Debates of June 16th, 2021

Official Languages

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

Mr. Speaker, I have a lot of respect for my colleague, but I wonder if she actually read the bill.

The bill is clear: It covers the right to work in French, the right to be served in French and, of course, the right not to be discriminated against for being francophone in federally regulated businesses in Quebec and regions with a strong francophone presence.

This is the first time the federal government has taken this step in the right direction. It was time. That is why, as a government, we are proud to have introduced the official languages bill yesterday. It was a historic event.

Will the Bloc Québécois be supporting it, yes or no?

National Defence

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

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of National Defence has always had a casual relationship with the truth. He misled Canadians about the protests of Iraqi officials for pulling our CF-18s out of the fight against ISIS. He embellished his service record, saying he was the architect of Operation Medusa. He originally denied he knew about the General Vance allegations in 2018, but was complicit in the cover-up for three years.

Canadians do not trust the Minister of National Defence. Members of the military do not trust him. When will the Prime Minister fire him?

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

Mr. Speaker, I will take no lessons from the member opposite, who was the parliamentary secretary of national defence when the Conservatives were in government, when they slashed the budget of defence at that time. They did not put the troops first. They did not deal with the misconduct.

When we formed the government, we made it very clear that we wanted to put our people first and eliminate sexual misconduct or any form of misconduct in the Canadian Armed Forces. We know from the recent allegations that we have a lot more work to do. We are willing to get it done.

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

Mr. Speaker, the minister has not learned anything from his own mistakes, so he should actually follow our example.

The Canadian Armed Forces is losing senior officers at an alarming rate. Two chiefs of defence staff are under investigation, and the seventh vice chief of defence staff since 2015 just resigned. All of this is happening under the failed leadership of the defence minister and is creating a national security crisis for our nation. The Minister of National Defence must be held to account, and no one trusts him to rebuild our armed forces.

Will the Prime Minister fire his inept defence minister today?

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

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to supporting our Canadian Armed Forces, we need to put our money where our mouth is, and that is exactly what our government did, not like the previous government, especially when the member was the parliamentary secretary to national defence.

We have invested in the Canadian Armed Forces. All our services will be re-equipped when it comes to that, because we have increased the budget by 20%. We have put an emphasis on dealing with the misconduct, something we wish we could have done immediately, and we wish we could have it done overnight. We know we have a lot more work to do, and we are willing to get it done.

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians were shocked to learn that the man with control over the sexual misconduct investigation went golfing with the man accused of the sexual misconduct, General Vance. Clearly these men at the top of the Canadian military were not informed of the seriousness of this investigation and were not informed of the need for a culture change in our military.

The Liberal government and the defence minister have had six years to fix this, yet they resoundingly failed or this golfing scandal would have never happened.

How can the minister take these questions with a straight face? Has he no honour?

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

Mr. Speaker, as stated before, the acting chief of the defence staff is reviewing this matter very closely as it falls within his responsibility within the chain of command, and the acting chief of the defence staff has stated already that the vice chief of the defence staff is currently no longer in his role.

Our government has a lot more work to do when it comes to dealing with misconduct, and we will get done.

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has built his entire image on being a feminist and, yet, after six years, he has allowed this toxic culture to continue under the watch of his defence minister, who sat idly by and allowed the most powerful military men in our country to continue to demean and disrespect our women in uniform. What message does this send to women and to men in our country, to aspiring women leaders in our military, that the Prime Minister thinks this is acceptable behaviour? Canadians are watching.

Will the Prime Minister be a leader for once and fire his defence minister?

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

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to dealing with misconduct, we know we have a lot more work to do. I hope the member opposite will support budget 2021 in which we have outlined $236 million to eliminate sexual misconduct from the Canadian Armed Forces.

Indigenous Affairs

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has defied Parliament and went back to court this week to try to quash the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruling. His argument is that his government is the party that was been wronged, not the thousands of indigenous children whose lives were destroyed in that system from “wilful and reckless” discrimination.

It is also false to claim that these are historic wrongs. This is happening today. We are losing an indigenous child every three days, and yet the Prime Minister would rather fight children in court.

When he is going to stop his toxic legal war against first nations children?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Indigenous Services]

Mr. Speaker, it is important for all Canadians and, indeed, this entire House to know that there is not a single indigenous child who has been asked to testify as part of this process and as part of the class actions, and it is our aim to keep it so. Any first nations child who has been discriminated by the broken child welfare system will get fair, just and equitable compensation. We will move forward on that as precipitously as possible as well as effect systemic transformation so this does not occur again.

Fisheries and Oceans

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have spent over $20 million fighting the Nuu-chah-nulth people in court, denying their fishing rights. Last month, the courts reaffirmed the rights of these nations for the third time. The government has until Friday to appeal the court's decision.

The last time I asked if the government would respect indigenous fishers' rights and let them get back on the water to support their families, the fisheries minister said that they were working with the Nuu-chah-nulth. Let me be clear that taking them to court is not the same as working with them.

Will the justice minister respect indigenous rights, call off the government lawyers and confirm that he will not appeal this ruling?

