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Results: 241 - 300 of 1564
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I keep hearing the same question, so I will give the same answer.
It is the Conservatives who need to be clear with Canadians. Do they think we are spending too much or that we should be spending more? Canadians deserve a clear, straight answer.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I am happy to hear that the Bloc thinks there are good measures in the budget.
With respect to health, I agree that the priority for all Canadians is the fight against COVID-19. The federal government is here to support the territories and provinces. Last month, we injected an additional $5 billion in support for health care systems and vaccination rollout.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, we are investing much more in health and in Canada's biomanufacturing capacity. We invested $5 billion in March. Last summer, we gave $19 billion to the provinces and territories to help them fight COVID-19.
In addition, as my colleague just said, we have allocated $2.2 billion in the budget to our domestic vaccine production capacity.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, our budget sets out a prudent and sustainable fiscal path. We set out a clear fiscal anchor.
We commit to a declining debt-to-GDP ratio, and to unwinding the COVID deficits. By 2025-26, the debt-to-GDP ratio will be 49.2%, and the deficit will be 1.1%.
Canada's debt-to-GDP ratio continues to be the lowest in the G7.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, in annex 2 of the budget, we present a very clear debt management strategy, and we point out that we have been carefully and thoughtfully pushing out the maturities of Canada's debt. Fifteen per cent of our bonds were long bonds before the pandemic. Last year, we pushed that out to 29%, and in the budget we commit to moving that to 42%.
This is a prudent fiscal approach and will lock in today's low interest rates.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I have to point out for Canadians that our fiscal approach is prudent and reasonable.
In the budget, we presented a plan to reduce the federal debt-to-GDP ratio in the medium term and unwind COVID-19-related deficits.
I also want to point out that Canada has the best fiscal position in the G7.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I want to once again call on the Conservative Party to be straight with Canadians and say whether the Conservative Party is the party of austerity or whether it wants us to spend more, on health care, for example, as Conservative members said at the beginning of question period.
It is important to be consistent. Canadians want consistency, and that is what our government offers.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, our government absolutely believes that everyone in Canada needs to pay their fair share and that is why we have proposed a number of concrete measures in this budget. We are putting forward a luxury tax. We are putting forward a digital services tax. We are putting down unprecedented measures to crack down on tax evasion and aggressive tax planning schemes and finally, we are putting forward a tax on vacant and non-resident properties because homes are for Canadian families to live in.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, we have committed nearly $6 billion to support young Canadians in this budget. Those are not mere platitudes. We are going to support Canadian students. We are going to make an education more affordable. We are going to create 500,000 work experience and job training opportunities. Early learning and child care, which we will build, will help young Canadians first and foremost.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, one thing we have in common with members on the other side of the House is respect for seniors. I am very proud of the fact that 25% fewer seniors live in poverty now than when we came to power. We chose to target seniors 75 and over because their needs are greatest.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, we fully understand the needs of seniors, and we understand the tragedy that was COVID-19. That is why the Canadian Armed Forces went into long-term care homes to save the lives of Canadian seniors.
As for old age security, this is a permanent increase for all seniors in Canada who are 75 and older.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to continuing working with provinces and territories toward the goal of a universal national pharmacare program. To maintain momentum, we will proceed with our plan to provide ongoing funding of $500 million for a program for high-cost drugs for rare diseases.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
moved:
That this House approve in general the budgetary policy of the government.
She said: Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 83(1), I would like to table, in both official languages, the budget documents for 2021, including the notices of ways and means motions.
The details of the measures are included in these documents.
Pursuant to Standing Order 83(2), I am requesting that an order of the day be designated for consideration of these motions.
I would like to begin by taking a moment to mourn the tragedy in Nova Scotia a year ago yesterday. We grieve with the families and friends of the 22 people who were killed, and all Nova Scotians.
This is also a day when people across Canada are fighting the most virulent wave of the virus we have experienced so far. Health care workers in many provinces are struggling to keep ICUs from overflowing and millions of Canadians are facing stringent new restrictions.
We are all tired, frustrated and even afraid, but we will get through this. We will do it together.
This budget is about finishing the fight against COVID. It is about healing the economic wounds left by the COVID recession. And it is about creating more jobs and prosperity for Canadians in the days—and decades—to come.
It is about meeting the urgent needs of today and about building for the long term. It is a budget focused on middle-class Canadians and on pulling more Canadians up into the middle class. It is a plan that embraces this moment of global transformation to a green, clean economy.
This budget addresses three fundamental challenges.
First, we need to conquer COVID. That means buying vaccines and supporting provincial and territorial health care systems. It means enforcing our quarantine rules at the border and within the country. It means providing Canadians and Canadian businesses with the support they need to get through these tough third wave lockdowns and to come roaring back when the economy fully reopens.
