House of Commons Hansard #372 of the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was regard.
Chrystia Freeland LiberalMinister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, the only people playing political games when two Canadians are in a difficult situation are the members opposite, and that is truly reprehensible.
When it comes to the case of Ms. Meng, Canada is a rule-of-law country. We are proud to be a rule-of-law country. We have honoured our extradition treaty commitments, as we honour all of our international treaty commitments, and Ms. Meng has access to our impartial and fair judicial system.
Wayne Stetski NDP Kootenay—Columbia, BC
Mr. Speaker, last year, when Greyhound announced it was ceasing operations, constituents in my riding were rightfully worried about how they would get from town to town. Without reliable transit, people cannot access crucial services like health care, shelters for women fleeing violence or urgently needed addiction treatment. In rural areas, people relied on Greyhound to travel to these services.
The Liberal government said it would provide funding, though we have not seen it, and people are still unable to travel. When will the government provide safe, affordable and accessible transit for rural and remote communities?
Marc Garneau LiberalMinister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, we fully recognize that, when Greyhound departed at the end of October last year, it would leave an absence of public transportation in the western provinces, and we immediately started working on a solution. We are working with the provinces, including British Columbia, my colleague's home province. We will be there if they request us to help them on a cost-sharing basis. We have given that undertaking.
Brigitte Sansoucy NDP Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Big City Mayors’ Caucus met in Ottawa today with a very clear message for the Prime Minister and his ministers.
The Liberals promised them an infrastructure bonanza, but they are still waiting. Canadians need investments in public transit, and so does the planet. I also want to mention the small municipalities across the country that are still waiting for the funding they were promised.
When are the Liberals finally going to keep the promises they made to municipalities?
Public TransportationOral Questions
François-Philippe Champagne Minister of Infrastructure and Communities, Lib.
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for her question. The Prime Minister and I both met with the big city mayors this morning, and I had a chance to talk to the mayors about our historic infrastructure investment plan, which will provide more than $180 billion for infrastructure. A lot of our investments are going towards public transit, green infrastructure and our regions. I also want to remind my colleague that more than 470,000 projects were approved between November 2015 and January 2019. Over 70% of those projects, representing more than $18 billion, are under construction. We will keep investing in Canadians.
Tom Kmiec Conservative Calgary Shepard, AB
Mr. Speaker, the carbon tax will cost the average Canadian family over $2,500 this year. That is 11¢ more for a litre of gas, $250 more for home heating, $100 a month more for groceries and that is just the beginning. Canadians know the Liberal carbon tax is not an environmental policy; it is a tax policy, punishing soccer moms, seniors on fixed incomes and small business owners.
Why is the Prime Minister forcing Canadians to pay for his mistakes with punishing new taxes on everyone?
Catherine McKenna LiberalMinister of Environment and Climate Change
Mr. Speaker, Canadians know that climate change is having a huge cost in terms of our economy and on lives, but we have a plan that works, that makes life affordable and that makes sure we are creating jobs in the future.
Let us talk about the plan. I want to reassure the member that we have a new climate action incentive. We are putting a price on pollution, and a family of four in Ontario will get $307 back. We are also investing in public transit across the country. We are supporting innovators and entrepreneurs who are created the solutions of tomorrow. Unfortunately, the Conservatives opposite are just harking back to the days of the Harper Conservatives. They have no—
Rosemarie Falk Conservative Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals' plan is actually punishing Canadians for heating their homes, driving their kids to dance practice, hockey practice, wherever their daily routines are taking them, and the Prime Minister is failing to help Canadians get ahead. His carbon tax will cost them over $1,000 more on household essentials that they need and his government plans to make it six times more expensive than that.
Canadians are already paying for his failures. When will the Prime Minister come clean and admit the real costs of the carbon tax?
Catherine McKenna LiberalMinister of Environment and Climate Change
Mr. Speaker, Canadians are already paying the price of climate change and it is going up every single year. It is a human cost. It is a cost to the economy. However, there is good news. We can actually tackle climate change in a way that works, that makes life affordable and that creates good jobs.
Let me talk about the climate action incentive. We are putting a price on pollution. It will no longer be free to pollute in the country. A family of four in Ontario will get $307 back. A family of four in Manitoba will get $339 back. A family of four in Saskatchewan will get $609 back.
We can tackle climate change—
The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan
The hon. member for Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes.
Carbon PricingOral Questions
Michael Barrett Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, CPC
Mr. Speaker, Canadians know that the Liberals' plan on carbon taxes is going to hurt small businesses and it is going to hurt families. Farmers in my riding did not inherit a family fortune like the Prime Minister. They have to worry about making ends meet and cannot afford the Prime Minister's new carbon tax. Worse yet, government documents now admit that to make its plan work the carbon tax will have to be six times higher than the current rate.
When will the Prime Minister come clean with farmers about his plan to significantly increase the cost of everything from fertilizer to shipping products to market?
