases costs, (iii) salaries of full-time equivalents and corresponding job classifications, (iv) operating expenses; (f) how many projects have applied for funding through the bank, broken down by (i) month, (ii) description of the project, (iii) value of the project; (g) of the projects in (f), how many have been approved; (h) how many projects assigned through the bank have begun operations, broken down by region; (i) of the projects in (h), what is the number of jobs created, broken down by region; (j) what is the renumeration range for its board of directors and its chief executive officer, broken down by fiscal year, from 2019-20 to date; (k) were any performance-based bonuses or incentives distributed to the board of directors and the chief executive officer, and, if so, how much, broken down by fiscal year from 2019-20 to date?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 536--
Mr. Andrew Scheer:
With regard to the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB): (a) how much private sector capital has the CIB been able to secure for its existing projects; (b) what is the overall ratio of private sector investment dollars to public investment dollars for all announced CIB projects; and (c) what is the ratio in (b), broken down by each project?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 537--
Mr. Andrew Scheer:
With regard to infrastructure projects announced by the government since November 4, 2015: what are the details of all projects announced by the government that are behind schedule, including the (i) description of the project, including the location, (ii) original federal contribution, (iii) original estimated total cost of the project, (iv) original scheduled date of completion, (v) revised scheduled date of completion, (vi) length of delay, (vii) reason for the delay, (viii) revised federal contribution, if applicable, (ix) revised estimated total cost of the project?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 538--
Mr. Andrew Scheer:
With regard to applications for Infrastructure funding between November 4, 2015, and September 11, 2019, and broken down by each funding program, excluding the Gas Tax Fund: what is the (i) name of program, (ii) number of applications received under each program, (iii) number of applications approved under each program, (iv) amount of funding commitment under each program, (v) amount of funding actually delivered to date under each program?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 539--
Mr. Andrew Scheer:
With regard to applications for Infrastructure funding since October 22, 2019, and broken down by each funding program, excluding the Gas Tax Fund: what is the (i) name of program, (ii) number of applications received under each program, (iii) number of applications approved under each program, (iv) amount of funding commitment under each program, (v) amount of funding actually delivered to date under each program?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 542--
Mr. Matthew Green:
With regard to Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) high net worth compliance program, broken down by year, from November 2015 to date: (a) how many audits were completed; (b) what is the number of auditors; (c) how many new files were opened; (d) how many files were closed; (e) of the files in (d), what was the average time taken to process the file before it was closed; (f) of the files in (d), what was the risk level of non-compliance of each file; (g) how much was spent on contractors and subcontractors; (h) of the contractors and subcontractors in (g), what is the initial and final value of each contract; (i) among the contractors and subcontractors in (g), what is the description of each service contract; (j) how many reassessments were issued; (k) what is the total amount recovered; (l) how many taxpayer files were referred to the CRA's Criminal Investigations Program; (m) of the investigations in (l), how many were referred to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada; and (n) of the investigations in (m), how many resulted in convictions?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 544--
Mr. Jasraj Singh Hallan:
With regard to the processing of applications by Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC): (a) how many applications did IRCC process each month since January 2020, broken down by month; (b) what is the breakdown of (a) by visa category and type of application; (c) how many applications did IRCC process each month in 2019, broken down by month; (d) what is the breakdown of (c) by visa category and type of application; (e) how many IRCC employees were placed on leave code 699 at some point since March 1, 2020; (f) what is the average duration the employees in (e) were on leave code 699; (g) what is the current processing times and application inventories of each visa category and type of application; and (h) what specific impact has the pandemic had on IRCC’s ability to process applications?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 545--
Mr. Jasraj Singh Hallan:
With regard to the Canadian Experience Class Program and the round of invitations issued on February 13, 2021: (a) what is the total number of invitations extended to applicants with Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) scores of (i) 75, (ii) 76 to 99, (iii) 100 to 199, (iv) 200 to 299, (v) 300 to 399, (vi) 400 to 430, (vii) 431 and higher; and (b) what is the distribution of the total number of invitations across the individual categories of points within each factor of the CRS?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 546--
Mr. Jasraj Singh Hallan:
With regard to compliance inspections for employers of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program during the COVID-19 pandemic from March 13, 2020, to the present: (a) what is the total number of inspections conducted; (b) what is the total number of tips or allegations received through the 1-800 tip line or on-line portal reporting any suspected non-compliance or in response to information received, and broken down by type of alleged non-compliance; and (c) what is the total number of confirmed non-compliance, and broken down by type of non-compliance?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 547--
Mr. Scott Duvall:
With regard to the proposal, as indicated in the 2020 Fall Economic Statement, for an additional $606 million over five years, beginning in 2021-22, to enable the Canada Revenue Agency to fund new initiatives and extend existing programs aimed at international tax evasion and abusive tax avoidance: (a) what specific modeling was used by the government to support its assertion that these measures to combat international tax evasion and abusive tax avoidance will recover $1.4 billion in revenue over five years; (b) who did the modeling in (a); (c) what were the modeling projections; and (d) does the $1.4 billion estimate come solely from the proposed additional $606 million over five years or does it also come from the 2016 budget commitment of $350 million per year?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 548--
