Grant Jackson
Brandon—Souris, Manitoba · Conservative · Canada
“Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I think it was very audible, the government whip shouting across that a member was a “liar” in the House. You previously ruled on a heckle that called another member a “liar”, and the member was asked to retract that statement. I would ask, Mr.”
“Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the minister minds addressing whether any of this money would be available for municipalities that are quite small. Despite their not being perhaps as flashy as big announcements in the major cities across Canada, these municipalities, in previous Liberal iterations of bloated federal government programs and fundi…”
“Mr. Speaker, I find it very unfortunate that the member for Winnipeg North would accuse this member of the things that he has put on the record today. I think that is a pretty disturbing accusation to put on the record.”
“Mr. Speaker, I do not think we will be trusting the minister's word on what a .22 is, given that he did not know what an RPAL is either. Manitoba's premier, Wab Kinew, recently said that the Prime Minister is requiring LNG to be shipped through the port of Churchill by 2030 as a requirement for federal support of the port of Churchill plu…”
“Mr. Speaker, it always amazes me that the theme for the government should be that someday they will get it done, and that member is certainly no exception to that rule. He is in charge of planning for the government, in terms of the House schedule, as is the House leader he serves. That member has been elected in this House since 2010.”
“Mr. Speaker, despite leading Canada into a recession, the Prime Minister continues living in luxury, racking up $1 million in inflight catering alone. Meanwhile, more and more Manitoba families are struggling just to put food on the table.”
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“Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I think it was very audible, the government whip shouting across that a member was a “liar” in the House. You previously ruled on a heckle that called another member a “liar”, and the member was asked to retract that statement. I would ask, Mr. Speaker, that you hold the same standard for the chief government whip.”
“Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the minister minds addressing whether any of this money would be available for municipalities that are quite small. Despite their not being perhaps as flashy as big announcements in the major cities across Canada, these municipalities, in previous Liberal iterations of bloated federal government programs and funding, could not access the type of funding that they needed to spur small-scale housing projects in their municipalities. Can the minister comment on whether Liberals are going to get it right this time and ensure that all municipalities within the country can access funding for housing projects or whether they going to forget about rural Manitoba and rural Canada once again?”
“Mr. Speaker, I do not think we will be trusting the minister's word on what a .22 is, given that he did not know what an RPAL is either. Manitoba's premier, Wab Kinew, recently said that the Prime Minister is requiring LNG to be shipped through the port of Churchill by 2030 as a requirement for federal support of the port of Churchill plus expansion project. Is that true, yes or no?”
“Mr. Speaker, I find it very unfortunate that the member for Winnipeg North would accuse this member of the things that he has put on the record today. I think that is a pretty disturbing accusation to put on the record. I think the member for Calgary Skyview is accurately representing the concerns that he has heard from his own constituents as well as his own ethnic community. I wonder if the member could put on the record a bit more of the things that he has heard from leaders of his faith, which the member for Winnipeg North should probably take heed of before we take a final vote on the bill.”
“Mr. Speaker, it always amazes me that the theme for the government should be that someday they will get it done, and that member is certainly no exception to that rule. He is in charge of planning for the government, in terms of the House schedule, as is the House leader he serves. That member has been elected in this House since 2010. There is nothing new on the Liberal benches about that member. In fact, I was 13 years old when that member was first elected to this place, and he has not figured out by now that summer comes every year, midway through June, and that they need to plan accordingly to get their legislative agenda through. When exactly does that member think he is finally going to get ahead on the planning of the legislative agenda to get the government's legislation finished in this place?”
“Mr. Speaker, although I disagreed with large segments of my colleague's speech, the part she ended on is the most important one in her intervention today, which is the unacceptable nature and the affront to Westminster parliamentary democracy we have seen on display last week and now this week with programming motions being used at whim by the parliamentary secretary to the government House leader and the rest of his administration. I wonder if that member could elaborate just a little further on the damage that does to public trust in the institution of this Parliament and how it operates on behalf of all Canadians.”
“Mr. Speaker, despite leading Canada into a recession, the Prime Minister continues living in luxury, racking up $1 million in inflight catering alone. Meanwhile, more and more Manitoba families are struggling just to put food on the table. Last week, Harvest Manitoba shared its Manitoba poverty report card, which says it all, giving the government an F in its poverty rating and advising that of the record-setting 60,000 Manitobans who visit food banks monthly, 30% are employed full-time. What? If full-time workers cannot even afford food, these gimmicks and rebates are not going to cut it. When is the government going to take serious action to reduce food prices in this country?”
“Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my excellent colleague for his speech, not least for the way that he ended it. I might just have to find myself down there for a couple of butter tarts. His speech accurately portrayed what I am hearing, and what I know most of our colleagues in this place are hearing, from constituents. They are feeling the recession. They are feeling the inflationary policies of the government that have driven down their wages and driven up their cost of living. I would like the member to provide a little more clarity on why he thinks the Liberals cannot admit that their 11 years of inflationary spending have had a devastating impact on our economy, on household incomes and on household debt, and what the implications of that could be going forward.”
“Mr. Speaker, the chief government whip knows well that he cannot reflect on a member's presence or past presence in, or absence from, the chamber. I would remind him to read his own rule book, for which he is responsible for the government—”
“Somehow these Liberal members are still running around saying that they have saved the taxpayers money when in fact we are seeing record-level deficits.”
“Mr. Speaker, there is no question the member is an excellent member of Parliament. We are lucky to have her and so are her constituents. I just want to pick away at this a little. I know she heard the speech earlier from the Liberal member talking about how he felt his government has saved the taxpayer $60 billion. I just do not see that in any of the documents. I do not see that in anything we are discussing today with respect to the opposition day motion. In fact, we are calling out the Liberal government on the fact that its economic policy has failed Canadians. It has failed this country for 11 years. We need a fresh perspective. I wonder if that member can elaborate on the fact that the Liberals seem to be pretty out of touch when they have spent over their $60 billion projected deficit. We are now much higher than that.”
“Madam Speaker, the analogy, I think, is just perfect. The Liberals are spinning their tires so hard in the mud, trying to prove to Canadians that they are improving the economic situation when they are in fact failing it, that they are actually going backward and making things worse. They are doing this instead of being stuck stationary and, certainly, instead of moving forward, which is exactly what people in this country need, particularly Manitobans and young Canadians across this country, from coast to coast to coast. I wonder if the member, who has been here a bit longer than I have, could provide a little more context about what it might take to finally get the Liberals to do a bit of self-reflection, eat a bit humble pie and maybe make a change so that Canadians are better off.”
“Madam Speaker, there are a few disturbing comments on the record already, unfortunately, early this Monday, from the government whip and the parliamentary secretary to the government House leader . I find it very unfortunate that they continue to accuse Conservatives of hating Canada. I love this country, and the member for Winnipeg North knows that. I find it very disturbing that he continues to accuse us of rightfully calling out the government where it has failed over the last 11 years. There are more Canadians at food banks than ever before, including educated Canadians with post-secondary degrees, more than ever, lining up at food banks because their jobs do not pay them enough to pay for the increase in food prices under the Liberals. There are more Canadians under 35 out of the housing market than ever before.”
“Madam Speaker, just last week, a tragic collision just east of Brandon claimed the life of a 49-year-old woman after a semi-truck failed to stop at an intersection on Highway 110. Our thoughts remain with her loved ones during this devastating time. Since then, reports have revealed that the trucking company involved had its Manitoba safety licence revoked in 2021, yet it was able to continue operating in Manitoba under a licence issued in another province. The Liberals know that this licensing loophole has existed for some time, so why has the transport minister not taken any action to close it and ensure preventable deaths like this never happen again?”
“Grant Jackson: Madam Speaker, yes, they gave up the lease, and the entire staff has been moved to Canadian Forces Base Shilo.”
“Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his important work standing up for the veterans of this country. No higher purpose, as I see it, really exists in this Parliament and in this country than standing up for those who have put on a uniform and put themselves in harm's way for the rest of us. An hon. member: You closed down the office in Brandon. You know that, right? Grant Jackson: Madam Speaker, to the member for Winnipeg North , I love this question because, yes, the office in Brandon was temporarily closed and moved to Shilo. The Liberals made hay of that when they were in opposition. They have since closed the Brandon office that they reopened. I wonder if the member for Winnipeg North knows that. It closed last year, permanently. An hon. member: No.”
“Our leader has put forward a plan to boost Canadian natural resources, not just in the oil and gas sector but also in the critical minerals sector, and use that as leverage to negotiate with the Americans for tariff-free access to their market. That is something we would love for the Liberals to pillage from us. Maybe the Minister responsible for Canada-U.S. Trade wants to take that when he is on his next junket down to Washington. We would be glad for him to take it, glad for him to finally get some success on this file and glad to help our friends from Quebec and their industries that have been impacted by Donald Trump's disastrous tariff policy.”
