Debates of Dec. 5th, 2022

Carbon Pricing

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians do not need a DeLorean to know how much of a failure the Liberal government has been when it comes to the environment. It has not met a single target or planted a single tree, but it has raised the costs on everyday Canadians. It is making it $1,400 more costly to buy groceries this year and another $1,100 per family next year. There are 1.5 Canadians who relied on a food bank in a single month and half a million of those were children. All of this is being driven up by the Liberal carbon tax.

Will the Liberals do the right thing and remove the carbon tax?

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

Mr. Speaker, as usual, the Conservatives are spreading misinformation. We are on target to make our targets, and we will get there, come hell or high water.

What is the Conservatives' record? They cut $350 million from the environment and climate change budget. They blew up Kyoto—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I would like to make sure members are done shouting.

I do not know what it is, but I think members want to hear the parliamentary secretary's answer over again, right from the top, please.

[Terry Duguid, Liberal, Winnipeg South, MB]

Mr. Speaker, as I said before, emissions are going down. We are on track to make our targets, but the Conservative record is abysmal.

The first thing the Conservatives did when they came to power was to cancel the national child care program, but the second thing they did was blow up the Kyoto climate accord. Now they are blaming us for their lack of action. For their troubles, they won the Fossil of the Day award, the Fossil of the Year award and the Colossal Fossil award.

Families, Children and Social Development

[Lena Metlege Diab, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Speaker, families in Halifax West warmly welcomed the news that our bilateral child care agreement will provide a second fee cut this year. This represents a 50% reduction in the average fees for families with children in regulated child care spaces.

What is more, our government has now established the National Advisory Council on Early Learning and Child Care, which will benefit from the expertise of people such as Christine McLean in my riding.

Can the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development inform the House—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. Minister of Families, Children and Social Development.

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for the question.

For too long, families have had to pay high monthly child care fees and languish on long waiting lists when too few quality child care spaces were available. Last week, we were pleased to announce that the Government of Canada and the Government of Nova Scotia will cut regulated child care fees in half, on average, for families in Nova Scotia by the end of this year. That is a big step forward in making regulated child care services more affordable for Nova Scotia families. We will continue to work with our provincial partners to create a better future for all children in Canada.

Finance

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians face the worst affordability crisis in a generation, yet the government is only making things worse by spending $54 million on the ArriveCAN fiasco, $6,000 a night for the Prime Minister's luxury suite in London and $1 billion in wage subsidies to wealthy corporations. Liberal waste has become a national embarrassment, and every time the government borrows and spends on waste, life becomes more unaffordable for Canadians.

Will the government finally put an end to this inflationary spending, yes or no?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives have demonstrated time and time again that, when it comes to supporting Canadians, they vote against them.

They voted against early learning and child care, for which fees are reducing by 50% from coast to coast to coast across the country. That is thousands of dollars in the pockets of Canadian families. They voted against the Canada dental benefit, which provides up to $1,300 over two years for children to get their teeth cleaned. They voted against the Canada housing benefit of $500 to help low-income renters. Will they stop at nothing to not help low-income Canadians?

We will continue to—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

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

Mr. Speaker, in January 2017, the Prime Minister invited all those fleeing persecution and war to come to Canada. Instead of prioritizing genuine refugees, he rolled out the red carpet for those who were visiting or were permanent residents of the United States, a safe country. It is possible that, in 2017, those individuals wanted to flee the United States because they were afraid of Donald Trump. However, now the Biden administration is in charge.

When will the Prime Minister help real refugees and close Roxham Road for good?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, it is clear how little the Conservatives know about the Roxham Road file.

Once again, we are talking about men, women and children who have fled tragic situations. I think that the Conservative Party should learn a little about the issue before attempting to ask questions about it.

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

Mr. Speaker, I believe I am well aware of it, just as I am well aware that the United States is a safe country. People in the U.S. who want to seek asylum should seek it in the U.S.

When people cross the border from the U.S. to Canada, they are violating the safe third country agreement. There is a loophole in the safe third country agreement, and we are waiting for the government to close it. It will have been six years in January.

Can the government fix the safe third country agreement so we stop getting applications from refugees arriving by land from the United States?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, we have domestic and international legal obligations that require us to consider in good faith claims of asylum that have been made for those who enter the country in search of safe haven.

