Debates of Feb. 11th, 2022

COVID-19 Economic Measures

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

Madam Speaker, across the country, businesses are gradually reopening, and they want to improve their ability to guarantee the safest environment possible for their customers.

We know that ventilation that replaces indoor air with outdoor air is an important tool for preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Can the Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance tell the House how Bill C‑8—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

Order. The hon. Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance.

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

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague from Halifax West for this excellent question.

Bill C‑8 would give businesses a 25% refundable tax credit to improve ventilation systems by increasing outdoor air intake or improving air purification.

Owners of small local businesses who need help buying a HEPA filter can take advantage of this new measure. It is an excellent measure for businesses. I hope that the opposition will support it.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Robert Gordon Kitchen, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

Madam Speaker, Canadian dairy producers are tired of the government ignoring their expertise. In 2018, the former minister of agriculture announced the new dairy vision working group. This group was meant to craft a vision for the future of Canadian dairy, yet industry officials explained to me that the minister has only consulted scientists and has yet to work with farmers.

If the opinion of the dairy farmers is key to the successful future of this industry, why is the minister following the lead of the Prime Minister and not meeting with actual dairy farmers?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Madam Speaker, dairy farmers in my riding must be laughing. I have hundreds of dairy farmers in my riding and I am in close contact with them. I am in regular contact with the Canadian Dairy Commission and the Dairy Processors Association of Canada. We work closely together. They are working on their—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

Can we listen to the answer that the minister is trying to provide to the question?

The hon. minister.

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Compton—Stanstead, QC]

Madam Speaker, I follow the dairy file very closely. I have hundreds of dairy farms in my own riding. I am in constant collaboration and discussion with their leaders, and I can assure the member that we are working closely together for a vision for the industry.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

[Rosemarie Falk, Conservative, Battlefords—Lloydminster, SK]

Madam Speaker, municipalities in my riding appreciate the essential work that the RCMP does in our communities. While municipalities expected increased policing costs in the recent negotiated agreement, the increases are much higher than anticipated. Despite their exclusion from this process, the municipalities are still on the hook for these costs and, for my constituents, this bill ultimately means fewer essential services or higher taxes.

Will the Liberal government throw them a lifeline and absorb the one-time cost of this back pay?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Madam Speaker, I can assure my colleague that we are in touch with her community. I also want to say that the arrangements that exist between the RCMP and provinces and municipalities are well established, so there is a framework there to ensure that there is a cost-sharing agreement. Of course, we want to be fair and equitable as much as possible and those processes will follow.

I want to take a moment to thank the RCMP for all of the concrete support that it is offering communities right now with the illegal blockades, which is why it is imperative that the protesters go home.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Madam Speaker, RCMP members are the providers of public safety in rural Canada. They deserve the increase in pay they negotiated with the federal government, but it should not be left to local municipalities to foot the entire bill. Rural communities and municipalities do not have the Liberal government's capacity to borrow or print money. They are required to balance their budgets.

Why is the soft-on-crime Liberal government sticking municipalities with the entire bill and putting rural public safety at risk?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Madam Speaker, to be clear, there are long-standing arrangements that exist between the federal government, the provinces and the municipalities. Of course, we remain in very close touch with them to ensure that there is fair and equitable support when it comes to the RCMP.

We will always be sure that the RCMP are properly resourced so that they can provide public safety in communities across the country, which is something that we need now more than ever as we see illegal blockades. It is important that those blockades end and protestors go home so that Canadians can get back to their normal lives.

Climate Change

[Yvan Baker, Liberal, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

Madam Speaker, my constituents in Etobicoke Centre consistently share with me that they expect us to do all we can to fight climate change. Transportation accounts for one-quarter of Canada's total greenhouse gas emissions and many Canadians are reducing their carbon footprints by making a switch to zero-emission vehicles.

Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources please explain what our government is doing to ensure that Canada's charging and refuelling infrastructure is keeping up with and anticipating the growing adoption of zero-emission vehicles?

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources and to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Madam Speaker, I would like to thank the member for Etobicoke Centre for that important question about zero-emission vehicles and the infrastructure across our country. Expanding Canada's infrastructure for zero-emission vehicles is important to making sure that we support Canadians to make that choice for these vehicles.

We have invested in expanding the network. People can now drive from St. John's, Newfoundland, to Victoria using a zero-emission vehicle. However, we are doing more, including a recently opened program in Toronto and the GTA that will expand the network by up to 300 new chargers to support—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member for Courtenay—Alberni.

Canada Post

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Madam Speaker, last week, reports emerged that the government has been polling to see if it could get away with cutting back the Canada Post services Canadians rely on. Across the country, hundreds of thousands of people including seniors and people with disabilities rely on door-to-door delivery.

