Debates of Feb. 27th, 2020

Public Safety

[Alain Rayes, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, every time Canada has gone through a difficult situation in the past five years, our Prime Minister has shown no leadership. Look at his trip to the Aga Khan's island, his trip to India, SNC-Lavalin, the coronavirus, the CN strike, the energy projects in western Canada and now the rail blockades.

Running a country when things are going well is easy, but when there is adversity, it is much harder.

When will the Prime Minister show leadership and deal with the rail blockades once and for all?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister showed leadership last week when he clearly said that the injunction must be obeyed, the law must be upheld and the barricades must come down.

I want to congratulate the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, who is in British Columbia today to work with her provincial counterpart and with Wet'suwet'en representatives.

[Alain Rayes, Conservative, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this is week four of the rail blockades, and no progress has been made. One day, the Prime Minister blames the Conservatives. The next, he blames Stephen Harper. It is the UN's fault, the provinces' fault, everyone's fault except the Prime Minister's. However, he has been in power for five years. The reality is that Canadians are fed up. They want a Prime Minister who shows leadership.

When will he be able to give us a date when all the railways will reopen?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I want to point out that the Prime Minister demonstrated leadership last Friday when he said that the barricades must come down. I also want to point out the leadership being shown today in British Columbia by my dear colleague, our Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations. People can talk, but we are the ones doing the work now.

Indigenous Affairs

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it took 22 days for the government to finally meet with the Wet'suwet'en chiefs. This is the only way to remove the blockade in Kahnawake, and I hope that the Prime Minister realizes that, because I was worried yesterday. I heard him say that they have great faith in the Sûreté du Québec and in the community to respond to their own crisis. I could not even make that up. This crisis was not caused by the Government of Quebec or by the Sûreté du Québec. This crisis was caused by a lack of leadership on the part of the Canadian government and the Prime Minister. Everyone knows that.

Will the government deal with the crisis at its source, in British Columbia?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I want to take this opportunity to respond to the Bloc Québécois' question by pointing out that we are all working together to address an issue that is very important to the Canadian economy, and that issue is NAFTA. I want to thank all the Bloc Québécois members for their willingness to work with our government on the new NAFTA. The Bloc has proposed better control over aluminum, and we have had some productive conversations.

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I really appreciate the Deputy Prime Minister's comments. I would like her to repeat them more often in front of the media.

In order to resolve this crisis, the Bloc Québécois proposed that the RCMP leave the Wet'suwet'en territory and that the work stop. Strangely enough, the work has just stopped. This means that if you had listened to the Bloc Québécois from the outset, as you did with aluminum, perhaps things would be better off today. That is not what happened. Now at the 22nd day, the narrative is still that the problem might get resolved.

When will you understand that the solution to the Kahnawake problem is in British Columbia?

[The Speaker, Anthony Rota]

I want to remind the hon. member that the Speaker had nothing to do with aluminum. When asking questions, members must address the Speaker, not other members directly.

The hon. Deputy Prime Minister.

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to point out to my colleague across the way that the answers given in the House are also the answers given to the media. I think all hon. members understand that.

With respect to the blockades, I want to point out that our Prime Minister demonstrated tremendous leadership last week. I also want to highlight the very important work that my colleague, our Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, is doing today in British Columbia.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the hereditary chiefs have been asking for a meeting with the Prime Minister since January 10, over a month ago, and the Prime Minister refuses to act. We are in a national crisis.

The question is simple: When will the Prime Minister meet with the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP leader is also a B.C. MP, so I am sure he will be glad to know that we are working on this issue in very close collaboration with Premier Horgan, with whom I spoke at length last night. No premier has worked harder on reconciliation, and we should all acknowledge that. We should also all support the Province of B.C.'s efforts to get important natural resource projects built in Canada.

When it comes to meeting with the Wet'suwet'en leadership, that is what my colleague is doing today.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, on January 29, 2020, the Prime Minister met with Suncor Energy; on December 11, 2019, Novartis Pharmaceuticals; on November 14, Enbridge. In the past couple of months, when wealthy and powerful corporations came knocking, the Prime Minister found the time to be with them. However, when indigenous people ask to meet the Prime Minister, he ignores their requests.

If the Prime Minister can find the time to meet with powerful corporations during a national crisis, why can he not find the time to meet with the hereditary chiefs of Wet'suwet'en?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, let me be very clear and say something that is incontrovertible. Our Prime Minister has worked harder, and more sincerely, toward reconciliation than any Prime Minister in Canada's history. When it comes to a meeting with the Wet'suwet'en hereditary leadership my colleague, the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, is in B.C. with her B.C. counterpart doing exactly that.

