Bill C-75

Appropriation Act No. 3, 2024-25

An Act for granting to His Majesty certain sums of money for the federal public administration for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025

This enactment grants the sum of $11,187,495,220 towards defraying charges and expenses of the federal public administration for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025 that are not otherwise provided for.

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'll ask my questions quickly. The Jordan decision led to unfortunate delays for some victims. This obviously remains an ongoing issue. Bill C‑5 eliminates mandatory prison time, even for hardened criminals and criminals with lengthy records. Bill C‑75 makes it much easier to serve prison sentences at home.

Mr. Roebuck, would you say that these two pieces of legislation put victims at risk?

Reference to Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak about our oh-so-beloved Liberal government and, more specifically, about the problem that we have been discussing for several weeks now, namely the infamous $400 million that was diverted to Liberal cronies.

Those funds came from a program that worked flawlessly from 2001 to 2016 or 2017. What happened at that point? There was a change of government. All of a sudden, the Liberal government did what it usually does and started rewarding its cronies. That is why we have a major issue with the $400 million that has gone missing. The money that disappeared into the pockets of Liberal friends is our money. What does that tell us? It tells us how little interest the Prime Minister has in financial matters, although we have known that for quite a while now.

It also tells us that he has little interest in security matters. Last week, we saw a telling example of how the Prime Minister handles situations that people in Canada are experiencing. On Friday, things got intense in Montreal. Protesters started smashing things in front of the convention centre, where a NATO Parliamentary Assembly meeting was taking place, attended by members of the association I belong to. Meanwhile, what was the Prime Minister up to? The Prime Minister was dancing in front of Taylor Swift.

He was playing with his little bracelets while Montreal was burning. This is a powerful symbol that proves the Prime Minister does not act like an adult, let alone like a prime minister. Violent, destructive riots have been going on in Canadian communities for months now. Instead of taking action, the Prime Minister did not even take a few minutes' break from dancing the night away to issue the following statement:

What we saw on the streets of Montreal last night was appalling. Acts of antisemitism, intimidation, and violence must be condemned wherever we see them. The RCMP are in communication with local police. There must be consequences, and rioters held accountable.

That nice tweet was posted on his page. He probably did not even see the message before his staff posted it. That brief message was posted on X, so he figured his work was done and he could keep dancing and having fun. Everyone saw the pictures. It was really something.

Some will say that the Prime Minister has the right to go and see a concert with his daughter. Of course, but the Prime Minister has a fundamental responsibility. When a major incident happens in the country, he has a duty to stop having fun himself and tell his daughter to keep going with her friends. He should then go and see what is happening and deal with the situation. That is not what happened. We know the Prime Minister has the resources. He has his security team by his side. He has a command post. He can visit in person to see what is going on and decide what needs to be done. Instead, he simply carried on having fun, as though nothing had happened. For the past nine years, the Prime Minister of Canada has been perceived as someone who is not serious.

Terry Glavin from the National Post said the same thing in October. Referring to groups that are causing problems in Canada, he wrote, and I quote, “Such hateful rhetoric is unacceptable. This has no place in Canada. All options must be considered. This is not who we are. We are treating this with the utmost urgency.”

As Mr. Glavin writes, “For more than four years, this is what we have been hearing from the Liberal government about the bloodcurdling incitements that are the stock in trade of the Vancouver-headquartered Samidoun Network, the overseas agitation and propaganda wing of the terrorist-listed Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.”

According to a newspaper article, in August, the Minister of Public Safety stated that federal departments are currently examining how two men suspected of having ties to a foreign terrorist group were allowed to enter Canada and, worse still, to obtain Canadian citizenship. Ahmed Fouad Mostafa Eldidi, 62, and his son Mostafa Eldidi, 26, were arrested in Richmond Hill, Ontario. They face nine separate terrorism charges, including conspiracy to commit murder on behalf of the Islamic State, a terrorist group. The RCMP announced the charges and said the two men were in the advanced stages of planning a serious, violent attack in Toronto.

What I just read out is an example of the government's incompetence. Videos clearly show this man committing barbaric acts with the armed group Islamic State. He came to Canada and became a Canadian citizen.

How can the United States trust Canada when Canada gets into situations like these? That is just one example among many. The Americans are very nervous, and rightly so. Just think: Canada let in a member of the Islamic State who then became a Canadian citizen. There is even video evidence to support it. No one can wrap their heads around it.

In July, the National Post reported that U.S. senator Marco Rubio and his colleagues had sent a letter to the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, urging him to beef up precautions along the Canada-U.S. border. Why? It was because Canada had recently increased the number of refugees allowed to enter the country on temporary resident visas from Palestinian territories, including Gaza and the West Bank. The letter cited concerns that this would allow Gazans with possible ties to terrorists to enter the U.S. via Canada. With so few reliable records or background checks available, Canada's decision will turn the northern border into a much bigger national security issue.

All of the Liberal government's decisions bring us back to this debate. Since 2015, the Prime Minister has made it so that nothing works. I am thinking, for example, of the $400 million from the green slush fund that was given to friends, rather than being used to help companies develop green technologies. That is corruption. I am also thinking about how our public safety is threatened because of the decisions made by various jurisdictions. That is not working at all. No wonder our American neighbours are nervous. There is no shortage of examples. This is not necessarily coming from President Trump. It is coming from his administration, from people who work on border security and national defence. These people are meeting with us and asking us what is happening in Canada because things are no longer working. They are very nervous. They are worried about what is happening here and what could come their way.

I cannot say it better than my leader, who addressed the Prime Minister directly on Friday. Here is the message that the Leader of the Opposition posted following the riots in Montreal. He said, and I quote:

You act surprised. We are reaping what you sowed.

This is what happens when a Prime Minister spends 9 years pushing toxic woke identity politics, dividing and subdividing people by race, gender, vaccine status, religion, region, age, wealth, etc.

On top of driving people apart, you systematically break what used to bring us together, saying Canada is a “post-national state” with “no core identity.”

You erased our veterans and military, the Famous Five and even Terry Fox from our passport to replace them with meaningless squirrels, snowflakes and a drawing of yourself swimming as a boy.

You opened the borders to terrorists and lawbreakers and called anyone who questioned it racist.

You send out your MPs to say one thing in a mosque and the opposite in a synagogue, one thing in a mandir and the opposite in a gurdwara.

You have made Canada a playground for foreign interference. You allowed Iran's IRGC terrorists to legally operate here for four years after they murdered 55 of our citizens in a major unprovoked attack.

You passed laws that release rampant offenders from prison within hours of their 80th arrest.

And what is the result? Assassinations on Canadian soil, firebombings of synagogues, extremist violence against mandirs and gurdwaras, over 100 churches burned or vandalized (with barely any condemnation from you), all for a total 251% more hate crime.

