hazylavender/hi huggingface dataset:
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mrs. Rachael Thomas: I would remind the hon. member where all the money comes from, which, once again, is the Canadian people. I would also remind the hon. member that there is nothing about the supposed dental program that requires the money to be used on dentistry. It is actually just a cheque that gets written should someone want it, so I would have a question for the member with respect to accountability and whether it is actually accomplishing what he wants it to accomplish, or whether it is just cash being piped out. Again, I would remind him that money does not grow on trees. I would also remind the member that the government has no way of generating money of its own. It has only the money that it takes through taxation, so to take a wad of cash from the right pocket and put a few nickels and dimes into the left pocket is absolutely atrocious and never praiseworthy.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Gerard Deltell: the late congressman Tip O'Neill said once that all politics is local politics. That is exactly what we heard in that fantastic speech from my colleague from Lethbridge, giving examples of real people with real problems created by the Liberal government. May I ask the member for Lethbridge to explain to us the impact of the Liberal carbon tax on the farmers in her riding?
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mrs. Rachael Thomas: I have the privilege of representing a fantastic riding where there is a small urban centre and an incredible rural area around it. My constituents are hard-working men and women who are growing food and raising animals in order to feed not only our nation but also the entire world. Unfortunately, there are a few things that the government has done against them. First, it has used language that is incredibly demonizing. Second, it has applied a carbon tax to them, which has driven up their costs. Third, it has put in a slew of red tape, including around fertilizer. It is absolutely atrocious.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux: we hear the Conservatives talk in terms of an inflationary budget. What I would like to bring to the member's attention is the fact, which I know he knows, that there was a worldwide situation caused in part by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Inflation rates all over the world have been going up. However, if we compare Canada to the rest of the world, including the U.S. and Germany and many other European countries, Canada's inflation was actually lower than in those nations. Today, after this budget, we have actually seen a decrease in Canada's inflation. Does the member not agree that the Conservatives are being somewhat disingenuous and misrepresenting what the budget actually is? What it is not is an inflationary budget.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Tako Van Popta: on this side of the House, we were pointing out early on, during the pandemic debates about the economy, that inflation was a real threat. The Minister of Finance said, well, no, it is not, that deflation is the bigger threat and that, as a matter of fact, it would be irresponsible for the government not to engage in deficit spending because, after all, money is free or almost free and it would be ridiculous and irresponsible not to spend. The member for Carleton pointed out time and time again that inflation was a real risk and that there were not new rules for the economy. The economy was functioning on the same rules then as it does now. Inflation needs to be managed, and the government plays a very important role in that.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Peter Julian: my colleague, who I appreciate a lot, mentioned the hard-working public servants who are part of the Public Service Alliance of Canada. We see them across the length and breadth of the country working hard every day on behalf of Canadians. We have seen, sadly, from studies that came out just a few days ago, that they really have not had a wage increase since the beginning of the Harper regime, which is nearly 15 years ago. They are still earning the same wages, comparatively, as they did then if we take into account inflation. What they are asking for is very reasonable, but I have yet to see the member for Carleton or any member of the Conservative caucus join in solidarity with those hard-working public servants. I contrast that vividly with when the convoy took over downtown Ottawa and caused such misery. Families were cut off from being able to sleep, seniors were cut off from their groceries, people with disabilities were cut off from their medications and Conservative MPs were all over that. The public service and public servants need the support of all members of Parliament. Why have the Conservatives not joined those public servants?
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Tako Van Popta: the fact that public service workers feel they have to go on strike to fight for inflation-adjusted wages just goes to show us the insidious harm that inflation can inflict on the people of Canada. That is why it is so important that the government manage the economy in a way that is going to bring inflation down. It is no answer to say that, well, every other country in the world has a problem too. We are talking to our Prime Minister . We are talking to our government. It is their problem to fix. If they cannot do it, we will happily do it for them.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Ms. Elizabeth May: I am grateful for the hon. member raising the Trans Mountain pipeline and the ballooning costs. They are not referenced in the budget, but they went, in one year, from $21 billion to now $30 billion. I cannot blame the Prime Minister for the escalating costs. However, I can blame the Prime Minister and the former minister of finance for just about falling off the turnip truck and buying a pipeline that was not worth what they paid for it. Now the taxpayers are going to be forced to build it. What does the hon. member for Langley--Aldergrove think about a $30-billion pipeline that was billed to Canadians as costing $5 billion?
