Debates of Jan. 29th, 2019

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

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

Mr. Speaker, what is shameful to watch is the government allowing over 40,000 people to illegally enter our country and abuse our asylum system. What is shameful to watch is the government using language to divide Canadians as opposed to using strong policy to restore order and compassion to our immigration system. It shut the door on parents and grandparents who were to trying to legally enter the country yesterday.

Why is the Prime Minister trying to make Canadians pay for his immigration mistakes?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, the facts speak for themselves. This is the Conservative position on parents and grandparents. The Conservatives described parents and grandparents as a “burden” on the federal government in terms of financial support. They have described parents and grandparents as a drain on the provinces. That is their position. They can run, but they cannot hide from that position.

We are responsible for quadrupling the number of spaces that parents and grandparents have to come to Canada. We will continue to reunite more families. I am amused by the Conservatives' new-found passion for reuniting families. However, when they had the chance they failed.

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

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the government announced $114 million for people who are illegally entering the country, hotel rooms, immediate work permits and social welfare payments. At the same time, it shut the door in seven minutes on people who were trying to legally enter the country. There are over 9,000 angry comments on the immigration website from people who are saying this is not fair, because it is not. It is not right.

Why is the Prime Minister trying to make people pay for his immigration mistakes?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I am really amused that suddenly the member opposite has found some sort of light in her enthusiasm for family reunification. However, family reunification was never the Conservatives' priority. Families had to wait between seven to eight years to join their loved ones. They only had 5,000 spaces to reunite family members. They had a backlog of 167,000 people stuck in that program. They even tried to hit the delete button where, for two years under their watch, Canadians could not be sponsors.

We are focused on getting the job done. The Conservatives will continue to—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Jonquière.

International Trade

[Karine Trudel, NDP, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have not mentioned the U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs for a long time.

A Russian aluminum company recently managed to be taken off the list of U.S. sanctioned entities. They no longer pay the tariff.

What are the Liberals going to say to the people back home, the people of Jonquière? Thousands of families and good jobs are affected. They have the right to know.

What are the Liberals going to do to have these steel and aluminum tariffs lifted?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I agree with my colleague that the U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum are unfair and illegal. Canada is working on these tariffs at the NAFTA and WTO round tables.

I spoke to Ambassador Robert Lighthizer about this issue yesterday and today. We continue to work on it.

[Tracey Ramsey, NDP, Essex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is not enough to talk to them. We have to do something now.

On Sunday, the U.S. administration lifted sanctions on the Russian aluminum giant, Rusal. Meanwhile, Canada is still slapped with Trump's tariffs that are hurting Canadian businesses and workers. Let me get this straight. Trump is saying that Canada is a national security threat, but Russia is not?

Canada is the closest trade and security partner the U.S. has. Canadian workers are tired of paying the heavy price of losing their jobs because the Liberal government will not stand up for them. What is the plan to remove these devastating tariffs?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, as the member for Essex knows very well, we are not just talking when it comes to the illegal and unjust U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum. We acted decisively on July 1 by imposing retaliatory tariffs, the highest, strongest retaliatory trade action in Canadian history. This action is having results. In fact, just this week, Kevin Brady said in the U.S. that he did not see how the U.S. could ratify NAFTA while these tariffs were still in place.

Indigenous Affairs

[John Aldag, Liberal, Cloverdale—Langley City, BC]

Mr. Speaker, we can all agree that every first nations child deserves the best start in life. We know that the path forward includes first nations control of first nations education and long-term sustainable funding.

Could the Minister of Indigenous Services please share with the House the great news from B.C. that advances this important priority?

[Seamus O'Regan, Minister of Indigenous Services, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, last week I joined the first nations education steering committee in the province of British Columbia to celebrate the new BC tripartite education agreement. It will benefit more than 12,000 first nations students. It will provide important changes, including a more sufficient and sustained funding model for new first nations education, and a new $20 million investment for first nations schools, including for language and culture. It reflects the commitment of all parties to work together and strengthen first nations control of first nations education.

Carbon Pricing

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

Mr. Speaker, when one has inherited a family fortune like the Prime Minister, one never has to worry about paying for anything, including the carbon tax. However, as families and seniors struggle every month just to get by, government documents show the carbon tax will be 15 times higher if the Liberals are re-elected. That's up to $5,000 per year for a family of four. Canadian families are already paying for the Prime Minister's mistakes.

Why will the Prime Minister not tell Canadians the truth about his plan to raise the carbon tax if he is re-elected?

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, it is really unfortunate that Conservative politicians continue to peddle misinformation. We have been clear that we are going to tackle climate change. We are going to do it in a way that it is effective and also affordable.