And, while you were dancing, Montreal was burning.

Every corner of the country has seen a huge increase in violence and crime. This increase has affected women in particular. This self-proclaimed feminist government seems to be heading in the wrong direction. Since 2015, since the arrival of this woke Prime Minister, violent crime has increased by 50%.

Statistics from Statistics Canada on Canadian women, children and the most vulnerable show that the total number of sexual assaults at all three levels has increased by 74.83%. The total number of sexual offences against children has increased by 118%. Forcible confinement and kidnapping has increased by 11%. Indecent and harassing communications have increased by 86%.

Non-consensual distribution of intimate images is up 801%. Trafficking in persons is up 84%. Of all sexual assault cases, 90% of victims are women.

The Prime Minister always talks a good game about his desire to protect Canadians, but it is all nonsense. He talks the talk, but never walks the walk, unless it is initiatives that make life easier for criminals. Take Bill C‑83, for example. I did an interview about this today actually, because in my region, Quebec City, there has been a lot of talk lately about what is happening in prisons, about how the situation is out of control, about how incarcerated criminals are no longer monitored as they used to be because of the legislation stemming from Bill C‑83, which came into force in 2019. Correctional officers are afraid for their lives. It is total chaos inside the walls. That is a whole other issue, but this just got me thinking about the long list of problems related to how criminals are dealt with in Canada.

In the Prime Minister's world, who gets arrested? Journalists get arrested. Journalists were arrested last week while certain violent criminals, following the passage of Bill C-5, have been allowed to serve their sentences at home, watching Netflix, even if they committed aggravated sexual assault. It is unbelievable.

No man on the Liberal side had the courage to stand up and say what needed to be said, to tell the Prime Minister that he was heading in the wrong direction. Some women had that courage. What happened to them? The Liberals gave three of them the boot.

As far as the Bloc Québécois and the NDP are concerned, my main criticism of them with respect to criminal justice concerns their support for Bill C‑5, the infamous bill that lets offenders be sentenced to house arrest, and Bill C‑75, which lets them get bail. A person can be arrested four or five times in one day and released every time. Criminals all across Canada and Quebec are rolling on the ground laughing, especially in the Montreal area. No one is afraid of the justice system anymore because of laws put in place by the Liberals and supported, unfortunately, by my colleagues from the other parties.

This incompetent government is being kept in power by the Bloc Québécois and the NDP. The Bloc Québécois has made it clear that it no longer has confidence, but we do not get the impression that its members are all prepared to vote in favour of a non-confidence motion. The NDP made a big show of tearing up the agreement and even produced a little video about it. To make sure they did not mess things up, the NDP made a video. In the end, now it is clear that it was pointless. They are still supporting the Liberals. We hope that they will show some courage, scrape together enough money to run a campaign, get a conscience, put Canadians first and put their money where their mouths are by saying they are finally done with this government and voting non-confidence so we can have an election.

Canadians will vote for whomever they want. If a Conservative government is fortunate enough to be voted in, we will be there to get Canada back on the right track.

[Tako Van Popta, Conservative, Langley—Aldergrove, BC]

Madam Speaker, here we are, five weeks in, and we are still debating the Liberal government's refusal to produce documents relating to the latest scandal, the green slush fund scandal, as ordered by Parliament on June 10. This is the third time that I am rising to speak on this issue, so I want to take a slightly different approach. I want to talk about the legal principle of subsequent remedial measures, in the law, of evidence.

That rule says that evidence of a defendant or a possible defendant in a civil case effecting repairs to some obstacle that injured a person in order to avoid future similar injuries is not admissible in the court of law. The principle behind that is that we do not want to disincentivize people from actually making repairs to prevent future injuries. The example that is often given is when a homeowner repairs the steps up to the front door on which the postal delivery person was seriously injured the day before. Is doing the repair effectively an admission of liability? The answer is yes, probably, but here is the point. That evidence is not admissible in a court of law for the basic public policy principle that I stated before.

How does that apply to the current case relating to the green slush fund? A little bit of background is in order. The Auditor General revealed some shocking findings in her June 2024 report, which was tabled in Parliament on June 6, I believe, about how the Liberal government had turned SDTC, a federally governed and owned business, into a green slush fund for Liberal insiders.

Here are some of her findings. She found that SDTC gave out the following in taxpayer dollars: $58 million to 10 ineligible projects without even ensuring that contribution agreements were in place and the terms met. On some of them, the applicants could not even demonstrate the development of green technology or any environmental benefit at all. The purpose of SDTC was just ignored. There were $334 million and over 186 cases where there were clear conflicts of interest. This is board members at SDTC voting for each other's applicant grants, clearly a conflict of interest.

One of the whistle-blowers had this to say:

Just as I was always confident that the Auditor General would confirm the financial mismanagement at SDTC, I remain equally confident that the RCMP will substantiate the criminal activities that occurred within the organization.

This is very serious, not just mismanagement, but allegations from a credible source that there is criminal activity under way. Where there is smoke, there is fire. We, the opposition, did what we are supposed to do, which was to hold the government to account. Back in June, the Conservative Party put forward a motion in the House of Commons shortly after we received the Auditor General's report. That order reads, in part:

That the House order the government, Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) and the Auditor General of Canada each to deposit with the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel, within 30 days of the adoption of this order, the following documents....

There was then a long list of documents that had to be produced.

The Conservative motion passed on June 10 with the help of the NDP and the Bloc Québécois. I thank them very much. It was only the Liberal members of Parliament who voted against it, because they were worried. They did not like it. They did not like the order. Over the summer months, they just ignored it. They delivered some of the documents but clearly not all.

When we got back here in September, things got ugly pretty quickly. Our House leader, the opposition House leader, on the first day back, rose on a question of privilege “concerning the failure of the government to comply with the order that the House adopted on Monday, June 10.”

That was presented to the Speaker, and the Speaker agreed with us, confirming that the Prime Minister's Office and all relevant government departments had not fully complied, but that they must comply with this order made in June for unredacted documents. At the time, the Speaker said, “The Chair cannot come to any other conclusion but to find that a prima facie question of privilege has been established.” In parliamentary terms, that is a serious allegation. There was a breach of privilege and that should have embarrassed the government.

It is pretty clear and easy to understand what the Speaker meant, so why are we still here, five weeks later, debating this question of privilege? The answer is simple. The Liberal government is still not complying with it. Why not? We do not know. The government has raised some smokescreens and innuendo, but it has not come clean to say why it is not complying. As long as that goes on, the longer this fiasco drags on, the more suspicious we become that perhaps the aforementioned whistle-blower is right that there was criminal activity going on here.

