House of Commons Hansard #305 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was budget.

Topics

Government Response to PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:05 a.m.

Winnipeg North Manitoba

Liberal

Kevin Lamoureux LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36(8), I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the government's response to 11 petitions.

While I am on my feet, I move:

That the House do now proceed to orders of the day.

Government Response to PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:05 a.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

Government Response to PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:05 a.m.

Some hon. members

Agreed.

No.

Government Response to PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:05 a.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

All those in favour of the motion will please say yea.

Government Response to PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:05 a.m.

Some hon. members

Yea.

Government Response to PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:05 a.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

All those opposed will please say nay.

Government Response to PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:05 a.m.

Some hon. members

Nay.

Government Response to PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:05 a.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

In my opinion the yeas have it.

And five or more members having risen:

Call in the members.

(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

Vote #687

Government Response to PetitionsRoutine Proceedings

10:40 a.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

I declare the motion carried.

Bill C-74—Time Allocation MotionBudget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1Government Orders

10:40 a.m.

Québec Québec

Liberal

Jean-Yves Duclos LiberalMinister of Families

moved:

That in relation to Bill C-74, An Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on February 27, 2018 and other measures, not more than five further hours shall be allotted to the consideration of the report stage and five hours shall be allotted to the consideration at third reading stage of the said Bill; and

that, at the expiry of the five hours provided for the consideration at report stage and at the expiry of the five hours provided for the consideration of the third reading stage of the said Bill, any proceedings before the House shall be interrupted, if required for the purpose of this Order, and in turn every question necessary for the disposal of the said stages of the Bill shall be put forthwith and successively without further debate or amendment.

Bill C-74—Time Allocation MotionBudget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1Government Orders

10:40 a.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan

Pursuant to Standing Order 67.1, there will now be a 30-minute question period. I invite hon. members who wish to ask questions to rise in their places so the Chair will have some idea of the number of members who wish to participate in the question period.

The hon. House Leader of the Official Opposition.

Bill C-74—Time Allocation MotionBudget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1Government Orders

10:45 a.m.

Conservative

Candice Bergen Conservative Portage—Lisgar, MB

Mr. Speaker, in three days debate has been shut down in this House on five major bills. It is unbelievable—well, it is actually not unbelievable, because everything the Liberals said they would do while they were campaigning has been an absolute fabrication. Coming here self-righteously and saying, “We are not going to shut down debate” was just another big, phony act. It seems like everything the Liberals do is a big, phony act.

I saw the height of it last night when the minister gave notice of this time allocation. He said there had been consultations with the opposition on Bill C-74. That is outright misleading of the House and misleading Canadians. There has not been one iota, not one syllable, of consultation. Nobody has asked anybody on this side about how much time was needed for Bill C-74.

Not only are the Liberals breaking their word; now they are misleading the House on incredibly important issues. This is the carbon tax that is going to be implemented. We do not know how much it is going to cost because they will not tell Canadians, and now they are saying they have consulted with us on Bill C-74. That is not true. Why are the Liberals misleading this House?

Bill C-74—Time Allocation MotionBudget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1Government Orders

10:45 a.m.

Ottawa Centre Ontario

Liberal

Catherine McKenna LiberalMinister of Environment and Climate Change

Mr. Speaker, Canadians elected us to deliver an ambitious agenda, and Bill C-74 is an important step in our plan to help grow our economy by focusing on the middle class and helping those working hard to join it. The budget implementation act provides the legislative framework to implement key campaign commitments that were reiterated in budget 2018.

Through this bill, we are taking the next step in our ambitious plan to grow our economy by focusing on the middle class and helping those working hard to join it. Over the last two years, Canada's economic growth has been fuelled by a stronger middle class. Canadians' hard work, combined with historic investments in people and in communities, helped to create more good jobs, almost 600,000 of them since November 2015, with more help for those who need it most, which has meant more money for people to save, invest, and spend in their communities.

Bill C-74—Time Allocation MotionBudget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1Government Orders

10:45 a.m.

Conservative

The Deputy Speaker Conservative Bruce Stanton

I am going to ask hon. members, both those posing questions and a minister who may be responding, to keep their interventions to no more than around one minute.

Questions, the hon. member for Berthier—Maskinongé.

Bill C-74—Time Allocation MotionBudget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1Government Orders

10:45 a.m.

NDP

Ruth Ellen Brosseau NDP Berthier—Maskinongé, QC

Mr. Speaker, sadly, the minister obviously did not hear the question from the House leader of the official opposition. There has been absolutely no consultation on allocating time on Bill C-74. This is the fifth time that the Liberals are imposing closure in three days. This is unbelievable.

I have been here for seven years, and we were used to time allocation because we had a lot under the previous government, but we have never seen a government limit debate to the point where it is doing the bare minimum. It is an insult to democracy.

The Liberals promised they would do things differently, yet they are going ahead and shutting down debate. We are 338 MPs in this House and we are here to represent our constituents. How can the Liberals justify doing time allocation on an important bill like Bill C-74?

Bill C-74—Time Allocation MotionBudget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1Government Orders

10:45 a.m.

Liberal

Catherine McKenna Liberal Ottawa Centre, ON

Mr. Speaker, Canadians elected us to deliver an ambitious agenda, and Bill C-74 is an important step in our plan to grow the economy by focusing on the middle class and helping those working hard to join it. This bill has been debated extensively in the House and in the committee. We have seen four days of second reading debate, during which more than 45 members have spoken. This includes 13 Conservative members, six NDP members, and one member from the Green Party. At committee stage, we saw 13 meetings, during which more than 106 witnesses spoke.

