Debates of April 28th, 2022

Public Safety

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, it is utterly astonishing to hear the Conservative members continue to bury their heads in the sand over the serious events that occurred during January and February. I would encourage my colleague and all members of the Conservative Party of Canada, who do not want to believe there was any interruption, to speak to the small businesses on Huron Church Road in Windsor, or to talk to the member for Windsor West or the member for Windsor—Tecumseh, who have spoken with those businesses. They were shut down. That was because of the illegal blockades. We are helping them. Trade and travel are going on again, and thankfully it is because we invoked the Emergencies Act.

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, let me get this straight. Despite the police clearing the blockades without needing the Emergencies Act, yesterday the public safety minister stated the reasons were economic. He said the impacts were devastating. He said the Windsor crossing lost $390 million a day, and Stats Canada says that is not true.

What should Canadians think when the government tells them it cannot explain why it did what it did? With debunked news stories, invented economic data and them clinging to cabinet secrecy, what are the Liberals hiding?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, the only thing the Conservatives are clinging to right now is denial. I have to say that, before coming into this chamber and spouting off statistics in the abstract, I would encourage my colleague to speak with the Canadians outside this chamber, in Ottawa, who could not leave their homes. I would encourage my hon. colleague to speak with the many small businesses not only in Windsor but in Coutts and White Rock that were absolutely devastated by these illegal blockades. It was only after we received advice from police that we invoked the act. It worked, and now we are going to make sure we co-operate with these inquiries so that—

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

The hon. member for Edmonton Strathcona.

Foreign Affairs

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, on March 28, Russian oligarch Igor Makarov, who has been sanctioned in the United States since 2018, was able to get $121 million out of Canada. That should have gone to Ukrainians fleeing violence. That should have gone to Ukraine to help rebuild. Instead, that money was used to prop up Russia's war.

The NDP has been calling for sanctions since before the war started. The Liberals have done too little and they have done it too slowly. When are they going to get their act together?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, we have done a lot as a government, and of course we have to do more. We are using sanctions to put pressure on the Russian regime and hold it accountable, and 1,400 entities and individuals have been sanctioned up to now. We are now proposing new measures to go even further, not only to seize but to allow for the forfeiture of the assets of sanctioned individuals and entities. These measures will allow us to compensate victims and support the reconstruction of Ukraine. These changes make Canada a leader in the G7.

The Environment

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Mr. Speaker, how much public money is enough for oil and gas companies already making mad profits? That is the question on the minds of Canadians reading about the CEO of Cenovus complaining that they need even more public money for carbon capture and storage. Never mind Canadians getting gouged at the pump while companies like Cenovus have profits sevenfold higher than this time last year. Never mind the billions that Liberals already gifted to them for unproven climate measures in the budget. They want more, but Canadians are not buying it.

When are the Liberals going to stop greenwashing corporate handouts and get serious about actually reducing emissions?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, I have good news for the member opposite. Emissions are going down in Canada. The government's own emissions are going down by 25%. We have already reached a target we had set for ourselves for 2025. Fossil fuel subsidies are also going down, by more than $3 billion a year since 2018.

Housing

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Vancouver Centre, BC]

Mr. Speaker, lack of affordable rental housing is a major concern for my constituents in Vancouver Centre. In February, I joined the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion to announce federal funding to redevelop 157 units of permanent affordable housing for seniors and persons with physical disabilities.

Could the minister tell us about the impact the national housing co-investment fund has on these vulnerable communities?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for her strong advocacy on affordable housing.

I was really pleased to join the member in February to announce 157 new homes for seniors and persons with disabilities, with an investment of over $44 million. This is the national housing strategy at work, but we are not stopping there. Through budget 2022, we are investing an additional $14.1 billion. We are not going to stop until we make sure that every single Canadian has a safe and affordable place to call home.

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Mr. Speaker, millennials with good jobs just want out of their parents' basements, but the cost of living under the Liberal government is going through the roof. The budget's signature housing promise is a shiny new savings account, but who has $8,000 a year to save, with out-of-control gas, grocery and housing inflation?

Could the Minister of Housing please enlighten us: Where will these millennials find $8,000 a year to save, or does he believe that young families can always do what the speNDP-Liberals do, which is just go borrow more money?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member for Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola should have a talk with the member of Parliament for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, because that member believes that we should just download the cost of housing to provinces; his leader believes we should just download the cost to municipalities, and his other colleague, from Calgary Centre, believes that we should not help first-time homebuyers. The members opposite cannot even come together to formulate a coherent policy on affordable housing. The hon. member has been on record opposing the ban on foreign buyers, which would give more opportunities to first-time homebuyers.

The Economy

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Royal Bank of Canada says that those most affected by the current inflation crisis in Canada are the poorest Canadians, and that is easy to understand when the price of food, transportation and housing are going up. These are essentials and those most affected by this situation are the poor. What the government needs to do to fight inflation is control its spending. It has not done so in seven years. It must also be sure to freeze all tariffs and tax increases, which it refused to do on April 1.

