Debates of March 22nd, 2022

Foreign Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs a question, but the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence was the one who answered by reading something that had nothing to do with my question. I will therefore ask the question again today because it is a very important one.

The Liberals finally recognized the importance of sending lethal weapons to Ukraine, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs stated in a televised interview yesterday that all the weapons were already on Ukrainian soil. My question is this. Have all the weapons sent by Canada made their way to the battlefield in Ukraine, yes or no?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I am of course working with my colleague, the Minister of National Defence, on this issue. We are coordinating our efforts. It goes without saying that Ukraine must have the means to defend itself against the Russian attackers.

My colleagues know that we are supplying equipment and weapons to Ukraine. That is important in that it will help people defend themselves on the ground, but it is also important from a diplomatic perspective because it will also put them in a position of strength in negotiations.

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the minister. We now see that her answer to Mario Dumont yesterday was wrong, because she did not clearly answer the question: Our weapons have not reached Ukraine.

It is like last week, when the Prime Minister travelled to Europe with his ministers. They went all over the place, but we do not know why, if not for pointless photo ops.

Tonight, the Prime Minister is heading off for a G7 meeting. Will he be bringing the leader of the NDP along to make sure he asks that we scale back our involvement in Ukraine?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, first, I want to reassure my colleague that Canada is supporting Ukrainians. I know that my colleague and his party asked for that, and that the entire House is united on this issue. That was my first point.

My second point is that, of course, Canadians expect the lethal and non-lethal aid to reach Ukraine. However, Canadians and our allies also know that it is important not to disclose details on this matter for security reasons.

I would be happy to work with my colleague on this issue, but he can rest assured that whenever we make statements as a government, they are truthful.

[Alex Ruff, Conservative, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I and many other combat veterans were disappointed to hear the Minister of Foreign Affairs state that Canada “is not a military power.” I have led some of Canada's finest warriors in Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq. I would like to educate the minister that Canada's success in “making sure that diplomacy is happening” during global conflicts is predicated by our ability to back it up militarily.

I am doubtful the minister will apologize, but will she acknowledge that Canadian Armed Forces personnel are among the best in the world and that Canada is a military power?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, obviously we support our men and women in uniform. That is exactly why I had the chance to go to Ukraine to meet with them through Operation Unifier, as well as in Latvia.

At the same time, I find it a bit rich coming from the Conservatives, as they reduced their military spending below 1%—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

Order. Order.

The hon. minister.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned, I find it a bit rich on the part of the Conservatives, as they reduced their military spending below 1% when they were in government, which was the lowest in 60 years.

Of course, it will be a pleasure to work with my colleague, because the question of Ukraine is not a partisan question. It is a question that should unite us while people are—

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

The hon. member for Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound.

[Alex Ruff, Conservative, Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Ukrainians are fighting for their freedom, their democracy and even their lives. They have asked for more help from Canada. The Canadian Armed Forces are in the process of divesting many armoured vehicle fleets, such as the Coyote, M113 and Bison armoured vehicles, as they are replaced by the armoured combat support vehicle project.

Could these vehicles be donated to Ukraine? If so, when?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Canadian Armed Forces for its ongoing and historic work to protect our country and contribute to our world. I would like to say in addition that we have contributed lethal and non-lethal aid to Ukraine, including anti-tank missiles, grenades and fragmentation vests, and we will continue to provide millions and millions of dollars' worth of aid to Ukraine.

In terms of the suggestion, I look forward to working with my hon. colleague to get more details on his suggestion so that we can take it forward. We will continue to leave no stone unturned to assist Ukraine.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois supports some of the government's efforts to facilitate the intake of refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine. Now that the minister has invited all these families to come here, he has no right to let them languish in refugee camps for weeks or even months. What these families are going through is profoundly traumatic. They need to be reassured. They need to hear from the Government of Canada that planes are coming to pick them up, and they need to know when.

When will the minister charter flights to airlift them out?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question and particularly for his co‑operation on the Ukraine file. It is possible for all parties to work with our government.

We are prioritizing Ukrainian applications. Since January, more than 10,000 Ukrainians have arrived in Canada. Last week, I announced new measures that will make it easier and faster for Ukrainians to come to Canada safely.

I will continue to work with my colleagues to make it easier to welcome as many Ukrainians as possible to Canada.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister knows he can count on us to co-operate, but we need to see some action. People do not understand why no air operations have begun with chartered flights to bring refugees to Canada. Air Transat has even indicated that it is willing to take part if the government wants to organize such an operation.

If even the airlines are willing, can the minister announce today that this operation will indeed take place?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, we are working with our partners, including the provinces and territories, the business community, the Ukrainian-Canadian community and settlement agencies, on how best to support those arriving from Ukraine. I have had conversations on this issue with the private sector and I spoke with the European Commission just before question period.

I will continue my work to facilitate the arrival of more Ukrainians in Canada through the special program.

It is an emergency. We are treating it as such and we are going to continue to work to welcome as many people here as quickly as possible, as safely as possible.

Health

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the health minister told the committee that the government had a plan for every possible policy related to its continued mandates, but he repeatedly refused to share the government's plan to end the mandates. I want to give him another chance right now.

The provinces have shown leadership and are all moving on from COVID mandates. Will the minister tell Canadians on which date the Liberal-NDP government will end the COVID mandates?

[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 colleague for his collaboration on the health committee.

Today we know more about COVID-19 than ever before, and we are in a very different place than we were in March 2020. We have safe, effective vaccines and a highly vaccinated population as well as testing and surveillance tools and new ways to identify variants of concern to track the spread of the virus. However, the future remains uncertain, and COVID-19 is not over. There are many factors at play, and our government is committed to following the science going forward to get out of this pandemic for good.

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

Mr. Speaker, if the parliamentary secretary says that the government is going to follow the science, then he should do that, just like the 10 chief medical officers of health have done in every single provinces in this country. They are all ending the mandates, so we want to know what the benchmarks are. What are the data points that this government is going to use to end the mandates?

The government does not need to end the mandates today if it has a plan, but the problem is that it does not have a plan. The Liberals are putting politics first. They are dividing Canadians and dividing communities. When will they put politics aside, end the division, look to the science, follow the leadership of the provinces and their chief medical officers of health, and end the federal mandates?

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague across the way for acknowledging that my answer was both thorough and good. I also want to acknowledge that he asked some pretty good questions yesterday in committee, and I thought the answers that the minister gave him were excellent.

This is a very complex issue, and our government is going to keep making decisions based on the best science. We also understand that there are two jurisdictions; there are provincial jurisdictions and there are federal ones. The provinces will make decisions accordingly with their health officials, and we will make our decisions based on the exact same science with our health officials.

[Rachael Thomas, Conservative, Lethbridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, they might be based on political science, but certainly not medical science.

Yesterday, when the health minister was asked to explain when federal mandates would be taken off, he shrugged his shoulders and said, “Well, COVID is still here”. No benchmarks have been set, no plan has been put in place and no assurances have been given as to when we return to normal. This is absolutely irresponsible of the government. Provinces can do it. Other countries can do it. Why can Canada not do it? When will the Prime Minister follow the science—the real science—lift the mandates and give Canadians their freedom back?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to address the question from my colleague and the entire Conservative caucus, which is unmasked today and is pretending that COVID-19 is completely over.

I am sorry, but we cannot “wish” the pandemic to be over. We have to follow the science, and our government is committed to following that science.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[An hon. member]

Put your mask on.

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

I am waiting for a certain level and then we will keep going.

The parliamentary secretary.