Debates of Nov. 30th, 2022

Public Safety

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, it is right on page 294 of the Prime Minister's proposed amendments that he wants to ban the Webley & Scott wildfowl gun. Again, this is a firearm specifically designed to go after turkeys and ducks. These are tools for farmers and hunters, many of whom are first nations who rely on country food in order to feed themselves, but he wants to ban them and turn those people into criminals. I am taking my information directly from these amendments.

Why will the Prime Minister not stand up and admit that he wants to ban hunting rifles and shotguns rather than going after the real criminals?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, again, the Conservatives do a good job of talking about their supposed tough-on-crime agenda. That single-minded approach they have is, unfortunately, wrong.

As we have seen, supposedly tough-on-crime legislation that keeps getting struck down by the courts does not do a thing to keep our communities safer. That is why we are focused on smart legislation to ensure that Canadians are protected and to make sure our communities are safer. We are going to continue to move forward on responsible gun control while respecting the rights of law-abiding hunters and farmers.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister and his policies have caused a 32% increase in violent crime. Crime related to street gangs has increased by 90%.

His solution is to ban the hunting rifles used by farmers, indigenous peoples and people living in rural communities.

When will he finally target the real violent and repeat criminals instead of our hunters and farmers?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, our Bill C‑5, which the Conservatives voted against, gave judges the ability to increase maximum sentences for hardened criminals. This provides the flexibility to ensure that criminals are punished and put in prison while respecting the legal principles that apply to everyone.

We will continue to introduce measures that will keep our communities safe while the Conservatives will continue to want to bring assault weapons back to Canada.

Democratic Institutions

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

Let us continue, Mr. Speaker. We are not talking about the integrity of institutions. We are talking about the integrity of the Liberal Party of Canada.

I would like to remind the House that this Prime Minister refused to denounce China's genocide of the Uighurs and he refused to impose sanctions on China in the Uighur file.

Can the Prime Minister tell us whether any of our institutions have looked into the Chinese funding in the Liberal riding of Papineau in 2016?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I understand that the sovereignist wants to attack the integrity of Canada's institutions. The reality is that, since 2015, we have significantly increased the tools to keep our institutions strong. We created the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, which looked into interference in the election. We also passed the Elections Modernization Act, which addresses this issue and which the Bloc Québécois voted against. We created an expert panel to monitor and report on electoral interference. We closed the fundraising loopholes to prevent foreign money from being used in our elections. We implemented stricter controls on advertising and online platforms and—

[The Speaker, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for Beloeil—Chambly.

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

Mr. Speaker, if I were to guess, I would say that there has never been a sovereignist who funded the Prime Minister's campaign. That being said, if the Prime Minister is saying that there was no interference in the Canadian election, then why did he fall over himself in front of the Chinese President? It is odd.

If the Prime Minister thinks there was no interference, I have another question for him. Is Papineau one of the 11 ridings where there were donations that originated from China, or is it the 12th?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we all know that the leader of the Bloc Québécois likes to hear himself speak. Perhaps he should listen to others because I have said several times that Canada and our other allies are regularly targeted by foreign states such as China with interference, including during elections. When I expressed my concerns about Chinese interference in Canada, that is exactly what I was talking about. We have put measures in place to ensure the integrity of our elections. These measures worked and they revealed that our elections were not compromised.

[The Speaker, Anthony Rota]

I want to remind members that when they yell or speak loudly, even when they use their hands, we can see their lips move. It is just a reminder.

Public Safety

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we have excellent gun control in Canada, but I think the Liberals have lost their minds. They have very quietly introduced an amendment to Bill C‑21 that will ban rifles and shotguns.

Later, when the amendment was made public, the Minister of Public Safety said that no, it was not true, that the Liberals would not ban hunting weapons. The Liberals say one thing and then they turn around and say something else. We want to know if the Prime Minister has seen the list of weapons in the amendment that bans hunting weapons. They are going to be banned in Canada. Does he know what we are talking about?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, let me be very clear. We are not targeting owners of hunting guns and rifles. We know that military style assault weapons have no place in our communities. That is why we have moved forward with an assault weapons ban in this country. It is a ban that the Conservative Party wants to overturn, but we will stand firm.

While respecting hunters and farmers, we will ensure that our communities are safer and that these assault weapons are banned.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, that is the problem. The Prime Minister is trying to tell Canadians that people have assault weapons when what we are talking about are rifles and shotguns, old guns with wooden stocks that people use to shoot ducks or squirrels. These are not assault weapons. That is why the Prime Minister needs to see pictures from the list of all the firearms the Liberals are going to ban. He says he is not attacking hunters, but he is attacking hunters by trying to ban all the guns used for hunting and protecting wildlife in Canada.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we will always be there to keep Canadians safe. We will always be there to protect our communities and make the necessary investments. Yes, we have a plan to improve gun control to protect Canadians, their families and their communities.