Natural Resources

[David Yurdiga, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Mr. Speaker, as a result of the government's anti-oil and gas policies, Teck withdrew its application. Thousands of families and many indigenous communities are devastated and very concerned for their future. Investment in the oil sands is now seen as a non-starter with the current Liberal government. When will the Prime Minister end his attack on Alberta and let us create the needed jobs?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, the decision made by Teck Resources in the letter that the Teck CEO sent to me clearly demonstrates the need for all levels of government, and indeed all members in the House, to be working together to deliver climate action and clean growth. We need to take action on climate change in order to move forward with business certainty. It is something that the investment community has told us is extremely important, and it is something that all Canadians are telling us is extremely important. We should be fighting climate change, not each other.

Transport

[James Cumming, Conservative, Edmonton Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I introduced my private member's bill, Bill C-229, which asks the government to repeal its west coast shipping ban. This bill sends a clear message to investors that Canada is open for business, and that my Conservative colleagues and I continue to advocate increased access to markets for our oil and gas sector.

Will the Prime Minister commit today to support Bill C-229, and show that he is finally listening to Alberta and the rest of the western provinces?

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, our commitment to safe shipping on the west coat of this country is a very strong one because we realize to what level it is important to get our products to Asian and other international markets. That is why we are very proud of the oceans protection plan, which contains more than 50 measures to make our marine shipping industry safer and our waters more safe. That is why we are also involving our first nations, and we are very proud of that. We are going to continue to work in that direction.

Natural Resources

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

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to natural resources, the government has successfully applied its scorched-earth policy. Unfortunately, that is bad for Canada.

Under the Liberals, seven major projects have been cancelled, investments worth $150 billion have evaporated, and Canada's energy sector has lost 200,000 jobs. That is what four years of Liberal action adds up to.

Quebec buys 10.6 billion litres of oil, 62% of which comes from the United States. The Liberals and the Bloc might enjoy helping Donald Trump, but we would rather help Canadians.

Why does the Liberal government not take its cue from Barack Obama, who secured his country's energy independence?

[Seamus O'Regan, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, growing our economy and protecting the environment is important work that transcends any single project. Our government is committed to working with Alberta and the energy resource sector to move good projects forward.

[Kerry-Lynne Findlay, Conservative, South Surrey—White Rock, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Teck's withdrawal is a tragedy for Canada, not just Alberta. There are 7,000 jobs lost and billions of investment dollars gone. There is a serious disconnect between the Prime Minister and western Canadians. Yesterday, he said Alberta continues to politically resist after Teck engaged first nations and passed all standards. His contempt for hard-working Canadians hurts.

When will the Prime Minister stop blaming Alberta and support industry-leading projects that are socially and environmentally responsible?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, I think it would be helpful to quote the Calgary Chamber of Commerce, which recently said:

We need real, decisive action on climate change, with tangible outcomes and conviction. The success of our businesses, the well-being of our families, and our strength as a country all depend on it.

We agree, and we are working with all orders of government to ensure a sustainable resource sector and to take aggressive action on climate change.

[Chris Warkentin, Conservative, Grande Prairie—Mackenzie, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister regularly attacks elected officials from the Province of Alberta, but yesterday he let his contempt for all Albertans slip out of his mouth yet again. He was justifying his paternalistic, Laurentian elite, Ottawa-knows-best attack on Alberta's energy sector, falsely claiming that Alberta has done nothing to address climate change. False statements attacking Albertans pour gasoline on the flames of a national unity crisis that he, himself, ignited.

Why is the Prime Minister wilfully ignorant about what is happening in Alberta? Does he just want this crisis to burn on?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I am very aware, and our government is very aware, of the pain and indeed, among many people, the despair in Alberta today.

I want to be very clear that when it comes to the oil and gas sector that our government is clear in its support. We understand that the oil and gas sector in Canada is the source of hundreds of thousands of well-paying, often blue-collar jobs, across our great country. It is not right to play with national unity.

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

Mr. Speaker, those are just words. Yesterday in an interview, the natural resources minister was challenged regarding his government's lack of an emissions plan.

When asked when one would be unveiled, he repeated the word “soon” five times in 25 seconds. He acknowledged that investors do not currently “know what direction we're heading in and what the rules are”. He was not kidding. This is something that has been glaringly obvious to everyone but the Liberal government for the past four years.

How many more billions of dollars in investment and tens of thousands of jobs need to be lost before the Liberal government finally has a coherent plan?

[Seamus O'Regan, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, it is very clear that one of the things we have to do is develop a net-zero plan. That has to be done with the provinces and territories, and it has to be done with industry. Indeed, it has to be done very soon because the investment climate all around the world is changing. It is changing.

They are going to jurisdictions that take climate change seriously and we need to make sure that we get—