Debates of May 16th, 2019

Trois-Pistoles French Immersion School

[Guy Caron, NDP, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, one of the proudest accomplishments of Trois-Pistoles and Les Basques is without a doubt the Trois-Pistoles French Immersion School. It is celebrating its 87th year of operation, making it the oldest immersion school in North America.

Every summer the principal, André Beaudin, and his team welcome approximately 600 young English speakers from across the country, who are housed by 100 or so host families, for an unforgettable experience.

When they arrive and they are spoken to in French, the kids often look like deer in the headlights, according to the Nicholas Moroz, president of the CAFEL, but they emerge from the experience with greater confidence in themselves and their abilities, not to mention a host of new memories.

Whenever I can, I have the pleasure of welcoming them when they arrive and seeing them off when they leave every year. This time, it will be bittersweet, because André is retiring this summer, after 10 years as principal of the school. His generosity of spirit and his sense of humour are equally legendary, and we are sorry to see him go.

His successor, Kathy Asari, will be taking over soon. She will have some seriously big shoes to fill.

Thank you, André, for all that you have done. Enjoy your well-deserved retirement.

Government Priorities

[Diane Finley, Conservative, Haldimand—Norfolk, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in an age of online shopping, most Canadians have had at least one bad experience buying something online, when what arrives is a cheap imitation of what one ordered.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of Canadians feeling that way about the Prime Minister right now. What was promised was brand new and clean. Instead, what we have is a rehashed version of the old 1996 to 2004 model of the Liberal Party, bending the rules for their big corporate buddies.

On the box it said, “now with ethics included”, but apparently that was a limited time offer. Then there are the hidden fees and the promise of a balanced budget, when what arrived was four consecutive deficits.

Do members remember those lower taxes he went on about during the campaign? Instead he brought in a whole new tax, one that affects absolutely everything.

The Prime Minister is not as advertised.

Liberal Party of Canada

[Matt DeCourcey, Liberal, Fredericton, NB]

Mr. Speaker, we were elected on a plan to grow the economy and create jobs for Canadians. Thanks to investments our government is making in infrastructure, innovation, immigration, trade and clean growth, Canadians are working every day to build a Canada that works for everyone.

Under the Harper majority government, New Brunswick actually lost thousands of jobs, but under our government, New Brunswick has added thousands of jobs.

Our Atlantic coast strategy is breathing new life into our communities. In Fredericton, that means a booming cyber sector, hundreds of renewable jobs in smart grid, and new Canadian Armed Forces recruits at Base Gagetown. In fact, across the country since November 2015, Canadians have added more than one million jobs to our economy.

Because of our plan, New Brunswickers and Canadians are working. What is clear is that our plan is working better than advertised.

Foreign Affairs

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Speaker, China has now formally arrested Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. We do not know where these two men are being held, and they are at risk of being put to death by the Chinese because of these trumped-up allegations.

Clearly, the Prime Minister's approach to China is not working. When will he stop acting like a coward, pick up the phone and do something about this, because the very lives of Canadians—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member would know that you cannot do indirectly what you cannot do directly, and so I ask her to withdraw the word and apologize.

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I withdraw calling the Prime Minister someone acting like a coward. I withdraw that.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Tourism]

Mr. Speaker, these are the lives of Canadians that we are talking about. We should not be playing politics about this.

We strongly condemn the arbitrary arrests of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, and we continue to call for their immediate release. The minister is in close contact with their families. We have rallied an unprecedented number of partners around the world in support of Canada's position. Canada continues to express its appreciation to those who have spoken in support of these detained Canadians and the rule of law.

Justice

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Speaker, earlier this week the House apologized to Vice-Admiral Mark Norman, but as of yet the Prime Minister has not.

We all know very well that the House apologizing is vastly different from the Prime Minister apologizing. We know the Prime Minister has no problem apologizing, though. He has done so to Omar Khadr, a convicted terrorist.

Why in the world would he not apologize to Vice-Admiral Mark Norman, who has been wronged, maligned and almost bankrupted by the Liberal government? When can he—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. Minister of National Revenue.

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians can have full confidence in the independence of our institutions. We supported the motion this week to recognize Vice-Admiral Mark Norman for his service and apologize to him and his family. We are waiting to hear from the chief of defence staff and the Canadian Armed Forces to find out what the next steps are. We know that a process was followed, and, unlike the Conservatives, we on this side of the House have confidence in our institutions.

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Speaker, we have learned that military regulations are preventing Vice-Admiral Norman from speaking freely about what the Liberals have been doing to him over the last three years.

Canadians deserve to know what the Prime Minister and his office did to Vice-Admiral Norman, but they will not know unless he is allowed to speak. Where have we heard that before?

Will the Prime Minister remove this gag order, or are we going to see another person with honour and integrity being told by the Prime Minister to just sit down, shut up and stay silent?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, the committees operate independently of the government, and we will wait for the results of their deliberations.

Regarding the legal process involving Vice-Admiral Norman, when it stayed the charge, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada noted that no other factors were considered in this decision, nor was there any contact or influence from outside the PPSC, including political influence, in either the initial decision to prosecute Mr. Norman or in the decision to stay the charge. Any accusation to the contrary is absurd and baseless.

