Debates of Jan. 30th, 2020

Public Safety

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Speaker, in 2019, Winnipeg had the highest rates of violent crime in Canada. Robberies were up 45%. We had 44 murders, double the year prior. Almost all of this was related to the meth crisis, not from legal gun ownership.

A 27-year veteran of Winnipeg police, Constable Rob Carver, said that a handgun seizure “won't change the threat level one iota,” and police chiefs across Canada agree.

Will the Liberals admit that their policy is completely out of step with police on the front lines and does not nothing to keep Winnipeggers safe?

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, actually, unlike the previous government, I consulted very extensively with police chiefs from across the country. I will tell colleagues that we know there are three ways in which criminals get guns: They are smuggled across the border, they are stolen or they are criminally diverted.

We are taking action to strengthen gun control laws to prevent those guns from being smuggled into Canada, to prevent them from being stolen from legal gun owners and to—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I am sure the hon. minister appreciates the coaching he is getting, but I am sure he can answer all on his own. I would encourage everyone to listen to what the hon. minister has to say.

The hon. minister.

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Scarborough Southwest, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in addition to strengthening gun control laws, we have listened to the police when they said they needed additional resources to do their jobs.

We have committed $347 million to law enforcement to enable them to conduct gun and gang investigations and to support the prosecution of people who commit these crimes. We have—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, instead of targeting honest citizens, the minister should be going after the 50,000 people who, according to CBSA, are here illegally and should be deported. The Liberals have made a complete mess of the public safety file.

Where are those 50,000 people? What is the minister doing to protect Canadians rather than attack honest, law-abiding citizens?

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, just to go past a bit of the rhetoric and get to the facts, in fact, I have nothing but respect for law-abiding firearms owners in Canada. It is our reliance on their adherence and upholding of our laws that helps keep us safe, but we know that some of their guns have been stolen, for example, so we are asking them to adhere to stricter storage requirements.

There is nothing in our plan that will interfere or interrupt the legitimate lawful activities of hunters and farmers in this country, and we will continue to uphold their rights and treat them fairly. We are also not bringing back a long gun registry.

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

Mr. Speaker, Toronto police chief Mark Saunders revealed in December that 82% of handguns involved in crimes were smuggled from the U.S. The minister of public safety had previously stated half of crime guns come from domestic sources. The statistics from when the minister was the chief in Toronto and carried a gun show the same picture as today: A very small percent of firearms are from legal sources, while many crime guns are prohibited and from the United States.

Could the minister table the source of his information that has now been proven incorrect?

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately my friend has some of his facts wrong. When I was the chief of police in Toronto, we had a firearms verification unit that traced the source of all handguns. During my tenure as chief for 10 years there, 70% of the crime guns that we seized, handguns, were smuggled from the United States. The other 30% were stolen or illegally diverted. The 50% number actually came from Chief Saunders in his first public statement, but he has since, as a result of some investigations they have done into smuggling, come out with another number.

I acknowledge the facts there, but the reality is guns—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle.

Seniors

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Mr. Speaker, our government has made tremendous progress in supporting seniors through many programs and initiatives.

Can the minister tell the House what our government has done to make sure that seniors have the support they need to continue to be active in their communities?

[Deb Schulte, Liberal, Minister of Seniors]

Mr. Speaker, our seniors have built the Canada that we know and love, and they deserve a secure and dignified retirement.

Last week I was pleased to announce $1.5 million in new horizons for seniors funding in support of community-based projects in Manitoba. In budget 2019, we boosted new horizons for seniors funding by $20 million annually so we could provide even more support for healthy aging and encourage active participation among seniors.

We will have more news on the new horizons approvals in the coming weeks.

Health

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, just minutes ago, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus an international public health emergency. This is a profound step that has only been taken a handful of times over the last decade. One of the chief reasons for this move is they are concerned that this virus will spread to countries that are not prepared to deal with it, a serious state of affairs that increases the risk for all nations.

Given this global escalation, when will the minister table her full plan for all Canadians to see? Time is wasting.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, we are so fortunate to have Dr. Tam as our Chief Public Health Officer, who is an expert adviser to this very committee.

We have been following the World Health Organization recommendations since we noticed the cluster in late December. We will be closely reviewing the recommendations. I will mention, though, that some of them really do speak to the need to support weaker countries that do not have the same integrated systems that Canada has and to preventing the misinformation that is leading to racism and stigmatization of so many Chinese Canadians and other people of Chinese descent around the world.

Seniors

[Paul Manly, Green, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Vancouver Island Health Authority recently had to take over the administration of three seniors care facilities due to unsafe conditions. Three years ago the government approved the sale of these facilities to Anbang Insurance, which is now a Chinese state-owned corporation. Foreign corporations have no connection to our communities and should not be profiting from poor-quality seniors care.

Will the government exclude seniors care facilities from foreign ownership?

[David Lametti, Liberal, Minister of Justice]

Mr. Speaker, Cedar Tree Investments is bound in this arrangement. It has been reviewed and is being reviewed constantly by provincial authorities. It is supposed to adhere to a number of different standards.

The Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development is following that case closely.

Oral Questions

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, while our leader was addressing the government, our members clearly heard the member for Dufferin—Caledon make some comments that were completely unacceptable. We are asking him to apologize.

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I do not know what he is referring to. Was it during my speech on the free trade agreement? I do not know what he is referring to.

[An hon. member]

It is the wrong riding; it was Edmonton West.

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the member made comments that were completely unacceptable. He needs to stand up and apologize to the House. We cannot tolerate this sort of thing.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Mr. Speaker, my comment was in regard to the leader of the Bloc's attack on Alberta energy workers and our energy industry. I asked him if he actually walked to Ottawa today. That was my comment and I stand by that comment.

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, with all due respect, I just want to point out that he called the leader of our party a hypocrite. That is unacceptable in the House, and I expect him to apologize.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We will look into this and come back to it if there is a case.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker—