Debates of April 2nd, 2019

Indigenous Affairs

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the member just mentioned shared outrage and the reality that there were a lot of challenges when working with multi-jurisdictional issues. However, that is not enough, in my opinion. When we talk about the needs of these women to be safe, we need to see a fierce approach to that. We need to see somebody standing up on these issues.

I appreciate that the member talked a lot about the services, how the government was improving things for indigenous people and looking at making things more inclusive. However, the reality is that women are being coerced into sterilization. In one example, a woman was told she would not be allowed to see her newborn child until she agreed to this procedure. That is outrageous. We need to take action that will actually impact these women's lives. It is not okay in this day and age that women are being forced into sterilization. Indigenous lives are important.

[Dan Vandal]

Mr. Speaker, the forced sterilization of indigenous women is a deplorable practice and a serious violation of women's human and reproductive rights. The Government of Canada profoundly believes that all indigenous women must receive culturally safe health services, with no exceptions.

We are working with all partners that have a role to play in improving the standard of health care services offered to indigenous people. We are actively working with provinces, which have jurisdiction over the delivery of health care services. We are working with faculties of medical education and health professionals and indigenous communities to raise understanding of reproductive health options and what culturally informed consent means.

Much work remains to be done and most women do not have access to midwifery care or to an indigenous midwife. We are determined to do our part and are committed to right the wrongs of the past in the spirit of reconciliation. However, ultimately, all Canadians have a responsibility to ensure these practices never happen again.

Official Languages

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to rise in the House to follow up on a question I asked on November 19. Time flies. We were in the middle of a language crisis that was gripping Franco-Ontarians. I was asking the Liberal government about the Ontario government's terrible decision to eliminate the Office of the French Language Services Commissioner and scrap plans to build a French-language university in Toronto.

That lack of vision is a direct attack on the Franco-Ontarian community and official languages. This situation affects all francophone communities across the country. Today we can and we must confirm that all francophones and francophiles from coast to coast to coast stand in solidarity with Franco-Ontarians.

In November, I asked the Liberals what concrete action they were going to take to protect minority francophone communities across the country, particularly in response to the current language crisis in Ontario. I referred to two specific aspects, namely, the elimination of the Office of the French Language Services Commissioner and the decision to shelve the creation of the French-language university. There are roughly 800,000 francophones in Ontario and there is no francophone university. That makes no sense.

Several prominent Franco-Ontarians have appeared on the Quebec TV show Tout le monde en parle, including Dyane Adam, the chair of the board of governors of the Université de l'Ontario français, and Ontario MPP Amanda Simard. They showed the Quebec nation the importance of solidarity. All francophones need to stand in solidarity with other francophones in Canada who are under attack. Their testimony struck a chord with us and showed us the importance of standing together.

In my own riding, Drummond, I received hundreds of emails, letters and calls telling me to keep going and expressing support for Franco-Ontarians. Those people said we need to protect francophones and French-language services in Ontario.

Speaking of the vitality and development of our francophone communities, French is more alive than ever in Drummond. On March 16, I attended the prize-giving ceremony for the awards for excellence in French and the prestigious Georges Dor award, which are given out each year by the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste du Centre-du-Québec. I just want to take a moment to congratulate the winners: Rosalie Ouellette, Ariane Poudrier, Juliette De Grandpré, Raphaëlle-Ambre Hamon and Jean-Guy Lachance. As a French teacher and the critic for official languages, I always want to recognize the contributions of people who promote the vitality of the beautiful French language. I commend the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste du Centre-du-Québec.

What more will the government do to support Franco-Ontarians? What else will it offer the Université de l'Ontario français?

[Alaina Lockhart, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Tourism, Official Languages and La Francophonie, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague, the member for Drummond, for his question. It is still a highly relevant topic, given the Ontario government's decisions about Ontario's francophonie.

Our country has built an identity that is based on diversity, reconciliation with indigenous peoples, and linguistic duality. Today, our two official languages, French and English, are an asset and a source of pride.

