Debates of June 13th, 2019

Pharmacare

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, let us be very clear. Our government is firmly committed to making sure all Canadians have access to a national pharmacare program, and the work is well under way.

Over the past two years, we have been working to make sure we lower the price of drugs. In budget 2019, we have invested monies to make sure the funding is in place to create a Canadian drug agency.

We are in the process of modernizing the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board in order to once again make sure we lower the cost of drugs and are able to move forward with this program.

Government Policies

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government continues to choose the richest people at the top over people struggling to get by. They chose big pharma and protecting its profits over people who cannot afford their medications. They chose to help big telecom and allowed it to gouge Canadians on their cellphone bills. They chose to help big polluters continue to poison our planet. They let the richest off the hook on taxes.

The reality is that the government does not care about people. Why is it that it continues to help the people at the top, the rich, instead of people working hard to get by?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, let us talk about affordability. The very first thing we did was reduce taxes on the middle class, for nine million Canadians. The second thing we did was introduce the Canada child benefit, which put more money into the pockets of middle-class families. We have demonstrated that over the past three and a half years, we have put $2,000 more in the pockets of middle-class Canadian families of four. That is what we are doing with respect to affordability.

Natural Resources

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

Mr. Speaker, just like everything else the Prime Minister touches, his “no more pipelines” bill, Bill C-69, has turned into a dumpster fire, ticking off and alienating the majority of provinces. National unity is at stake, but instead of taking the premiers' concerns seriously, the Prime Minister keeps insulting them with his “I am the boss and I know best” attitude.

Does the Prime Minister realize the harm he is doing and what is at stake? He is putting his ego and his own political interests ahead of national unity.

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

Mr. Speaker, we have a $500-billion economic opportunity for major projects in the next decade. Under Stephen Harper, under gutted rules, good projects were unable to go ahead, we did not listen to indigenous peoples and we did not protect the environment.

We are very proud of the better rules we brought in through Bill C-69. We listened to senators and accepted amendments that made the rules better.

We can protect the environment. We can partner with indigenous peoples. We can do all of that while ensuring that good projects go ahead in a timely way. I would ask the parties opposite to support this good—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

The hon. opposition House leader.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister and the environment Minister are doing everything they can to destroy Canada's energy sector. Their “no more pipelines” bill, Bill C-69, would be devastating to hard-working families in the oil and gas sector, and they know it.

Sadly, the Liberals will be shutting down debate on this bill later today, forcing this destructive legislation on Canadians. Nine premiers have raised concerns, but the Prime Minister is ignoring them.

Will the Prime Minister finally stop attacking our natural resources sector, listen to the premiers and withdraw this horrible bill?

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

Mr. Speaker, it is time for the country to come together. We do need major projects to go ahead. Under the failed system under Stephen Harper, environmental protections were gutted, and we did not care about our constitutional obligation to consult with indigenous peoples. In the end, good projects were not able to go ahead in a timely way.

We have better rules. Everyone should be standing for those better rules, because we want to continue to grow our economy. We want to continue to attract investment.

We had the largest foreign direct investment in Canada last year. We created a million jobs. Families are $2,000 better off. We are showing how to grow the economy—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I urge members to show courtesy to each other and not be rude and not interrupt.

The hon. member for Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier.

The Environment

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, what she is saying is absurd. This centralizing government, which is a hallmark of the Liberals, has no respect for the provinces and territories. The Prime Minister does not even listen to the provincial premiers, who were duly elected by Canadians. The Premier of Quebec is also saying he is disappointed that the current federal government refused to accept the amendments to Bill C-69 on the environment. Rather than being constructive, the Liberals' provocative approach is undermining national unity.

Why does the Prime Minister think he has a monopoly on truth?

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

Mr. Speaker, do you know what Quebeckers tell me when I talk to them? They say that they want us to take ambitious measures to fight climate change and protect the environment. They do not want to go back to the days of Stephen Harper; rather, they want us to strengthen the environmental assessment rules.

Yes, they want us to grow the economy and create good jobs. They know that we have a plan. The Conservative Party has no plan for the environment, no plan for the economy and no plan for Canadians.

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, his plan is not working. The Prime Minister is just insulting Canadian taxpayers. He claimed that Canada would meet the Paris Agreement targets by 2030. That was a half-truth, if not a certain word that I am not allowed to say in the House.

Following the lead of the United Nations and the environment commissioner, the Parliamentary Budget Officer released a report this morning explicitly stating that Canada is not going to meet the Paris targets with its current plan. To meet the targets, the government would have to to raise the carbon tax to five times what it is now.

Why the lack of transparency? Why are the Liberals being such hypocrites?

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

Mr. Speaker, do you know who is insulting taxpayers? Premier Ford, who is spending taxpayers' money attacking pollution pricing.

