Debates of Feb. 5th, 2021

Public Safety

[Sameer Zuberi, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Madam Speaker, hatred and extremism often target diverse communities. We must stop anyone who seeks to harm others because of their race, religion or gender.

Unfortunately, we continue to see hate manifested in our country. Recently, a Montreal synagogue was vandalized. In my home province of Quebec, we just marked the fourth anniversary of the Quebec City mosque attack. These events remind us of the painful impacts hate can have.

Can the Minister of Public Safety let the House know what new measures our government is taking to protect people from extremist violence and hate?

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Madam Speaker, I would like to begin by thanking the hon. member for Pierrefonds—Dollard for his very important question and his excellent work in standing up to hate and intolerance.

The listing of terrorist entities is an important legal tool in the fight against terrorism, and makes it clear that Canada will not tolerate such acts of violence. To be listed, an individual or group must meet a strict legal threshold determined by our national security agencies. This week, we added 13 new groups to the list, which includes four ideologically motivated violent extremist and white supremacist organizations, in addition to the two that were listed for the first time in 2019. We will remain vigilant against all—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member for Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner.

Science

[Glen Motz, Conservative, Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB]

Madam Speaker, the Canadian Statistics Advisory Council says the Liberal government does not have the data required to make decisions on the pandemic. This is the type of data needed to support public policy decisions being made now. Canadians cannot trust government decisions when the government does not have data or will not show what it knows, or maybe more accurately what it does not know. The government has gone from saying it has Canadians' backs to hiding things behind their backs.

When will the government provide Canadians with this data and share its plan for recovery?

[William Amos, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Innovation]

Madam Speaker, in order for Canadians to benefit from the digital economy, we are going to need to ensure that Canadians have confidence that their data is safe and that they trust their privacy is being respected. That is exactly why our government is strengthening that trust by ensuring Canada has a world-leading privacy and data protection system and the companies that break the rules face severe consequences.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member for Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner is advising the Speaker that is not an answer to the question asked.

Could the member repeat the question?

[Glen Motz, Conservative, Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB]

Madam Speaker, absolutely.

The Canadian Statistics Advisory Council says the Liberal government does not have the data required to make decisions on the pandemic. This is the type of data needed to support public policy decisions it is making right now. Canadians cannot trust government decisions when the government does not have data or will not show what it knows, or worse yet, what it does not know. The government has gone from saying it has Canadians' backs to hiding information behind their backs.

When will the government provide Canadians with data and share what its recovery plan really is?

[William Amos, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Innovation]

Madam Speaker, from the beginning of this pandemic, the Government of Canada has relied upon the opinions of experts to guide all of our decisions, whether in relation to procuring vaccines, rebuilding our biomanufacturing capacity or manufacturing PPE. At every point of the way, we have been relying upon Canada's experts and making sure that the data upon which our decisions are made is solid.

The Government of Canada shares as much data as possible and we know that this is important because open science is important. Our government is going to continue to work with our experts and rely upon their opinions as we make our decisions.

Health

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

Madam Speaker, across the border and minutes away from my community, U.S. seniors are able to be vaccinated at their convenience. On our side of the border, we are locked down, uncertain about our health and unable to see our families. Many are uncertain about their livelihoods. Lockdowns were supposed to be a temporary measure to buy governments time, but the government has failed to widely deploy rapid tests and vaccines.

Our allies are getting vaccines for their most vulnerable, saving lives and allowing lockdowns to end. When will the Liberals do the same?

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health]

Madam Speaker, I want to correct the member and give a few facts and figures. A total of 1.19 million vaccines have been sent to provinces and territories. The member speaks about rapid tests. Almost 19 million rapid tests have been sent to provinces and territories: 6.4 million to Ontario, 3.2 million to Quebec and 1.9 million to Alberta. We have delivered rapid tests and we are delivering vaccines.

Public Services and Procurement

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

Madam Speaker, Manitoba is ramping up its plans to vaccinate 20,000 people per day by April. There are 13 vaccine super sites opening up, as well as doctors' offices and local pharmacies, and all elderly in care homes have received their first dose. Provinces such as Manitoba are doing their part to ensure vaccines are delivered to people, but the province's efforts have been thwarted in part because the Prime Minister cannot provide a reliable vaccine shipment schedule. The shipments are not reliable thanks to poor vaccine contracts negotiated by the Liberal government.

When are Manitobans getting our next vaccine shipment, and how many doses will we receive? We deserve to know.

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Madam Speaker, of course we communicate with the provinces, like the member's province of Manitoba, on a regular basis. We continue to receive vaccine shipments, and people in Manitoba would be receiving them as well. That includes this week.

We have doses coming by the end of March, six million in fact, that have already been approved, and enough to vaccinate every Canadian by the end of September. We are glad that Manitoba and the other provinces are ramping up their ability to vaccinate citizens, because as more and more vaccine doses arrive, we will want those deployed as soon as possible.