Mr. Scott Duvall:
With regard to events hosted by Facebook, Google, Netflix, and Apple that ministers have attended, since November 2015, broken down by each company, year, and department: (a) what is the number of events each minister attended; (b) of the attendance in (a), what were the costs associated with (i) lodging, (ii) food, (iii) any other expenses, including a description of each expense; and (c) what are the details of any meetings the minister and others attended, including (i) the date, (ii) the summary or description, (iii) attendees, (iv) topics discussed?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 549--
Mrs. Shannon Stubbs:
With regard to government contracts awarded to Cisco, broken down by department, agency, or other government entity: (a) broken down by year, what is the (i) number, (ii) total value, of all contracts awarded to Cisco since January 1, 2016; and (b) what are the details of all contracts awarded to Cisco since January 1, 2016, including (i) the vendor, (ii) the date, (iii) the amount, (iv) the description of goods or services, (v) whether contract was sole-sourced?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 551--
Ms. Jenny Kwan:
With regard to loans approved by the Canada Enterprise Emergency Funding Corporation (CEEFC) under the Large Employer Emergency Financing Facility, broken down by approved loan for each borrower: (a) what are the terms and the conditions of the loan in terms of (i) dividends, (ii) capital distributions and share repurchases, (iii) executive compensation; (b) for the terms and conditions of the loan in (a), from what date do these terms apply and until what date do they expire; (c) what are the consequences provided for in the terms and conditions of the loan if a company does not comply with one or more of the terms and conditions in (a); (d) by what process does the CEEFC verify that the company complies with the terms and the conditions in (a); and (e) has the CEEFC appointed an observer to the board of directors of each of the borrowers, and, if so, what is the duration of his mandate?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 552--
Ms. Jenny Kwan:
With regard to housing: (a) since 2010, broken down by year, how much insured lending did the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation approve for rental financing and refinancing to real estate income trusts and large capital equity funds; (b) of the insured lending in (a), how much is associated with the purchase of existing moderate-rent assets; (c) broken down by project receiving funding in (a), what is the (i) average rent of units prior to the acquisition, (ii) average rent of units for each year following the acquisition up until the most current average rent; (d) broken down by province, funding commitment status (e.g. finalized agreement, conditional commitment), whether funding has been advanced and type of funding (grant or loan), what is the total funding that has been provided through the (i) National Co-Investment Fund, (ii) Rental Construction Financing Initiative, (iii) application stream of the Rapid Housing Initiative?
Response
(Return tabled)

Question No. 553--
Ms. Jenny Kwan:
With regard to the government’s contracting of visa application services: (a) on which dates did Public Works and Government Services Canada and Public Services and Procurement Canada each become aware that Beijing Shuangxiong is owned by the Beijing Public Security Bureau; (b) since learning of the ownership structure of Beijing Shuangxiong, what reviews have been conducted in response to this information, and when did they begin; (c) regarding the process that resulted in the awarding of the contract to VFS Global in 2018, (i) how many bids were submitted, (ii) did any other companies win the contract prior to it being awarded to VFS Global, (iii) what was assessed in the consideration of these contracts, (iv) was the Communications Security Establishment or the Canadian Security Intelligence Service involved in the vetting of the contracts; (d) is there an escape clause in this VFS Global’s contract that would allow the government to unilaterally exit the contract; and (e) the government having tasked VFS Global with the creation of digital services, what measures are being taken to ensure that the government is not providing VFS Global with a competitive advantage in future bids?
Response
(Return tabled)
8555-432-479 Regional economic developme ...8555-432-480 Contracts for goods or serv ...8555-432-481 Meetings with federal ombudsmen8555-432-482 Canada 20208555-432-483 Contracts with McKinsey &am ...8555-432-485 Meetings with MCAP8555-432-486 An Act respecting the offic ...8555-432-488 Canada-China relationship8555-432-489 Purchase of zero emission buses8555-432-491 Highly Affected Sectors Cre ...8555-432-492 Asian Infrastructure Invest ... ...Show all topics
View Pat Kelly Profile
CPC (AB)
View Pat Kelly Profile
2021-04-26 17:43 [p.6201]
Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise in the chamber to take part in one of the most basic responsibilities of Parliament, which is to discuss the authority of the Crown's government to spend its citizens' money. It has been a long time, over two years. The last budget was seven months before the last election, which seems like a lifetime ago.
It is easy to forget that in the third quarter of 2019, the Canadian economy was then teetering on the brink of recession. The economy had stopped growing in the fourth quarter of 2019 and the first quarter of 2020 was grim, even without the pandemic. Canada's debt-to-GDP ratio was rising, our triple A credit rating had been cut, and the government had already racked up $100 billion in new debt during a booming global economy. All of that was before COVID.
We were then expecting Bill Morneau's deficit targets would be significantly blown in the 2020 budget, but then the pandemic was declared and the budget was cancelled. We had to wait 13 more months for this budget.
There was no question that the government then had to support those who had been ordered, or even recommended, not to work. Businesses that were being asked or told to close needed to be supported. Massive emergency spending was necessary public policy at the time, from the moment public health orders took away people's paycheques and business revenues, yet that is not an excuse for refusing to table a budget, and it does not forgive the lack of fiscal discipline and lack of financial stewardship in this budget.
The borrowing contained in this budget staggers the imagination. Another $330 billion over the next five years, on top of the $355 billion in the last year alone, and there is no end in sight, merely a hope that this will mean, eventually, a return to a declining debt-to-GDP ratio starting next year. This anchor is one that had already been discarded before COVID and has no credibility coming from the government in this budget.
