The Blueprint: Canada's Conservative Podcast - The results are in.

00:00:00.000 Hello and welcome once again to The Blueprints. This is Canada's Conservative Podcast. I'm your

00:00:10.120 host, Jamie Schmael, Member of Parliament for Halliburton Cawortha-Lakes Brock, with new content

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00:00:32.320 On today's show, we are going to be talking about the sad decline in Canadian living standards,

00:00:38.020 and to talk about that and much, much more, we bring on the one and only Tracy Gray, 0.98

00:00:41.540 the Member of Parliament for Kelowna Lake Country. Thank you very much for taking time out of your

00:00:45.360 beautiful schedule. It's great to be here. Thanks for having me. And your beautiful riding. My goodness,

00:00:49.500 I can't believe you are, you know, representing such an amazing riding in this country, in British

00:00:55.400 Columbia, and the summer is the time to really enjoy that. It's a wonderful riding and incredible

00:01:02.180 people that are in my riding, for sure. Oh, absolutely. Well, thank you very much for

00:01:06.540 coming on the show. I know we're going to talk about something that is difficult to talk about,

00:01:12.860 and that is the declining living standards of Canadians over nine years, after nine years of

00:01:19.720 Justin Trudeau. And every metric, we were talking just before the show, every metric is just getting

00:01:24.580 worse for everyday Canadians. Well, the middle and those on the lower end of the income scale are 0.85

00:01:32.060 getting squeezed the most. The wealthy just seem to be getting better off as time goes along under

00:01:38.140 this Liberal government. Yeah, the working class have really been crushed during the nine years of

00:01:44.240 this NDP Liberal government. And the results of their policies and legislations have really been

00:01:50.980 playing out. You're now seeing the results of those. So there's so many different metrics that

00:01:55.200 we can look at that is then playing out in people's everyday lives. So when you look at, for example,

00:02:01.100 the GDP per capita, and I know that the Liberals quite often will talk about GDP, but that's like,

00:02:07.420 you know, having a company where you're talking about gross sales. Yeah. And then saying, oh,

00:02:11.940 our company is doing great, which it might be, but you also have to look at costs, right? You might be close

00:02:17.460 to bankruptcy, even though your sales might be up. And so GDP per capita is much more relevant. And that

00:02:23.300 does actually show how productive a country is. The media in Canada, right? Exactly. It doesn't mean

00:02:29.560 that people themselves aren't working hard. It just means as a country as a whole. And our productivity

00:02:36.540 is down. And what that means is that our quality of life is down. And we can see this rate right across

00:02:42.100 the board. We actually have one of the worst GDP per capita is in OECD. And we're on track to

00:02:49.420 actually be the worst. And the OECD has actually said that if we don't change our, our policies here

00:02:54.700 in, in Canada, we actually will be, we will be the worst. And so for quality of life, you're looking

00:03:01.100 at, I mean, we can just see what's playing out in our neighborhoods. We know that it's harder for

00:03:06.200 people to, to live. We see homelessness encampments are up, mental health, more mental health challenges.

00:03:14.420 Youth are saying that they will never afford a home. You know, they're losing, they're losing hope.

00:03:19.960 We know that rents have doubled over the last nine years. The cost of housing has doubled. Mortgage

00:03:26.280 payments are up. And, and we know that interest rates are still more than double, you know, than they

00:03:32.120 were four years ago. So it's, it's going to be really hard for people that are refinancing their

00:03:36.920 mortgages. And for anyone trying to get into, into owning a home for young Canadians, it's, it's

00:03:44.780 really challenging for them and, and, and they're losing hope.

00:03:47.960 And there's, yeah, there's this whole generation that has kind of lost out on the dream that your

00:03:54.600 generation, my generation, I'm pretty sure we're relatively the same in age, but, and all before us,

00:04:00.240 they had that opportunity to, to get a good job, to, you know, get a house, start a family and start

00:04:08.060 that cycle. There is a group here, a generation here that will not be able to, or it's going to

00:04:13.800 be very difficult for them to achieve that major piece. And it's sad.

