House of Commons Hansard #89 of the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was workers.
Steven Guilbeault LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, I think the member opposite is very confused, because Bill C-10 is about the Broadcasting Act that has nothing to do with online harms, which is another bill that will be introduced. I am confused because the Conservative Party of Canada has asked us a number of times to intervene so we can prevent online child pornography, which is exactly what we want to do.
Are the Conservatives saying they are opposed to us trying to act on that?
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
Mr. Speaker, again, the minister is trying to mislead Canadians. It is incredibly inappropriate and damaging.
This is a quote, “It’s difficult to contemplate the levels of moral hubris, incompetence or both that would lead people to believe such an infringement of rights is justifiable.” That is what the former commissioner of the CRTC had to say.
Government control over user-generated content and apps is a complete violation of our charter rights. Is this the kind of country that the Prime Minister is trying to “reimagine” and, if so, then when will he reimagine a free society where our charter rights are respected?
Steven Guilbeault LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, unfortunately, it is the member opposite who is trying to mislead Canadians. We have said from the beginning, when we introduced Bill C-10, that user-generated content would be excluded, but that online platforms that act as broadcasters would be included in the legislation. This is exactly what the amendments that have been debated in committee try do, and that is what we will do.
Peter Julian NDP New Westminster—Burnaby, BC
Mr. Speaker, the government has encouraged unbelievable profiteering during this pandemic. Canada's billionaire's have increased their wealth by over $78 billion, yet the government refuses to follow the lead of other countries and put in place a wealth tax. Now the parliamentary budget officer has released new figures on how much a pandemic profits tax would bring. It is $8 billion, more than enough to put a roof over every Canadian's head and eliminate homelessness in Canada, yet the Liberals refuse yet again to curb profiteering.
Why do Liberals always give a free ride to the ultra-rich?
Sean Fraser LiberalParliamentary 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, let me correct the record. I will remind the hon. member that in 2015 when we raised taxes on the wealthiest 1% so we could cut them for the middle class, the NDP voted against it. When we implemented the Canada child benefit, improved finances for nine out of 10 families and stopped sending child care cheques to millionaires, the NDP voted against it. When we increased investments in the CRA to combat tax evasion, the NDP voted against it.
The budget includes measures that will support vulnerable Canadians and will ask the wealthiest Canadians to pay more. I trust the NDP will buck the historical trend and support the budget when it has the opportunity.
Leah Gazan NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB
Mr. Speaker, the government is almost two years late releasing a national action plan to uphold the calls for justice of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. What do we see? Internal emails showing a continuation of a fragmented, uncoordinated response by the RCMP, a failure to address call for justice 9.5. COVID is not an excuse. Indigenous women and girls and 2SLGBTQ2IA individuals continue to go missing and murdered.
When will the government release a national action plan to stop this ongoing genocide?
Carolyn Bennett LiberalMinister of Crown-Indigenous Relations
Mr. Speaker, as always, our hearts are with the survivors, the families of the missing and murdered indigenous women, two-spirit and gender-diverse people. They are helping us develop the best possible effective and accountable national action plan.
In the response to the first-ever national public inquiry on this ongoing national tragedy, our government is working with all provincial and territorial governments as well as indigenous leaders, survivors and families to develop that national action plan that will set a clear road map to ensure that indigenous women and girls and two-spirited people are safe wherever they live and—
Ken McDonald Liberal Avalon, NL
Mr. Speaker, do members know that 90% of Canadian seafood goes through small craft harbours, and Canada's fish harvesters depend on these facilities to support their livelihoods? My constituents do. Small craft harbours in my riding are the lifeblood of rural communities and industry hubs for shipping, trade, fishing, recreation and other marine sectors.
Can the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans tell us what our government is doing to invest in small craft harbours?
Bernadette Jordan LiberalMinister of Fisheries
Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague for his hard work with regard to his advocacy for fisheries and seafood workers right across the country.
There are seven million people living in our rural coastal communities, and we know how important our small craft harbours are to our communities. That is why our government is investing $300 million through budget 2021 to make sure we can renew and revitalise these small craft harbours, which are so critical to our coastal communities. I am proud to be part of a government that recognizes how important this is to rural Canada.
James Cumming Conservative Edmonton Centre, AB
Mr. Speaker, last week government members made more big promises about how they are going to retrain workers and get them back to work in droves, yet they have not told us what these jobs will be, who the employers will be or how long that retraining will take.
Can the minister please tell us what specific jobs Canadians are being re-skilled for?
Carla Qualtrough LiberalMinister of Employment
Mr. Speaker, the nature of work and the way businesses operate are indeed changing at an ever-increasing speed. That is why in budget 2021 we are investing nearly $2.5 billion to help employers train and re-skill people and health workers transition to new jobs. This investment will also enhance foundational and transferable skills, and create a new apprenticeship service for the trades.
We are creating 500,000 new training work opportunities, including 215,000 new job and training opportunities for youth; supporting businesses in the most affected sectors, such as tourism, and arts and culture; and accelerating investments in digital transformation of small and medium-sized businesses. This is how we are putting our government on track to meet our commitment to create a million jobs by the end of this year.
James Cumming Conservative Edmonton Centre, AB
Mr. Speaker, that was all over the map. I will give a little advice. There are numerous energy projects across this country awaiting approval. These are real projects and real jobs. Thousands of them, in fact, are shovel-ready and employ those who already have the skills.
While we are waiting for the government's great master plan to re-skill Canadians, can we at least get these Canadians back to work now?
Carla Qualtrough LiberalMinister of Employment
Mr. Speaker, absolutely. In fact, that is why we are investing in sectors and communities in specific job transitions. We are investing in young people. We are investing in people with disabilities. We have a comprehensive plan that is not scattered or all over the map. It is just comprehensive. Perhaps the Conservatives have not seen such a plan before. We are creating jobs. We are training and upskilling workers, and we will continue to be there for Canadians.
