House of Commons Hansard #12 of the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was judges.
Jagmeet Singh NDP Burnaby South, BC
Mr. Speaker, while small businesses are afraid they might have to close their doors because of COVID-19, big corporations have been raking in record profits because of COVID-19. We are proposing a tax on excess profits made by big corporations during the pandemic.
Does the Prime Minister stand with billionaires or with front-line workers?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, the first thing we did when we took office in 2015 was raise taxes on the wealthiest 1% and lower them for the middle class. That is exactly what we did, but unfortunately the NDP voted against that initiative.
We will always look for ways to spur economic growth and ensure our tax system is fair to everyone. We will always help the middle class and those working hard to join it. We will get through this pandemic together by taking care of our health and our economy.
Jagmeet Singh NDP Burnaby South, BC
Mr. Speaker, I spoke with Jennifer and Kane, Dominion grocery store workers who barely earn minimum wage and are struggling to get by, while large corporate grocery stores made massive profits off the pandemic. We are proposing a tax on excess profits made by wealthy corporations during the pandemic.
Does the Prime Minister stand with billionaire profiteers or does he stand with working people? Will the Prime Minister tax the excess profits made by wealthy corporations off the pandemic?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, we recognize the extraordinary front-line workers like Jennifer who every day help keep food on our shelves and keep our economy rolling even in the most difficult moments of the shutdown. That is why we stepped up on supports for workers, for small businesses, for families. We will continue to work to ensure that we are supporting Canadians through this pandemic and beyond.
In regard to the wealthy, the first thing we did was to raise taxes on the wealthy 1% and lower them for the middle class. Unfortunately, the NDP voted against that initiative.
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Mr. Speaker, today we found out that some Quebec schools have had to resort to using private firms to test their teachers for COVID and keep their students safe because the Prime Minister has failed to get rapid tests into their hands.
Our publicly funded health care system, which, to be very clear, the Conservative Party strongly supports, is breaking down because the Prime Minister has failed to do his job and get these tests into the hands of Canadians when other countries around the world did so months ago. Why?
Patty Hajdu LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, every step of the way we have worked with provinces and territories to make sure they have the tools, the financial support, the expertise and additional personnel to manage the outbreaks. We will continue to work with provinces like Ontario and Quebec, indeed all provinces and territories, to ensure they have what they need.
This is a complex situation. As the member knows, we have approved a number of rapid tests and we have been all along. We will make sure that the provinces and territories have equal access to those tests as soon as they arrive.
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Mr. Speaker, the government has done such a great job that some provinces have had to send tests to California to be processed. It has done such a great job that people are waiting 10 days for their results. Now we are seeing Quebec schools having to use private firms, against the notion of publicly funded health care in Canada, because of its failure to procure tests.
The government is deceiving Canadians. There are no rapid tests in the hands of Canadians, no widespread use and it is because of its failure and the minister's incompetence. When will it be in widespread use?
Patty Hajdu LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, it appears the member opposite is deceiving Canadians. In fact, we have had rapid tests in the field since the early months of COVID-19, supporting rural and remote communities and indigenous communities to make sure they have access to testing in a rapid and convenient way, because they are such fragile and vulnerable communities.
We spent billions of dollars supporting provinces and territories to boost up their capacity to test, trace and isolate. We have rapid response programs to go into hot spots to support provinces and territories with human resource challenges. We will continue to do whatever it takes to help Canadians through this.
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Mr. Speaker, to be clear, the minister considers a 10-day wait for tests to be rapid. It is ridiculous.
The reality is that somebody standing in line waiting for the results in any part of the country today is not going to have access to a rapid test because the minister has failed to do her job.
We know that these tests are not going to be available in widespread use until, at the earliest, next year. It is because the government has failed. We are going into Thanksgiving weekend. We are hearing warnings about an even greater outbreak because we do not have rapid tests.
When will these tests be in widespread use across the country?
Patty Hajdu LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, I reiterate my offer to have the member opposite briefed by the department to understand that testing is really only one aspect of containing COVID-19. Of course, testing is an important aspect, but provinces also need the opportunity to contact trace, to isolate, to ensure they protect vulnerable communities.
We have been working on this side of the House since day one. I encourage the member opposite to learn a bit more about how to contain these outbreaks.
Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
Mr. Speaker, the problem is that, since day one, the government has been dragging its feet on approving rapid tests for COVID-19.
As a result of this, Le Journal de Québec is reporting this morning that some schools in the Quebec City area are having to do business with a private company to get the results for some teachers who were tested. People in Quebec are having to wait eight, nine or 10 days for their results.
Why did this government take so long to evaluate rapid tests?
Patty Hajdu LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, I had an excellent conversation with my colleague, Minister Dubé.
We have talked about the supports that we will continue to offer to Québec and to the Québécois to ensure they have what they need as they combat the second wave.
We have approved rapid tests, we have rapid tests in the field and they are not the only solution to combatting COVID-19. We also have to ensure we have human resources to contact trace, to isolate close contacts. We are there for Quebec for those issues as well.
We will continue to work with the provinces and territories on this side, to meet with them on what they need to contain the virus.
Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
Mr. Speaker, like all Canadians, Mr. Dubé wants rapid tests. That way, teachers will not have to wait for days and days on end to get their results, and school boards will not be forced to pay for tests, as Le Journal de Québec reported this morning.
My question for the minister is very simple: Why is it that Japan had rapid tests way back in March and the United States had rapid tests as of August, but it took until last week for this government to finally wake up?
Patty Hajdu LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, as soon as people apply to Health Canada to get approval for rapid tests, we have been able to quickly turn around those approvals. In fact, the last test was in under 30 days.
