hazylavender/hi huggingface dataset:
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Ms. Ruby Sahota: at a time where Canadians are struggling with the cost of living, Conservatives provide no solutions. That speech was a prime example of that. There were no ideas or concrete things that could be done. Instead, they have just been calling for cuts to pensions and employment insurance, which Canadians rely on, and they are urging for pollution to be free again. It is reckless to suggest the ideas they have been suggesting, such as crypto, but one thing I was really happy to see was that the Conservatives were able to give unanimous consent to have the grocery rebate passed so Canadians could receive it. I know the member just mentioned the grocery rebate was not a good idea, so I am wondering why she provided unanimous consent to provide Canadians the grocery rebate. I would like to know why she thought it was a good idea that day.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mrs. Cheryl Gallant: what this member opposite just did is called paltering: stating a fact then propagating it with a lie. What I said was that there is no GST on groceries, yet they call the bonus they are giving Canadians a GST rebate. They do not make sense. We have a concrete plan. The plan is to reduce taxes, so there is more money in people's pockets to pay their bills, feed their families and spend their money the way they feel is best, and not have the government spending on their behalf.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Alistair MacGregor: I appreciate that, Madam Speaker. As I was saying, one of the proudest accomplishments my NDP colleagues and I have is expanding dental care to low-income Canadians, who have never had the opportunity to afford to go to a dentist. That program is now going to expand to seniors and to persons with disabilities. These are the people who live on the margins of our society and need this. I hope my hon. colleague from the Conservatives will recognize that good oral health care is a part of health care. Will she commit, along with her caucus, to keeping that program? Will she at least see the benefits it has for her constituents?
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mrs. Cheryl Gallant: I am familiar with dental plans, and what they have put forth is not a dental plan. A dental plan matches codes with procedures. This is dental CERB, and we are still sorting out the problems from the CERB, which went forth initially without the necessary screening. Now we have people who were given all these thousands of dollars who need to find ways of paying it back because it was not given properly.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Gabriel Ste-Marie: we are seized with the budget implementation act, which is several hundred pages long and will amend dozens upon dozens of acts. Toward the end of these hundreds of pages, division 31 recognizes Charles III as King of Canada. The clause in question reads, "Charles the Third, by the Grace of God King of Canada and His other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth". Does my hon. colleague think it is appropriate to include this in a budget implementation bill, or should it be tabled separately from these hundreds of pages of amendments?
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mrs. Cheryl Gallant: there are all kinds of unexploded ordinances hidden in this budget implementation bill. We cannot even tell what they will be until they start blowing up in Canadians' faces. I know "Her Majesty" is still copied and pasted and put into templates, referring to Her Majesty giving a royal assent. This is probably another copy and pasted budget. I would be surprised if it says "His Majesty" anywhere in the budget. In the meantime, Canadians should be very careful. We have had experiences with budget implementations where people had tax imposed retroactively. That is the kind of thing they bury when they push through the budget before a fulsome scrutiny can be taken on a committee-by-committee basis.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Gabriel Ste-Marie: toward the end of his speech, my colleague said that there needs to be money for mental health. Then he went on to quote organizations that say there is not enough funding. Something interesting happened, however. Last Wednesday, Bill C-46 was passed by the House at all stages. The next day, Thursday, the government introduced Bill C-47 . Bill C-46 included a $2-billion, unconditional health transfer to the provinces. This is included again in Bill C-47. At the Standing Committee on Finance earlier today, senior officials confirmed to us that if Bill C-47 is passed as is, an additional $2 billion would be transferred to the provinces. The hon. member says there is not enough money for health and mental health. Now, there could be an extra $2 billion if his government does not make an amendment to take that part out. Will the hon. member vote to keep the extra $2 billion?