Why does the government continue to directly attack the poorest Canadians?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we might think that the Conservatives are criticizing a fictitious budget and not the one that they read. Maybe they should take note of what Stephen Harper's former director of communications said, and that is that the budget is prudent and reasonable. He believes it is a budget for an economy in full swing, one that will achieve a near zero deficit in five years.

[Shelby Kramp-Neuman, Conservative, Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Mr Speaker, last night I received a text from a local business owner. He said diesel fuel had jumped 24¢ in two days, which puts it at $2.18 a litre. The average truck burns 400 to 500 litres, so that is $1,000 per day. It costs him $60,000 a month for three trucks. This has to stop before there is no one left to move our goods.

The government is a colossal disappointment. When will the government take ownership of its mistakes for all devastated Canadians? They need relief.

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, yet again the Conservatives seem to be attacking a budget they invented and not the one we actually delivered. Maybe they should read the National Post, which described the budget as “prudent and responsible”. The Post went on to say, “The efforts to expand Canada's productive capacity and hold the line on spending are welcome, as are the new commitments to defence spending.”

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Mr. Speaker, price shocks on everyday items continue to hurt a growing number of Canadians, and it appears the worst is yet to come. Inflation is almost 7%. We have price inflation and currency inflation happening at the same time. Interest rates are on the way up. People of all ages, especially those on the margins, are trimming expenses just to make ends meet. The dream of home ownership is moving farther and farther away from many, especially our youth. The policies of the left are shrinking any disposable income.

When will the Prime Minister stop making one bad mistake after another and outline a clear commitment to control inflation?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we will take no lessons from the Conservatives when it comes to supporting the most vulnerable Canadians with the cost of living. It was our government that introduced the Canada child benefit, which is indexed for inflation and has lifted almost 300,000 children out of poverty. Our government increased the GIS, which is also indexed to inflation and has helped over 900,000 seniors. When we formed government, more than five million Canadians lived in poverty. Today, that number is below 3.8 million.

Employment Insurance

[Jean-Denis Garon, Bloc, Mirabel, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Service Canada has completely abandoned thousands of victims of fraud.

Picture this. These people lose their jobs and apply for employment insurance. Months go by and they do not get anything, so they ask questions but do not get any answers. They call back and still do not get any answers. Finally, they find out that they are the victims of fraud, that no one told them about it, that no one knows why and that no one is going to give them their money. There are people who have been out of work since December and have still not received a cent.

We need to get to the bottom of this, but, first, will the government at least give these fraud victims their benefits?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for that important question.

We are aware that there has been an increase in the number of cases of employment insurance fraud. We are working with members of the Bloc Québécois to make sure that everyone gets their benefits.

We will continue to do that. It is important to ensure that every Canadian gets the EI benefits to which they are entitled, and to combat fraud.

[Jean-Denis Garon, Bloc, Mirabel, QC]

Mr. Speaker, things are not moving quickly enough.

Thousands of people have complained to their Bloc Québécois MPs, and there are probably more people out there who have not yet realized that they are victims. Does the government realize how many people are affected?

Some people have not had any income for months. Service Canada must notify victims of fraud. It needs to find out how this fraud happened, but first, is there a way to get these people their benefits now so they can buy groceries?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, once again, I would like to thank my colleague for raising this important issue.

We are continuing to work with members of the Bloc Québécois when we identify victims of fraud. Fraud is on the rise, and it is important that the Government of Canada ensure that it addresses and combats fraud so there are no further victims of fraud involving Government of Canada benefits.

That being said, we have made changes at Service Canada to ensure that people with legitimate complaints receive their benefits.

The Environment

[Scot Davidson, Conservative, York—Simcoe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the environment commissioner's latest report confirms that the Liberals are all talk and no action on the environment. They talk about the importance of the carbon tax, but ignore the impact it is having on small businesses and first nations. They talk about a just transition from oil and gas, but provide no support to Canadian energy workers who are losing their jobs. They fly across the country to talk about reducing emissions, while missing all of their targets every year.

These reports are scathing. Why is the Liberal government failing to protect Canada's environment?

[Seamus O'Regan, Liberal, Minister of Labour]

Mr. Speaker, I can certainly speak to this government's commitment on what many refer to as just transition. I always hesitate when I say that phrase because, frankly, a lot of workers do not like that phrase. I can say one thing to this House, and I said this to the unions over these past number of days. This government will not move without the full support of oil and gas workers in this country. They are the ones who will lower emissions. They are the ones who will build up renewables. We are committed to them in the same way that they have always been committed to the prosperity of this country.

[Scot Davidson, Conservative, York—Simcoe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this minister is so far behind, he thinks he is in first place, but these reports confirm that the Liberals are failing in every respect: protecting the environment, fail; respecting taxpayer dollars, fail; supporting Canadian workers, fail; standing up for small businesses and first nations, fail.

The minister may try and greenwash over these failures, but Canadians know better. After all, the environment commissioner says the Liberals' environmental plan is unrealistic and lacking credibility. Does the minister agree? Yes or no.