I do want to mention that I had intended to split my time with the member for Steveston—Richmond East, so I hope it is all right to bring it to your attention now, Mr. Speaker.
We have heard the government say over and over again, both before and during COVID, that deficits are all right because interest rates are so low, but Canada's accumulated debt, the majority of which is not locked in long-term, is extraordinarily vulnerable to interest rate volatility. To this, the government also responds that it expects interest rates to stay low for the foreseeable future, so there is really nothing to worry about until there is an economic recovery. Therein lies the threat to the sustainability of Canada's public finances. The sustainability of this unprecedented debt is jeopardized if interest rates rise, and yet economic recovery is precisely what will trigger interest rates to rise. Having to service such high debt at higher rates will threaten the economy all over again and eventually necessitate higher taxes or cuts to services that Canadians depend on.
This budget is claimed to contain over $105 billion in stimulus to ensure economic recovery, but that is not true. The single largest line item in the $105 billion of stimulus is actually emergency support funds for this year's continuing payments alone. In other words, more than a quarter of the so-called “stimulus” is really just emergency response spending because the government could not get its act together to protect Canadians from a third wave.
That is perhaps the biggest criticism I have about this budget. The budget does not contain what Conservatives have been asking for since last May: that the government have a plan rooted in measurable data to have a safe and permanent reopening of the economy. The very reason that this budget contains tens of billions of dollars in continued emergency COVID spending is that the government has failed to use the tools that already exist to help Canadians live safely in a COVID-19 world.
When the economy first shut down during the first wave, there was no other sensible option based on the information available to policy-makers in March 2020, but since then the government has failed to procure vaccines in time. It has failed to procure, approve and ensure the wide distribution of rapid, at-home test kits approved for screening purposes. The only meaningful and timely response that the government has had to COVID is to spend, while hoping that things will get better.
There is no question the government's vaccine procurement is a disaster. Canada is taking surplus vaccines from other countries and raiding the COVAX system for developing nations. This is because even its terribly slow delivery schedule from the manufacturers is not coming through. The inadequate health response is what is driving the dangerous levels of debt contained in this budget, and the absence of a plan that would have avoided the ravages of a third wave threatens to destroy thousands more small businesses.
I have said it before in this House many times. Small businesses are the lifeblood of our communities, they are the backbone of the Canadian economy, and the owners, workers and customers are our neighbours and our friends. These small businesses are the ones that have borne the brunt of COVID.
Yes, this budget contains extensions to the supports many small businesses need just to survive through the summer, but that is not what small businesses want. They want their customers back. They want to be open. They want to serve the needs of their communities. They want to give their own friends and neighbours their jobs back. They want to at least try to put the hopes and dreams of their business shattered by COVID back together.
Small businesses do not want to take on more debt. The average small business has already taken on $170,000 in debt since the pandemic began, and these debts threaten their recovery. Some of this debt is in the form of low or no-interest loans from government aid programs, but the majority of this debt actually comes in the form of bills that small businesses just cannot pay, things like their rent or their suppliers' invoices. These debts threaten to cascade throughout the economy and prevent recovery.
By the end of last year, 60,000 small businesses had failed, and now nearly 200,000 more are hanging by a thread. There is one particular group of small businesses that has been completely, and at this point one must even conclude deliberately, ignored by the government, and that is the small businesses that had the terrible misfortune to have opened their doors in late 2019 or early 2020. In most cases, the owners of these businesses put their life savings into their businesses and incurred significant debt to pursue a dream to open, start or reinvent a small business, but these businesses have nothing, and there is nothing in this budget that will help them.
The Minister of Small Business and her parliamentary secretary have been saying for months that new businesses will be supported, but they have done nothing. This once-in-two-years budget still ignores these businesses.
Just this weekend, I received an email from the owner of a business who opened an auto service business in Calgary in October 2019. This business cannot even acquire a CEBA loan, which is among the easiest ones to qualify for, never mind access to the other aid measures. This small business is not going to be sustained by words. It needs cash, or better still, its customers from a fully opened economy and a vaccinated population.
Between platitudes such as “we have your back”, “we will stop at nothing” and “we will continue to work for new programs for new businesses”, the government will occasionally mention it is concerned about the integrity of its programs and is making sure businesses do not suddenly materialize and take advantage of its programs. Of course nobody wants anyone to game the system, but with all the red tape in this country, it takes months to even get a building permit to start a new restaurant.
Somebody who opened in March of 2020, spending their own money and exhausting their finances long before COVID began, is left out of the programs. There are thousands of these businesses. They are in every riding. I know every MP in this House is getting emails from these kinds of businesses.
There is so much more I could say, but I will end by pointing out there are many necessary economic support measures contained in this budget, but they are necessary precisely because the government has failed so spectacularly to protect Canadians from the third wave. It would be imprudent to support a government that adds so much debt without a coherent plan to manage this debt and reduce it over time. There is just no fiscal anchor or even any credibility with the government concerning its fiscal anchors.
View Philip Lawrence Profile
CPC (ON)
Madam Speaker, it is my pleasure to split my time with the fabulous member for Niagara Falls.
My hope was that this budget would contain provisions that would provide a road for economic recovery. Unfortunately, while the government announced record spending, it did not introduce a responsible economic recovery plan. This is something my constituents are rightfully concerned about, as the debt that will be incurred will be felt for literally generations.
