Marty Morantz

[The Budget, April 20th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, the leader of the NDP really hit the nail on the head. We have a situation of a government that has a damning track record of making big promises and not keeping them, such as to balance the budget by 2019; electoral reform, which was a centrepiece of the 2015 campaign; boil water advisories; reduced cellular fees; and the other things he has mentioned.

What reason would Canadians have to believe this promise on child care? Why should they believe it?

[The Budget, April 20th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I want to talk about the child care promise in the context of the history of the government not being able to keep its promises. The Liberals promised to balance the budget by 2019. They promised electoral reform, elimination of boil water advisories, reduction of cellular fees by 25% and many, many other things.

How much faith does the member have that the Liberal government will be able to keep this promise?

[The Budget, April 20th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, my question is around credit ratings. Last June, Fitch downgraded our national credit rating. At the same time, S&P warned it could downgrade our credit rating over the next couple of years, “should the deterioration in the government's fiscal position become more severe and prolonged than we currently expect.”

My colleague pointed out very aptly that the Prime Minister has now stumbled blithely into the fiscal unknown. Does my colleague think Canada might be in danger of a credit downgrade again, and what effect might that have on our prospects fiscally?

[Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2020, April 14th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I would like to ask my colleague from Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier about part 7. Until 2020, the total cumulative debt of Canada was just over $700 billion. The bill before us, which is essentially buried into a COVID relief bill, would increase that debt limit from roughly $1.1 trillion to $1.8 trillion.

Would my hon. colleague agree that something this substantive should be the subject of a separate bill and an entirely separate discussion?

[The Economy, April 12th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, to pay for raises, jet rides, payments to insiders and other lavish expenses, the Liberal government continues to increase taxes on Canadians who are just barely getting by. For some, a nice cold beer on a hot summer’s day was a relatively inexpensive comfort, but, sadly, that too is being taxed away. Is nothing sacred anymore?

What other taxes is the government going to increase to pay for its lavish expenses?

[Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2020, April 12th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, I note that in the comments made by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance, he spoke pretty much about every aspect of Bill C-14 except the one that actually touches on his portfolio, which is the increase of the debt limit to $1.8 trillion.

First, does the member think this is a matter that should be debated under a separate bill? Second, is he concerned that there is a lack of transparency by the government in bringing such an extraordinarily large measure in a bill with many other things?

[Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2020, April 12th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, one of the very important aspects of this bill that the member neglected to comment on is the fact that it would actually increase the country's debt limit from roughly $1.1 trillion to $1.8 trillion. This is a sum equivalent to Canada's total combined debt in history, from Confederation to 2020.

Does the member not think, in the spirit of good governance, that a matter of this import should be debated and voted upon in a separate bill?

[Business of Supply, March 25th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, earlier this week, I heard the government House leader, in response to multiple questions, say over and over that committees were “masters of their own work”. That seems to be a standard reply. In other words, committees can decide how to conduct their business. However, today, we have the revelation that he does not really think that anymore. Now he is saying that they are not really masters of their own work, because the Liberals do not like it if they want to call certain witnesses as opposed to other witnesses.

I wonder if this is a concern for the member as well and whether he thinks this shift in government position away from the autonomy of committees is of concern.

[Business of Supply, March 25th, 2021]

Mr. Speaker, would the government House leader agree with his Minister of National Defence at the defence committee on March 12 who, when asked, “Who is responsible and accountable for the failure of this allegation being investigated?”, replied, “Yes. I'm absolutely responsible”?

[Petitions, March 24th, 2021]

Madam Speaker, today I am presenting three petitions on behalf of concerned Canadians, all regarding the unrest, violence, human rights abuses and humanitarian crisis in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.

These petitioners are requesting of the Government of Canada to, one, call for an end to violence and for restraint from all sides and parties involved in the Tigray conflict; two, allow humanitarian access to the region and independent monitoring; three, call for international investigations into credible reports of war crimes and gross violations of human rights law; four, engage directly and consistently with the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments on this conflict, and finally, promote short-, medium- and long-term elections monitoring in Ethiopia.