Debates of March 19th, 2019

Fridays for Future

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, last Friday, I attended my first Fridays for Future rally in downtown Toronto. Fridays for Future is a movement that was started by 16-year-old Greta Thunberg, who skipped school to protest the lack of action on the climate crisis. This protest has turned into school strikes every Friday by youth across Europe and around the world, including here in Canada. In Toronto, over 200 youth and parents attended the rally to send a clear message that Canadians want action on climate change.

I spoke about what our federal government is doing to tackle climate change, which includes putting a price on pollution, making historic investments in public transit, phasing out coal, transiting to 90% green energy by 2030, and investing $1.3 billion in biodiversity, among many other actions.

Unlike the Conservative Party, which has no plan to fight climate change, we are taking action. As Greta has said so eloquently, “Yes, we do need hope...but the one thing we need more than hope is action. Once we start to act, hope is everywhere. So instead of looking for hope, look for action. Then and only then, hope will come.”

Forest Industry

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the forest industry in B.C. has had some tough years recently. Beetles and forest fires have reduced the timber supply, so we must create more jobs for every tree we cut.

There was some good news out of British Columbia last week.

First, Kalesnikoff Lumber announced that it is building a mass timber plant in my riding at South Slocan, to create cross-laminated timber panels and glulam beams. These components are at the centre of a revolution in how the world is constructing buildings. Canada is leading the pack in North America in this technology, with companies like Structurlam in Okanagan Falls and now Kalesnikoff joining those leaders.

Second, the B.C. government announced changes to its provincial building code, allowing beautiful and safe mass timber buildings to be constructed up to 12 storeys.

Along with those in my private member's bill, Bill C-354, these changes encourage the use of environmentally friendly materials in building federal government infrastructure, and will help keep the forest industry healthy.

Flood Prevention

[Kent Hehr, Liberal, Calgary Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, in 2013, Calgary was devastated by a massive flood. The communities I represent, including Beltline, Rideau-Roxboro, lnglewood and Ramsay were all under water. People were evacuated; lives were put on hold and the city was virtually shut down.

In 2015, the Prime Minister came to Calgary, promising to keep our city safe from flooding. It was a promise made and a promise kept. Last week, I announced $168 million from our federal Liberal government for the Springbank off-stream reservoir. Once completed, these measures and our previous investments will protect thousands of people and their homes, schools and businesses from future flooding.

The previous Conservative government invested a grand total of zero dollars in flood mitigation. We are changing that and investing in Calgary in a big way.

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302

[Len Webber, Conservative, Calgary Confederation, AB]

Mr. Speaker, on Sunday, March 10, Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 crashed and claimed the lives of 157 people, 18 of them Canadians.

My eldest daughter Lauren worked for the United Nations World Food Programme. She lost seven close colleagues and a dear friend, 25-year-old Stephanie Lacroix from Timmins, Ontario. She was on a mission to Kenya with the United Nations Association in Canada.

Despite this profound loss for the United Nations community, its work will continue. It must continue, as many more lives depend on it. Every day, these brave souls sacrifice a great deal to serve their fellow human beings and to make the world a better place.

We mourn the lives ended too soon, but we must also celebrate their contributions and honour their memory by supporting the goals they worked so hard to achieve.

May dear Stephanie rest in peace. May all who perished rest in peace.

The Environment

[Mark Gerretsen, Liberal, Kingston and the Islands, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to highlight some of the great work that the students of the youth council in my riding of Kingston and the Islands are doing. They have spent months studying what the federal government does and talking about the issues that are important to them. One of the common themes was discussions about a desire to do something about our environment. These students recognize the importance of acting today, not tomorrow.

With over two million single-use plastic bags circulating worldwide every minute and over one billion plastic bags being distributed annually in Canada, they believe it is imperative that we put an end to this pollution. That is why I am happy to share that my youth council has created an e-petition asking the Minister of Environment and Climate Change to enact a ban on the production and distribution of all single-use plastics. Some may call these students the leaders of tomorrow, but I believe that through their actions they are the leaders of today.

I would like to congratulate my youth council on its hard work and ask all Canadians to consider signing the petition.

Jean Patenaude

[Pierre Breton, Liberal, Shefford, QC]

Mr. Speaker, volunteers play an important role in our communities, and that is very true in the riding of Shefford.

I would like to pay tribute to Jean Patenaude, an exceptional man who made an enormous contribution to the development of many young hockey and baseball players in the Granby region over the past 60 years. An impressive number of people from Granby can attest to the positive impact this man made on their young lives.

That is why the City of Granby decided to name the main rink at the Centre sportif Léonard-Grondin in his honour. This well-deserved recognition was celebrated at a ceremony organized by the Patenaude family. Through his extensive involvement, Jean Patenaude has had a major, positive impact on the lives of many members of our community.

My dear Jean, the young boy in me who trained every Saturday morning at the rink wholeheartedly thanks you.