“Madam Speaker, there is no question that Donald Trump's tariffs on Canadian products are an absolute disaster. Unfortunately, an equal disaster is the Liberal government's failure to live up to its election commitment to negotiate a deal with his administration. The Prime Minister touted himself as the big economic expert who was going to fly in and get a win for Canada. Well, here we are, well over a year into his prime ministership, and there is no deal with America, so my friends from Quebec, as well as those from every other province and from specific industries, are facing the brunt of that because of that failed promise from the Liberals. The Conservatives do not believe in wage subsidies in particular. We would rather negotiate a deal in which we could continue to have tariff-free access to the American market.”
“Madam Speaker, I was born in a time when Liberals failed to meet their commitments to Manitoba. There is no question about that. The member mentioned the Port of Churchill. There is no mention of a dollar figure for Churchill. If the Liberals support the Port of Churchill plus project, how much are they spending on it? We do not know, because it is not mentioned in any of these documents. That is the only major project that the Liberal government has come up with for the province of Manitoba. The Liberals have six Manitoba members. One of them represents northern Manitoba. Is this all they could come up with? There are no budgetary figures for the one project they have got referred to the Major Projects Office. That is a shameful legacy for the Liberal members from Manitoba and a shameful record for the government overall.”
“They are going to ram through votes so that they can go off for the summer and spend like Liberals often do. I guess we will see. Maybe the eleventh time is the charm. I doubt it. I really doubt it, but perhaps this time the significant deficit put forward by the government, the minister and that failed front bench will have better luck than “budgets balance themselves”, better luck than “spend less to invest more” and better luck, hopefully, I am praying, than the former minister of middle-class prosperity.”
“What happened to the minister of middle-class prosperity? I loved that one, before I got elected to this place. There is still no definition from Liberal members as to what the heck that means. There is no concept. What has happened to the middle class since they appointed that ministry? Well, the ministry got abolished pretty shortly thereafter, because it was such a tire fire. Unfortunately, now all the middle class is at the food banks, and they ran out of food. That pretty much sums up the Liberal record on middle-class prosperity. It has been an abject failure, and now they do not want to even take questions on it. The Liberals have moved time allocation on this bill so that they have only three hours of debate on a bill that, as my colleagues have mentioned, is over 300 pages long.”
“They cannot admit their mistake, and that is unfortunate for Winnipeggers, unfortunate for Manitobans and definitely unfortunate for the country of Canada. Perhaps it is time for some fresh blood from Winnipeg. We have the member for Elmwood Transcona , who is fresh blood as a Winnipegger in the House. What an excellent member of Parliament he is, and I cannot wait to see all the contributions he is going to make to this Parliament over the course of its duration. However, to get back on track here, we are talking about finances, and it is terribly concerning what that member and the entire Liberal cabinet have done to the finances of this country over the course of the last long 11 years. The Liberals said that budgets balance themselves. Do members remember that one? That was a good one.”
“Why is he not answering these questions for the media, if not for the House of Commons? I would add that I am splitting my time with the esteemed member for Airdrie—Cochrane . An hon. member: Oh, oh! Grant Jackson: Madam Speaker, the member for Winnipeg North knows better than that. I know that he does not like what I have to say, because he is a member of that tired, exhausted, spent Liberal team that has been in the front couple of benches for the last 11 years. The Liberals have no new ideas. They have no vision on how to spend smarter to actually get this country into a proper economic footprint. We are the only country in the G7 that has slipped into a recession. That is not a proud legacy for the member for Winnipeg North , and I feel bad for him, except for the fact that he cannot admit it. None of them can over there.”
“If he does not respect Parliament and does not want to answer questions in question period more than once a week because it is too much of a bother for him, okay, but he should answer questions from the media then. The Liberals always profess to have a greater respect for the national press gallery than Conservatives, they claim, and yet it is our leader time and time again taking questions from the media. (1820) I was with him today when he offered a press conference, offering not just critiques of the government, but also our party's proposed path forward to deliver a better economic path for this country that might get us back out of this recession. There was nothing from the Prime Minister , nothing at all. What a shame. There was nothing from the finance minister either. Where is the finance minister?”
“The Prime Minister failed to stand up and answer any questions in question period today. It is fair game to question why exactly that is. He also failed to take any questions from the media all weekend long, including today, and particularly on Friday, when it was announced that this country has in fact dived into what is unquestionably meeting the definition of a recession. The parliamentary secretary to the finance minister often stands up and loudly proclaims the Prime Minister 's economic credentials. If he is such an expert, why does he not want to answer questions about the economy? He does not want to answer them from us.”