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Tako Van Popta: the hon. member and I might not agree on the importance of having this pipeline built, but we agree that the government has mismanaged it. It is inexplicable that costs have risen from $7 billion to $30 billion. The government should just get out of the way. It does not know how to run a business.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux: I do not believe the member. I do not believe he can show me a T4 slip from any of his constituents that would show they have a gross income of $50,000 and $25,000 of it went to taxes. I am going to challenge the member to demonstrate that and prove that I am wrong. Speaking of facts, can the member explain this to me. If he is so passionate about the middle class, why is it that when we brought in a tax reduction for Canada's middle class and put in a special tax hike on Canada's 1% wealthiest, the Conservative Party, the party he belongs to, voted against the middle-class tax break and voted against the special tax for Canada's wealthiest persons? I anxiously await that T4 slip. I hope I get to see it sometime in the next 12 months.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Philip Lawrence: I am disappointed in that member. I would direct him to the C.D. Howe Institute. You can look at the reports, and they will show the numbers. Does the member know what the clawback is for the GIS? It is 50C/ on the dollar. That is just the GIS alone, sir. You are so far off, it is ridiculous--
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Philip Lawrence: he is so far ridiculous. I will walk him over today, and I will show him my calculations on the Ernst and Young calculator that shows, with clawbacks and with the income tax, that many Canadians are paying over 50C/ on the dollar. The fact that he does not know that shows how out of touch the government is and why we need a new direction and a government that will make life easier for Canadians.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Ms. Lori Idlout: Uqaqtittiji , I would like to know what the member would say to his constituents about all the benefits that all the different populations of people in his riding in Northumberland--Peterborough South are going to be getting. There is dental care, the GST rebate being doubled and the grocery rebate. What is it about these benefits, which are going to his constituents, that he is so against?
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Philip Lawrence: the challenge is that those benefits do not come from air; they come from taxpayers, and my constituents are tired of paying the bills for the government. Not all that money comes back to Northumberland. There are sticky fingers here in Ottawa that keep a large portion of that money. That money is better to keep in the pockets. I believe that a Canadian can spend the money better on themselves than any bureaucrat in Ottawa.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Ms. Elizabeth May: I will not dispute it, but I deeply disagree with my friend from Northumberland--Peterborough South . I wanted to ask him a question on something I know we agree about, and that is the failure of the budget to invest in Via Rail. Can he comment on whether, particularly in his local area, enough is being done to get passenger rail back on track?
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Philip Lawrence: it was an absolute pleasure to work with that member on the rail caucus. I think we are doing great work there. I can tell members that because of those last eight years, just listening to several experts from Transport Action Canada, the rail system with Via and otherwise is in a state of disrepair because of the government's inability to get anything done.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux: the member cannot rewrite history. The facts speak for themselves. He wants to talk about Stephen Harper. Stephen Harper inherited a multi-billion dollar surplus and even before the recession kicked in, he had already turned that into a multi-billion dollar deficit, from a surplus to a deficit. The Conservatives had a multiple-billion dollar trade deficit which we have actually converted into a surplus. The member himself needs to recognize that his reality of the past is not necessarily accurate when we take a look at the facts. The facts clearly demonstrate that Stephen Harper's policies of constraint and cutbacks, including reducing national defence spending to less than 1% in one of his years, is something which one should not be overly fond of or proud of.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Blaine Calkins: I guess what my colleague is saying is that he is grateful for the fact that Stephen Harper signed so many trade agreements that we finally erased the Liberal trade deficits that we inherited from the previous administration in 2006. From that perspective, if he wants to say thanks, I will tell him he is welcome but he does not get to change the facts. The first several years of the Harper administration, yes, we did inherit a surplus and then when Stephen Harper became the prime minister, the first couple of years, the first budgets that we had, we continued to actually pay down the debt because that was the responsible thing to do. Then 2008 and 2009 came along. Liberals begged and demanded. I remember Rodger Cuzner screaming at the top of his lungs in this place demanding that the Conservative government spend more, do more, spend more, borrow more money. Now the member across the way is complaining that we gave them a yes for an answer at the time. The heights of hypocrisy never cease to amaze me where Liberals are concerned.