Justice

[Rosemarie Falk, Conservative, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Mr. Speaker, with detail after detail, the SNC-Lavalin scandal has shocked Canadians. Every step of the way, the Prime Minister has acted like someone with something to hide. His story has changed multiple times, and he has pointed his finger in every direction.

The former attorney general testified that she was subject to repeated pressure from the Prime Minister and his inner circle to interfere in the criminal prosecution of a Liberal-connected firm.

We know there is more, but the Prime Minister refuses to allow her to tell her whole story. Now he has directed Liberal justice committee members to stop their investigation into his government's corruption.

Meanwhile, his office has lawyered up, our allies are flagging Canada for corrupt practices, two cabinet ministers have resigned on principle, and his top political advisor and the top civil servant have also resigned, yet the Prime Minister would have Canadians believe there is nothing here.

Nobody is buying it, and Conservatives will continue to fight to get to the bottom of it.

Human Rights

[Ali Ehsassi, Liberal, Willowdale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call the attention of the House to the plight of renowned Iranian civil rights lawyer Ms. Nasrin Sotoudeh.

Human rights activists around the world were appalled to hear recently that this courageous lawyer has been sentenced to 38 years of imprisonment for having merely pursued her noble calling of defending the voiceless in Iran. Most recently she acted as a lawyer for women who sought to exercise their inalienable right to remove their hijabs.

A recipient of the prestigious Sakharov human rights award for her tireless advocacy, Ms. Sotoudeh is a paragon of strength and integrity. Her baseless and arbitrary sentence is defenceless and an egregious violation of the most fundamental of human rights.

As Canadians, we have always stood tall in defending towering figures who have proven to be tireless champions for the rights of others. As such, we should be resolute and spare no effort in joining the international—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Steveston—Richmond East.

Shootings in New Zealand

[Joe Peschisolido, Liberal, Steveston—Richmond East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, like all Canadians, I was appalled by the terrorist attacks on two mosques in New Zealand, where 49 people were killed and many injured as they went about their Friday prayers.

I wish to extend my deepest condolences to the families and friends who lost loved ones in this senseless tragedy. Canadians join with Muslim communities around the world in their grief, and stand with them at this incredibly difficult time.

I stand in solidarity with my friends at the Jamea mosque and the Az Zahraa Islamic Centre in Richmond during this time of shock and grief.

Attacking people in a place of worship is deplorable and despicable. Hatred has no place in our society. We must confront Islamophobia and work together to create a world where all people can feel safe and secure.

Justice

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister continues to cover up the worst elements of the SNC-Lavalin scandal: gag orders, blaming whistle-blowers, closed-door meetings, shutting down debate and silencing key witnesses. These are the actions of a man who absolutely has something to hide.

We have seen four high-level resignations already: two cabinet ministers, a principal secretary, and most recently the head of the public service. This is evidence that the scandal is real and infests the highest level of the Liberal government.

Today the Prime Minister is trying to distract Canadians from his corruption with an election-year budget. Canadians will not and are not going to buy it, and certainly not when Anne McLellan, who was a cabinet minister during the Liberal ad scam scandal, is brought in to investigate her own Liberal friends.

What is certain is that the budget will not balance itself today, and Canadians will not be distracted by Liberal deficits and debt. Conservatives will not be intimidated. Canadians want us to get to the bottom of the SNC-Lavalin scandal, and that is exactly what we are going to do.

Montreal St. Patrick's Day Parade

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this Sunday I joined thousands of Montrealers in my riding, along with the Minister of Justice, for the 196th Montreal St. Patrick's Day parade.

St. Patrick, of course, was an immigrant and a slave who became the emblem of a country. This Montreal institution is the longest-running, uninterrupted St. Patrick's Day parade in North America and has been held, without exception, every year since 1824.

The 196th annual parade, an important celebration of Quebec's Irish community, was well attended as usual. Each year, this event brings together thousands of Montrealers and visitors to celebrate one of our city's founding peoples. Let us not forget that the Irish famine refugees doubled the population of Montreal in a two-year period in the late 1840s.

I would like to thank the organizers, the United Irish Societies of Montreal, as well as the thousands of participants and the hundreds of volunteers who make this event a success year after year. Sláinte.

Community of Hochelaga

[Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet, NDP, Hochelaga, QC]

Mr. Speaker, last winter, a massive blaze broke out at 3629 Sainte-Catherine Street East, forcing all the tenants to evacuate. This rooming house was home to many marginalized people living with housing instability. Mental and physical health issues, prostitution and drug use are part of their everyday lives.

Some of these residents ended up on the streets. There is a shortage of social housing, so it is important to save rooming houses, especially for people living on the fringes of society.

With the opioid overdose crisis in full swing, the 3629 project will increase the supply of social housing by creating a rooming house that is owned and operated by L'Anonyme, with a harm reduction approach.

My team and I have been working with local stakeholders for nearly two years to develop this new social rooming house model.

I am extremely proud of the community of Hochelaga, which is innovating once again, and I hope that the federal government will provide us with financial support.