I want to get back to my original comments about the principle of subsequent remedial measures. Such evidence, as I said, is generally not admissible in a court of law. Did the Liberals actually take remedial action to try to fix SDTC after they claimed they were as surprised as the rest of us were that this corruption and mismanagement was going on? The answer is no, they did not do anything. As a matter of fact, they just wound up SDTC. There was so much corruption, so much smoke, so much contamination that even the Liberals were embarrassed by it. Rather than trying to fix it, they just wound it up altogether.

Now we are really suspicious, along with Canadians. What are the Liberals hiding? What was going on at STDC? Why are we not getting the documents? Canadians want to know. What does the Prime Minister's Office know? What is in those documents that the Liberals are refusing to produce? What are they hiding? Was there criminal activity? Can we recover some of the taxpayer money, $400 million altogether? Canadians deserve to know.

The total amount of money, as I said, was $400 million. What could we do with that money? We could do a lot of good, positive things, as the previous speaker, my colleague from Banff—Airdrie, just said. It could certainly help veterans and parents. It could help people who have been going to food banks who cannot afford groceries in these high inflationary times. Four hundred million dollars goes a long way to solve many problems. It could have been much better used than having it distributed by Liberal insiders among themselves.

I would like to compare this to the scandal of some years ago, the sponsorship scandal that brought down the previous Liberal government. That was only $40 million. This is 10 times as large. This is very significant and taxpayers, I think, need to understand what is going on here.

Things were not always corrupt at Sustainable Development Technology Canada. It had a great reputation at one time. It was created by an act of Parliament back in the Liberal days of former prime minister Jean Chrétien to promote investing in green technology, a laudable goal. It continued its work under former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper and likely it would still be thriving today if the current Prime Minister had just resisted getting his fingerprints all over it. However, he just could not resist the temptation of putting his own friends in there. He and his industry minister at the time, Navdeep Bains, could not resist putting their own close friends in charge.

They fired the old board and put in their own friends. Many of them owned businesses that were applicants or potential applicants for grants under this program. Maybe somebody could have raised a red flag to say there was a lot of potential for conflict of interest, but that did not seem to concern anybody on the government side of the House. The result was that the Liberal-appointed board created an environment where conflicts of interest became the norm. Conflicts of interest were tolerated; they were managed.

In that orchestrated manner, these Liberal-appointed board members were able to, nicely, award grants to each other. This is the way it went: “Hey, you vote for my project, and I'll vote for your project.” That is what the whistle-blower told us. That is what the Auditor General uncovered. The Liberals broke SDTC, as they have broken so much else in Canada. I just want to raise a couple of examples.

Recent statistics from Statistics Canada about crime in Canada are really quite shocking. During nine years of the Liberal government, violent crime has increased by 50%. Homicides are up 28%. Sexual assaults are up by 75%. Gang violence has nearly doubled, and auto theft is up by 46%. Extortion is up by an astonishing 357%. Recently, the Liberal government has been forced to admit that 256 people were killed in 2022 by criminals who were out on bail or other forms of release.

This all happened under the Prime Minister's watch, with his Bill C-5, which eliminated many of the mandatory minimum sentences for serious crimes, and Bill C-75, the catch-and-release bill that puts accused people out on bail on the least restrictive conditions possible. Canadians are concerned.

This is what our police are saying about the Liberals and how they have been mismanaging criminal law responsibilities and, specifically, their record on gun crime. The Toronto Police Association had this to say, speaking to the Prime Minister: “Criminals did not get your message. Our communities are experiencing a 45% increase in shootings and a 62% increase in gun-related homicides compared to...last year. What difference does your handgun ban make when 85% of guns seized by our members can be sourced to the United States?”

The Vancouver Police Union had this to say about the Prime Minister's record on managing gun crime: “Guessing he’s not aware of the ongoing gang war here in B.C. which is putting both our members and public at risk on a daily basis.”

The Surrey Police Union, right next door to my community of Langley, says, “The federal handgun freeze fails to address the real issue: the surge of illegal firearms coming across our borders and ending up in the hands of violent criminals.”

It is not just the police who are concerned about the drastic rise of crime in our streets and our cities. I heard from a group of CEOs and other directors of a group of downtown business improvement associations from across British Columbia. I am familiar with the work that business improvement associations do because I sat on the board of the Downtown Surrey BIA for a few years before I was elected to Parliament. That is where my law office was, so I am very familiar with the area and very familiar with the work the BIA does. I was happy to meet with this group to hear their concerns and their solutions to some of Canada's toughest problems.

I found it remarkable that this is what these community organizations are asking for. Number one is to invest in mental health, addictions and homelessness support across Canada. Indeed, homelessness is a problem right across Canada, but particularly so in our downtown cores. I am thinking of the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, which at one time was a beautiful place but is not anymore because of homelessness, crime and chaos.

The second ask is this, from the community organizers of our downtown cores: to ensure Canada's downtowns and main streets are safe and inclusive spaces by initiating a systematic review across the country concerning the bail system and implementing further changes to the system by reforming Bill C-48, which is a bill that went through the House not too long ago that took a small step in the direction of bail reform. They are saying it needs to be extended, not just for serious repeat violent offenders but also for theft offenders.

They are saying we need to stop the easy bail practices that have become the norm in Canada with the introduction of Bill C-75. The Vancouver Police Department talks about the same 40 individuals having negative interactions with the police 6,000 times in one year; that is every second day for 40 people. Imagine what the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver would look like if those 40 people were not on our streets. This is the message we are getting from community organizers.

The third thing they are asking for is to incentivize local entrepreneurs and commercial entities to form businesses in downtowns and on main streets. This is what they are asking for: give people shelter, keep repeat thieves off the streets, and create an environment where businesses and entrepreneurs come flocking back to the downtown core. This is what ordinary Canadian citizens want.

People are reporting that they feel less safe on our streets. Those fears are now being supported by evidence from Statistics Canada and from credible and, I would say, non-partisan organizations like police unions and business improvement associations.

The Attorney General should meet with people like that instead of just left-leaning law professors from Liberal-friendly law schools who teach their criminal law courses from a pro-accused perspective instead of from a pro-victim perspective. Our Attorney General would benefit, indeed, all of Canada would benefit, if he and the Prime Minister would listen to the concerns of ordinary Canadian citizens.

These are the things we should be talking about, or would be talking about if the Liberal government would just comply with the order so we could get down to business again. We should be talking about stopping the crime, building homes, implementing a fair and competitive tax regime by axing the tax, and fixing the Liberals' out-of-control, never-ending, inflation-producing deficit budgets.

Until the Liberals come to their senses and comply with the order, I guess we are just going to remain in this holding pattern. Here is a better idea: The Prime Minister could walk to the Governor General's house and acknowledge what everybody knows, that he has lost the confidence of this House and that the 44th Parliament should be dissolved and we should call an election. I spoke to many people when in my home community last week for Remembrance Day, as well as in the neighbouring community of Cloverdale—Langley City, where there is a by-election going on because the Liberal member of Parliament resigned.

