Debates of Nov. 24th, 2021

The Economy

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

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, yet again, there was a lot of talk, but no real action to deal with the inflation that is causing the cost of groceries, fuel and housing to skyrocket for Canadians and Quebeckers.

Can the Prime Minister, who genuinely once said that budgets balance themselves, tell Canadians when he plans to bring in tangible measures that will help address the skyrocketing cost of living that is affecting everyone?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, people who listened to the Speech from the Throne know that our speech focused on the solutions that we are proposing for families facing these challenges, particularly when it comes to housing and affordable child care. These are two examples that will have a direct impact on the cost of living and for which the Conservatives have no plan to help Canadians. Fortunately, the government will be there, together with the provinces, to help families across the country.

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

Mr. Speaker, the reality is that the Prime Minister's policies and priorities do nothing for Canadians who are concerned about the cost of living crisis. This crisis is preventing families from buying a home, increasing the cost of necessities and crippling businesses because of the supply chain limitations and labour shortages that are affecting all of us.

I will therefore repeat my extremely simple question to the Prime Minister: When does he plan to bring in tangible measures that will help address the skyrocketing cost of living that is affecting all Canadians?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, that is what we proposed yesterday, along with many measures that will generate economic growth, assist families and ensure that we overcome this pandemic once and for all.

I do want to point out that none of the questions the Conservatives asked us today had to do with overcoming the pandemic. However, we all know that the best way to get the economy back on track is to put this pandemic behind us once and for all. Unfortunately, not all of the Conservatives are vaccinated, but over 95% of Canadians are, and that is a good thing.

We will continue to work on that.

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

Mr. Speaker, I wonder if the Prime Minister read the Speech from the Throne before it was read by the Governor General, because the word “inflation” only came up once in the entire speech.

Instead of laying out an economic recovery plan for families, seniors and small businesses, the Prime Minister is proposing more deficits that will lead to higher costs and higher taxes, which will increase the cost of living for Canadians. Instead of focusing on the public's priorities, the Prime Minister is doing exactly the opposite.

I will repeat my question: When are we going to see real action to address the rising cost of living for all Canadians?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, it was the member opposite who did not read the Speech from the Throne. We were focused on solutions in that speech.

Canadians gave us clear directions to put COVID-19 behind us and find real solutions to build a better future for Canadians. Yesterday, we laid out our plan to finish the fight against COVID-19, take strong action on climate change, make life more affordable, move forward together on the path to reconciliation, help Canadians become homeowners, and create jobs while growing the middle class by tackling the labour shortage. Those are the solutions we are proposing to Canadians.

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

Mr. Speaker, this is what we are all hearing in our constituency offices: labour problems are affecting agriculture, retail and manufacturing, Immigration Canada is having trouble processing applications from foreign workers who want to come here to help, and the cost of living, groceries, gas and housing is going through the roof.

What specific proposals did the government present yesterday to tackle these problems? None. Inflation was mentioned only once. People are tired of the Prime Minister's rhetoric. Now they want action.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, it seems that the Conservatives fail to grasp that inflation is a problem, not a solution.

Our throne speech and our plan are focused on solutions for Canadians. These solutions include finishing the fight against COVID-19, taking strong action on climate change, making life more affordable, moving forward together on the path to reconciliation, helping Canadians become homeowners, creating jobs and tackling the labour shortage. These are the solutions that Canadians want and voted for a few months ago.

Climate Change

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

Mr. Speaker, I applaud the Prime Minister's “epiphany”. He recognizes the existence of provincial and Quebec jurisdictions. Hallelujah.

If natural resources fall under Alberta's jurisdiction in the case of oil, then there is no need to give it money to extract the oil, either directly or indirectly, or by pretending it is to lower greenhouse gas emissions when it would actually increase production.

Is changing this not a plan?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we know that climate change is a real threat, not only to the quality of life of future generations, but also to their jobs and careers.

That is why we recognize the need to fight climate change, to cap emissions from the oil and gas sectors in order to reduce these emissions while investing to create good jobs in the future.

We are going to be there as a federal government, partnering not only with the provinces, but with all Canadians to create good careers and a good quality of life in the future.

Health

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

Mr. Speaker, we have now established that the Prime Minister has finally discovered the notion of provincial and Quebec jurisdictions. We have also established that he has the ability to hand out money for provincial and Quebec jurisdictions, which is quite interesting.

Could the Prime Minister make his epiphany complete by doing exactly the same thing with health transfers?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I am glad that the Bloc Québécois is finally beginning to understand how the Canadian federation works. It is about time.

We are here to partner with the provinces and to invest jointly with them in many areas, to ensure that Canadians across this great country called Canada can reach their full potential.

We are here as a federal government, as we have been during the pandemic and as we are for the people of British Columbia, but also for programs to grow our economy, to help businesses and to keep Canadians healthy.

