Debates of Dec. 3rd, 2018

The Francophonie

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on Saturday, a wave of collective action swept over 40 communities in Ontario and nine communities across Canada. The Franco-Ontarian flag even flew over Quebec's National Assembly in a unanimous show of solidarity. Over 14,000 people came out to protest against the Ford government's decision to scrap the Office of the French Language Services Commissioner and the proposed French-language university.

December 1 is a date that will go down in history. Every generation was represented, including thousands of youth. Everyone came together to speak with one voice.

This weekend there was a sentiment of solidarity across Ottawa, Ontario and Canada to defend official languages and respect for minority rights. It was amazing to see so many Franco-Ontarian flags in Ottawa.

This is not over. The fight goes on. The resistance movement is in full swing. We are here, and here we will stay.

Natural Resources

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has lived a celebrity lifestyle off of his family fortune and now he is trying to build that celebrity lifestyle off of Canadians' tax dollars. He is sending out tweets to win celebrity friends. Meanwhile, the working people back home who pay the bills are under attack by his “no more pipelines” Bill C-69.

The NDP government in Alberta, the pipeline association and the TransCanada pipelines company have all called for the government to withdraw this bill. Will the Liberals withdraw the “no more pipelines” Bill C-69?

[Amarjeet Sohi, Minister of Natural Resources, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, we inherited a very flawed process of environmental review from the previous government. That has led to the failure of a number of infrastructure projects, including pipelines, that could not move forward.

We are focused on fixing the previous government's flawed process by passing Bill C-69 which would allow good projects to move forward and would allow one review for every project. That is what we are focused on. That is what we will continue to deliver.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, at a glitzy international conference last week, the Prime Minister attacked energy workers, saying that male construction workers go to rural communities and cause negative social and gender impact. While he is trying to build his international celebrity abroad, he is killing the livelihoods of working Canadians back at home. His “no more pipelines” Bill C-69 has been condemned by the industry, the Alberta government and numerous aboriginal communities.

Will the Prime Minister finally scrap his “no more pipelines” Bill C-69?

[Amarjeet Sohi, Minister of Natural Resources, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, it is that kind of divisive politics, pitting one community against the other, pitting indigenous communities against other communities, that has put us in this place to start with.

Bill C-69 would allow us to have a process in place that would allow good projects to move forward in a timely and efficient manner. We are focused on expanding our non-U.S. global market, and we are focused on building pipelines that allow us to do that. Bill C-69 is the process to get us there.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, that the Liberals would dare talk about divisive rhetoric after the Prime Minister, the limousine Liberal, went down to Argentina at an international conference while our workers are struggling at home, and he insulted them and accused them of creating negative social and gender impacts, is absolutely disgusting and appalling. The first thing the government should do is apologize for that despicable rhetoric. When will the Liberals apologize for insulting working men and women, and scrap the “no more pipelines” bill at the same time?

[Amarjeet Sohi, Minister of Natural Resources, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, let us look at the record of the previous government, how it failed to protect the energy sector and how it failed to expand our non-U.S. global market. When the Conservatives got into office in 2005, 99% of Alberta's oil was exported to the United States. When they left office in 2015, 99% of Alberta's oil was still exported to the United States. That is the failure of the Conservative government.

Ethics

[Alain Rayes, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, according to the National Post, the City of Brampton asked the RCMP to investigate a troubling situation.

Two Liberal members, including the Minister of Innovation, received confidential information about the price the City of Brampton offered the Ontario government in a land deal. What happened? A private-sector company purchased the land only to resell it quickly at a huge profit.

My question for the minister is simple. How is he connected to that company?

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, the allegations that the member opposite is making are categorically false. If he has the courage of his convictions to make these allegations, I strongly recommend he go outside the House to make those same remarks.

[Alain Rayes, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I do not understand why the minister is being so defensive. If he has done nothing wrong, why will he not answer the questions he is being asked? At least one of the company's directors took part in the Prime Minister's disastrous trip to India. The minister even took a photo with one of the company's directors, who is also a former Liberal riding association president. On top of that, many of the company's directors are Liberal Party donors.

It is a simple question. Did the RCMP contact the minister and, if so, when?

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, any insinuation that the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development committed any wrongdoing is false, and if the member would care to repeat that outside the House, he will hear from the minister's lawyer.

International Trade

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

Mr. Speaker, from 2014 to 2016, the United States circumvented the supply management system by exporting diafiltered milk to Canada. Despite the fact that dairy producers were losing over $200 million a year, the Liberals did not lift a finger to help. Producers had to take matters into their own hands and come to an agreement with the major processors, thereby creating a new milk class called class 7. By capitulating to Trump and signing the deal with the United States, the Liberals undid all that work and gave this high-protein American milk unlimited access to the Canadian market.

Will the Liberals also compensate dairy producers for this sabotage?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, our government defended the supply management system against the U.S. government that indicated it wanted to dismantle it.