Catherine McKenna LiberalMinister of Environment and Climate Change
Mr. Speaker, farmers are feeling the impacts of climate change and they are paying the price. Business people are feeling the impacts of climate change and they are paying the price. Soccer moms are feeling the impacts of climate change and they are paying the price. That is why we have a plan that if works is going to make life more affordable, is going to put more money in the pockets of families and is going to create good jobs.
We need to take action on climate change. To not have a plan is irresponsible. It has now been 274 days since the party opposite said that it would have a plan. Where is its climate plan?
The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan
Order, please. The member for Edmonton West will please come to order.
The hon. member for Winnipeg Centre.
Robert-Falcon Ouellette Liberal Winnipeg Centre, MB
[Member spoke in Cree, interpreted as follows:]
Mr. Speaker, could the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism please update the House on Canada's role in the initiative and work being done to protect and revitalize indigenous languages in Canada? I am proud to say that the United Nations has declared 2019 the International Year of Indigenous Languages.
Indigenous AffairsOral Questions
Pablo Rodriguez Minister of Canadian Heritage and Multiculturalism, Lib.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Winnipeg Centre for his question.
He has always been a courageous and passionate defender of indigenous languages.
Most of Canada's indigenous languages are in danger due to deliberate past actions, and Canada is proud to join the world in marking the International Year of Indigenous Languages. We thank the inspiring indigenous languages leaders for their tireless work.
I look forward to soon tabling a bill that was drafted in co-operation with indigenous peoples. It will be a historic moment.
Together, we can and we will change history.
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has spent over a billion dollars on 40,000 illegal border crossers, with more crossing every day. However, today, the forum that allows parents and grandparents of new Canadians who are trying to legally migrate to Canada for all of 2019 opened and closed in just 10 minutes. Therefore, under the Liberals, illegal border crossers get a red carpet welcome and legal immigrants get the door shut in their face.
Will the Prime Minister admit that Canadians reject having to pay for his unfair immigration practices?
Ahmed Hussen LiberalMinister of Immigration
Mr. Speaker, on critical, failed records, under the Harper Conservatives, Canadians only had 5,000 spaces to sponsor parents or grandparents. We have increased that to 20,000. We have 20,000 spaces now that allows Canadians and permanent residents to sponsor their parents and grandparents. In addition to that, we have reduced the backlog that the Conservatives left us by 80%. We have simplified the process.
We will continue to be ambitious in immigration. We will leave the fearmongering to the other side.
The Speaker Liberal Geoff Regan
Order, please. Having asked the question, I would ask the hon. member for Calgary Nose Hill to hear the answer and not interrupt throughout it.
Alexandre Boulerice NDP Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC
Mr. Speaker, in a document submitted to the National Energy Board, the Trans Mountain team admitted that pipeline-related marine shipping will have, and I quote, “significant environmental effects”. The population of southern resident killer whales is down to less than 75 and this project puts an endangered species at risk, but it's no big deal: it is only business, so that justifies it. It is all there in black and white.
Will the Liberals stop saying that the economy and the environment go hand in hand? That is not true of the economy they are building.
Will the Liberals finally admit that by buying the Trans Mountain pipeline they sided with big business and gave up on protecting the environment? That is the truth.
The EnvironmentOral Questions
Jonathan Wilkinson Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, Lib.
Mr. Speaker, the issues associated with the southern resident killer whale are very important. It is part of a broader conversation around biodiversity.
There are three significant challenges for the killer whales: access to food, issues around marine shipping and contaminants in the water, all of which exist today, all of which are the product of industrialization over the past several decades.
We are working very hard through the whales initiative to ensure we put the killer whales back on an appropriate path to success, and ensure that the environment and economy go forward hand in hand.
Wayne Easter Liberal Malpeque, PE
Mr. Speaker, recently, the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, along with the Premier of P.E.I., signed a framework agreement with Mi'kmaq people to address outstanding issues of Mi'kmaq rights and title.
The Mi'kmaq leadership see this agreement as the beginning of a process to determine how all P.E.I. Mi'kmaq, both on and off reserve, will benefit from their rights, today and into the future.
Beyond this one agreement, could the minister explain the government's progress on renewing relationships with the indigenous peoples of Canada?
Carolyn Bennett LiberalMinister of Crown-Indigenous Relations
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Malpeque for his hard work.
In P.E.I., we did sign a framework agreement with Lennox Island and Abegweit First Nations and the province to establish a path forward to the recognition and implementation of Mi'kmaq inherent and treaty rights.
Chief Matilda Ramjattan said that this agreement was an important first step in rebuilding their nation and bringing “socio-economic health to our people”.
In P.E.I. and coast to coast to coast, our government is advancing reconciliation by working with our partners to realize self-determination.
Steven Blaney Conservative Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC
Mr. Speaker, the National Assembly unanimously passed a motion calling for the immediate construction of the second supply ship, the Obelix, at the Davie shipyard. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister is showing little respect for Quebec and shipyard workers.
Even the House of Commons Standing Committee on National Defence, which has a Liberal majority, pointed to “the complete loss of an at-sea replenishment capability”.
Why does the Prime Minister have so little respect for the Royal Canadian Navy and Quebec shipyard workers, and why is he using statements previously made by CAF members when there are lengthy delays in the—