Hon. Rodger Cuzner: Honourable senators, I feel privileged today to speak on Bill C-4, the making life more affordable for Canadians act.

However, before I commence my formal remarks, I hope senators will allow me a brief moment to reflect on a very important event that occurred yesterday. In light of what is transpiring in politics south of the border, it has even greater significance here in Canada today. Many were in attendance yesterday and also watched online. At the risk of sounding effusive about yesterday’s event, it truly showed Canada at its best. Of course, the event I am speaking about is the honouring of our twenty-second prime minister, the Right Honourable Stephen Harper, at the unveiling of his official portrait.

I see Senator Housakos clasping his chest.

I was struck by the class, dignity, mutual respect and even the sense of humour displayed by folks who come from different political perspectives and who yet were unified, not only in honouring Mr. Harper but in honouring our country.

It was clear from both Mr. Harper and the current Prime Minister during their speeches yesterday, the importance during these difficult times, as we confront unprecedented challenges internationally — and, yes, even domestically — of setting aside our differences and squabbles and focusing on what we all agree on: That is that we live in one of the greatest countries in the world and that our unity rises above partisanship.

Some Hon. Senators: Hear, hear.

Senator Cuzner: That is what we saw yesterday: a former prime minister, a Conservative, being honoured by a current prime minister, a Liberal, both expressing a deep sense of respect for each other, rooted in a love of the country, highlighting that we all have more in common than we think.

Yesterday was a special moment in our history in which those present understood that, during these difficult and challenging times, setting aside our differences for unity can be a source of inspiration for all of us and for Canadians across this country.

Thank you for your grace in allowing me to say these words. Hopefully, yesterday’s ceremony frames the essence of Bill C-4. Because it is about the kindness, understanding and generosity that Canadians show for each other and for our common good.

Honourable senators, as you know, Bill C-4 was one of the first pieces of legislation advanced by the new government, and, as the bill’s sponsor in the Senate, I would like to thank the Minister of Finance and National Revenue for entrusting me with the responsibility of advancing this important piece of legislation designed to make life more affordable for Canadians from coast to coast to coast. It is my honour to do so, as I believe the tax relief contained in this bill is the right action for the government to take at this time.

I appreciate the opportunity to explore in more detail the key elements of the bill that I hope make it worthy of your support, colleagues.

In terms of the stated goal of this bill, which is reflected in its title, it would first legislate the delivery of the government’s middle-class tax cut, which is targeted at providing tax relief to nearly 22 million Canadians, saving two-income families up to $840 a year.

Second, it would provide for the elimination of the Goods and Services Tax, or GST, for first-time homebuyers on new homes valued at up to $1 million, which would save them up to $50,000 on that purchase. It would also lower the GST for first-time homebuyers on new homes valued between $1 million and $1.5 million.

Third, it would legislate the removal of the consumer carbon price following its cancellation, which was effective on April 1, 2025.

Finally, following extensive consultations among all the parties in the House, the bill contains some technical provisions to better clarify the framework for activities of federal political parties relating to personal information.

Let me address how this bill will achieve its core intent of making life more affordable.

In terms of implementing the government’s proposed middle‑class tax cut, it would reduce from 15% to 14% the tax rate applied to the lowest income tax bracket — the tax rate that is applied on up to $57,375 of an individual’s taxable income — which would be effective as of July 1, 2025. In effect, virtually everyone who owes tax will benefit from this tax rate reduction.

Moreover, the Department of Finance Canada estimates that the bulk of total tax relief will go to those with incomes in the two lowest tax brackets, which is to say those earning under $114,750, with nearly half of the total value of the tax relief going to those in the lowest bracket. That means it would be going to those hard-working Canadians who need financial relief the most at this time. What’s more, they would start receiving this financial support in a timely manner.

We know that hard-working Canadians are continuing to feel the impacts of ongoing challenges, including trade and tariff uncertainties and global inflation.

With the announcement of the government’s middle-class tax cut, however, the Canada Revenue Agency updated its source deduction tables for the period of July to December 2025 so that employers and pay administrators have been able to reduce tax withholdings as of July 1, so many Canadians have already begun benefitting from this lower tax rate.

But this brings me to a point of clarification about the implementation of this tax reduction that honourable senators should be aware of. Because the tax cut is coming into effect halfway through 2025, the aggregate benefits of the cut will not be as high this year as they will be next year and subsequent years. That is because, as we know, income is reported and tax is calculated on an annual basis. As a result of the one-percentage-point cut in the lowest tax rate coming into effect halfway through the year, the full-year tax rate for 2025 would be 14.5%, while the full rate in 2026 and future years would be 14%.

