Debates of March 29th, 2022

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, with respect, the member drew an analogy to the situation in Syria where we intervened, after the 2015 election, three years into a conflict.

The member mentioned it is day 34 of the conflict in Ukraine. Let me tell him some of the things we have done. We have extended the ability of people who are already in Canada to stay. We have waived fees for applications through IRCC. We have expedited applications in the system of almost 12,000 people who have arrived since the beginning of the year. We sent teams and equipment into the region before the conflict, and more arrived yesterday. We created a new, expedited pathway and attached an open work permit so people could support themselves.

Yesterday, we advanced settlement supports. We removed the biometrics for certain individuals in low-risk cohorts. We are going to continue to do more, as much as we can, as quickly as we can.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are the only ones saying that this is going well. At some point, a reality check is needed.

The government is failing. It does not currently have the resources in eastern Europe to look after refugees from Ukraine. However, it does have the resources here, with border services officers supporting the immigration department. There are probably even some employees working from home who would be honoured to get back out there and help.

The government has a duty to turn its failure into success. First, will it charter flights to go and pick up families? Second, will it mobilize border services officers to look after these families once they get here?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, with respect, the member suggested the only people who were saying it was going well are Liberals. I would invite him to speak to one of the 12,000 people from Ukraine who have arrived in Canada since the beginning of this year.

We have been leveraging resources not only internal to our department, but from other departments since the very beginning of this effort. I would point out to the member that, if he thinks there is not capacity on the ground, just yesterday more staff arrived in Warsaw, Vienna, Bucharest, Budapest, Prague and Bratislava.

We are going to continue to send resources where we see the people moving. That is the best and most responsible way to act. We are going to do everything we can to help as many vulnerable people as possible who are fleeing these circumstances today.

Taxation

[Glen Motz, Conservative, Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP-Liberal government's planned carbon tax increases on Friday will have a dramatic impact across the country. We know the carbon tax has significant and disproportional negative impacts on prices for the poor, and everything continues to rise. Businesses in my riding have indicated that increased carbon taxes will lower their profits, undermine competitiveness and limit investment.

When will the coalition government give Canadians a break and cancel its planned carbon tax increase?

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

Mr. Speaker, once again, I want to thank the Parliamentary Budget Officer for his work in pointing out that the price on pollution is progressive and gives eight out of 10 families more in climate action rebates than they pay in.

Putting a price on carbon pollution is recognized as one of the most efficient ways to drive down pollution. Again, let me point out that the Conservative member for New Brunswick Southwest is on the record as saying that his province should go back to using the federal carbon price. I agree with that member.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB]

Mr. Speaker, my Conservative colleague for Huron-Bruce introduced a bill that would remove the Liberal carbon tax from grain drying and heating.

At a time when global food security is so important, the government continues to restrict our agriculture industry. This bill would have passed in the last Parliament if the Liberals had not called an unnecessary election.

Will the government help to support Canadian farm families by supporting Bill C-234?

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

Mr. Speaker, no later than this morning, the Minister of Environment announced a significant increase to our program to support agricultural clean technology. We have tripled the budget as promised. This would support our farmers very significantly in affording energy-efficient technologies, including grain dryers.

[Richard Bragdon, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

Mr. Speaker, recently at committee, the Commissioner of the Environment revealed that there is no metric in place to measure how much Canada’s carbon footprint has been reduced as a result of the carbon tax.

This is the core policy of the NDP–Liberal government’s environmental plan. We have no way to know if it is even working after over a decade of it being in use in some parts of our country. What we do know is that this tax is ineffective and punitive, and that it disproportionately affects seniors, farmers, producers and those living in rural communities and small towns.

When will the Prime Minister abandon this failed policy and get off the backs of hard-working Canadians?

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

Mr. Speaker, we know that pollution pricing works not only to reduce pollution, but also to drive innovation and to help create the clean growth economy that is exploding around the world. This means billions of dollars in economic development, and the good jobs of today and tomorrow. We know where the world is headed, which is to a low-carbon economy. I would say, once again, that Conservatives are stuck in the past and we are looking to the future.

[Laila Goodridge, Conservative, Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the last thing Canadians can afford right now is anything that will make life less affordable, yet the Liberal government wants to raise the carbon tax by $10 a tonne on April 1. Not only will this cost Canadians an extra 11¢ a litre at the pumps, but it will also have an inflationary impact on the cost of living by raising the prices of groceries, energy bills and everything else.

How can the government justify its high-tax, high-deficit agenda when Canadians across the country are already struggling to make ends meet?

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

Mr. Speaker, perhaps the hon. member did not hear me when I cited some numbers from the various provinces a little earlier. This year, a family of four in Ontario will receive up to $745 in rebates. It will be $830 in my home province of Manitoba, and $1,100 in Saskatchewan and Alberta. We are fighting climate change and we are promoting affordability.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, millions of Ukrainians continue to flee violence in their country. The majority are women, children and seniors. The Ukrainian Canadian Congress says, “There are virtually no federal supports for Ukrainians”. The government must do everything it can to get Ukrainians and other displaced people to safety and help them settle in Canada by ensuring access to supports such as language training, employment assistance, child care, health care, housing and more.