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Arnold Viersen: I was not here during the Harper years, so it is always great to hear some of the stories of the glory years of Canada. I know that Alberta flourished under those years. I know that Conservatives have worked hard to bring down taxes all across the country. I am wondering if he has any other good stories about the Harper years of bringing down taxes.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Blaine Calkins: I remember writing an op-ed, after, I think, we had reduced taxes 160 times. We reduced taxes for individuals. We reduced taxes for businesses. We reduced taxes virtually across the board. We reduced the GST from 7% to 6% to 5%. I wrote an op-ed in the Red Deer Advocate and somebody wrote back saying, "Sure, you did. Please list these 160 taxes." I did. I wrote a letter back to the Red Deer Advocate. It took so many words for me to list all of the taxes the previous Conservative government had cut that I actually got into a fight with the folks at the Red Deer Advocate. They did not want to print the entire list of 160 different tax cuts, so the Red Deer Advocate and I finally agreed that in my response they would put a link to a website that contained all of the information that made life better for everybody in this country.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Ms. Lindsay Mathyssen: I am reminded of some of the "wonderful", and I put that in air quotes, things that Harper did and it reminds me of all of the incredible people they say they supported, but what about seniors? What about when their OAS, their GIS and their pensions were cut, when they had to rely upon OAS only at the age of 67 instead of 65? What about those people? Maybe he should talk about seniors.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Blaine Calkins: my colleague has asked a question about a topic that is near and dear to my heart. The riding of every single member of Parliament in this place has a community of seniors in it. The seniors in my constituency were, by and large, very happy because they had income splitting. They had a tax-free savings account they could have moved their money into that was $10,000 a year and moving up, but has been clawed back. We moved the age they would have to withdraw money from their RRSPs or LIRAs. Seniors who did not have to make those withdrawals could keep their savings a little longer. Their purchasing power when Stephen Harper was prime minister was so good that they did not even need to go into their RRSPs and LIRAs at the rate they need to today. That is what our record was when Conservatives were in government and it is a far cry from the government's record today.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux: it is no surprise that the member is voting against the budget. We knew that even before the budget was produced, because that is what the Conservatives said they would do. It seems that the later it gets, the more the Conservatives are trying to rewrite history into this Harper wonder world of reality that did not exist. The member who spoke before him, his mentor, indicated that the Harper government signed more trade agreements, which is just not true. No government in the history of Canada has signed off on more trade agreements than this particular government. That is the fact. Then we get the member saying that the Harper government invested in natural resources and the Conservatives built things. They did not even build an inch of pipeline going to coastlines. The Trans Mountain pipeline, which the member referenced, was completely collapsing. Then the member talked about LNG. In one of the biggest agreements with the private sector and government sector, working with the NDP in the Province of British Columbia and the national government, we have LNG in B.C. I wonder if the member wants to rewrite this, and what else he has to say.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Arnold Viersen: I had many more things to say, and one of the other areas I wanted to talk about was the crime rates in this country. Under Stephen Harper, the crime rates had fallen to historic lows. Violent crime was down to places it had never been before. If we look at graphs of violent crime, there is a distinct downward trend until 2015 and since then it has gone exponentially up. After eight years of this Liberal government, Canadians do not feel safe on their own streets.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Peter Julian: I came in halfway through the member's speech. He was referring to this mythical time in Canada when there were manufacturing, jobs and value added. I could not understand what he was talking about until I realized he was talking about the period of the Harper regime. I was there and saw the softwood lumber sellout and with all of the related sellouts of the Harper regime, how manufacturing collapsed in this country. British Columbia went from having a vibrant manufacturing industry to raw log exports. We saw minerals that were transformed before the Harper regime becoming exports of raw minerals. There was the export of raw bitumen. We saw health care being slashed and cut. We saw seniors being forced to work years longer in hard, physical labour because the Harper regime decided people could not retire at 65 anymore. My question is very simple. Why are Conservatives so delusional about the years of the Harper regime?
