Debates of April 13th, 2021

Health

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

Mr. Speaker, I have a follow-up question. Is there a parliamentary secretary available?

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Do we want to come back and ask both questions at the same time once the technical issue is resolved?

The minister is back. Let us start right from the top. The member for Calgary Nose Hill can ask her question over and we will start from the beginning.

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

Mr. Speaker, moments ago, the Public Health Agency of Canada confirmed that an individual living in Canada experienced rare blood clotting following immunization with the AstraZeneca vaccine. Yesterday, Australia announced that it is suspending use of the AstraZeneca vaccine following new guidance from European regulators.

Will the advice on AstraZeneca usage be changed in Canada? Why or why not?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I apologize for the technical issues.

As the member opposite knows, all vaccines approved for use in Canada undergo routine and scrutinous attention. All adverse effects are reported through Health Canada. Health Canada monitors that data closely and will not hesitate to change its licensing for use in Canada should there be any risk to Canadians.

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

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that; however, it does not answer the question I asked.

There were reports today that an individual living in Canada experienced rare blood clotting following immunization with the AstraZeneca vaccine. Other countries, including Australia, have announced that they are suspending use.

Given this information, has the minister consulted with her officials? Does she anticipate that advice on AstraZeneca usage will be changed? Why or why not? If so, when will she be providing that advice publicly?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, surely the member opposite is not trying to scare Canadians and imply that Health Canada would not be doing an extremely thorough job, as it always does with any medication or vaccine licensed for use in Canada. Health Canada has been monitoring AstraZeneca, as well as all of the other vaccines used for Canadians, and works closely with the provinces and territories to determine any changes that are necessary.

These vaccines are saving lives and stopping the spread. Is that not the goal the member opposite wants as well?

National Defence

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, with the support of the Bloc Québécois, the Liberals adopted a motion yesterday at the Standing Committee on National Defence to end the investigation into Justin Trudeau's cover-up of sexual misconduct within the Canadian Armed Forces.

The committee still needs to hear from some key witnesses. What is most surprising is that the Bloc Québécois members decided to support the Liberals on this. They sold their support for a pittance.

What I want to know is this: What did the Liberals give them in exchange for this shameful pact?

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Before I recognize the House leader, I would like to remind the hon. member that when asking a question or speaking in the House, he cannot use other members' names. He must refer to other members by their riding name or title in the House.

The hon. Leader of the Government in the House of Commons.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague knows full well that committees make their own decisions. I object to the comments he just made because they are deeply offensive. I want to stand up for my colleagues in the Bloc Québécois in response to the insinuation that they might have been bought off or some such. These comments from my Conservative colleague are disgraceful. The committee members made the decision they wanted to make at that time. They are responsible for their own decisions, and that is what they decided. My colleague needs to respect that.

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the way the Prime Minister, a self-proclaimed feminist, is dealing with this issue speaks volumes about Liberal priorities when it comes to women. We saw the cavalier way the Prime Minister acted with two of his former female MPs.

I doubt that the majority of the House supports hindering the work of parliamentarians on an issue that affects the safety of our brave soldiers.

What message does this send to the women who are proudly serving in the army?

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

Mr. Speaker, our government respects the work done by our colleagues at the committee. In fact, I have worked with the national defence committee on this matter quite extensively. I appeared at the committee three times for this study alone, and for more than six hours. I have repeatedly stated at each of those appearances, and many times in the House of Commons, that our government, and I personally, will not stand for any type of sexual misconduct and that we will take further action.

I look forward to the recommendations provided by the committee once the study is completed.

Foreign Affairs

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Mr. Speaker, that is what we call part of the Liberal cover-up.

Media are reporting that the defence minister was appeasing China when he threatened to yank funding from the Halifax security forum if organizers did not torpedo the John McCain award to Ms. Tsai Ing-wen, the President of Taiwan. John McCain’s daughter Meghan called it “Absolutely pathetic”, describing the Liberal government as “a bunch of cowards condoning Chinese genocide.”

Why is the defence minister taking his marching orders from the communist regime in Beijing instead of standing up for democracy, human rights and strong female world leaders?

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

Mr. Speaker, the assertions that the member is making could not be further from the truth. The Halifax International Security Forum is an independent organization, and it makes its own decisions on this matter.

[James Bezan, Conservative, Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, MB]

Mr. Speaker, we know that the minister and the government could be given an award for having the most phoney feminist credentials. David Mulroney, Canada's former ambassador to China, said the Liberals' move was “A national disgrace. Canada's Feminist Foreign Policy has no room for one of the most courageous, principled and seriously threatened women on the planet.”

Will the defence minister guarantee the Halifax security forum will get to keep its funding, and will he support bestowing the John McCain award to the President of Taiwan?

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

Mr. Speaker, as I stated from the beginning, the Halifax International Security Forum is an independent organization, and it makes its own decisions on where the awards need to go. National Defence has supported the international security forum in Halifax for the last 10 years, and once a request is made, it will be considered.

Forestry Industry

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Quebec's forests are a renewable resource with major economic, energy and green potential. Maximizing this resource could allow us to create 16,000 jobs in Quebec while reducing greenhouse gases.

The federal government is investing crumbs, just $71 million a year. That is nothing compared to the $24 billion that has been invested in oil and gas since 2017. At their convention, the Liberals voted to maintain these subsidies for fossil fuels instead of redirecting them to green energy.

Will the government put an end to this oil madness and invest in Quebec's forests?

[Seamus O'Regan, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, we are supporting the forestry sector across Canada.

In Quebec, we invested in the forest innovation program, which will support research, development and technology transfer across the sector. Last year, we invested in the new strategic partnerships initiative. We also invested in the expanding market opportunities program, which will increase Canada's presence in international wood markets and promote the use of Canadian wood in non-traditional construction to reduce emissions.

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I will quickly repeat what I said.

The oil and gas industry got $24 billion, while the forestry industry got peanuts, a mere $71 million per year. We are talking about 3,500 new jobs in Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean and 16,000 potential new jobs in Quebec as a whole.

Last week, the Bloc Québécois put forward eight proposals for the forest industry. Now it remains to be seen whether the federal government will step up. We need to support research and innovation and facilitate the production of new bioproducts. We have offered the government a ready-made strategy. Will it take advantage of this opportunity in the upcoming budget?

[Seamus O'Regan, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, we support the forestry sector in Quebec.

We announced new investments in Abitibi—Témiscamingue last fall to promote new economic opportunities in the forestry sector for indigenous communities like the Kebaowek First Nation and the Timiskaming First Nation. We announced new investments in Sherbrooke to develop new bioenergy products from our forests. These products would take forestry waste and turn it into biofuel, which would help reduce emissions.

The Economy

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, at its recent convention, the Liberal Party endorsed the creation of a new universal basic income program. The Liberals have again shown that their priority is not our economic recovery or getting Canadians back to work. They want to reimagine our economy and expand the welfare state. The Parliamentary Budget Officer says the cost would be a staggering $93 billion a year. Who pays for this? It is ordinary Canadian families, of course.

Will the minister's budget include a universal basic income, yes or no?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and to the Minister of Middle Class Prosperity and Associate Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, it is hard to take lessons from the member about what happened at a party convention when his own party members voted to deny the reality of climate change.

With respect to the issue at hand, from the very beginning of this pandemic our focus has been to ensure that households and businesses remain afloat. We delivered benefits like the Canada emergency response benefit, which has now landed on the kitchen tables of nine million Canadian households.

As we go forward, we will continue to support Canadians to get them through this once-in-a-century emergency. I am glad to pass on to the hon. member that we will have the backs of Canadians, no matter what it takes and as long as it takes.

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, he did not answer my question. The middle of a pandemic is no time to introduce a massive new social program. To pay for universal income, the government would have to increase income taxes by 47%, or triple the GST. This scheme is unaffordable and would discourage Canadians from working. That is why numerous experts and economists have slammed the idea. The Prime Minister should take their advice.

Will the minister's budget include any new permanent spending programs, yes or no?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and to the Minister of Middle Class Prosperity and Associate Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, it is rich of the hon. member to critique the government's economic record, as he was a member of the government that had the worst economic growth rate of any government in Canada's history since the Great Depression. The reality is that because of the measures we put in place, Canadian households have remained afloat—

[An hon. member]

Answer the question.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

—and workers have remained on payrolls.

We are going to move forward with a budget that will continue to fight COVID-19 and set the course for a recovery that Canadians will be very proud of. I will be pleased to share those details with the hon. member on Monday of next week.