Second, we must punch our way out of the COVID recession. That means ensuring lost jobs are recovered as swiftly as possible and hard-hit businesses rebound quickly. It means providing support where COVID has struck the hardest to women, to young people, to low-wage workers and to small and medium-sized businesses, especially in tourism and hospitality.
The final challenge is to build a more resilient Canada: better, more fair, more prosperous and more innovative. That means investing in Canada's green transition and the green jobs that go with it, in Canada's digital transformation and Canadian innovation, and in building infrastructure for a dynamic growing country. It means providing Canadians with social infrastructure from early learning and child care to student grants and income top-ups, so that the middle class can flourish and more Canadians can join it.
Our elders have been this virus's principal victims. The pandemic has preyed on them mercilessly, ending thousands of lives and forcing all seniors into fearful isolation. We have failed so many of those living in long-term care facilities. To them, and to their families, let me say this: I am so sorry. We owe you so much better than this.
That is why we propose a $3-billion investment to help ensure that provinces and territories provide a high standard of care in their long-term care facilities.
And we are delivering today on our promise to increase old age security for Canadians 75 and older.
Our government has been urgently procuring vaccines since last spring and providing them at no cost to Canadians. Nearly 10 million Canadians have received at least one dose of vaccine. By the end of September, Canada will have received 100 million doses, enough to fully vaccinate every adult Canadian.
We need to be ready for new variants of COVID, and we must have the booster shots that will allow us to keep them in check. That is why we are rebuilding our national biomanufacturing capacity so that we can make these vaccines here in Canada. Canada has brilliant scientists and entrepreneurs. We will support them with an investment of $2.2 billion in biomanufacturing and life sciences.
When COVID first hit, it pushed our country into its deepest recession since the Great Depression. But this is an economic shock of a very particular kind. We are not suffering because of endogenous flaws or imbalances within our economy. Rather, the COVID recession is driven by an entirely external event—like the economic devastation of a flood, blizzard, wildfire or other natural disaster. That is why an essential part of Canada's fight against COVID has been unprecedented federal support for Canadians and Canadian businesses.
We knew Canadians needed a lifeline to get through the COVID storm. And our approach has worked. Canada's GDP grew by almost 10% in the fourth quarter of last year. We will continue to do whatever it takes. Our government is prepared to extend support measures, as long as the fight against this virus requires.
As Canada pivots to recovery, our economic plan will, too.
We promised last year to spend up to $100 billion over three years to get Canada back to work and to ensure the lives and prospects of Canadians were not permanently stunted by this pandemic recession. This budget keeps that promise. All together, we will create nearly 500,000 new training and work experience opportunities for Canadians. We will fulfill our throne speech commitment to create one million jobs by the end of this year.
Some people will say that our sense of urgency is misplaced. Some will say that we are spending too much. I ask them this. Did they lose their jobs during a COVID lockdown? Were they reluctantly let go by their small business employers that were like a family to them but simply could not afford their salary any longer? Are they worried that they will be laid off in this third wave? Are they mothers who were forced to quit the dream job they fought to get because there was no way to keep working while caring for their young children? Did they graduate last spring and are still struggling to find work? Is their family business, launched perhaps by their parents, which they hope to pass on to their children, now struggling under a sudden burden of debt and fending off bankruptcy through sheer grit and determination every day?
If COVID has taught us anything, it is that we are all in this together. Our country cannot prosper if we leave hundreds of thousands of Canadians behind.
The world has learned the lesson of 2009, the cost of allowing economic hardship to fester. In some countries, democracy itself has been threatened by that mistake. We will not let that happen in Canada.
About 300,000 Canadians who had a job before the pandemic are still out of work. More Canadians may lose their jobs in this month's lockdowns. To support Canadian workers as we fight the third wave, and to provide an economic bridge to a fully recovered economy, we will build on the enhancements we have made during the pandemic.
We will maintain flexible access to EI benefits for another year, until the fall of 2022. The Canada recovery benefit, which we created to support Canadians not covered by EI, will remain in place through September 25 and extend an additional 12 weeks of benefits to Canadians. As our economy fully reopens over the summer, the benefit amount will go to $300 a week, after July 17.
Low-wage workers in Canada work harder than anyone else in this country, for less pay. In the past year they have faced both significant infection risks and layoffs. And many live below the poverty line, even though they work full-time. We cannot ignore their contribution and their hardship—and we will not. We propose to expand the Canada workers benefit, to invest $8.9 billion over six years in additional support for low-wage workers—extending income top-ups to about a million more Canadians and lifting nearly 100,000 people out of poverty. And this budget will introduce a $15-an-hour federal minimum wage.
