More evasiveness and spin doctoring.

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:00]The honorable member for Thornhill. I'm going to start off where where where I left off. The Prime Minister announced a plan to attract the $1 trillion of new investment after that former industry minister watched a trillion dollars leave this country on his watch. So, can he admit to Canadians that this isn't ambition, it's damage control? He is trying to replace what his last government lost. Is that true?

[00:00:22]Minister. Mr. Speaker, I'll be pleased to quote something that the my colleague I know would like. Canada leads the G7 in direct investment inflows per capita, Mr. Speaker. We're way ahead of the United States and the investments we're making are going to attract even more investment, Mr. Speaker.

[00:00:40]The honorable member. I can see that he doesn't want to admit it or answer my question. So, I'll talk about foreign direct investment. The the Minister frequently celebrates Canada's foreign direct investment numbers, but he knows as Finance Minister that all of those numbers are not created equal. So, can you tell this house what share of Canada's inbound foreign direct investment over the last decade came from mergers and acquisitions, from foreign firms buying Canadian firms? Honorable Minister. Mr. Speaker, I'll be happy to quote Canada leads the G7 in direct investment inflows per capita. In fact, if you look at that, it's nearly the double than the United States on a per capita basis, Mr. Speaker. Investors like my colleague understand Canada's the place to invest.

[00:01:20]That's why you've seen record investment in 2025 and that's why you're seeing more and more firms looking to invest in Canada. That's why we're going to have an investment summit in September to attract capital in our country.

[00:01:31]Honorable member. I'll answer the question for the Minister since he doesn't want to answer the question, but the answer is 45%, nearly half. So, can the Minister explain to Canadians, as the Finance Minister, what a merger and acquisition actually means in that context? Because it doesn't mean a new factory. People at home will know that.

[00:01:49]It doesn't mean a new research center and it doesn't mean a new job. So, what does it mean, Minister?

[00:01:55]Minister.

[00:01:56]Mr. Speaker, I'm trying to understand the line of questioning of my colleague.

[00:02:02]I think she should be here celebrating the fact that Canada has received record level of foreign direct investment in 2025 and that we are leading the G7 on per capita FDI, Mr. Speaker. It's good news and we're going to continue to work with colleagues to attract investment in this country. The honorable member. And I think that answer is condescending and it doesn't it it doesn't show that he as finance minister understands what foreign direct investment is. It means a foreign company buying a Canadian one.

[00:02:31]Strategic decisions moved abroad. The intellectual property moves abroad. The profits move abroad and he knows that as the finance minister. And again, he's treating this house like they are stupid. How How CDH finds mergers and acquisitions generally do not create new jobs or investment. So, why is the minister celebrating in this house the hollowing out of the Canadian economy?

[00:02:55]Exactly. Well, minister.

[00:02:58]Mr. Speaker, in a good conservative that I know my colleague is as she is, she would celebrate an open economy. Canada is an open economy where we welcome investment in our country. We have seen these investment that have grown the GDP in this country. They have created jobs. Think about Volkswagen, Mr. Speaker. They want to talk about the auto sector. The largest gigafactory outside of Europe. European manufacturer which are choosing to come to Canada just like a number of investment like Shell in LNG Canada creating opportunities here, creating jobs, creating growth, creating wealth in this country, Mr. Speaker. The honorable member. The minister of finance knows and if he doesn't know, he can ask the official sitting right in front of him that the true measure of Canada's health is the domestic investment. Canadians investing in Canada, business in businesses investing per worker is the single best indicator of whether Canadian firms are growing and becoming more productive. He knows this. He's not telling the house this, but he knows it.

[00:03:55]So, can the minister tell us, isn't domestic investment per worker up or down in the last decade? The honorable minister.

[00:04:03]Mr. Speaker, I know that my colleague will be happy to learn that Canada has the second fastest growth in the G7, Mr. Speaker. We're growing twice as much as countries like Germany, the United Kingdom.

[00:04:15]You look even at three times more than Italy, Mr. Speaker. We're growing twice as much as Japan. We should tonight celebrate the workers, the industry, the small and medium-sized businesses. These numbers speak for themselves. The honorable member, last question, about 20 seconds.

[00:04:29]>> is true is that we have the only shrinking economy in the G7. And the answer is is that it's 30% down. So, if he was truly interested in investing per worker, he would do so. And it's fallen by nearly a third. Stats Canada projects that non-residential capital spending across all industries will grow by less than 2% going forward. Does this sound like an economy that's turned around or is turning around to the minister? It certainly doesn't sound like that to anyone on this side of the house or anybody watching at home. The honorable minister, finally final response, 20 seconds. Canadians have a choice to listen to the opposition or the International Monetary Fund that doesn't need a clip, doesn't need to to grandstand. The IMF forecast for 2026 real GDP growth in G7, Italy 0.5, Japan 0.7, Germany 0.8, United Kingdom 0.8, France 0.9, Canada 1.5, Mr. Speaker.

[00:05:22]These numbers speak for themselves.