Debates of April 10th, 2019

Justice

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, those are typical Liberal smear tactics. They know that I have always 100% denounced white supremacy and racism and anyone who promotes those hateful ideologies. The Prime Minister also knows that the senator withdrew and clarified his remarks and that I continue to denounce those types of messages. This is what is disgusting about this. The Liberals are using the very real threat of hatred and racism in this country to cover up their corruption scandal.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. The hon. member for Whitby will come to order, please.

The right hon. Prime Minister.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we seem to have hit a nerve in the way the Conservatives are misleading Canadians on intolerance. Let us try them on climate.

Today, we learned the Conservatives are hiding, from their own constituents, tax benefits that would give Canadians hundreds of dollars. Conservatives want to take hundreds of dollars away from families in New Brunswick, in Ontario, in Manitoba, in Saskatchewan. Indeed, their only plan seems to be to mislead Canadians about our plan to fight climate change. That is even more unacceptable. They continue to mislead Canadians.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the only thing a Conservative government will take away from Canadians is their obligation to pay his carbon tax, and that will come to an end this October.

Canadians finally want to see the Prime Minister testify under oath. They finally want to see documents presented to court in an environment that his members of Parliament cannot control.

Once again, I have stood by everything I have said. When will the Prime Minister finally start the lawsuit?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, in his very first words in that last intervention, the Leader of the Opposition emphasized that the first thing he would do if he gained power was to make pollution free again. We know, and Canadians know, that climate change is real, and yet it has been 346 days since the Leader of the Opposition promised a climate plan and has not shown anything. He has no plan for the environment, no plan for the economy. All he does is mislead Canadians.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are silencing committees with Harper-like efficiency. They just shut down the ethics committee again, and the justice committee is under a cone of silence.

Yesterday, the OECD's anti-bribery unit wrote the NDP and said that it would welcome our input on this matter. It is saying that in the next meeting in June, it is going to put Canada's actions on corporate corruption on the table.

With no comprehensive investigation on its way and our reputation at stake, why will the Prime Minister not launch a public inquiry?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to explain for the member opposite that parliamentary committees are masters of their own decisions. That is a principle in this Parliament that all parties should take very seriously.

We thank the justice committee for its work, for the 10 hours of testimony it heard. Indeed, we were pleased to give an unprecedented waiver to allow individuals to fully share their perspectives on the matter at hand.

As for the work the Ethics Commissioner does, on this side of the House we have full confidence in our officers of Parliament.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the world is watching. In response to our letter, the OECD anti-bribery unit reiterated its call to follow what is happening in Canada closely, and it will pay even more attention now that the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights has finished its study.

The Prime Minister must do the right thing. Will he reassure the OECD and, most importantly, Canadians and launch a public inquiry?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, it is important to get the truth on this matter, which is why we made an unprecedented move, waiving solicitor-client privilege and cabinet confidence and giving the former justice minister permission to speak openly about this matter in committee.

We have confidence in the parliamentary committees, which make their own decisions and set their own procedures, and we have confidence in the Ethics Commissioner, who is conducting his investigation.

The Environment

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is out of touch with the reality of Canadians. In order to turn the page on the scandal of interference favouring his rich friends, the Liberal government gave $12 million to another rich corporation. That is $12 million to a corporation that makes billions of dollars in profit and refuses to pay its workers a decent wage.

Rather than giving money to the wealthy, why does the Prime Minister not give that $12 million to those who need it?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we on this side of the House know that it takes more than just nice words in the House of Commons to fight climate change. It takes action. It takes partnerships. That is why we are working with the provinces. That is why we are working with consumers and citizens, to help them with these changes we are now making.

That is why we are working with the private sector, which has a role to play in combatting climate change and helping Canada be more effective in its ongoing fight against this threat.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Loblaws made hundreds of millions of dollars selling groceries to Canadians. Its owner is worth over $10 billion. I am pretty sure Loblaws can afford to buy a few energy-efficient fridges.

The Liberals are so focused on pleasing big corporations that they have handed over a $12-million cheque to a massively profitable company. Why did they not ask Loblaws to buy its own fridges and instead spend that $12 million on small businesses and Canadians who actually need the help?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, this is the problem with the NDP. Those members like to climb up on their high horses and make big speeches about protecting the environment, when this government actually moves forward on doing that. That means partnerships with the provinces. It means investing in Canadians and in renewable technologies. Yes, it means partnering with the private sector so we are moving forward on more efficient technologies and indeed fighting climate change.