We know that our dairy, poultry and egg farmers provide the highest quality of products for Canadians at a reasonable price and take care of our rural communities. We are committed to fully and fairly supporting our farmers to make sure they continue to expand in this country. We have and will continue to support our dairy farmers.

Automotive Industry

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

Mr. Speaker, that is the thing. Diafiltered milk is outside the supply management system.

The announced closure of the GM plant is devastating for the families of 2,500 workers and their communities, but it is not just workers in Oshawa who are concerned about their families. All auto workers across Canada are worried. The Prime Minister needs to do more than simply express his disappointment. He needs to show leadership and call an emergency summit on the automotive industry by the end of next week with unions, the industry, the provinces and the mayors of the communities whose economies depend on the automotive sector.

Will he do that?

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, our automotive sector remains strong. It is well placed to build the clean, connected cars of today and tomorrow. We will always stand with our automotive sector and our workers. We will continue to work with the automotive sector, and we will continue to defend our workers.

[Tracey Ramsey, NDP, Essex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh is in Oshawa today with auto workers after GM has turned its back on them.

The GM plant closure is devastating for the families of 2,500 workers and for thousands more whose livelihoods have depended on that plant for 100 years.

The Liberals have yet to act. They have no emergency plan. There have been no emergency meetings. What is the Prime Minister waiting for? GM did not build Oshawa; Oshawa built GM, and it is time to fight for good jobs.

Will the Liberals listen to the NDP and call for an urgent meeting with industry, labour and all of government to find solutions to fight for these jobs?

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, of course this is disappointing news for Oshawa. The reason it is so disappointing, as the member opposite has mentioned, is that Oshawa has a long and proud history, over 100 years, when it comes to General Motors.

That is why we have actually worked with GM and are working with the union as well. I have spoken with the local municipal leadership. I have spoken with my provincial counterpart as well. GM has made a big mistake by turning its back on the workers in Oshawa.

We will not make that mistake. We will continue to defend the auto workers and we will continue to support this very important sector.

International Trade

[Tracey Ramsey, NDP, Essex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, if the Liberals want to see a leader in this House who defends workers, they should call the by-election.

Just last week, with the stroke of a pen, the Prime Minister made it clear that it is more important to please Donald Trump than to protect Canadians. This is shameful.

He signed an agreement without removing Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum that threaten thousands of jobs, and a deal that compromises Canadian sovereignty over our dairy industry, giving the U.S. power to interfere in the regulation of our supply management system. This is wrong.

Why is the Prime Minister so willing to sacrifice so much to Donald Trump?

[Mélanie Joly, Minister of Tourism, Official Languages and La Francophonie, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, New Democrats say one thing in the House, but behind closed doors they admit this is the deal to protect Canadian jobs. The NDP leader celebrated the deal during a recent event in Ottawa, and the NDP member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, who is also the NDP Quebec lieutenant, called the new NAFTA the best deal possible.

We will continue to fight for good Canadian jobs. That is exactly what we did over the weekend and will continue to do in the future.

Member for Brampton East

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is getting to the point where we need a criminal investigation flow chart to understand the relationship between a Liberal MP, a Liberal minister, the Prime Minister, a clutch of Liberal financial supporters and three RCMP investigations. Now we have learned that the City of Brampton wants the Mounties to investigate a land deal after confidential information was allegedly passed to the member for Brampton East and the Minister of Economic Development.

It is time for the Liberals to drop the “We don't comment on RCMP investigations” stalling and tell Canadians the truth.

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said, any insinuation of wrongdoing by the Minister of Innovation is absolutely false, and repeating it outside the chamber will be met with a strong response from the minister's lawyer.

If the member has courage to say it in this place where he is protected, why does the member not have the courage to say it outside the House?

Prime Minister's Trip to India

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, let us get specific. The Prime Minister's Office now says that the PM did not invite any of the business people who joined his ill-fated trip to India. The member for Brampton East, who said he would resign because of a gambling addiction and did not, says he did not invite a director of the Goreway Heaven company involved in the suspect Brampton real estate deal, and the economic development minister claims ignorance of it all.

Again, will the Liberals at least tell us who invited the Goreway Heaven executives on the Prime Minister's trip to India.

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, it is fascinating how quickly we see a change of channels by the member, because knows he can make comments inside the House where he is protected by privilege, but he will not make those comments outside of this place where he is not protected.

When it comes to the member's question, we know that the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians is studying the issue. It would be inappropriate to comment on the issue until the report is tabled.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the member for Brampton East is at the centre of some murky Liberal intrigue. Controversy swirls around close ties to a real estate company and shady transactions, leaving us all in a state of confusion.

Why did a director of that company just happen to be a part of the Prime Minister's free trip to India? Who invited him to go at taxpayers' expense?

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the member told us he was dealing with a number of problems for which he was receiving treatment from a health professional.

As Speaker, you were informed that the member was no longer part of the Liberal caucus. We hope he is getting the help he needs. In answer to the question, the member should know that the report has not been tabled in the House and that we cannot comment on the situation until the report is tabled.