Debates of Nov. 2nd, 2022

The Economy

[Mark Strahl, Conservative, Chilliwack—Hope, BC]

Mr. Speaker, what we are opposed to is the Liberal plan and Liberal policies that have led to millions of Canadians every month using food banks and cutting back on meals because they cannot afford groceries. Even the future Liberal leader, Mark Carney, has said that this inflationary crisis has principally been created in Canada.

The Prime Minister cannot blame others for the crisis he has created, and Canadians cannot afford more of the same failed Liberal policies. When will he stop making things worse, stop his out-of-control spending and stop raising taxes on Canadian families?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the investments we are making in Canadians, whether it is with the GST rebate that is going to help, whether it is with low-income supports for renters who need that extra support or whether it is making sure that all families can afford to send their kids to the dentist, are going to help.

Yes, there continue to be pressures because of global inflation, but the reality is that we are going to continue to be there for Canadians. In the economic statement we are putting forward tomorrow, people will see not just supports for families, but supports for the kinds of jobs and opportunities they will need in the decades to come.

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

Mr. Speaker, we all agree on one thing: Food is a basic right and a necessity that cannot be ignored. The problem is that the statistics are troubling. This morning we learned that one in five families in Canada has had to cut back on their food budget and on what they eat because of inflation. Last month, 1.5 million Canadians had to turn to food banks. At the Amélie et Frédérick food bank in my riding, the demand for assistance has doubled.

Does the Prime Minister realize that his inflationary policies are making food at the grocery store much more expensive for all Canadians?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are well aware of how global inflation is hitting families hard right across Canada. That is why we are bringing in concrete measures to support them, such as help with dental care for children and assistance for low-income renters. The Conservatives, however, oppose these measures.

At the same time, with the investments we have been making in families since 2015, we have been able to lift 2 million people out of poverty across the country. We have been investing in families, seniors, youth and workers all along. The Conservatives have opposed most of these investments—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for Louis-Saint-Laurent.

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

Mr. Speaker, contrary to what the Prime Minister says, this global context is not the only reason we have a problem here. It is because, in seven years, the Liberal government has never been able to control its spending. I am not the only one to say so. The aspiring Liberal leader, Mark Carney, actually said that this was not an imported inflation and that it was now a national inflation, a Canadian inflation.

Since the Minister of Finance, who also aspires to be leader of the Liberal Party, is presenting her economic update tomorrow, could her Prime Minister tell her to freeze taxes and spending? That is what will help lower inflation.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives keep proposing austerity as a solution, but the reality is that the targeted investments for families, seniors and workers are precisely what has created growth over the past few years and reduced poverty across the country.

We are here to help people. We are here to invest and build a stronger, greener future for everyone. Those are the choices we have made, and the Conservatives oppose them every step of the way. Whether we lower taxes for the middle class or pay benefits for children, they oppose it.

Health

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am taken aback by the government's pretentious attitude. We in Ottawa are better than those people in Quebec. We know better than they do.

However, the government is finally organizing a meeting with health ministers. Despite how important this is, the health ministers will be there but not the Prime Minister. Furthermore, there is an economic update this Thursday and the health ministers' meeting will be held after that.

Am I to understand that this is a political operation, that the die is cast and that everything to do with the budget will have been decided beforehand?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I think that Quebeckers, like Canadians, understand that the solution for health systems that do not perform as expected is not to simply inject more money.

Yes, money will help, and we will be there to invest more in health care systems. It will also take a collaborative approach to ensure that there will be results for Canadians and that health systems across the country work for them. That is exactly what we are focusing on.

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, his collaborative approach is just a way of stalling so that he can impose conditions. I appeal to the Prime Minister's heart.

Even the hallways of emergency rooms in Quebec are full. Imagine how distressing that is. The waiting lists for surgery are endless. We are talking about real people, people who are really sick. I know parents, and I hope the Prime Minister knows parents, who are worried that their child is going to commit suicide. Actually, I hope he does not know any parents like that because that would mean that there are none.

Do we agree that people's health should not be jeopardized for the sake of a political agenda?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I completely agree that politics should not be a factor here. That is why we are saying that, yes, people should have access to family doctor.

People should not be left waiting in emergency room hallways. More money will not automatically resolve this problem. We need to do the ground work to improve the health care system. Yes, a collaborative approach is needed across the country. We need to make citizens the focus of the outcomes we want to achieve and that is exactly the conversation that we are currently having with the country's health ministers.

Finance

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, while the NDP, the Prime Minister and their costly coalition voted to triple the carbon tax on people's home heating bills, the Prime Minister treated himself to a luxurious vacation and a wonderful night of singing in the palatial lobby of one of the swankiest hotels on planet earth.

