Debates of Feb. 21st, 2020

Rail Transportation

[Candice Bergen, Conservative, Portage—Lisgar, MB]

Mr. Speaker, by empowering and emboldening lawbreakers and bullies, the government is setting the stage for more disruption and anarchy in this country.

Our economy is being shut down. Jobs are being lost and the voices of first nations people are being ignored. The best interests of Canadians are being ignored. The Liberal inaction on this is disgraceful.

When will the Liberal government stand up for law and order, stand up for first nations rights, stand up for jobs and end these illegal blockades?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, we recognize that this situation is very troubling for the Canadian economy, for the movement of goods and people, and we want to see it resolved. That is in fact the consensus that emerged from the meeting with the provincial premiers.

We want to keep the discussions going in search of a peaceful solution, as quickly as possible. It is time for the blockades to end.

The Economy

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

Mr. Speaker, that is precisely the problem: The blockades are still in place because of the government's appalling inaction for over two weeks now. That is the reality.

Meanwhile, there has been a growing number of victims. Today we learned that the Société du chemin de fer de la Gaspésie must lay off half of its employees. That means 15 breadwinners who no longer have a job today and are not receiving a salary.

What is the government doing? What does the government have to say to those people?

My question is very simple. It is for the Minister of National Revenue, the member for Gaspésie—Les Îles-de-la-Madeleine.

What does she have to say to those breadwinners in the Gaspé who today have no job, apart from asking them to be patient?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, this is a situation we are taking very seriously. The entire government and all of cabinet are working on this issue. They are hard at work, every hour and every minute of the day, seeking a solution, a peaceful solution, to this conflict.

That means pursuing dialogue. However, we have been very clear that dialogue has its limits.

Now it surprises me to hear the member for Louis-Saint-Laurent offering Canadians such simple, or rather, such simplistic solutions to such a complex problem. He should be more cautious.

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

Mr. Speaker, the people of Gaspé have just seen that, sadly, their two-term duly elected MP is being muzzled by her government, which will not let her speak when she is asked a direct question that concerns Gaspé residents. The government will have to live with its choices.

Because of the choices that the government has made over the past two weeks, things are getting worse for farmers with every passing day. Marcel Groleau, the president of the UPA, wrote the Prime Minister a letter telling him that “it does not seem like the government intends to act quickly”.

Could the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, who is an MP from Quebec, tell Mr. Groleau what the government is going to do, instead of telling him to be patient?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, I would be happy to answer my colleague from Louis-Saint-Laurent in my capacity as chair of the Quebec caucus. We are deeply concerned about this situation. We want this conflict to be resolved quickly yet peacefully. The provincial premiers agree that the path forward is through dialogue. However, dialogue has its limits. That is our position. We are in the process of weighing all our options so we can defuse this crisis as quickly as possible.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister must take real action to resolve the rail crisis today. No one wants to see another photo of him sitting in a chair and chatting with his colleagues. We want to see him on the ground, outdoors, talking to indigenous chiefs. We want him to confirm that there are no longer any RCMP officers on the Wet'suwet'en territory and that the pipeline project at the heart of the controversy will be put on hold while discussions take place.

Will the government finally take action?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has a cabinet that is seized with the situation and is working around the clock on an ongoing basis.

We all want peace. We all want to get rail traffic going across the country. Our Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and our Minister of Indigenous Services have stated that they are ready and willing to meet with the hereditary leadership at the earliest opportunity. With the B.C. RCMP's outreach to the chiefs yesterday, we hope this creates the ability to advance a peaceful resolution.

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, thousands of VIA Rail and CN workers have already received layoff notices because of the rail blockade.

Throughout Quebec, companies of all sizes, including Resolute Forest Products, are telling us that they too will have to lay off employees. The government must take action. Dialogue does not consist of sending letters; it should be carried out face-to-face by the Prime Minister and the chiefs, nation to nation.

What real action will the government take so that on Monday morning the crisis is behind us?

[Chris Bittle, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, we are fully aware of and deeply concerned about the impacts of the decision CN was forced to take and its consequent impact on VIA Rail, as well as the people who rely on freight rail and rail employees.

The department has been in constant communication with CN and CP. Furthermore, the Prime Minister has convened the incident response group with members of our team to discuss the situation and assess our path forward. All parties must engage in open and respectful dialogue to ensure the situation is resolved peacefully. We strongly urge the parties to do so.

Indigenous Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, less than three years ago the Prime Minister said, “No relationship is more important to Canada than the relationship with Indigenous Peoples.”

The Prime Minister has fallen a long way since then. Weeks ago, when we asked the Prime Minister to step up to de-escalate the situation in the Wet'suwet'en territories, he said it was not his problem.

It was then. It is now. When will he meet with the hereditary chiefs?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations]

Mr. Speaker, our government is seized with this matter. The Prime Minister has a cabinet that is working on the situation around the clock. We all want peace and we want to get rail traffic going across the country.

The Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and the Minister of Indigenous Services have stated that they are ready and willing to meet with the hereditary leadership at the earliest opportunity. With the B.C. RCMP's outreach to the chiefs yesterday, we hope this creates the ability to advance a peaceful resolution.

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, with all due respect, that was a lot of talking points from the member opposite, but not an answer to our question.

We will ask again. When will the Prime Minister meet with the hereditary chiefs?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to reiterate that we have a government that is seized with this matter. A number of ministers have been working around the clock to address the situation on an urgent basis. We will continue to do so in a diligent and urgent manner.

What is important is that we move forward at the same time to understand the long-term needs toward reconciliation. What is important is that we focus on ensuring we have a peaceful solution to this matter and at the same time ensuring our long-term relationship is maintained and restored.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Mr. Speaker, supplies of propane in eastern Canada are reaching a critical level and there is no reliable backup for businesses, farms and residences, including many seniors homes that need fuel.

Distributors are now rationing what is in stock as they deal with energy insecurity. Mere days of propane supply are on hand as the Prime Minister makes the precarious calculation that he can wait out the problem.

When will the Prime Minister finally take critical action and end the blockades or will he leave seniors out in the cold?

[Chris Bittle, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, we understand the important impacts that these blockades are having on many communities across the country. Rail transport is essential to many communities in the Atlantic provinces and in Quebec that rely on propane for their supplies.

We understand that the path forward to a sustainable resolution of the blockades is through dialogue, and this is the approach we are using. We are working tirelessly for a swift resolution to these blockades to ensure that essential goods can be delivered to our communities.

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Mr. Speaker, propane shortages in Quebec are forcing companies to ration propane supplies to hospitals and farms. Capital Propane, in Quebec City, says it is rationing what is left of its seven-day supply. While contingency plans are in place and businesses are turning to trucks, they say that these plans cannot make up for the losses caused by the blockades.

When will the Prime Minister take action to ensure that propane companies in Quebec do not have to choose between agriculture and patients?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, we understand that the current blockades are having a significant impact, particularly on propane supplies in the Atlantic provinces and Quebec.

The conclusion reached at yesterday's meeting between the provincial premiers and the Prime Minister is that dialogue must be our preferred option in order to resolve this situation not just over the short term, but also over the long term. It is also clear that dialogue does have its limits, and the blockades must be lifted as soon as possible, but in a peaceful way.

Public Safety

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

Mr. Speaker, given that we are talking about solutions, last Monday, 12 days after the start of the crisis, the RCMP commissioner was seen at the emergency meeting of the Prime Minister and the ministers. We can therefore assume that they discussed possible action to take down the blockades.

Did the Prime Minister give the RCMP any instructions at all?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we respect the independence of the RCMP with regard to the management of its operations and its decisions, and I invite my colleagues opposite to familiarize themselves with the act governing relations between the RCMP and government.

I also invite the member for Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles to turn around and speak to his colleague from Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, who once was the public safety minister. When he was minister, he shouted far and wide that the independence of the RCMP must be respected. Our government respects the independence of the RCMP.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his answer. I would like to take this opportunity to tell him that, yes, directives can be given, even though the government has been saying the opposite from the outset.

Are we to believe that the Prime Minister asked the RCMP at the meeting not to do anything?

[Joël Lightbound, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, the RCMP has it own procedures for dealing with this type of situation, as does the Sûreté du Québec and the Ontario Provincial Police.

On May 13, 2015, our hon. colleague, the member for Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, said that he had full confidence in the judgment of the RCMP and that he respected the RCMP's operational independence. The position of the Government of Canada has not changed since 2015 when he was the public safety minister.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the government seems to think that the only way these blockades will come to an end is by giving the blockaders whatever they want by conceding to all their demands. One gets more of what one rewards.

If the government gives in to all the demands of the law-breakers, it will get more law-breaking. Every project in the country will be held hostage by those willing to stand on highways, at airports and in front of trains.

How are we ever going to restore lawfulness and development in the country if the government makes concessions to reward those who have broken the law?

[Chris Bittle, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, we fully understand the significant impacts these blockades are having on the economy, small businesses and farmers. We are with the railway employees who are facing uncertainty.

We understand that the path forward to a sustainable resolution of the blockades is through dialogue, and that is the approach we are taking.

We are hoping for a swift resolution to ensure that Canadians affected by these blockades can return to work and that businesses can get their goods to market.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the government says that it understands the impact of these illegal blockades. Who else understands the impact? The law-breakers. They know the damage they are doing and they know the government is working to reward that damage.

Every interest group in the country that wants to stop development or secure other self-serving concessions is watching carefully to find out what incentives the government is building in for that kind of lawless behaviour.

Is the government really going to reward lawlessness and invite more of it?