“I do not know any constituents in Brandon—Souris who believe that is true. On top of that, then the Liberals go and blow another $60-billion deficit, or whatever they managed to pitch that down to with the spring economic update. It is shockingly high for a government that committed in the last election to spend less to invest more. What happened to that? I have no idea where that slogan went to die, somewhere in the Liberal backbench. Perhaps the member for Laurier—Sainte-Marie took that with him when he walked out with the environmental caucus. I am not sure where that is going, but nonetheless, we are concerned about the spending the government continues to perpetuate. If that was not bad enough, now we have government members who do not even want to debate their spending or answer questions regarding their spending.”
“It is a bit alarming that they seem to think that the few programs they have put forward, some of which are tweaked with this budget implementation act, are going to make any substantial dent in those enormously long lines at every single food bank across the country, many of which are actually running out of food. We are a bit shocked that the Liberals cannot eat a little slice of humble pie. They cannot find that at a food bank because they are out of food, but if they could make one for themselves and take a little bite, it might be good for the Canadian public to see that for the first time from the tired 11-year-old Liberal government. They might actually come to appreciate the efforts they are undertaking maybe slightly more, because right now they seem to hear from the government that life has never been better.”
“Similarly unfortunate is the Liberals' inability to control their own spending. The Liberals go on and on about how they are going to create more jobs and how everybody in Canada is going to do better with just one more deficit. One more is going to do it. “I promise,” say the Liberals, that one more deficit will be the one that is going to get Canadians ahead this time and we are going to make it. We have yet to see that reap any real benefits for Canadians after 11 long, tired years of this failed economic strategy. In fact, more Canadians now are lined up at food banks than at any point in recorded history. That is a shockingly bad statistic and one that these members fail to take accountability for.”
“Madam Speaker, it is certainly my pleasure to get up today and put a few words on the record about the disastrous situation in which we find ourselves with the government moving time allocation on Bill C-31 . Some of my colleagues today have covered the challenges pretty well. This is a habit we see from the Liberal government relatively frequently. We have members opposite making comments that this is a new Liberal government. Of course, it is not. The vast majority of members of the government benches on that side are certainly people who have been in cabinet and parliamentary secretary roles for a very long time, so the argument that this is a new government in any way, shape or form is a bit fictitious. Nonetheless, the government continues to perpetuate this myth to the Canadian public, which we find very unfortunate.”
“Madam Speaker, in picking up exactly where the member left off, I will say that am quite curious about protecting defence industrial capability. We heard a lot from the member and from the Prime Minister about Saab and the agreement on surveillance planes. We are all wondering when the government is going to make the decision on our next fighter jet capability. I understand there have been promises from Saab about eastern Canadian jobs but very little about that for western Canada, if the Gripen is to be produced in Canada. Meanwhile, many good jobs in Winnipeg are based at Magellan Aerospace, which makes the entire tail fin component of the F-35. I am wondering if the member is going to advocate just as strongly for aerospace industry jobs in Manitoba as he is for those in eastern Canada.”
“Madam Speaker, I want to congratulate my colleague on an excellent speech outlining some of the significant concerns that we have about the bill: number one, about the Liberals' budget, and number two, about the expedited process by which the government is trying to ram this through with its new-found majority government. We have concerns, and I think Canadians have concerns, about the economic outlook of this country. We have concerns about the approaches that the government is taking by not only using time allocation here in the House but also shutting down committees. I wonder if the member has a bit more to say about the concerns that his constituents are relaying to him about the heavy-handedness of this brand new, manufactured Liberal majority government.”
“Mr. Speaker, the member from Brampton is an excellent member of Parliament. I think the answer is simple. The Liberals would much rather that all businesses in this country be reliant on the government to get ahead, as opposed to being able to compete themselves. We have seen that in industry after industry. Now the government is meddling away again, allowing the CRTC to increase this tax on digital service providers, our streaming services and our film industries. It is shameful. We need more competition in this country. We need less government intervention in the market. That is what Conservatives are calling for. We hope the Liberals will vote for it today.”
“Mr. Speaker, I am not sure there was much of a question in there for me. I am sorry that my colleague from the Bloc feels offended or insulted. That is certainly not the premise. I am assuming that streaming service users in Quebec, just like in every other province, are concerned about the rising prices and affordability measures that are affecting every province across the country. Why would they want a three-times increase in the cost of streaming services? That would impact affordability measures in Quebec just like it would everywhere else. The Liberal government has raised the cost of everything else in this country. Canadians, Quebeckers, Manitobans, western Canadians and Atlantic Canadians alike cannot afford another affordability measure being damaged by the Liberal government. It is shameful that the Liberals are doing it.”
