QUESTION PERIOD — Finance
Economic Growth
November 5, 2024
Government leader, every day we see evidence that this government is not worth the cost. Statistics Canada has reported that Canada’s GDP barely grew in the third quarter of this year, coming in about a third lower than what the Bank of Canada had forecast in July. Canada’s per capita GDP has now shrunk in eight of the last nine quarters.
In contrast, leader, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported last week that that country saw its GDP grow by 2.8% in the third quarter.
Leader, you like to blame the world for your government’s own economic mismanagement. If that’s true, Senator Gold, why is the United States performing almost three times better than Canada?
Thank you for your question. Every country’s economy performs at different speeds at different times and different cycles. Canada’s economy came out of the pandemic stronger than most. Canada was one of the first countries to start to lower its interest rates. Inflation is down in Canada.
We in Canada are very dependent on other countries in our trading relationships, as some are on us.
Our economy is doing well, and this government is continuing to manage the economy in a prudent and responsible way, making the investments necessary to assist Canada going forward and Canadians as they continue to go through challenging times.
Well, the Statistics Canada report says that one of the only sectors lifting up our economy in the third quarter was — guess what — the energy sector. So, naturally, the NDP‑Liberals are doing their best to kill it with their new emissions cap. It’s the one area where we’re doing well, leader.
How many more Canadian jobs and how much more investment does this incompetent Liberal-NDP government want to drive to the United States, leader?
This government’s policies with regard to the energy sector, an important sector in our economy, are well balanced and appropriate. Indeed, with regard to the caps on emissions, this government’s position is that all emitters need to pay their fair share. It is an important point to underline that this is not a cap on production but on pollution that ensures that Canada, for the benefit of our children and grandchildren, can live in a cleaner and more sustainable environment.
We’ll all be broke.