00:04:19.700 Yeah, it is. It is. It's, it's, it's incredibly sad because it used to be that if you, you know,

00:04:23.780 if you worked hard, you could, you know, probably have a, have a decent car, save enough for a down

00:04:30.380 payment. And it used to be on average that for the average home, about five to seven years to save for

00:04:37.360 a down payment. It now takes more than 25 years across the country and even longer in places like

00:04:43.220 Vancouver, it's up to close to 30 years to save for a down payment. So, you know, if you're, if you're

00:04:49.480 someone in your twenties, you're now looking at your fifties before you'll be able to, to afford a

00:04:54.140 home. And so that's, that's, that's really, really tough, really tough for people, really tough for

00:04:59.960 the working class. And another metrics that isn't looking good are the unemployment numbers. So from

00:05:05.640 May to May, 2023 to 2024, it's a percentage up and it's on a trajectory to keep increasing as well.

00:05:15.000 So unemployment is another indicator that the economy is not strong. Yeah. And so government

00:05:21.080 has three ways basically to raise revenue, right? They can tax borrow prints using a combination

00:05:26.160 thereof and to an excess can, you know, to botch the currency of the economy. We're seeing a lot of

00:05:33.100 that happening with what Justin Trudeau did, but what people expect, what taxpayers expect is service

00:05:39.880 for dollars, right? They expect value. And one thing that we're seeing is that almost the entire,

00:05:47.880 well, I'll let you say, you know, let's queue up cut one. The revenue collected from the GST, it's not going

00:05:53.020 for services. So let's play cut one.

00:05:55.880 Budget 2024 forecasts that the federal debt will rise to $1.2 trillion this year. And the interest Canadians

00:06:04.960 will pay in servicing that debt will increase to $54 billion this fiscal year. That's more than the

00:06:12.760 government intends to spend on provincial healthcare transfers. The budget also shows that the government

00:06:19.040 raised $51 billion in revenue from GST last year. Yeah. Isn't that incredible? It's just going to

00:06:26.220 service. That's it. We're getting no value from that tax. Yeah. The cost for us to service the debt

00:06:31.800 in Canada just keeps increasing. And those numbers that we're seeing for the debt, that's going to

00:06:36.380 keep increasing. And so that means that there is less money to spend on healthcare transfers. There's

00:06:42.920 less money to spend on all of the services and maybe initiatives that the government might want to

00:06:49.640 spend on. So it's putting us in a really difficult position. And especially when we've seen the finance

00:06:54.600 minister recently saying, you know, oh, well, you know, do you want a country that wants to leave debt

00:06:59.880 to their children? Well, that's in fact what they're doing. Yeah. Big time. That's in fact what

00:07:04.260 they're doing. And, and, you know, they've incurred the debt, not just during the time of, of COVID,

00:07:10.940 because they were already in debt before, but they've continued on with that spending.

00:07:15.380 Yeah. And housing starts are down. Housing starts are down. Let's QL cut two. Let's hear more of

00:07:20.800 Tracy Gray and committee here. Play cut two.

00:07:22.420 Claims were made in liberal budget 2024, that they will build 3.87 million homes by 2031 or about

00:07:30.720 550,000 homes per year. So for every day of the year for the next seven years, that's completing

00:07:37.080 1,515 homes each day or one home every 57 seconds. So given what builders are saying, how realistic is

00:07:45.700 this? Not a chance. That's pretty impactful right there. It is very impactful. They have no plan to

00:07:53.280 achieve their actual housing goals, despite the fact they keep repeating those same talking points.

00:07:57.980 They have spent a lot of money. The liberals have spent billions of dollars and yet the results are

00:08:03.880 poor. So we haven't seen a government that has spent so much to achieve so little. And we've had

00:08:09.160 similar testimony from other witnesses at the housing committee, basically saying the same thing in,

00:08:14.560 in, in, in different ways. And so it's very consistent right across the board saying, you

00:08:18.940 know, there, there's just no way that these numbers that the, um, that the liberals have come up with

00:08:23.480 are actually achievable. See the liberals, I think, uh, just in observing them over the last nine years,

00:08:28.600 they like to start the clock at the point where the crisis happened, not how we got here, right?

00:08:34.080 The conservatives like to look at the whole picture because government will say, and the

00:08:38.100 liberals will say, well, we have a program, right? We have a new program to fix the problem that we

00:08:41.960 created in the first place. We look back and figure out how we got here, right? And we like to

00:08:47.480 not stop doing what the liberals are doing. But at the same point, I think the liberals do recognize

00:08:52.840 that when, when people are desperate, they do turn to government, right? And, and they, they seem to

00:08:58.320 feed off this, this idea of dependence on the government. I guess that's the leftist mindset,

00:09:03.020 but the government will provide, right? But at the same time, I think that's why when we talk

00:09:07.880 about indicators today on the show, overall happiness is down, the enjoyment of life.