The Economy

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, earlier in question period, the Prime Minister used the phrase “even in places like Alberta” in a derogatory way that is frankly unbecoming of the Prime Minister of this country. For shame.

We know what the Prime Minister thinks of workers in western Canada, but at a time when fuel costs are rising out of control, he needs to stop his attack on the workers in western Canada, who provide Canada with a low-carbon, ethical and secure source of energy, while merrily cheering as tankers of Saudi oil make their way down the St. Lawrence.

Does the Prime Minister even know how much fuel has increased in cost since he last took questions in this place?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, allow me to say that over the past many months, we have been working closely with Albertans, whether it is family representatives or non-profit organizations, who have been pushing their elected representatives to move forward on the $10-a-day child care, which, indeed, places like Manitoba and Saskatchewan had even last summer. It was with great pleasure that we saw the Conservative government of Alberta move forward and sign a historic deal on $10-a-day child care.

The challenge is that there is not one federal Conservative representative from Alberta who supports $10-a-day child care, and that is a shame for all Albertans.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the number of day care spaces created in Alberta by the Liberal government is zero. The number of jobs lost in my province under the Prime Minister is hundreds of thousands.

The Prime Minister earlier talked about housing costs. He thinks that sending tax dollars to fancy think tanks and increasing debt, which increases inflation, is going to somehow lower the cost of basic building goods like lumber, which is out of control, and he has no plan to address this.

Does the Prime Minister even know how much a two-by-four costs these days?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting to hear a Conservative member criticize our plan on housing, which involves initiatives like working with the municipalities to the tune of $4 billion to invest in more housing, to give more flexible first-time home buyer incentives, when the Conservative plan the member ran on in Calgary Nose Hill was to give tax breaks to wealthy landlords to sell their buildings easier.

The Conservatives do not understand the challenges faced by Canadians in the area of housing, because if they did, they would be proposing a real plan the way we are.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the price of everything has increased under the Prime Minister's watch, including housing, which is more unaffordable. He does not have the courage to put together a plan. He does not have the courage to stand up for Canadian workers, as he sends our jobs offshore. He does not have the courage to stand here and come up with smart economic policies to drive down the cost of goods and get our economy back to work. He does not have the courage to put together a vision.

It begs this question: How much are Canadians paying for chicken these days?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as far as a rhetorical device goes, accusing an hon. member of cowardice is hardly the kind of tone that I think Canadians want to see in this more constructive House.

Canadians returned all of us with a very clear mandate to end this pandemic once and for all, which happens through vaccinations, but also to move forward on investing in things like $10-a-day child—

[The Speaker, Anthony Rota]

The sound level is going up and I can barely hear the Prime Minister.

I will ask the Prime Minister to start over from the beginning, please.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, when Canadians sent this newly reconstituted House back to work to end the pandemic, to invest in things like $10-a-day child care, invest in a stronger future, fighting climate change and creating good jobs, they did not want to hear silly schoolyard insults from any members toward the government. That is why we will continue to stay focused on Canadians even as Conservatives continue to try to fling mud.

Canadians need a House that is going to work together. That is exactly what we are going to do.

Climate Change

[Élisabeth Brière, Liberal, Sherbrooke, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Governor General read the Speech from the Throne, a speech that outlines the government's objectives and tangible ways to achieve them.

A significant part of the speech focused on climate action, the urgent need to act, and what we are doing to rebuild our economy and be a leader in the fight against climate change.

Can the Prime Minister tell the young people in my riding of Sherbrooke and Canadians how he plans to achieve these important objectives?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Sherbrooke for her dedication to the fight against the climate crisis.

To create jobs and grow the middle class, we must take bold climate action. That is why we are moving forward with measures such as capping and cutting oil and gas sector emissions and increasing the price on pollution. We will continue to invest in our workers and in our industry to help transition into the economy of the future while ensuring that no one is left behind.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, how many times was agriculture mentioned in the throne speech? Not once, so it should not come as any surprise that the Prime Minister's first decision on agriculture was to end the export of our potatoes from Prince Edward Island to the United States. There was no consultation with the premier and no consultation with the farm families that will be devastated by this decision.

Islanders are already having a tough time making ends meet because of Liberal inflation, and yet the Prime Minister is intent to destroy one of their most important industries. This decision was based on politics, not based on science.

Will the Prime Minister reverse this crippling, self-imposed ban of our potato exports?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, yet, again, this is proof that the Conservatives did not even bother to read the throne speech. We address directly that political decision Mr. Harper made a number of years ago to cancel the PFRA, by restoring a Canadian water agency that would support prairie farmers and, indeed, people right across the country.

On the matter of potatoes, we are obviously extremely concerned. I brought it up directly with the President last week when I was in Washington, because we know—

[The Speaker, Anthony Rota]

I am going to ask the Prime Minister to stop just for a moment.

He can go ahead.