Debates of Sept. 25th, 2018

International Trade

[Andrew Leslie, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Canada-U.S. Relations)]

Mr. Speaker, I know how proud Canadians are of our public health care system and we are going to defend it. We also know that the affordability of and access to prescription drugs remains an important issue for all Canadians. We will continue to work with the provinces, territories and our partners to lower drug prices and provide timely access to medicines. This is an important issue for our government and we have said such during the NAFTA discussions. Our government will always stand up for Canadians.

Intergovernmental Affairs

[Murray Rankin, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, thanks to our Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Canadian courts have given women the right to choose, the right to medical assistance in dying, LGBTQ2 rights, collective bargaining rights and more. While the notwithstanding clause is part of the charter, so far it has always been used sparingly, but maybe no longer.

Canadians are telling me how disappointed they are that the Liberals refuse to even study the use of the clause which lets legislatures override their rights. We want to know why the Liberals will not allow even a study of the notwithstanding clause so we can better protect the charter rights of Canadians.

[Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental and Northern Affairs and Internal Trade, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, our government has been very clear. We think the notwithstanding clause should only be considered in the most exceptional of circumstances. We think that the government's responsibility is to stand up for the charter rights of Canadians. That is something this government will always do.

We have expressed publicly our dismay when the Government of Ontario was considering using the notwithstanding clause. Our Toronto caucus stood firmly against that decision. We will continue to defend the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Official Languages

[Marc Serré, Liberal, Nickel Belt, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today being Franco-Ontarian day, we join Ontario francophones and francophiles in celebrating their culture, their language and their traditions.

The Minister of Tourism, Official Languages and La Francophonie visited a school in Orleans to make an excellent announcement for schools: establishing minority communities in Ontario.

Would the minister tell the House more about this announcement?

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Nickel Belt.

I would like to join him in celebrating Franco-Ontarian Day, which is why I am wearing green and white today.

This morning I was at École élémentaire catholique Notre-Dame-des-Champs, where I got to meet 300 students and announce $7.5 million in funding to give students at 700 francophone schools and 300 anglophone schools in minority communities access to cultural activities.

This government believes in our official languages and in our children.

Natural Resources

[Jamie Schmale, Conservative, Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON]

Mr. Speaker, after a summer of failures, the Prime Minister still has no plan to get Trans Mountain built.

The Conservatives unveiled their plan: complete indigenous consultations immediately; enact emergency legislation; request a stay and appeal the Federal Court ruling; and pass Bill S-245, clarifying that a pipeline is under federal jurisdiction.

We have a plan while the Liberals just delay. Will the government adopt the Conservative plan and bring jobs and investment back to Canada?

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

Mr. Speaker, after a decade of failure, the official opposition is still repeating the same thing it has done for a decade: a complete disregard for the Federal Court's ruling; a complete disregard with respect to taking action on environmental sustainability, including the protection of the coastal communities; and a complete disregard for engaging indigenous peoples in a meaningful dialogue.

We are going to move forward on this project in the right way, by responding to the issues that are relevant to this decision. I will be announcing that plan very shortly.

[Cathy McLeod, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Trans Mountain pipeline is critical to the 43 first nations with benefit agreements and many others. Yesterday, the leader of Canada's Conservatives announced a comprehensive plan that makes use of every tool in the tool box to get this pipeline built. This includes meaningful consultation with indigenous peoples, which the Liberals did not do when they simply sent a note-taker. When will the Liberals show some leadership and announce a real plan instead of dithering along like they have been?

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

Mr. Speaker, our government understands that getting our natural resources to global non-U.S. markets is very important for creating jobs and growing the economy. We are going to do that in a responsible way. That responsible way is by making sure that we are respecting the environment, taking action on protecting our marine environment, while at the same time having meaningful consultation with indigenous peoples.

We recognize there is a diversity of opinions among indigenous peoples. We respect that and we will continue to work with all of them.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Conservatives unveiled our plan to build the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion to the public yesterday. Our plan addresses all of the risks to build this pipeline.

The Liberals have a choice. They can continue to delay this project and in doing so continue their record of failure, or they can follow the Conservatives' plan and use every tool available to them to get this pipeline built.

When will the minister start doing his job, get Canadians back to work, and get the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project under way?

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

Mr. Speaker, what the Conservatives announced yesterday was a dissertation on a decade of failure, which is to ignore the direction from the court, to ignore the court in this regard, to disregard the environment, and disregard the consultations with indigenous peoples. If they had followed the proper procedure, they probably would have built a pipeline to get our resources to the global market.

