(Ottawa) Rising food prices, difficulty finding accommodation, carbon tax… the cost of living marked the resumption of work in the House of Commons on Monday. Liberals, Conservatives and New Democrats are all promising bills to make life more affordable.
The leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Jagmeet Singh, opened the ball with his own to change the Competition law. He thus tried to pull the rug out from under the Liberals who promised to reform this legislation “very quickly”.
“The Liberals have known for 20 months that food inflation has exceeded the general inflation rate, which means that families have paid thousands of dollars more because this government did nothing,” he said. he denounced at a press briefing.
He wants to increase penalties for price-fixing, protect small grocery stores from the anti-competitive tactics of big chains, give more power to the Competition Bureau and eliminate mergers between large companies.
Is this a copy and paste of the bill that the Liberals plan to table in the fall?
The Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, promises “the most comprehensive reform of competition law in the country” which would give “the power to the director of the Competition Bureau to request documents and to have a legal request”.
The government would also remove the “famous defense that there was on mergers which are not in the interest of Canadians” and would attack “collaborations which harm competition”, added the minister during the period of questions, hours after meeting with the CEOs of the five major grocery chains to ask them to stabilize prices.
Government House Leader Karina Gould promised that the bill would be tabled “very quickly” and would also aim to implement the series of measures announced last week. The Liberals will not support the one that the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, Pierre Poilievre, plans to table to stimulate housing construction.
Affordable housing and health insurance
Parliamentary work resumed in the House of Commons on Monday and the tone has already been set. The leader of the government in the House, Karina Gould, affirmed that the government would “collaborate” with the other parties so that parliamentary work moves forward smoothly, while accusing Mr. Poilievre of “throwing fits”.
PHOTO SEAN KILPATRICK, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Government House Leader Karina Gould (at microphone) and Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Sean Fraser (to her left)
The Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, Sean Fraser, said the Conservative proposal is “totally disappointing.” “They exclude most homes intended for the middle class,” he commented.
Pierre Poilievre indicated Thursday that he would table a bill to eliminate municipal bureaucracy. In particular, it would remove the goods and services tax (GST) on the construction of affordable housing. A few hours later, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that his government would implement this measure that he had promised in 2015, but never materialized.
It will be part of the cost of living bill that the Liberals want to table in the House of Commons and will be applied retroactively to September 14, the day of the announcement. Measures to reduce the price of the grocery basket will also be included – a tax is being considered if the five agri-food giants do not reduce it themselves.
The government also promises to table a bill to lay the foundations for a pan-Canadian drug insurance program and would like it to be adopted before the holiday season.
This measure is part of the agreement with the New Democrats which allows Justin Trudeau’s minority government to extend its mandate until 2025.
“At the moment, the Liberal government is not clear,” lamented Mr. Singh, emphasizing the need to obtain a “completely universal and public” program.
Quebec already has its own program and Minister Gould did not want to say whether it could obtain a right of withdrawal with full financial compensation, as demanded by the Bloc Québécois. The NDP believes that it would be justified to make an incursion into this area of jurisdiction.
The Conservatives have not indicated when they will table their bill on municipal bureaucracy. They focused their attacks on the “Liberal-Bloc” carbon tax on Monday, a sign that they no longer consider the Liberals as their only adversary.
The leader of the Bloc Québécois, Yves-François Blanchet, was conspicuous by his absence during the parliamentary re-entry. Instead, he went to Washington to discuss Quebec’s place in North American supply chains.
Where are the 900 million?
Quebec is still waiting for its share of the Fund to accelerate housing construction, launched last March: “900 million is enormous for people who are waiting, who are experiencing distress,” said the parliamentary leader of the Bloc Québécois , Alain Therrien, in press briefing. “It is time for the federal government to give money to Quebec unconditionally. The 900 million is essential, more than ever. » “We are not going to overstep the jurisdiction of the province,” promised Minister Sean Fraser. Quebec and Ottawa are currently negotiating an agreement. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced last week the first agreement funded by the Fund. This money is intended for municipalities to accelerate the construction of 100,000 new housing units across the country. The first agreement was concluded with the City of London to create 2,000 new housing units over the next three years. However, in Quebec, the federal government cannot directly conclude agreements with cities. Current legislation requires that an agreement be concluded with the Quebec state.
Mylène Crête, The Press