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Gabriel Ste-Marie: we have been using Zoom for two or three years now. It is a shame that some people still have problems choosing the right interpretation channel. I have a question for my colleague. Bill C-46 includes a $2-billion investment in health care. This measure appears again in Bill C-47 . Today at the Standing Committee on Finance, senior officials confirmed that, if the bill is not amended, a total of $4 billion will be invested in health care. The hon. member is saying that there is not enough money for health and mental health. This is our chance to ask his government to not remove that part of Bill C-47, so that $4 billion will be invested in health care instead of $2 billion. Will he commit to working to keep the $4 billion?
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Nathaniel Erskine-Smith: it was not, by the way, a matter of selecting the right channel. It was simply a matter of my home Internet. I am committed to supporting the budgets that the government puts forward. In this case, I do not support the idea of transfers that are not coordinated, that are not properly negotiated and that do not have adequate strings attached. The idea that some inadvertence is being corrected to allow inadvertence to stand that is not intentional makes no sense at all to me.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Nathaniel Erskine-Smith: I would dispute the idea that the government is not looking at non-market options. It was not in this budget, but in previous economic statements and budgets we certainly committed to an expansion of co-op housing, for example, one of the largest investments in co-op housing in decades. There is a commitment to non-market-based options, but I will agree that we are not delivering at scale. It is not only up to the federal government. In fact, provincial governments have more to say on housing, all things considered, working with municipalities, but I do think market supply is a huge part of the answer. We should not be pitting these ideas against one another, but we do need much more market supply and we also need governments to get back in the game on social public housing, like co-op housing. Then, important at all levels, especially at the federal level, as we examine every policy measure, we need to ensure that we treat housing as a home first and investment second. Whether we look at the work of Generation Squeeze or any analysis, over 40 years ago, it used to take five years to save a down payment. Now it takes over 20 years, and over 30 years in some communities, and that is obviously unacceptable.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Chad Collins: I will continue along the theme of housing. I am so glad my friend and colleague referenced the investments that we have made in affordable housing. Unfortunately, we have not seen those same investments at the provincial level, especially in Ontario. I wonder if the member could comment on the importance of having all three levels of government investing in affordable housing to ensure that the supply is there for the people who need it.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Nathaniel Erskine-Smith: I thank the member for his work, especially his work in looking at housing options and partnerships with community organizations like legions. There is no question that provinces need to lead on this. I will speak to Ontario specifically. Its housing affordability task force has said that we need to do more on housing and enshrine a 1.5-million supply target in planning guidance to ensure we encourage municipalities to add density and end restrictive zoning. What does the provincial government do? It encourages sprawl and builds on the greenbelt. We, at all levels of government, but especially at the provincial level, need to take housing much more seriously and deliver the housing supply, all kinds of housing supply, that is so desperately needed.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Rene Villemure: I thank my colleague for his brilliant speech. I would, however, like him to clarify something for me. I heard him criticize the government for making non-recurring investments rather than structural ones. When I look at what is happening with the budget, I get the impression that the government is investing based on events. I would like to know what my colleague thinks about that.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Luc Theriault: I do not know whether the government is investing based on events, but the passage of Bill C-47 will not be an event. To clarify, I would say this. The government boasts about having invested a lot of money during the pandemic. However, had it taken the necessary precautions, it probably could have spent a lot less money. We likely would have been able to save the lives of more people in long-term care if the national PPE stockpile had not been completely depleted and if we had had masks to protect the personal support workers who had to work in two or three different facilities to be able to make ends meet at the end of the year, because the federal government has been making cuts to health care transfers for 30 years. The chronic underfunding of health care weakened the system, which led to anomalies during the pandemic. Yes, there is an obligation to make one-time investments, but if we want to make our health care systems strong again, then we need to make long-term structural investments to get results.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Ms. Ruby Sahota: the member referenced the health accord quite a bit and the Canada health transfer, and mentioned that the government should demonstrate in some way that this funding will be enough. Well, it is $198 billion in new funding over 10 years, and it includes $46.2 billion in new funding for the provinces and territories. One of the ways something like this can be demonstrated is by the Province of Quebec signing agreements. The Province of Quebec entered into negotiations with the federal government and agreed to this transfer of funds. The Premier of Quebec has come out in statements commending the government on providing these transfers, just like with the new funding for official languages and many other investments that have been made in the province of Quebec. What would the member say about the province's support?