COVID has exposed the dangerous inadequacy of sickness benefits in Canada. We will do our part and fulfill our campaign commitment by extending the EI sickness benefit from 15 to 26 weeks.
We know the pandemic has exacerbated systemic barriers faced by racialized Canadians, so budget 2021 provides additional funding for the Black entrepreneurship program as well as an investment in a Black-led philanthropic endowment fund to help fight anti-Black racism and improve social and economic outcomes in Black communities.
One of the most striking aspects of the pandemic has been the historic sacrifice young Canadians have made to protect their parents and grandparents. Our youth have paid a high price to keep the rest of us safe. We cannot, and will not, allow young Canadians to become a lost generation. They need our support to launch their adult lives and careers in post-COVID Canada, and they will get it. We will invest $5.7 billion over five years in Canada's youth; we will make college and university more accessible and affordable; we will create job openings in skilled trades and high-tech industries; and we will double the Canada student grant for two more years while extending the waiver of interest on federal student loans through March 2030. More than 350,000 low-income student borrowers will also have access to more generous repayment assistance.
COVID has brutally exposed something women have long known. Without child care, parents, usually mothers, cannot work. The closing of our schools and day cares drove women's participation in the labour force down to its lowest level in more than two decades. Early learning and child care has long been a feminist issue. COVID has shown us that it is an urgent economic issue too.
I was two years old when the Royal Commission on the Status of Women urged Canada to establish a universal system of early learning and child care. My mother was one of Canada's redoubtable second wave of feminists who fought and, outside Quebec, failed to make that recommendation a reality. A generation after that, Paul Martin and Ken Dryden tried again.
This half-century of struggle is a testament to the difficulty and complexity of the task, but this time we are going to do it. This budget is the map and the trailhead. There is agreement across the political spectrum that early learning and child care is the national economic policy we need now. This is social infrastructure that will drive jobs and growth. This is feminist economic policy. This is smart economic policy. That is why this budget commits up to $30 billion over five years, reaching $9.2 billion every year permanently, to build a high quality, affordable and accessible early learning and child care system across Canada.
This is not an effort that will deliver instant gratification. We are building something that, of necessity, must be constructed collaboratively and for the long term, but I have confidence in us. I have confidence that we are a country that believes in investing in our future, in our children and in our young parents.
Here is our goal: five years from now, parents across the country should have access to high quality early learning and child care for an average of $10 a day. I make this promise to Canadians today, speaking as their finance minister and as a working mother. We will get it done.
In making this historic commitment, I want to thank the visionary leaders of Quebec, particularly Quebec's feminists, who have shown the rest of Canada the way forward. This plan will, of course, also provide additional resources to Quebec, which might well use them to further support an early learning and child care system that is already the envy of the rest of Canada and, indeed, much of the world.
Small businesses are the vital heart of our economy and they have been the hardest hit by the lockdowns. Healing the wounds of COVID requires a rescue plan for them.
Budget 2021 proposes to extend the wage subsidy, rent subsidy and lockdown support for businesses and other employers until September 25, 2021, for an estimated total of $12.1 billion in additional support. To help the hardest-hit businesses pivot back to growth, we propose a new Canada recovery hiring program, which will run from June to November and will provide $595 million to make it easier for businesses to hire back laid-off workers or to bring on new ones.
However, our government will do much more than execute a rescue. With this budget, we will make unprecedented investments in Canada's small businesses, helping them to invest in new technologies and innovation. We will invest up to $4 billion to help up to 160,000 small and medium-sized businesses buy and adopt the new technologies they need to grow.
The Canada digital adoption program will provide businesses with the advice and help they need to get the most out of these new technologies by training 28,000 young Canadians, a Canadian technology corps, and sending them out to work with our small and medium-sized businesses. This groundbreaking program will help Canadian small businesses go digital and become more competitive and efficient.
Increased funding for the venture capital catalyst initiative will help provide financing to innovative Canadian businesses, so they can grow.
We will also encourage businesses to invest in themselves. We will allow immediate expensing of up to $1.5 million of eligible investments by Canadian-controlled private corporations in each of the next three years. These larger deductions will support 325,000 businesses in making critical investments and will represent $2.2 billion in total savings to them over the next five years.
Building for the future means investing in innovation and entrepreneurs, so we propose to invest in the next phase of the pan-Canadian artificial intelligence strategy and to launch similar strategies in genomics and quantum science, areas where Canada is a global leader.