I am hearing from people on the street that they are very anxious and eager to have a general election. They are happy with a by-election, but they want a general election. They want to stop the corruption, they want to fix what the Liberals have broken and they want a government that is going to have common-sense solutions.

Canadians deserve a government that will axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime. Canadians deserve a government that does not play favourites for Liberal insiders but creates an environment where non-insiders can work and get ahead. They deserve a Canada that delivers on its promise to all who call it home: that hard work earns a powerful paycheque and pension, and buys affordable groceries and affordable homes on safe streets, in beautiful neighbourhoods, where anyone from anywhere can accomplish anything.

This is all achievable, but first, we need to have a general election and a common-sense Conservative government that will start working seriously on these issues that concern ordinary Canadians.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

Madam Speaker, I rise once again to address the sweeping corruption that grips the NDP-Liberal government here in Ottawa. Parliament is consumed with the issue of the Liberal government refusing to turn over unredacted documents to the RCMP for a criminal investigation.

These documents pertain to Sustainable Development Technology Canada, better known as the green slush fund. I have already spoken extensively on this issue, as did the Auditor General, I may add, so I am in good company. I encourage everyone to check out my Facebook and Twitter feeds to see my deep dive into the green slush fund and other Liberal criminal wrongdoings. For example, in today's case, these documents have been blotted out by the Liberals and, as a result, the police are at a standstill, but is this a surprise? In our country, police investigations of possible wrongdoing and criminal activity are not just esoteric questions confined to the Prime Minister and his cadre of NDP advisers. Crime is real.

The government may not take crime seriously, something they are demonstrating here by failing to provide to the RCMP documents that may very well hide criminal actions and connections to Liberal insiders, potentially even Liberal MPs or ministers, but crime is a crisis gripping our nation. It is a crisis that affects every community, family and Canadian.

I am speaking about the devastating convergence of drugs and crime, two interconnected issues that have spiralled out of control under the NDP-Liberal government's watch. This crisis is not about abstract statistics. It is about real people. It is about the family grieving the loss of a loved one to a fentanyl overdose, the shopkeeper who no longer feels safe in their store and parents who are afraid to let their children play in local parks because of discarded needles and drug paraphernalia. This is a crisis that touches all of us, and it demands immediate, decisive action.

For too long, the Liberal government, propped up by its NDP allies, have implemented reckless ideological policies that have not only failed to solve these problems but also made them worse. Their so-called evidence-based approaches have emboldened criminals, exacerbated addiction and left Canadians feeling less safe in their own communities. It is unacceptable. The Conservative Party offers a clear, common-sense alternative. We believe in holding criminals accountable, in prioritizing recovery over enabling addiction and ensuring that every Canadian can feel safe in their home, their neighbourhood and their workplace. All of this is against the backdrop of a government that commits scandal after scandal.

This discussion here today is only the latest one, which is the refusal of the government to provide the unredacted documents to the RCMP so it can determine if there were actual crimes committed. When we have a federal government so quick to bend the rules, and possibly even commit crimes, is it any wonder that we have a larger crime and drug problem in this country?

To address this crisis effectively, we must begin by understanding the root causes. Drug addiction and crime are deeply intertwined, each fuelling the other in a vicious cycle that devastates individuals, families and communities. The opioid crisis is a prime example. Since 2015, Canada has seen an explosion in opioid-related deaths, driven by the rise of synthetic drugs, such as fentanyl. These substances are cheap, potent and deadly. Between January 2016 and September 2022, over 35,000 Canadians lost their lives to opioid overdoses. In my home province, the Saskatchewan Coroners Service recorded eight deaths by fentanyl poisoning in 2016. Deaths by fentanyl poisoning peaked at 272 in 2021, during COVID, and levelled out at 252 in 2023.

Addiction is not just a personal struggle. It is also a societal failure. The current government's response has been to normalize and enable drug use through policies such as safe supply and harm reduction. These programs are based on the flawed assumption that addiction is a permanent condition that cannot be overcome. This defeatist mindset ignores the potential for recovery and consigns individuals to a life of dependency.

At the same time, our justice system has been systematically weakened. Bills such as Bill C-75 and Bill C-5 have prioritized the rights of offenders over the safety of law-abiding citizens. These laws have made it easier for repeat offenders to obtain bail, have reduced sentences for violent crimes and have eliminated mandatory minimums for serious offences. The result is a justice system that no longer serves justice. We cannot afford any more years of inaction or misguided ideology.

It is time to chart a course built on accountability, safety and recovery. These are important words. We need accountability here in Ottawa, like today as we debate this motion on the green slush fund and the possible criminal wrongdoing of the NDP-Liberal government in funnelling money through the green slush fund. Why do I say “possible wrongdoing”? Well, it is because the Liberals are blocking this Conservative motion to release the unredacted documents necessary for the RCMP to investigate.

It is amazing that the Liberal Party has prioritized itself and its own selfish needs over the safety of Canadians, selfish needs like funnelling government cash to their friends through the green slush fund. How do I know that? Well, just look at the Liberals' legislative record when it comes to criminal matters.

The NDP-Liberals passed Bill C-5, which purposely took accountability and punishment out of the courts. Since the passage of Bill C-5, violent crime and drug-related offences have skyrocketed. Repeat offenders, no longer deterred by the threat of significant prison time, have become more brazen. Police officers across the country report increased difficulty in keeping dangerous individuals off the streets, knowing they will likely be released with minimal consequences. Simply put, Bill C-5 replaced prison sentences with conditional sentences, better known as house arrest, for crimes like sexual assault, kidnapping, human trafficking, stealing cars, breaking and entering, arson, assault with a weapon, assaulting peace officers, and trafficking in dangerous narcotics and drugs.

The introduction of house arrest for these serious crimes is quite troubling. House arrest may be appropriate for minor, non-violent offences, but it is entirely inadequate for crimes like sexual assault, kidnapping or drug trafficking. This policy not only fails to hold offenders accountable, but also places an undue burden on victims and their communities. Imagine the trauma of knowing that one's assailant is serving their sentence just blocks away from one's home. One particular harrowing example is the case of a violent offender released on house arrest who subsequently commits additional crimes. This revolving door justice system undermines public trust in the legal system and places innocent Canadians in harm's way. That is why we need accountability restored to our criminal justice system.

Unfortunately, accountability is lacking in this justice system, which is why common-sense Conservatives brought forward the motion we are debating today to turn this criminal matter over to the RCMP. Indeed, common-sense Conservatives have put forward strong policy proposals on criminal justice matters since the last election. Perhaps the government, which is so intent on avoiding accountability around the criminal wrongdoings of the green slush fund, as well as everyday, common-sense Canadians, would like to hear about them. Perhaps this could distract from other conflicts of interest.