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Luc Theriault: I think that my colleague and I see history differently. The Quebec government was hoping for $6 billion in recurring funding every year to rebuild its network. It got barely $1 billion. Then the Minister of Health had the nerve to claw back $42 million. Given that, the correct answer is not complicated. The Quebec government had no choice. It had to either accept the $1 billion, one-sixth of what it needed, or it would get nothing at all.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Ms. Bonita Zarrillo: I agree with the member about the structural investments we need in these budgets, and that is why I am happy to say the NDP has solidified structural investments in dental care. I am also proud to say that the NDP is putting in place structural benefits for child care, which Quebec has benefited from for over 25 years. I commend it on that. I want to ask the member specifically about dental care. Does he support at least that part of the budget? The second piece is the red dress alert. Does the member support that?
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Luc Theriault: with respect to dental care, the program got off to a very poor start. The government rushed to get it up and running. Quebec asked for the right to opt out with full compensation so that it could actually use that money to improve its own program. The Canada Revenue Agency showed that the project was off to a bad start, because there was no way to confirm whether the $650 given to people was being used appropriately. When it comes to health care, we cannot afford to waste any money anywhere. That is my answer.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Scot Davidson: it is spending, spending, spending. There is one thing that should concern all members in this House, something that is not really being talked about. We touched on it at the finance committee: the Bank of Canada, with $600 billion on the balance sheet. It was $120 billion in 2020. For the first time in 87 years, the Bank of Canada lost $522 million last year. We do not see that in the budget. How are the Liberals going to account for that loss? Is the Canadian taxpayer, because there is only one, going to be on the hook for that?
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Iqwinder Gaheer: my speech was on budget 2023 and that is what I will focus on. In opposition to Conservative logic, we cannot just cut our way into growth. We have to provide subsidies to companies that are creating jobs here in Canada, and that is something we can all agree on. Short-sighted, crisis-driven spending is never the answer. The answer is a fiscally responsible blueprint for jobs, which is exactly what this budget focuses on.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Gabriel Ste-Marie: we were expecting the government to use Bill C-47 to eliminate the EI deficit that accumulated during the pandemic, but it did not. The Employment Insurance Act requires the EI fund to break even over a seven-year period. Ultimately, workers will have to pay off $17 billion through their premiums to wipe out the deficit. The government covered all of the other pandemic-related deficits, but not this one. As my colleague from Montcalm said a few moments ago, in the Chretien and Martin eras, the government took $57 billion from the fund. Does my hon. colleague consider it fair to leave workers on the hook for this deficit?
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Iqwinder Gaheer: EI is something that is under consideration by this government. This government will never leave vulnerable Canadians behind. We will support vulnerable Canadians and our workers. That is exactly why my speech touched on automatic tax filing and on drawing more RESP loans for students. This government believes in the right of every Canadian to live in dignity, so we will support Canadians.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Daniel Blaikie: I just want to follow up on the question of EI. Let us face it: The budget implementation act is very light on EI measures. One thing it does is extend the pilot program for the "black hole" by just another year. When this pilot program is something that has been going on now for five or six years, I think it makes a lot of sense simply to make it permanent, rather than continuing to extend it year by year. There are also some modest changes to the EI appeal board, but there is not really anything that addresses the important changes that were made during the pandemic and cancelled by the Liberals in September. Why does the government continue to drag its feet when it comes to this important reform as we are being told that Canada is likely heading into a recession, when employment insurance is at its most important in terms of the lives of Canadians?