The temporary measures put in place during the pandemic were always seen by me as a bridge to brighter days, a future where Canadians could return to their normal lives, content in the knowledge that Canada was secured by a thriving private sector and a supportive government. However, increasingly it appears the government is content to build a bridge to nowhere, a future not of abundance and freedom but instead characterized by debt-created scarcity.
In a report last week, the C.D. Howe Institute warned “fiscal stability would still be jeopardized by the prospect of other expensive initiatives recently floated by the federal government.” The fact that the private sector is recovering through its own determination, perseverance and innovation seems to be not deterring the government from making record expenditures. “An improving economic outlook has weakened the case for stimulus”, is what the RBC said, “though the government's appetite to spend hasn't changed.”
The Liberal government's solution may very well do more harm than good. A recent Parliamentary Budget Office report noted that another stimulus package was not what was needed now. While temporary stimulus of this magnitude would likely provide a significant boost to the Canadian economy, it would result materially in larger budgetary deficits and higher federal debt over the long and medium term.
None of this spending is conditional. The government is going to spend it anyway, without knowing what will happen in the economy in three to five years. The public is completely and unfortunately being desensitized to these massive deficits. Running $30 billion for one program used to be a lot of money. This is revenue that could be directed to support our important social safety net. For example, in 2026, the government will spend $8.3 billion on child care, but $39 billion on debt interest payments.
Every day this year, we will spend $422,465,750 more than what we will generate in revenue. Every Canadian is taking on more than $100 every day in new federal debt. For a family of four, that equates to more than $3,000 a week in new federal debt. Many families do not earn $3,000 a week in total, much less taking on $3,000 each week in new federal debt.
The government's own fiscal projections show that in four years we may have a debt-to-GDP ratio of under 50%. Talk about moving the goal posts. This rivals them setting a target for vaccinations such that, if we achieve it, we may be in the top 100 in the world. According to this projection, this unremarkable achievement is a goal that we should not be attempting to achieve, but even if we do attempt to achieve it, it may be impossible. The problem with this idea is that it expects nothing unexpected to happen. However, we know, from 9/11 to the great financial meltdown to the global pandemic, nearly always something unexpected happens.
Prime Minister Harper rebuilt our financial house after the financial crisis of 2008, which allowed us to weather this latest crisis, despite five years of excessive spending. The challenge we are facing now is that we will simply not be able to weather another significant economic shock. The next shock could come any number of forms, perhaps a collapse in the housing market, the escalation of global tension, a rise in inflation or in interest rates, the devastating impacts of climate change, because even though we in the House have committed to reducing our carbon output, China continues to dramatically increase theirs.
Nobody, including the Prime Minister's millionaire friends who helped draft this budget, know when the next shock could be.
What will we do if this shock happens and we have a debt-to-GDP ratio in excess of 50%, or even just below 50%? We simply will not have the firepower to respond to it. However, maybe we will be extraordinarily fortunate and not experience an economic downturn in the next 10 years. Maybe interest rates will remain at historic lows, which may mean that maintaining a 50% debt-to-GDP ratio might be sustainable. Even if that were the case, I still have some skepticism that the government would be able to stay within its means.
The best projections for the future are usually generated by studying the past. The government was elected in 2015 with a promise to deliver a balanced budget after running several itsy-bitsy, modest deficits, then it said it would maintain surpluses for the remainder of its mandate. This, however, did not happen. The budget did not balance itself, as it turns out. Balancing the budget would have taken relatively modest tweaks to either increase revenue or reduce spending, but the government simply lacked the ability, discipline or the will to make this happen.
Achieving a debt-to-GDP ratio of less than 50% would require a massive reduction in government expenditures in the coming years and would involve tough decisions, including inevitably bringing to an end many pandemic support programs. The government, which could not reduce spending or grow revenue by billions pre-pandemic, is now telling us it will reduce spending not by billions, but by hundreds of billions. Please excuse my skepticism on this.
The finance minister, in her budgetary address, repeatedly stated that her plan for the future would grow the economy out of debt. In principle, I agree with that approach. Economic growth is the best and maybe the only path forward to help us maintain our jobs and pay down our massive debt. However, this budget simply will not achieve that stated objective. This budget continues the unprecedented level of spending and government interference in the economy.
Over 2,000 years of economic history has proved to us, over and over again, that while the government can build a framework to support businesses, it cannot create economic growth by itself. Let me be clear that only the private sector, only Canadian workers through their perseverance, tenacity, work ethic and innovation, can expand our economy. While the government cannot in itself create economic growth, it can certainly inhibit or even stop economic growth by overburdening the private sector with needless regulation and excessive taxation
The budget's forecast of $1.4 trillion of national debt has the potential to starve our economy and future businesses of the capital they need to grow and expand. The servicing costs of this debt will force our government to put a greater burden on our workers and confiscate their ability to invest in our economy.
Why, then, would the government table a budget that introduces unneeded stimulus and massive amounts of spending? French philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville once wrote that democracy will endure until the day that politicians realize they can bribe people with their own money. It is clear to me that the government is utilizing the power of a budget to table an election platform, not an economic recovery plan, with the hopes of buying Canadian votes with their hard-earned money.
We have reached a moment of truth. There is a tipping point, if not in this budget, then in the next election. We must decide whether we believe in Canadians or in an ever-expanding federal government. Do we believe in democracy or bureaucracy? Do we believe in Canadians' ability to decide their own destiny, or in an ever-growing centralized government that controls Canadians' lives?
