House of Commons Hansard #365 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was transplant.
Pierre Paul-Hus Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
Mr. Speaker, that is just one more reason.
The director of CSIS has confirmed that some countries, sponsored by others, were engaged in interference and espionage. Three of the Five Eyes have decided that Huawei must be banned. Our economic, security and military interests are in jeopardy.
Will the Prime Minister commit to banning Huawei from Canada?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, CSIS has a mandate to investigate threats to Canada, and this includes potential long-term threats to our national interest and to Canada's prosperity.
As the director of CSIS pointed out, foreign interference and espionage pose a serious threat to our national interest and our prosperity.
Working closely with our Canadian and international partners, our security agencies continuously monitor threats to national security and take the necessary measures to protect Canadians and safeguard their rights and freedoms.
Pierre Paul-Hus Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
Mr. Speaker, I will ask the Prime Minister an easier question
This morning, La Presse reported that Montreal police discovered 977 marijuana plants in a couple's home. While the police was conducting its investigation, this same couple was applying to Health Canada for a permit to grow medical marijuana. The kicker is that they actually got it.
Will the Prime Minister commit to suspending the licence issued by Health Canada to this couple, which is currently under investigation by the Montreal police?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, we legalized marijuana because we know that that is the best way to protect our children and to eliminate the influence of organized crime on the sale of marijuana and the profits it makes from it.
We will certainly ensure that Health Canada and others conduct all the necessary investigations to make good decisions about all licences issued in connection with marijuana.
Marilyn Gladu Conservative Sarnia—Lambton, ON
Mr. Speaker, that again is a failure of the Prime Minister to take responsibility.
Last year, Montreal police discovered 977 pot plants and more than $15,000 on the premises of a couple in Montreal. This year, despite the ongoing criminal investigation of that couple, Health Canada gave them a permit to grow more than 600 cannabis plants for medical purposes. Are they kidding? These people are under investigation for illegal cannabis for the purpose of trafficking, but got a licence to grow pot. We cannot make this stuff up.
Will the Prime Minister revoke their licence while the police investigation is ongoing?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, ensuring the integrity of Canada's legal cannabis production system is a top priority for our government. That is why the regulated system contains multiple measures to protect the health and safety of Canadians and the integrity of the system. These include stringent requirements around physical and personal security, record-keeping, inventory controls and reporting that is verified by Health Canada inspections.
Our government will never hesitate to take appropriate action to protect the integrity of our legal cannabis system.
Hélène Laverdière NDP Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC
Mr. Speaker, since the vile murder of Jamal Khashoggi, Germany and many of our other allies have shown real leadership and stopped selling arms to the Saudi regime.
Meanwhile, in Canada, it has now been six weeks since the Prime Minister announced that the government was reviewing existing export permits to Saudi Arabia.
Once again, could the Prime Minister update the House on the status of this review?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, we continue to review the export permits.
I can assure the House that when I was in Argentina for the G20 summit, I talked directly with the Saudi prince and told him that we need better answers than we have heard so far on the murder of Mr. Khashoggi.
I also informed him that we expect him to order a ceasefire in Yemen so that humanitarian aid can reach civilians, who are suffering through an appalling crisis. We have a duty to help this country and to hold the line with Saudi Arabia—
Alexandre Boulerice NDP Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC
Mr. Speaker, more and more people are using active transportation. That is great, but we need to adapt accordingly.
Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie has one of the highest rates of cyclist and pedestrian death in Quebec. From 2006 to 2015, 17 pedestrians and eight cyclists were killed in Rosemont, and 32 cyclists were killed in Montreal. Every time a cyclist dies, a white bicycle is placed at the scene of the accident. I cannot take it any more. My dream is to never have to see another one of those white bicycles.
Can the Prime Minister or the Minister of Transport ensure that the recommendations of the task force to improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians are implemented?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, we remain committed to improving road safety with the help of our provincial partners.
The Harper Conservatives did absolutely nothing to improve road safety for 10 years. The task force conducted extensive consultations in 2017-18, including round tables in Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto and Halifax.
Our government, along with the provincial governments, are now looking at practical options to make our roads safer for our pedestrians and cyclists. We will take action.
Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
Mr. Speaker, Canadians know all too well that the Prime Minister is a man who spends money like water, especially when, as ill luck would have it, he has his iPhone out and starts tweeting.
We all recall that almost two years ago, he sent out a tweet that has cost taxpayers over $1 billion Canadian. This weekend, out of boredom or in an attempt to impress an international celebrity, the Prime Minister announced via Twitter that the Canadian government would be taking $50 million of taxpayers' money and giving it to an initiative backed by one of his famous pals.
Is the Prime Minister aware that Twitter is not a tool for diplomacy or an appropriate venue for announcing public spending?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, it is funny to see what happens when the Conservatives play politics. They end up opposing funding that will help nearly 340,000 of the world's poorest children in conflict and crisis zones stay in school. It is unfortunate that this is the new Conservative philosophy. Children around the world must have equal access to learning opportunities and quality education. This is something we will always support. It is a shame that the Conservatives are playing politics and opposing this.