In 2021, job growth means green growth. This budget sets out a plan to help achieve GHG emissions reductions of 36% from 2005 levels by 2030 and puts us on a path to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. It puts in place the funding to achieve our 25% land and marine conservation targets by 2025.
By making targeted investments in transformational technologies, we can ensure that Canada benefits from the next wave of global investment and growth.
The resource and manufacturing sectors that are Canada's traditional economic pillars—energy, mining, agriculture, forestry, steel, aluminum, autos, aerospace—will be the foundation of our new, resilient and sustainable economy. Canada will become more productive and competitive by supplying the green exports the world wants and needs.
That is why we propose a historic investment of a further $5 billion over seven years, starting in 2021-22, in the net zero accelerator. With this added support, on top of the $3 billion we committed in December, the net zero accelerator will help even more companies invest to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, while growing their businesses.
We will propel a green transition through new tax measures, including for zero-emissions technology, carbon capture and storage, and green hydrogen. We are at a pivotal moment in the green transformation. We can lead or we can be left behind. Our government knows that the only choice for Canada is to be in the vanguard.
Our growing population is one of our great economic strengths and a growing country needs to build. We need to build housing. We need to build public transit. We need to build broadband. We need to build infrastructure. We will. We will invest $2.5 billion, and reallocate $1.3 billion in existing funding, to help build, repair and support 35,000 housing units. We will support the conversion to housing of the empty office space that has appeared in our downtown areas by reallocating $300 million from the rental construction financing initiative.
Houses should not be passive investment vehicles for offshore money. They should be homes for Canadian families. Therefore, on January 1, 2022, our government will introduce Canada's first national tax on vacant property owned by non-resident non-Canadians.
Strong, sustained growth also depends on modern transit. That is why, in February, we announced $14.9 billion over eight years to build new public transit, electrify existing transit systems, and help to connect rural, remote and indigenous communities.
Therefore we are committing an additional $1 billion over six years for the universal broadband fund, to accelerate access to high-speed internet in rural and remote communities.
We intend to draw even more talented, highly skilled people to Canada, including international students. Investments in this budget will support an immigration system that is easier to navigate, more efficient and more efficient in welcoming the dynamic new Canadians who add to Canada's strength.
Our government has made progress in righting the historic wrongs in Canada's relationship with indigenous peoples, but we still have a lot of work ahead. It is important to note that indigenous peoples have led the way in battling COVID. Their success is a credit to indigenous leadership and self-governance.
We will invest more than $18 billion to further narrow gaps between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples, to support healthy, safe and prosperous indigenous communities and to advance reconciliation with first nations, Inuit and the Métis nation. We will invest more than $6 billion for infrastructure in indigenous communities and $2.2 billion to help end the national tragedy of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.
This has been a year when we have learned that each of us truly is our brother's and our sister's keeper. Solidarity is getting us through this pandemic, and solidarity depends on each of us bearing our fair share of the collective burden. That is why, now more than ever, fairness in our tax system is essential.
To ensure our system is fair, this budget will invest in the fight against tax evasion, shine a light on beneficial ownership arrangements, and ensure that multinational corporations pay their fair share of tax in Canada.
Our government is committed to working with our partners at the OECD to find multilateral solutions to the dangerous race to the bottom in corporate taxation. That includes work to conclude a deal on taxing large digital services companies.
We are optimistic that such a deal can be reached this summer. Meanwhile, this budget reaffirms our government's commitment to impose such a tax unilaterally, until an acceptable multilateral approach comes into effect.
It is also fair to ask those who have prospered in this bleak year to do a little more to help those who still need help. That is why we are introducing a luxury tax on new cars and private aircraft worth more than $100,000 and pleasure boats worth more than $250,000.
This budget lives up to our promise to do whatever it takes to support Canadians in the fight against COVID, and it makes significant investments in our future. All of this costs a lot of money, so it is entirely appropriate to ask, “Can we afford it?” We can, and here is why.
First is because this is a budget that invests in growth. The best way to pay our debts is to grow our economy. The investments this budget makes in early learning and child care, in small businesses, in students, in innovation, in public transit, in housing, in broadband and in the green transition are all investments in jobs and growth. We are building Canada's social infrastructure and our physical infrastructure. We are building our human capital and our physical capital. Canada is a young, vast country with a tremendous capacity for growth. This budget would fuel that. These are investments in our future and they will yield great dividends. In fact, in today's low-interest rate environment, not only can we afford these investments, it would be shortsighted of us not to make them.
Second is because our decision last year to support Canadians is already paying off. Decisive action prevented economic scarring in our businesses and our households, allowing the Canadian economy to begin strongly rebounding from the COVID recession even before we finished our fight against the virus.