We have put forward proposals to ban assault-style weapons, but we will respect hunters' and farmers' right to use rifles and shotguns.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Prime Minister is saying that he is protecting public safety, but the crime rates are skyrocketing in this country. Gang-related homicides have not been this high since 2005. Violent crime is up by a third since he took government seven years ago.

Canadians are seeing this every day in the news in our communities, and the Liberals have now brought forward a new plan for fighting crime. Do members want to know what it is? It is to go after hunters and farmers and the tools that hunters and farmers use safely every day in this country. That is what the Liberal Prime Minister is targeting now.

When is he going to stop this unfair attack on our hunters and farmers and start going after the real problem, the gangsters and criminals in our cities?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we know that a responsible approach to keeping our communities safe needs to have multiple facets, and that is exactly what we are doing by freezing the market on handguns; investing more in CBSA, so it can interdict illegal firearms coming into this country; and yes, moving forward to ensure that it is no longer legal to buy, sell, own or use military-style assault weapons in this country, which is something the Conservative Party wants to reverse.

We are, on top of that, continuing to invest in police officers, despite the fact that the Conservatives slashed resources for policing, and we are continuing to invest in community programs and safety.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister continues to deny he is going after hunting rifles, but I am looking at the list right now, and it has hundreds and hundreds of perfectly common, reasonable and legitimate hunting rifles on it. Members do not have to take my word for it. They can take the word of the tens of thousands of hunters who have already reached out to MPs in every party across this chamber, including Liberal members with rural Canadian seats. I know they have received these emails as well.

No one believes that going after hunters and farmers is going to solve the crime issue under the Prime Minister's watch, or perhaps the Prime Minister believes it. Perhaps he is just trying to change the channel from his failed record on public safety. When will he stop this unfair—

[The Speaker, Anthony Rota]

The Right Hon. Prime Minister.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, if the member wants to talk about a failed record on public safety, she needs only look at the previous Conservative government, which continued to put forward a supposed tough-on-crime agenda that could not get any of those supposedly tougher laws to actually stick. The fact that they kept getting struck down time and time again by the courts indicated how wrong Conservatives were, not just in their legislation, but also in their attempts to keep Canadians safe.

On this side of the aisle, we are focused on evidence-based policy. We are focused on ensuring that we are supporting communities. We are investing in police, and we are strengthening—

[The Speaker, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for Burnaby South.

The Economy

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, first-time food bank use in Ontario is up 65%. That is a staggering number. At the same time, corporate grocery stores are making huge profits. A report indicated that Loblaws is making $1 million extra in excess profits per day.

Corporate greed is absolutely driving up the cost of food. What is this Prime Minister going to do for families in this upcoming holiday season who are worried about the cost of food? What is he going to do tackle greedflation, and how about those families?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as the member well knows, we introduced, in budget 2022, a Canada recovery dividend, and we increased the corporate income tax rate on financial institutions permanently.

On top of that, we have continually delivered for hard-working families. Whether it was cutting child care fees in half right across the country to make a huge difference in the lives of so many families, moving forward on a GST rebate that puts hundreds of dollars in the pockets of 11 million households, moving forward with dental benefits that ensure all families can send their kids to the dentist, or providing the top-up for low-income renters, these are things that provide concrete help Canadians.

Housing

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General recently sounded the alarm that the Liberal government is not assessing whether its steps to reduce homelessness are actually working or not. It is an indictment and a failure of its approach to homelessness. The reality is that indigenous communities are bearing the brunt of this failure, as indigenous community members are 11 times more likely to experience homelessness.

After years of broken promises, will the Prime Minister finally commit to a timeline for a fully funded, indigenous-led urban, rural and northern housing strategy?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, every Canadian has a right to a safe and affordable place to call home, and it is unacceptable that anyone in this country experience homelessness. That is why we are moving forward, in partnership with indigenous peoples, on an urban indigenous strategy that will support and fight against homelessness by giving the supports to people. These supports will be culturally appropriate and anchored in language and traditional knowledge. They will also ensure that the healing that needs to go hand in hand with addictions and mental health care, and so many other things, is addressed in a comprehensive way. We will be getting it right.

Telecommunications

[Viviane LaPointe, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

Mr. Speaker, now more than ever Canadians rely on access to affordable and reliable high-speed Internet, which keeps us connected with loved ones and allows us to learn online. It also improves access to essential services and creates opportunity for our businesses to grow.

Could the Prime Minister update the House on achieving our government's goal of connecting 98% of Canadians by 2026 and 100% of Canadians by 2030?