Debates of Dec. 14th, 2021

Public Services and Procurement

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Madam Speaker, in Quebec that is called graisser la patte.

It has been an “all you can eat” buffet for connected Liberal insiders and cronies during the pandemic, who lined up to gorge on half a billion dollars in COVID spending, much of it untendered and sole source. With WE, Frank Baylis and SNC, the list is long, and here we have another example. The sponsorship scandal will look like a speck of sand in the desert compared with what has gone on.

Yesterday the Liberals rejected my motion at the ethics committee to investigate COVID contracts, saying they did not want to stir the pot. I wonder why.

Why do they not just get it off their chest and admit that this was payback for a Liberal donation?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the House has a lot of extraordinarily important matters in front of it. The question that has been posed by the member opposite, in my opinion, does not really have to do with the business of either this nation or this Parliament. If he wants to play politics and games, the space is right over there.

Ethics

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I would not expect anything less from the Liberals.

Last week, I asked the CRA to investigate a claim that the Liberal member for Calgary Skyview was directing people on how to fraudulently claim the CERB in his riding before he was elected as an MP. According to The Canadian Press, seven in 10 people over 15 in the riding received the CERB, one of the highest percentages in the country. When I asked the minister about this, she said that she takes all claims of CERB fraud seriously, even if it is against a member of the Liberal caucus, and will launch an investigation.

Can the minister inform the House whether she has in fact started an investigation against the member for Calgary Skyview.

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, there are various places that we can spread allegations to see whether or not there is any truth to them. I would suggest that instead of using the privilege in this place to explore conspiracy theories, the member use the processes that are available to verify whether or not there is anything—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Order, please. The hon. government House leader can continue. He was cut off.

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Ajax, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am ready to continue. Hopefully we will get a question about the business of this nation.

Small Businesses

[Emmanuella Lambropoulos, Liberal, Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, our government announced the first-ever women entrepreneurship strategy, or WES, a $6‑billion program to advance women's economic empowerment.

These investments are important social and economic measures that will be critical to building back better and promoting an inclusive economic recovery.

Can the Minister of International Trade, Export Promotion, Small Business and Economic Development update us on the WES and how this program contributes to the success of women entrepreneurs?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, by unlocking the potential of women entrepreneurs, we add $150 billion to the economy. Through the WES ecosystem fund, our government is supporting major projects across the country. In budget 2021, we invested $147 million to provide women entrepreneurs with greater access to financing, mentorship and training.

I look forward to announcing more good news soon.

Housing

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, as housing affordability spirals out of reach for young working Canadians, the Prime Minister continues to cite the first-time home buyer incentive as the signature policy for homebuyers. This program was ridiculed by industry and ignored by consumers, and has utterly failed to have any effect on access to home ownership.

Will the Prime Minister admit that the first-time home buyer incentive was nothing more than a cheap pre-election gimmick that does nothing to increase housing supply?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion]

Mr. Speaker, the problem the Conservatives face is that before the election they had done nothing on affordable housing. They proposed no clear policy ideas. For nine years in government, they invested zero dollars in affordable housing. In fact, they downloaded affordable housing onto the provinces and municipalities. Now, when they have a chance to actually support policies that work, they do not propose anything. In fact, in the housing—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I am going to stop the minister. I believe we have a technical problem.

I will ask the minister to start over. Hopefully this time it will be quieter in the chamber and we will be able to hear the whole answer.

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, York South—Weston, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the problem the Conservatives face is that for nine years in power, they did not really invest in affordable housing. They did not have a program like the first-time home buyer incentive. In fact, they downloaded housing responsibility and investments in housing onto the provinces and municipalities. They did nothing to invest in the capacity of more Canadians to become homeowners, and they did not have the words “affordable housing” in their election platform. In fact, their recent housing motion did not have the words “affordable housing” in it.

Now that they have a chance to support the throne speech commitments with respect to housing, they refuse to do so. They have no credibility on this issue.

