Debates of Jan. 30th, 2020

Finance

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, House Leader of the Official Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, that is an incredibly weak answer from a so-called feminist government. Why could that minister not have stood and said, unreservedly, that the Liberals would make sure changes would happen so this would not happen again? Protocol, schmotocol, this should never happened.

I have another question for the Liberal government. We know that Mastercard, a company with over $16 billion in revenue last year, is getting $50 million from the Liberals. Everyone knows that Mastercard does not need this money.

Will the minister do the right thing and reverse this terrible decision to give Mastercard $50 million?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, let me set the record straight. The Government of Canada has invested in a major new cybersecurity centre, which will make Canada a world leader when it comes to countering cybercrime, ensuring cybersecurity, as well as developing new technologies.

This new investment made by the government will create hundreds of jobs across the country, in particular in British Columbia.

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, House Leader of the Official Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, Mastercard made $16 billion last year. I think it can afford to develop its own cybersecurity. It is making this $16 billion off Canadians who cannot afford to pay their credit card bills at the end of the month.

Mastercard did not need the $50 million. Actually, no credit card company needs $50 million from the Canadian Liberal government.

How can the Liberals keep defending giving millions of dollars to billion-dollar companies?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we believe in job creation and we believe that we need to make sure we make the right investments to ensure this job creation.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Maybe someone can answer my question. How long before everyone is quiet?

We will let the hon. minister continue, please.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, not only do we believe in job creation, but the facts are clear. We were able to create a million new jobs over the past four years. That is why we are supporting the development of the tech sector in British Columbia and in western Canada.

We believe we need to do more to create good jobs all across the country and that the growth we are seeing is shared all across the different regions.

Government Programs

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the House passed a motion asking the Auditor General to investigate the Liberals' $186 billion investing in Canada plan.

Last year, the Auditor General said clearly that the Liberals were not providing the appropriate funds for the office to do its work. The House asked the Auditor General to do an important job.

Could the Prime Minister assure the House that the Auditor General will have all the resources necessary?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to answer this very important question.

Investing in middle-class Canadians, investing in further economic growth and investing in our infrastructure across Canada has been a key part of our plan since 2015.

We look forward to having good conversations with all people in this government, including the Auditor General, to make sure our investments are as effective as possible.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, they do not even know what middle class is.

Never in Canada's history has a government spent so much to accomplish so little. No other prime minister has spent more or cared less about taxpayer dollars. Meanwhile, last year, the Auditor General of Canada said he did not have enough money to do his job. Yesterday, the House tasked him with investigating the Liberals' $186-billion infrastructure plan.

Will the Prime Minister commit today to giving the Auditor General the money he needs to do this important work?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for giving me the opportunity to continue in French because I was not done.

We have created a million new jobs since 2015 and lifted nearly a million Canadians out of poverty. We lead developed nations in economic growth, and, according to economists who analyze the strength and credibility of fiscal frameworks, our fiscal framework is strong.

Not only are we very proud of what we have done, but we are also even more eager to keep working hard for all Canadians.

Natural Resources

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Teck Frontier project would sound the death knell for Canada's commitments under the Paris Agreement. The project means 260,000 barrels a day and four million tonnes of greenhouse gases. When asked about it—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this is becoming intolerable.

When the Prime Minister was asked about this yesterday, I was a little surprised because he did not show the customary respect reserved for my colleagues. He said he makes decisions based on science, unlike my colleagues. However, the figure comes from—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. Minister of Environment and Climate Change.

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, the government will take into account a number of factors when it makes a decision on this project, including our commitments to achieve the net zero emission target by 2050, advance reconciliation, create well-paying jobs for the middle class and promote economic growth.

This is a major project that our government is weighing very carefully and, as required under the Environmental Assessment Act, a decision will be made before the end of February.

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I lost some speaking time because of their noise.

The head of Teck Resources is also expressing some concerns and needs a pipeline to move forward. This 40-year project will exceed by nearly 20 years the deadline by which the government wants Canada to be carbon neutral.

Is the government afraid to say no to Jason Kenney?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, this is a major project that the government is weighing very carefully. As required under the Environmental Assessment Act, a decision will be made before the end of February.

As with any other project, cabinet can approve it under certain conditions, reject it or extend the legislated deadline. The project is being actively considered by our government and no decision has been made.

Health

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, there is a difference between saying the right things and doing the right things. The Liberals like to use pretty words. They named a ministry, but they cannot define what the middle class is. They are putting forward a tax cut that most benefits the wealthiest 10%. Well, New Democrats have a solution.

Are the Liberals prepared to put in place a targeting of that tax cut to benefit those who need it most, and then use the money that is left over to develop a national dental care program to help Canadians who cannot afford to take care of their teeth?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we want, every day, to remind Canadians that the very first thing this new government did was put in place a tax cut for 20 million Canadians. Of course, this followed on the heels of the last Liberal government, which also put in place a tax cut for millions of Canadians.

We want Canadians to know that we are going to continue to work on their behalf. We are going to deal with the real challenges of affordability now and in the future.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, people do not need rhetoric, they need concrete action. The Liberals appointed a minister for the middle class but they cannot define what the middle class is. They have proposed a tax cut that will benefit the wealthiest the most.

We have a solution: Are the Liberals prepared to target the tax cut so they can implement a dental care program to help those who cannot access dental care?

[Bill Morneau, Liberal, Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to hear a question about our tax approach.

The first thing our government did was cut taxes for 20 million Canadians. That is very important. We started by cutting taxes for all Canadians in our first term. We want to assure Canadians that we will continue to improve their living conditions today and in the future.

Canadian Heritage

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday a government-appointed panel enthusiastically recommended that the government should control what news coverage Canadians should be allowed to see.

Under the Liberal plan, the Liberals would be able to force all news sites to prominently link all of their coverage to Liberal government-approved websites. This would have an instant chill effect on free speech and diversity of thought in the Canadian media ecosystem.

Does the government think that Canadians are too dumb to think for themselves?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, there seems to be some confusion on the other side of the House between members of the Conservative Party. On the one hand, mere hours after the report was published, the member for Durham declared that he would throw it in the garbage.

On the other hand, the member for Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis was very open to working with us and we are pleased with that.

We believe that the Yale report will make a significant contribution to the development of a new ecosystem for the protection of Canadian cultural content.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, that is the exact type of fake news that the Liberals want these news sites to implement.

Between the proposal yesterday, the government's “chosen one” print media bailout fund, and even the minister's mandate letter, which goes so far as to suggest that he should implement a ministry of thought police for Twitter and Facebook, this is not free speech. Free speech is something we should be standing up for.

When is the minister going to abandon his proposed ministry of truth?