While he says he is a friend to labour, the Prime Minister continues to undermine union rights and good-paying jobs. He failed to restore the door-to-door mail delivery cut by Stephen Harper despite a 2015 campaign promise to save the service.

Will the government confirm today that it will not cut the Canada Post services and the jobs that Canadians rely on?

[Anthony Housefather, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Madam Speaker, from coast to coast, Canadians rely on Canada Post and its employees. Canada Post works to ensure its services are available to every Canadian in a timely manner. As the member said, we imposed a moratorium on removing home delivery back in 2017. We are going to continue to provide excellent services to all Canadians through Canada Post.

Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade]

Madam Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 32(2), I have the pleasure to table, in both official languages, the annual report on activities from 2019 to 2021, as prepared by the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise.

Parliament of Canada Act

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

moved for leave to introduce Bill C-254, An Act to amend the Parliament of Canada Act (change of political affiliation).

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to address the issue of floor crossing, with great thanks to the hon. member for Skeena—Bulkley Valley for seconding this bill.

Elections are an essential opportunity for voters to express their democratic preferences, but when parliamentarians cross the floor they unilaterally negate the will of their electors. This is a betrayal of trust of the first order. For example, in my riding of Vancouver Kingsway, David Emerson ran as a Liberal in the 2006 election, only to cross the floor to sit in the Conservative cabinet within weeks of being elected. Kingsway citizens of all political persuasions were incensed. They know that the only people who have the right to determine which party represents them in the House of Commons are the voters themselves.

This legislation would not prevent MPs from leaving their caucus or changing their political affiliation, but it would require members who wish to join another party's caucus either to obtain the consent of their constituents or sit as an independent until the next election.

I urge all members to support this important measure to protect the fundamental democratic rights of Canadian voters to choose how they wish to be represented in their House of Commons.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)

Ottawa Hospital

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Madam Speaker, I am proud to rise today to present a petition signed by over 100 Canadians about the site of a new Ottawa hospital.

The National Capital Commission ran a six-month consultation, consulted with the hospital to evaluate 12 different sites and recommended the release of 53 acres of surplus federal office space at Tunney's Pasture for this new hospital. The City of Ottawa seemed to accept this, but within 72 hours summarily changed its mind and recommended that the new hospital be built on a site of precious green space that included Queen Juliana Park and the Central Experimental Farm.

These petitioners ask that the Government of Canada restore the National Capital Commission's recommendation of Tunney's Pasture as the site for the new hospital. They ask that Queen Juliana Park and the Central Experimental Farm be preserved as green space, and they ask the federal government to support the request for a public inquiry, led by the Province of Ontario, into why this site recommendation was changed so quickly and so summarily.

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

Madam Speaker, I also rise today to present a petition signed by Ottawa residents. Over 8,000 Ottawa residents have also signed a petition on an alternate site called change.org on this very issue.

I will summarize the petition. In response to the inexplicable decision without consultation to change the location of where the new hospital should be built from the previously recommended site at Tunney's Pasture, which was recommended by the National Capital Commission, to a site that involves cutting down and destroying an area of forest of over 750 mature canopy trees, ironically at a time when the government says it wants to establish more urban parks within Canada, a panel was put together of eminent Ottawa residents including former Ontario Supreme Court judge Madame Monique Métivier, internationally celebrated Canadian medical physicist Dr. David Rogers, distinguished Canadian environmental engineer Dr. Frank Johnson and award-winning international investigative journalist Dr. Declan Hill.

That panel sought answers from the City of Ottawa and received none, and the panel unanimously called for a public inquiry.

The petitioners call on the government to restore the National Capital Commission's original recommendation to preserve Queen Juliana Park, respect the memory of the Canadians who died in the liberation of the Netherlands, the over 7,600 Canadians in whose honour this park was created originally, and support the panel's request for a public inquiry as soon as possible.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Madam Speaker, forgive me for interrupting the business of the day. I was just wondering if the Speaker had called for reports from committee, or motions from committee.

It is my first week as the deputy House leader on the opposition side, and I did not hear the Speaker say that.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

I did call it, and have been following the orders of the day. As well, we checked the video and it has been confirmed that I did call it.

I presume the member is referring to presenting reports from committees, which I absolutely called. I remember calling it.

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

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. In the matter of a committee report that is incidentally overlooked, I wonder if the hon. member might seek unanimous consent to be able to present his report at this time.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

I believe there is confusion with the orders of the day, because the hon. member was asking if I had called for motions, which I did as well. The video confirms this. We are not going to go back on orders of the day.