Debates of Nov. 24th, 2022

Official Languages

[Joël Godin, Conservative, Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this Liberal government is talking out of both sides of its mouth when it comes to English-French bilingualism.

It appointed a Governor General who does not speak French, it appointed a Lieutenant Governor who speaks only English in the only bilingual province, and it is blocking francophone immigration, to name just a few examples.

Now the NDP-Liberal coalition is muzzling the Standing Committee on Official Languages and preventing us from improving Bill C‑13 to stop the decline of French. Talk about hypocrisy.

Can the Prime Minister immediately give orders to stop all measures that attack the French language?

[Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Liberal, Minister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency]

Mr. Speaker, what is hypocritical in the House is that the Bloc Québécois and the Conservatives are actually blocking our bill.

We have heard from stakeholders across the country, who are telling us that now is the time to take the next step. Stakeholders are telling us that they want to see Bill C‑13 passed so we can start working on the regulations.

Nevertheless, the Bloc Québécois and the Conservatives continue to play political games. This is completely unacceptable.

Finance

[Marty Morantz, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

Mr. Speaker, since 2015, the Prime Minister has doubled our national debt to $1.2 trillion. Over $100 billion of that was even prior to the pandemic. He has incurred more debt than all other prime ministers combined. Just yesterday, the Governor of the Bank of Canada told me that, but for this massive spending, inflation would have been less.

This is a very important question: Will the Prime Minister finally admit that his failed fiscal policy is costing Canadians more for everything?

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind the opposite side of the House and Canadians that Conservatives voted with us to support Canadians during the pandemic. If they are having heartache over that now, that is on their conscience, not on ours, because we did the right thing to support Canadians.

Canadians and people around the world are facing a crisis when it comes to the cost of living. While we have the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio and the lowest deficit in the G7, while we have among the lowest inflation in the world, that is not good enough. That is why we are helping those Canadians who need it the most when they need it the most, investing in the economy so that it can grow, and investing in our fiscal position so that we can meet the challenges of the future.

The Economy

[Marty Morantz, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the reality is that 40% of spending that took place during the pandemic, according to the government's own appointed Parliamentary Budget Officer, had absolutely zero to do with the pandemic. The member's response is cold comfort for those who cannot afford to heat their homes because of the carbon tax or cannot afford to stay in their homes because of interest rates, or cannot afford groceries because of inflation. The fact of the matter is that the Governor of the Bank Canada has now confirmed what we all feared: excessive government spending is the cause of made-in-Canada inflation.

Will the Prime Minister stop this problem, stop the spending and get inflation under control?

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

Mr. Speaker, moms and dads who used the CERB to stay home and take care of their kids did not cause inflation. Businesses that wanted to keep their doors open so they could serve Canadians in 2022 for the Christmas season did not create inflation. This government took the steps it needed to support Canadians, to support businesses and to support provinces. What we have done in the fall economic statement is support the economy so that it can grow and make sure that our fiscal position is strong.

What are we doing? We are responding to the needs of those Canadians who need help when they need it now. What are the Conservatives doing? They are suggesting that people invest in crypto. That is irresponsible.

Justice

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is very clear that the strict and ineffective policies of previous governments did not succeed in protecting our communities. Instead, they contributed to the overrepresentation of indigenous people and racialized and marginalized Canadians in our justice system.

Can the Minister of Justice inform the House of the practical measures our government is taking to do away with those policies?

[David Lametti, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, my neighbour, for her important question and the work she does for our community.

With Bill C-5, for the first time in the history of Canada, we have done away with some mandatory minimum sentences, giving judges the flexibility to impose sentences that fit the crime. That means that prosecutors and police officers can spend more time and resources fighting serious crime. We did away with the mandatory minimums that contribute the most to the over-incarceration of indigenous, Black and racialized Canadians. We took action for a justice system—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Order.

The hon. member for Calgary Midnapore.

Carbon Pricing

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Mr. Speaker, everyone agrees that the government is failing. Even the Governor of the Bank of Canada said yesterday that the government has been spending too much for too long. Even the Parliamentary Budget Officer said that Albertans will spend $2,000 more on the carbon tax than they will get back in rebates.

When will the government do the right thing and cancel its plan to triple, triple, triple the tax on gas, groceries and home heating?

[Terry Duguid, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, as usual, the Conservatives are spreading misinformation.

Let us look at the Conservatives' record for a moment. They cut $350 million from the environment and climate change budget. They withdrew from the Kyoto accord. For 10 long years, they did absolutely nothing on climate change. For that, at all the international meetings they went to, they won the Fossil of the Day Award, the Fossil of the Year Award, and they won the granddaddy of them all in 2013, the Lifetime Underachievement Fossil Award.

