Moved third reading of Bill C-46, An Act to amend the Federal-Provincial Fiscal Arrangements Act and the Income Tax Act.

Honourable senators, I rise today to speak as the critic of Bill C-46.

In my second reading speech, I noted the following about this bill:

One: This is the government’s third attempt to provide Canadians with some relief from the cost of living.

Two: On their third try, the best they could do was a cookie-cutter approach with this bill, using a simple cut-and-paste from Bill C-30 and Bill C-19.

Three: The two previous attempts failed to reduce Canadians’ cost of living, and this one will fail as well.

Four: This government repeatedly slaps legislation together with no clearly articulated plan and no discernable strategy.

Five: This government demonstrates no understanding of how they have contributed to the cost-of-living crisis Canadians find themselves in today.

Six: This government repeatedly exhibits incompetence on a level which should alarm us all.

Colleagues, I would note that Finance Committee made no amendments to this bill and therefore all of my concerns stand. Despite the government’s enthusiastic announcements and self-congratulatory messaging, the measures taken in this bill continue to be far less effective than what the government portrays them to be.

I am not going to revisit in detail all of the points I have previously made. However, I would like to drill down further on at least one of them, and that is the absurdity of using the GST rebate system to provide a cost-of-living relief payment.

In my second reading speech, I noted that while this payment makes sense as a GST rebate, it is the wrong tool for getting money into the hands of those who need it most. The government loves to brag that they can get money out the door quickly by using this method, but what they do not bother to explain is who the money is actually going to.

This is where the problems begin: We don’t have a detailed breakdown of where this money is going. That’s why the government always says that the cheques are going to benefit “. . . approximately 11 million low- and modest-income Canadians and families across the country.” Even they don’t have an actual number.

The latest source of detailed information we have available is found in the 2020-21 Canada Revenue Agency statistics on the GST/HST credit benefit. These tables are available online and break down the benefit for that year by gender, by family income, by marital status, by the number of dependent children and by province. Based on this information, we can see roughly where the money for the so-called grocery rebate is going to go.

Colleagues, you would think that if the government is going to push $2.5 billion out the door to provide cost-of-living relief it would be directed to end up with those who need it most. It is not. Let me give you a few examples.

As has been mentioned a number of times both in this chamber and in the National Finance Committee, this money will only be disbursed to Canadians who file an income tax return. If you do not file a tax return, you are not eligible to be considered for the benefit at all.

At the National Finance Committee on Tuesday, the Honourable Randy Boissonnault, Associate Minister of Finance, spoke disparagingly of these individuals, saying that non-filers were people who were “hiding from the tax system.”

Shame is right. This is so far from the truth it would be laughable if it were not so condescending and belittling —

— and so Liberal. The 2020 report co-authored by Jennifer Robson from Carleton University estimated that 10% to 12% of Canadians don’t file their taxes. And although there are non-filers across all income groups, they are most heavily concentrated in lower income brackets.

In a recent letter to the Minister of Finance, Stephen Buffalo, President and CEO of the Indian Resource Council, noted that non-filers include the majority of First Nations people. I quote:

The majority of people living on reserve do not file returns because they are exempt from paying income taxes. Most First Nations people living off reserve are low-income who do not file a tax return either. . . . These facts are not in dispute.

Associate Minister Boissonnault’s depiction of non-filers is despicable. It shows how out of touch this government is with reality. Because make no mistake about it colleagues — this benefit will not provide a single cent to those who need it most.

Going back to Ms. Robson’s report, 10% to 12% of Canadians, the majority of whom are in lower income brackets, are by design being entirely left out of this benefit. It is a cost-of-living relief bill that provides no relief from the cost of living for the most vulnerable — zero.

Regrettably, colleagues, there is nothing that we in this chamber can do about that. We cannot initiate money bills, so we are stuck with approving, amending or defeating the junk legislation that this government sends over here. Yet, the government consistently pressures us to rush deficient bills through, and if we do not move quickly enough, they have now decided to use the hammer of time allocation because that is easier than having a conversation, apparently.

We know that the most vulnerable will not receive anything under this bill. So who will receive a payment? Well, that is also a bit of a mess, but let me try and break it down for you.

The so-called grocery rebate is going to send payments to about 11 million people, 44% of whom make less than $20,000 a year. They are the ones who need the help the most and yet those 44% will only receive 32% of the money. Compare that with the 40% of recipients who have a net income of between $20,000 and $40,000 a year. This cohort will receive 48% of the money.

So rather than sending more money to those who are earning less, this bill does the exact opposite. Here are the numbers: On average, those who earn between $30,000 to $35,000 will receive $263. Some will receive more and some less, but on average, the government is claiming to bring them cost of living relief with a cheque of $263.

Those in the next lower bracket who earn between $25,000 and $30,000 a year will receive an average of only $258. Although they earn less, this program will provide them with less relief.

That trend continues. Those in the $20,000 to $25,000 bracket will receive an average of $245. For the $15,000 to $20,000 bracket, the average is $244. The $10,000 to $15,000 bracket will receive an average of $206. For those recipients who earn between $5,000 and $10,000 a year will receive $174 from this initiative.

Colleagues, this is Liberal math: The less money you make, the less money you need.

But there’s more. While this government is going to provide an average of only $174 to people making between $5,000 and $10,000 a year, they will still manage to send 70,000 cheques to people whose net income is $60,000 or more a year. They will also send another 8,000 cheques to people who do not even live in Canada.

Any way you slice this payment, the distribution is inequitable. Consider, for example, what the benefit will buy. If you live in Nunavut and you receive a $400 payment, that will buy about one quarter of the groceries that the same payment would buy in the South. Groceries in Nunavut are almost four times higher than what the rest of the country pays, but there is no recognition of that fact — the benefit is exactly the same.

In the past, the government has tried to give the impression that this money is largely going to help single moms with small children. But in reality, out of the approximately 11 million cheques that will be sent out, only about 1 million will go to households with children and less than half of those will go to single-parent homes. The other 10 million cheques will go to households with no children.

Using the GST credit program as a cost-of-living relief benefit is an extremely inefficient, inequitable way to distribute assistance. It’s a bit like fixing a watch with a hammer: It is the wrong tool for the job. But today, it is once again the only option that we have in front of us.

Colleagues, there are nights when I cannot sleep and I trust there are nights when you cannot sleep. Instead, I find myself lying awake because I am troubled by the never-ending stream of bad legislation that this government forces through Parliament.

While many Canadians are facing real challenges just to put food on the table and pay the rent, the best this government can do is recycle old programs that did not provide relief from the cost of living the first time and will not provide it this time.

It’s shameful, colleagues.

We will be supporting this bill today because it appears to be the best that this government is capable of. However, as I have said before, the day is coming, and we look forward to that day when Canadians will be given the opportunity to elect a common sense, Pierre Poilievre-led Conservative government that can begin implementing real solutions to make the lives of Canadians better instead of simply papering over the problems.

Thank you.

Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?

Hon. Senators: Agreed.

(Motion agreed to and bill read third time and passed.)