Public Safety

[Peter Kent, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Madam Speaker, all Canadians should welcome the government's addition of 13 new groups to the Criminal Code terrorist list, but the Liberals once again have failed Canadians, failing to fully ban Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The IRGC has sponsored terror around the world for decades and is responsible for the destruction of the Ukraine air flight last year that killed 55 Canadians and 30 permanent residents.

When will the Liberal government finally list the most deadly terror organization in the world today?

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness]

Madam Speaker, I remind the member opposite that we are working, with respect to that particular regime, with all like-minded countries to ensure that Iran is held to account for its support of terrorism. I also remind him that the Canadian government has listed four of the proxy agencies of the IRGC, including the Quds Force.

We will continue to work with our allies to address the activities of the Iranian government in the sponsorship of terrorism, taking all appropriate measures against that regime, and we will continue to use all of the legal tools available to us based on the advice of our national security intelligence officials.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Madam Speaker, the federal government's incompetence has put some permanent residents in an inhumane situation. The government is granting families permanent residency and giving them a visa to come to Canada. These families quit their jobs, sell their homes, get on a plane and come to Canada, but once they get here, border services tells them to go back to their own country. The Minister of Immigration is inviting them here, but once they get here, the Department of Public Safety wants to send them away.

Can the two ministers talk and finally clear up this unacceptable mess?

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question.

We have imposed border restrictions to slow the spread of COVID-19 and protect the health and safety of Canadians. We have also put exemptions in place to ensure our economic recovery and help reunite families. Anyone who receives a confirmation of permanent residency while the border restrictions are in place is sent a letter clearly indicating whether they are eligible to enter Canada. We will always follow the advice of public health experts to make sure that we protect the health and safety of all Canadians.

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Madam Speaker, they get a letter, but they also get a visa. The left hand does not know what the right hand is doing in this government. One department invites immigrants to Canada and another tries to kick them out. We also have one department telling people not to travel and another authorizing cheap trips to sun destinations. People are not talking to each other.

How can the government be so lax with people who break the rules and travel south and so punitive with people who follow the rules and come to Canada upon being invited to do so?

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question.

We have been very clear. If we are to keep Canadians and people who come to Canada safe, now is not the time to travel. CBSA officers can deny entry to anyone who shows up at a border crossing or an airport and fails to meet any of the exemption criteria.

Public Services and Procurement

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Madam Speaker, Canada gave money to an international organization to distribute vaccines to disadvantaged countries. Now we are asking that same organization to give us vaccine doses from that same supply to make up for the Prime Minister's failure. It is a disgrace, an embarrassment to proud Canadians. That is why we want to get to the bottom of the situation. When will the government release the vaccine supply contracts?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Minister of International Development]

Madam Speaker, if I may, I will correct the record. The COVAX facility was actually designed to have the buy-in of wealthy countries. It has two tracks: one for self-financing countries to purchase vaccines through COVAX, as well as to make donations. In fact, Canada has done both. We have contributed $220 million to provide vaccines for the developing world, while also purchasing on behalf of Canadians.

Natural Resources

[Len Webber, Conservative, Calgary Confederation, AB]

Madam Speaker, the new American administration has stopped the Keystone XL pipeline dead in its tracks, killing thousands of jobs in Alberta. Now Michigan is attempting to shut down Enbridge Line 5, killing thousands of jobs in Ontario. The Liberal government has responded by rolling over and playing dead. All this is while energy workers watch foreign oil come into Canada from third world dictators and human rights abusers.

What specific action will the Liberal government take to reduce foreign oil imports into Canada this year?

[Paul Lefebvre, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources]

Madam Speaker, we take this issue with respect to Line 5 very seriously. Line 5 is vital to our energy security. This line is a critical economic and energy security link between Canada and the U.S. and has safely operated for over 65 years. It provides good-paying, middle-class jobs for the thousands of worker at refineries in Sarnia and in Montreal and Lévis, Quebec.

I assure the House that we are looking at all our options. Line 5 is a vital pipeline for Canada's energy security, and we fully support it.

Aviation Industry

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Madam Speaker, Calgary is home to proud entrepreneurs. Those risk-takers created WestJet, and after the devastation of our energy sector by malicious Liberal policy actions, it became our largest corporate headquarters. Now WestJet has gone from 14,000 workers to 5,700 due to a lack of support from the Liberal government.

What is the Liberal government going to do to save and secure aviation and airline jobs?

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Madam Speaker, the hon. member knows that Nav Canada is an independent organization that operates at arm's length. My heart goes out to all those who are affected by the current anxiety and uncertainty in this marketplace and in the pandemic. That is why our government has been committed to supporting all Canadians.

I can assure the hon. member that any decisions Nav Canada makes that may have an impact on safety and security will be reviewed by Transport Canada.

Women and Gender Equality

[Sherry Romanado, Liberal, Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne, QC]

Madam Speaker, from the start of the pandemic, many front-line workers across the country have seen a dramatic increase in domestic violence because, beyond other stress factors brought on by the pandemic, women are isolating at home with their abusers.

On behalf of organizations that serve the women in my riding of Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne who are victims of domestic violence, could the minister inform the House of the status of the national action plan on gender-based violence?