Remarks by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance in Montreal

November 8, 2022

Hello everyone.

I would first like to acknowledge that we are meeting on the traditional unceded territory of the Kanien'kehá:ka nation, which has long served as a place of gathering and exchange between nations.

I also want to highlight Indigenous Veterans Day.

I am really happy to be in Montréal today and I am very pleased to be here with my dear colleague, Rachel Bendayan.

Yesterday, a few kilometres from here, the Prime Minister and Minister Champagne attended the ground‑breaking for the future Moderna plant. This plant will create hundreds of good jobs and produce up to 100 million MRNA vaccine doses.

And I am happy to be here today at Énergir.

The workers I met today are very, very proud of their work. And they should be.

Energy workers fuel industries right across the country. And they allow so many other workers to heat their homes, drive their cars and earn a good living.

And as the planet transitions to net-zero, Énergir is ensuring that it’s not left behind. It’s investing in transition, wind and solar energy.

And these private investments in energy and in the jobs of today are exactly what we need for Canada to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the global green transition and to grow our economy.

The green transition calls for an industrial transformation comparable in scale only to the Industrial Revolution itself.

And to help Canadian businesses take risks and grow in a net-zero world, we are investing in innovation.

That’s why last Thursday we launched a new Canada Growth Fund that will help attract the billions of dollars in private capital required to fight climate change and create good jobs across industries from coast-to-coast-to-coast.

And it’s also why we are proposing tax credits for clean technologies and clean hydrogen.

The workers at Énergir I spoke with today, as well as the Gazifière workers I met a few weeks ago in Gatineau, know that these investments are key to creating good jobs.

We will be ready to seize the opportunities that the net-zero and green transition offer.

In fact, we are ready.

And we are already seeing how our past investments are paying off.

Last month, the Prime Minister and Minister Champagne announced a major investment at Rio Tinto in Sorel‑Tracy. This investment will help Canada become a leader in the production of critical minerals and will create good jobs.

However, even as we invest in our future, I know that this is a challenging time for Canadians.

Interest rates are rising and our economy is slowing down, as are those of our friends and allies around the world.

While inflation fell in September for the third month in a row, it is still too high. It is making life more expensive for people here in Montréal, across Quebec and across Canada.

That is why we are ensuring that our social safety net is there to support Canadians.

Doubled GST credit payments started going out to 11 million Canadian households last Friday. The money has already arrived.

We are creating a new, enhanced Canada Workers Benefit that will deliver quarterly payments and provide security for our lowest-paid—and often most essential—workers.

We are working to deliver dental care for children under 12.

We will be providing hundreds of dollars in new support to low-income renters who are struggling with the cost of housing.

And we are eliminating interest on federal student loans. We did so with the intention of helping students in Quebec.

And our officials are already in contact with officials in Quebec.

Funding will be available so that students in Quebec can benefit from this essential measure.

And I hope that the Government of Quebec will follow our lead to help students—just as it did during the pandemic.

We are providing targeted inflation relief, because it’s the right thing to do. And we can do that because while we are compassionate, we are also responsible.

In fact, Canada has the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio and the lowest deficit in the G7. Just last week, Moody’s reaffirmed our AAA credit rating with a stable outlook.

And in October alone, employment in Canada rose by 108,000 jobs. That means there are more Canadians working today than before COVID first hit.

Our economy is now 103 per cent the size it was before the pandemic. And, so far this year, Canada’s economic growth has been the strongest in the G7.

With skilled workers, natural resources, robust institutions—which are the envy of our allies—and a favourable fiscal position, there is no country better placed than Canada to weather the global slowdown. And no country is better placed to take advantage of what the future holds.

In my speech last Thursday, when I tabled the Fall Economic Statement in the House, I quoted a great Canadian—a great Quebecer:Wilfrid Laurier.

Over 100 years ago, speaking about the railways, Laurier said that in these days of wonderful development, time lost is doubly lost.

I believe that’s still true today.

We don’t have the luxury of missing out on the opportunities before us.

And we know that the net-zero transition is that next great opportunity.

Quebecers and Canadians know it. The people here at Énergir also know it.

And we need a robust industrial policy, and to create the good jobs of today and tomorrow for middle class workers.

And in the Statement last Thursday, I proposed to Canadians and to Quebecers that we seize this opportunity, together.

By investing in the Canada we are all so proud of today, so we can be even prouder of our amazing country tomorrow. And by building an economy that works for everyone.

Because of all the countries in the world, the 21^st century will surely belong to Canada.