In his previous question, he indicated that people are somehow displacing other more deserving refugees. I would point out for my hon. colleague that Canada, over the past three years, has resettled more refugees than any other country in the world. In each of the last two years, Canada has resettled more than one-third of the total number of refugees that have settled anywhere globally.

We will continue to be the world leader when it comes to doing the right thing to support the world's vulnerable, not just who cross our border from the United States but around the world altogether.

Airline Industry

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canada's air sector helps keep Canadians connected with their loved ones from coast to coast to coast across our vast and beautiful country. After two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is more important than ever that we support our air sector, especially as we head into the busy winter travel season.

Could the Minister of Transport provide an update on recent actions our government is taking to strengthen our air industry ahead of the holidays?

[Omar Alghabra, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague for his leadership and advocacy. Over the last couple of years, the air sector has suffered a lot. Its workers and its customers have gone through an extraordinary period of time.

Last week, I hosted a summit that invited more than 50 leaders of the industry, including CEOs of airlines and airports. We agreed we needed to work together on lessons learned from the last couple of years. We agreed to focus on how we could improve efficiency, transparency and accountability.

We are committed to improving the air sector. We want to make sure Canadians have a competitive, safe and efficient sector so they can travel with great experience.

Taxation

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

Mr. Speaker, it is no secret around here that Canadian households are already strapped in a period of incredible inflation. Today we learned that food prices for next year are projected to go up by another $1,000 a year for the groceries of an average family of four.

Often when the Liberals answer questions about that, they like to get up and talk about things the NDP made them do, such as the dental benefit, the doubling of the GST rebate and the rental benefit. The fact is that in the face of prices that continue to go up, they need to do more. We want a windfall tax and we want the elimination of GST on home heating.

When are the Liberals going to get up and talk about that?

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

Mr. Speaker, what I want to talk about today is the fact that Canada is not alone in facing high food prices. We have drought, we have failed crops and we have supply chain issues that are causing prices of food to rise around the world. That is why we have supports in place to help Canadians.

However, the Minister of Industry has reached out to the commissioner of the Competition Bureau to make sure food companies are respecting all the protections in place for consumers. That is real action. That is what we are doing.

Justice

[Alain Rayes, Independent, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, last Thursday, Pastor Claude Guillot was convicted of 18 charges involving serious offences committed against children. In his defence, the pastor cited section 43 of the Criminal Code, which states that any schoolteacher or parent is justified in using force to correct a child, provided that the force does not exceed reasonable limits.

Sixty-four countries have already banned corporal punishment, and 27 more are in the process of doing so.

Can the Prime Minister or the Minister of Justice tell us whether Canada intends to repeal section 43 of the Criminal Code to protect our children?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada recognizes that all children have the right to be protected against violence.

Assault has a broad definition in Canada's criminal law and includes any non-consensual use of force against an individual no matter their age. This can also include non-consensual touching that does not cause injury or leave a physical mark.

The government is opposed to the use of physical discipline for children and continues to discourage such practices. A bill is currently being studied, and we will make a decision when needed.

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada recognizes that all children have the right to be protected against violence.

Assault has a broad definition in Canada's criminal law and includes any non-consensual use of force against an individual no matter their age. This can also include non-consensual touching that does not cause injury or leave a physical mark.

The government is opposed to the use of physical discipline for children and continues to discourage such practices. A bill is currently being studied, and we will make a decision when needed.

Murdered Indigenous Women

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Following discussions among representatives of all parties in the House, I understand there is an agreement to observe a moment of silence in memory of the recently murdered indigenous women in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

I invite hon. members to rise.

[A moment of silence observed]

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Rural Economic Development invited any member or any Canadian to give her information about the firearms that would be banned thanks to the government's amendment to Bill C-21. She must not realize the long list of hunting rifles and shotguns that are contained in the amendment. I am taking her up on her invitation.

I seek unanimous consent to table the list of hunting rifles and shotguns that will be banned if the amendment to Bill C-21 is passed. She invited me to do so.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

All those opposed to the hon. member's moving the motion will please say nay.

[Some hon. members]

Nay.