House of Commons Hansard #75 of the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was offences.
Yves-François Blanchet Bloc Beloeil—Chambly, QC
Mr. Speaker, he just said what is in the budget, but it was not what we were after. I will try once more to get a yes or no answer. I think he will listen.
An Outremont man told us that he wants to know if health transfers will be increased, no strings attached, to 35% of health care costs, as requested by all premiers, including Quebec's. Let us say that the Outremont man asking this is named François Legault. Will this be in the budget, yes or no?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, as the member knows very well, I recently had some very good conversations with Mr. Legault about supporting the province's health care system and increasing our joint investments in areas like green energy production and high-speed Internet. We will continue to work hand in hand to ensure that Quebeckers and all Canadians have the services they need both during this pandemic and beyond.
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Mr. Speaker, whether it is destroyed documents with the B.C. Liberals, the gas plant scandal with the McGuinty Liberals or the SNC-Lavalin scandal with these Liberals, what do they all have in common? Well, it is the senior adviser to the Prime Minister, Ben Chin. That is the same Ben Chin that Craig Kielburger thanked for helping to shape the CSSG in the WE scandal.
Is the Prime Minister blocking the testimony of Ben Chin because Ben Chin has dirt on the Liberal elite from coast to coast to coast?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, I am stunned that the Conservative opposition continues to talk about the WE Charity in the midst of this pandemic, in the midst of the concerns that Canadians have about rebuilding our economy in terms of the work we are doing together.
While Conservatives continue to focus on us and on politics, we will stay focused on supporting Canadians. We will be focused on the families who need support, the small businesses that need help across the country and the jobs that will be created through fighting climate change.
These are priorities for Liberals that Conservatives do not seem to get at all.
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Mr. Speaker, well, I agree with the Prime Minister that he is stunned. We also agree that they should be focused, as a government, on helping Canadians instead of helping insider Liberals. They gave a half-billion dollars to a company that gave members of the Prime Minister's family half a million dollars. They shut down Parliament and locked down committees and filibustered at committees.
The question is very simple. Will the Prime Minister let Ben Chin testify at committee, or is that the only job he is looking to protect?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, as the Conservatives themselves pointed out a number of weeks ago, we are much more focused on supporting Canadians' jobs than we are our own.
Our focus from the beginning of this pandemic has been on delivering for Canadians, on supporting families, on supporting small businesses, on helping workers through this pandemic, and yes, on building back better, which involves recognizing that the jobs of the future require us to be responsible about the environment and that we cannot have a plan for the future of the economy if we do not have a plan to fight climate change. That, unfortunately, is what the Conservatives are trying to avoid at all costs by bringing up things that, quite frankly, were answered months and months ago.
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON
Mr. Speaker, for the Prime Minister charity begins at home—his home.
In fact, when little children across Canada donated their lunch money, pennies and allowances to help poor kids and develop countries, somehow hundreds of thousands of dollars of that money ended up with the Prime Minister's family. He paid it back, of course, with a half-billion-dollar grant to the WE Charity, but committee information on how much his family got is now contradictory.
In writing, the total is $566,000, but in Kielburger testimony, it is $427,000. How much did his family get?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, while the Conservatives continue to play politics, we will continue to focus on the supports Canadians need. While Conservative politicians continue to say we did too much too fast to support Canadians, we will continue to say we have their backs. That is what we have had throughout this pandemic. Whether it is through direct supports to families, direct supports to workers, supports for the provinces and territories in their rapid testing and delivery of a safe back to school for kids, or support for the health care systems, we have continued to support Canadians. We have continued to focus on what matters to Canadians, unlike the Conservatives, who are focusing on what matters to them.
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON
Mr. Speaker, he says he has Canadians' backs. He actually has his hands in their back pockets. The question was whether his family got $427,000, as the Kielburgers claim, or $566,000, as the written documents suggest. Either way, it is a lot of dough. It is real, serious and true dough. The question we want answered is, what did this money have to do with influencing the Prime Minister's decision to give half a billion dollars to this charity?
Will he let his staff who were involved in setting up this program testify at the ethics committee so that Canadians can know the truth?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, Canadians tuning into question period today might be puzzled and wonder why the Conservatives are suddenly going back to failed lines of attack from many months ago. It is all about short-term politics for them. It is all about trying to change a channel on the disastrous convention they just had last weekend. It is all about trying to find something that makes them relevant to Canadians.
I recommend that if they want to talk about relevance to Canadians, they can talk about how we are going to work together to deliver for families through this pandemic, grow small businesses as we recover our economy and fight climate change to protect our future.
Alexandre Boulerice NDP Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals make themselves out to be allies of students, but they are all talk and no action. What we see here is a record of failure. Not only did the Liberals break their promise to extend the moratorium on debt repayment, they also continued charging interest on loans. This is Liberal hypocrisy in action.
The NDP just proposed a plan that will help students actually reduce their debts. For the Quebec government, it will mean a transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars to help students.
When will the Liberals finally do something to really help students?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, that is utter nonsense.
We have supported students every step of the way. We suspended student loan repayments, doubled the Canada student grants and introduced the Canada emergency student benefit, which has helped over 700,000 post-secondary students and recent graduates.
We will always be there to support our young people, who have suffered a great deal during the pandemic. They will help us build back better.