Our government recognizes the crucial role played by Ontario's French language services commissioner, who ensures that the rights of Ontario citizens and the obligations of government and government agencies are respected according to the French Language Services Act, and has acted as a champion for Franco-Ontarians.

With the elimination of the French language services commission, Franco-Ontarians are losing a key support and our government is questioning how the rights of Franco-Ontarians will be respected and ensured with the elimination of this important watchdog role.

Our government is also disappointed in the decision to scrap the French-language university in Ontario. This university would have given young people and adults access to post-secondary studies in their language.

We have repeatedly heard of the need for French-speaking paramedics, nurses and teachers, but these people need to access high-quality French language university programs to develop the professional skills to serve francophone minority communities.

Our government is committed to enhancing the vitality of English and French linguistic minority communities across the country according to the Official Languages Act, and we firmly believe in defending those language rights in Canada.

We are proud to have announced the return of the federal government's court challenges program, which is now up and running.

Furthermore, our government has started reviewing the official languages regulations. The new regulations were introduced in Parliament on October 25, 2018. This review is part of our commitment to ensuring that Canadians have access to federal services in the official language of their choice.

Under part VII of the Official Languages Act, the government is committed to showing leadership in all matters pertaining to the vitality of our official languages, all while respecting the priorities of the provincial and territorial governments.

[François Choquette, NDP, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to conclude by saying that Franco-Ontarians have gone through the latest budget with a fine-toothed comb.

I asked my colleague what more she had done for francophones. Franco-Ontarians asked us whether the budget explicitly said that the Liberal government was prepared to fund its fair share of the French-language university in Ontario. They wanted the budget to be clear on that.

The action plan for official languages sounds good, but we need to see a commitment from the Liberal government in the budget. This is what representatives of Ontario's francophone community are asking for. This is why the Liberal government should have made a gesture in the budget or shown some will—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Tourism, Official Languages and La Francophonie.

[Alaina Lockhart]

Mr. Speaker, on January 13, the minister wrote to ministers Mulroney and Fullerton to reiterate her commitment to provide support for the Université de l'Ontario français project, should the Government of Ontario submit a formal request.

Meanwhile our government announced $1.9 million in funding to the project to ensure start-up costs are covered until January 2020.

In March 2018, our government announced an investment of $2.7 billion over five years, including $500 million in new funding through the action plan for official languages. It is the first substantial investment in official languages since 2003.

Natural Resources

[Erin Weir, Independent, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Mr. Speaker, on November 19 I noted that the price of western Canadian heavy oil had fallen to a record low, threatening employment in the sector as well as provincial government revenues. I noted that this was a major crisis facing our country and that the industry was considering a coordinated production cut in order to boost prices.

I asked the federal government to provide assurances that the federal Competition Bureau would not intervene to prevent such a production cut. Of course, what ended up happening is that on December 2, the Alberta premier announced that the provincial government would mandate a production cut of about 9%. Because this was required by the province and not just coordinated among companies, there was no role for federal competition policy.

I am pleased to report that the policy I raised in the House, which the Alberta government implemented, was quite successful in rapidly increasing the price of western Canadian select oil. The Alberta government also invested in railcars in order to help move its oil to market in the absence of sufficient pipeline capacity. That is also making a positive contribution to pricing.

These are a couple of very positive examples of what the Notley government has done to steward Alberta's oil industry, and I think all western Canadians appreciate those efforts.

I want to speak in a broader sense about federal competition policy. It is already the case that Canadian law does not try to sanction cartels or uncompetitive activity regarding things that are entirely for export, because of course Canadians benefit from being able to get the best possible price for commodities that we are exporting.

That logic largely applies to oil, but of course we also consume oil right here in Canada. We have had a recent kerfuffle about the application of the federal carbon tax to gasoline. In the past few days, we have seen photos of Conservative politicians gassing up over the weekend, ahead of the federal carbon tax coming into effect.

