Debates of Nov. 25th, 2022

Gender-Based Violence

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Mr. Speaker, today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and the first day of the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence.

I call on the government to do more, and to support organizations, such as the Elmwood Community Resource Centre, which has been integral to the support of women, men, gender-diverse folks and youth in our community. The centre has done a great job at recognizing its strength while addressing the impact of gender-based violence.

In Canada, in 2018, 44% of women self-reported experiencing some form of psychological, physical or sexual abuse in the context of an intimate relationship. Unfortunately, we know that the pandemic, sadly, only grew that number. We also know that, of the 44% of women who self-reported, indigenous women were 61% more likely to experience intimate-partner violence.

The government has to do more today and every day. Paying lip service to the 231 calls for justice from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls report is simply unacceptable. The government must act on all of them. Delay costs lives.

Employment Insurance Sickness Benefits

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this afternoon, the government will announce that it is improving EI sickness benefits.

I would like to remind all parliamentarians that we would not even be talking about this were it not for Marie‑Hélène Dubé and her “15 weeks is not enough” campaign and Émilie Sansfaçon, who spent the final moments of her life fighting so that people who are seriously ill will never again be abandoned by the government, as she was. Every little bit of progress that is made on the sickness benefits file is thanks to courageous women like these two.

However, more needs to be done.

Before Émilie Sansfaçon passed away, she met personally with the Prime Minister. She explained to him that sick people need 50 weeks of support.

We will continue the fight for 50 weeks of benefits, because the only thing that people with diseases like cancer should have to worry about is healing, not financial concerns.

Let us continue, in memory of Émilie.

The Conservative Party of Canada

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are hurting. They look around at what has happened to this country of ours over the past seven years and realize that everything seems broken.

Canada is caught in a broken experiment of woke NDP-Liberal policies that remove prison sentences from violent offenders, flood our streets with illegal drugs and increase homelessness, crime, overdoses and death. Downtown in our city, I see the hopelessness on the faces of people every day as they take their next hit. They know that they are broken, but they have no place to go.

One in five families are skipping meals, there were 1.5 million visits to foods banks in Canada in just one month, and there are over 30,000 overdose deaths since 2016. When will it get better? Who is here to fix everything that is broken?

I know a guy who is here for Canadians. The leader of the Conservative Party has a plan to put Canadians back in charge of their lives. It is time for Canadians to let our strong Conservative team fix everything the Liberals have broken.

Gender-Based Violence

[Jenna Sudds, Liberal, Kanata—Carleton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today marks the beginning of the 16 days of activism against gender-based violence.

Since 2015, our government has taken action across the board to address gender-based violence, from strengthening the Criminal Code, to creating dedicated housing for women and children escaping violence, to developing our new national action plan and so much more. These actions have helped more than 1.3 million individuals experiencing violence find safe haven and access vital support in the face of gender-based violence, but our work is not done.

On December 9, organizations across Canada will be able to apply for new funding from Women and Gender Equality Canada to help organizations on the ground continue their important work. We will never accept gender-based violence in our country.

The Economy

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's bank governor, Tiff Macklem, confirmed that, if the government reduced its deficit, we would have lower inflation. Inflation now costs every Canadian $3,500 more every year. These are his words, not ours. Now that we know the Prime Minister's continued extravagant spending spree is the cause of it, will they give Canadians a fighting chance and stop the spending so they can pay their bills?

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

Mr. Speaker, once upon a time, all members of the House respected Canada's institutions. Conservatives of that era must really be lamenting the state of their party today, a party that tells false narratives about our economy, attacks our institutions and systematically refuses to support Canadians in their time of need, just when they need it the most.

The Conservatives do not have a plan. We do. Thankfully for Canadians, we are on the job.

Taxation

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this is not story time, it is question period. The plan that the member is talking about has driven 1.5 million Canadians into a food bank in a month. That is nothing to be proud of. To make matters worse, he believes that $3,500 a year more is not enough.

They are reaching even deeper into the pockets of Canadians to pay for their plan to triple the carbon tax on gas, groceries and home heating. They know the plan has not worked. Why push a costly failed carbon tax on struggling Canadians?

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

Mr. Speaker, the story that the Conservatives do not want Canadians to be told is that, since 2015, the Conservative opposition has voted against tax reductions for Canadians not one, two, three, four or five times, but six times at a minimum.

In 2015, when we reduced taxes on Canadians in the middle class, the Conservatives voted against it. When we reduced taxes on workers, how did they vote? They voted against it. When we got the child care program in place, how did they vote? They voted against. Just last week, when we reduced taxes on small businesses, how did they vote? They voted against it.

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the government is raising taxes on Canadians. It is tripling the carbon tax. The Parliamentary Budget Officer says that 60% of Canadians will pay more than they ever get back. That is a tax.

It will cost an Albertan more than $2,000 after the rebate. In Ontario, it will be almost $1,500 after the rebate. It is all on page 13 of the Parliamentary Budget Officer's report, and the minister should read it. Therefore, I want to know if they calling the Parliamentary Budget Officer a liar, or is today the day they will finally be honest with Canadians about their tax plan?

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

Mr. Speaker, let us share the facts about where we are in fighting climate change. Albertans lived through the heat dome. We saw the atmospheric river in B.C. We just lived through the worst natural climate disaster in the history of our country with hurricane Fiona.

Our economists and people all the way back to the founder of the Reform Party, Preston Manning, said that the best market mechanism to make sure that we fight climate change is to price pollution. We have done just that. Albertans get $1,100 more than they spend. Those are the facts.

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

Mr. Speaker, inflation is devastating Canadian families, and the rising cost of food, an essential good, is brutal.

