Debates of March 11th, 2021

National Defence

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

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to the scandal involving sexual misconduct in the military and the Liberals' attempts to hush it up, there is no telling what tomorrow may bring because the story keeps changing. With each passing day come new revelations about the Prime Minister's failure to act on the serious allegations against General Vance.

What else will come to light today or tomorrow? Who knows? What we do know is that the Liberals let down victims in the armed forces.

Can the Prime Minister promise us that he will be transparent and finally reform this institution tainted by sordid scandals?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we know there are serious shortcomings in the protections for victims and survivors of harassment in our armed forces. The same is true at the RCMP, according to the Bastarache commission, and at Correctional Service Canada, according to new reports.

As a country, we have to do a better job of supporting victims and making resources available to all those who make allegations, have concerns or report incidents.

We must also change the culture within these institutions to ensure that such things never happen again.

[Lindsay Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, our armed forces have a well-documented sexualized culture, which the Liberals promised to address in 2018. Since then, the Prime Minister has not only taken no real action to address this problem, but has actively ignored the issue. The Prime Minister admitted to knowing about the allegations of sexual harassment against General Vance, allegations he and his minister refused to act on. We need to ensure that women who serve can do so equally.

Will the Prime Minister apologize to women in the armed forces for failing them and allowing this toxic and dangerous sexualized culture to continue?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, it is extremely obvious that more needs to be done and quicker. There is no question about that. Every woman and man who serves in our armed forces deserves to work in a safe environment and have resources and support if they have allegations or experience unwanted behaviours.

However, it is not true that, as the member says, we have not done anything. We passed Bill C-77, a declaration of victims rights that puts victims at the core of the military justice system and reviews unfounded cases. We created the sexual misconduct response centre, which provides confidential, 24/7 support services to CAF members. We implemented the path to dignity and respect, a strategy for long-term culture change. We also put in place the response and support coordination program for CAF members. However, there is more to do and we will do it.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of National Defence, Michael Wernick, the former clerk of the Privy Council, Janine Sherman, Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet, Privy Council Office, and Elder Marques, a former senior advisor to the Prime Minister, were aware of the serious allegations against General Vance. The Prime Minister confirmed yesterday that his office was aware of this, but now he would like us to believe that he was not informed in 2018.

How is it possible that no one thought to inform the Prime Minister about an issue with such serious implications?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, we take all allegations extremely seriously when it comes to inappropriate sexual behaviour. This is one of the reasons we took very strong actions in this case. We put the ombudsman in touch with the Privy Council Office so that the appropriate authorities could take action. As the Prime Minister has stated, no politician should ever be part of an investigation.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is actually quite simple. It is important to understand the context. The Prime Minister initially said that he was not aware of any allegations. Then, in a press conference last Friday, he said that he was not aware of any specific allegation.

Was the Prime Minister aware in March 2018 that there was an allegation against the chief of the defence staff, General Vance, yes or no?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, as I stated before, no elected official should ever be part of an investigation or lead any type of an investigation. It has to go to the appropriate authority so that an independent investigation can be conducted. That is exactly what has taken place here.

We will take strong action. We have more work to do and we will get it done.

Finance

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, while the other G7 countries and all 10 provinces have been transparent with their citizens and have not been afraid to table a budget despite the pandemic, the prime minister has been hiding the financial reality that awaits future generations of Canadians for over 700 days. When a family asks a bank for a loan and refuses to disclose any financial records, the loan will be refused. The problem is that the government also plays the role of banker and that the prime minister thinks that budgets balance themselves.

On what date will the government finally consent to table a budget for Canadians to see?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the federal government continues to assess the economic impact of regional lockdowns, the emergence of new variants of the virus and the accelerated vaccine rollout. We thank all Canadians for their contribution to the pre-budgetary consultations. The date of the budget will be announced in due course.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is absolutely unacceptable that this government has not presented a budget to Canadians for more than 700 days. Canada is the only G7 country that did not table a budget last year. The current delay has become the longest in Canada's history.

I am concerned when I hear the Minister of Finance say that the next budget will be most significant one of our lifetimes.

Will this government go down in history as the one that made thousands of Canadians go broke because it failed to present a real economic recovery plan?

When will we have a budget?

We want a date, please.

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I want to note two things.

First, we received an extraordinary response from Canadians during our pre-budgetary consultations and I want to thank all Canadians who took part.

Second, if the Conservatives truly want to support Canadians, and they need support during this crisis, they should support Bill C-14. That would be the right way to support our country.

Employment

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, when I asked about the 850,000 Canadians who have lost their jobs, giving Canada the highest unemployment rate in the G7, the Prime Minister told a childish joke, then sat down and smirked. He should know that for every one percentage point increase in unemployment, we get a two percentage point increase in suicides. People's lives are at stake. They want to know how they are going to pay the bills.