“We are supporting a free and independent arts and culture industry and a free and independent oil and gas industry in this country.”
“Mr. Speaker, the entire premise of that member's question is ridiculous. We encourage supporting growth and competitiveness in Canada's film industry, which this tax hike is going to make worse. We support the Manitoba film industry. We support the Ontario film industry. We support competitiveness in the British Columbia film industry. The only party in this place that surrendered sovereignty to the United States on anything is the Liberals. They are keeping us reliant on U.S. oil and gas refineries in the south by refusing to approve pipelines to new markets so that Canadians can have more competition in the oil and gas industry and reassert Canadian sovereignty. That is the Liberal record, and the record of that member, for the last 30 years. It is shameful.”
“For the higher fuel prices from an intentional depression of the oil and gas sector by taxation, red tape and oppressive environmental regulation, we can thank a Liberal. Now the Liberals want our streaming services to pay three times the tax, which will undoubtedly be passed down to Canadian consumers, so when our streaming bills go up in the coming months, we will know exactly what to do: We can thank a Liberal.”
“To that end, we know what makes Canadian content special, and we need to ensure that affordability and economic growth are at the centre of how we spur that content, not forcible government regulation and taxation. For 10 years now, the Liberals' approach of over-regulation, coupled with this CRTC announcement, is starting to feel like Groundhog Day. Liberals create a problem and then create a tax that they say will make everything better. Conservatives know this is an inherently flawed way to achieve an objective. We only need to look at the last 11 years to see the result. For the higher cost of living because of the carbon tax, we can thank a Liberal. For the higher housing costs due to outlandish requirements, taxes and red tape, we can thank a Liberal.”
“The fact is that a significant amount of the content that Canadians consume is from other countries, including the United States. That is not likely to change. The CRTC wants to ignore this reality and force Canadians to watch solely Canadian content and have them pay top dollar while doing so, but that is not a free marketplace and it should not be the government's role. To be clear, Conservatives are committed to protecting and championing Canadian culture in every way. We are pro a Canadian national identity, which is why we have disagreed with grounding national symbols like the Snowbirds and removing Terry Fox from the passport.”
“As we fast approach a review of our CUSMA agreement with the United States, whose streaming companies undoubtedly make up a majority of the target the CRTC is trying to hit with this tax, it feels completely out of touch with the renegotiations and the challenging circumstances in which we find ourselves. We do not have to look far to see its impact. In response to the CRTC's decision, the U.S. ambassador to Canada has already said that this initiative “is making a bad situation worse.” At a time when Canada needs strength, why are the Liberals so determined to put Canada in the worst possible negotiating position? It is a deeply troubling stance from the government. I sincerely hope it is not due to its own shameful political ambitions.”
“Canadians, due to left-wing government intervention in the marketplace and a lack of competition, already pay some of the highest fees in the digital space, from streaming to cell packages and home Internet. Now the CRTC wants streaming services to cost more to prop up programs that most Canadians do not want to watch. This not only sends a message to streamers and larger streaming companies, but also has a serious potential to weaken Canada's already fragile position in trade negotiations. We have already seen comments that it is going to have just that effect.”
“Not only will Canadians pay more, but the imposition of a 15% tax increase would also make Canada among the most expensive places to operate a streaming service in the world. With less competition, fewer options and increased costs, it sounds like a Liberal deal to me. (1335) Why would streamers and online streaming companies bring their business to Canada, to a market that will be less profitable for them, increasingly taxed and more meddled about with through government intervention? Netflix's recent investment in Vancouver is a great example. It created more than 450 jobs. These are the kinds of benefits that Canadians may lose should the Liberal government fail to use its power to stop this streaming tax hike and allow more costs within this industry.”
“This online streaming or Netflix tax is a creation of the CRTC, but it also reflects the type of government intervention that attempts to lead a horse to water and force it to drink, whether the horse is thirsty or not, which we have seen time and time again from this tired, costly Liberal government over the last 11 years. As my colleagues have rightly pointed out, nothing prevents streaming companies from tagging Canadians with this 15% tax increase on their monthly bills either, as if we had a need for something else to cost us more in our daily lives. Have members noticed their streaming service bills going up? I bet they have, and after this is imposed, they are going to get worse, not better.”