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

Mr. Speaker, inflation is stuck at a 40-high year and the cost of groceries is up 11%. Rural Manitoba seniors like Suzanne are skipping meals. Suzanne is skipping meals so often that she is actually not eating two or three days each week. She is wearing her winter jacket in her home so she does not have to turn up her heat and she is struggling to put gas in her car to drive an hour and a half to Winnipeg to see her doctor.

When will the Liberals stop hurting our seniors and axe the carbon tax increase on heating and eating?

[Kamal Khera, Liberal, Minister of Seniors]

Mr. Speaker, I think it is important to look at the facts. The fact is that when the Conservative Party was in power, its plan for seniors was to raise the age of retirement to 67. The fact is the first thing we did was we reversed it back to 65. The fact is that the party opposite opposed every single measure that we put forward to support seniors, including the increase to the guaranteed income supplement, including an increase to old age security by 10% for those 75 and over, including our enhancements to the CPP.

I will not take any lessons from the party opposite in supporting seniors. We are going to continue to be here for them.

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Mr. Speaker, talking about just the facts, here are some facts. For seven years, taxes have gone up on all Canadians. For seven years, emissions have gone up. We had a better record on emissions than the Liberal government ever has had. Those are the facts.

Here are some more facts. Some 1.5 million Canadians rely on food banks to put food on their tables. Universities are sending out fundraising letters so that kids at our universities in Canada can eat before they go to bed.

This is the Canada these Liberals have made, so when will they get it together and stop forcing their failed carbon tax on all Canadians?

[Seamus O'Regan, Liberal, Minister of Labour]

Mr. Speaker, I am so delighted to get this opportunity right now to be able to tell a family of four in Newfoundland and Labrador that they will be getting $1,312 in their bank account every year. Four times a year, they will have cash in the bank: $328 in July, next July; $328 in October, just when they are getting ready for the winter, and again in January and again in April.

I welcome another question from the other side so I can talk about how we are putting more money back into the hands of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.

Housing

[George Chahal, Liberal, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Mr. Speaker, this past Tuesday marked National Housing Day, and I am proud to say that it was this government—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I am going to have to interrupt, as I am having a hard time hearing the question.

We take turns here, and it is his turn now. As for shouting questions, it does not work that way.

The hon. member for Calgary Skyview may begin from the top so we can hear the full question.

[George Chahal, Liberal, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Mr. Speaker, this past Tuesday marked National Housing Day, and I am proud to say that it was this government that legislated the recognition of housing as a human right.

Since its launch, the national housing strategy has invested upward of $72 billion to ensure that every Canadian has a roof over their head. Could the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion tell this House about the work our government has done and continues to do for Canadians from coast to coast to coast?

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for his strong advocacy on this issue.

Since coming into office, we have had historic investments to create and repair over 440,000 homes across the country. We are not stopping there. Earlier this month, I launched the third round of the rapid housing initiative, which will ensure an additional 4,500 deeply affordable homes for the most vulnerable across the country.

We believe, on this side of the House, that housing is a human right, and we will not rest until each and every Canadian has access to a safe and affordable place to call home.

Veterans Affairs

[Rachel Blaney, NDP, North Island—Powell River, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have been failing veterans for years. The minister has refused to hire permanent staff to support veterans, has suspended services for over a month and is now delegating tasks to a private company owned by Loblaws for hundreds of millions of dollars. Meanwhile, VAC has delayed the contract rollout because workers have not been properly trained.

This is a crisis. Veterans deserve so much better. Why is the minister putting profits ahead of care for our veterans and their families, and will he stop this botched contract?

[Darrell Samson, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I want to explain to the House why this is a totally unacceptable and irresponsible question. This new contract will give 14,000 veterans access to 9,000 medical services staff, and there will be 600 offices available to them. This will also allow our case managers to reduce their administrative time and have more time to spend with our veterans.

Maritime Transportation

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, for years the residents of Saanich—Gulf Islands have had the pristine environment where they live, on the shores of the Salish Sea, contaminated by polluting commercial anchorages, which is essentially free parking for freighters. Since last month, the Port of Vancouver has been holding what it calls public consultation. The constituents of Saanich—Gulf Islands do not feel consulted. They once again feel ignored, as the Port of Vancouver tells them these anchorages are essential to the Port of Vancouver instead of figuring out how to make the Port of Vancouver efficient.

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, over the last couple of years, we have seen global supply disruptions that have impacted our supply chains at home. Because of that, we have seen congestion at airports and an increased number of vessels anchored next to our coast.

I have been listening to constituents on the coast, particularly where the hon. colleague is raising the point. I want to assure her that we are putting together an action plan to address this. We tabled Bill C-33 just two weeks ago. It will introduce new tools to help mitigate the traffic of the vessels. We will work with her and constituents to make sure that we manage this adequately.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I am afraid that is all the time we have for question period today.

I will ask everyone to take a deep breath and, if they have a conversation, they can take it into the lobby.

In the meantime, I believe the hon. opposition House leader has a question today.