Public Services and Procurement

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, like his father, the Prime Minister has never acknowledged Quebec's importance to Canada. He speaks negatively of our province, and his actions clearly show that he is does not support Quebec. By way of evidence, he involved his government in a coordinated operation to cancel Davie's contract to build the Asterix. Had he succeeded, Quebec would have lost 1,000 jobs.

Why? Was it to please Scott Brison's friends?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, our government is 100% committed to strengthening the Royal Canadian Navy and ensuring that it has the resources it needs to serve Canadians.

Davie is a major shipyard, and we recognize the expertise of its workers who delivered the Asterix. The Asterix is filling a temporary need for refuelling at sea, air support and medical capabilities for our navy.

Thanks to this transition to the future fleet, the Royal Canadian Navy continues to carry out its core missions of preparing, training, equipping and deploying naval assets for missions in Canada and abroad.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, at the November 2015 cabinet meeting, did the minister, who is from Quebec, support the idea of trying to cancel the contract for the Asterix, whose virtues she is extolling today?

That was the first cabinet meeting and the first decision cabinet made. Luckily, things did not go as planned.

Can the minister explain the coordinated operation against Admiral Norman to destroy him and prevent him from doing his job, which was to support the project, to the best of his ability?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, as a result of last week's decision, the charges against Vice-Admiral Norman were stayed.

As the Public Prosecution Service of Canada confirmed last week, all decisions were made completely independently.

No other factors were considered in this decision, nor was there any any contact or influence from outside the PPSC, including political influence in either the initial decision to prosecute Mr. Norman or the decision to stay the charge.

Allegations to the contrary are completely absurd.

Finance

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Speaker, 47 billion dollars' worth of profits from criminal acts were laundered in Canada last year under the Liberal government. Canada is now the snow washing capital of the world. Epidemic money laundering increases housing costs, and Canadians pay the price.

Liberals choose to do nothing but fake posturing. They deny the resources and tools to fight money laundering. The B.C. NDP government has taken a courageous stand and launched a public inquiry.

Will the Prime Minister show some courage and initiate a joint public inquiry, co-operating with the Government of British Columbia?

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction]

Mr. Speaker, our government takes very seriously the integrity of our financial sector and the threat posed to Canada's national security by money laundering and organized crime.

That is why in budget 2019 we brought forward new measures to improve the transparency of beneficial ownership and add $68.9 million to the RCMP and $50 million to CRA's real estate audit teams.

There are many important measures we are acting on, and it is disappointing that the NDP voted against those measures.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we just learned that some $50 billion were laundered in Canada. Let me explain that in a way the Liberals can understand: $50 billion could buy about 10 pipelines.

The Liberals are asleep at the switch, but British Columbia's NDP government is showing leadership and moving forward with a public inquiry.

Who are the Liberals trying to protect this time?

Will they follow British Columbia's lead and take meaningful steps to end this scourge?

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction]

Mr. Speaker, let me first say how delighted I am to hear about the NDP's new-found interest in money laundering.

In budget 2019 we created the action, coordination and enforcement team and a money laundering centre of expertise to strengthen financial intelligence information sharing with law enforcement. This was directly in response to conversations we were having with the Government of British Columbia.

We have also provided resources, as I said, to the RCMP, FINTRAC and the CRA. We have added a new offence of recklessness in the legislation, as an offence in the Criminal Code, to facilitate prosecutions.

I look forward, with the new-found interest in money laundering—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie.

The Environment

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after falling asleep at the switch, the Liberals are now waking up and making a big to-do about the climate emergency. They are scrambling about in a frenzy and putting on a big show.

We are talking about the same government that bought a pipeline with taxpayers' money and gives millions of dollars in handouts to oil companies.

This is Liberal hypocrisy, pure and simple. They are the champions of talk, when what we need is action. That is what Canadians are calling for, and that is what the NDP is proposing.

Will the Liberals have the courage to do the right thing? Will they stand up and vote in favour of our motion to increase our greenhouse gas reduction targets? That is what needs to be done.

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

Mr. Speaker, of course we are in a climate emergency. That is why we moved a motion in Parliament.

I want everyone to stand up and acknowledge that the science behind climate change is clear.

Of course there is a climate emergency, and we need to meet our international obligations. We have a plan to address climate change, and we are going to do so while growing our economy. We have created a million jobs, and we are making progress.

I hope that everyone will vote in favour of our motion to declare a climate emergency.

[Peter Julian, NDP, New Westminster—Burnaby, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the truth is that the Liberals are trying to ram through Trans Mountain, which would mean Canada provoking even greater climate change.

Declaring a climate emergency does not mean responding with platitudes and pipelines. Tackling climate emergencies takes more than a fake price on carbon that excludes the big emitters. It takes leadership. Liberals spout platitudes and ram through pipelines.

Why do the Liberals not do the right thing? Why do they not end subsidies for big oil and gas, and abandon the massive emissions that will come from the Trans Mountain pipeline project?