"Mr. Speaker, one of the issues the member raised is affordability and the cost of living for Canadians. Many Canadians are, in fact, struggling and are trying to recover from the COVID pandemic.
The reality is that big banks are making billions of dollars. In fact, Scotiabank netted $10.1 billion in profit and gave out billions of dollars in dividends to its shareholders. For BMO, it is the same thing. Other big, wealthy corporations are also netting huge profits, and Loblaws is one of them. In fact, it even refused to increase wages by a whole two dollars for its workers.
My question for the member is this. Will she support the NDP's proposal for the government to increase the GST rebate, along with increasing the Canada child benefit by $500?"
Marilyn Gladu (Conservative) Sarnia—Lambton, ON
"Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for her advocacy for those who are struggling.
Listen, this is not a one-shot solution. There are multiple solutions that we need to bring to bear to address affordability. However, there is inequity, and one thing that I found really inequitable I heard today. The government paid out $20 million for businesses in the downtown core of Ottawa that suffered during the convoy, but do members know what it did not do? It did not give $20 million, which is the total ask, to all the border crossing duty-free shops in the country, which have lost 95% of their revenue. That is inequity. That needs to be addressed."
