House of Commons Hansard #331 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was workers.

Topics

International TradeOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

Order.

The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

International TradeOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Regina—Qu'Appelle Saskatchewan

Conservative

Andrew Scheer ConservativeLeader of the Opposition

Mr. Speaker, it is clear that the Prime Minister needed all the help he could get when it came to his negotiating position with Donald Trump. Even after all of that, he still had to back down on so many key areas. He backed down on pharmaceuticals, meaning that Canadian patients and the provincial health care systems will have to pay billions more.

Can the Prime Minister tell us exactly how much Canadian patients will have to pay after he has adopted Donald Trump's rules on prescription drug costs?

International TradeOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives cannot help but play politics on big issues, but we are staying focused on Canadians.

It is wonderful to hear the Conservatives suddenly preoccupied with prescription drug costs, because they have never wanted to do anything on that.

However, we have made sure that Canadians know that we are serious about moving forward with pharmacare. We will move forward in lowering prescription drug costs for Canadians, and nothing in this deal prevents us from being able to do that for Canadians.

International TradeOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Regina—Qu'Appelle Saskatchewan

Conservative

Andrew Scheer ConservativeLeader of the Opposition

Mr. Speaker, there is something in this deal that would make that program even more expensive. The Prime Minister has just backed down, by giving Donald Trump's policy preference over Canadian pharmaceuticals, meaning higher prices for patients.

In return for backing down on pharmaceuticals, on accepting a cap on autos, what has he got in return?

Yesterday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs said that the most important gain from this agreement is retaining what we already had.

Specifically, did the Prime Minister receive an end to tariffs on steel and aluminum for all of his concessions?

International TradeOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, we in the House should not be surprised when the Conservatives choose to play politics.

I have to admit I am surprised on this one, given that just last year Stephen Harper and the Conservatives were imploring us to capitulate and accept any deal at any price. Stephen Harper's memo said, “It does not matter whether current American proposals are worse than what we have now”.

Over and over, the Conservatives urged us to take Harper's advice and surrender immediately. That was not our approach. We stood up for Canadians and got a good deal.

International TradeOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

NDP

Guy Caron NDP Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC

Mr. Speaker, it is funny to hear the Prime Minister talk about playing political games here.

No less than three times yesterday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs talked about the elimination of chapter 11 of NAFTA as a great victory for her and her government.

The thing is that the Liberals are the ones who fought at the negotiating table to keep a version of that provision, which allows companies to go after governments directly. Donald Trump is the one who wanted to get rid of chapter 11. We are glad to see it go.

Are the Liberals so desperate that they have to rewrite history?

International TradeOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, we are very pleased to have eliminated chapter 11, which has cost Canadians $300 million over the years.

We know that it is important to protect the government's ability to legislate on environmental protection and labour rights.

We stood our ground to get rid of that chapter. We are very pleased that Canadians are no longer subject to it.

International TradeOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

NDP

Guy Caron NDP Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government is trying so hard to find a positive angle to this deal with Donald Trump that it is wilfully misleading the House on this.

Yesterday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and today the Prime Minister are bragging about the fact that the elimination of chapter 11 of NAFTA is a great victory for them and their government. The problem is that they are the ones who fought to try to keep it. Donald Trump was the one who tried to get rid of it.

Of course, we are glad that chapter 11 is gone, but how desperate is the Prime Minister that he now wants to rewrite history?

International TradeOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

I have to remind the hon. member for Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques that we do not accuse someone of wilfully misleading the House or deliberately misleading the House. One can say that someone misleads because that, of course, could be by accident, but he cannot say “wilfully”. I would ask him to withdraw and apologize for that.

International TradeOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

NDP

Guy Caron NDP Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC

I am sorry Mr. Speaker. He is misleading the House.

International TradeOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

I will be very clear and give the member another opportunity to withdraw his comments and apologize.

International TradeOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

NDP

Guy Caron NDP Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC

Mr. Speaker, I am sorry. Instead of wilfully misleading the House, I will claim that he is misleading the House.

International TradeOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, Chapter 11 has cost the Canadian government hundreds of millions of dollars over the years, which is why we are pleased that we signed an agreement that eliminates chapter 11.

The ISDS provisions, which we worked hard with people on in the CPTPP and CETA to diminish and even eliminate, is something that we have always stood against.

We believe that governments should have every right to protect the environment, to protect labour standards, and that is what we ensured with this accord.

Natural ResourcesOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

NDP

Romeo Saganash NDP Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC

Mr. Speaker, let me quote the Federal Court of Appeal again, that “Canada's efforts fell well short of the mark set by the Supreme Court of Canada” when it came to consulting indigenous peoples on Trans Mountain.

How can the Prime Minister claim that he will consult again when he has repeatedly said in the House that this project will be built no matter what?

Does the Prime Minister not realize that he is in fact totally abdicating his constitutional duty to consult and accommodate indigenous peoples and obtain their consent?