We are continuing to work with industry to ensure that applicants apply to Canada to sell these rapid tests here. However, I will repeat that they are not a silver bullet to managing COVID-19. In fact, experts around the world have said that we need to have a robust strategy to contain the virus. That includes of course testing, but also contact tracing, also isolation.
We will stop at nothing to support provinces and territories to protect their citizens.
The Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota
I can appreciate the hon. members distancing themselves, but they do not have to talk loudly. The can put their masks on, go to the side and do it quietly. They do not have to shout across the aisle to their friends.
The hon. member for Banff—Airdrie.
Blake Richards Conservative Banff—Airdrie, AB
Mr. Speaker, October 15 marks Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, a difficult day for many families across Canada. Parents grieving the loss of a child deserve compassion from their government. Certainly, no grieving parent should ever have to navigate a cold, heartless bureaucracy.
The HUMA report called “Supporting Families After the Loss of an Infant Child” sets a clear path forward to ensure that parents do not suffer any undue financial or emotional distress as a result of government programming. That report has been gathering dust for nearly two years. When are the Liberals finally going to take action?
Ahmed Hussen LiberalMinister of Families
Mr. Speaker, I want to assure the hon. member that our policies are informed with making sure that children have the best possible start in life. We have re-engineered our programs to make sure that the processes to obtain them are easy and efficient for people. We have hired a number of agents to make sure that people's questions about government programs are answered. We have also tasked thousands of trusted community liaison officers to go out into the community to bring people into government programs and get the benefits that they are eligible for, instead of having them miss out on those benefits, year in and year out.
Rhéal Fortin Bloc Rivière-du-Nord, QC
Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Bloc Québécois asked the Prime Minister an excellent question. How much money did the Liberals pull in as a result of these meetings with the president of Wealth One Bank and Wei Wei?
We know they resulted in a $1 million donation to the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation as well as a fine statue of the Prime Minister's father. We know that, in 2016, 70% of funds raised in the Prime Minister's riding in Montreal came from Toronto and Vancouver. We also know that Wei Wei donated at least $2,000 to the Liberal Party. That is what we know.
How much did the Liberals pull in as a result of these meetings with Wei Wei and the president of Wealth One Bank? Can someone tell us?
Dominic LeBlanc LiberalPresident of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs
Mr. Speaker, I would invite my honourable Bloc Québécois colleague to adopt the Liberal Party's practices and to go above and beyond the very strict election financing act. As he knows very well, the Liberal Party decided to do more than the bare minimum required by the Canada Elections Act by adding, for example, increased transparency, inviting journalists to attend our fundraising activities, not conducting activities in secret as do the Bloc Québécois and the Conservatives. These facts should temper my hon. colleague's indignation.
Rhéal Fortin Bloc Rivière-du-Nord, QC
Mr. Speaker, we knew that the Liberals were going above and beyond the Canada Elections Act. The minister did not need to tell us that.
A banker who was hoping for a favourable decision from the federal government was able to meet with the Prime Minister for $1,500. An individual who was running an illegal casino where prostitution was likely taking place was able to meet with the Prime Minister personally for $1,500. All people have to do is roll out the red carpet and pay the maximum set out in the act to meet with the Prime Minister personally and make their sales pitch. What is more, we just learned that it seems people can go beyond the $1,500 limit.
In 2020, is that really the political fundraising approach the Liberals are proposing?
Dominic LeBlanc LiberalPresident of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs
Mr. Speaker, we are proposing that parties go above and beyond the limits of the Canada Elections Act when fundraising. That is something that the Bloc Québécois and the Conservatives hesitated to do.
From the start, the Prime Minister has been very clear. We are raising funds for the Liberal Party at events where the media is invited. We are being more transparent by releasing the list of those who attended soon after the event. That is something that the Bloc Québécois and the Conservatives have refused to do to date. We invite them to join us.
Marilène Gill Bloc Manicouagan, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois is certainly not above the law.
I think that what my colleagues from La Prairie and Rivière-du-Nord were getting at is that it is important to bring back public funding for political parties, which is how it is done in Quebec and how it was done in Ottawa before the big parties smelled a lucrative opportunity. If we had public funding, politicians would not be getting their picture taken with crooks to fund campaigns. They would not be getting their picture taken in blatant conflicts of interest with bankers expecting favours. When Quebeckers see those pictures, they see that political decisions can be bought.
Are the Liberals opposed to public funding because cronyism pays?
Pablo Rodriguez LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I am not surprised to hear the Bloc Québécois talk about campaign funding and fundraising, because that is what its members have been doing since last week: preparing for an election. Their leader was very clear. They want an election right away or next spring at the latest.
Here is what I want to know. Why are they so focused on triggering an election in the midst of a pandemic, when we should be here for our businesses, for our seniors, for our families, for our children, for people who are losing their jobs and for workers? They are talking about an election, but we are here for all Canadians.
Luc Berthold Conservative Mégantic—L'Érable, QC
Mr. Speaker, in the middle of a pandemic, when restaurants are refusing to fill people's reusable bottles and we have to avoid sharing items for fear of spreading the virus, the Liberal government announces that we must ban safe packaging. What will we do at the grocery store? Will we have to bring our own plates? The 25 workers at EB Packaging in East Broughton will not have anything to put on their plates, because they might lose their jobs. That is the reality.
Why does the Prime Minister want to risk the health of Canadians and jeopardize the livelihoods of 23,000 Quebeckers?
Jonathan Wilkinson LiberalMinister of Environment and Climate Change
Mr. Speaker, Canadians are well aware of the consequences of plastic pollution. They are tired of seeing plastic waste littering their parks, streets and shorelines. They want action.
We have adopted a comprehensive approach to get to zero plastic waste by 2030, and we are committed to banning harmful single-use plastics by 2021. We will continue to take action with Canadians so that more plastic stays in our economy and out of our environment.