Jenny Kwan NDP Vancouver East, BC
Mr. Speaker, imagine what it is like being confronted by racial slurs, being spat on, being kicked and punched and being killed.
Racist verbal and physical attacks for Asian Canadians are on a sharp rise. In Vancouver, anti-Asian hate crimes went up 717%. Every attack is aimed at stripping us of our sense of safety and dignity. It is a clear message to say that we are not wanted and we do not belong.
Will the Prime Minister stand with us by including anti-Asian racism in the national anti-racism strategy and in all the government's anti-racism policies and programs?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, the rise in anti-Asian hatred and racism that we have seen over the past many months is absolutely horrific. It is unacceptable in Canada or anywhere else around the world.
As a government, as we move forward on anti-racism strategies with the secretariat, with record investments, with support for various communities, we will continue to directly and specifically support Asian Canadians who have seen a horrific rise in hate crimes.
It is absolutely unacceptable in Canada that we are seeing this. I know we all, in this House, stand united on this issue.
Brenda Shanahan Liberal Châteauguay—Lacolle, QC
Mr. Speaker, now more than ever, Canadians need access to the Internet to participate in today's digital world. Having transitioned to working at home and taking online courses, people living in Quebec's rural areas need reliable Internet.
Can the Prime Minister inform Quebeckers of the progress made on this file?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Châteauguay-Lacolle for her question and her hard work.
I was very proud to announce this week, together with Premier Legault, a joint investment of more than $800 million to fast-track broadband projects in Quebec. This new investment will ensure that every Quebecker can connect to high-speed Internet by the end of 2022.
We will continue our work to connect all Canadian households in every region of Canada in the coming years.
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Mr. Speaker, today we learned that vaccine deliveries to Canada from Europe and India, two of the biggest sources of vaccines to our country, may be restricted.
Ninety-two countries have formal written exemptions from the EU's export control regulations, but Canada does not. Today the Minister of Public Procurement declined comment to The Globe and Mail on how proposed restrictions might affect the delivery of EU-made vaccines to Canada.
Can the Prime Minister absolutely guarantee that zero doses of vaccines will be held back from the EU to our country over the next two months?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, we share the urgency of all Canadians to ensure access to COVID-19 vaccines. We are concerned with the new reports of potential restrictions out of the EU, and we will be continuing to work with our counterparts, including direct contact from me to the highest levels of the European Commission, in order to ensure that Canada's supply of vaccines is not in danger and is not interrupted. This is something that we are working extremely hard on, and we will ensure that Canadians continue to receive the vaccines that we need.
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Mr. Speaker, it just blows my mind. We knew this was a problem two months ago, and we still have no guarantees from the Prime Minister on that issue.
Let us try another country.
On top of the EU restrictions, India has put a hold on major exports of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Has the Prime Minister contacted the Modi government yet to determine how many doses may be held back by India from our country over the next two months, and if so, how many doses may be affected?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, on this file as well, we continue to work very closely with officials of both of our countries to ensure that the promised doses continue to flow. At this point, we have no indications that the two million doses we will be receiving from the Serum Institute over the coming two months will in any way be affected. We will continue to ensure that this is the case.
Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
Mr. Speaker, since the beginning of the pandemic, we have been hoping for a vaccine and supporting vaccination efforts for all Canadians who want one. This is why today we are once again concerned about what is happening in other countries.
India just announced that the AstraZeneca vaccine will no longer be exported. A responsible prime minister would have seen that coming and started preparing, but this one did not. What does the Prime Minister have to say to Canadians who got the first dose but do not know when they will get the second one, especially now that India has turned off the tap?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, I do not want Canadians to be afraid of what the member opposite just said.
I assure all Canadians that we are confident we will receive doses from the Serum Institute of India in the coming months, as promised. We will continue to work with our international partners to ensure that Canada gets vaccine doses on schedule.
The Conservatives are trying to scare people. Canadians already have enough things to be afraid of, and I assure everyone that the vaccines will continue to arrive and that we will protect them.
Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
Mr. Speaker, the best way to reassure Canadians is to give them the straight goods, which the Prime Minister has failed to do.
Remember that in December, he was so proud to say that the vaccines were coming. In January, we went 10 days without vaccines, and he could not explain why. Today, it is India. A few hours ago, the European Union announced stricter export measures for vaccines.
Beyond the rhetoric, what is the Prime Minister's specific game plan for reassuring Canadians and telling them whether or not they will get the vaccines they are expecting, particularly the second dose vaccines?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, we saw the Conservatives do this perhaps a month or a month and a half ago. When the European Union first mentioned possible restrictions, the Conservative politicians started yelling that Canadians were not going to get any more vaccines and that we would be in trouble.
We were able to assure Canadians that we would continue to receive the vaccines, and that is exactly what is happening. We will continue to receive the vaccines, and we are working closely with the Indian government and European Union leaders to ensure that the flow of vaccines to Canada is not interrupted.
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
Mr. Speaker, on January 27, the House of Commons unanimously called on the Minister of Immigration to grant citizenship to Raif Badawi. Two months on, nothing has happened. Mr. Badawi is still in a Saudi jail, and he is still not a citizen.
The Minister of Immigration has the legal power to act and could do so this very minute. He has had two months. I asked him about this yesterday and the day before, and he cannot explain his failure to act. Now I am wondering if the Prime Minister is asking him to disobey the House.