Thursday, March 28, 2024
ADVT 
National

Eyes on affordability as House of Commons returns

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 20 Sep, 2022 05:37 PM
  • Eyes on affordability as House of Commons returns

OTTAWA - Affordability was the name of the political game on Tuesday as the House of Commons resumed for a fall sitting, but most eyes were on Pierre Poilievre as he made his debut in the Opposition leader's chair 10 days after winning the Conservative leadership contest.

Any sparks that may fly between Poilievre and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will have to wait for Thursday, when Trudeau returns to the House following the United Nations General Assembly.

On Tuesday, the Liberals wasted no time introducing legislation to offer some brief respite to lower-income Canadians struggling to pay their bills amid soaring costs.

"In the last week, the prime minister made it very clear that the first order of business for this parliamentary session would be to make life more affordable for Canadians who need it most," said associate finance minister Randy Boissonnault.

"And today, we are delivering on that commitment."

Boissonnault introduced legislation to temporarily double GST rebate cheques. For a family of four, that could mean an extra $467 this fall.

Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos put forth a bill to establish an interim $650 dental benefit for some children under 12 for this year and next, and provide a one-time $500 top-up to the Canada Housing Benefit for low-income renters.

In question period, Boissonnault said Canadians will "see two competing visions: one, where our government focuses on the needs of Canadians, and Conservatives telling the country that it is on its own."

Poilievre said all the Liberal benefit hikes will simply be "vaporized" by inflation. He has also said flooding the economy with extra money will drive up inflation.

When Liberal Families Minister Karina Gould said the government is also making life more affordable by cutting daycare costs in half for many people by the end of this year, Poilievre said because of the Liberals "people cannot even afford to have a family in the first place."

He wants the government instead to cancel planned increases to mandatory payroll deductions for the Canada Pension Plan and employment insurance premiums. He also wants them to kill the national price on carbon.

CPP contributions began increasing in 2019 so the federal government can increase CPP payments. In 2022, the maximum increase was $333, and it's expected to go up another $200 in 2023.

EI contributions tend to fluctuate, with the increase for a moderate income earner in 2022 hitting about $10 a month.

The Conservatives are making clear they won't support the bills to increase the GST or expand housing benefits. But both bills are expected to pass with support of the NDP, which has been lobbying for all three policies for months and put the housing benefit and dental care on its list of demands to sign on to the Liberal-NDP confidence and supply agreement.

"It did take a lot of work to get to this point, even to get this far," NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said at a news conference Tuesday morning. "It took a lot of us fighting and forcing the government to act."

Singh remains heavily critical of the Liberal government, believing it waited too long to act on inflation. But the NDP made clear their main target in the coming months isn't Justin Trudeau but Pierre Poilievre.

A new NDP attack ad released on the internet goes directly at Poilievre. It portrays him as a leader who wants to protect the interests of wealthy corporate CEOs. It accuses him of voting against minimum wage hikes twice, and being supported by people who profited off the housing crisis.

"He's not in it for you," the ad repeats.

Government House leader Mark Holland said he was hopeful for political calm and co-operation to get work done for Canadians who really need help, but also took shots at Poilievre for putting forward an unserious cryptocurrency solution to the affordability problem.

"This is not a time for parlour tricks," Holland said at a news conference Tuesday morning.

"This is not a time for shell games. This is a time for real solutions."

The Liberals are keen to make Canadians aware that in March, while campaigning for leader, Poilievre promised he would normalize and promote cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. He insisted at the time that investing in currencies that aren't influenced by central banks would allow people to "opt out of inflation."

Bitcoin, which had already fallen in value by almost one-third in the four months before Poilievre said that, has fallen by more than half in the six months since.

Holland said the Conservatives have now delayed their own private member's bill to develop a plan to grow cryptocurrencies. That bill, put forward by Alberta MP Michelle Rempel Garner in February, was supposed to come up for its second hour of debate on Tuesday afternoon.

Instead, the Conservatives put a different bill on the agenda to allow parents or grandparents of Canadian citizens to get a five-year visa to come to Canada.

In a statement, Rempel Garner's assistant said scheduling conflicts meant MPs agreed to move around debate time for three private members' bills. The House was to have returned Monday but that was pushed back a day because of the funeral for Queen Elizabeth.

The bill is now scheduled to be debated in three weeks.

 

MORE National ARTICLES

Structure fire in Surrey lands 2 in hospital, road closures in effect

Structure fire in Surrey lands 2 in hospital, road closures in effect
At approximately 3:54 pm this afternoon, Surrey RCMP received a report of a structure fire in the 14800 block of 75a avenue. Upon arrival, police found the residence fully engulfed, and firefighters were hard at work trying to contain the fire. Police and fire crews are on scene. It is expected that traffic in the area will be disrupted for some time.

Structure fire in Surrey lands 2 in hospital, road closures in effect

Late night shooting in Maple Ridge over the weekend lands man in hospital

Late night shooting in Maple Ridge over the weekend lands man in hospital
When police arrived they confirmed the man, a 51 year old Maple Ridge resident, was suffering from gunshot wounds. The man was transported to hospital with serious injuries. The house remains secured by police while they execute a search warrant.  

Late night shooting in Maple Ridge over the weekend lands man in hospital

Expert flags potential for dental-care clawbacks as result of federal program

Expert flags potential for dental-care clawbacks as result of federal program
The government plans to offer cheques of up to $650 to qualifying low- and middle-income families with children under the age of 12 to help pay for their dental needs. Qualifying families will have to attest that they don't have private insurance, that they have out-of-pocket dental expenses and that they will keep their receipts.

Expert flags potential for dental-care clawbacks as result of federal program

Arrests after violent end to Vancouver concert

Arrests after violent end to Vancouver concert
Police say fights broke out inside and outside the PNE Amphitheatre following the sudden cancellation of the headline act in the final hours of the two-day BreakOut Festival. The police statement says hostile concertgoers also caused significant property damage to the amphitheatre, other PNE grounds and the surrounding neighbourhood before order was restored.

Arrests after violent end to Vancouver concert

Surrey residence riddled with bullet holes after Sunday morning shooting

Surrey residence riddled with bullet holes after Sunday morning shooting
At approximately 4:30pm, on Sunday, Surrey RCMP responded to a report of shots fired in the 12300 block of 68thavenue. Responding officers attended and found shots fired into a residence and confirmed there were no injuries.

Surrey residence riddled with bullet holes after Sunday morning shooting

B.C. school support staff have tentative deal

B.C. school support staff have tentative deal
The Finance Ministry says the deal is between the Public School Employers' Association and school presidents' councils representing 57 locals of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.  

B.C. school support staff have tentative deal