We understand that everyone needs to do his or her part to fight against climate change. That is something neither the Conservatives nor, apparently, the NDP understand.

Justice

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister wants to talk about politicians who have led Canadians in error. The Prime Minister said, when the allegations were first printed in The Globe and Mail, that they were completely false. We now know that is not true.

Is the Prime Minister aware that if he says something that he knows not to be true in a court proceeding that he will be guilty of perjury?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have seen the Conservatives time and time again mislead Canadians, and they are smarting that we actually called them out on it. We put them on notice because, indeed, they continue, particularly in this election year, to spread falsehoods to Canadians.

Just recently, the Conservatives actually sent a householder to Canadians that was not telling them about our climate action incentive, which returns hundreds of dollars to Canadians that they have to claim through their taxes. They have no plan on the environment. All they do is mislead Canadians about our plan to—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order, please. The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister now wants to talk about falsehoods. The Prime Minister said, in response to The Globe and Mail story breaking the SNC-Lavalin corruption scandal, that no one, neither himself nor anyone in his office, put pressure on the former attorney general to interfere in this case. We now know that is completely false.

Once again, is the Prime Minister aware that if he says something that he knows not to be true in a court case that he will be guilty of perjury?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I think what Canadians are remarking upon is the fact that the Conservatives do not want to talk about anything that actually matters to Canadians in their day-to-day lives. Canadians are worried about the threat of climate change and the impact on their kids. The Conservatives have no plan, are misleading people about our plan, do not want to talk about it and try to change the subject.

What is worse is that the Conservatives have no plan for the economy. They continue to want to lower taxes on the wealthiest Canadians, when what we know is to invest in the middle class is to grow the economy. They have no plan on the economy and no plan on the environment.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I would just remind the Prime Minister that it was his idea to bring these allegations to court. I am just waiting for him to tell me on what day I should show up, because I will be there.

Now, if he wants to talk about falsehoods, he told Canadians, looked them in the eyes and said that the former attorney general or anyone else never came to him to raise concerns about being pressured to interfere in this case. We now know that is false.

Is the Prime Minister aware that if he said that in a court case at this point that he would be guilty of perjury?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again the opposition leader is doubling down on his false and misleading statements. We put him on notice because he has a history, and his party has a history, of misleading Canadians. That is exactly what they did when he had to withdraw and retract misleading statements he made about the Minister of Innovation just a few months ago.

We know that the Conservatives' way is to try to mislead Canadians as much as they possibly can. We need to call them out on that because falsehoods have no place in an election campaign.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister says that he has put me on notice, hoping that I will withdraw my statements. I will not. I repeated them again outside. Therefore, I am putting him on notice that I am looking forward to the day that he sets for this court case to proceed.

When it comes to falsehoods, the Prime Minister has stated that his excuse for interfering in this court case was jobs. We now know that is not true either.

Once again, is the Prime Minister aware of the criminal penalties for committing perjury in a court case?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I can understand the member opposite's frustration. His economic plan is in shambles after 10 years of the lowest growth rate, since the Great Depression, under Stephen Harper.

We turned that around with an approach that invests in Canadians. Canadians have created over 900,000 new jobs over the past three years. We have seen the lowest unemployment in 40 years.

Our plan is working. We will always fight for jobs and we will never apologize for fighting for them.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister wants to talk about false statements. The Prime Minister said that his motivation for interfering in this criminal court case was that he was afraid that SNC-Lavalin would move its headquarters out of the country. The head of SNC-Lavalin has said that this is completely false.

Once again, is the Prime Minister aware of the criminal penalties that he would face if he said that falsehood under oath in a court of law?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, again, we are unequivocal about standing up for jobs. Indeed, shortly after the head of SNC-Lavalin made those comments, the company came out and corrected the comments he had made.

We have been consistent in standing up for jobs. We will continue to defend workers right across the country, whether it is our steel and aluminum workers, or forestry workers or whether it is in manufacturing. We know that investing in Canadians and investing in their communities is way better than the cuts and austerity proposed by the Conservatives.