We sell 99% of our oil to one customer, which is the United States. We need to diversify our natural resource markets, and we are going to do that in the proper and right way—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Foothills.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, pipeline companies invest billions of dollars in consultants and environmental assessments, and that is just to table their proposal. They made these investments under Conservative governments because they knew the Conservatives would champion these projects. However, under the Liberals' watch, not one single major piece of oil infrastructure has been proposed, and that is in three years.

When will the Liberals understand that their failed policies are not getting one inch of pipeline built? When will they do their job and get the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion moving?

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

Mr. Speaker, I think it would be beneficial for the member to understand that the decision made in 2014 to exclude from the NEB the review of marine shipping and its impact on the environment was done under the Harper government. The record has been very clear that that was the wrong decision to make. We are going to correct that.

We have directed the NEB to consider the impact of marine shipping on the marine environment, and we are going to move forward on this project in the right way. We understand that Canadian jobs and protecting the environment go—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Vancouver Kingsway.

Health

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, thousands of Canadian families have lost loved ones to an overdose epidemic the government has failed to stem.

Health professionals, Canada's chief public health officer, the president of the Canadian Medical Association, big city mayors and police chiefs all want to decriminalize and regulate substance use to save lives.

Instead, today we see the Prime Minister sign on to the failed war on drugs approach demanded by Donald Trump. Are the Liberals truly so desperate for a new NAFTA that they are prepared to put Canadian lives at risk to get it?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, protecting the health and safety of Canadians is my top priority.

We are in a national public health crisis when it comes to the opioid epidemic, and we have seen the tragic numbers that were released last week. The numbers are more than numbers; these are lives of Canadians.

Substance abuse is an international problem and the global call for action will help us move forward. One hundred and thirty countries have signed on to the declaration, and we certainly want to be a part of that conversation. If we are not at the table, we certainly will not be able to effect change.

[Hélène Laverdière, NDP, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, today, much to the surprise of experts and the international community, the Liberals endorsed President Trump's devastating war on drugs.

Meanwhile, President Trump was before the United Nations saying that the United States would not support multilateralism, was going to make cuts to international aid and would oppose the International Criminal Court. He does not even want to promote human rights any more.

Rather than trying to cozy up to the Trump administration, will the Liberals stand up and condemn the American President's dangerous rhetoric?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, my top priority as health minister is to protect the health and safety of Canadians. We are currently in the midst of an opioid crisis. This is a national crisis.

The numbers we saw last week were absolutely tragic, and they are not just numbers. Those numbers represent the lives that have been lost here in Canada.

The use of illegal substances is a global issue. An international call to action will help us to move forward. More than 130 countries signed the pledge. We recognize that Canada and a number of other countries have different approaches. We cannot make changes if those countries are not at the table.

Veterans Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, while the Minister of Veterans Affairs has been doubling down on his ridiculous answers to our questions, his department has gone out during question period and stated that going forward, Veterans Affairs will no longer provide treatment to any veteran's family member who is in federal or provincial prison.

However, the minister has stood here for days, for 29 days, and not answered this question, and the question is this: Will he rescind the benefits to Chris Garnier?

[Seamus O'Regan, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, I cannot talk about this case without talking about the case of the veteran, and I will stand by that veteran. I will stand by that veteran even under the most excruciating of circumstances, where a family member has committed such an egregious crime. Even then, this government will stand by him.

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

Mr. Speaker, the minister's department has gone forward and given the exact opposite answer.

We are asking a very simple question here. They have said that going forward there will be no benefits to people who are in federal prison. The minister has to come up with an answer to this.

Will the minister rescind the benefits for the cop killer, Chris Garnier?

[Seamus O'Regan, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, we will stand by the veteran who is at the centre of this case. Our support for that veteran is unwavering. Even now, even in the most extenuating of circumstances, we will stand by that veteran.

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

Mr. Speaker, there is no veteran at the centre of this case. The person at the centre of this case is Christopher Garnier, the man who murdered Catherine Campbell. He interfered with her dead body. He is receiving money from Veterans Affairs Canada when he did not serve for a single minute.

Will the government ask him to pay back the money he was given, yes or no?

[Seamus O'Regan, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, in the 40-plus town halls that I have done across this country with veterans and their families, I can say I know the cost of 10 years of not just neglect but malice toward our veterans and their families. I wish we had seen more of that indignation that we see today over the 10 years that those people had to do right by our veterans and our families.