Third is because our government has a plan and we keep our promises. We said in the fall economic statement that we would invest up to $100 billion over three years to support Canada's economic recovery, and that is what we are outlining here today. We predicted a deficit for 2020-2021 of $381.6 billion. We have spent less than we provisioned for. Our deficit for 2020-2021 is $354.2 billion, below our forecast.
Finally, and crucially, we can afford this ambitious budget because the investments we propose today are responsible and sustainable.
We understand there are limits to our capacity to borrow and that the world will not write Canada any blank cheques. We do not expect any. This budget shows a declining debt-to-GDP ratio and a declining deficit, with the debt-to-GDP ratio falling to 49.2% by 2025-26 and the deficit falling to 1.1% of GDP.
These are important markers. They show that the extraordinary spending we have undertaken to support Canadians through this crisis and to stimulate a rapid recovery in jobs is temporary and finite. They also show that our proposed long-term investments will permanently boost Canada's economic capacity.
In 2015, this federal government was elected on a promise to help middle-class Canadians and people working hard to join the middle class. We promised to invest in workers and their prosperity, in long-term growth for all of us. And we did. Today, we meet a new challenge, the greatest our country has faced in a generation, with a renewed promise.
Opportunity is coming. Growth is coming. Jobs are coming. After a long, grim year, Canadians are ready to recover and rebuild. We will finish the fight against COVID. We will all get back to work, and we will come roaring back.
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View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I will start by thanking the member opposite for those generous congratulations.
I think it would be appropriate for me today to think about Kim Campbell, the first woman prime minister of Canada, who was, of course, a Conservative woman prime minister. One thing we should agree on in this House is that all of us believe it is important to advance the cause of women in Canada.
When it comes to a fiscal anchor, I very much agree with the member opposite that it is important for our spending to be reasonable, sustainable and prudent. That is why it was important for us in this budget to hit some key fiscal markers.
First of all, we were clear in the fall economic statement that we would spend up to $100 billion in stimulus over three years. We have kept that promise. Perhaps more crucially, we have been clear in this budget, both in our commitment and also in our demonstrated actions that, following the extraordinary spending of this year, Canada's debt-to-GDP ratio will decline, and we show in our fiscal tables a clear declining trajectory ending in 2025-26 at a 49.2% debt-to-GDP ratio.
Further, as we point out in the budget document, we commit to unwinding the COVID-related deficits, and our budget and our fiscal projections show precisely that. In 2025-26, we come to a deficit of just 1.1%.
I would say to hon. members and my colleague opposite that those are our anchors: a declining debt-to-GDP ratio and unwinding the COVID-related deficits.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his questions. I would also like thank him for all the very interesting discussions we had when preparing the budget. I really appreciated it.
First, I am very pleased that the member noted that we focused on fighting tax evasion. It is a priority for our government, especially during a pandemic, since social solidarity is very important. To achieve social solidarity, everyone must pay their fair share, and we are really going to focus on that. I will be very pleased to work on this objective with all members.
Second, given that the member is from Quebec, I will take this opportunity to point out to all members that the budget and the commitments we have made truly show the importance of Quebec's political leadership. Quebec made the decision to create a child care system more than 20 years ago. It was difficult and very costly. When I discussed this with Éric Girard, he told me to be careful because it is very expensive.
Quebec has proven another very important thing, namely that a child care system will make the economic recovery excellent and extraordinary. I think that it is important for me, as an anglophone from Toronto, to thank Quebec, especially the feminists from Quebec who worked very hard to build that system.
I will now address the other two questions.
In terms of health, we announced last month that we would be giving the provinces $5 billion to fight the third wave of COVID-19. As everyone knows, it is costing a lot of money, but the federal government is there to help the provinces.
As far as seniors are concerned, we have enhanced the old age security program for those 75 and older. We also allocated $3 billion for long-term care. This is a major contribution.
In closing, when it comes to the deficit and the fact that it is lower than what we projected, I hope that everyone will agree with me that this is a good thing and that it illustrates our government's prudent approach.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, we are talking a lot about women, and since this is a question from the NDP and since I did mention my mother in my speech, I want to point out for the member opposite that she ran for the NDP in Edmonton—Strathcona, now an NDP seat. Therefore, we have more in common than he might think.
On Canadian workers, our expansion of the Canada workers benefit is historic. No one should work full time in Canada and live in poverty, but millions of people do. This investment would lift 100,000 Canadians out of poverty and would expand by one million people the Canadians we support. That is great for Canadian workers. I think that is something my mother, were she still alive, would support too.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
moved for leave to introduce Bill C-25, An Act to amend the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act, to authorize certain payments to be made out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund and to amend another Act.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I welcome that question because it gives me an opportunity to share some good economic news with this House. Last week, ratings agency DBRS Morningstar reaffirmed Canada's AAA rating and wrote as follows:
Canada’s AAA ratings are underpinned by the country’s considerable fundamental strengths, including its sound macroeconomic policy frameworks, large and diverse economy, and strong governing institutions.
