Much of Tuesday, November 15 was spent discussing C-13, the Cons' budget implementation bill. And with a giant and scattered omnibus bill came a Commons debate to match.
The Big Issue
The main topic of debate on the Cons' budget was once again their series of tax credits, with the opposition parties raising plenty of serious concerns. Malcolm Allen and Christine Moore noted that the Cons' upper-income-targeted tax goodies do nothing at all for anybody who can't afford to spend extra money in the first place. Moore also noted how impractical the caregiver tax credits would be for most people who would have any need for it, and suggested as a general principle that social benefits should be targeted toward people who need them most (rather than away from them as the Cons have arranged). And Rodger Cuzner pointed out that the evidence available on past tax credits showed that they did nothing at all to encourage the activities involved.
In fairness, though, the Cons did have at least a couple of answers at the ready. According to Larry Miller, it's volunteer firefighters who don't have enough income to actually get any money back will be happy just to qualify in theory for the tax credit. And in response to Pierre-Luc Dusseault, Steven Fletcher claimed that the tax credits are really just another form of trickle-down economics.
Meanwhile, Hoang Mai highlighted the pattern of the rich getting richer while most Canadians sink further in debt. Guy Caron pointed to the massive amount of cash already sitting in business coffers as evidence that more corporate tax slashing won't help matters any. Annick Papillon discussed both the importance of economic equality and the glaring lack thereof within Canada. Kennedy Stewart suggested the Cons pay attention to the effectiveness of cluster investment strategies in Nordic countries. Brian Masse noted that the Cons are following in Mike Harris' tradition of repeatedly announcing big-money programs which are designed not to be usable. Alain Giguere and Massimo Pacetti criticized the Cons' unwillingness to so much as listen to amendments to a massive omnibus bill. Dany Morin asked why no funding is available for small municipalities. Jean Rousseau pointed out a similar absence of funding for environmental projects, dovetailing nicely with questions from Ted Hsu and Caron as to why the Cons refuse to provide a stable retrofit program. Morin also raised concerns about the availability of pensions for workers who have been promised them for decades, and noted the upper-class bias in the Cons' budget. And finally, Jonathan Tremblay raised a question about the Cons' about-face on tax evasion - which they once promised to fight before deciding not to bother.
Needless to say, the Cons had no appetite for any more such discussion about their failings. And so Peter Van Loan gave notice of their intention to shut down debate on C-13.
In Brief
Fin Donnelly introduced a private member's bill to extend the maximum benefit period for catastrophic illness under EI. Peter Van Loan responded to Joe Comartin's point of order about the Cons' attacks on the CBC and judicial independence with a hearty "hey, let's just see what happens". Peter Julian was ahead of the curve in moving that the Cons not push ahead with a national securities regulator before receiving the results of their Supreme Court reference. Anne Minh-Thu Quach noted that actual border security has been suffering while the Cons have diverted border funding into Tony Clement's gazebo empire. Elizabeth May repeatedly asked why the Cons were eliminating per-vote funding but not the equally large - and far less fairly-distributed - tax rebates on political donations. Gerry Byrne called for action on airline passengers' rights, while Francis Scarpaleggia queried whether the Cons might ever bother to develop a national water strategy. James Rajotte's proposal to work on financial literacy was well-received by all parties. Irene Mathyssen demanded that the Cons stop stalling on addressing sexual harassment within the RCMP. Dennis Bevington followed up on gross mismanagement in the Con-implemented northern development agency. And Manon Perreault questioned the limited availability of CPP disability benefits.
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