View Ed Fast Profile
CPC (BC)
View Ed Fast Profile
2021-04-20 10:22 [p.5828]
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise in this House again to continue to respond to the 2021 budget that was tabled by the federal government yesterday.
As so many parliamentarians, members of the media, stakeholders and even some ordinary Canadians have done, I too have spent hours poring over the contents and the backgrounders, the annexes and other finer details of this budget. Since this is the first budget we have seen in over two years, to be true, a dubious record for Canada, and given the unprecedented health and economic circumstances we are in, I was very eager to receive and review the budget to determine what it would mean for Canadians in the short, medium and long term.
Before I get into the details, let me once again congratulate my colleague the Minister of Finance for making history yesterday as the first female finance minister to table a budget in this House. As I said yesterday, this consequential achievement is long overdue. My four daughters will undoubtedly take inspiration from her.
That said, they certainly will not take inspiration from the budget that the minister has laid before us. This is by far the biggest-spending budget in the history of our nation. It has delivered an avalanche of spending the likes of which our country has never seen before, and yet for many this budget will be a major letdown.
With well over two years since the last budget, the government has had ample time to get this right. For way too long, Canadians have been left without a comprehensive plan for our economy to guide us through what has now become the stormiest season of our lifetime. One would have expected that, with so much time to prepare, the government would have offered Canadians renewed hope and confidence that a secure future would still be theirs. One would have expected a revised and hopefully more effective plan to get Canadians vaccinated in short order. One would have expected a clear plan to safely reopen our economy and get Canadians back to work again. One would have also expected a bold strategy to help struggling small businesses back on their feet again. Finally, one would have expected a responsible government to come forward with a credible plan to manage the massive financial consequences of this COVID pandemic, consequences that future generations of Canadians will be saddled with and have to pay for.
Those who were hoping to see these things in the budget will surely be disappointed. This not a budget that has been developed to fight the pandemic; this budget was developed to help Liberals fight an election. Of that, there can be no doubt.
To be sure, there are a number of positive measures in this budget, some of which we will undoubtedly support and promote, especially those that continue to help Canadians through this very difficult time and also those investments that secure our long-term prosperity. They should expect our support for those.
For example, we are pleased to see that the government listened to us and to the many business organizations across Canada and extended the Canada emergency wage and rent subsidies. We are supportive of a number of important small business measures, such as the new hiring incentive program, the promise of lower credit card processing fees, and supports to help businesses move online in a digital economy.
Sadly, what is completely missing from this budget is emergency support for new businesses, which have somehow fallen through the cracks because in early 2020 they did not yet have the established revenues to qualify for the government's emergency support measures. They are still falling through the cracks.
We also support the introduction of a policy that would allow companies to expense the full value of qualified capital investments in the same fiscal year in order to encourage companies to reinject their corporate savings back into our economy on an expedited basis. We welcome the extension of the student loan interest waiver and the making of additional investments in broadband to improve connectivity within Canada.
Similarly, we welcome additional steps to eliminate the interprovincial trade barriers that measurably undermine our economic growth. We also support the decision to extend sick leave for seriously ill Canadians to 26 weeks. This is precisely the type of spending we are inclined to endorse.
We Conservatives have consistently supported the government in its efforts to help Canadians through the health and economic crisis of our lifetime, and members can be sure we will continue to do so, but there is more to a federal budget than just borrowing and spending. Budgets are about promoting economic growth, including the setting of priorities. They are about exercising fiscal prudence and probity and delivering to future generations a bright and economically sustainable future, and that is what is missing in this budget.
In the lead-up to budget day, we provided both the Prime Minister and his finance minister with a list of must-haves for this budget for the government to win our support. These were measures that we believed were absolutely essential to safely reopen our economy, get Canadians back to work again and provide future generations with the hope and confidence that they can still live out their Canadian dream. As I mentioned, a number of these measures have made their way into the budget. It is amazing what happens when the official opposition does its job by prodding and poking the government from time to time, so I commend the minister for acting upon at least some of our asks.
However, instead of creating a sustainable road map for economic recovery, and I emphasize the word “sustainable”, this budget appears to represent a wasted opportunity to do right by future generations of Canadians. It does not deliver a comprehensive plan to position our economy for long-term success. Spending a loan is not an economic plan. The budget fails to sufficiently address the most important structural weaknesses in our economy, including our declining productivity. Nowhere does it meaningfully address the dramatic flight of foreign capital from our country, nor does it commit to comprehensive regulatory and tax reform.
This budget is notable for its marked pivot away from our natural resource sector, another vote of non-confidence in a sector whose contributions to our national prosperity have been immense over the years. There is no mention of our world-leading and ethical oil and gas sector. There is no critical minerals strategy, just half-hearted measures about consultations, research and a centre of excellence. The government's failure to meaningfully address the skyrocketing cost of housing means that millions of Canadians will see their dream of owning a home slip through their fingers. This is another failure.
Some two billion dollars' worth of trade crosses our common border with the U.S. every day, yet the budget scarcely touches on border security and trade facilitation, and it makes no mention whatsoever of what steps are being taken to plan for an eventual safe reopening of our border. The budget also fails to measurably address the state of Canada's health care and, most importantly, the mental health wall that our country faces. Fortunately, our Conservative leader has identified this significant vulnerability and has committed to addressing this challenge in a future Conservative government.
