Debates of June 12th, 2019

Public Services and Procurement

[Churence Rogers, Liberal, Bonavista—Burin—Trinity, NL]

Mr. Speaker, my constituents understand the important duty of the Canadian Coast Guard to keep our oceans and waterways healthy and safe. This year's winter was particularly harsh in Newfoundland and Labrador. We know the Canadian Coast Guard plays a crucial role in keeping our goods moving with its icebreakers. After a decade of cuts by the Harper Conservatives, our government is taking action.

Can the Prime Minister update this House on what our government has done to ensure the Canadian Coast Guard has all the tools it needs to carry out its important work?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the member for Bonavista—Burin—Trinity understands well the importance of keeping the Coast Guard well equipped, and we agree. Recently, we welcomed Coast Guard ship Captain Molly Kool. It marks the first of three interim icebreakers to join the fleet. After a decade of Conservative cuts, last month we announced the single largest investment in Canadian history to renew our Coast Guard fleet. Canadians can be proud of the women and men in the Coast Guard, who work every day to save lives and protect our coasts.

News Media Industry

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Engage Canada has made a $4 million ad buy to attack the Conservative Party, and the Liberal Party has not had to spend a cent.

Unifor has bragged about donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to Engage Canada and has even publicly asked its membership to donate to the group. This is the same Unifor that is on the panel that will decide which media outlets get $600 million in bailouts from the Liberal government.

When will the Prime Minister stop stacking the deck in the Liberals' favour and hold a fair election?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we will take no lessons from a party that made it harder for Canadians to vote with its unfair elections act. Indeed, as we all know, it was found guilty of breaking election laws in multiple elections. The Conservatives even made it illegal for Elections Canada to encourage voting. We reversed that ban.

On top of that, we all remember that the MP for Carleton signed a compliance agreement with Elections Canada in 2017 because he had broken an election law in the last election.

We ended the Conservative—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. member for Beloeil—Chambly.

The Environment

[Matthew Dubé, NDP, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we have been calling on the federal government to respect Otterburn Park and its residents for years.

The Prime Minister went to Mont-Saint-Hilaire to prance around and talk about the environment. Telus wants to build a tower in the Mont-Saint-Hilaire Biosphere Reserve green zone, which he visited on Monday.

Will the Prime Minister respect the environment in my riding, listen to residents and ban the tower in Otterburn Park, or will he simply use our green heritage as his backdrop?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, our government understands that if we want to grow the economy we must protect the environment and listen to the concerns of Canadians.

This is why we are committed to consulting the public before moving forward with projects, and that is what we will always do. We are listening to Canadians, we respect their concerns and, whenever possible, we move forward in the right way. That is what Canadians expect from their government.

Infrastructure

[Jean Rioux, Liberal, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the people of Saint-Jean know how vital trade is to economic development and to ensuring stability for our small and medium-sized businesses.

The government knows how important it is to reduce travel distances on our highways and to promote sustainable economic development.

Can the Prime Minister inform the House of our most recent investment to extend Highway 35, in order to directly link Montreal and Boston?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Saint-Jean for the work he does for his constituents.

Many tonnes of commercial goods travel on our highways every day. We are investing $82 million to extend Highway 35, and we continue to build strong, competitive communities. This comes in addition to $260 million for Highway 19 and $500 million for the Louis-Hippolyte-LaFontaine bridge-tunnel.

We are working tirelessly so that all Canadians can benefit from market access and travel more safely and efficiently.

Justice

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, it has been 73 days since the Prime Minister sent me a letter, threatening to sue me for my statements about his corruption and attempted interference in a criminal court case. He is going to get up in a moment and say that he sent the notice to warn me about saying things that he thought were not true. Here is the thing. I have not backed down. I have not apologized for them. In fact, I have repeated those statements, word for word, outside of the chamber.

The Prime Minister knows that if he has to testify under oath, he will be charged with perjury for saying things that are not true. When will he see me in court?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the opposition leader is doubling down on misleading Canadians. It shows that the Conservatives are still following the Harper playbook.

We put him on notice because he and his party have a history of making false and defamatory statements. That is what he did in December against the Minister of Innovation, where he was forced to swallow his false words and retract his statements. We will not stand by while he misleads Canadians again.

While the members of the opposition are focused on me, we will stay focused on Canadians.

Democratic Institutions

[Xavier Barsalou-Duval, Bloc, Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this morning the Journal de Montréal published an article about the smell of dirty money in Ottawa.

That fetid smell is coming from the Liberal Party, which is stuffing its pockets with hundreds of thousands of dollars from Bay Street, lobbies, oil companies, banks, religious groups and law firms.

When will the Prime Minister stop working for the interest groups that are paying him off and keep his promise to restore the per-vote subsidy financing system?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we changed and improved Canada's political financing system by requiring even more transparency and accountability so that all Canadians can see who is making donations to the various political parties and how.

We encourage all parties to obey the law that we put in place by holding their fundraising activities in public places and releasing the information. That is exactly what Canadians expect.

We can be proud of the very robust system we have at the federal level, but it is important that all the parties follow the example of the Liberal Party of Canada.

Presence in Gallery

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I wish to draw the attention of members to the presence in our gallery of Her Excellency Louise Mushikiwabo, Secretary-General of La Francophonie.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I would also like to draw to the attention of hon. members the presence in the gallery of His Excellency Suhail Mohammed Faraj Al Mazroui, Minister of Energy and Industry of the United Arab Emirates.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

Procedure and House Affairs

[Bardish Chagger, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, there have been discussions among the parties and if you seek it, I think you will find unanimous consent for the following motion:

That the 97th report of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs, presented on June 10, 2019, be concurred in.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Does the hon. government House leader have the unanimous consent of the House to move the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The House has heard the terms of the motion. Is it the pleasure of the House to adopt the motion?

[Some hon. members]

Agreed.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

(Motion agreed to)

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I believe that if you seek it, you will find the unanimous consent of the House for the following motion: that, by the end of this Parliament, the House stop reading the daily prayer prior to proceedings—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!