Pat Kelly Conservative Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB
Mr. Speaker, Greg runs an auto service business in Calgary that opened in late 2019, just before COVID, and does not qualify for assistance. The government's continuing failure to deliver vaccines and rapid-result screening tests to safely reopen the economy means that more and more businesses are at risk of failing, and the ones that were brand new when the pandemic hit are among the worst affected. The budget contains nothing for these businesses, which are still being denied support because they opened just before COVID.
Why is this?
Sean Fraser LiberalParliamentary 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, we have made a number of supports to help businesses from the very beginning, whether it is the wage subsidy, the regional relief and recovery fund or the emergency business account. We realize there continues to be challenges for certain businesses, but we have made investments to ensure their communities can open up safely and are continuing to make investments, as he mentioned, in vaccines. We have now seen more than 13.8 million doses delivered directly to the provinces.
We are going to continue to work to find solutions to support businesses to make sure they are here on the back end of this pandemic, so the recovery will help the economy come roaring back.
Pat Kelly Conservative Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB
Mr. Speaker, there was nothing in that answer that will help Greg's business. I raised this issue in question period in February and the parliamentary secretary for small business said they were working on it. I raised the issue at finance in March, and the Deputy Prime Minister admitted they have failed businesses like Greg's. There has been a Speech from the Throne, a fall economic statement and finally a budget, and there is still nothing.
They have admitted there is a problem. That is the first step. When will they actually do something?
Sean Fraser LiberalParliamentary 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, we are very aware of the situation. I want to thank my colleague for raising the important issue.
When we created the emergency relief programs, our government sought to support as many Canadian businesses as possible, as quickly as possible. At the same time, we knew that all of these programs needed to be designed so we could ensure their integrity, as we also ensured they were reaching as many businesses as humanly possible.
This can be a very challenging balance to strike, and we are working to find that balance so we can support new businesses, as well as those millions who have already received support.
Xavier Barsalou-Duval Bloc Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC
Mr. Speaker, this morning, the press reported that the president and CEO of CN thought the strike at the Port of Montreal would have less of an impact than feared because everyone has seen this coming for weeks.
Businesses have diverted their cargo to other ports in places like Halifax, and the routes have been changed. Everyone is just waiting for things to come to a head since the federal government revealed last month that it was prepared to introduce special legislation.
Why did the government just give in and wait for the negotiations to stall?
Where was the Prime Minister?
Pablo Rodriguez LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, we have been there from the very beginning, for the past two and a half years, facilitating negotiations between the two parties. The federal mediator oversaw more than 100 days of negotiations.
There is a consensus in Quebec. Just ask the Government of Quebec, economic stakeholders, employees and families in Quebec. They all agree that we need to protect our economy and move forward.
This is an opportunity for the Bloc to stand up for Quebec, for once, and support the government's efforts to move forward together. The Bloc will not do that, though. It will want to make this a partisan issue. It is time to “un-Bloc” Quebec.
Xavier Barsalou-Duval Bloc Pierre-Boucher—Les Patriotes—Verchères, QC
Mr. Speaker, where has the government been over the past few weeks? It was nowhere to be seen. Every time this government is involved in a dispute, it turns into an economic crisis.
Last year, the Liberals let the CN labour dispute drag on until a propane shortage threatened farmers. They let the Wet'suwet'en conflict drag on to the point where the Prime Minister even recommended sending in the police to deal with indigenous protesters. Now, the Liberals have been watching the Montreal port negotiations and waiting for them to hit a wall so that they could introduce special legislation.
Seriously, does the Prime Minister have any desire to lead this country?
Pablo Rodriguez LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, seriously, does the Bloc Québécois have any desire to stand up for Quebec, rather than asking questions, complaining and picking fights?
We are talking here about jobs and economic stability. As I said earlier, we are talking about the reputation of the Port of Montreal and of Montreal itself. This situation has major economic consequences. The Bloc Québécois needs to listen to the Government of Quebec, economic stakeholders, families and people who are concerned about this.
If the Bloc Québécois does not want to help us, then it needs to get out of the way. We are going to do the work, and we are going to stand up for Quebec's economy. It is time to “un-Bloc” Quebec.
Brad Vis Conservative Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC
Mr. Speaker, home ownership is becoming impossible for Canadians to attain, a trend that has only grown exponentially worse over the course of this pandemic. The stats back this up. CREA reports that the national average home price rose 31.6% compared to March of last year.
Why has the Liberal government’s 2021 budget completely ignored first-time homebuyers and the housing needs of young Canadians?
Adam Vaughan LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families
Mr. Speaker, it is very good to see the Conservatives finally talk about housing. I remember a prime minister named Stephen Harper who told me once, when I was a reporter, to go read the Constitution because housing was not a federal responsibility.
Let me assure the member opposite that not only will we be taking steps to invest in first-time buyers and supporting them in crossing the bridge to home ownership, not only have we invested $75 billion in a national housing strategy to make rent more affordable, and not only have we put a tax on foreign speculators in the Canadian housing market, but we are also not done yet. There are new steps to be taken.
We believe in making sure Canadians have a choice, and that choice should be safe, affordable and secure. We will get this done. We will not take advice from the Conservatives, who were missing in action for 10 years.
Brad Vis Conservative Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC
Mr. Speaker, I will take no advice from the member opposite, who believes that foreign buyers should have more access to purchasing a home in Canada than a young Canadian. I could go on all day about the failures of the Liberal government to address young homebuyers.
The new housing program has not even made changes yet to address the rising house prices in Vancouver. Why is the Liberal government failing young Canadians? Why is the government losing hope for young Canadians, who just want a secure place to raise their family?