Conservative members have introduced numerous private members' bills designed to correct the failures of Bill C-5 and address the broader issues plaguing Canada's justice system. First, Bill C-299, the strengthening penalties for sexual exploitation act, seeks to increase the maximum penalty for offences like human trafficking and child exploitation to life imprisonment. While the Liberals redacted their scandals, we introduced Bill C-321, the protecting first responders and health care workers act, which proposes harsher penalties for assaults against first responders and health care workers. While the Liberals hid their wrongdoing with redacted documents, we introduced Bill C-394, the restoring mandatory sentences for drug trafficking act, which would reinstate mandatory jail time for criminals involved in producing, importing and trafficking dangerous drugs like fentanyl and cocaine. These bills tackle the root causes of rising crime. Rising crime requires urgent solutions, yet the Liberal government chooses in the House to defend redacted records and questionable spending on the green slush fund rather than tackling the root causes of crime.

These next two Conservative bills would make sure that criminals stay in prison and do not revictimize people over and over again. Bill C-325, the ensuring dangerous offenders stay behind bars act, would prohibit dangerous repeat offenders from serving sentences in the community. Bill C-296, the respecting families of murdered and brutalized persons act, would ensure that individuals convicted of heinous crimes, such as the abduction, sexual assault and murder of the same victim, serve life sentences without parole for up to 40 years.

There is more. While the Liberals were giving money to their friends and hiding the evidence in these redacted documents, we introduced Bill C-351 to end least restrictive conditions for dangerous offenders, which would ensure that prisoners are confined under conditions necessary for public safety rather than trying to make criminals feel more comfortable. This change would keep dangerous individuals like Paul Bernard, in maximum-security facilities where they belong. I spoke to this bill when it was debated in the House, and the other side voted it down, voting in favour of Paul Bernardo.

These private members' bills reflect the core principles of the Conservative Party's broader justice reform agenda. Canadians can count on Conservatives to stop the erosion of public trust in the criminal justice system. The erosion of public trust caused by increasing crime mirrors the corruption and opacity surrounding the green slush fund, both of which harm the fabric of Canadian society, which is my point here today. If the Liberals would simply hand over the unredacted documents, we could get on with business here in Ottawa. We could get on with the important things Canadians are demanding, and one of those things is stopping crime.

Our Conservative plan to stop the crime includes the following pillars.

Number one is restoring mandatory minimum sentences for violent crimes, drug trafficking and serious sexual offences. Mandatory minimum sentences are essential to ensure accountability and public safety.

Number two is implementing jail, not bail. Repeat violent offenders would no longer be released back into the community on bail. We would prioritize the safety of law-abiding Canadians over the convenience of criminals.

Number three is expanding treatment and recovery options. A Conservative government would invest in detox and rehabilitation programs, ensuring that individuals struggling with addiction have a path to recovery.

Number four is supporting law enforcement. We would provide police with the tools and resources they need to combat organized crime and drug trafficking effectively. This includes reversing the NDP-Liberal government's restrictions on law enforcement powers under Bill C-75.

Number five is enhancing victims' rights. Conservatives would ensure that victims of crime are treated with the dignity and respect that they deserve. This includes greater transparency in parole decisions and increased support for victims and their families.

It is important that Canadians understand the Conservative approach to these criminal matters, such as the possible criminal wrongdoing that we are debating here today. Today, we are debating documents that, once this Conservative motion is adopted, will allow the RCMP to conduct a proper and formal probe into NDP-Liberal actions around the so-called green slush fund. Unfortunately, the Liberals have chosen to paralyze Parliament rather than adopt our common-sense motion and release those documents.

While Conservatives propose common-sense solutions, the NDP-Liberals engage in one misguided policy decision after another, and the consequences of misguided NDP-Liberal policies are clear. Violent crime in Canada has increased by 39% since 2015. Homicides are up 43% and gang-related murders have more than doubled. In Toronto, sexual assaults have risen by over 11% in the past year alone. The link between drugs and crime is undeniable. Drug users desperate to fund their habits often turn to theft, burglary and other crimes. Organized crime groups capitalize on this desperation, using drugs as a tool to trap individuals and expand their influence. Public Safety Canada has stated that the illegal drug trade is a key driver of gang violence and organized crime.

The situation is particularly dire in British Columbia, where the government's experiment with decriminalization and harm reduction has backfired catastrophically. Drug overdose deaths in the province have increased by 380% since 2015, and this year alone, B.C. is on track to recording more overdose deaths than in any previous year. The evidence is clear. These policies are not working. The human cost of this crisis cannot be overstated.

Canadians are paying the price for the NDP-Liberal government's failed policies in very real ways. In Saskatoon, the police department's crime map reveals a city increasingly plagued by violence, theft and drug-related offences. Parents in neighbourhoods like Riversdale and Fairhaven tell me that they are afraid to let their children play outside. Small business owners report break-ins and vandalism at unprecedented levels.

The opioid crisis has also placed an enormous burden on our health care system. Emergency room visits for overdoses have skyrocketed, straining resources and diverting attention from other medical emergencies. First responders, already stretched thin, are now dealing with an epidemic of overdoses and drug-related violence. The emotional toll on these frontline workers is immense. It is an emotional toll that comes from the challenges of crime gripping our communities. This emotional toll reflects the consequences of a government more focused on rewarding insiders through the green slush fund than on ensuring the safety and well-being of Canadians.

Let me repeat the sad statistic of the green slush fund. The Auditor General found 186 cases where board members doled out $400 million with clear conflicts of interest. The Liberals were taking taxpayer money and giving it to their friends and each other. That is shameful.

An emotional toll is being paid by Canadians, who are suffering through the current government of the costly NDP-Liberal Prime Minister. The NDP-Liberals have wasted billions of dollars of Canadians' money on wasteful so-called green projects through Sustainable Development Technology Canada. The sad truth is that it is being funded through Canadians' carbon tax dollars.

All common-sense Canadians know that when we slap a massive carbon tax on the farmer, then on the transport truck bringing the food to grocery shelves and then on the grocery stores themselves, the price of food goes up. It is called inflation, and boy have Canadians suffered through inflation because of the carbon tax. It is simple: Canada is in crisis. Food Banks Canada's 2024 HungerCount report highlights this stark reality. In Saskatchewan, food bank usage has surged by 42% since 2019. Alarmingly, 23% of food bank users in the province are two-parent families and 18% are employed. It is a glaring sign that something is deeply wrong when hard-working Canadians cannot afford basic necessities.

This crisis is not limited to Saskatchewan; it is a nationwide issue. Since last year, business bankruptcies have climbed 16% while personal bankruptcies are up 14%. Do members know who is not starving? It is the NDP-Liberal insiders, who have funnelled millions of dollars of cash into their pockets from SDTC. That is who. Families and business alike are struggling under the weight of skyrocketing costs and failing policies. The Prime Minister's sunny ways of 2015 have turned into a storm of economic disaster, and it is clear that the government is not worth the cost.

That is why Conservatives have a plan to restore hope and opportunity. We will axe the tax to lower costs for families. We will build the homes that Canadians desperately need. We will fix the budget to end inflationary spending and we will stop the crime that threatens our communities. Canadians are ready for a change, and it is time for an election to bring it home. Conservatives are ready to fix what is broken and restore a brighter future for all.

Fixing the budget is part of the solution to increase public trust right here in Canada. Fixing the budget means respecting the demand of Parliament and finally releasing the documents about Sustainable Development Technology Canada, the so-called green slush fund. By releasing the documents to the RCMP, it can address the criminal aspects of this matter, because crime is crime. It does not matter if it is committed in the House by the government or on the street. Crime makes Canadians less secure. While crime rates surge across Canada, it is alarming that the government continues to block transparency around public funds, funnelling taxpayer dollars into dubious projects like this green slush fund instead of addressing public safety.

The Conservative Party offers a clear, common-sense plan to address the twin crises of drugs and crime. Our approach is rooted in three pillars: accountability, recovery and prevention.

First and foremost, we must restore accountability in our justice system. A Conservative government will repeal Bill C-75 and bring back mandatory minimum sentences for violent crimes. These measures will ensure that dangerous offenders are kept off the streets and that justice is served. We will also implement a jail-not-bail policy for repeat violent offenders. Canadians deserve to know that individuals who pose a threat to public safety will remain behind bars while awaiting trial. Restoring such accountability is one step toward a brighter future that must not only stop the crime, but also address the NDP-Liberal government's disregard for fiscal responsibility, epitomized by the green slush fund scandal, which diverted resources from public safety.

We will also prioritize recovery over enabling addiction. The current government's safe supply program has been an unmitigated disaster, with up to 90% of prescribed drugs being diverted to the black market. The Conservative government will end this program and redirect funding to treatment and recovery initiatives. We will expand access to detox and rehabilitation programs, working with provinces to increase the number of treatment beds and support recovery-oriented systems of care. Programs like the Saskatoon drug treatment court, which offers alternatives to incarceration for non-violent offenders struggling with addiction, are good examples to follow.

Finally, we will invest in prevention. This includes supporting law enforcement efforts to dismantle organized crime networks and reduce the supply of illegal drugs. It also means educating young Canadians about the dangers of drug use and providing at-risk communities with the resources they need to thrive. How can Canadians feel secure when their government prioritizes schemes like the green slush fund over investments in policing and justice reform?

The crisis of drugs and crime demand immediate and decisive action. Canadians are tired of living in fear. They are tired of a government that prioritizes ideology over safety, that experiments with their lives rather than protecting them. They are tired of a government that gives their hard-earned tax dollars to Liberal friends and insiders and covers it all up by refusing to release the documents to the RCMP.

The Conservative Party is ready to lead. We will end the failed policies of the past decade and implement a common-sense approach to crime that prioritizes safety, accountability and recovery. We will bring back mandatory jail time for violent offenders, end taxpayer-funded drug dens and invest in treatment and prevention programs that actually work.

It is time to bring it home. It is time to restore safety to our streets, hope to our communities and dignity to every Canadian. I urge my colleagues in the House to join us on this mission. Together, we can build a safer, stronger Canada.

[Clayton Campbell]

Well, I think it's multi-level, but I think Bill C-75 has—

RCMP Allegations Concerning Foreign Interference from the Government of India

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I wish I could say it was a pleasure to speak today, but it is certainly not the case tonight in the House. The news and the allegations from the RCMP are extremely concerning, and they must be taken seriously as opposed to what has taken place tonight in the House. This debate is primarily about the Prime Minister, who has the power to take them seriously and has not done so.

Any foreign interference from any country, that we have been hearing about in the House and outside of the House with the Liberal government for years, needs to be stopped. The government's first job is to keep citizens safe from foreign threats. The very fact that we are here in this place debating such a serious issue demonstrates that the government has failed. The government has failed in its obligation to keep this country safe and to secure the integrity of our nation. It is a natural consequence of nine years of incompetence, of chaos and of an attitude that puts the divisive nature of the Prime Minister over the security of the public. We have seen it time and time again and particularly in the last year.

Canada has become a playground for these activities. We hear it, the evidence is there and multiple people have said it out loud on record, and still it is ignored. While tonight's debate descends into unserious political distractions, Canadians need to know who knew what and when and why it took so long for the government to act.

While we are here to address the allegations about foreign interference in India, this is about much more than that. It is certainly about India, but it is also about Beijing. It is about the tyrannical regime in Iran. It is about all of the times that our Prime Minister made a mockery of our democratic processes and frankly, our values.

Every Canadian should be concerned, because it is putting our lives, our freedoms and our country at risk. The allegations that have been made are serious, incredibly so, and they should be investigated and pursued to the fullest extent of the law. As a country, we must stand resolutely against the attempts of other actors to interfere with the rights of our citizens and our democratic process. The idea that a foreign state would even attempt anything near these allegations certainly merits more than the anemic response provided by the Liberals at every turn over the last nine years.

Furthermore, any suggestion that individuals collaborated or colluded with these attempts, or in any other attempts, should be fully investigated, and again, pursued to the fullest extent of the law. That is really not up for debate.

Here is what these suggestions should not be. They should not be used as a means to score cheap political points that nobody is buying anymore to divide our nation into smaller and smaller groups, into smaller and smaller factions. What the Prime Minister did when he appeared in front of Justice Hogue last week is exactly that. He went there with one mission, which was to level unfounded, unproven and unfair allegations against members of this party and members of his own party, casting aspersions.

If we cannot name the parliamentarians, then it should be equally wrong to say anything about them, such as what we know or their party affiliations. Frankly, the Prime Minister cast aspersions on the entire House and then walked away from the podium. It is behaviour like this that is unbecoming of a prime minister and has made a mockery of this whole process. If we look outside of the House and listen to what people are saying, it has made a mockery of this entire issue, which is unfortunate because it is a serious one. He should be less focused on trying to make this a mockery and more focused on the serious implications that it has for our national interests. He is more than just the Liberal Party leader, although I do not know how long he is going to be the Liberal Party leader; he is the Prime Minister, and he should remember that. However, I suspect it might be difficult when his caucus is revolting against him and he needs to focus at least a bit of attention elsewhere for the first time.

