Debates of March 20th, 2019

Ethics

[Mark Strahl, Conservative, Chilliwack—Hope, BC]

Mr. Speaker, here are some quotes on the Liberal SNC-Lavalin scandal.

Gerald Butts stated, “There is no solution here that does not involve some interference.”

Michael Wernick stated, “I think he is going to find a way to get it done, one way or another.”

The Prime Minister's chief of staff stated, “We don't want to debate legalities anymore.”

The former attorney general stated, “Questions remain unanswered.”

The former president of the Treasury Board said, “I have lost confidence in how the government has dealt with this matter”.

The Prime Minister did not have the courage to appear at the justice committee before he stood behind the human shield of his Liberal members, who shut it down. Will he have the guts to show up at the ethics committee to answer to his involvement in this scandal?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I would be happy to share what some people have said about our budget these past two days.

Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante said that this budget shows that Ottawa wants to help municipalities move ahead with 21st-century projects that will have a significant impact.

In a tweet, Annie Bérubé of Équiterre applauded the 2019 budget measure to make electric cars more affordable.

The Federation of Black Canadians said, “It reflects the words of hundreds of Black community leaders we have met demanding action on the International Decade”.

Perry Bellegarde also had things—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. I have heard the hon. member for Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier speaking a lot today, even when he did not have the floor. I normally enjoy hearing his voice, but only when he has the floor.

The hon. member for Chilliwack—Hope.

[Mark Strahl, Conservative, Chilliwack—Hope, BC]

Here are some quotes, Mr. Speaker.

The former attorney general said, “I quit.”

The former president of the Treasury Board said, “I quit.”

The former top advisor to the Prime Minister said, “I'm gone.”

The former clerk of the Privy Council said, “I quit.”

These people have all quit because of the scandal that emanated from the very top of the government. The Liberals have tried to shut this down time and time again. Will the Prime Minister and his officials finally have the decency to show up at the ethics committee, do their job and explain to Canadians what they are so afraid of when it comes to the SNC-Lavalin scandal?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we will always co-operate with parliamentary committees, which make independent decisions about what they want to study. That said, I would like to share another quote.

Perry Bellegarde, the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations said, “This federal budget shows important and sustained investments to advance First Nations priorities.”

Canadians across the country are thanking us for investing in the middle class, providing access to affordable housing, and investing in infrastructure and high-speed Internet. They are telling us that this will help them.

Post-Secondary Education

[Wayne Stetski, NDP, Kootenay—Columbia, BC]

Mr. Speaker, earlier this month, I wrote to the Minister of Finance about the struggles young Canadians are facing because of student debt, like putting off starting a family or buying a home. I encouraged the minister to follow the lead of British Columbia's NDP government, which stopped charging interest on student loans last month. Instead, the Liberal budget proposes a half measure of simply reducing interest rates.

Post-secondary education should not be a debt sentence. Why are the Liberals choosing to hurt young Canadians and their chance to build a better future?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I am very proud of the investments we have made in young Canadians over the past three years, and this budget continues in that direction. Young Canadians are Canada's most educated, connected and diverse generation.

Since 2015 we have been implementing measures to make post-secondary education more affordable. This includes allowing students to delay repaying their Canada student loans until they are earning $25,000 a year. Budget 2019 lowers the interest rate for student loans and eliminates interest for the first six months. This will save every student $2,000.

We know that investing in young Canadians is investing in—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot.

Employment Insurance

[Brigitte Sansoucy, NDP, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Mr. Speaker, with voices full of compassion, the Prime Minister and his Minister of Social Development indicated that they were going to enhance EI sickness benefits by the end of the year. That was in 2016.

There was nothing in the 2017 budget, nothing in the 2018 budget, and still nothing in the 2019 budget. This was the Liberals' last chance to keep their promise, but they decided to turn their backs on hundreds of thousands of sick people who need more than 15 weeks to recover.

Why did the Prime Minister betray them?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we made investments to help caregivers. We made investments to help families who have a loved one with a rare disease, including $500 million to reduce the cost of very expensive drugs.

We will always make investments that help workers. In fact, in the budget, we announced the Canada training benefit, which will help workers find the time and money to improve their skills. This benefit includes four weeks of training every four years and up to $1,000 in income support.

The labour market is changing, and we are making sure that Canadians are ready for it.

Justice

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, lying to a law officer is an offence under section 139 of the Criminal Code, which prohibits obstructing, perverting or defeating the course of justice. The Prime Minister told the former attorney general on September 17 that if she did not immediately shelve the charges into SNC-Lavalin, the company's headquarters would jet to London. Today, the CEO of the company indicated that he never said that and that it is not true.

