A Costly Budget of Broken Promises
Ottawa, ON
I congratulate the Minister for his first budget speech. It was a very long speech, and given that this government is adding about $10 million to our national debt every single hour, I think we can say that while talk is cheap, it’s very expensive when a Liberal finance minister does it.
This government is the most expensive in Canadian history. Every dollar the Prime Minister spends comes out of the pockets of Canadians – the more they spend, the more things cost. And that’s why Conservatives were calling for an affordable budget for an affordable life after Liberals doubled the cost of housing and doubled the lineups at our food banks.
Today, the Liberals have introduced the most costly and largest budget deficit in history outside of COVID. The cost of this Liberal budget will drive up the cost of food, housing, and everything else that Canadians buy.
The Prime Minister has broken every single promise he made just seven short months ago. He promised a $62 billion deficit; he delivered nearly an $80 billion deficit, $16 billion bigger than he promised and twice the size that his predecessor left behind.
He promised to lower the debt-to-GDP ratio; he raised it, and inflation along with it. He promised to spend less; he’s spending $90 billion more, costing $5,400 per family in Canada. That $90 billion is above and beyond the promised $16 billion that he says he will one day find. If he doesn’t find them, it will be over $100 billion in brand-new spending.
He also promised that he would invest more. His own budget document lays out a graph showing that every quarter of this year, we’ll see private sector business investment collapse.
This costly budget forces Canadians to spend more on debt interest than on healthcare transfers, more than the government collects in GST. That means every dollar that Canadians pay in GST will go to bankers and bondholders instead of to doctors and nurses. All while he raises the industrial carbon tax on farm equipment and fertilizer and, therefore, on food; on steel, concrete and other industrial projects needed to build homes – a big tax increase on homes and food.
Instead, our party wanted an affordable budget for an affordable life. On behalf of all the Canadians who can no longer afford to eat, heat or house themselves because of Liberal inflation, we Conservatives cannot support this costly Liberal budget. But there is still time for the Prime Minister to do the right thing.
We will put forward an amendment that will transform this policy by making Canada affordable again. It will get rid of the industrial carbon tax, cut the wasteful spending to bring down debt, inflation and taxes. It will open our country up to opportunity by developing our prodigious resources, clear away bureaucracy to build affordable homes.
We want a hopeful future. For our young people, we want homes, jobs and hope. For our seniors, we want affordability. And we want for all Canadians who work hard to bring back the promise of Canada. Thank you very much.
