Debates of March 23rd, 2022

Natural Resources

[Yvonne Jones, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources and to the Minister of Northern Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, the current situation in Ukraine underscores the importance of energy security of our allies in Europe and around the world. Our country is in a secure position in terms of energy supply, and as Europe works to address the geopolitical and social economic challenges presented by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we are considering all measures to preserve energy supply chains in Canada, and where possible, worldwide.

Public Services and Procurement

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Mr. Speaker, in the operations committee, Public Works admitted that the government might delay the selection of a replacement fighter jet for an additional 12 months, because apparently six years' delay is not enough.

When we asked Public Works if it had received any direction from the Liberal-NDP government to speed up the process in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the answer was a simple nope.

What is the government's plan for our air force in this time of crisis, to go shopping on eBay for more gently used CF-18s?

[Filomena Tassi, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Mr. Speaker, our government has been strong and consistent in delivering on its promise to replace Canada's existing fighter jet fleet through an open, fair and transparent process. We are delivering real progress and purchasing 88 advanced fighter jets for our Canadian military. This is a rigorous assessment process.

We are going to continue to support the Royal Canadian Air Force in its efforts to keeps Canadian safe, with equipment that meets its standards, and we are going to do this in a very responsible way.

Foreign Affairs

[Scot Davidson, Conservative, York—Simcoe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister likes to say that Canada is back, but last week I was in Poland at the Ukrainian border and Canada was nowhere to be found.

Thousands of Ukrainian refugees are flooding through border towns like Medyka, where they are given humanitarian aid from around the world, including from countries as small as Uzbekistan. Other nations are doing their part, but Canada has almost no presence on the ground. The only maple leaf one could find was the one on my jacket.

Why is the Liberal-NDP government offering no visible support to the Ukrainian people in their time of need?

[Harjit S. Sajjan, Liberal, Minister of International Development and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, I respectfully disagree with the member. In fact, I and other members were actually on the ground as well, where I visited Poland, Moldova, Romania and other countries involved.

In fact, we not only have a team on the ground coordinating with the U.S.A, the EU and the United Nations, we have been having daily conversations to make sure humanitarian support is getting to the right people.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

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

Mr. Speaker, for nearly four weeks, the Bloc Québécois has been co-operating with the government to help welcome Ukrainian refugees, but now we are fed up.

It is unacceptable that the minister still has not chartered any flights to bring refugee families here. Air Transat has volunteered to help and is just waiting for the green light from the minister. There are other airlines that were given multi-billion dollar bailouts by the government. The minister needs to ask them to do their part.

Will he finally pull up his socks and start airlifting refugees out this week?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, Canada will provide a safe haven for those who are fleeing Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Canada has welcomed nearly 10,000 Ukrainians since January. Last week, we launched the new Canada-Ukraine authorization for emergency travel to make it easier for Ukrainians to safely come to Canada.

We are going to continue to work not only to give them permission to apply to Canada but also to do what we can to facilitate their arrival. We are having conversations in real time with private sector players, provinces and territories, and others who could facilitate their arrival in Canada as quickly as possible.

I am going to continue my work on this file until we see additional Ukrainians come, beyond the 10,000 who have already arrived.

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

Mr. Speaker, that answer is no longer acceptable. Although we are used to hearing hollow answers from the minister in the House, hollow answers are unacceptable to the Ukrainian women and children trapped in Poland without a penny to their names.

The minister has no right to tell refugees that Canada will help them, only to turn around and say that they need to make their own arrangements to get here. When will the government sign an agreement with the airlines? When?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I would dare suggest that it is not a hollow answer to the 10,000 Ukrainians who are already in Canada or the tens of thousands more who have applied or who will be welcomed to Canada in the future.

We are having these conversations in real time, including with airlines, including with provinces and territories, including with private sector contributors, including with service providers on the ground. We will work every day to do everything we can to help the people who are fleeing this war. It is the just and honourable thing to do when we are dealing with such a war of aggression.

Canada will play its part, including by welcoming as many Ukrainians who are fleeing this war of aggression as possible.

Health

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government is so caught up in its new secret alliance with the NDP that it is forgetting to lift public health measures, as the other G7 countries are doing. Being vigilant does not mean being stubborn and inflexible.

When will the NDP‑Liberal government reassess the measures still in place at the federal level?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to thank the 30 million Canadians who got vaccinated last year, when thousands of health care workers administered 81 million doses to people who made the effort to go out and get vaccinated to protect everyone around them. We should be thanking them every day.

