Debates of Feb. 3rd, 2020

National Suicide Prevention Week

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this is the 30th National Suicide Prevention Week and this year's theme is, "Talking about suicide saves lives". The objective of this prevention week is to rally the public to change the culture around suicide by raising awareness among citizens and decision-makers and also promoting resources to help. I want to take this opportunity to recognize the work of all mental health workers, which has resulted in a decrease in suicides in Quebec.

Nevertheless, 12 in 100,000 people still take this fatal step and 75% of them are men. Twenty years ago, we believed that there was nothing we could do about suicide. Now we know that it is a preventable cause of death. Every suicide is a failure on the part of our society. The first thing each one of us must do is talk openly about suicide and, above all, listen.

Black History Month

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Speaker, Black History Month is a time to celebrate, recognize and remember the significant contributions made by black Canadians to build our great country. From Hogan's Alley in Vancouver to Africville north of Halifax, black Canadians have a rich culture and generations-long history and have persevered through adversity and discrimination to thrive in Canada.

Our party is home to many trailblazers who have served our country with distinction, like Lincoln Alexander, Canada's first black member of Parliament, cabinet minister and Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. Closer to home, the 2019 Manitoba provincial election saw three MLAs of black heritage elected to the legislature for the very first time, including my friend and former colleague, Audrey Gordon, MLA for Southdale. Their elections are points of pride for Manitoba's strong black Canadian communities.

I will give a special acknowledgement to my constituent Devon Clunis, who rose through the ranks of the Winnipeg Police Service over his 29-year career to become Canada's first police chief of black heritage.

My colleagues and I look forward to celebrating Black History Month across this country.

[Greg Fergus, Liberal, Hull—Aylmer, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as you know, February is Black History Month. This is a great opportunity to celebrate and recognize the contributions black Canadians have made to our great country.

History is not static, and awareness is the only way that history can remain fluid. For example, did members know that in 1800, Philemon Wright, the so-called founder of our national capital region, was accompanied by London Oxford and his family? As we can see, the contributions of black Canadians are well known in Canada. Our history is full of such examples.

Our history is full of contributions by black Canadians, and I urge all Canadians and parliamentarians to celebrate Black History Month.

Happy Black History Month to one and all.

News Media Industry

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Canadian Heritage proposed the creation of new regulations for the media and the way news is disseminated online. He went as far as to say that the government was going to define what sources of information are trustworthy and issue licences to the media. When faced with the public's outrage, the minister only created more confusion.

Can the Prime Minister confirm that these ideas will never see the light of day on his watch?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we believe in a strong, free and independent press.

The report we received proposes to exempt news media from licensing requirements. I want to be unequivocal: We will not impose licensing requirements on news organizations, nor will we regulate news content.

Our focus is on ensuring that Canadians have access to high-quality, credible news. We are currently studying the recommendations of this report.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four was supposed to be a cautionary tale about the evils of big government, not an instruction manual for the Prime Minister.

It is no wonder that Canadians are suspicious about this. This is the same Prime Minister who has admiration for China's basic dictatorship; the same Prime Minister who heaped praise on Fidel Castro, a man who was responsible for the deaths of millions; and of course, he put Jerry Dias on a panel to decide which news organizations will get cash.

In today's press conference, the minister actually said that media organizations—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The right hon. Prime Minister.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we believe in a strong, free and independent press. The third party report we received proposes to exempt news media from licensing requirements. I want to be unequivocal: We will not impose licensing requirements on news organizations, nor will we regulate news content. Our focus is on ensuring—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I want to remind hon. members that it is one question at a time. Therefore, while someone is giving an answer, we cannot throw questions across and expect answers. Let us try to keep this as orderly as possible.

The right hon. Prime Minister.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as always, our focus is on ensuring Canadians have access to diverse, high-quality and credible news. We are currently studying the recommendations of this report.

The Economy

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, it is understandable why the Liberals would want to control the news because the news is getting increasingly bleak about the government's economic performance. Forecasts are consistently being downgraded and the Prime Minister keeps moving the yardstick on how to measure his own mismanagement. First, the promise was to have a small, temporary deficit. When that did not work out, then it was going to be that the debt-to-GDP ratio never changed. Now, his new justification is that the country's credit rating is still okay. That is like saying that the credit card company keeps increasing the limit.

When will the Prime Minister realize that this is a recipe for disaster?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite wants to talk about measurements. How about over a million new jobs created over the past four years? How about close to a million Canadians lifted out of poverty? How about 300,000-plus kids lifted out of poverty?