We have made a commitment as a government to work collaboratively with all parties to ensure that Parliament works more efficiently. It is important for us to make every effort to reach a consensus about how much time is required by all parties to debate legislation in the House of Commons.

Bill C-74—Time Allocation MotionBudget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1Government Orders

10:50 a.m.

Conservative

Marilyn Gladu Conservative Sarnia—Lambton, ON

Mr. Speaker, I just cannot believe the current government.

The Liberals got elected by telling Canadians that they were going to do things differently, that they were going to be open and transparent, that they were going to be truthful with Canadians, and that they would keep their promises. We have seen nothing but broken promises and no transparency.

The minister who is responding to questions on the budget for the finance minister does not even know how much her carbon tax would cost the average Canadian and how much reduction in greenhouse gas emissions we are going to get. When will the minister come clean, be open and transparent, and start keeping the promises of the government?

Bill C-74—Time Allocation MotionBudget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1Government Orders

10:50 a.m.

Liberal

Catherine McKenna Liberal Ottawa Centre, ON

Mr. Speaker, we have been very clear. My department released information showing that carbon pricing works. It works by reducing emissions and by fostering innovation. The provinces that have a price on pollution right now are where 80% of Canadians live, and those provinces are not only tackling climate change but are also the fastest-growing economies in the country: Alberta, British Columbia, Quebec, and Ontario. We know that putting a price on pollution is important and that tackling climate change is important, and there is also a $23 trillion economic opportunity.

Bill C-74—Time Allocation MotionBudget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1Government Orders

10:50 a.m.

Conservative

Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC

Mr. Speaker, this debate is supposed to be about the government justifying the use of time allocation on Bill C-74. Instead we have a minister of the crown who is actually engaging in debate when we are supposed to be hearing the government justify time allocation.

She said that this bill received debate at committee; we did not hear one single witness on division 20, on the deferred prosecution agreement, which is a departure from the way we handle the Criminal Code. I would like to hear a justification from the minister as to why she is making it difficult for her own members to be able to discuss the bill, because there were concerns at that committee about this bill. Why is she pushing this bill forward and denying the ability to speak to it not only to us but to her own members?

Bill C-74—Time Allocation MotionBudget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1Government Orders

10:50 a.m.

Liberal

Catherine McKenna Liberal Ottawa Centre, ON

Mr. Speaker, Bill C-74 is an important step in our plan to grow our economy by focusing on the middle class and helping those who are working hard to join it.

This bill has been debated extensively in the House and at committee. As I said, there have been four days of second reading debate, during which more than 45 members spoke at committee stage. We have seen 13 meetings, during which more than 106 witnesses have spoken.

We want to work collaboratively with all parties to ensure that Parliament works more efficiently. It is important to make every effort to reach a consensus about how much time is required by all parties to debate legislation in the House of Commons.

Bill C-74—Time Allocation MotionBudget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1Government Orders

10:50 a.m.

NDP

Alistair MacGregor NDP Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC

Mr. Speaker, I would like to correct the minister when she said that Canadians voted for the Liberals. Actually, 39% of Canadians voted for the Liberals, and many of those Canadians voted for the Liberals because they made promises to do things differently, to treat Parliament with respect, and to make sure that every member here has their say. Instead we are here on the 40th occurrence of time allocation or closure as the government tries to make up for a slow parliamentary agenda. The government realizes that it is under a time crunch, so it is just going to ram things down Parliament's throat.

I cry shame on the government and my Liberal colleagues for abusing the trust of Canadians and for misleading them, because this is not how to treat Parliament with respect. This absolutely goes against all the promises the Liberals made.

Would the minister not agree that it is precisely this type of action that breeds cynicism in Canadian politics?

Bill C-74—Time Allocation MotionBudget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1Government Orders

10:50 a.m.

Liberal

Catherine McKenna Liberal Ottawa Centre, ON

Mr. Speaker, this bill has been debated extensively in the House and at committee. We remain committed to ensuring that members on all sides have sufficient and reasonable time to debate legislation in the House of Commons. Of course, we also recognize our responsibility to ensure that we deliver on our commitments to Canadians.

Let us talk about this. Through this bill, we are taking the next step in our ambitious plan to grow our economy by focusing on the middle class and helping those working hard to join it. Since November 2015, we have worked with Canadians to create more good jobs, almost 600,000, which helps those who need it most. It also means more money for people to save, invest, and spend in their communities.

Bill C-74—Time Allocation MotionBudget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1Government Orders

10:55 a.m.

Winnipeg North Manitoba

Liberal

Kevin Lamoureux LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, it seems what we have witnessed from the opposition members is a will and desire to prevent any legislation from passing through the House. They want to continue to play games. We saw that yesterday when they attempted to adjourn the House because they were done working for the day. Yesterday they moved concurrence on a report, yet we have hundreds of reports. They will do anything to avoid debate.

My question to my colleague is this. Would she not agree that there is a responsibility of the government to move legislation forward that is going to have such a positive impact on Canadians in all regions of our country?

Bill C-74—Time Allocation MotionBudget Implementation Act, 2018, No. 1Government Orders

10:55 a.m.

Liberal

Catherine McKenna Liberal Ottawa Centre, ON

Mr. Speaker, it is extremely important that we deliver on this ambitious agenda, because we are delivering for Canadians. We are helping to grow the economy. We are helping to create jobs in communities. We are making sure we are supporting the middle class, as well as those who are working hard to join it.

As I said, we wish we did not have to do this. However, we need to advance legislation. The opposition is deliberately delaying the government's agenda, and we have a duty to Canadians to ensure that all legislation is brought to a vote.

We remain committed to ensuring that members on all sides have sufficient and reasonable time to debate legislation, but we have a responsibility to deliver on our commitments to Canadians.