We have the worst job record in the G7. Will we get a plan for paycheques or is the Prime Minister just going to sit there and smirk?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, let me first correct the record and point out that at 64.3%, Canada has a higher labour force participation rate than Germany, at 56.1%, the United States, at 61.3%, and Japan, at 62%.

Let me also say this. I absolutely believe that every Canadian who is unemployed is facing a personal tragedy. That is why our government has done and will continue to do whatever it takes to support Canadians.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is a shame that the Prime Minister does not have the guts to stand up and answer the question himself. The reality is that he has said 49 different times that the best measure of job market success is the unemployment rate. Now that we have the highest unemployment in the G7, the Liberals want to change the measurement. They say we should celebrate them for the recovery of lost jobs. Of course, Canada had the most jobs to recover because it had the biggest job losses.

People do not want any more games with statistics. They need paycheques in their bank accounts and food on the table. When will they get that?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, let me share a very important statistic with the member opposite and all Canadians. In the fourth quarter, Canada's GDP grew at an annualized rate of nearly 10%. That was higher than the GDPs of the U.S., the U.K., Germany, France and Italy. I would like to congratulate the Canadians whose hard work and innovative approach made that possible, and I would like to say to all members of the House, particularly the Conservatives, that by supporting Bill C-14 we can all support those hard-working Canadians.

Health

[Claude DeBellefeuille, Bloc, Salaberry—Suroît, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the pandemic officially started one year ago today. Since then, more than 10,500 Quebeckers have died, spending their last moments suffering in our care centres. Far too many of them died alone, away from their families.

Today is a day to honour their memory and comfort their loved ones, but it is also a day to take stock of what happened. For example, it is quite clear that the crisis was exacerbated by the chronic underfunding of our health care system.

When will the government increase health transfers?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, every step of the way we have been there for the provinces and territories during the pandemic, starting with $19 billion in safe restart money and through the acquisition of personal protective equipment; the purchasing of therapeutics, drugs and rapid tests; and the millions of dollars for vaccines purchased for the provinces and territories. We will be there for the provinces and territories as we get through this together.

[Claude DeBellefeuille, Bloc, Salaberry—Suroît, QC]

Mr. Speaker, more than 10,500 Quebeckers died, but more than 20,000 of us were hospitalized and recovered, thanks to our dedicated health care workers, the vast majority of whom are women who have been making a lot of sacrifices and working tons of overtime this past year. The government can see they are giving their all to save lives. These women are bearing the brunt of the federal government's chronic underfunding over the past 45 years.

When will the government permanently and unconditionally increase health transfers?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said repeatedly, we have been there for the provinces and territories. We will be there for the provinces and territories, whether it is transfers through the safe restart agreement, whether it has been as partners purchasing personal protective equipment, therapeutics and rapid tests. We are paying for all the vaccines.

We have been there for the provinces and territories and we will continue to be there throughout this pandemic and beyond.

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Ottawa must do its part.

Unfortunately, it is too late for the seniors who tragically died in long-term care homes crippled by chronic underfunding.

However, it is not too late to send in reinforcements and offer respite and decent working conditions to our health care providers. It is not too late to offer rapid access to health care to the people left behind by triaging. If fact, it is never too late to do the right thing, especially to prevent further deaths.

When will the government agree to permanently and unconditionally increase health transfers?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, we share the grief and sadness of the many lives that have been lost to COVID-19. We share the commitment to strengthen standards for long-term care.

We know there is a lot of work to do with the provinces and territories to support them in their obligations and their responsibilities to provide quality care to seniors, no matter in which province they live. We will be there for the provinces and territories to ensure that no matter where seniors live they will have dignity and safety in their lives.

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

Mr. Speaker, earlier in question period, the Prime Minister said that it was not for politicians to make decisions on vaccines, but that seems to be exactly what he is doing.

The National Advisory Committee on Immunization said not to give the AstraZeneca vaccine to seniors, but his government ignored that advice. Now Pfizer, Canada's chief science officer and dozens of Canadian medical experts are advising not to delay the Pfizer doses by four months, but he is advising it anyway.

Is the government making political decisions on vaccine dosing because it is trying to cover up the vaccine shortage that it created?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, within that question it appears that the member perhaps does not understand that the federal government does not provide health care directly to Canadians. In fact, what we do is provide support to the provinces and territories to deliver on their health care responsibilities.

Furthermore, NACI, the National Advisory Committee on Immunization, is an independent organization comprised of scientists and researchers who study the evidence, who study the recommendations and then make recommendations of their own, which the provinces and territories can choose to follow.

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

Mr. Speaker, the minister is the Minister of Health and these organizations report into her. I know if I were in her role, I would be asking why there is conflicting advice on all these dosing decisions and vaccine delivery schedules. I think that is pretty important for Canadians to understand. Even the president of Pfizer said that the differences in these opinions could lead to vaccine hesitancy and concerns about taking the vaccines.

Why is the minister not doing her job and putting a structure in place that would actually provide clarify for Canadians?