Debates of June 13th, 2018

Youth

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Hamilton West—Ancaster—Dundas for her continued advocacy for youth. As we know, young Canadians are not just the leaders of tomorrow. They are the leaders today.

The Prime Minister's Youth Council has played a crucial role in leading consultations across the country to help develop Canada's first-ever national youth policy.

I would also like to welcome the youth council to Ottawa where they will tackle difficult issues this week, such as the opioid crisis, and discuss Canada's role on the world stage. As always, I look forward to their advice.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister lifted the visa requirement on Romania knowing that high numbers of false asylum claims and incidents of organized crime would be a risk of doing so. Indeed, in the five months since making this ill-advised decision, well over 1,000 asylum claims have been filed and the CBSA has now said that the lifting of the visa requirement “has precipitated a noticeable increase of the activities of Romania-based Organized Crime groups...targeting Canada.”

Will the Prime Minister keep Canada safe and reinstate the visa requirement on Romania?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we continue to work with the Romanian government to ensure that our system works. We are in discussions with them right now to look at ways of ensuring that organized crime and others are not using and abusing Canada's immigration system.

This is something that we take very seriously. I thank the member opposite for bringing forward this question and I am pleased to tell her that we are very much engaged exactly on this issue.

Science

[Pierre-Luc Dusseault, NDP, Sherbrooke, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Mont-Mégantic observatory is vital to the development of scientific knowledge in Canada and throughout the world. Even so, the Liberals and their predecessors are content to wait until the last minute to approve funding for the observatory, and then only for a set period of time.

This approach is once again causing the observatory team and the scientific community a lot of anxiety, and yet the Liberals promised stable funding for the observatory.

Are we witnessing the breaking of yet another Liberal promise? Is the Prime Minister waiting for the observatory to close its doors before he takes action?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are proud of the fact that budget 2018 makes historic investments in science and research across the country. We understand how important it is to our well-being to invest in science, particularly after 10 years of Conservative neglect. We recognize the value of the Mont-Mégantic observatory's work. We will continue to work with the observatory team to make sure that everything goes smoothly in the future.

Health

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians expect to know that the food they are eating is safe, especially since the complex international food chain is creating some significant new challenges for food safety.

Our government has been taking firm action to address these issues to simultaneously make our food safer while also providing more trade opportunities for businesses.

Could the right hon. Prime Minister please update the House as to today's announcement of the safe food for Canadians regulations?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Glengarry—Prescott—Russell for his hard work on behalf of Canadian farmers.

We announced the publication of the safe food for Canadians regulations, which will reduce the burden on businesses and grow market access for Canada's agricultural sector. We also implemented new measures to reduce the time it takes to remove unsafe food from the marketplace.

We are proud of those who work in our agricultural sector, and we encourage them to continue innovating and being world leaders.

International Trade

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to try to get the truth for people in the agriculture sector.

The Prime Minister did not want to tell dairy producers yesterday whether he plans to make concessions to the Americans on supply management or not.

The Minister of Agriculture confirmed this morning that there is room for negotiation with the Americans on supply management. In the Prime Minister's fantasy world, saying one thing in the United States and another thing in Chicoutimi must seem reasonable.

The Prime Minister is going to Saguenay tomorrow.

Will he tell the truth, specifically whether he has made any concessions to the Americans on supply management?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are committed to supporting our dairy producers, and that is exactly what I told them yesterday.

Ours is the party that created supply management, and we will continue to defend it. That is what I told the President. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Agriculture will continue to defend our dairy producers.

As Canadians know, on this side of the House, all Liberal members continue to defend supply management and support our dairy industry.

Cannabis

[Rhéal Fortin, Québec debout, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, not only have the Liberals decided to legalize cannabis, but they have also decided that Quebec, the provinces, the Senate, the opposition, and everyone else should bend to their will. This is one heck of a power trip.

The National Assembly is not interested in letting every family, every household, grow four pot plants. Our elected representatives have spoken: we do not want that. Quebec wants to do this its own way in its own good time.

What part of that does the Prime Minister not understand?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are regulating the sale of cannabis for one very simple reason: the current system is not protecting our young people or our communities.

Organized crime is pocketing billions of dollars per year from illegal cannabis sales, and we know the measures we have proposed in this bill will reduce the role of organized crime in the sale of cannabis. That is why we are doing what we are doing. We want to protect young people and all Canadians.

Presence in Gallery

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I would like to draw to the attention of hon. members the presence in the gallery of the Honourable Rabindra Prasad Adhikari, Minister for Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation of Nepal.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. There have been consultations and if you seek it, I hope you will find unanimous support for the following motion: That the House call on the government to increase the ratio of highly persecuted LGBT refugees that Canada welcomes as part of its humanitarian immigration streams, particularly from countries where they face extreme persecution such as Iran; and make the Rainbow refugee assistance program a regular ongoing program with multi-year funding.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Does the hon. member have unanimous consent of the House to propose the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

No.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I would ask the Prime Minister why his party voted against that motion.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I think the member knows the answer.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I believe if you seek it, you will find unanimous consent for me to table the following document by Charles Lamman and Hugh MacIntyre, the co-authors of a Fraser Institute study, entitled, “Measuring the Impact of Federal Personal Income Tax Changes—

[Some hon. members]

No.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

It appears there is no unanimous consent.

Order, please. The hon. member for Carleton has another point of order.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the members did not get a chance to hear this. It says, “Yes, most middle-class families are paying more in income taxes” today.

The House resumed from June 7 consideration of Bill S-210, An Act to amend An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, the Civil Marriage Act and the Criminal Code and to make consequential amendments to other Acts, as reported (without amendment) from the committee.

Immigration and Refugee Protection Act

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

It being 3:14 p.m., pursuant to order made on Tuesday, May 29, the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion at report stage of Bill S-210 under private members' business.

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

Vote #755