The sitting was dominated by debate on Bill C-4, the Making Life More Affordable for Canadians Act, which the government presented as its central response to the cost-of-living crisis. The main political argument pitted the government and its claim of delivering tax relief for 22 million Canadians against opposition parties that dismissed the bill as a collection of half-measures that would be wiped out by the government’s own deficit spending and hidden taxes.
Bill C-4 would reduce the lowest federal income tax bracket from 15% to 14%, eliminate the GST on new homes for first-time buyers priced up to $1 million, and permanently repeal the consumer carbon price in law. The Liberals argued the bill would put up to $840 a year back in a two-income family’s pocket, save first-time buyers up to $50,000, and end a divisive tax. Conservatives said the tax cut was too small—averaging 13¢ a day for a low-income single senior—and that the GST rebate excluded most first-time buyers because they purchase older homes, not new builds. They also objected that the industrial carbon tax was left in place, driving up the cost of food, steel and cement. The Bloc Québécois opposed the bill, arguing the tax cut would cost $28.2 billion over five years while doing nothing for seniors or people with disabilities, and that the repeal of consumer carbon pricing was an environmental betrayal that also shortchanged Quebec by $814 million in rebates that had been paid by Quebeckers but sent to other provinces. The Bloc also noted that its amendment to move the GST rebate’s effective date to March 20, when the Prime Minister first promised it, was initially rejected by the government. The NDP did not speak to the bill during the recorded debate.
Oral Questions focused overwhelmingly on the cost of living, with the Conservatives leading repeated exchanges on food bank use, food insecurity and the industrial carbon tax. The Leader of the Opposition cited a report showing food insecurity in Quebec had nearly doubled and that food bank visits in Ontario had risen 165% since the current Prime Minister joined government. Conservatives argued the industrial carbon tax drove up the cost of farm inputs, transport and construction materials, making groceries and housing more expensive. The government’s answers consistently pointed to its tax cut in Bill C-4, the Canada child benefit, the national school food program, dental care and affordable housing investments, and accused the Conservatives of voting against all of those measures. A second major theme was the Canada-Alberta energy memorandum of understanding, which the Bloc called a climate betrayal; the government defended it as a wartime-like plan to build energy infrastructure and reduce emissions. A third theme was auto-sector job losses at GM’s CAMI plant and Stellantis; the Minister of Industry said she was in regular contact with Unifor and fighting to bring new models to those plants.