We had called for the current Liberal government to stop supporting and investing taxpayers' money in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which is an institution that delivers no meaningful or measurable benefit to Canadians. With Canada's current bilateral relationship with China in utter disrepair, giving taxpayers' money to this China-led organization is completely futile, indefensible and unacceptable. Did the minister respond to our request? No. For the Liberal government, it is business as usual with the communist regime in Beijing.
We are judging the government's budget not on the quantity but on the quality of its spending. Based on that standard, we have found this budget to be wanting. Notwithstanding the additional benefits that the budget would deliver for Canadians who continue to struggle through this pandemic, measures which we support, it is enormously expensive, as members know, and it would dramatically expand the role of government in the lives of Canadians.
Last year's deficit will be a staggering $354 billion, and the government has no plan whatsoever to eliminate its deficits. Our national debt is expected to reach $1.4 trillion this year, with the government signalling that this debt is likely to hit an eye-popping $1.8 trillion by 2025. That is why the Liberals asked for an increase in the debt ceiling to $1.83 trillion.
Presumably with this in mind, the Prime Minister gave the finance minister a revised mandate letter in which he laid out three clear directives to safeguard our national finances. Those directives were: first, avoid creating new permanent spending; second, review Canada's debt management strategy; and third, present a new fiscal anchor. That is the standard the Prime Minister himself has set, and Canadians should be able to take him at his word. Therefore, we are going to measure this budget against that standard.
How did the Prime Minister and his finance minister do?
Let us look for a moment at permanent spending. Remember that the finance minister was instructed to have no new permanent spending. Instead of complying with the Prime Minister's instructions and mitigating against the immense financial challenge facing our country, the finance minister and her government have triggered a plethora of new permanent spending commitments that will likely hobble the prosperity of generations for years to come and mean massive new taxes under the Liberal government.
Similarly, the minister's half-hearted attempt to present a debt management strategy falls far short of the rigour expected of an accountable and responsive government. Indeed, the budget failed to justify why the minister felt that further economic stimulus in the amount of $100 billion was needed when GDP growth has strongly rebounded. She should be happy about that. Preloaded stimulus is the form of savings is primed for release. American stimulus and infrastructure investments well north of $4 trillion are ready to wash over into our economy.
Then we found out in the budget and from exceedingly frank finance officials that much of the stimulus was not stimulus at all. It was emergency support funding, much of which we support, and it was programming that bore absolutely no relation whatsoever to stimulating the economy. Imagine our surprise when a departmental official opined “Oh well, all government spending is stimulus.” No, it is not. All the minister had to do was be transparent about her $100 billion, as we would likely support a number of the initiatives that this fund would support. However, we know that there is an election around corner, and it is now very clear that this funding of $100 billion is simply intended to stimulate the re-election of the government.
Then there is the Prime Minister's directive to present a new fiscal anchor. It was very clear to the finance minister that she present a new fiscal anchor.
The minister referenced that anchor on page 53 of her budget. That is another fail. The closest this anchor comes to being a true anchor is its vague commitment to “reducing the federal debt as a share of the economy over the medium-term.” That is it. That is not a new anchor. That was the government's own anchor, the debt-to-GDP ratio, except that this one, the so-called new one, does not even have a target and will tempt the government to run up further debt in the years to come.
As the Prime Minister blithely stumbles into the fiscal unknown, Canadians should take little comfort in the government's promises to manage our debt and get our deficit situation under control.
Based on the Prime Minister's own mandate instructions to his minister, this budget must be considered a fail.
I began my speech by saying that I was very eager to review the budget to determine what it would mean for Canadians in the short, medium and long term. In the short term, yes, there are a number of investments and programs that will help Canadians make it through this economic and health crisis. We are supportive of many of those measures. However, in the medium and especially the long term, there is very little to get excited about, just endless debt and deficits with not even a pretense of the Liberal government ever wanting to return to a balanced state, even in the long term.
As a responsible official opposition, we are still carefully reviewing and analyzing the budget and we will discuss it with our caucus tomorrow before casting final judgment on it. Suffice it to say that, so far, I am not encouraged.
One thing Canadians can be confident of, absolutely confident of, is that a Conservative government, led by the member for Durham, will implement a true Canada recovery plan that secures our future by getting Canadians back to work, by helping small businesses recover, by restoring Canada's reputation and competitive advantage and by prudently managing the massive financial burden with which the pandemic has left us. The Conservatives have done this before; they will do it again.
I therefore move:
That the motion be amended by deleting all the words after the word 'That' and substituting the following:
“given that the budget:
(a) adds over half a trillion dollars in new debt that can only be paid through higher job-killing taxes;
(b) contains over $100 billion for a re-election fund while doing nothing to secure the long-term prosperity of Canadian; and
(c) fails to rule out the introduction of capital gains taxes on the principal residences of Canadians, currently being studied by Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, as a way to pay for the government's spending;
the House demand that the Liberal government's budget be revised in order to focus on accelerating the vaccination plan to end the dangerous third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and policies that will create jobs and stimulate economic growth
View Ed Fast Profile
CPC (BC)
View Ed Fast Profile
2021-04-12 12:42
In short, the six parts of the Bill C-14 fall economic statement effectively introduce, modify and improve programs that the government brought forward and that we as the official opposition are fully supportive of. Of course, like all things Liberal, there is always a catch. In this case it is part 7 of the bill. As my colleague from Winnipeg has just mentioned, the Prime Minister is asking Parliament to approve a historic, massive increase in the debt ceiling, in other words, the line of credit that the government has available to it. The government wants to increase that by $663 billion, almost one-quarter of a trillion dollars. That is massive.
