Debates of Oct. 20th, 2020

Ethics

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

Mr. Speaker, if the Liberals stand up for Quebec the way they stand up for the Davie shipyard, we are in real trouble.

The Bloc Québécois voted against the throne speech because the Bloc Québécois would not stand for an attack on Quebec's health care system. We were prepared to trigger an election over that. The reason the Liberals are ready to go to the polls is so that they can cover up their scandal. The Prime Minister will be the proverbial needle in the giant haystack of all the ethical problems the Liberals have built up. I believe that the NDP is listening to reason, and I assume the Conservatives will vote in favour of their own motion.

Is the Prime Minister having his bluff called, since he is struggling to get us to overlook his serious ethical blunders?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois does not have much credibility with regard to the confidence vote. It has been at least a month since the party said that it would vote against confidence motions in the government. It said that, if the other parties had as much courage, they would vote the same way. What is more, the Bloc leader said that there would be an election this spring at the very latest. They are the ones who said that.

Now they are telling us that we are irresponsible because we are talking about confidence in the House. Well, that is how our system works. If they have confidence, then they should say so. If they do not, they should say that.

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

Mr. Speaker, I do not have confidence in this government. I doubt it will last past the spring. That said, the government House leader is almost as bad as the Prime Minister. No one buys that argument.

The government is trying to either force an election or get us to overlook its ethical problems. If it does not want to trigger an election, the government House leader needs to stand up and say that we are right, that this should not be a confidence vote and that they will do what they were elected to do. He should tell us to have a good day, life goes on, and he will see us in the spring.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, no unemployed Canadian looking for a job right now wants an election. No worried mother wants an election. No member of this government wants an election. The Bloc, however, is irresponsibly aligning itself with the Conservatives to try to topple the government. That is the reality.

They need to have the courage to take responsibility for their choices and the consequences of those choices.

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

Mr. Speaker, for over 15 hours Liberals at the ethics committee have filibustered and blocked the production of WE documents. They have read the newspaper. They have given us a philosophy lesson and they have read letters. It has all been a little much. All of this is a desperate attempt to cover up corruption and hide these documents from Canadians.

What ever happened to sunlight and being open by default? When will the filibuster and the Liberal cover-up end?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, in case I read this too fast earlier, I will read it again for my colleague. It states that “the decision on what to reveal is made by non-partisan public servants, for whom it has long been a tradition not to reveal cabinet confidences. That has been the case going back to all previous governments of all party stripes.” Does my hon. colleague agree with his colleague over there?

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

Mr. Speaker, there we have it. There is going to be no end to the filibuster. The Liberals are not going to end their cover-up. They will stop at nothing to prevent these documents from coming to light. Even in the middle of a pandemic, they want to plunge Canadians into an election.

The question is very simple. What are they so desperate to hide?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

I guess the Conservatives will stop at nothing to provoke an election, Mr. Speaker.

On this side of the House, we suggested the creation of a special committee, a very important committee to do an important job, that would allow all parties to ask important questions, call witnesses and do everything that is required from the opposition. That is our proposal. Why are they saying no? Why do they have to have this ultrapartisan committee to jam the government? Why is that so important to them?

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I want to remind hon. members that it is one question at a time. I know there are a lot of questions members want to ask, but they can only ask one question at a time. When someone is answering or asking a question, it makes it that much more difficult.

The hon. member for Louis-Saint-Laurent.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, why do we want this committee? Because Canadians are entitled to the truth. That is why we want to create this committee.

This summer, when the Liberals were in trouble, what did they do? They prorogued Parliament.

Now that they are in trouble, what are they doing? They are threatening to call an election if we do not side with them.

We will always side with the truth. Why is the government refusing to hand over all the documents related to the WE Charity scandal?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, they will always side with the truth when the truth suits them. In fact, they decide what the truth is. If they like it, it is the truth; if they do not, it is not.

The fact is that we proposed creating a committee that will do some extremely important work, ask questions and enable the government to improve its programs. That is an extremely responsible thing to do.

We invite everyone to support this committee so we can do this work, because we want to keep working for Canadians, for our children, for our families, for our seniors, for our students and for our businesses. We are going to keep doing the job.

Government Appointments

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as I listened to Radio-Canada this morning, I was reminded of the good old days in the Quebec National Assembly, with the Bastarache commission. The Bastarache commission revealed that the provincial Liberal government of the day had a system of using Post-It notes to identify friends of the Liberal Party who should become judges.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Liberals will always be Liberals, no matter which parliament they are in.

Can the Minister of Justice assure us now, in the House, that no Liberal Party faithfuls or cronies were consulted at any point in the judicial appointment process?

[David Lametti, Liberal, Minister of Justice]

Mr. Speaker, our government has taken significant steps to ensure that quality candidates who reflect Canada's diversity are appointed to the bench.

Let me be clear: I have never faced any pressure from anyone to appoint a judge. The decision to recommend a candidate to cabinet is mine alone.