[Bernadette Jordan, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, we have worked very hard to ensure that we are able to make sure that first nations are able to exercise their right to fish as well as sell fish. We are going to continue to work with the Nuu-chah-nulth first nation to ensure these rights are upheld.

Seniors

[Mike Kelloway, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be part of a government that is committed to strengthening seniors' financial security, improving their quality of life. I was happy to see our government fulfill its promise to increase the OAS benefit for Canadians later in life in budget 2021, but we know seniors have other needs.

Could the minister tell the House and Canadians what we are doing to support some of the most vulnerable low-income seniors from coast to coast to coast?

[Deb Schulte, Liberal, Minister of Seniors]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his advocacy for seniors.

While no solution can meet everyone's needs, step by step we are making progress. For low-income seniors we increased the GIS by 10% for singles and increased and enhanced the GIS earnings exemption. We lowered the age of eligibility for OAS and GIS to 65 from 67, and for future retirees we enhanced the CPP by almost 50%. For everyone we are increasing the basic personal amount, saving individuals close to $300 every year.

Our government's work is making a real difference in the lives of seniors.

The Economy

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, today we learned that the cost of living is up, way up. Inflation is now at 3.6%, the highest it has been in over 10 years. Prices for everything, gasoline, food, furniture, are up, while millions of Canadians see their dream of home ownership disappear. Canadians need a leader who is focused on governing, not on preening for the cameras at the G7.

When will the Prime Minister finally take his job seriously and make life more affordable for the people he is supposed to be serving?

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

Mr. Speaker, it is utterly hypocritical for the Conservatives to even pretend to be concerned about ordinary Canadians. The single biggest threat the Canadian economy faces today is Conservative partisanship, which is blocking our budget. The Conservatives are blocking the extension of the wage subsidy, the extension of the rent subsidy and the extension of income supports.

Canada is ready to come roaring back. We just need the Conservatives to get out of the way.

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, even the finance minister does not get it. Inflation is way up. It is at its highest point in a decade, proving that the finance minister's trillion dollar debt and endless deficits are inflicting more and more damage on our country. Meanwhile, the cost of everything is going up, and housing has become unaffordable for millions of families.

How much more expensive does life have to get before the minister and her Liberal government realize how badly they have failed exhausted Canadians?

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

Mr. Speaker, let me tell the House what else Canadians, who indeed are exhausted and who indeed do need support, are being deprived of because of the immature partisan games of the Conservatives: $5 billion to support provincial and territorial health systems, $4 billion directly to the health care system and $1 billion for the essential vaccination campaign. That is what Canadians need right now and it is what Conservatives are blocking.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today it is clear that we have an inflationary bubble. The government is just trying to pump even more hot air into that bubble. It has created a trillion-dollar debt, which means too many dollars chasing too few goods and services. Now, in addition to not having paycheques, Canadians who do work are seeing their paycheques nibbled up by this growing level of inflation.

Will the government reverse its inflationary policy, stop spending what it does not have, restore fiscal responsibility and allow Canadians to afford their cost of living?

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

Mr. Speaker, let me tell the House what is truly irresponsible today just as we are poised to finish the fight against COVID. What is irresponsible are Conservative partisan games. Canadians need the wage subsidy, they need the rent subsidy and they need income support to be extended to the end of September, but the Conservatives are stopping us from passing our budget. It is that irresponsible behaviour which threatens the well-being of every single Canadian.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, so she just wants us to help her give more and more inflationary spending into the economy, driving up the cost of living, particularly on the working poor, and devaluing the wages of the Canadian people.

We have the second-highest unemployment in the G7, higher than the OECD, higher than the U.K., the U.S., Japan and Germany. Now those same unemployed Canadians are facing higher prices for shelter, fuel and food.

Instead of ramming through another inflationary budget that drives up the cost of living, why will she not actually reverse course and protect the value of the dollars Canadians earn?

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

Mr. Speaker, first, the member opposite needs to get his numbers right. Canada's labour force participation rate in April was in fact higher than the labour force participation rate in the U.S., the U.K., France and Italy.

I do want all members of the House to help me and to help our government support Canadians. I want them to help me extend the business and income supports. I want them to help me give more support to our seniors and to our youth.

Official Languages

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

Mr. Speaker, Bill C‑32 invalidates Quebec’s Bill 96 and its intent to apply Bill 101 to federally regulated businesses. Bill C-32 does not force the francization of businesses; it simply tolerates that workers speak in French. Bill C-32 does not recognize French as Quebec’s only official language, nor does it do anything to make up for its threatened minority status. Bill C-32 therefore prevents Quebec from taking charge of its language policy.

Why would Quebec vote for this instead of its own Bill 101?

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

Mr. Speaker, let us stop trying to scare people, as my colleague is doing.

It is not complicated. Bill C-32, an act to amend the Official Languages Act, which we introduced yesterday, requires federally regulated businesses to recognize the right to work in French, the right to be served in French, and the right of francophones not be discriminated against. Basically, these are the same provisions that are in Bill 101 and that have been adapted to a national system that applies to Quebec, as well as to regions with a strong francophone presence.

For businesses that are already compliant with Bill 101, an agreement will be made with the Government of Quebec. For those that are not compliant with Bill 101, it is not complicated; there is no longer a legal void and they will have to comply—