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Iqwinder Gaheer: EI was there for Canadians during the pandemic. We will continue to look at the system and how we can modernize it for our current day. Once again, these programs are meant to help vulnerable Canadians. That is exactly why I was touching on automatic tax filing for Canadians, which will help vulnerable Canadians who have not been able to access Canadian benefits. We also looked at students and the fact that the interest on their federal loans will be waived. They can also draw more from their RESPs heading into the next school year. These measures are there to help Canadians who are the hardest hit by worldwide inflation.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Ms. Raquel Dancho: given the hon. member's legal expertise, I appreciated his legal analysis of the budget. However, I am concerned about the economic trajectory of this country. With the data from the budget itself and from last year's budget, in fact, our GDP per capita is significantly lower than those of the Americans and of our OECD advanced economy competitors. In fact, it has gotten worse over the last three decades. In particular, we have seen stagnant wage growth over the past five years, compounded with record-high inflation and very high housing prices. The Liberal government is spending all this money, and yet we are not seeing great economic growth trajectory for Canadians. I am very concerned about it.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Gary Anandasangaree: let me say at the outset that the expenditures we are talking about are investments in our community, individuals and businesses. Just last week, the Prime Minister was in St. Thomas announcing a record investment in the auto sector with Volkswagen coming to Canada. It is the first European carmaker to set up shop here, which we believe is transformational. While we have some challenges with respect to the economy today, we are poised for long-term sustainable growth because of the investments we are making in individuals and businesses.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Gabriel Ste-Marie: in the recent budget, the government announced $80 billion for the green economy and the transition to a carbon-neutral future. In Bill C-47, we learn how this will be managed and that has us concerned. Through a legislative change, the government is creating two institutions that will be in charge of administering the money the government plans to invest, money that escapes the control of Parliament. Non-elected people will be able to choose the projects they support without being accountable to anyone, without being accountable to the House and without any clear criteria. What does the member think about that?
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Gary Anandasangaree: I do not think it is a bad thing for decisions regarding funding to be made by independent actors. I believe Parliament has a very important role in setting the agenda and terms of reference, and appointing custodians and managers to ensure the funds are managed. However, I believe that processes that are meant to adjudicate and allow funding to go to individuals and businesses ought to be managed independently of government and that it is wise for us to continue to do that. We have a civil service that does it. Oftentimes, we Crown corporations that do that. I believe that is probably a more prudent way to achieve the goals we are mutually trying to achieve.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Daniel Blaikie: I asked earlier about the urgency of employment insurance reform. I want to talk about another facet of the employment insurance problem that Canada has at the moment, which is the decision of the government to allocate $25 billion of CERB debt to the EI account. We know that EI was not in a good place prior to the pandemic. It was not adequate to the task. The whole system had to be revamped. It was effectively run like a program and not the usual employment insurance system that premium payers are used to. That was cancelled back in September. How does the government imagine it is going to achieve an effective modernization of the employment insurance system when premium payers are preoccupied with paying down a $25-billion debt over the next seven years instead of seeing improvements to the employment insurance program?
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Mr. Gary Anandasangaree: of course the issue of employment insurance is so critical to Canada, and to anyone who depends on a paycheque, which is the vast majority of Canadians. We know that any one of us could, at some point over the years, face the difficult challenge of applying for employment insurance. During the pandemic, we were there for Canadians through the Canada employment response benefit. I recognize the member's concern with respect to the additional obligations under EI for the CERB shortfall, but we are confident we will ensure we will have a system that protects the most vulnerable, especially those who may be out of a job or temporarily see themselves seeking employment insurance because of seasonal employment and the like.
Budget Implementation Act, 2023, No. 1

Date: 2023_04_27
Chamber: HOUSE OF COMMONS
Ms. Kristina Michaud: my colleague and I are members of the Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security. I also studied the budget from a security perspective. I realize that not enough is being done, as she said, to counter gun violence. Yes, we are working on Bill C-21 . There are good things in there. Is this going to solve all the problems? Unfortunately not and it is certainly not going to solve the problem of illicit firearms trafficking. For months, the Bloc Quebecois has been proposing that more people work together and that we create a sort of squad of New York police officers, Akwesasne Mohawk police officers, police officers from the Surete du Quebec, police officers from Ontario and Border Services officers. They also need to be given more resources. When these people appear in committee, they tell us that guns are crossing the border and they do not have the resources to stop it. Does the member think that the government is putting money in the right place?