Just last month, 1.5 million Canadians visited food banks here in Canada. That is the real consequence of inflation. However, it does not seem to have curbed the government's insatiable appetite for taxes. The Liberals want to triple the carbon tax next year.

Is there a government minister who can stand up and say, with a straight face, that raising taxes during a time of inflation is a good thing?

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

Mr. Speaker, let us state the facts clearly.

Over the past seven years, the Liberal government has steadily reduced Canadians' income taxes. The Conservative opposition voted against that every time. When we reduced income taxes for the middle class, they voted against it. When we reduced income taxes for workers, they voted against it. When we cut the price of child care by 50%, they voted against it.

Those of us on this side of the House are voting for Canadians; the Conservatives are voting against them.

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

Mr. Speaker, here are the facts. The Liberal government has been running the country for the past seven years, and it brought in the Liberal carbon tax. Seven years later, here are the facts. Canada ranks 58th out of 63 countries in the fight against climate change. If a carbon tax worked, we would know it by now, but it does not work, as we have seen. Still, the government wants to triple the carbon tax next year.

Once again, can the minister stand up and clearly say, with a straight face, that raising taxes during a period of high inflation is a good idea?

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

Mr. Speaker, let me be perfectly clear. The carbon tax will not be tripling next year. That is simply not true.

As everyone also knows, the price on pollution does not apply to Quebec through federal taxation. It is Quebec's system that applies. Hurricane Fiona in Atlantic Canada was the worst environmental crisis in our country. The best way to combat climate change is to put a price on pollution, and that is what we have done.

Justice

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the justice minister just showed the Rouleau commission that he was on a power trip. He admitted that the truck convoy was not a threat to national security for the purposes of the Emergencies Act, but he invoked the act anyway by interpreting the text more broadly, even though he had been given advice to the contrary. In other words, he decided to interpret it to his liking. The minister is not only a minister, he is the attorney general. He invoked a very significant law knowing that he did not meet the threshold.

Is he aware of the precedent he has just set?

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

Mr. Speaker, obviously there is a commission of inquiry that is in the process of hearing testimony—

[An hon. member]

We are watching it too.

[David Lametti, Liberal, LaSalle—Émard—Verdun, QC]

—and we are following the hearings. We decided to participate in the process. We have been committed from day one to participating in this process. We invoked the Emergencies Act because there was an emergency situation in the country. We maintain that it was necessary. We saw the result: The occupation ended.

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we have the rule of law to protect ourselves from arbitrary decrees, to ensure that the law is enforced uniformly, whether or not we like the person it applies to. The minister just threw the door wide open for future governments to make arbitrary decisions.

Does he realize that a Conservative leader could have used the same argument against the indigenous demonstrations during the Wet'suwet'en crisis? Does he realize that he is giving the green light for another leader to use this argument against environmentalists blocking a pipeline, for example? Does he realize what a dangerous precedent he has just set?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, with all due respect for my colleague, we were in an unprecedented situation last winter. The impact that this very complicated and difficult situation was having on workers and families is exactly why the government made the very serious decision to invoke the Emergencies Act. Earlier this week, I provided my testimony to carefully explain all of the reasons we made that decision. Now, we look forward to receiving Justice Rouleau's final report.

Health

[Lindsay Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this week, London's Children's Hospital has seen an influx of kids and, as a result, has had to delay surgeries. Parents are agonizing about care for their children.

Today, months too late, the health minister announced no new solutions to address this crisis. The government walked away from meetings with the provinces and did nothing for months as pharmacies ran out of children's medication.

Why is the health of Canadian children not a priority for the government? When will the government stop blaming everyone else and start taking this health care crisis with our kids seriously?

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for the attention paid to this extremely important matter.

Next week, an exceptional shipment of child analgesics will arrive in Canada. Our domestic producers have indicated that they have ramped up production here at home. We have done everything we can for the last five months to ensure that pediatric hospitals across the country have enough supply.

It has been a really tough cold and flue season. I urge every Canadian to share what they have, buy only what they need and take care of themselves by wearing a mask and getting vaccinated whenever they can.

Public Safety

[Brian Masse, NDP, Windsor West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Windsor was under siege during last winter's illegal protest. Residents lost their employment, schools and doctors' offices closed and people lost contact with their families.

The City of Windsor stepped up to clear the blockade at the Ambassador Bridge in a professional way that became an example for Ottawa, but it came with a price tag of $5.7 million. Who is paying the price? Windsor residents are, including the affected area, which has high child poverty, low incomes and immigrants. Who has not paid? It is the federal government.

What will it take for the government to respect the people of Windsor and pay for the harm its lack of action caused? Most importantly, why is it sticking it to the people who followed the law and did all the right things?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues, the member for Windsor West and the member for Windsor—Tecumseh, for being strong advocates with respect to the devastating consequences that the illegal occupation visited on workers, families and the small businesses that dot the Huron Church Line Road leading to the port of entry to Detroit. We do our most significant day-to-day trade with our most important trading partner, the United States of America. That is precisely why we invoked the Emergencies Act. We invoked the Emergencies Act to not only restore public safety but maintain public safety.

We will continue to work with the City of Windsor and the other communities that were unprecedentedly impacted by this to make sure they are made whole.

Taxation

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Governor of the Bank of Canada confirmed this week what Conservatives have been saying: Inflation is higher because of the Liberals' wasteful spending. He also said that the average Canadian is paying $3,500 more a year because of inflation. That is not per family. That is per person. No wonder people cannot afford to heat their homes.

Will the Liberals stop forcing their failed carbon tax on hard-working Canadians?