Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Peter Fragiskatos: it is a pleasure to join the debate tonight on the budget implementation act, BIA, as we always do around this time of year. First of all, let me simply say that budget 2023 is one that delivers for the country and for communities. We cannot talk about the BIA without talking about the budget. I will spend time tonight talking about climate change and how the government is responding to that threat. Rick Smith, the president of the Canadian Climate Institute, a respected organization on the environmental side, that is known across the country, said that this "is the most consequential budget in recent history for accelerating clean growth in Canada". I could fill this speech with the responses of stakeholders right across the country but that really, I think, puts into sharp focus what the budget helps to advance. Certainly the BIA takes that vision and puts it into place in a number of different ways on the climate change side, as it must. It must because it is the central challenge of our time. We have just overcome the pandemic. We have not overcome it entirely, of course, but what we lived through was the challenge of the moment. The challenge of our time still remains climate change. It is a moral issue, it is a security issue and it is also an economic issue. In my time tonight, I want to focus on the economic aspect and relate it back to the region that I am from, southwestern Ontario and specifically the city of London. The budget, I think, stands out for a few different reasons. First of all, for me at least, it really stands out because it actually invites the private sector in as a partner, rather than keeping them out as some, maybe on the left, if I can just be general about it, have pushed for, not thinking that there is a role for the private sector. There is in fact a role for the private sector. We have to encourage that. We can encourage it through various policy mechanisms like the government has done in this budget. There is a 30% refundable tax credit, for example, that really is historic in this country. It does prompt an agenda that leads to industrialization on the green side. I do not think it is out of place now in democracies, including our own, to talk about a green industrial revolution that is taking shape in front of us. Things like this refundable tax credit that I just mentioned do help in that regard. It can be applied toward investing in new machinery that will be used in the manufacture of clean tech, that will also be used to process and recycle critical minerals. How blessed we are to be a power. I do not think it is out of place to use that word. We are a power when it comes to the issue and the question of critical minerals; lithium, cobalt, manganese, nickel and graphite. All of these are found in abundance in Canada. A friend of mine put it well the other day. He said that Canada has been blessed with natural resources: under the earth we have wonderful resources and above the earth, in terms of human potential and human talent; we ought to bring the two together. I think this budget allows for that. This is another crucial point: Accessing the credit will require companies to pay their workers a strong wage. I think that is absolutely vital if we are going to, as a government and as a country, put measures on the table that incent companies to get involved. It is quite lucrative, a 30% refundable tax credit. Then there is an onus on them to do right by their workers, at least in terms of ensuring good wages and good working conditions. This is, as the Minister of Labour himself put it, a worker's budget in many different ways, but this proves the point as well. In southwestern Ontario, the region I am proudly from, policies like this can help to add to the green transformation that is already taking shape. I point to the community of Ingersoll, just down the road from London, and CAMI, and the incredible work that is happening there to ensure electric vehicle production and delivery vehicles in particular that are being manufactured with the help of this government. It is employing people. It is adding to the economy and, as I say, it is something that speaks to the green transition that is taking shape in the region. Battery production in Windsor is a project that will unfold between LG Energy Solution and Stellantis. I want to commend my colleague, the MP for Windsor--Tecumseh , for all the work he did to help secure that investment. It was a number of months ago now, but it is still fresh in the minds of those in Windsor who saw an auto sector not collapse but certainly take an enormous hit and have devastating effects on the community of Windsor and the surrounding area. Something like this injects hope again. Of course we have the example that was announced last week. It was spoken about at length in this House, with merit. It is what happened in St. Thomas with the investment from Volkswagen. That is truly historic for the region certainly and for the country. Before talking about its significance, I want to thank those at the federal level and the provincial level for making this happen. We need to do all we can to keep up with what the Biden administration is doing, and the Inflation Reduction Act makes it absolutely necessary for governments to show an interest by putting money on the table to get companies to locate to their area and provide jobs through production. I give thanks to the Prime Minister ; the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry ; Premier Ford; Minister McNaughton, the minister of labour at the provincial level; Minister Fedeli, the minister responsible for economic development in Ontario; my colleague, the member of provincial parliament, Rob Flack; and the member of Parliament for Elgin--Middlesex--London , who did a great deal to advance this on behalf of her community. I thank Mayor Joe Preston and St. Thomas City Council as well. St. Thomas is just down the road from London and will certainly benefit. There are 3,000 direct jobs to be created when the plant opens in just a few years and up to 30,000 indirect jobs. Think of the construction possibilities there in a plant that will occupy a space the size of close to 400 football fields. Over a 30-year period, it is expected $200 billion in overall economic impact will be seen. This is crucial, and I will end on this point. In the 2000s, the London region and the wider southwestern Ontario region was devastated by plant closures. Ford in Talbotville, which is near Thomas; Electro-Motive Diesel in London; McCormick-Beta Brands, which produced candy; Kellogg's; Heinz in Leamington; Smucker in Dunnville and Dutton; and Lance Canada, which produced cookies in Cambridge, all closed. It was devastating. Thousands of jobs were lost. Families were not only impacted in so many situations, they were absolutely devastated. Social consequences including a rise in mental health challenges and addiction challenges followed. I cannot say enough about how harmful that was, but now we have hope, an opportunity to turn a corner, and we are doing exactly that. I am thankful for the opportunity to articulate the interests of my community tonight and the surrounding region. I look forward to questions on what I think is a great BIA and a great announcement in St. Thomas.