“They may know that the original 5% tax is currently being challenged in the courts by online streamers, which is a case that has not been decided on, nor has any tax at that 5% actually been paid to date. Before the courts have even ruled on a 5% tax that the Liberals allowed the CRTC to create, the Liberal-backed CRTC has ploughed ahead with tripling the tax, making it even higher. As many of my Conservative colleagues already warned earlier today, and in years past, I might add, this use of power by the CRTC will have harsh consequences for Canada, and we are sincerely skeptical as to whether we will see any real benefit. Despite these warnings, here we are anyway.”
“Second, the act allowed the CRTC to force streaming companies to fund and support Canadian content and its creators through additional taxes, such as the one we are debating today. Third, it also gave the CRTC powers that mandated Canadian content be promoted and discoverable in Canada, which I will not have time to speak to today. In any case, that is just a bit of background or context for viewers at home as to how we got here. Just one week ago, with the power granted to it by the Liberal government, the CRTC announced that it is tripling the tax for online streamers and platforms from 5%, which it had already imposed after the law was passed, up to 15%. Now, Canadians would be forgiven for being a bit confused as to why the Liberals would be upping the tax already.”
“Only the Prime Minister and his Liberal get along gang can reject the CRTC's tax increase and save Canadians money by eliminating it permanently, which is exactly what we, as Conservatives, are asking for today. For those Brandon—Souris constituents who may not have been following this closely, the context of this issue is just as important as the tax hike itself. Liberal MPs voted, in 2023, to make their Online Streaming Act a law here in Canada. The act has been set up to serve three primary purposes, according to government members. First, the act brought online streaming platforms, such as YouTube, Netflix, Spotify and all the rest, under the authority of the CRTC and therefore made them subject to similar Canadian broadcasting rules to those we use for television and radio.”
“Mr. Speaker, it is, once again and always, a privilege to rise on behalf of my constituents in Brandon—Souris. I rise in support of the Conservative opposition day motion today, which is in direct response to the announcement made by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission last week. Quite simply, we need to reverse the CRTC's ridiculous tax hike on streaming services, because Canadians cannot afford one more increase to the cost of living caused by the Liberals. It is really as simple as that. Hiking the streaming tax will also make Canada less competitive for our streaming and film industry, of which there is currently, and has been over the last number of years, growth in my home province of Manitoba. It has already threatened our currently tempestuous relationship with the United States.”
“Mr. Speaker, in typical Liberal fashion, there was nothing about the fuel tax. The Liberals' half measure on fuel tax is just three months away from expiring. Does the member know any Canadians who have felt real relief? I sure do not. In fact, the only people I see waving the “mission accomplished” flag are people like the minister who are Liberals. Everyone knows that it will take years to truly solve the Liberal inflation crisis. The least these tired, costly Liberals could do is give Canadians a real break on all their fuel taxes. Is the Liberal plan really to tell Canadians that their affordability crisis will be solved by the end of summer? Seriously? Why do they not take all the tax off all the fuel for the rest of the year and give Canadians some real relief today?”
“Mr. Speaker, we see another month gone and another disastrous report card on Liberal affordability measures. Food inflation is up, yet nobody on the Liberal benches can tell me their plan to increase food production. Rent is up, despite a fourth housing bureaucracy presented as a silver bullet. Now gas prices have surged 28% in April, the largest monthly increase ever recorded. Liberals promised relief, but instead, food, rent and fuel are further out of reach. Today the Liberals have an opportunity to bring down food and fuel prices by taking all the tax off all the fuel for the rest of the year. Will the costly Liberal Prime Minister and his get-along gang vote in favour today?”
“We see it happening when government acts appropriately. The previous PC government in Manitoba provided the right tax incentives to Vermillion Growers in Dauphin. It has set up a massive tomato greenhouse in rural Manitoba in the Parkland region, which is growing year-round, providing fresh produce to Manitobans and those in eastern Saskatchewan. These things can be done if they are done appropriately. How much longer does the government want to take?”
“Madam Speaker, that was a lesson in obfuscation that would give even the Manitoba provincial NDP a run for their money, and that is saying something. My colleague from Winnipeg North will know what I am talking about. The member did eventually get to domestic food production at about minute three in that response, but the vast majority of what he talked about was grocery benefits that will not help farmers and producers grow more food domestically. That needs to be more than just a footnote at the very end of the government's responses. It needs to be the primary focus. More supply means cheaper groceries and produce at the store. If there were a small greenhouse benefit, there may be some merit to that, but there needs to be far more done by the government to increase domestic food production.”