I thank Canadians for working so hard to get through this global pandemic.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, when the chips were down, our government was there for Canadians, and the results show it. Last week the IMF published estimates showing that without our government's economic response, real output would have declined by an additional 7.8 percentage points last year, and the unemployment rate would have been 3.2% higher. Our government stood by Canadians, and as a result of that support and the resilience of Canadians, the IMF projects our GDP will grow this year by 4.4%.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, Canada entered the global pandemic in a strong fiscal position, which allowed our government to provide unprecedented support to Canadians.
We will continue to do whatever it takes to support Canadians and Canadian businesses. We have a plan for jobs and robust growth.
I am pleased to announce that on April 19, at 4 p.m., the government will present budget 2021.
Pursuant to Standing Order 83(2), I ask that an order of the day be designated for that purpose.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I share the hon. member's concern about Canadian small businesses. That is why I would like to urge him and all members opposite to join us in supporting Bill C-14. This is legislation that would help small businesses, and he does not need to listen to me. He can listen to Dan Kelly, who says, “Bill C-14 has some important measures for small business, including fresh funding for regional business support programs. CFIB urges all parties to ensure this support is passed quickly.”
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, as I announced earlier today, we will be presenting our budget on April 19.
However, I must take issue with the simply false notion that Bill C-14 does not include measures to support small businesses. It would provide the RDAs with an additional $206.7 million to replicate CEBA loan limits for gap-filling programs and RRRF gap-filling capacity. Bill C-14 also gives us the formal authority to provide rent support programs for rent payable.
Many other important measures are there and I hope all members of the House will support this essential legislation.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question.
We went into the crisis on solid financial footing, and that enabled us to provide unprecedented support to Canadians.
I am pleased to announce that the government will table its 2021 budget on April 19 at 4 p.m.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.
I must once again tell our esteemed Conservative colleagues that it is important—
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Madam Speaker, should I continue, or do you want me to ask another colleague to respond?
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, the federal government continues to assess the economic impact of regional lockdowns, the emergence of new variants of the virus and the accelerated vaccine rollout. We thank all Canadians for their contribution to the pre-budgetary consultations. The date of the budget will be announced in due course.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I want to note two things.
First, we received an extraordinary response from Canadians during our pre-budgetary consultations and I want to thank all Canadians who took part.
Second, if the Conservatives truly want to support Canadians, and they need support during this crisis, they should support Bill C-14. That would be the right way to support our country.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, let me first correct the record and point out that at 64.3%, Canada has a higher labour force participation rate than Germany, at 56.1%, the United States, at 61.3%, and Japan, at 62%.
Let me also say this. I absolutely believe that every Canadian who is unemployed is facing a personal tragedy. That is why our government has done and will continue to do whatever it takes to support Canadians.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, let me share a very important statistic with the member opposite and all Canadians. In the fourth quarter, Canada's GDP grew at an annualized rate of nearly 10%. That was higher than the GDPs of the U.S., the U.K., Germany, France and Italy. I would like to congratulate the Canadians whose hard work and innovative approach made that possible, and I would like to say to all members of the House, particularly the Conservatives, that by supporting Bill C-14 we can all support those hard-working Canadians.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member opposite virtually for his sincere concern for the Canadians who are hardest hit by this COVID recession.
Let me assure the member opposite virtually that our government absolutely does believe, as we said in the fall economic statement, that there are some additional tax measures we need to put in place. We think that now in particular is the time for the international digital giants to pay their fair share. This crisis has shown all of us how dependent we are on the virtual space, and it is time for the international companies to pay their share.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, the member opposite's question is a really important one. I want to thank every single Canadian, whether they live in Windsor or anywhere else, for following the essential advice from public health authorities to stay home when we can to protect ourselves and protect our neighbours.
When it comes to the tax implications of that decision, particularly for people who live and work across the border, that is something we are looking at carefully. Again, I thank the member for raising that important issue.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I strongly agree with the member opposite about the important role that credit unions play, certainly in rural communities, and also in municipalities across the country. Credit unions are an essential part of the Canadian economy and of Canadian communities, and I am very glad to hear the member offering suggestions on how we can allow credit unions to do an even better job serving their members.
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Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, let me just point out a few things. First of all, in our fall economic statement, we offered extensive financial information, including extensive five-year fiscal forecasts, which took into account varying possibilities on the virus resurgence scenario.
