Debates of Nov. 4th, 2020

Regional Economic Development

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Iqaluit post office is one of the busiest in Canada, as Nunavummiut must order many items online. As expected, the pandemic has boosted this demand, and it has actually flooded the post office with more than it can handle. Residents of Iqaluit have been calling on the government to make upgrades to this facility for a number of years.

Can the Prime Minister explain why Nunavut continues to be underserved by his government?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, after years of the previous prime minister using the north for photo ops, we have made historic investments to support communities of the north, recognizing that northern sovereignty happens not with a few photo ops, but with real, substantive investments in the Canadians and people who live there.

That is why we will continue to work in partnership with northerners to move forward on a northern Arctic policy framework to ensure there are investments in infrastructure, investments in supports for the north and historic investments in food security and airline security. These are the things that matter to Canadians.

[The Speaker, Anthony Rota]

Before continuing, I want to remind hon. members that when there is heckling going on back and forth, it is hard on the interpreters' ears. I am sure nobody in this room wants to hurt the interpreters.

The hon. member for Rivière-du-Nord.

Justice

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is interfering in judicial appointments.

Journalist Joël-Denis Bellavance has evidence that, in 2017, someone in the PMO contacted colleagues at the justice department at least four times to sing the praises of certain candidates. That is right, I said four times. Radio-Canada has evidence that, in 2019, a member of the Minister of Justice's staff shared concerns about what the PMO was requiring prior to judicial appointments. He even added that it created the potential for a scandal.

We know the Prime Minister is interfering in judicial appointments, but the big question is: Why?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have strengthened the role of the independent judicial advisory committees. We produced a more rigorous, open and accountable system. Appointments are based on merit and on the needs of the courts and each candidate's area of expertise.

We are proud of the highly qualified jurists who have been appointed under our strengthened system. They are from different backgrounds and, yes, from different political affiliations. Of course we consult broadly. First, the advisory committee supplies its list of names, then the minister makes a recommendation, and then due diligence is carried out.

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister will not answer, but that is okay. We know why.

The Prime Minister is meddling in order to favour Liberal judges. His close advisors put pressure on the Department of Justice. His ministers are consulted, as the Minister of National Revenue was in 2018. His MPs are consulted, as former MP Nicolas Di Iorio was. Constituency staff are consulted, as was staff in the office of the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food in 2018. The Prime Minister, ministers, MPs, staff: the entire Liberal machine is involved in judicial appointments.

Has the Prime Minister invented a new concept, namely systemic patronage?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, all of our judicial appointments are based on merit.

We are proud of the extremely competent members of the legal profession who have been appointed since our improved system was introduced. Of course we consult widely. Due diligence is done after the minister has made his recommendation, which occurs after the judicial appointments advisory committee has provided a list of names.

Aerospace Industry

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Mr. Speaker, countries around the world have recognized the importance of airline companies. France has provided $22.7 billion in loans, subsidies and direct investments to its aerospace industry. Germany has provided $9 billion to its airline industry through recapitalization and loan guarantees. All of our allies understand that air transportation is a priority.

When will the Liberal government get serious about supporting the aerospace industry?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we know that workers in Canadians businesses of all sizes are facing difficulties and economic uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic. We will continue to look at the specific problems that COVID-19 is causing to all industrial sectors struggling with unprecedented financial difficulties because of the pandemic.

We have always stood up for workers in the aerospace industry and will continue to do so.

Airline Industry

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Mr. Speaker, in one year, Canadian carriers have lost 14% of transatlantic capacity share. U.S. carriers are operating at 50% capacity, while our Canadian carriers are operating at only 25%. Leakage to the U.S. market is expected to grow as Canadians go to the U.S. for more inexpensive flights.

When will the government provide the airline sector with a plan so that Canada will not continue to flail in the international market?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, allow me to begin by pointing out that we are in a historic pandemic right now, and we have put in measures in Canada designed to protect Canadians.

We have heard the Conservative members opposite say, a few times, that we should follow the example of the Americans in how they are managing the pandemic. That is simply not what we are going to do.

We stepped up with over $1.1 billion in support for Canada's airlines. We will continue to support them through this pandemic, through many of the measures we are voting on a little later this week. These are things we are doing to both support our industries and keep Canadians safe, unlike what the Conservatives seem to want us to do.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Mr. Speaker, finally this week, the government announced funding for the airline sector for only one region of Canada, leaving all other regions across Canada with reduced or eliminated service.

Flights from Fredericton to Halifax, Regina to Winnipeg and North Bay to Toronto have all been suspended. Other regions continue to wait for the government to act, wondering if their regional needs will ever be addressed.

Is this what regions can continue to expect as a response for this struggling sector, or will the government finally come up with a national, coordinated plan to help all regions of Canada?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I suggest that the member opposite should actually listen to her colleague who asked a really important question about supports for northern regions in this country.

We moved forward earlier this week with extra supports for northern carriers because that is a region that is particularly hard hit by the pandemic. We will continue to ensure that northerners who rely on air transportation to get food and basic supplies can continue to rely on that.

