Debates of June 15th, 2021

Ethics

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

Mr. Speaker, this was one blustery Saturday afternoon. Every time the Conservatives get up and attack hard-working political staff, I think they do a great disservice to the sacrifices those staff make and to the time and effort they put in supporting us in our official duties. I am proud that my staff hold themselves to a high ethical standard, as do I. The staff who support MPs and ministers should be recognized for the hard work they do and not be subject to baseless, spurious attacks in this House. Let me reiterate that all rules were followed to the letter. There was no interference here.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I just want to remind hon. members that the hon. member for Mégantic—L'Érable asked a question and I am sure he wants to hear the answer. I want to make sure the shouting stops back and forth.

The hon. member for Mégantic—L'Érable.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is always the same thing with the Liberals. They are always willing to do anything and bend the rules to help their friends.

The Prime Minister, the Minister of Health, Dr. Tam, the Treasury Board, the provinces, all had one message at the time: stay home. That was not good enough for the Minister of Natural Resources and his staff. The rules do not apply to them; they are Liberals.

Not only does the minister deserve to be reprimanded, he also has to pay that money back to Canadians.

Will the Liberal cronies refund the $9,000 to Canadian taxpayers?

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

Mr. Speaker, no matter how many times the Conservatives get up and try to twist the facts, it does not change the reality that all rules were followed to the letter. It might surprise members opposite that we on this side of the House respect our staff's private lives and, within reason, their right to do what they wish with their time off. My staff followed all the rules, the public health guidelines and the Treasury Board guidelines for a minister's office that the previous Conservative government put in place. Are the Conservatives really suggesting that the rules they put in place should only apply to Conservative staffers?

Official Languages

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

Mr. Speaker, watch out, the Minister of Official Languages just woke up. She just announced the introduction of an official languages bill, but it is June 15 and Parliament closes in six days. She knows her bill has no chance of being passed, but she is still going ahead. That is called playing politics with the francophones of the country. It is Liberal cynicism at its finest. It is not serious in the least.

When will the minister really start taking an interest in the rights of francophones from across the country? Will it be after the next election?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, we took office six years ago. For six years, I have been responsible for official languages in the government. As such, I take an interest in the rights of francophones across the country and of all the linguistic minorities of Canada.

Today is a historic day. My colleague should be happy. We introduced an important bill that seeks to better protect the French language and all linguistic minorities. There are no surprises here. This is consistent with our commitments in the Speech from the Throne and in the reform paper I tabled in February.

The question I would put to my colleague is the following: Will the NDP support our official languages bill, yes or no?

Housing

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, developers are buying up billions of dollars of single-family homes so they can profit off their rent. Not only is this not creating a housing supply, but it actually drives up the cost of home ownership. Similarly, they are acquiring low-rental properties and treating housing like a stock market, yet the housing minister's spokesperson is saying that everything is fine and the government is not interested in changing its housing policy. Left unchecked, the right to housing is just a myth and home ownership is but a dream.

Will the government support the NDP's call to increase affordable social housing and take aggressive action against the financialization of housing?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, I congratulate the New Democrats for finally waking up to the importance of investing in affordable housing. For their information, we have been investing in affordable housing from day one of our government. We have introduced the Canada housing benefit. We have more than doubled the rental construction financing initiative. We have increased investments in the national housing co-investment fund. We have even given more tools to non-profit organizations to protect subsidized units. We have so much ambition in this space, backed by significant investment.

Official Languages

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as a proud Franco-Ontarian and an MP who represents a large francophone community, I am very pleased that the Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages introduced a bill in the House today that seeks to achieve real equality and strengthen the Official Languages Act.

Can the minister tell us how this bill will support the minority language communities and French across the country, including in Quebec?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question and his hard work as a proud Franco-Ontarian.

Today is a big day for official languages in Canada. Through a new bill on official languages, the federal government is fulfilling its responsibility to do more to protect and promote French in Canada while continuing to defend the rights of official language minority communities, of course. The federal government can and will be part of the solution to achieve real equality between French and English in Canada.

National Defence

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

Mr. Speaker, the seventh vice-chief of the defence staff since 2015 resigned yesterday because he went golfing with one of the two chiefs of the defence staff who are under investigation for sexual misconduct. This tragic narrative is a direct reflection on the weak leadership of the defence minister. The minister wilfully turned a blind eye to evidence of sexual misconduct against General Vance and refused to implement the Deschamps report. This is a dereliction of duty to the victims of sexual misconduct. Instead of leading by example, the minister failed our troops and lost their respect.

Will the Minister of National Defence do the honourable thing and resign?

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

Mr. Speaker, we will take no lessons from the member opposite when it comes to looking after the Canadian Armed Forces. When he was in government, the Conservatives cut from the Canadian Armed Forces.

Our government, with our defence policy, added 70% of additional money to the defence budget, putting our people first. We know we have a lot more work, and we will get it done.

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

Mr. Speaker, the minister can say what he wants, but one thing is certain: Right now the Canadian Armed Forces is in chaos.

Things have only gotten worse since this minister took office in 2015. The minister is always saying that he is absolutely determined to bring about a culture change in the Canadian Armed Forces.