As opposed to the stubborn years of low growth under the Harper Conservatives, we have invested in our communities, grown our economy, and created opportunities and a real and fair chance for Canadians to succeed. That is what this government has done.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the facts are exactly the opposite. Under our government, we saw growth in the private sector. Under the current government, we see growth in wasteful government spending. We look at our partners around the world and growth is higher in over half the G7 countries than it is here at home in Canada. The Parliamentary Budget Officer has confirmed that the billions booked in infrastructure spending did not have a single bit of impact on the GDP.

When will the Prime Minister realize that a high-tax, wasteful-spending agenda will hurt Canada's economy?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives consistently try to twist the truth, but the reality is that we lowered taxes for the middle class, which was the very first thing we did, and raised taxes on the wealthiest 1%. We also moved forward, as promised, as our first thing in this new mandate, with lowering taxes ever further for the middle class.

The average Canadian family is $2,000 better off today than they were under Stephen Harper, and it is because we choose to invest in Canadians and invest in our future.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, real wage growth was up under the previous Conservative government. Wages are barely keeping pace with inflation. GDP growth is barely keeping pace with population growth. Foreign investment is down. Bankruptcies and insolvencies are up.

However, it is good news if one is a well-connected Liberal insider. We have now learned that Mastercard's senior lobbyist is a former Liberal adviser who made numerous contributions to the Liberal Party.

Can the Prime Minister confirm that Mastercard's lobbyist and its connections to the Liberal Party helped it get the $50-million grant from Canadian taxpayers?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, this investment is an investment in Canadians' welfare and Canadian jobs. It supports a new, world-class cybersecurity centre in Vancouver. It will create hundreds of good jobs and protect Canadians from cyberthreats in an increasingly digital world.

Just in September, someone said, “It is vital, that the government adopt new policies and keep up with technology to make sure that Canadians—their money and their personal information—is protected.” Who said that? It was the Leader of the Opposition.

Natural Resources

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government has less than a month to say yes or no to Frontier, Teck's mega-polluting megaproject. The project means 260,000 barrels a day and four million tonnes of greenhouse gases a year for 40 years. That is what is on the table. Many trees will have to be planted if we still want to meet our greenhouse gas reduction targets. The government has a choice to make.

The question is simple: Will it choose the Frontier project or the fight against climate change?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians elected us to protect the environment, grow the economy, advance reconciliation and create good jobs. They also expect fair and thorough environmental assessments.

Cabinet will be making its decision on this project soon, based on the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, 2012. We are considering a number of factors, including our commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, promoting reconciliation, creating good jobs for the middle class, and growing the economy while protecting the environment.

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, unless the Prime Minister is an environmentalist in name only, he should drop the rhetoric and start taking real action. He should have the courage of his alleged convictions. Rejecting the Teck Frontier project would be a good start. Approving it would be a total disaster. This project will release 160 megatonnes of greenhouse gases over its 40-year life span. That is twice the amount of greenhouse gases that Quebec emits in a year.

Will this government say no to a project that is harmful to Quebec, harmful to Canada and harmful to the entire planet?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I always find it a little ironic to hear the Bloc Québécois talking about action over rhetoric. We on this side of the House are taking action. We are banning single-use plastics. We are putting a price on pollution across the country. We are protecting a record amount of land and ocean areas to ensure a better future. We are making progress towards our Paris targets, and we are going to keep protecting the environment while creating jobs across the country.

That is the kind of action we on this side of the House are taking.

Foreign Affairs

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this government is bragging about Canada's reputation on the world stage but is refusing to condemn Trump's new Middle East policy, which will legitimize the illegal occupation of Palestinian territories, exacerbate tensions and complicate a peaceful solution. Rather than denouncing the plan, the Liberals want to study it. There is nothing to study. This plan will not help the two parties negotiate lasting peace or put an end to the injustices faced by Palestinians.

When will the government denounce Donald Trump's new policy?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's policy regarding the Middle East has been established for a long time and is very clear. We are committed to a two-state solution negotiated directly by the two parties involved. That takes a safe and democratic Israel and a safe and democratic Palestine. We are still working toward this goal in a reasonable way with our partners in the region and throughout the world.

The Environment

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, time and time again, we learn more about the Liberal government's will to bend over backward for large corporations instead of working for Canadians. The U.S. has levelled Volkswagen $20 billion in fines for breaking the law, whereas in Canada the government is bragging about a $2.5-million fine. This is after Export Development Canada loaned Volkswagen $525 million to build vehicles in other countries while carrying out its environmental crimes. What an embarrassment.

Why do lobbyists and insiders always win with the Prime Minister's government?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, this investigation, all related prosecution matters and the judge's approval of the penalty are made independently of ministers' offices. The company paid an unprecedented fine in Canada as a result of the investigation. Indeed, it was 23 times greater than the highest federal environmental fine ever imposed.

The Public Prosecution Service determines what charges can be sustained, and it has sole jurisdiction to pursue a prosecution. Funds from the fine will go toward projects that protect our environment.