Debates of Oct. 27th, 2022

Public Safety

[Bill Blair, Liberal, President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness]

No, Mr. Speaker.

[Dane Lloyd, Conservative, Sturgeon River—Parkland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, former Liberal insider and RCMP director of issues management Dan Brien recorded the April 28 meeting with Commissioner Lucki. When investigators came for the recording, he claimed that his phone had been stolen and that he had deleted the recording. We now find out that the phone was not stolen and that the recording had not been deleted from his personal phone: an honest mistake, I guess.

Did the minister's office communicate with Dan Brien about this recording, and when and how did the minister become aware of its existence?

[Bill Blair, Liberal, President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness]

Mr. Speaker, neither I nor my office communicated with Mr. Brien about any aspect of this matter. I have absolutely no knowledge about that except what I have read in the papers.

Indigenous Affairs

[Niki Ashton, NDP, Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB]

Mr. Speaker, a 15-year-old in Red Sucker Lake First Nation took his life in his own schoolyard following another suicide and 17 attempts. Red Sucker Lake's Chief Knott is clear: This is a crisis. Young people need hope.

It is time to fix their half-finished arena, deliver the new school they have been promised, build the regional treatment centre they need and ensure people in poverty can afford basic necessities in the face of sky-high prices. It is time to end the third world living conditions. There can be no true reconciliation without action for communities like Red Sucker Lake.

When will the Liberals step up?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Indigenous Services and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House we completely agree with the member opposite that it is unacceptable to have such levels of disparity across this country for first nations people. It is why we have committed to closing the socio-economic gaps by 2030. It is why we have redoubled our efforts on investing in infrastructure and mental health and wellness and in supports for communities like Red Sucker Lake. Across this country, we will continue to do more with first nations partners, because every child deserves a fair chance to succeed.

Persons with Disabilities

[Bonita Zarrillo, NDP, Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC]

Mr. Speaker, in June the minister said it would take three years for people living with a disability to get the Canada disability benefit; last week she told media it would take 12 months, and yesterday her public servant said they cannot set a timeline. This lack of commitment from the Liberals is hurting people who are suffering and cannot wait any longer.

When will the Liberals deliver meaningful help to lift one million Canadians living with a disability out of poverty?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, I am so proud that this House unanimously supported the bill that would bring forward the Canada disability benefit. There is so much work to do, but what is important is noting that every member of this House believes sincerely that we need to ensure we are supporting Canadians living with disabilities. We are going to continue doing that work, and we are going to ensure that we are enabling Canadians with disabilities to live with dignity.

Climate Change

[Peter Schiefke, Liberal, Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I quote:

Carbon pricing is a remarkably elegant market solution to reducing emissions. Pricing would enable the reduction of a wide array of regulations and government interferences in the market. Pricing would give consumers and companies clear signals about the cost of the negative externality, and allow them to figure out for themselves the best way to respond.

Can the Minister of Environment and Climate Change tell us if he agrees with this, and also who said this?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, it was none other than the Conservative Party of Canada's director of communications, Ben Woodfinden. He also said, “Instead of scoring cheap political points...Conservatives need to get serious and offer their own alternative.” Where is this alternative? Why does the Leader of the Opposition not listen to his own director of communications, get serious and step up for climate action and a resilient, low-carbon economy?

Finance

[Leslyn Lewis, Conservative, Haldimand—Norfolk, ON]

Mr. Speaker, while Canadians were distracted during the pandemic, the government engaged in hundreds of millions of dollars of wasteful spending, including $54 million on a dysfunctional ArriveCAN app that discriminated against seniors and sent thousands of vaccinated Canadians into quarantine. Wasteful spending is the cause of this current inflationary crisis. Canadians cannot afford this costly coalition anymore.

Will the Liberals stop their inflationary spending?

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health and to the Minister of Sport]

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to stand in this House and extol the important virtues of vaccination over the last couple of years. Indeed, only very few Canadians have decided not to get vaccinated, and that means we have done quite well, in terms of the fatality rate in Canada. It is so important that Canadians consider now, this fall, getting a bivalent vaccine for themselves and their families.

I would encourage every Canadian to speak to their health care provider or their doctor and consider flu shots and bivalent vaccines this fall.

[Leslyn Lewis, Conservative, Haldimand—Norfolk, ON]

Mr. Speaker, again that was a non-answer. I was speaking about wasteful spending during COVID.

The government also wasted $54 million on a failed ArriveCAN app. One developer replicated this app in one weekend and said it should not have cost more than $250,000. In addition, several contractors said they never worked on the app and never received the millions of dollars the government said it paid to those developers.

Where did the money go, and who got rich?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we are aware of the costs related to ArriveCAN. We are investigating those costs. ArriveCAN was important for digitizing the border, for making sure we kept Canadians safe and for making sure we could reopen the borders. The other side was hooting and hollering at us to make sure we opened the borders. We had a tool in place to make sure we did that.