What did he do with the Deschamps report that was submitted in 2015? He did nothing.

Why did he not implement the 10 fundamental recommendations to protect women? We do not know.

Will the minister do the right thing and resign?

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

Mr. Speaker, as I stated, we are not taking any lessons from the member opposite when it comes to our actions on creating an inclusive environment for all in the Canadian Armed Forces. We will be putting our people first, as we have always done.

We know that we have a lot more work to do. We will be moving very quickly with Justice Fish's recommendations, and Madam Arbour will be providing greater guidance on how we can create the culture change that is absolutely needed in the Canadian Armed Forces.

Telecommunications

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, once again, eastern Ontario municipal leaders are leading our country when it comes to improved Internet and cell coverage in our region. They are ready to go with another massive project to increase Internet speed up to one gigabit per second for their households and their businesses. Recently, local Liberal and Conservative MPs heard the group tell the minister directly that her department is once again refusing to fund their projects. How can this be?

Why does the Liberal government continue to put up unnecessary roadblocks that delay projects that are ready right now to help our residents?

[Maryam Monsef, Liberal, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development]

Mr. Speaker, I welcome my colleague to the team of Liberal MPs in this region who have been working to connect eastern Ontario to cell service and high-speed Internet since 2015. We have moved forward, we have funded projects and we continue to support Ontarians as they get connected to this essential service. My colleague is misrepresenting that conversation.

I appreciate the work that the Eastern Ontario Wardens' Caucus has done, and I look forward to sharing more news with Ontarians about high-speed Internet service in their backyards.

[Eric Duncan, Conservative, Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, ON]

Mr. Speaker, that was not even close to an acceptable answer. They cannot even get the okay to apply to the universal broadband fund that the minister and the government continue to tout provides better Internet access. One hundred and four heads of council in eastern Ontario are behind this project, and it is valued at $1.6 billion.

No more wishy-washy teamwork. Can the minister just give a straight answer? It is very simple. Can the Eastern Ontario Wardens' Caucus and the regional network apply through the universal broadband fund to improve through their gig project, yes or no?

[Maryam Monsef, Liberal, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development]

Mr. Speaker, again, I appreciate my colleague's concern, but I assure him that Liberal MPs have been working with the Eastern Ontario Wardens' Caucus since before he had a seat in Parliament, and we will continue to do so.

In the coming days, we will have more news—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I am going to interrupt the hon. minister and ask her to start over. I am having a hard time hearing. I do not understand why, because this is usually a quiet chamber.

The hon. minister.

[Maryam Monsef, Liberal, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I was congratulating my colleague for his interest in connecting eastern Ontario to high-speed Internet and I was assuring him that the Liberal members of Parliament in the region have been working hard to do just that with the Eastern Ontario Wardens' Caucus since 2015. We are in regular conversations with them around the universal broadband fund. We are working with the Province of Ontario to connect even more households to this essential service, and we will have more news to come.

If my colleagues have additional questions or ideas, I am happy to work with them off-line. Please reach out.

Official Languages

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in the series “Ottawa is 50 years too late”, after declaring that French was an official language, the Liberals are proud to announce that Quebec workers have the right to work and to be supervised in French. I want to make sure that I understand.

Does the new official languages bill say that, from now on, there is only one common language for employees of federally regulated private businesses in Quebec and that it is French, or is it just that they have the right to work in French?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages]

Mr. Speaker, this is the first time that we are going to recognize in the Official Languages Act the right to work in French, the right to be served in French and the right not to be discriminated against for being a francophone in federally regulated businesses in Quebec and regions with a strong francophone presence.

I had the opportunity today to speak with my counterpart, Sonia LeBel, to ensure that the 55% of federally chartered enterprises in Quebec that are already subject to Bill 101 can continue to be under this system.

In the meantime, our government will fill the legal void. We are offering a new system that will protect French within federally regulated private businesses.

[Mario Beaulieu, Bloc, La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC]

Mr. Speaker, that does not really mean much.

What Quebec wants is not the right to speak French, but for the language of work in Quebec for all Quebeckers to be French. We do not want to be able to speak French at work, we want to have to speak French at work.

Instead of introducing a bill that will never be passed, the government should simply support our bill that will ensure that the Charter of the French Language applies to federally regulated private businesses. That is what Quebeckers want.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Economic Development and Official Languages]

What Quebeckers want is for their concerns about the state of French to be addressed and that this be done in federally regulated businesses and in the federal government and with respect for linguistic minorities.

That is what francophones in Quebec and across the country are asking of us and it is what all Canadians are asking of us. We are introducing an ambitious, robust and important bill, a quasi-constitutional statute. In the circumstances, for the good of the country and for the good of francophones, we hope that the Bloc Québécois will support it.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in June 2020, Canadian vegetable growers lost millions of pounds of vegetables because of COVID. For almost a year they have been asking for compensation for the losses they incurred, and they have been exceedingly patient. Recently, the Government of Ontario wrote to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food to ask for the activation of AgriRecovery for vegetable growers who incurred substantial losses and extraordinary costs.

When will the minister make funds available under AgriRecovery to compensate vegetable growers for their pandemic losses?