This means that, in aggregate dollar terms, the middle-class tax cut is expected to provide $2.6 billion in tax relief to Canadians in 2025, but that this would jump to $5.4 billion in 2026, which would be the first full year at the 14% tax rate.

Going further forward, this middle-class tax cut is expected to deliver over $27 billion in tax savings to Canadians over five years starting in 2025-26. That represents significant support for Canadians facing broad challenges of affordability. The bill, however, also addresses an area where affordability challenges are particularly acute.

Canada is facing a steep housing supply gap, one that threatens affordability, opportunity and the ability for Canadians to build a life and future here at home.

Desjardins Economic Studies published earlier this year a report concluding that:

Over the past quarter century, the average selling price of a home in Canada has ballooned by more than four times, while the average household disposable income has only slightly more than doubled. Benchmark home prices now consistently exceed what the average household can afford in several provinces.

This is just one study among many reaching similar conclusions.

So it is clear that the current state of housing markets in Canada presents a serious affordability challenge for many Canadian home buyers, particularly those who are just starting out in life and are in the market for their first home.

I think we can all appreciate that this is not just a serious challenge, but a complex and multifaceted one involving issues of both housing supply and demand, with both sides of the equation being influenced by a range of other complex factors.

The government recognizes these issues. More significantly, it recognizes that a multifaceted problem requires and demands multifaceted solutions.

The government has, for example, in recent years announced a range of measures aimed at both increasing the supply of housing and helping Canadians make that first down payment on a home.

Bill C-4 is important because it would complement the range of existing supports the government is providing Canadians to make their first payment on a home. Specifically, it would do so by eliminating the GST for first-time home buyers on purchases of new homes valued at up to $1 million. This new first-time home buyers’ GST rebate would mean upfront savings of up to $50,000 on the purchase of their first home.

The rebate would also lower the GST on homes between $1 million and $1.5 million for first-time buyers. In short, the rebate would be phased out in a linear manner for new homes valued between $1 million to $1.5 million. So, for example, under the linear phase-out, a new home valued at $1.25 million would be eligible for a rebate of 50% of the maximum first-time home buyers’ GST rebate of $50,000, which means they would still save $25,000.

Based on these support parameters, the Parliamentary Budget Officer concluded that the new first-time home buyers’ GST rebate included in Bill C-4 would provide an average savings of around $27,000 to first-time home buyers on their purchase of a new home.

So, by supporting Bill C-4, senators — which, I might add, was amended in the other place at the committee stage to move the coming-into-force date ahead — we would be providing a significant increase to the already substantial federal tax support available to first-time home buyers through programs like the First Home Savings Account, the RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan and the First-Time Home Buyers’ Tax Credit.

As honourable senators are aware, a home is the largest and most important purchase most people will ever make, and it is more than just a financial investment: It’s a major first step for Canadians setting out to build a family, an investment in their future, an investment in peace and comfort as they work to build a life for themselves and their families and an investment in their retirement.

So by supporting Bill C-4, we would be allowing more young people and families to achieve their dream of home ownership and begin investing in their futures, their families, their peace and comfort and their retirements.

Governments across the country have committed to building more housing. Federal, provincial and municipal governments are coming together to address this problem. The measurements in this bill do not stand alone; there is a wider effort to build homes at a federal level. Build Canada Homes is playing an important role in helping as well, recently announcing that six locations across the country have been chosen to team up with provinces and municipalities to create new homes for Canadians.

Just before the break, the City of Ottawa and the federal government stated they have come to an agreement to accelerate the construction of 3,000 homes in this city. The Prime Minister said at the time the plan is to “. . . deploy financing to help unlock an additional 1,000 housing units in the City’s portfolio.”

He also said:

Under this agreement, the City will reduce or waive development charges, permit fees, and property taxes on priority projects for 2,000 new housing units.

In my home province of Nova Scotia, they have struck a deal with the federal government to address housing shortages as well, as announced on December 14 of last year. This agreement would see the construction of 1,430 homes in Nova Scotia.

In Longueuil, Quebec, Build Canada Homes has announced an agreement to build 1,055 new homes; 40% of these will be non‑market housing units.

There was also a deal struck to build on federal lands in Toronto, which will see 540 homes built; 40% will be affordable. Edmonton has been earmarked for the construction of 355 new homes. In Winnipeg, a project has been struck with Treaty 1 First Nations to build 320 new homes.