David Sweet Conservative Flamborough—Glanbrook, ON
Mr. Speaker, Yasmine Sherif is the former director of a group that promotes anti-Israel propaganda and the BDS movement. Today, she is the director of Education Cannot Wait, a recent recipient of a $50-million tweeted pledge by the Prime Minister.
The House has rejected BDS and the xenophobia that it promotes. In 2016, even the Prime Minister recognized that BDS is anti-Semitic. Will the Prime Minister withdraw the funding promise and support the Jewish community and our allies in Israel, or is he more concerned with impressing his celebrity friends?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, once again, the Conservatives are so eager to play politics it puts them in the awkward position of actually opposing funding that will support nearly 340,000 of the world's most vulnerable children in conflict and crisis zones to stay in school. It is unfortunate that this is the new Conservative philosophy.
Children around the world must have equal access to quality education and learning opportunities. This is something we will always support. Unfortunately, the Conservatives have been consistent. They would rather play politics than help the world's most vulnerable.
Erin O'Toole Conservative Durham, ON
Mr. Speaker, Canadians know the Prime Minister loves to swagger on social media, but his tweet to Trevor Noah took the cake. A $50-million donation on Twitter, with some of it going to UNRWA. Speaking of UNRWA, I did not see the Prime Minister tweet about the earlier $50-million donation he made to that agency: “Hey, Trevor Noah, I am donating $50 million to an organization that supports anti-Semitism.”
Will the Prime Minister withhold his donation to UNRWA until that organization denounces—
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, once again, the Conservatives choose to play political games instead of actually looking at how we are working hard as Canadians to support the world's most vulnerable. The fact that we continue to work with UNRWA allows us to hold it to account to ensure proper accountability on where and how it spends its money, because we know that we need to support the most vulnerable in the world as opposed to continuing to have negative outcomes and funding the wrong sorts of people.
Having Canadian dollars there leads to more accountability, and that is something the entire world values.
Bryan May Liberal Cambridge, ON
Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to building a Canada where all people, regardless of their disability, can fully participate and be included in society. We are acting and have undertaken major initiatives to create an inclusive and accessible Canada. As chair of the committee for the status of persons with disabilities, I am extremely proud of our government's work.
Could the Prime Minister please give the House an update on our government's historic progress in this area?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Cambridge for his hard work as chair of the committee for human resources, skills and social development and the status of persons with disabilities.
We are creating a system whereby barriers are identified and removed proactively so that all Canadians, regardless of their disability, can fully participate in society.
I am proud that last week the House unanimously supported our legislation to ensure a barrier-free Canada. This shows that when we truly work together, we can have a direct and lasting impact on the lives of Canadians.
Colin Carrie Conservative Oshawa, ON
Mr. Speaker, actions speak louder than words.
The Prime Minister promised that he would work on a plan to keep jobs in Oshawa, but on Monday, the Liberals voted down our motion to study the impact of the GM closure. Instead of caring, the Prime Minister has still not even picked up the phone to call our mayor to offer his support.
The Prime Minister said that we need to transition away from manufacturing. My community wants to know what he thinks it should transition to.
Will the Prime Minister table his plan for the affected Oshawa workers before Christmas?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, we are focusing on the workers and their families who are going through a difficult time and need the support of every member in the House.
When I spoke last week to the Premier of Ontario, we agreed that this was a time to put partisanship aside and focus on how to support the workers in Oshawa.
From day one we have taken steps to make Canada's automotive manufacturing sector more globally competitive and innovative. We will always stand firmly behind our automotive sector and workers.
Pierre Nantel NDP Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC
Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Government of Quebec confirmed that Netflix will start collecting the QST on January 1, 2019, but not the GST, because Ottawa is refusing to change federal laws and make California-based Internet multinationals collect the same GST it makes our businesses collect.
Quebec explicitly asked the federal government to work with it to change the law, but the government flatly refused. No other G7 country is dumb enough to refuse to adapt its tax system to the Internet age.
Can the Prime Minister do better than the Minister of Finance's pathetic attempts to justify the unjustifiable?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, we do not want to raise Canadians' taxes. We know that a healthy arts and culture industry is important.
We are investing more than $3.2 billion in our artists and creators. No other G7 country is investing more. We doubled funding for the Canada Council for the Arts. We reinvested $675 million in CBC/Radio-Canada. We gave the Canada Media Fund an extra $172 million.
We are proud to support our artists and creators, and that is what we will keep doing.
Robert-Falcon Ouellette Liberal Winnipeg Centre, MB
Mr. Speaker, problems associated with the use of methamphetamine in my riding and in the prairie provinces are escalating and affecting many people and their families in various communities.
I am proud to say that the city of Winnipeg has launched a task force to look into solutions to deal with the current situation.
I would like to ask the Prime Minister what steps our government is taking, and plans to take, to address methamphetamine use in Canada.