We have been there for Canadians right across the country from the very beginning. We will continue to be there for northerners and, indeed, for all Canadians.

Public Safety

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, last year, while Canadians were preparing themselves for the holidays, a then 10-year-old boy named Adam was wrongfully flagged as a possible security threat under the no-fly list. The Harper Conservatives, in a mad rush to promote themselves as tough, clumsily designed a system whereby people were flagged based on nothing more than their name. This unfortunately led to very public instances whereby young children simply travelling to watch a hockey game were singled out. We have heard from groups, such as the no-fly list kids, that the Conservatives' errors must be addressed.

Can the Prime Minister please inform the House when action will be taken to ensure that no more children will be falsely flagged?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, my thanks to my colleague for Scarborough Centre for the important question and for her advocacy on the file.

After being alerted to troubling incidents involving children members of the no-fly list kids, we assured concerned parents that we would work to prevent this from ever happening again. Today, I am pleased to announce that final provisions of the Secure Air Travel Act have come into force to deliver centralized screening and a Canadian travel number. We can all agree that 10-year-olds should not have to worry about being publicly singled out when trying to watch their favourite hockey team in action.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Mr. Speaker, over a year ago, the expert panel on money laundering in British Columbia estimated that over $40 billion is laundered annually in Canada. The panel also highlighted that there are serious federal gaps, specifically with FINTRAC. This is a national problem requiring federal action.

Canadian families are being priced out of certain real estate markets. My question to the Prime Minister today is: Has FINTRAC increased its reporting to law enforcement agencies, and what are the numbers?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we continue to work with British Columbia and all of our partners on fighting organized crime and money laundering. This is an issue that, as the member opposite said, has impacts right across the country and in various real estate markets particularly. That is why we have moved forward with the national housing strategy, increasing affordability for Canadians.

We will continue to work with Canadians, even as we combat organized crime and money laundering, making housing more affordable, making neighbourhoods stronger and continuing to support Canadians through this pandemic and beyond.

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Wetaskiwin, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government has had five years to address this serious issue that costs our country tens of billions of dollars a year and results in home ownership being out of reach for many Canadians. For every single full year that we were in power, we held a top-10 position in Transparency International's corruption perceptions index. This past year, Canada fell out of the top 10 for the first time since the last time the Liberals were in power.

When is the Prime Minister going to show real leadership to solve this growing problem?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I will highlight that unfortunately, because the member opposite brought up the Conservatives' time in office, I need to emphasize that they continued to cut resources for the RCMP to go after serious crimes like money laundering and organized crime.

We made investments to support our frontline police officers. We made investments to enable the RCMP to do more. We are working in partnership with British Columbia. We will continue to take very seriously these matters and we will continue to move forward on them.

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Wetaskiwin, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is stuck in the past, but the Transparency International report posted this year in 2020 is entitled, “Canada Falls from its Anti-Corruption Perch”. It highlights the SNC-Lavalin scandal, saying that, “Countries usually take the biggest hit on the [corruption perception index] CPI when long festering corruption issues come to light in explosive ways. But this can also be the best time for officials to roll up their sleeves and finally tackle the problems.”

This Prime Minister has literally made an art form of rolling up his sleeves. When is he going to move on to actually tackling the growing problem of money laundering?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as I said, after Conservatives cut investments in the RCMP, FINTRAC and the CRA, we actually made $172 million in investments. So, it is not just about rolling up our sleeves, it is about actually delivering for these agencies, whether it is the RCMP, FINTRAC or the CRA that can actually go after money laundering. Those are the investments we made tangibly when Conservatives made cuts.

COVID-19 Emergency Response

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

Mr. Speaker, the workers in my riding of Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle have continued receiving a pay cheque because of the Canada emergency wage subsidy. However, this financial support is supposed to end in December 2020.

Can the Prime Minister tell the House what our government plans on doing to ensure that workers will continue to receive this support as we face the second wave of the virus?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for this important question for the workers of Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle.

The wage subsidy has provided important job security for more than 3.7 million people in Canada, as we continue to fight COVID-19. With Bill C-9, we will extend the wage subsidy until June 2021 so that Canadian businesses will be in a strong position when we emerge from the crisis.

I hope that all members will join us and support the extension of this important program.

Indigenous Affairs

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Mr. Speaker, people are scared. After months of first nations doing everything they can to stay safe, there is a COVID-19 outbreak at the Keeyask work camp where there are hundreds of workers. Manitoba Hydro has not shut down the camp. It is not sharing information with first nations, and there are concerns that it is using questionable testing techniques. This could put our entire region at risk.

Will the Prime Minister intervene directly on behalf of first nations and northern people? Will he call for immediate action to stop the spread of COVID-19 at Keeyask and throughout our region?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are obviously concerned by the outbreak of COVID-19 cases at the Keeyask Generating Station and we are monitoring the situation closely. We expect work on the Manitoba Hydro project to follow public health advice to keep workers and indigenous communities safe. We will support first nations leadership in working with their partners on measures appropriate to protect their communities.