Projects are moving forward across the country. There is obviously much more to be done to move the needle forward, but in a very short period of time, the government has signalled that building homes for Canadians is a priority.

This brings me to the third component in Bill C-4, which is also a third good reason to lend your support for this piece of legislation.

As we know, one of the first things the Prime Minister did upon assuming his responsibilities was to cease the application of the federal consumer fuel charge, effective April 1 of last year. However, while this was effectively accomplished through government regulations, Bill C-4 would take the next step beyond the regulatory ceasing of the fuel charge by completely removing the federal consumer carbon price from Canadian law.

In making this change, the government has committed to refocusing federal carbon pollution pricing standards on ensuring that carbon pricing systems are in place across Canada on a broad range of greenhouse gas emissions from industry.

The government has been clear that a price on pollution for large emitters would continue to be a key component of its plan to build a strong economy and a greener future, and it has been clear in committing to a system that is fair and effective.

Industrial carbon pricing is one of the most important greenhouse gas emissions reduction policies in the government’s plan to meet Canada’s 2030 greenhouse gas emissions reduction target. Carbon pricing systems for industry are also designed to keep costs low to protect against competitiveness risks, while driving investment in the technologies that will shape the clean economies of the future and create good jobs.

Bill C-4 is therefore an important step in setting the government on this path to a cleaner, sustainable and more prosperous future. However, as I noted at the outset, even though affordability is Bill C-4’s primary focus, it is not its full extent.

The bill also includes some technical provisions to clarify Parliament’s long-established intent that the activities of federal political parties relating to personal information fall exclusively under federal jurisdiction and the Canada Elections Act.

For one thing, this would clarify that federal political parties cannot be required to comply with provincial personal information protection laws, in keeping with Parliament’s intent that the Canada Elections Act provides for a national, uniform, exclusive and complete personal information protection regime for these parties across Canada. This has been the case since May 31, 2000, which is when the Canada Elections Act was repealed and replaced through a major modernization.

Second, the bill also proposes additional requirements for a federal political party’s personal information policy going forward, including that it be available in both official languages; be written in plain language; state the types of personal information it retains, uses, discloses, disposes of, et cetera; and explain how the party carries out its activities in relation to personal information using illustrative examples. Eligible and registered federal political parties and persons acting on their behalf would need to ensure that they comply with their personal information protection policies.

In the minister’s appearance in this chamber on Bill C-4 back in the spring, he also mentioned, “We also added administrative monetary penalties in the event of a breach.”

I understand that some senators would prefer a different regime be put in place, but I think it has been clearly demonstrated that the elected representatives in the other place would prefer what the government is proposing in Bill C-4. While Parliament’s intent on these matters is long established, the explicit inclusion of these measures in Bill C-4 ensures greater clarity of this intent and timely implementation.

So here we have a whole range of very good reasons for us to support a timely passage of Bill C-4. It would first implement the government’s middle-class tax cut for hard-working Canadians, saving them hundreds of dollars a year. It would then make the first-time home buyers’ GST/HST rebate a reality, saving them up to $50,000 on their purchase of a new home valued at up to $1 million.

As I noted, this is an important complement to existing measures the government has introduced to help Canadian homebuyers make their first down payment, including the First Home Savings Account, or FHSA, the RRSP Home Buyers’ Plan, or HBP, and the First-Time Home Buyers’ Tax Credit, or HBTC.

I believe demand-side measures like the first-time home buyers’ GST/HST rebate will be key to balancing out the supply side of the housing equation, where the government is advancing a comprehensive plan to build more homes using a Team Canada approach that brings all of Canada’s governments to the table in accelerating the expansion of our housing supply.

Further, Bill C-4 would permanently legislate the removal of the federal consumer fuel charge, allowing the government to refocus and reinforce its carbon pollution reduction efforts in a way that is fair to Canadians and supportive of clean growth. Taken together, the measures included in Bill C-4 would help set the stage for a more affordable and prosperous Canada, including by allowing Canadians to keep more of what they earn.

I believe now is the right time to deliver this financial support, as Canadians continue to feel the impact of ongoing challenges, including the uncertainties brought about by developments on the trade and tariff front.

This bill has been delayed for quite some time, as we know, and I believe now is the right time to move it to committee for further study and provide for the timely passage of Bill C-4, which would make this support for Canadians a reality.

Thank you, meegwetch. I would be happy to take questions.

Hon. Senators: Hear, hear.