Quebec has put a price on pollution. Is my colleague opposed to pollution pricing in Quebec? I do not know if the member realizes that Quebec's economy is growing. It put a price on pollution, and it is working. The province has good jobs and a vibrant clean technology sector.

The economy and the environment go hand in hand, as Quebec perfectly illustrates.

Why is the member not standing up for Quebec and Quebeckers?

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Tell the truth!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

Order. The hon. member for Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier needs to listen to the answer after asking a question.

The hon. member for Barrie—Innisfil.

Carbon Pricing

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are being impacted by the Liberal carbon tax. Every day we are paying more for the necessities of life in Canada. On top of that, Canadians did not receive the carbon tax rebate they were promised. Ontarians received 30% less than what was advertised.

Earlier today, the PBO said that for the Liberal carbon tax to be effective, it would have to rise by 400%. This will add more than a painful 25¢ a litre in new taxes just for the price of a litre of gas.

When will the Prime Minister just admit that his plan is to cost Canadians more for the gas they put in their cars?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am wondering if the member opposite noticed the report that showed that Doug Ford's climate plan is twice as expensive as our climate plan. It is twice as expensive.

What is Premier Ford also doing? He is spending $40 million of taxpayers' money to fight climate action rather than to fight climate change. He has a sticker campaign where he is actually going to make businesses pay if they do not mislead Ontarians.

We need to take serious action on climate change. We need to do it. It is good for our economy. It is good for the environment, and we owe it to our kids.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Geoff Regan]

I am going to have to ask members, including the member for Battle River—Crowfoot, not to intervene when it is not their turn.

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am thinking the minister should run for Ontario Liberal leader.

We also heard the PBO confirm today that the Liberal government will not meet its Paris targets by 2030. In order to meet these targets, the PBO says the carbon tax would have to rise by 400%. Guess what? Fifty percent of Canadian families are $200 away from bankruptcy. They cannot afford the Prime Minister's carbon taxes.

When will the Prime Minister just admit that his plan all along has been to raise the price on the necessities of life in Canada, like putting gas in our cars and heating our homes?

[Jennifer O'Connell, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance (Youth Economic Opportunity)]

Mr. Speaker, let us talk about what we have done for Canadians and the investments we have made, because it seems the members opposite just do not get it.

One of the first things we did was lower taxes on the middle class. The next thing we did was make the Canada child benefit more generous and put more money in people's pockets. What did the Conservatives do? They taxed families.

Let us also talk about the fact that taking into account Canada's total budget deficit, 72% came from Conservatives.

Poverty

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

Mr. Speaker, in the last budget, the Liberals noted that the NDP, the Assembly of First Nations, the Breakfast Club of Canada and many other organizations have been calling for a national school food program. Given that one child in five is living in poverty, that is crucial.

Unfortunately, the Minister of Families refuses to commit to a time frame and, worse still, no funding has been announced for the program.

Was that announcement from the last budget a genuine promise—not that that means much to the Liberals—or was it simply another Liberal PR exercise?

[Adam Vaughan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, it is always an honour to rise in this House and talk about the amazing progress we have made on eliminating child poverty in this country. In fact, the child benefit has reduced child poverty by 300,000 children in this country, and we have the lowest levels of poverty since we started recording it.

On the issue of the food program, we are strongly in support of making sure that children who go to school and students who study have the nutrition they need to do the work they need to do in school. Every study shows that this is a progressive policy. We stand firmly behind it, and we will meet those targets prescribed within the budget.

Health

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

Mr. Speaker, Dr. Hoskins' report could not be more clear. We need a universal, single-payer pharmacare system in Canada. It is the latest in 50 years' worth of reports ignored by consecutive Liberal and Conservative governments.

Seniors across this country are cutting their pills in half because they want to make them last longer. They are having to make choices between food and the medication they desperately need. This does not have to happen. After 50 years, how long are Canadians going to have to wait?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, let me be very clear. Our government is absolutely committed to making sure that all Canadians have access to a national pharmacare program, and the work is well under way. That is why we launched the advisory council. We are very pleased that we received its report yesterday. I look forward to continuing to work with the provinces and territories, indigenous leaders and all the groups involved, as we want to make sure that all Canadians will have access to affordable medications.

Natural Resources

[Larry Maguire, Conservative, Brandon—Souris, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the Manitoba-Minnesota transmission project would bring clean, green Manitoba energy to coal-burning Minnesota. After five years of consultations, and approval from both Manitoba's Clean Environment Commission and the National Energy Board, the Prime Minister still refuses to approve this project. He is too proud to approve a project from a Conservative provincial government that is better for the environment than anything he can come up with.

When will the Prime Minister put aside his ego, get out of the way of clean, green Manitoba energy and approve this project?