Will the minister guarantee that these vulnerable people get resettlement supports, no matter where they are in Canada?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her question, but more importantly, for her sincere concern for the well-being of those who fled Ukraine to come to Canada.

I am very pleased to share with her that yesterday we announced that we would be extending settlement supports to Ukrainians who have landed in Canada, including employment assistance, language training and other measures that we make available directly to refugees who come to Canada. We continue to work with provinces and territories to see what more we can do to support people when they get here. It is not enough that they arrive. They have to be set up for success once they get to Canada.

Indigenous Affairs

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, last week, I asked the minister when he would provide timelines, targets and funding to respond to the calls for justice of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. The response was “reconciliation is a journey, not a destination”. What a gross, callous and cold response to this ongoing genocide. Families and survivors of violence are suffering. This is not a journey. This requires urgency.

When will the government put in place timelines and the resources needed to save lives?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations]

Mr. Speaker, as a society, none of us should pretend there is any form of success until every woman, child and LGBTQ person in this country is safe, and if that is a measure of success, we are failing.

The reality is that in this year, the ministry of Crown-Indigenous Relations announced the federal pathway. That was only the beginning, and it was coupled with $2.2 billion of investments. We are coming up on the first anniversary, and we will be looking to measure those, as opposed to the outcomes for the survivors and those who continue to face unacceptable levels of violence. As a society, we have to keep fighting against that and keep fighting for those people who are still vulnerable today.

The Economy

[Julie Dzerowicz, Liberal, Davenport, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the challenges Canada has faced over these past years have been numerous, and we have seen that Canadians and Canadian businesses have met them head-on and succeeded. The upcoming federal budget will showcase our government's plan to support Canadians and to grow our economy.

Can the Minister of Finance inform Canadians and the House when they can expect federal budget 2022 to be presented?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, our government was re-elected on a commitment to grow our economy, to make life more affordable and to continue building a Canada where nobody gets left behind. That is exactly what we are doing, and that is what we are going to continue to do in the budget that I will present to the House on April 7, 2022, at 4 p.m.

Designation of Order of the Day

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 83(2), I ask that an order of the day be designated for that purpose.

Health

[Stephen Ellis, Conservative, Cumberland—Colchester, NS]

Mr. Speaker, we have asked the NDP-Liberal coalition government to give Canadians hope by outlining the benchmarks used to end federal mandates. Some Canadians, such as Carolyn, are being treated as second-class citizens, unable to work or travel domestically. This issue has failed to receive an answer, both at the committee level and here in the House of Commons.

When is the NDP-Liberal government going to stop disrespecting the institution of Parliament and give Canadians the plan they so rightly deserve?

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for giving me one more opportunity to speak about the importance of vaccination. Just this morning, we were informed of a recent U.S. study that showed that, between June and November 2021, had there been more vaccinated Americans, they would have saved about $14 billion in the cost of hospitalization and 700,000 would not have ended up in the hospital. This would mean many lives saved and cared for.

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

Mr. Speaker, when lifting COVID mandates in my home province of Saskatchewan, Premier Moe said the following: “It's time to heal the divisions.” Premier Moe recognizes something the Prime Minister simply cannot, that a leader must unite Canadians. Instead the Prime Minister is using every opportunity to divide Canadians based on vaccination status. Dr. Tam has stated that the science supports a review of federal COVID mandates and restrictions.

Since the government claims to listen to science, why is it not immediately announcing a plan to lift all federal COVID mandates and restrictions?

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

Mr. Speaker, the reason we are able to lift restrictions is that we have a large number of people here in Canada who have been vaccinated. I just spoke a moment ago about the recent U.S. study. What I did not mention is that in that study 163,000 deaths would have been averted between June and November last year in the United States, had there been more vaccinated Americans during that period.

[Jeremy Patzer, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

Mr. Speaker, “Every citizen of Canada has the right to enter, remain in and leave Canada.” Those are not my words; that is the charter. Vaccine mandates have prevented Canadians from travelling within Canada and outside of Canada. We are also experiencing closures at the borders in my riding that are obstructing essential businesses from operating. A return to regular hours is not asking for too much. Nobody is winning with this current set-up.

When will the government end the mandates and fix the mess at the border?

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

Mr. Speaker, again, we are very grateful to the almost 30 million Canadians who got vaccinated. That is the reason we were able to avoid the closing of schools and the shutting down of businesses, restaurants, theatres and cinemas. That is the reason we will be able, on April 1, to make it easier for people to travel into Canada by changing the prearrival testing rules. This is all very good news, and it is due to the benefits we have from vaccinations.

[Mark Strahl, Conservative, Chilliwack—Hope, BC]

Mr. Speaker, while the provinces have all signalled an end to their vaccine mandates, the Liberals are continuing to punish Canadians who are not vaccinated. Unvaccinated Canadian citizens cannot get on an airplane to fly inside of their own country to attend weddings and funerals or visit ailing relatives. They are unable to travel for work, which impacts their ability to provide for their families. The science does not support this continued discrimination.

When will the Prime Minister finally follow the science and end his cruel and vindictive vaccine mandates once and for all?