We invested $72 billion in Canadians' health to get us through the pandemic. The Conservatives wanted us to invest less. We invested the right amount; the economy is healthy, and now they are upset because we did the right thing.

Canadian Heritage

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, did the Department of Canadian Heritage ask well-known, well-documented, self-declared anti-Semite Laith Marouf to apply for funding, yes or no?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion]

Mr. Speaker, as I have stated before and will say again, anti-Semitism, hate and racism have no place in our society. The funding to this organization has been cut, and we have demanded repayment of the funding. We are implementing new measures to improve the Department of Canadian Heritage's vetting processes to ensure that this never happens again.

On this side of the House, we will ensure that we always stand against anti-Semitism and hate in all its forms.

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, here is the problem. Known racist Laith Marouf got $133,000 of Canadian tax money from the department and claims he was begged to apply for it. The diversity minister found out about his department's funding this vile anti-Semite more than a month before he acknowledged it publicly. The Minister of Canadian Heritage now claims he did not know about his department's funding this racist until he read about it in a newspaper a month later, which, of course, no one believes.

Who is lying: Laith Marouf, the diversity minister, the heritage minister or all three?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion]

Mr. Speaker, let me be absolutely clear. This organization was not approached by the Department of Canadian Heritage and was not specifically asked to run a program.

We on this side of the House have repeatedly condemned anti-Semitic, vile and reprehensible comments against various groups made by this individual. We have cut the funding to this organization; we have demanded the money back, and we are improving the vetting processes to make sure this never happens again.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Stéphane Bergeron, Bloc, Montarville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the U.S. Secretary of State will be meeting with the Prime Minister at at the end of the day today. I know that they will be talking about very important, critical issues, such as the situation in Haiti, Ukraine and Iran. They will also be talking about the matter of refugees in North America. Right now, thousands of asylum seekers are crossing the border irregularly, without protection, at their own peril. That is not how we should be welcoming people who need help.

Will the Prime Minister discuss the suspension of the safe third country agreement with the Secretary of State?

[Marie-France Lalonde, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, first, on behalf of all members of the House, I would like to welcome U.S. Secretary of State Blinken, who is meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs here in Canada.

Second, as we have said many times, we are committed to modernizing the agreement between our two countries. We are heading in that direction, and I am proud to welcome the Secretary of State to Canada.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the way things are going, it is expected that there will be more than 30,000 irregular entries at Roxham Road in 2022. These are desperate people, exploited by criminal smugglers who often offer them false hope. They are intercepted by the police before they can apply for asylum. This is a situation that, purely from a humanitarian point of view, cannot continue. However, the government wants to allow it to continue.

Will the Prime Minister take advantage of the U.S. Secretary of State's visit to push for the suspension of the safe third country agreement?

[Marie-France Lalonde, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, our system for asylum seekers must be robust and humane. There is no magic solution.

Asking to close Roxham Road or suspend the agreement is not the answer. What the government needs to do, and what we are doing, is to modernize the agreement.

Taxation

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Loretteville has a community fridge. Neufchâtel has the Amélie et Frédérick food bank. Val‑Bélair has the Val Bon Cœur community fridge. All three provide food aid. Unfortunately, in these communities, just like in the rest of Canada, needs have increased significantly over the past few weeks and months.

Today, we learned that 1.5 million Canadians turned to food banks last month alone. Putting food on the table is not a luxury, especially not here in Canada, but it takes money.

Could the government give Canadians at least a little good news and promise not to raise taxes in the coming months and years?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, once again, it is hard to believe that the Conservatives are really concerned about the state of poverty here in Canada. Their record shows that, every time we introduce a measure to help people in need, they vote against it. Today, they have the opportunity to support measures that help people cover the cost of dental care and rent.

Will the Conservatives join us in supporting those measures? We hope to be able to count on them today.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, all Canadians hope they can count on this government to not raise taxes. That is what people are asking of the Liberals, because so many are now having to go to food banks in order to have enough to eat. It is outrageous that this is happening in Canada.

The price of vegetables has gone up by 12%. The price of fruit has gone up by 13%. For baked goods, it is 15%, cereal products, 18%, and pasta, 36%. There is something wrong when spaghetti is expensive.

Can the government commit, on behalf of all Canadians, to not raise taxes? It is simple. Someone please say yes.

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question. This is an issue that affects all Canadians, and I understand the situation.

I have the utmost respect for my colleague, and he knows that that is why I have asked the presidents of several large corporations and businesses across the country to do their part. In a situation like this, we must all do our part to lower prices for consumers.

I have also asked the Competition Bureau to investigate to make sure that there are no unfair practices happening in this country.