Natural ResourcesOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, the court ruling on TMX actually gives us a blueprint to move forward in the right way. We know that proper, deep consultation with indigenous peoples is essential for moving forward on any projects. They have to be moved forward in the right way. That means working with indigenous peoples. It means getting community consultations right. It means working to ensure that the environmental science is top-notch. That is what we recognize. That is what we will move forward with in a responsible way to get things done the right way, because that is what all Canadians expect.

Natural ResourcesOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

NDP

Romeo Saganash NDP Abitibi—Baie-James—Nunavik—Eeyou, QC

Mr. Speaker, we believe that the Prime Minister must be true to his word. If he is prepared to recognize those who have the right to say yes to this project, he must recognize the equal right of others to say no to the pipeline project.

Does the Prime Minister not recognize that consulting when the decision has already been made is not the type of consultation required by the Supreme Court of Canada?

Natural ResourcesOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite for actually acknowledging that there are people from indigenous communities who are saying yes to this project and there are people from indigenous communities who are saying no. We will work with them, as the court has asked. We recognize that improvements can be made to the consultations and to partnerships with first nations, and we are working on that in the meaningful way required by the court.

JusticeOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Conservative

Alain Rayes Conservative Richmond—Arthabaska, QC

Mr. Speaker, a woman who was convicted of the rape and first degree murder of an eight-year-old girl was transferred to a healing lodge that does not even have fences. Security is so lax that there were 18 recorded escapes from this type of facility between 2011 and 2016. Our motion, like the one the Ontario government unanimously adopted on Monday, calls for this decision to be reversed.

My question for the Prime Minister is simple. Will he vote in favour of our motion, as Canadians from across the country are calling for, yes or no?

JusticeOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, our hearts obviously go out to Tori Stafford's family for their loss.

The inmate was transferred from a maximum-security facility to a medium-security one in 2014, while the Conservatives were in government, and that is where she remains today. As news articles have shown, the Corrections and Conditional Release Act does not allow politicians to make decisions on individual inmate transfers. The minister has asked the commissioner to ensure that this decision is consistent with long-standing policies.

JusticeOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Conservative

Alain Rayes Conservative Richmond—Arthabaska, QC

Mr. Speaker, little Victoria's father wrote the Prime Minister a message last weekend. He asked him, from father to father, if the Prime Minister could kneel before his child's headstone, knowing they spent the last three hours of their life begging and pleading for mommy or daddy to come save them. He asked the Prime Minister if he could sleep soundly knowing that. He pleaded with the Prime Minister to do the right thing to ensure that this injustice is reversed and that the killer returns behind bars.

The Prime Minister has the power to take action. Will he vote in favour of the motion we have moved here in the House?

JusticeOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, just like all Canadians across the country, our hearts go out to Rodney Stafford. The inmate was transferred from a maximum-security facility to a medium-security facility in 2014, under the Conservatives. She remains in a medium-security facility today.

The Conservatives should know that the minister does not intervene in such decisions, because that is precisely what the member for Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis has stated in the past, when he was minister. The minister has asked the commissioner to review her decision. As the Conservative member for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo said, the independent judiciary process must be allowed to take its course without political interference.

JusticeOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Conservative

Tony Clement Conservative Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON

Mr. Speaker, Canadians continue to call on the Prime Minister to do the right thing and send Terri-Lynne McClintic, the killer of eight-year-old Tori Stafford, back to prison. While he and his public safety minister dither with this review and refuse to review the transfer, which did not occur in 2014, but just a few months ago, with McClintic now enjoying life in a healing lodge without a fence.

I ask the Prime Minister on behalf of Tori's father and on behalf of Canadians to do the right thing, to vote yes on our motion today and order McClintic back behind bars.

JusticeOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives continue to play a very dangerous and, quite frankly, repulsive game of politicizing a tragedy and speaking for others who they have no business speaking for.

We continue to state, obviously, that this is a situation in which a previous Conservative government reclassified an offender, from a maximum security institution to a medium institution. This individual is currently in a medium security facility.

As Stephen Harper's former—

JusticeOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

Order, please. I would ask the hon. member for Battle River—Crowfoot and others not to interrupt when someone else has the floor. Each side gets its turn, and we have to listen whether we like what we hear or not. That is kind of essential in democracy.

The hon. member for Parry Sound—Muskoka.

JusticeOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Conservative

Tony Clement Conservative Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister accuses us of games, but I remember being in the Ontario legislature as an MPP 18 years ago when the Ontario legislature voted unanimously to ask the federal government to stop a transfer of a cop killer to Club Fed.

The Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, who was solicitor general at the time, stood in the House and reversed the transfer. Why was that good enough 18 years ago? Why is he playing political games now, saying he cannot do anything on behalf of Tori Stafford's family and on behalf of Canadians? He should do the right thing.