My parents always told me growing up that if a person is going to make a serious allegation about Conservatives being part of something, they need some evidence to back it up, and that is what we are asking for. We are asking for the Prime Minister to release the names. If he has evidence about the claims he has made about MPs in the House, he should release the names. We all know that he can do that. We are asking the Prime Minister to release the names of the individuals who have been accused so we can deal with the actual problem and move forward constructively. That is what Canadians want to know on the matter at hand. However, the Prime Minister will not, because this is another crass and pathetic attempt by him to divide, distract and deflect from his mistakes.

Maybe they are not mistakes. Maybe it is an intentional hiding of facts the Prime Minister has known about for a very long time, rather than trying to fix the issue at hand or look serious while doing it. He is trying to cover up that his caucus is in open revolt of his leadership, and it is a convenient distraction. He is trying to cover up that he has destroyed our economy through higher taxes, higher inflation and higher government spending. He is trying to cover up for his own failures to protect this country and safeguard the rights of Canadians. While this behaviour is unbecoming, we really should not be surprised by it. It has probably even benefited his prospects electorally; otherwise, why hide anything at all?

The opposition parties have acquiesced to his tactics of swearing them into secrecy so they cannot do their jobs and cannot effectively prove their case. That has been proven tonight over and over again. Any opposition leader who has bothered to speak in the House to this motion could not hold the government to account. If they really knew there was something in the documents, then rather than sitting back, they would have asked the government what it has done, but it is exactly nothing.

The Liberals have muzzled their opposition so they can continue to turn a blind eye to the obvious wrongdoings, and they have brought the cabal along with them to acquiesce to all of it. They used to be members of an opposition that could hold the government to account, and now they have been silenced. We do not have to look very far to see that they have been completely ineffective at prosecuting the government's failure on foreign interference. After all, it is the Prime Minister who turned a blind eye when foreign interference was coming from Beijing, when a Communist dictatorship was spreading misinformation and even buying Liberal Party memberships to influence nomination races. To that I say release the names.

This is the Prime Minister who took six years to declare the IRGC the terrorist organization that we all know it is, and it still uses Canada as a safe haven to fundraise, to recruit, to intimidate our own citizens and to possibly play a role in our electoral process. To that I say release the names.

It is this Prime Minister who employed the Emergencies Act, trampling on the rights and freedoms of Canadians for purely political opinions when they did not agree with them. To that, Canadians say release the names.

This is the Prime Minister whose ministers mysteriously sat on a CSIS surveillance warrant for a Liberal power broker for 54 days. To that I say release the names.

This is the Prime Minister who appointed Liberal insiders and personal friends to investigate the misdeeds of his own government. These are the things that happened under the Prime Minister's watch, and his weak leadership is the reason they are happening more and more.

Our adversaries know that Canada is an easy target and that they can get away with almost anything here. The Prime Minister is actively in the process of proving them right at every single turn. We have a common-sense ask of the Prime Minister. It is to release the names. Canadians want to know. He should release the names of the individuals who have collaborated with Beijing against Canada, the individuals who have collaborated with India against Canada and all the people who knowingly and wittingly worked with hostile foreign states for personal gain.

It is an easy thing to do. The Prime Minister did it once in the House of Commons already, and he can do it again. However, he will not. The Prime Minister does not seem to want to do that. He seems to want to continue the sideshow and political theatre as long as possible; this allows him not to talk about the issues that he does not want to talk about. He has lost all semblance of control. He looks unhinged. The Prime Minister continues to insist on some nonsensical argument about secret briefings when he can walk over here, two sword lengths away. He is pretty tall, so it is probably fewer than 10 steps. He can walk over and tell the Leader of the Opposition exactly what the problem is, but he will not do that. Why is this? It is because he is using this for political gain.

If the member for Carleton takes the briefing, by the admission of the Prime Minister's own chief of staff, he will be unable to speak about the results or act upon them, just like the Prime Minister has failed to do. He cannot do that in any way. His own office says that. In fact, the former leader of the NDP says that too. He deserves the information and not the handcuffing. The CSIS Act actually allows for this. It allows for anybody to offer any information on anybody about risks of foreign interference without forcing them into sworn secrecy.

I want to repeat that. The CSIS Act actually allows the Prime Minister to walk over here and tell the Leader of the Opposition everything he needs to know. Why is he not doing that? It is because he does not want to deal with the problem in his own caucus. The government insists again and again on secrecy without ever telling us why. I will tell members why. It is because the Prime Minister is hiding things from Canadians once again. It is because he is scared and because he has benefited from it politically. What is the Prime Minister hiding? What is he so scared of?

We know there are individuals from all parties who are rumoured to be implicated, but Conservatives are not scared of anything. If the government acted, Canadians would not be asking questions about why it is keeping secrets. I think everybody would be better off, including every single member of Parliament, who has now had the Prime Minister cast aspersions on them. That is irresponsible behaviour from a Prime Minister. The sooner the names are released, the sooner we can take action to ensure that our institutions and our political parties are free from interference. Otherwise, it is going to get way worse from a variety of actors, from a variety of places. As I said, they know that Canada is an easy place to do their dirty deeds.

Tonight's debate is another example of how the Prime Minister has failed on foreign interference. At the Hogue commission, the Prime Minister admitted that our intelligence agencies have been gathering information for years and that India has been committing foreign interference on Canadian soil. However, it is clear that he did nothing to act on it, even after a real and present danger to Canadians was known. An act was carried out; people have lost their lives. Even when provided with the opportunity to protect Canadians against extortion, one of the violent actions that the RCMP has accused Indian officials of engaging in, the Liberals voted against the bill.

It was a bill by my co-deputy leader, the member for Edmonton Mill Woods, Bill C-381, the protection against extortion act. Every single one of them voted against it. Some did not show up, but the rest voted against it.

The United States managed to thwart an assassination attempt on American soil. Canada was unable to do so. When the issue of Chinese interference came up, the Prime Minister tried to claim that it did not exist, and then that had been exposed as an outright falsehood. His government stalled for years on the creation of a foreign influence registry. It was only ever introduced as a result of Conservative pressure.

The government also did everything it could to avoid a public inquiry into foreign interference. Do members remember the special rapporteur, the friend, the ski chalet neighbour? Conservative pressure made sure that this was a full and open public inquiry so that everybody could see.

It is clear that the Liberals have been ignoring the issue of interference. Just let us look at what is happening in our streets right now. Let us look at the international terrorist organizations parading their slogans through Canadian streets, the organizations designated as not-for-profits not so long ago. Let us take a look at the increasing violence and crime driven by multinational gangs and cross-border smuggling. Let us take a look at the country's reputation, lying in shambles on the floor of the international community.