Indigenous Affairs

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday we put forward a simple motion. We asked the House to affirm the treaty and inherent rights of the Mi'kmaq and Maliseet people, which were affirmed in treaties, confirmed in the Canadian Constitution and upheld in the Supreme Court, but the Liberals voted no. They also refused to acknowledge that the Mi'kmaq deserve the full and equal protection of the law from violence and intimidation. They voted no to recognizing their failure to respect nation-to-nation relationships to accommodate the moderate livelihood fishery that has led to the crisis we are facing today.

My question is simple. Why?

[Bernadette Jordan, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, despite what the NDP say, our government is having nation-to-nation conversations with first nations. That is imperative because we have always said the Mi'kmaq have an affirmed treaty right to fish in pursuit of a moderate livelihood under the Marshall decision.

When it comes to safety, everyone in Canada deserves to be protected. That is why we are standing up and making sure the resources that the Province of Nova Scotia needs for the RCMP are there.

Government Appointments

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, today serious alarm bells are ringing about Liberal partisanship in the Prime Minister's Office. The Liberals are treating judicial appointments like a basket of party favours for well-connected partisan friends. This smacks of the SNC-Lavalin scandal, where the PMO pressured the former attorney general, interfering with her office's criminal prosecution of that Liberal-friendly corporation.

Partisan appointments can open the door for Liberals to lean inappropriately on judges in ways we can only imagine. Have they learned nothing from the SNC, Aga Khan and WE scandals? When will the Prime Minister learn that partisan appointments have no place in our judicial system?

[David Lametti, Liberal, Minister of Justice]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the hon. member that we put in a process for appointing judges, which removes the partisanship we saw with the previous government. We have judicial appointment committees in place across Canada. Those committees work hard to vet the candidacies without any recourse to partisan political matters.

I take those recommendations, whether they are highly recommended or recommended, and we do further consultations. There is no partisanship in the names that I recommend to cabinet.

Public Safety

[Mike Kelloway, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to stand today in recognition and support for our doctors. They guide us in preventing future illnesses and injuries and heal us when we are sick or injured. As medical professionals, they warn us about the dangers in our lives.

One issue they continue to warn us about is gun violence across Canada, but not everyone is listening. Conservatives have aligned themselves with a gun lobby that has plagiarized the American NRA's motto of “stay in your lane” and that bullies doctors who speak about the victims they have had to treat and the family members they have had to inform of losing a loved one.

Can the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness please inform this House what steps our government is taking to address gun violence?

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

Mr. Speaker, today I join the member for Cape Breton—Canso in remembering the lives of those who have been impacted by gun violence.

Since forming government, we have taken action by passing legislation that enhances background checks and helps law enforcement through better data collection. We have also delivered on our promise to prohibit tactical assault weapons, which have no place in our society, and we will continue to strengthen gun control by stopping guns at our border, preventing theft and criminal diversion, and introducing red flag laws.

We do not work for the gun lobby. We work for Canadians, and we will work relentlessly to keep them safe.

Health

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

Mr. Speaker, I am tired of headlines such as this one: “Bureaucracy keeping dying Winnipeg man and his brother apart”. It has been nine months since the start of the COVID crisis, and the Liberals only use shutdowns and a 14-day quarantine, which nobody can afford, as ways to address the pandemic. Countries around the world have started to use rapid testing, and pre- and post-arrival testing as well, as ways to reunite families, but not Canada.

I want to review this failure and come up with a better path forward. We need to do that. That should be a non-partisan issue, but the Liberals are blocking the health committee. They are blocking everybody from being able to do this. Why?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we believe in science and evidence as the way through COVID-19 and the astronomical challenges it presents to Canadians from coast to coast. We will always put the health and safety of Canadians first and foremost in everything we do. That is why we take so seriously our responsibility to control the importation of COVID-19 at the borders.

We are working with partners, provinces, territories and researchers to understand ways we can manage the border effectively, with the primary goal of protecting the health and safety of Canadians.

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

Mr. Speaker, the health committee would be a great way to review the science and evidence, yet the Liberals are blocking the review of this issue at every turn. It has been 10 days since we introduced a motion on this, and they keep filibustering it.

Right now, there are thousands of airline workers who know that a bailout is not going to save their jobs. They are seeing countries around the world implement pre- and post-arrival rapid testing as a way to sustain the jobs and keep people safe, yet we cannot review it at the health committee because they are blocking it.

It is like the government just does not want Parliament to be able to do its job. It is so arrogant, and it is so frustrating. Why?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I will remind the member opposite that the health committee is free to study the issues it chooses.

I will tell everyone that, on this side of the House, as the government we have an important role to make sure that we use science and evidence in our decision-making on how we manage COVID-19, including at the borders. I want to thank my colleagues, particularly the provincial and territorial colleagues, who have worked so diligently with us to understand the important role that quarantine plays in our current response to reducing importations of COVID-19.

We will always rely on science and evidence to keep Canadians safe.

Canada Revenue Agency

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

Mr. Speaker, the Canada Revenue Agency sent letters to hundreds of Canadians, warning them that there may be a problem with their bank account number and that there was a risk of fraud. Several MPs received complaints from constituents saying that they called the number given, but there was no answer. We tried to get in touch ourselves. As MPs, we have a direct number, but we did not get an answer either. Can the minister tell us what is going on?