Before any parliamentarian should ever provide their support to that kind of an increase, they should be asking what this borrowing capacity is going to be used for. We have to consider this in the context of the fact that the Liberal government has been chastised by the Parliamentary Budget Officer for not being transparent in its spending endeavours. Every time it brings forward a spending bill, it refuses to explain to Canadians exactly how that money will be deployed. Parliamentarians do not have the ability to exercise proper scrutiny and oversight. The PBO identified that and said that the government is not transparent.
Why should we trust the government when it now says it wants another $663 billion? I was at committee when we were asking questions of the Minister of Finance. We expressly asked her to please tell us what this additional $663 billion is needed for and where it will be deployed. All she did was refer Canadians to one chart in the fall economic statement. She said to go and look at that, all Canadians have that available. Most Canadians are not going to go looking for the fall economic statement to find the one chart that actually did not show where she was spending the money. It simply showed how much money she was asking to borrow. We deserve better as a country.
Another thing is signalled in this fall economic statement and that is a $100-billion stimulus fund that the Minister of Finance has suggested might be required for Canada to get through the pandemic. Again, at committee, we asked very expressly if she could tell us what this stimulus fund is all about. She talks about $100 billion, asks us to trust her and so far she had been unwilling to provide any transparency on where that money might be deployed. Now she had an opportunity. She would not tell us. Would that money go into productivity-enhancing investments like hard infrastructure? Was it going to go into soft infrastructure? She would not say. She made vague references to guardrails, supposed rules that she was going to put in place to ensure that there were triggers that would allow it to slowly ease this money into our economy. The problem is that the economists have all pointed out that she has been so vague about what those guardrails are all about that it is impossible for anyone to exercise any kind of oversight over this $100 billion of additional spending. Those same economists have also sounded a precautionary note.
The government's $100 billion stimulus must take into account inflationary pressures. When we pump $100 billion into the economy in a short period of time, it means there are more dollars chasing the same number of goods, and that could lead to inflationary pressures. When the central bank, the Bank of Canada, senses that there are inflationary pressures, it increases interest rates.
If Canadians across the country knew right now that there was a significant risk of interest rate increases, a lot of them would be panicking, because they got into this incredibly expensive housing market upon the condition that interest rates would stay low. However, if we pump more and more stimulus into the economy, that will stoke the fires of inflation, and it gets worse.
Economists have also warned the government and the finance minister that the government needs to take note of the massive stimulus that the American government is pumping into its economy. It is a $1.9 trillion stimulus plan into the American economy. Layered on top of that is a $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan, which adds even more stimulus to the economy. When that economy starts being stimulated, that sloshes over the border into Canada. It impacts economic growth, but it can overheat economic growth and again stoke inflationary pressures.
Layered on top of all that is something that is counterintuitive. Even though we have come through the worst pandemic in our lifetime, the worst economic crisis in my lifetime, we have a situation where we have record amounts of savings on both the household side and the corporate side in Canada, savings that are eventually going to be pumped back into our economy, injected as stimulus. Therefore, when we add all this stimulus together, the government has to be very wary of adding another $100 billion to that.
This is an unprecedented crisis, but Canadians want hope and they want confidence for the future. They want to know that the Prime Minister and the finance minister have a plan to safely reopen our economy. That includes safely reopening our common border with the United States, because we have somewhere in the order of $2 billion in trade crossing our border every single day. The U.S. is by far our largest trade partner. Therefore, I encourage the government, as it is moving toward tabling a budget, its first budget in over two years, to ensure that the budget includes a clear plan going forward to safely reopen our economy, and that will require Canadians to be properly vaccinated.
What is the plan? The current plan has been a bit of a boondoggle. I think Canadians are understanding that. We need a plan to safely reopen our economy to get Canadians back to work, to help small businesses get back up on their feet and to manage this massive new debt that the government has incurred on Canadians' behalf. There has to be a management plan, which includes strong fiscal anchors, rules and guidelines by which the government will be guided as we emerge from the pandemic and struggle to get a grip on this massive financial obligation with which we will burden future generations of Canadians.
We are fully supportive of parts 1 through 6 of the bill. It is part 7, the massive increase in borrowing, we cannot support, especially when the minister has been unable or unwilling to explain how that additional borrowing capacity, some $663 billion, will be deployed going forward.
Canadians are fair, reasonable, generous people. All they are looking for is ethical and competent leadership, transparent leadership, to help them emerge from this crisis. So far, they have not been getting it, and they deserve better.
View Jacques Gourde Profile
CPC (QC)
View Jacques Gourde Profile
2021-04-12 16:17 [p.5438]
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to participate in the debate on Bill C-14, an act to implement certain provisions of the economic statement tabled in Parliament on November 30, 2020 and other measures.
Every time I have the privilege of rising in the House, I make a point of reminding members of how diligent the Conservative Party of Canada has had to be, since 2015, in monitoring and critiquing this Liberal government, which was spending recklessly well before the pandemic hit. We have witnessed many ethical breaches, even though we have been in the grip of an emergency, the pandemic crisis, for months. We need to continue to be very critical of the COVID-19 spending measures and this Liberal government's lack of transparency.
