Debates of May 30th, 2018

Democratic Reform

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we know that the Prime Minister does not care too much for any opposition, but we are here to hold the government to account and to stand up for the interests of Canadians whether he likes it or not. It is evident that he is trying to ram through his new electoral legislation using closure, time allocation, or whatever other trick he has up his sleeve. Will the Prime Minister commit today to allowing Bill C-76 the proper due diligence and study that Canadians know it deserves?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again Canadians across the country find it humorous that the Conservatives are suddenly standing up for fair elections after what they did in their time in government to make our elections less fair and to try to lean them in their favour. Fortunately, Canadians saw through that and relegated them to where they are right now. We are happy to be moving the Elections Act proposals to committee, where all parliamentarians will be able to make proposals and debate them. We are open to amendments. We are looking forward to strengthening our Elections Act in a way that serves Canadians, not the Conservative Party of—

[The Speaker, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Banff—Airdrie.

[Blake Richards, Conservative, Banff—Airdrie, AB]

Mr. Speaker, what Canadians do not find amusing are the games and tricks being played by this Prime Minister while trying to ram through this legislation. He talks about being open to amendments in committee and wanting to have debate while they are in the middle of trying to shut it down and make sure there can be no amendments and no opportunity for debate. That is just plain wrong. It is time this Prime Minister understood that Canada is not a dictatorship and that Canadians will not stand for his garbage. Will he stand up today and let us know that he is going to respect the rights of Canadians and allow a—

[Some hon members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Geoff Regan]

The right hon. Prime Minister.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, we know that the Conservatives revert to type whatever chance they get. They try to sling mud, especially when there is good news for Canada, good news for our democracy, and good news for our economy on the table. The approach the Conservatives have of trying to scare and divide Canadians and to hurl insults at each other simply does not work. We are looking forward to working at committee with all members of this House to ensure that the fair elections reform actually moves in the right direction. Canadians said very clearly under the Conservatives that they did not appreciate it when the Conservatives tried to tilt things in their favour.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we have just seen this government's arrogance.

The Prime Minister wants to impose electoral reform on Canadians and he could not care less about the House. He asked Elections Canada to implement the changes contained in a bill which has not yet been passed.

Why does the Prime Minister have so little respect for parliamentarians on both sides of the House?

When will he finally act like a prime minister, and not just like the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, a partisan leader, and withdraw the unacceptable request he made to Elections Canada?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I realize that the Conservatives are concerned about the fact that we are reversing the unfair changes they made to our election legislation. They tried to rig the election in order to win. Fortunately, it did not work.

We are currently working with all parties and Elections Canada to ensure that the next election will unfold with better rules that will benefit Canadians and not the parties—least of all the Conservative Party.

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the democratic reform bill has not even become law. In fact, it has just started to be reviewed at committee, and all Canadians deserve to be heard, yet the Prime Minister has already instructed Elections Canada to implement this bill. I remind the Prime Minister that our democracy does not belong to him or his rigid dictator ideology. It belongs to Canadians. Without blaming Stephen Harper again, how can the Prime Minister justify telling Elections Canada to implement this bill before we have had a chance to hear from Canadians and before it becomes law?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, it is almost as if the Conservatives want the next election to be fought under the same rules by which they had tilted the electoral system in their own favour in the last Parliament. Canadians rejected that. They wanted a real fair Elections Act, which is not what they got. That is why we are moving forward to improve our electoral system so that it is fairer for all Canadians, and to make sure that our system is reformed in a way that Canadians, parliamentarians, and Elections Canada recommend.

Canadian Heritage

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after long consultations and the Netflix fiasco, the Minister of Canadian Heritage has now admitted that her half-baked cultural policy was simply an interim policy awaiting further consultations by the CRTC on the future of our culture.

The CRTC will release its report tomorrow, and rumour has it that the minister is going to engage in consultation instead of taking action. That would be the third in three years.

Will the Liberals finish their term with the exact same cultural policy as the Conservative Party: nothing except a tax break for web giants?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are proud that this government has made historic investments in culture, such as supporting the CBC and investing in the Canada Council for the Arts.

We are investing in our creators. We support them and we are helping them flourish around the world. As for the NDP's desire to increase taxes on Canadians, as I said, this is not something we will do. The NDP can keep insisting on it, but we will not increase taxes on Canadians.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, imagine receiving a letter from the government saying a husband and his wife are “not well matched”. Imagine the reason cited is because the wife is three years older than the husband. Imagine the marriage being in question because the wedding was not big enough.

Mr. Baig's wife received that letter.

The government routinely sends these letters out to spousal sponsorship applicants from Pakistan to “tease out a response”. “Offensive” and “insulting” do not even begin to describe this.