York-Simcoe By-election

[Scot Davidson, York-Simcoe, CPC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the voters of York-Simcoe for their support in electing me MP during our recent by-election.

I am so grateful for the unwavering support from my family and friends and for the hard work my campaign team accomplished as we knocked on thousands of doors and my constituents told me their concerns. The hard-working people of Georgina, East Gwillimbury, Bradford, Georgina Island and all across York-Simcoe are clearly worried about the Liberal government's out-of-control spending and rising debt and what it will mean for their children's and grandchildren's future.

They are concerned that the carbon tax will make things more unaffordable for everyday life, and they are tired of ongoing government corruption and scandals. The people of York-Simcoe are tired of just getting by. Instead, they have chosen Conservative leadership to get ahead, and I am on their side.

Byelection in Outremont

[Rachel Bendayan, Outremont, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, I am deeply honoured to rise as the member of Parliament for Outremont. I want to thank all the voters and assure them that I will work very hard to do a good job of representing them.

I also want to thank the Prime Minister and all the members of our caucus who came to visit my constituents with me.

I look forward to doing it all again very soon.

I must say that I am very privileged to represent such a diverse riding and to work with so many different cultural communities. I will continue to fight discrimination and hate by working with these communities, by building bridges, and by standing up for the rights and freedoms that we all have.

From all of our constituents, I came here with a clear mandate to get things done and focus on the real priorities of middle-class Canadians.

Justice

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has appointed a former Liberal minister from the sponsorship scandal era to examine his corruption scandal. The Liberals who sit on the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights shut down the committee's work on this matter. Not only is that an affront to democracy, it is also an abuse of power and an attack on Parliament, designed to prevent Canadians from hearing the truth.

What is the Prime Minister trying to hide?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I accepted responsibility for the erosion of trust between the former attorney general and my office. That is why it is important that the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights be able to hear the testimony of witnesses. That is why we took the unprecedented step of waiving cabinet confidence and solicitor-client privilege.

The committee has been studying this matter for five weeks. Canadians heard all points of view. The Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner continues to look into the matter.

We have said from the beginning that it was and is up to the Attorney General to decide whether to pursue a remediation agreement.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, that is just not true. Liberals carefully limited what the former attorney general was able to speak about. They prevent her from disclosing key information during the time after which she was fired as attorney general and the day that she resigned.

Now, what happened in that space of time that the Prime Minister is so desperate to hide? He has gone to great lengths to protect that information. What is he trying to hide?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, this government took the unprecedented step of waiving solicitor-client privilege and cabinet confidence so that the former attorney general could speak fully to this matter before the committee. The matter before the committee was heard over the course of five weeks. The committee heard multiple testimonies, and indeed the Ethics Commissioner is continuing his work on the matter.

We have confidence in our committees, we have confidence in our officers of Parliament, and we will continue to focus on what matters to Canadians.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order, please.

I would ask the hon. member for Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes to come to order and not interrupt when someone else has the floor. I have no trouble hearing the questions and I should be able to hear the answers equally well.

The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, that is just not true. The former attorney general was not able to speak fully about the events that happened. In fact, in a letter to her own constituents, she wrote, “These matters are still unfolding, and further clarity and information is needed.”

If the Prime Minister is so sure that he has done nothing wrong, then why will he not allow the former attorney general to finish her story?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we waived cabinet confidentiality and solicitor-client privilege so that the former attorney general could speak fully to the matter that was being studied by committee, and that is exactly what happened.

What is happening today is that the Conservatives are desperate to talk about anything other than the federal budget. They do not want to talk about the Canadian economy, and the reason is that they have no plan for the Canadian economy. Their approach under Stephen Harper failed to trickle down any benefits to the middle class for 10 years, and we have created growth and benefits.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is desperate to talk about anything other than the corruption scandal that has brought down two ministers, his principal adviser and the Clerk of the Privy Council. Canadians know that he is trying to hide something, and they know that the former attorney general has more to say. At committee she said that she was not at liberty, due to confidences, to discuss any of the matters that she now indicates she would like to.

The deputy leader of the Conservative Party asked if she would come back if she was allowed to, and she wrote that she would.

Why is the Prime Minister so desperate to prevent that from happening?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives do not want to talk about the economy, and one can wonder why.

Today is budget day. Every year the federal government puts forward a budget, a plan for the future of our economy, to grow the economy to benefit Canadians. In this House, the role of the official opposition is to challenge that vision. It is to look at how it would do things differently. However, the opposition does not even want to talk about it. Why? It is because it has no plan for our economy, and we have grown the economy and created jobs.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is going to such great lengths to prevent the full story from coming out, and in a few hours we will find out just how much it is going to cost Canadians to distract from his own corruption scandal.

He has lost two ministers and his principal adviser. He has lost the Clerk of the Privy Council. They are now lawyering up in the Prime Minister's Office, and he has instructed his members on the justice committee, behind closed doors, to shut down the investigation.

What could he possibly be trying to hide that is worse than all of those things happening already?