He then spent $6,000 per night on a single hotel room. Who stayed in that room?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, while the Conservatives continue to focus on me, we are going to stay focused on supporting Canadians, whether that is with measures the Conservatives oppose to deliver rental supports for low-income Canadians or whether that is to make sure all Canadians can send their kids to the dentist.

We heard the Conservative leader, for months, talking about rights and freedoms for Canadians, and now that a government is pre-emptively blocking Canadians' fundamental rights and freedoms, there is not a whisper from the so-called freedom fighter. When is he going to condemn the use of the notwithstanding clause pre-emptively?

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, that was a nice try. He is very clever, but a moment ago I asked who stayed in the $6,000-a-night hotel room, and he said that I was focusing on him. I guess we got our answer, then.

It is clear that the Prime Minister wants to talk about anything else to avoid taking blame for having spent that money on himself while Canadians are suffering. Can he confirm it was he who—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, while Conservatives continue to play rhetorical games, the reality is Canadians need a Conservative Party that stands up for them, which is something they simply are not getting. It is not stepping up on rental supports for low-income renters; it is not stepping up on dental care for kids who need it, and it is not even standing up for the fundamental rights and freedoms that the Leader of the Opposition made a full campaign out of. Now he is nowhere to be seen on standing up for Canadians' fundamental rights and freedoms.

Will he condemn the pre-emptive use of the notwithstanding clause?

Labour

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, this is from the guy who robbed a record amount from Canadian workers' paycheques when he imposed the highest inflation in 40 years on them. There was no negotiation for workers; in fact, they all took an across-the-board pay cut without ever giving their permission, and now the position of his government is that they should have their pay capped. The Governor of the Bank of Canada told CEOs that there should be no pay hike for Canadian workers to compensate them for the Prime Minister's inflation.

Does he agree with the Governor of the Bank of Canada that Canadian workers do not deserve a pay hike, yes or no?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the member is trying to pretend he is standing up for workers right now when he is refusing to condemn a suspension of their most fundamental right, the right to collective bargaining. Workers' ability to negotiate a better future for themselves and their families is core to the success of this country's middle class.

Why is he not condemning this attack on the fundamental rights and freedoms of workers?

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I am condemning the attack the Prime Minister has undertaken on Canadian workers by giving them the highest inflation in 40 years, eating up their paycheques so that they cannot afford food. It is the Prime Minister who has sent 1.5 million Canadians to food banks in the month of March, the Prime Minister who has given them record credit card debt, and the Prime Minister who has forced one in five people to skip meals because they cannot afford to eat. Now the Governor of the Bank of Canada says those workers do not deserve a raise.

I condemn those comments. Will he?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, one of the most fundamental rights available to workers in this country is the ability to fight for better rights, better opportunities, better pay and better working conditions, and that happens at the bargaining table. What has happened is they have been stripped of that right to bargain, to negotiate and to talk about a better future for themselves and their families by the pre-emptive use of a measure designed to suspend and override their fundamental rights and freedoms, but the Leader of the Opposition has refused six times to condemn that in this House.

Oil and Gas Industry

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadian families are struggling with the rising costs of energy, whether it is putting gas in their cars or paying for their home heating. All the while, the oil and gas companies are raking in record profits, something the Biden administration is referring to as war profiteering. Frankly, it is. What is the Liberal government's response? It is to put even more public money in the pockets of these highly profitable companies.

When will the Prime Minister take a stand, protect workers, make these wealthy companies pay what they owe on their windfall profits and invest that into helping Canadians pay their energy bills?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, by putting a price on pollution right across the country that puts more money in the pockets of families in jurisdictions where it applies, we are sending clear price signals to industry and to the private sector that they have to invest more in decarbonization. This is something we are focusing on, ensuring that these record profits from the oil and gas industry go into investing in decarbonization, go into CCUS technology to decarbonize, and are invested in better opportunities and jobs for the future while we fight climate change across the country.

Health

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, in the last election, the Prime Minister made some really big promises on health care. He made big promises to improve long-term care. He made big promises on mental health care. However, he is completely missing in action when it comes to the premiers of this country requesting a meeting on dealing with the health care crisis. When will the Prime Minister respond to the crisis we are dealing with and deliver on the promises he made?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we heard clearly from Canadians from coast to coast to coast that they want access to family doctors. We heard clearly from families from coast to coast to coast that they need to see an end to the backlog and they need better access to mental health services. These are things we are busy working on with the provinces and we are going to be delivering. Yes, we will do this with more funds, but also with clearer outcomes for Canadians. Canadians deserve a health care system that delivers for them. We know, as the head of the CMA has said, that we cannot just put money into a broken system. We need to fix the system. That is what we are doing.