We would love to declare that COVID‑19 is over, like some Conservative members are doing today by choosing not to wear a mask, but it is not up to politicians to decide when COVID‑19 is over.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

Mr. Speaker, Canada is a tale of two governments. Provincial governments use real science to make decisions and have lifted their COVID mandates, but here in Ottawa, the NDP-Liberal government relies on political science and refuses to end COVID mandates, making some Canadians second-class citizens. These Canadians cannot fly, cross an international border or keep their jobs in the military simply because they do not want a voluntary vaccine.

When will the NDP-Liberal government follow the lead of the provincial governments, listen to the science and end the federal COVID mandates?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I give congratulations and thanks to Canadians. Let me point to one more number: 135,000. That is the number of avoidable deaths that we saw in the United States over the last few months. They would have been avoided if Americans had done as well as we did in Canada, which is to vaccinate everywhere. There were 135,000 people who died in the U.S. because of not being vaccinated as we did in Canada.

It is good to again signal our gratefulness to all those Canadians who did the right thing.

[Shelby Kramp-Neuman, Conservative, Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Mr. O'Hearn is a 79-year-old senior living in Hastings—Lennox and Addington. He desperately wants to visit his grandchildren in the U.S., but there is a problem. He does not have a computer, a cellphone or an email address. He has no ability to comply with the Canada Border Services Agency's ArriveCAN requirement.

Why is the NDP-Liberal government not supporting fully vaccinated Canadians like Mr. O'Hearn and thousands of other Canadians?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, since I like numbers and since I believe the opposition also likes science and numbers, let me quote two more: 1,600 and $4 billion. The fact that we had vaccination mandates at both federal and provincial levels in the last few months made Canadians avoid 1,600 deaths. There are 1,600 people who are now alive, living with their families, enjoying time with their friends, working and just living, and $4 billion of costs were averted because of that.

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

Order. I would like to hear the answers as well.

The hon. member for Sudbury.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Viviane LaPointe, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

Mr. Speaker, our government understands how important it is to support our young people early in their careers. This is especially true when it comes to our next generation of farmers.

Could the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food update us on what the government is doing to support knowledge transfer and engage the youth who will shape the future of agriculture?

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for working so tirelessly in her riding.

The next generation of farmers will play a critical role in the sector's prosperity, and it is very important that we support them. I am pleased to say that yesterday, we announced the newest group of talented young people who will be participating in the next gen agriculture mentorship program in Saskatchewan. Young Canadians are the ones who will shape the future of agriculture. We all benefit from having them learn from seasoned mentors. With the next gen program, our government is supporting knowledge transfer to get the next generation of farmers on the right track.

Public Safety

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Mr. Speaker, last fall, terror struck my community of Vanderhoof. A lone gunman hunted and opened fire on the RCMP. He unloaded over 20 rounds into our detachment. The mental and emotional trauma of that day still remains.

These are men and women from across all backgrounds who believe in our country and our laws so much that they put their lives in jeopardy each and every day, and yet, unbelievably, to this day, five months later, shamefully, no one from the federal government and no one from the Minister of Public Safety has reached out to see if they are okay.

Could the Prime Minister please comment and tell us why he refuses and ignores our community?

[Pam Damoff, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to extend to the hon. member my condolences and those of every member in this House. We thank the RCMP members who go to work every day to protect Canadians and keep us safe.

No one should go work and not expect to come home safely. I appreciate the member's comments in the House today and I will follow up with him.

Taxation

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP-Liberal carbon tax is hurting rural Canadians. I hear this every single day.

Laurie, in my riding, says she feels like she is freezing because she has to keep the temperature very low in her home because she cannot afford the cost of propane with the carbon tax on top of it. I am glad the members across think it is so funny that Laurie keeps the temperature so low. It is the kind of answer and response we get from a government that has absolute disdain for people who do not follow its ideological view.

Will the government cancel this increase, or will it tell Laurie to just keep freezing?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, the cost of inaction on climate change is enormous. Many members in the Conservative Party stood in this House when there was flooding in B.C. or heat waves, saying “What should we do about climate change?” We are acting on climate change.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

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

Order. Order. Let the minister answer the question.

The hon. Minister of Environment.

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, how many members from the Conservative Party stood in this House after the flooding in B.C. and the heat domes that killed so many Canadians and said, “We have to act on climate change”?

This is exactly what we are doing. In fact, the revenue from pricing pollution will go back to the provinces where the money was raised, 90% to families directly and 10% to businesses, municipalities, schools, hospitals and indigenous communities. Under our plan, eight out of 10 families will have more money in their pockets, no matter what the Conservatives say about it.