I am very proud to tell the member opposite that a family of four will get $307 in Ontario more than they will pay. That has been our approach.

However, the question is this. Does the party opposite understand that climate inaction is a huge cost and that the Conservatives are passing that cost to their kids, that climate change is real and that Canadians deserve a plan?

We are going to continue moving forward on our plan to make—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Lethbridge.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister keeps telling Canadians “Don't worry; it's okay”, but okay for who? It is okay for him because he inherited a family fortune of course, so he is fine. Meanwhile, a government document just revealed that the carbon tax would increase by 15 times after the next election.

The Prime Minister will not be honest about this because it is before the election. However, it is the Canadians after the election who we are concerned about.

Why is the Prime Minister deceiving Canadians by covering up the true cost of the Liberal carbon tax until after the election?

[Catherine McKenna, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the misinformation that is being spread by Conservative politicians, from Premier Ford to the leader of the opposition, is appalling. In fact, I am happy to point to the legislation that we passed, which the Conservatives voted against because they wanted to be free to pollute. It shows that we are giving all the money back. Guess what. A family of four in Ontario will get $307 more than they will pay.

We are focused on making life affordable. We are also focused on protecting the environment. The party opposite wants to take us back to the Harper days when the Conservatives did not protect—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order, please. The hon. member for Niagara West.

International Trade

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it has been seven months since the Prime Minister backed down to Donald Trump and agreed to a trade deal that would keep steel and aluminum tariffs in place and continue to hurt our manufacturers.

The Liberals have already collected over $839 million dollars in retaliatory tariffs. They promised to give this money back to our struggling steel and aluminum producers, but almost none has gone out.

Why are Canadian businesses continuing to be forced to pay for the Prime Minister's mistakes?

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, we have been very clear about supporting the steel sector and steel workers. We put forward a $2-billion support package for those steel workers. To be specific, $664 million of financial support has been provided to the steelworkers and the steel sector. We have invested in Algoma. We have invested in ArcelorMittal. We have provided financing through EDC and BDC.

We will continue to support the steelworkers and the steel sector.

[Richard Martel, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, CPC]

Mr. Speaker, the government has collected nearly $1 billion in retaliatory tariffs.

However, the Liberals have allocated only a fraction of the $2 billion they promised in support for the steel and aluminum industry. On top of that, everyone knows that we produce the greenest steel and aluminum in the world. That is another broken promise.

Why should businesses in Saguenay and across Canada continue to pay for the Prime Minister's failures in trade negotiations?

[Navdeep Bains, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, we have been very clear. The steel sector is very important to our economy.

That is why we have invested $2 billion worth of support for this sector.

As I have highlighted, we have provided that support in a meaningful way, particularly to the small and medium-sized businesses that need the financing in terms of being able to compete going forward. We provided $255 million through BDC, $169 million through EDC and $140 million through the strategic innovation fund.

We will continue to defend the steelworkers and the steel sector.

Indigenous Affairs

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we are now three weeks into the state of emergency at Cat Lake and the minister has yet to meet with the leadership or visit the community. I am not sure if he fully understands the seriousness on the ground: the need for ground heaters, holding tanks, stand-by generators, 120 emergency units that have to be moved up before the winter road goes out.

Yesterday, he told the House that his officials, who have not yet visited the community, were expecting a community-based solution. This is a community facing a total and complete breakdown of social infrastructure. What on earth is he talking about?

[Seamus O'Regan, Minister of Indigenous Services, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, I have spoken to the leadership to affirm our commitment to working with them and indeed we do want it to be a community-led solution because we know that is a solution that will be lasting.

I did tell the House that officials would be meeting with the community yesterday or today, but they were unable to make it in due to bad weather. However, they will be meeting with them, and they are in constant contact with them.

We are committed to developing not only an interim but a long-term plan of action to take on the housing challenges that we know they face.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I spoke with the chief this morning. He said the government has done “squat”. We have houses that are so toxic that 75% of this community needs to be demolished. We just had a child medevaced out to London because of mould contamination.

The officials in his department have ignored the crisis at Cat Lake for years, so sending him up to put on a Band-Aid solution is not going to cut it.

What is it going to be? Are we going to see leadership from the minister, more jargon from Indian Affairs or an admission that his department has failed the people of Cat Lake, that he is going to take responsibility and he is going to make sure that action happens, yes or no?

[Seamus O'Regan, Minister of Indigenous Services, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, the health and safety of the people in Cat Lake is immensely important. I have spoken to the chief on this issue. I have spoken to members of council on this issue. We will be meeting with leadership to develop an interim and long-term solution.

We have made immense progress in partnership with the community. We know there is a long way to go, and we will continue forward in a spirit of partnership.