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Peter Julian: this is a factual rebuttal. I know facts are difficult for Conservatives to come by. British Columbia, under the NDP government, has the best economy in the country, the best job creation record in the entire country, the best investments in terms of health care and education. The member should know this. If there is any model to look at in Canada, it is the B.C. economy and the B.C. NDP government.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Arnold Viersen: whatever the member is talking about is cold comfort to the over 600 people who have lost their jobs in Chetwynd and Houston, British Columbia. We know that the NDP-Liberal coalition is terrible for resource development. A Conservative government will ensure that our resources get to market and that people get paid a fair value for those resources.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Chad Collins: parts of that were really hard to listen to in terms of some of the revisionist history as it relates to support for municipalities and for housing. I think the member opposite was part of the previous government. I was a city counsellor during that time. There was no support for infrastructure for municipalities in her time in office. There was no housing support for municipalities. The Conservative government relied on trickle-down economics, hoping that someone, somewhere in the private sector would help with affordable housing. That did not happen. Our national housing strategy is doing that and providing support. What was she doing for all those years she was in office? Why could she not provide consistent support to municipalities and housing providers?
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mrs. Kelly Block: I do not know where that member was back in 2008-09, but we created Canada's economic action plan that saw Canada enter the recession in a less deep way than other countries did. Our infrastructure projects and funding saw us go into the recession in a less extensive way than other countries did. Our projects were timely, and they were targeted. The funding that we provided ensured that shovel-ready projects were built. The government has failed young Canadians. The dream of owning a house is slipping out of reach for them because of the failures of the Liberal government, supported by the NDP.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Ms. Lindsay Mathyssen: I also found the speech interesting. In terms of revisionist history, I just wanted to clarify with the member across the way. I am not saying the Liberal government has done a good job of putting forward and using the Phoenix pay system, but I am pretty sure the Harper government brought that system forward. Could she explain that for me?
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mrs. Kelly Block: it was actually the Liberals who launched the Phoenix pay system back in 2016. They need to take responsibility. We can go back and listen to the testimony that we heard in OGGO committee; it was actually whistle-blowers in the bureaucracy who warned the current government that it should not go ahead with the Phoenix pay system.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Ms. Elizabeth May: I also remember that 2009 was when the Stephen Harper government launched an initiative to replace our 40-year-old payroll system, in which I do not think anyone ever failed to get paid, with what was described at the time as a modern, off-the-shelf commercial system. A different corporation, IBM, signed a contract in 2009 with Stephen Harper's government. They made out like bandits, and they built us a lemon. It is quite true that the Liberals decided to start trying to drive that lemon, but both governments deserve a fair share of the blame. I really do not think it is fair to say the blame is even. Harper steered that ship and started by laying off all the staff in all the different payroll groups in every department. Tellingly, the Treasury Board and finance never got rid of their own finance systems. They let all the other departments get stuck with the lemon. There is a lot of blame to go around. I hate to say it because everybody hates when we say it was all Stephen Harper's fault. However, that is what the history tells us, and that is what I remember.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mrs. Kelly Block: I do not really have a response for that. That is what she remembers, and she is entitled to her memories. As I said, we have heard from experts who have actually identified the Phoenix pay system and the fact that there were individuals working in the bureaucracy who warned the government that it should not go ahead and launch it, but it did anyway.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1
Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Kevin Lamoureux: I would like to give an example and maybe the member could provide his thoughts on this issue. That is the issue of Volkswagen. There is a difference. There is a contrast. The Government of Canada believes that by investing in St. Thomas and the people in the surrounding area, by getting Volkswagen and working with Premier Doug Ford, at the end of the day, Canada will benefit immensely. Yes, there is a substantial cost to doing that and that cost will be better known as we see the type of production, but it is all about an industry that is going to make Canada a leading force in the world with electric vehicle batteries, not to mention all of the different spinoffs, whether it is a lithium mine possibly in Manitoba, or other spinoffs. Does the member see that as a freedom thing or does he believe that his leader is actually on the wrong side of the issue and that the Conservatives better do a flip-flop and support this particular initiative?