00:09:13.740 Canadians are more stressed than ever. Mental health is up. Addictions are up. Homelessness is up

00:09:17.940 because what we have known for so long is, is being overturned by this liberal ideology.

00:09:25.940 Yes. And, and so, you know, we're, we're looking at cause and effect.

00:09:29.520 Cause and effect. That's right. Cause and effect. So what are the results of the actions that you have

00:09:34.420 made? That's right. And so, you know, sometimes it takes a little bit of time for that to play out.

00:09:39.200 And we've now seen after nine years, the effects of the liberal and being propped up by the NDP,

00:09:47.240 their policies and their legislation. And so now we're seeing the results. And so they're trying to

00:09:52.580 sort of come out with, with different programs and different band-aids to try and, you know, help with

00:09:57.860 help as they say, with some of these situations, but they're not actually,

00:10:01.440 they're not actually fixing the causes, which, which is the increasing debt, which is increasing

00:10:07.500 taxes. When you look at the carbon tax, how that is playing out and increasing costs everywhere.

00:10:14.000 They're not acknowledging that, you know, they're not acknowledging the causes that are actually

00:10:18.600 then affecting the results that we're seeing. And, and that's part of the issue. And that's why

00:10:23.160 it's really important for, for us to, uh, to accentuate that and to really bring it up so that

00:10:28.680 people know that, no, this is actually, you know, the, the liberal government has caused these issues

00:10:33.460 based on decisions that they've been making over the last nine years.

00:10:36.940 The biggest pollutant or an organic economy is the government itself, right? And the more,

00:10:42.180 like you said, the more the government expands its tentacles into places it should not be,

00:10:47.520 or has never gone before, the less choice, the less quality that Canadians get, because if the

00:10:54.340 government's the only one providing it, or the government's the only one doing it, you get what the

00:10:57.740 government gives you, whether you like it or not, whether you need it or not. Sometimes you reach

00:11:02.060 for that hand, right? But it's the clenched fist behind their back that you don't see coming.

00:11:06.380 Yeah. And I mean, the higher, the higher cost of living is, is really playing out,

00:11:09.540 um, is really playing out for people. And, and, and we hear it every day. I hear it from,

00:11:13.900 uh, from residents in my community. I'm sure you do. And we all do just how, how tough it is for

00:11:18.640 people, how they're making those really tough decisions, you know, of not, uh, you know,

00:11:23.240 children not being able to do certain activities, how they're not going to visit relatives this

00:11:29.140 summer, how they're not going to, um, be able to, to, you know, save for maybe a different home. And

00:11:35.660 if your family's expanding and so people are having to make really tough decisions and, and it is

00:11:40.840 affecting people's every, everyday lives. I mean, just look at food banks, you know, food bank usage

00:11:45.340 is the highest ever in Canadian history. That's a result. You know, that is a result of liberal

00:11:51.420 policy. And they're not wanting to talk about that. No, they'll tell you life's never been so good.

00:11:56.820 Yes. Life, life has never been so good and everything is wonderful. And, and, but, but that's

00:12:02.020 not the reality for many, for many people, for many Canadians. And it, you know, you, when you look at

00:12:07.760 seniors on a fixed income, you know, the costs just keep going up. They don't have any alternative.

00:12:12.500 No. We, we heard actually at the, at that committee, the human resources committee, we have quite

00:12:17.200 a wide portfolio. And so we, we deal with housing, but also we've had, for example, we did a study

00:12:22.840 on volunteerism and the testimony there was so impactful because we had a lot of not-for-profits

00:12:28.680 coming through saying that they're losing volunteers, seniors, because they're having to go back to

00:12:33.240 work. They, they're losing volunteers because people can't afford to, to come to volunteer because

00:12:40.940 of the cost of, of fuel. And, and so they're losing volunteers that way. They're losing donations

00:12:47.320 because people just, they just don't have the capacity anymore. And they're seeing people

00:12:51.620 that are clients that used to be, you know, that, that used to be people that donated there.