Seniors

[Dan Muys, Conservative, Flamborough—Glanbrook, ON]

Mr. Speaker, seniors living on a fixed income are among the hardest hit by the inflation crisis. There are quite a few seniors living in villages in my riding, often retired steelworkers from Hamilton. These are the seniors who built this country and made it strong. Recently I heard from Heinz in Flamborough, who had already been struggling with high heating costs and high grocery costs before this crisis. He has now been pushed to the brink.

When will the government get serious about the inflation crisis so that seniors like Heinz will not go cold and hungry this winter?

[Kamal Khera, Liberal, Minister of Seniors]

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, we have always supported seniors, especially the most vulnerable seniors. One of the first things we did as a government is restore the age of OAS and GIS from 67 to 65. We have enhanced the CPP, we have raised the GIS for single seniors and we have invested $6 billion in home care.

We have an ambitious agenda for seniors. We have always had their backs and we will continue to make sure we do just that to support them.

Veterans Affairs

[Fraser Tolmie, Conservative, Moose Jaw—Lake Centre—Lanigan, SK]

Mr. Speaker, inflation is the highest it has been in 20 years. It is making everything more expensive, like the essentials: groceries, gas and heat. This is especially hard on people living on a fixed income like veterans. Our nation's heroes are watching their pensions lose buying power by the day, and they are being asked to get by with less and less.

Why is the minister forcing our heroes to use food banks during this inflation crisis?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, this is a bit rich from a party that did nothing but slice veterans' funds. My hon. colleague—

[Son hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I will stop the minister. He is standing right next to me and I can barely hear him.

The hon. minister.

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that my hon. colleague is giving me a chance to indicate what had happened and what has happened since we formed government.

The fact is that we have invested billions of dollars in veterans to make sure they receive the appropriate funding they deserve. When the previous CPC government was in place, it slashed funding, fired Veterans Affairs employees and cut funding to veterans. We, as a government, have supplied more funding for veterans to make sure they have the appropriate funds they need. There is more to do and we will do more.

Health

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Mr. Speaker, over the past 18 months, our government has made historic investments in Canada's biomanufacturing sector to quickly reverse years of neglect under Conservative governments. Earlier this month, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry announced an exciting new agreement with Merck to manufacture life-saving COVID-19 therapies right here in Canada, in my riding of Whitby.

Could the minister please elaborate on how this agreement will help further ensure the health and safety of Canadians as we move forward?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for his leadership. As members in the House know, it has been my absolute priority to grow the biomanufacturing sector in this country to ensure the health and safety of Canadians for generations to come. Our agreement with Merck means that we will be manufacturing therapies against COVID-19 right here in Canada, in Whitby, Ontario. This project will help grow our biomanufacturing sector and will help make Canada's expertise recognized around the world.

We will continue to invest in biomanufacturing. We will continue to attract investment in this country for our workers and our health and safety.

Regional Economic Development

[Blake Desjarlais, NDP, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Mr. Speaker, within the most recent supplementary estimates, the Liberal government has allocated no money to the regional economic development agency that supports small businesses, arts, tourism and community organizations in Alberta and the Prairies. This is outrageous at a time when the omicron variant is surging and Alberta's economy is suffering. The Prime Minister said he would have Canadians' backs, but clearly that is not the case.

Will the Liberals immediately reverse this unfair decision and make sure all Canadians are supported through another long winter of COVID?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the regional development agencies have supported Canadians from coast to coast to coast from the beginning of the pandemic through the regional relief funds and now through the tourism relief fund. There was $15 billion for the tourism sector alone.

The funding will continue. The supports will continue. We have had Canadians' backs and we will continue to do so.

The Environment

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, a new report from the Canada Energy Regulator says that oil production in 2050 will be pretty much what it is today. It is no wonder Canada is at the bottom of the G7 when it comes to climate action. We also have the Prime Minister's promise to plant two billion trees. That was a failure because what has he actually planted? It is only 0.5%. The only net zero that the government has actually delivered on is the Prime Minister's environmental credibility.

Earth to the environment minister. The planet is on fire. When is he going to start showing up to help Canadians?