Debates of Feb. 24th, 2020

NHL Goalie Debut

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and congratulate one of Whitby's finest, David Ayres. This past Saturday night, Dave, a coach with the Whitby Wildcats and a Zamboni driver, donned a Toronto Marlies mask after being called up as the emergency backup goalie for the Carolina Hurricanes.

That night, Dave went on to make eight saves, helped lead the Hurricanes to a 6-3 victory over the Maple Leafs and became an overnight sensation. He became the oldest goalie in NHL history to win his regular season debut at age 42. Being a lifelong Leafs fan, I cannot remember a time when I was so proud of the outcome when the Leafs lost. I look forward to seeing Dave in a Leafs uniform next time.

Dave makes Whitby proud. On behalf of the people of Whitby and all members of this House, I congratulate Dave on his NHL debut and his performance Saturday night.

Public Safety

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the rail blockades have exposed the extent of the Prime Minister's weakness. He could have used the tools available to him to show that we, as a country, are governed by the rule of law.

Rather, he chose to side with the radical protesters who appropriated the first nations' claims. All those who dare suggest that the law be enforced are condemned.

Will the Prime Minister do things differently to stop these illegal blockades in the future?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, it was important to continue to pursue the work of reconciliation even in difficult situations and that is exactly what we did when we said that it was enough and the blockades needed to come down.

That is precisely the path we chose to a peaceful resolution by ensuring at the same time that essential commodities are shipped across the country and there are no shortages of what matters most to Canadians.

We will continue to work on reconciliation in a committed and positive manner.

The Economy

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Except, Mr. Speaker, these illegal blockades had nothing to do with reconciliation. If people in Ontario want to support reconciliation efforts, then they would listen to the members of the Wet'suwet'en First Nation who support the Coastal GasLink project. The problem is that there is now a clear playbook for radical activists to follow, and they know that the Prime Minister will do literally nothing as the economy is brought to its knees.

Knowing that there are future projects that may be proposed, what will the Prime Minister do differently in the future to prevent the types of layoffs and economic damage that these radical activists have caused?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, with his very first sentence in that question he demonstrated that the Leader of the Opposition does not understand anything about reconciliation.

People in this House, Conservative Party leaders, do not get to pick who speaks for indigenous peoples. That needs to be done in a thoughtful, engaged way, and we demonstrated through this process that we can both protect reconciliation and protect Canada's economy as we move forward.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Anthony Rota]

Before I go on to the next question, I want to remind hon. members that certain individuals have strong voices, and I do not want to have to call them out. It is very obvious who they are, and I would point that out.

The Leader of the Opposition.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister was willing to break the law, bend the rules and even fire his Attorney General when he was trying to do a favour for his corporate friends at SNC-Lavalin, but when thousands of energy sector jobs are at stake and when dozens of first nations communities will benefit from these energy projects, the Prime Minister does literally nothing.

Why is it that when it comes to his corporate, crony, insider friends, the Prime Minister is willing to break the law, but when it comes to providing hope and opportunity to thousands of Canadians, the Prime Minister refuses to uphold the law?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians expect their government to stand up for jobs, and that is exactly what we have done every step of the way.

What the member opposite simply does not understand is that we cannot have a plan for jobs if we do not have a plan to fight climate change. It is about time he paid attention to that.

Natural Resources

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, when the Prime Minister lets radical activists shut down the rail network and anti-energy activists write his government policies, the market certainly gets the message. Oil and gas projects are being built all over the world right now, just not in Canada under his watch. The reason is the current Liberal government.

Expenditures in the energy sector are $42 billion lower than in the previous government, and the Prime Minister has overseen over $100 billion in cancelled projects. Does the Prime Minister understand that when it comes to ensuring that the environment and the economy go hand in hand, he is doing it wrong?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the members opposite continue to refuse to understand that the world is changing, that we can no longer build a strong economy if we are not fighting climate change at the same time. That is something that members opposite have refused—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Anthony Rota]

I would remind hon. members of the loyal opposition that they did ask a question and they are waiting for an answer. Shouting is not going to make the answer any different.

The right hon. Prime Minister.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, global investors have indicated that they need to see strong action on climate change. Canadians from coast to coast to coast want to see good jobs, but want to see stronger action on climate change.

It is only the Conservative Party of Canada and its provincial counterparts that are standing against climate action and hurting our economy and jobs because of it.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister does not understand that these decisions are a repudiation of his policies.

Teck Frontier was told that it had to lower its emissions, so it came up with industry-leading standards and had the lowest intensity of emissions in the sector. It was told that it had to consult with indigenous communities. It did so and had partnership agreements with the 14 first nations communities that were affected by it. It was told that the Government of Alberta's industrial emitters policy would have to reach equivalency. That government granted that equivalency just last week.

What else was Teck Frontier supposed to do to get a project built in this country?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives continue to say that this project did not move forward because of this government's leadership on climate. Let me point out what Teck itself actually said. Teck—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Anthony Rota]

I want to remind the members that intimidating someone who is speaking is not a good way to have a friendly back and forth. I remind everyone not to shout during question period.

The right hon. Prime Minister.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

It is okay, Mr. Speaker. The members are not intimidating me.

Teck said clearly, “We support strong actions to enable the transition to a low carbon future.” Teck is also “strong supporters of Canada's action” on climate pricing “and other climate policies such as legislated caps for oil sands emissions.”

It is the Conservative Party polarizing the debate on climate change that is putting our economy at risk.

Indigenous Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, today cannot be business as usual. In this bizarre process of public negotiations, since there was really no other option, first nations representatives said that if the RCMP would withdraw from the territory, which does not really appear to be the case, and if the work were halted, there is a good chance all the blockades would be lifted. The Prime Minister knew this on Friday. Nothing was for certain, but it was worth a try.

Why is the Prime Minister so intent on using police intervention to put an end to the blockades?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, we worked extremely hard to achieve a peaceful resolution to this issue, but we cannot allow these blockades to continue. The RCMP made the decision to withdraw from a command post at kilometre 29, at the request of the Wet'suwet'en. Unfortunately, despite that gesture, the blockades were not lifted. That is why we had to proceed as we did.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is important to do the right thing, and to do it the right way. The Prime Minister should have resolved this. He probably could have resolved it.

Will the Prime Minister acknowledge that, with what we have seen today, he might have actually made matters worse and prolonged the crisis, rather than resolving it?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we demonstrated a positive commitment to reconciliation and dialogue for 10 days. When it became clear that the indigenous communities were not ready to negotiate in good faith with us, we changed our position. I must point out, however, that of course all police decisions are made independently.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, we are in a national crisis and the Prime Minister has failed to provide leadership. First, he said that it was not his responsibility. Then, he accepted responsibility and called for patience. However, after three days, his patience ran out.

When will the Prime Minister accept that it is his responsibility to reduce tensions and take action to that end?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, we recognized that national leadership was required and that is exactly what we demonstrated by bringing together people for the negotiations and seeking to resolve this crisis peacefully. Unfortunately, when we saw that the negotiations were not being conducted in good faith, we had to take another position. However, I would like to highlight that we remain deeply committed to walking a path of reconciliation. We will continue down that path, but we will do so in a way that helps Canadians across the country.