What action will the Prime Minister take to rectify this systemic issue?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have moved forward on strengthening our immigration system, investing in more capacity to analyze and look at files.

We know the backlogs that the Conservative government created in family reunification, in spousal sponsorship. We are pleased that we have dropped spousal sponsorship down from the over two years it took under the previous government to 12 months. We also know there is more to do.

We are going to continue to keep Canadians safe. We are going to continue to make sure that we are applying the rules properly. We are going to continue to be compassionate and efficient.

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

Mr. Speaker, according to a recent CBC/Radio-Canada story, the Minister of Immigration is beginning to wake up. The article indicates that the minister is in talks with his American counterparts to modernize the safe third country agreement. However, the change he is proposing would do nothing to stop the influx of illegal migrants crossing Canada's border at various unofficial entry points like Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle.

Will the Prime Minister impress upon the U.S. government the need to close the loophole in the the safe third country agreement?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure Canadians that our immigration system continues to be applied in its entirety.

All newcomers, whether regular or irregular, continue to be subjected to all the usual security processes and analyses. We know that Canadians expect our system to be comprehensive, and I can assure them that it is. We continue to apply all the usual rules, principles, and laws.

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

Mr. Speaker, I really want to believe the Prime Minister, but his minister says otherwise.

The minister was not candid with the parliamentary committee on the subject of illegal migrants. He said they would be arrested and deported, yet he knows full well that the appeal process can take as long as 10 years. He insists that these people are not welcome, yet he rushes to give them expedited work permits and helps them to settle in communities all over Canada. He also refuses to reveal the true number of illegal migrants who have already been deported from Canada.

The minister obviously knows the figures. He needs to stop dodging and tell Canadians.

Would the Prime Minister agree?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, yet again, the Conservatives are peddling fear and division, fear of immigrants and newcomers, for political gain. That is utterly irresponsible.

I can assure all Canadians that we are applying all of our immigration laws and claim review procedures, that we are keeping Canadians safe, and that we have the capacity to address the challenge of irregular arrivals.

I can assure Canadians that we have the situation under control.

[Rosemarie Falk, Conservative, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's irresponsible tweet started a flood of illegal border crossings. Over 25,000 people have responded to his open invitation.

The Liberals have broken our immigration system. Downloading this problem onto our municipalities and backlogging legal immigrants is not fair and it is not compassionate.

The immigration minister now claims that he is open to modernizing the safe third country agreement. Will the Prime Minister now act responsibly and commit to closing the loophole that is allowing these illegal crossings?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I do not have enough time in 30 seconds to respond to all the misinformation in the question from the member opposite. The fact is that the opposition are continuing to try to stoke fear and foment division between new Canadians and the newest Canadians and Canadians who have been here for many generations. That is completely irresponsible. Quite frankly, it was the kind of politics of division that were rejected by Canadians in the last election.

We are going to continue to be compassionate and open. However, we will also apply our immigration system in its entirety, and all the rules and laws that apply to it.

Employment

[Ken Hardie, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Mr. Speaker, employment opportunities for all Canadians are critical for growing the economy. Canada's success depends on our ability to leverage our diverse talent pool. Canadians living with disabilities have the same ambitions as all other Canadians. They want opportunities to find good, well-paying jobs, make a contribution to their communities and the economy, and build a better life for themselves and their family.

Can the Prime Minister please explain what the government is doing to ensure Canadians living with disabilities have the tools and skills needed for success in the new digital economy?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as the world becomes increasingly digital, we want to ensure all Canadians are set up for success. In Vancouver, we announced $3 million for the Neil Squire Society to develop an open-source assistive technology model across Canada that will greatly reduce costs for persons with disabilities. This is part of our $22.3 million accessible technology program, which will help overcome barriers and give all Canadians an equal opportunity to obtain good jobs for today and tomorrow.

Public Safety

[Sylvie Boucher, Conservative, Beauport—Côte-de-Beaupré—Île d’Orléans—Charlevoix, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the G7 is just around the corner and despite the crowds in La Malbaie and the Prime Minister's smiles, people are worried.

Local residents did not choose to be within the perimeter of the facilities and they already know that they will be denied any compensation from the government if they are victims of vandalism during the summit.

Since the government has no qualms about spending more than $10 million to compensate the terrorist Omar Khadr, how can it refuse to compensate honest Canadians?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I was very touched by the welcome I received from the people of Charlevoix when I went there a few weeks ago to thank them for their openness and commitment, as well as the welcome they are preparing for the people who will be visiting us from around the world.

I know that there are concerns, but the people were enthusiastic and positive about the fact that we are inviting the entire world to come see the extraordinary region of Charlevoix with its magnificent landscape and even more magnificent people.

I look forward to sharing this beautiful region that I love so much with the entire world 10 days from now.