It is only going to get worse, but the government continues to sit around and pretend nothing is wrong. The Liberals passed Bill C-5 and Bill C-75, making it easier for violent criminals to be released back onto the streets again and again, while only being punished with a slap on the wrist. The Liberals repealed mandatory minimums for crimes like extortion with a firearm. They voted against Bill C-381, which would bring back this mandatory minimum punishment for extortion and implement even more tools for prosecutors and police to go after ringleaders and multinational gangs.

Extortion is five times higher than it was 10 years ago, but the Liberals are voting against the very things that they could be doing to stop all of this while pretending to have a debate, to say the right things, to placate the Canadian public, leading them to believe that they have acted when they have not.

Is the government going to empower CSIS or the RCMP to be able to do their jobs, instead of interfering in the work of those security agencies? Are they going to do a better job at screening the individuals coming into our country? How about tracking down the one million people the government lost and still cannot find?

We need real, decisive action to fix this problem. We need to enforce laws that we have on the books. We need to stand strong against interference, not cover up allegations and hide the evidence. We need Canadians to trust that everybody here is doing the right thing. We need our rights and our integrity back.

A common-sense Conservative government will put those criminals in jail where they belong. We will take action whenever and wherever we are notified, despite the Prime Minister's inability to walk across the floor and tell the Leader of the Opposition what the problem is. We will work with the RCMP and CSIS, not against them, and we will uphold the integrity of this country by running a government for all Canadians.

It starts with releasing the names. For the good of our political system, for our values, for our country, for the good of accountability to the people, release the names, I say to the Prime Minister. Anything short of that tells everyone what they already know: The Liberals are hiding from accountability. Canadians simply deserve better.

Public Safety

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB]

Mr. Speaker, it is always an honour to present a petition on behalf of constituents.

I rise for the 50th time on behalf of the people of Swan River, Manitoba, to present a petition on the rising rate of crime. The community of Swan River is alarmed by extreme levels of crime caused by the Liberal government's soft-on-crime laws, like Bill C-5 and Bill C-75. Bill C-75 allows violent reoffenders to be in jail in the morning and back in the community in the evening, and Bill C-5 allows criminals to serve their sentences from home.

It is no surprise that after nine years of Justin Trudeau's—

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, the legislation my colleague just mentioned, the act resulting from Bill C-75, increased penalties for auto theft. He voted against it.

Second, the people who grant bail are the judges appointed by Mr. Legault, so if there is a question or a problem with the administration of justice, the member should talk to Mr. Legault about the number of lawyers, court backlogs, space in detention centres and the fact that there may be some problems with the decisions being made.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, that is twice now that the Minister of Justice of Canada has blamed the Legault government for the administration of justice, which this government changed.

The Criminal Code is a federal responsibility. That is why Bill C-5 and Bill C-75 have caused so many problems on the streets of Montreal and now everywhere else in Quebec. Sergeant Giguère of the Éclipse squad in Montreal even reportedly said that prior to this decision, people on the street would tell police they did not want to be locked up for long, but now, people are being arrested for using firearms and they are out again soon after. Is that normal?

Why does the government refuse to amend the laws that have destroyed Canada's entire justice system?

Opposition Motion—Confidence in the Government

[Arpan Khanna, Conservative, Oxford, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals' catch-and-release policies, like Bill C-75 and Bill C-5, have released criminals back on to the streets. It is a revolving door that they created. My constituents tell me every single day that because of the violent crime, they are not safe in their communities anymore. They are afraid to walk on their streets and go to the park with their families. That is not the Canadian dream that my parents came here for. The sad thing is that the NDP, and the Bloc now, continue to prop up the government.

In my riding, we have a great auto plant, GM's CAMI, and great union workers work there. I met one of the workers last week. He said he has voted for the NDP his whole life. He thought the NDP was the party for workers, but he said it is not anymore. He will be voting Conservative for the first time because he knows the NDP sold out Canadians when it voted 24 times for the carbon tax. The NDP is killing the jobs of our workers and has sold out our workers. Our common-sense Conservative team will always stand with workers and ensure that we put more food on the table for their families so they can live that Canadian dream.

Canadians are now losing hope. We hear it, we see it and we feel it. The stories we share today are stories of many Canadians. They are stories of our friends, our neighbours, seniors and single mothers. They are everyday Canadians trying to survive, to make the sacrifice, like my dad did, to get ahead in this country, to build a better life for the next generation.

The Liberals have tried extremely hard to divide Canadians. They are pitting one region against the other. They are trying to divide our communities by spreading misinformation and disinformation. I know that Canadians see through this. There is hope in our country. We know Canadians are resilient. Our country is strong. I believe in our country and the Conservatives believe in our country. We know that, with the right leadership, we can get our country back on track and restore that Canadian promise that my father came to this country for.

That is why the Conservatives are calling for a carbon tax election now. There is a very clear choice between the NDP-Liberal costly carbon tax coalition that will tax our food, punish our work and take our money, or a common-sense Conservative plan, led by our great leader, that will axe the tax so Canadians can heat, eat and house themselves. We would build homes so Canadians can have a roof over their head. We would fix the budget so we can drive down inflation. We would stop the crime so our families can live in safe neighbourhoods.

We would be a government that would stand with the farmers who feed our families. We would be a government that would stand with lawful gun owners and go after real criminals who destroy our communities. We would be a government that would put Canadians first. We would be a government that believes in the prosperity of Canada, that believes better is possible and believes in Canada. For nine years, we have not seen that.

However, Canadians will have a choice and I call on all parties to call an election. What are they afraid of? Let Canadians decide; that is democracy. Every single day, we will do our job and hold the government accountable, unlike the other parties that have sold out their constituents. We will fight for Canadians every single day.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB]

Madam Speaker, the member stated numerous times that they are very proud of the government's record.

The motion for today reads, in part, “That, given that, after nine years, the government has doubled housing costs, taxed food, punished work, unleashed crime, and is the most centralizing government in Canadian history”.

In my riding of Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, crime is out of control. The government's bills, Bill C-5 and Bill C-75, are directly responsible for that. It is like a hockey stick. We can see the crime going up exponentially. We have made a common rural town into a crime scene. Is the member very proud of that?

[Michelle Ferreri, Conservative, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Thank you.

I have such limited time, and this is such a big topic, but I think we have to get to the nuts and bolts of it. We have two bills, Bill C-5 and Bill C-75.

I would ask for a yes-or-no answer from you, Deputy Chief. Are these bills...? Cait said it beautifully, that nobody seems to care, but if these policies were changed tomorrow, would this give you more freedom to be able to keep people from hurting more people?

Supplementary Estimates (A), 2024-25

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Oakville, ON]

moved that Bill C-75, An Act for granting to His Majesty certain sums of money for the federal public administration for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, be now read the first time and printed.

(Motion deemed adopted and bill read the first time)