The Conservative Party of Canada is much more than the official opposition party in the House. We are committed individuals with a sense of duty who take action. Not surprisingly, we support the main COVID-19 emergency programs, including the Canada emergency response benefit, the Canada emergency wage subsidy and the Canada emergency business account, which total nearly $175 billion.
Let me be clear: We will make sure there is a solution for every vulnerable individual and every business during this pandemic. We have consistently said that seniors, who have been forgotten during this crisis, should get more help.
However, there comes a point when we have to take a firm stand against skyrocketing deficits that will end up creating an unprecedented crisis if we give this Liberal government a blank cheque. Giving it another term in office or, worse still, a majority in the House would be a fatal mistake for our country, which has been more destabilized than ever since the Liberal government took office in 2015.
A sensible, realistic approach would be to give the government sufficient borrowing power to cover prior expenses related to COVID-19 and the proposed new measures that will take us to the next fiscal year. We should not blindly support $100 billion worth of new debt-financed recovery measures. It would be irresponsible to believe we can have that money for free.
No voter who cares about the debt we will pass on to future generations would want Conservatives to support $100 billion in additional debt for unspecified initiatives, even if the government says those initiatives will stimulate the economy. The Liberal Party is a master of corruption, favouritism, cronies and sole-source contracts, so we need to be prudent and find out what those initiatives are. The fact that the government refused to split the bill and take out part 7 clearly shows that it is acting in very bad faith. It is asking us for blind trust, which is totally unreasonable because it just does not deserve it.
I would like to take this opportunity to highlight the courage that each of us has shown, in our own way, since the beginning of the pandemic. At home, at work, in our sports and leisure activities, all areas of our lives have been disrupted for several months now.
I salute the courage of my constituents in the riding of Lévis—Lotbinière. They have managed to adjust, reinvent themselves and prioritize what is most precious to us: family, health and safety. I thank them for their trust. It is always with a sense of duty that my team and I come up with solutions to the challenges we face. We are all patiently waiting for the return of better days, which has become synonymous with being closer to one another, physically, in complete safety.
Many people in my riding have told me this and, like them, I miss their presence, our warm interactions, working closely with community stakeholders and with our businesses that were thriving. Nothing is the same anymore, and we have to accept that. Many people in my riding are also writing to me to denounce how slow the Liberal government is to act, if it acts at all, and of course the insecurity they feel. There are many concerns about the government's lack of foresight, vision and leadership.
As I was saying, Canada became much more vulnerable well before the pandemic as a result of the Liberal's new carefree and spendthrift ways with no sense of responsibility for the consequences.
Placing unconditional trust in the government has put us in the worst position ever in Canada's history, including the post-war period. Our level of debt is unfathomable, and it is imperative that we start investing in targeted measures that will pay a return on our investments in time, experiments and money.
There is no denying that, since 2015, Canada has been regressing and is no longer evolving. After two elections chock full of fine promises, the living conditions of our seniors has not changed at all. Seniors built and enriched our country with their hard work, and it is inconceivable that we are letting them live in poverty. They deserve to live with dignity and serenity given their unwavering dedication to our community. Those who lose their spouse, especially women, find themselves in a precarious situation that is unacceptable and that their family cannot always remediate. We must act.
In addition, violence against women and children is reaching alarming proportions, and then there are the pimps who go unpunished for exploiting child pornography. What about our young people since the government legalized marijuana? It still makes me sad to see the lines outside the Société québécoise du cannabis, often well before it opens.
I am also against the Liberal government's quiet attempts to decriminalize hard drugs and prostitution. We need to put ethics and common sense back into our values.
I want to see young people, who were paid to do nothing over the past few months, once again be able to have rewarding work experiences and opportunities to learn and grow in our communities. There is no greater accomplishment than finding a sense of purpose, contributing to our collective wealth and helping to strengthen our communities.
The environment has also seen lofty promises and no action. We must urgently create programs to secure our green shift, which includes expanding access to electric vehicles and finding new ways to market green and energy-efficient innovations.
The pandemic has also shown us that we need to focus on food sovereignty if we do not want to be short of resources. When we look at the chain of production and collaboration that puts food on our tables, we realize that transport is a key component of that. Transportation and travel mean fuel and gasoline. We cannot yet do without those things in our daily lives.
I am very invested in creating a large national commission on our energy future with the input of our youth, of course. They must be part of the equation. Our safety and security must never be threatened by our consumption, and, realistically, we need to come to a common understanding about the best way to transport the oil and gas delivered by pipelines.
We all have a role to play in future changes. I am confident that the third link between Lévis and Quebec City will be good for everyone in Lévis-Lotbinière and for our environment. Our future depends on our respect for the values that were passed down to us by our ancestors and our parents.
Our language and culture are part of that, and we need to continue to protect them so that our future still reflects who we are. French is our most precious right, and the right to be served in French is simply not negotiable. We need to continue to exist as a francophone nation within a united Canada, while respecting provincial jurisdictions.
Finally, there is a critical need for labour that cannot be overlooked and cannot be blindly entrusted to the Liberal government if we want our economy to recover. The global market is waiting for us, and we must continue to allow our seniors who wish to work to do so without being penalized financially.
For all these reasons, we must stand together and work together, with a responsible government. We cannot and must not give a blank cheque to the Liberal government, which refuses to remove part 7 of Bill C-14.
Now is the time to work together and work better for the future. My aim is to continue doing just that for a very long time for my constituents in Lévis—Lotbinière and for all Canadians.
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