The second thing I would like to say is our government has been there for Canadians throughout this crisis and we will continue to be there for Canadians. I would like to urge the Conservatives to join us in supporting Canadians by supporting Bill C-14.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, our government is standing up for Line 5. We know that it is a vital source of fuel for homes and businesses on both sides of the border. We support its continued safe operation and we are advocating for that. We are explaining, as we did during the NAFTA negotiations, that Canada is a safe and reliable supplier of energy to the United States.
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Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, as our government demonstrated during the NAFTA negotiations, and as we demonstrate every day during the COVID pandemic with our support for Canadian workers and Canadian jobs, we will never forget about Canadian workers. We will never forget about Canadian jobs, whether they are in southwestern Ontario or anywhere else in the country.
Line 5 continues to operate and supply refineries in Canada and the United States, and we are going to continue to fight for Line 5.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives need to pick a lane. Last spring, when asked about what support the government should offer Canadians, the member for Carleton said: “You might want to address [COVID-19] with big, fat government programs. We're Conservatives, so we don't believe in that.” However, today the Conservatives are calling for support measures that our government actually created last year.
The Conservative leader cannot seem to decide what he believes in and seems ready to say anything to score cheap political points. We believe in supporting Canadian workers and Canadian businesses, and we are going to keep on doing that.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives need to pick a lane.
Last spring, when asked what type of support the government should be providing to Canadians, the hon. member for Carleton said: “You might want to address [COVID-19] with big, fat government programs. We're Conservatives, so we don't believe in that.”
Our government understands that we must support businesses and workers. It is time for the Conservatives to explain what they believe in.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I thank the leader of the official opposition for that question because it gives me an opportunity to point out the Conservatives' cynicism and hypocrisy.
Yesterday, they voted against a bill that would support urgent financial assistance for small businesses. Today, however, they claim they support small businesses. Their actions belie that claim.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question.
Canada has one of the strictest border control systems in the world. It is necessary. It is the right thing to do because we understand that we must protect Canadians against COVID-19. Furthermore, we have also protected essential trade between Canada and the United States. That is also important. We should all be proud of these two essential steps we have taken.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, Canada's travel and border measures are among the strictest in the world.
With the new variants, we know that we need to take additional measures to protect Canadians against COVID-19. That is what we did.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have made it quite clear that no one should be travelling because that could endanger the traveller and those close to them.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I must say that I agree with the hon. member and leader of the NDP that it is very important to help small and medium-sized businesses. That is what our government is doing.
That is why we urgently need to adopt Bill C-14. I want to thank all hon. members who joined us and supported this urgent and important bill.
Credit card fees are also an important issue and we are looking into it.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, let me start by saying that our government agrees with the leader of the NDP that it is absolutely essential to support small businesses. That is why I would like to call on all members of the House to join us in supporting Bill C-14. Small businesses need it.
Let me say that we are here for small businesses, and let me point to just one program, the CEBA. Over 842,000 small businesses across the country have received CEBA loans as of March 4. Credit card fees are another important issue that we are looking at closely.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I cannot speak for the misery on the other side of the House, but let me just say that on our side of the House, we are so grateful to Canadians for their hard work and resilience. Thanks to that hard work and the strong support from our government, let me share the great news with the House that in the fourth quarter of last year, our GDP grew by nearly 10%. That is higher than that of the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany or Italy. Well done team Canada.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, let me urge the member opposite to take a closer look at the international data. Canada has a higher labour force participation rate, at 64.3%, which is a higher rate than Germany, the U.S. and Japan. Canada has recovered 71% of the jobs lost in the wake of the pandemic. That compares with just 56% in the U.S.
Again, let me thank hard-working Canadian small businesses and hard-working Canadians. They are so resilient, and our government will be here to support them for as long as it takes.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, our government is definitely listening to Canadians, and I would like to thank the Canadians who submitted 58,000 written submissions in our pre-budget consultations. I would like to take this opportunity to ask the Conservatives whether they are listening to small business and whether they heard Dan Kelly, who said, “Bill C-14 has some important measures for small business.... CFIB urges all parties to ensure this support is passed quickly”.
Let me echo Mr. Kelly and urge the Conservatives to stop playing partisan games and support small business with a vote.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, we are definitely listening. I am so grateful to the Canadians who have participated with such enthusiasm in our pre-budget consultations. We have received more than 58,000 written submissions. We are working hard with Canadians from coast to coast to coast.