It is worth noting that the carbon tax is about 4¢ or 5¢ per litre, whereas the price of gasoline has gone up by something like 20¢ per litre over the past month. At a minimum, this tells us that there are many factors other than carbon pricing that influence the cost of gasoline. However, it also suggests that if there is a role for federal competition policy, it should be focused on markets that actually affect Canadian consumers.

There is a role for the federal Competition Bureau to look at collusion regarding the retail pricing of gasoline, because as much as we want a high price for the oil that Canada tries to sell on world markets, we also want to make sure there is a fair price for consumers at the pump here in Canada. The way to do this is to ensure that the Competition Bureau focuses not so much on the oil production but on gasoline retailing.

[Paul Lefebvre, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources, Lib.]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Regina—Lewvan for his question.

Our government stands with workers in our energy sector and always will.

After 10 years of inaction under Stephen Harper, 99% of our oil exports were still sold at a discount to the United States. While the Conservatives spent a decade failing our energy sector by failing to get our oil to new markets, we are working each day to fix their failures. Our government made this issue, and market access in general, an urgent priority.

In fact, our government purchased the proposed Trans Mountain expansion project and related assets. The Conservatives opposed this investment. On TMX, we are focused on following the guidance of the Federal Court of Appeal to move the process forward on TMX in the right way, through meaningful consultations. We also approved the Line 3 replacement project and have always supported Keystone XL.

While we worked to build new pipeline capacity and gain access to non-U.S. global markets, we continue to take action. In December, the Minister of Natural Resources and the Minister of International Trade Diversification announced a $1.6-billion package to support workers and boost competitiveness. This package includes $1 billion in commercial financial support from Export Development Canada to invest in innovative technologies, address working capital needs, or explore new markets; a new $500-million energy diversification commercial financing envelope over three years from the Business Development Bank of Canada; a $50-million investment through Natural Resources Canada's Clean Growth program in oil and gas projects, projected to generate $890 million in investments; and $100 million through Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada's strategic innovation fund in energy and economic diversification-related projects.

While the Conservatives continue to put down our energy sector, in the last few weeks and months we have secured the single largest private sector investment in Canadian history with the LNG Canada project, creating 10,000 jobs at peak construction. As well, there was a final investment decision on a $4.5-billion petrochemical facility in Sturgeon County, which will see 3,000 workers on the ground at peak construction. Inter Pipeline announced two new facilities, valued at $3.5 billion, in the Industrial Heartland, creating over 2,000 full-time jobs at peak construction. Also, Nauticol announced plans to develop a $2-billion methanol plant just south of Grande Prairie, which will create 1,000 direct construction jobs.

These are real investments in our energy sector, in Canadians and in Alberta workers.

[Erin Weir, Independent, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the parliamentary secretary for his remarks. I would also like to apologize to him and to you, Mr. Speaker, for keeping you away from what was undoubtedly a very interesting Liberal caucus meeting this evening, but perhaps I have done a bit of a favour in that sense. If you want to thank me as well, I would accept that.

I really have just one question for the parliamentary secretary. Given that the retail price of gasoline seems to have increased much more sharply than the price of oil or the carbon tax over the past month, would he support an inquiry by the federal Competition Bureau into possible collusion and anti-competitive behaviour in the retail pricing of gasoline in this country?

[Paul Lefebvre]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to conclude by once again confirming our government's support for this sector and, most importantly, the workers of this sector.

While our priority remains on building pipeline capacity and gaining access to new markets, we continue to support the sustainable development of our resources so that Canada can be the energy supplier of choice for the world. That is why we are investing $72 million to fund three clean-tech projects in Alberta's oil and gas sector, which will leverage more than $415 million in investments. We are investing $49 million to support petrochemical innovation in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta. Through budget 2019, we are also providing $100 million to support the work of the clean resource innovation network.

Our government, and all Canadians, stand with workers in our energy sector.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The motion that the House do now adjourn is deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 2 p.m. pursuant to Standing Order 24(1).

(The House adjourned at 5:59 p.m.)