00:12:56.720 And so that kind of information is, again, those are the results that we're seeing of nine years

00:13:02.260 of this NDP liberal government's policies.

00:13:06.860 I'm so glad you brought that up. Wherever I go in my community, that's, I hear that, right? It's

00:13:11.560 getting tougher to find volunteers. Service clubs are shrinking in some cases, not able to, to attract

00:13:17.700 those volunteers because life is so different under this government, right? And this is a time where

00:13:23.220 charities are most needed because the, as you pointed out multiple times over the show, the indicators

00:13:28.520 are showing that people are struggling ever more than before. Yes, absolutely. And so it's, it's,

00:13:34.380 you know, and people want to help, you know, people want to help. They want, they want to give. And so

00:13:39.160 it, you know, it, you know, if people have the extra resources themselves as a family, you know,

00:13:44.340 I have found most people, many people can be very generous. You know, they're the ones that are

00:13:48.540 helping out at fundraisers and, you know, supporting different not-for-profits. But if they don't have the

00:13:54.780 capacity to do that anymore, you know, and they're just looking after their own families, then those

00:13:58.820 not-for-profits that are actually serving quite often, the most vulnerable in the community are

00:14:03.500 even more hard-pressed to meet their, their objectives, to help people that really, you know,

00:14:08.040 really need help. And we all know what happens when, you know, people have less disposable income,

00:14:12.560 right? I hate to say it, but you're, you're not going out to eat as much. You're probably not going

00:14:17.700 for different types of entertainment, whether a movie or otherwise, you, you start to cut back on those

00:14:23.140 things. And, and, and that's where you see the, the, the beginning of, of something more serious

00:14:28.760 coming down the line. And, and I, I think this is where this government is taking us with their,

00:14:34.600 with their policies, right? The, the, the, the stuff that people like to spend their money on to get some

00:14:40.020 enjoyment out of life are being slowly taken away from them. Yeah, we've seen that. And I mean, we've seen

00:14:44.840 in, in many communities, uh, restaurants have closed, you know, small businesses are having a really tough

00:14:50.140 time. Many of them, uh, and there's a lot of the, um, a lot of evidence on this, that many of them

00:14:55.820 still incurred a lot of debt during the pandemic and they, they, they haven't been able to pay that

00:15:00.240 off. And so they're just barely getting by and, and their costs have gone up as well. You know,

00:15:06.760 if, if you're a restaurant, all of your food costs have gone up, um, everything that is shipped to you

00:15:11.100 has, has gone up because of the cost of transportation. And so they're, they're just basically

00:15:16.140 getting by and, and we're seeing businesses shuttering, you know, especially in a lot of,

00:15:20.360 um, uh, business improvement areas, downtowns, we see restaurants closing. And I was talking to

00:15:25.300 one restaurant owner who he, you know, longtime restaurant owner, he says, I had to make a

00:15:29.700 decision with my head, not my heart because I just couldn't, I just can't keep subsidizing it

00:15:35.320 every month. And that's tough. Yes. That's really tough. And those are things people like to enjoy,

00:15:39.760 but don't you dare, says Mark Holland, the liberal minister of health, take a road trip across Canada.

00:15:44.600 Yeah. That's just, uh, you know, no bathroom breaks, he says. I think that was a crazy comment.

00:15:49.640 Anyways, we're pretty much out of time, Tracy Gray, uh, as you know, the guests get the last word,

00:15:52.960 the floor is yours. Well, thank you very much. It was really, uh, an honor to be here. And I just want

00:15:59.000 everyone to know that, uh, myself and our conservative team is, is pressing to hold this

00:16:03.660 government to account. Um, but also to make, uh, suggestions on policies and legislation that will,

00:16:10.740 that will be impactful. And we do that every day in the house of commons.

00:16:13.320 Thank you very much, Tracy Gray, member parliament for Kelowna Lake country. We thank her for her

00:16:17.880 time. We thank you for yours. Don't forget this is the summer, but we do not slow down. We will do

00:16:22.480 content for you every single Tuesday, 1 30 PM Eastern time. Don't forget to tell your friends

00:16:27.480 they can like comment, subscribe, and share this program until next week. Remember low taxes,

00:16:32.240 less government, more freedom. That's the blueprint.

The Blueprint: Canada's Conservative Podcast - July 30, 2024

The results are in.

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