Let me just say that our priority today is to do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to support Canadian workers and Canadian businesses, so let us get Bill C-14 passed so that we can do that.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to hear the Conservatives focusing on a central preoccupation of our government, which is the uneven impact of this pandemic on women. That is why I was so delighted to announce yesterday with my colleague, the Associate Minister of Finance, the creation of a task force on women and the economy that will focus on precisely this issue.
Let me say to the member opposite, if she is sincerely concerned, as I hope and believe she must be, about Canadian women in this pandemic, I hope she will join us in voting for Bill C-14, which provides essential support to small businesses, workers and families.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, our government takes all allegations of misconduct very seriously and will always take strong action in response to any allegation of misconduct that is brought forward, no matter the rank and no matter the position. Let me say that every woman in Canada should be able to do her job free of harassment. The Canadian Forces National Investigation Service has confirmed an investigation into Admiral McDonald.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, Canada has some of the strictest travel and border measures in the world, and that is absolutely as it should be. There are new COVID variants of concern in the world and our government will always do whatever it takes to protect Canadians. As a mother, as a woman and as a feminist, I am deeply concerned by the reports of violence and sexual assault. No one should ever have to fear for her safety.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, this program is still in operation precisely because all Canadians are unsafe as long as the coronavirus is circulating in the world. By introducing strict border measures, including obligatory quarantine, we are acting to protect Canadians. This is something we will always do. Let me remind everyone in the House, and everyone listening, that no one should be travelling outside the country for non-essential reasons right now.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, if the Conservatives do not want to protect Canadians from COVID-19, that is their prerogative. Those of us in government, however, want to keep protecting Canadians with our quarantine and border measures.
As a woman and a mother, I am of course deeply concerned by the reports of violence and sexual assault. Nobody should have to fear for their own safety.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, Canada's travel and border measures are among the strictest in the world, and I am proud of that. It provides an essential protection for Canadians, who are sacrificing a great deal in our fight against COVID-19.
From day one of the pandemic, we have made it clear that no one should be travelling. I want to repeat that travelling can put people and their loved ones at risk.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I have a lot of respect for the hon. Bloc member, and I know he agrees with our government that we all need to take tough, strict measures to protect Canadians. These tough, strict measures include border and quarantine measures.
I want to emphasize once again for all Canadians that now is not the time for non-essential travel abroad.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, with respect to the quarantines and the strict measures that we had to implement at the border, I want to remind the hon. member that the provinces, including the province of Quebec, agree with us that we need strong measures at the border to protect Canadians. That is something that our government will always do.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, no one should have to choose between buying medicine and buying groceries.
We have already done more than any other government in the past generation to lower the cost of medication. We are also working with the provinces, territories and other stakeholders to establish the foundational elements of national universal pharmacare.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, no Canadian should have to choose between paying for medicine and paying for groceries. That is why our government continues to work hard, in collaboration with the provinces, the territories and other stakeholders, to move forward in establishing the foundational elements of national universal pharmacare. That includes a new Canadian drug agency that would negotiate drug prices on behalf of all Canadians, thereby lowering prices. It includes a national formulary. It also includes a national strategy for high-cost drugs for rare diseases.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, job one for all Canadians and all members of the House is to conquer COVID. That does include, in our government's view, strict border measures and vaccinating Canadians. That is why I am so pleased that 643,000 doses of vaccine are arriving this week alone. Once that job is done, I am confident that Canada will come roaring back, and we are hard at work with provinces, territories, municipalities, businesses and labour to do just that.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, it is, in fact, our government's support that is helping Canadians, Canadian people and Canadian businesses, do the right thing and get through COVID. I will say that Canadians would be suffering much more under Conservative economic austerity. Notwithstanding the difficulties imposed by COVID, Canadians are working hard and finding ways to get the job done. In fact, in Q4 of last year, our GDP increased by 1.9%. That is an annualized rate of 7.8%, and almost double the U.S. rate.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to hear the Conservatives say they are concerned about small businesses. I sure am, and that is why I would like to urge the Conservatives to stop their delaying tactics and pass Bill C-14. Members do not need to believe me that this is essential for small businesses. Let me quote Dan Kelly, who says that “Bill C-14 has some important measures for small businesses.... CFIB urges all parties to ensure this support is passed quickly”. Let me echo that and urge the Conservatives to pass these essential supports.
View Chrystia Freeland Profile
Lib. (ON)
Mr. Speaker, our government absolutely understands that the single most important thing for Canadians right now is to recover the jobs lost by COVID. That is why I am delighted to say that notwithstanding the extremely difficult circumstances today, Canada has already recovered 71% of the jobs lost in the wake of the pandemic, and that compares with just 56% of the jobs recovered in the United States. I would like to thank all hard-working Canadians and Canadian businesses who are behind that.
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