Evidence of meeting #16 for COVID-19 Pandemic in the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was chair.

A video is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Jean-Yves Duclos  President of the Treasury Board

1:20 p.m.

Conservative

Ziad Aboultaif Conservative Edmonton Manning, AB

It was revealed that the Liberal minister, Joyce Murray, allowed her WeChat social media platform to be used to advance the interest of an arm of the Chinese Communist Party.

Does the minister accept responsibility for this attack on Canadian journalists?

1:20 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton

The honourable minister.

1:25 p.m.

Liberal

Jean-Yves Duclos Liberal Québec, QC

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The minister made clear two things. First, that person was not part of her network. Second, she does not share the views that were shared.

1:25 p.m.

Conservative

Ziad Aboultaif Conservative Edmonton Manning, AB

Is the minister aware of the espionage activities that the United Front carries out on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party, yes or no?

1:25 p.m.

Liberal

Jean-Yves Duclos Liberal Québec, QC

Mr. Chair, I'll repeat in French what I said in English.

La ministre a dit deux choses très clairement: premièrement, la personne ne fait pas partie de son réseau; deuxièmement, les avis et les opinions exprimés par cette personne ne sont pas partagés par la ministre.

1:25 p.m.

Conservative

Ziad Aboultaif Conservative Edmonton Manning, AB

[Inaudible—Editor] incompetent or an active participant in the efforts by the communists to muzzle Canadian journalists?

1:25 p.m.

Liberal

Jean-Yves Duclos Liberal Québec, QC

Mr. Chair, I think the honourable member, whom I respect very strongly, is going a bit beyond the customs of rationality and reason. I would encourage him to come back to reason and rationality.

1:25 p.m.

Conservative

Ziad Aboultaif Conservative Edmonton Manning, AB

Mr. Chair, someone should take responsibility for this.

Does the minister or the government take that responsibility, yes or no?

1:25 p.m.

Liberal

Jean-Yves Duclos Liberal Québec, QC

Mr. Chair, as I said earlier, the minister involved made two things very clear. First, that person was not part of her network. Second, the views that the person expressed are not shared by the minister.

1:25 p.m.

Conservative

Ziad Aboultaif Conservative Edmonton Manning, AB

The minister admitted on the record that her own political staff managed this WeChat. This is someone who is being paid by the Canadian taxpayers.

Why is the minister helping China to attack Global News?

1:25 p.m.

Liberal

Jean-Yves Duclos Liberal Québec, QC

Mr. Chair, I would repeat once more to make sure that the honourable member understands very clearly that the minister concerned made two things clear. First, that person was not part of her network. Second, the views expressed are not shared by the minister.

1:25 p.m.

Conservative

Ziad Aboultaif Conservative Edmonton Manning, AB

Mr. Chair, that was Joyce Murray's own Liberal-branded WeChat group that was advancing the lawsuit against Global News. Either the minister is fully accountable, or she has been duped by the communists in China. Which one is it?

1:25 p.m.

Liberal

Jean-Yves Duclos Liberal Québec, QC

Mr. Chair, I think that this is again going beyond reason and rationality. I have made very clear the views and the context in which this happened, and I believe that should be satisfactory to the member of the House.

1:25 p.m.

Conservative

Ziad Aboultaif Conservative Edmonton Manning, AB

Sam Cooper is an investigative Canadian journalist who has uncovered many different criminal rackets that can be linked back to Beijing. Has the minister apologized to Sam Cooper for attempting to shut down his work?

1:25 p.m.

Liberal

Jean-Yves Duclos Liberal Québec, QC

Mr. Chair, I'll repeat it in French, because what I said may not have been entirely clear.

Premièrement, la ministre a dit clairement que la personne ne faisait pas partie de son réseau. Deuxièmement, les points de vue exprimés par cette personne n'étaient pas partagés par la ministre.

1:25 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton

Mr. Aboultaif, you have about 40 seconds remaining.

1:25 p.m.

Conservative

Ziad Aboultaif Conservative Edmonton Manning, AB

When will the minister apologize to Sam Cooper and Global News?

1:25 p.m.

Liberal

Jean-Yves Duclos Liberal Québec, QC

Mr. Chair, I'll repeat it again to make sure everything is understood because, yes, clarity is important in the House.

First, this person wasn't part of the minister's network. Second, the points of view this person expressed are not shared by the minister.

1:25 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton

You have time for a last one, Mr. Aboultaif.

1:25 p.m.

Conservative

Ziad Aboultaif Conservative Edmonton Manning, AB

I will pass on the 21 seconds, Mr. Chair.

1:25 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton

Next we have Mr. Zimmer from Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies.

1:25 p.m.

Conservative

Bob Zimmer Conservative Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

My question today is for Minister Bill Blair. I wrote him a letter seeking clarification on the CBSA definition of what a bore is and the conflict that it has with the RCMP's definition. We sent that letter on May 12.

I was a little bit surprised to see that Minister Blair had actually responded to my letter on Twitter. This is his exact tweet:

There is misinformation circulating online surrounding the types of guns that were prohibited in Canada on May 1st. To be clear, 10 and 12 gauge shotguns are not prohibited in Canada - Canadians who use these guns lawfully, including hunters and farmers, can continue to do so.

Mr. Chair, let's take just a quick look at the reference table. I will just cite six 12-gauge shotguns that are actually now on the prohibited list: the Adler B210 bolt-action shotgun, the AlphaArms 15SA semi-automatic shotgun, the Axor MF-1 semi-automatic shotgun, the Canuck Havoc pump-action shotgun, the Derya Arms VR90 semi-automatic shotgun, and the Eternal FX12 semi-automatic shotgun.

Frankly, Mr. Chair, it wasn't me who was misinforming Canadians; it was this minister. Will he stand up and apologize to Canadians for misleading the public?

1:30 p.m.

Conservative

The Acting Chair Conservative Bruce Stanton

The honourable minister.

1:30 p.m.

Liberal

Bill Blair Liberal Scarborough Southwest, ON

Mr. Chair, I'm delighted to have this opportunity to stand before the House and provide some clarity. Quite frankly, we listen to Canadians, and we listen to the concerns of Canadians who have expressed fear within their own communities from the rising proliferation of certain types of weapons that were never designed for the purposes for which firearms were intended in this country. In our culture, in our traditions and in our law, firearms are exclusively for use for hunting and sports purposes, and weapons that were designed for soldiers to use in combat to shoot other soldiers have no place in Canada.

Mr. Chair, that's why we took action. We took decisive action, keeping our promise to Canadians to strengthen gun control laws. Mr. Chair, we continue to work with the RCMP to ensure that the public firearms reference table is updated as quickly and thoroughly as possible. However, let me be very clear, Mr. Chair. Despite the claims made by the opposition members, standard shotguns used for hunting, such as the 10- and 12-gauge shotguns, are still not prohibited. I will also say that firearms that include designs, receivers, or other variances of rifles such as the AR-10 and the AR-15 are prohibited. The RCMP is doing its important work to update the public firearms reference table as quickly as possible to keep Canadians informed and safe.

1:30 p.m.

Conservative

Bob Zimmer Conservative Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC

For everybody out there watching, that was a non-answer.

There are 12-gauge shotguns that are on that ban list, Mr. Minister, and you need to apologize to Canadians for misleading them.

I have another question about our sport shooting community. We have a bunch of retailers who are left out in the cold by this decision. Cassandra Premack, co-owner of K.K.S. Tactical Supplies in Prince George, projects that her business will lose up to 45% of its annual revenue thanks to this ban. With no buyback program coming anytime soon, what is this government doing for the thousands of sporting-goods store owners who have been left out in the cold?