Why did the Prime Minister state a blatant falsehood to get charges dropped against SNC-Lavalin?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, what the member opposite said is absolutely false.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, actually, it is entirely true, and I can prove it.

Not only did the former attorney general testify that he said the company would leave Montreal without a deferred prosecution agreement, but he made the mistake of repeating the same falsehood in public at his press conference and it is on the record, so he can now deny what he said in front of 35 million Canadians or he can finally stand on his feet and begin telling the truth.

He said to the former attorney general that the headquarters would be gone if she did not immediately shelve the charges. We now know that was a blatant falsehood. Why did he state a falsehood to get charges dropped against a company?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, from the beginning of this affair, we have been acting to protect workers all across the country. Whether in Newfoundland and Labrador, in Regina, in Port Elgin, Ontario, in Quebec or in Grand Prairie, Alberta, we will always stand up for jobs while respecting our institutions.

This situation required careful reflection on how to protect Canadian jobs. That is what we will always do, including in the historic budget we presented yesterday, which the Conservatives absolutely refuse to talk about.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, well, he is not denying he said it now that he just realized that he accidentally blurted it out at a press conference.

He told the former attorney general that the headquarters would be gone if she did not immediately shelve the charges against that company. It was a falsehood.

It is impossible. The company is bound to stay in Montreal under a $1.5-billion loan deal with the Quebec pension plan. It just signed a 20-year lease and renovated its headquarters for its 2,000 employees there. It was completely false, yet he said it to try to get corruption charges dropped. Why?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite just betrayed his partisan motivations. He is worried about the senior executives and wealthy individuals working for these companies.

We in the Liberal Party are concerned about the workers in these companies. We are concerned about people across the country who work hard to support their families and their communities. That is what we always do.

While the Conservatives have always sought to give benefits and bonuses to the rich, we are investing in the middle class and those working hard to join it. We are delivering for Canadians.

Seniors

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Mr. Speaker, Nova Scotia has the highest number of seniors per capita in all of Canada.

Yesterday's budget included new measures to better support seniors and make their lives more affordable.

Could the Prime Minister please update the House on how budget 2019 will help seniors across the country, especially those in my riding of Dartmouth—Cole Harbour?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Dartmouth—Cole Harbour for his support for seniors.

Budget 2019 enhances the guaranteed income supplement earnings exemption, which will help over 300,000 seniors across the country keep more of their hard-earned money. We are increasing funding for local projects for seniors, and we will continue to ensure a good quality of life for all seniors across the country. The Conservatives increased the age of retirement to 67. We are taking care of our seniors by lowering it to 65 and investing in them directly.

Government Accountability

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

Mr. Speaker, in the last three days the Prime Minister has broken so many of his election promises.

He promised transparency and yet shut down the only public investigation into this scandal. He promised to respect committees. After what happened at the justice committee, we know that is not happening. He promised a balanced budget; that is certainly not going to happen under his watch. Today we learned that he misled Canadians across this country when he said the government needed to protect 9,000 jobs. It was clearly, according to the CEO, false. Liberals themselves are telling me how disappointed they are.

When is he going to—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The Right Hon. Prime Minister.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to hear the member mention the word “budget” in her question.

It gives me an opportunity to point out that, unlike the Conservatives' approach, ours invests in Canadians and the middle class. That approach is working. Canadians created over 900,000 jobs over the past three years. Canada's unemployment rate is the lowest it has been in 40 years. What is more, 800,000 people have been lifted out of poverty. All that because our plan invests in Canadians, unlike the Conservatives' plan, which seeks to cut—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Burnaby South.

[Jagmeet Singh, Burnaby South, NDP]

Mr. Speaker, when challenged about the scandal of political interference, a scandal that has even drawn the attention of the anti-bribery unit of the OECD, the Prime Minister has repeatedly cited jobs as the reason. He stood in the House and said it again today. It turns out that claim is not true. He has broken faith with Canadians.

Will the Prime Minister finally do what is right and call an independent public inquiry so Canadians can learn the truth?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we, on this side of the House, respect the work that committees do.

The Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights spent five weeks hearing from many witnesses on the matter. We also support the work of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, an officer of Parliament who is there to enlighten Canadians about what is happening here in the House, beyond politics. We know that Canadians can have confidence in their institutions. We will continue to focus on their concerns, as we have done in—