Debates of March 31st, 2022

Fisheries and Oceans

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Mr. Speaker, when the government's decision put salmon farms in the Discovery Islands on notice, there was no transition plan for affected workers. Now, 15 months later, the government has spent over $20 million in PR exercises, but not a dime for worker transitions. The government's decision on the Discovery Islands deadline is three months away and there are still no transition supports for the workers who have lost or will lose their jobs.

Will the government provide targeted transition resources for displaced workers?

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, I am committed to implementing a responsible plan to transition away from open-net pen salmon farming in coastal British Columbian waters. As confirmed by my mandate letter and as a west coaster, I know just how important this transition will be.

Last year, the department held preliminary engagements with first nations and many other stakeholders. That report was published last July and will be critical in developing our plan forward. We are going to do a lot more consultation, and budget 2021 provided funds to do just that.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Mr. Speaker, there is still no answer for workers. With regard to the expropriation of quota from crab and elver fishers, the minister told the fisheries committee that no decisions have been made on either the crab or elver fishery, yet DFO officials have written to crab fishers that the quota cut of 50% was final. They also told elver fishers that the 14% cut was final.

Does the minister understand that this will hurt the industry and kill jobs?

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, indigenous communities have a court-ordered right to fish in their traditional waters or to fish for a moderate livelihood. It is a principle of our government to satisfy those rights. There is not always the ability to add quota to satisfy those rights while also maintaining conservation of the stock for the long term, which is absolutely critical. That is why we have been in consultation with the crab fishers and the elver harvesters to have an industry-led way forward on these matters.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Mr. Speaker, wharves are the Trans-Canada Highway of our commercial fishery. Without them, there would be no fishery.

They are a collective asset for the whole country, but the Liberals do not see the small craft harbours program that way. The Liberals see it as being just for Liberals. Here are the facts. In 2021, 74% of all projects went to Liberal ridings. Also, 15 of the 19 ridings that received more than one project were Liberal, and 20 of the 24 largest projects went to Liberal ridings.

This is just more misappropriation of funds for partisan purposes. As my colleague from Lévis—Lotbinière said, it is a scandal.

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, I understand the importance of small craft harbours to rural fishers who depend on these facilities for their livelihoods. Livelihoods such as fishing, farming and tourism build resilience in rural and coastal communities.

It is a non-partisan program. The Conservatives did not invest in harbours, and we invested $1 billion in a new fund under the small craft harbours program.

Taxation

[Yves Robillard, Liberal, Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as we all know, tax season is now half over. Millions of Canadians have already completed and filed their tax returns, and many others are about to join them by filing their returns in the next few days.

Can the Minister of Revenue tell us how this year's tax season is going?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Marc‑Aurèle‑Fortin for his question and for his work.

Tax season is going well thanks to all the employees of the Canada Revenue Agency, who are doing an extraordinary job day after day. I would also like to take a moment to remind Canadians that they should file their returns by the deadline to receive the benefits and credits to which they are entitled as quickly as possible.

Fisheries and Oceans

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Mr. Speaker, invasive zebra and quagga mussels are devastating the ecology of waterways. They are harming natural species and ruining beaches, and they are costly to waterway infrastructure. Last summer, 17 boats were confirmed carrying invasive mussels coming into British Columbia.

With the summer fast approaching, we cannot have another year of inaction. DFO has a responsibility to stop the spread. What is the NDP-Liberal minister's plan to stop the spread of invasive mussels from coming to western Canada?

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, my department is very seized with preventing and dealing with invasive species that are indeed a scourge of Canadian waters from east to west. We recently actually stopped zebra mussels from coming—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

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

Order. As much as I like the fisheries questions, I like the fisheries answers and I want to be able to hear them.

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Vancouver Quadra, BC]

Mr. Speaker, as I was saying, my department and I have a very important responsibility to stop, and to prevent and reduce, the invasive species in the waters across Canada. Zebra mussels were discovered through work that my ministry did with our border agency. They were coming into Canada from aquarium supplies, and we stopped that. This is something we are seized with. We will continue to work on it, and our budget allows us to do just that.

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Mr. Speaker, salmon anglers in my province have been told that a decision is being made to stop all retention of salmon in the upcoming season. Last year, the Exploits River had returns that were nearly double the average returns for the past 10 years. Stopping salmon retention will take anglers off the rivers and put poachers in the driver's seat. Given that many rivers were stable or up in their returns last year, there is no reason to take away the right to retain salmon. In fact, retention of salmon can be increased.

Will the minister allow local anglers to retain salmon this year in Newfoundland and Labrador?

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, I would say that on both coasts, west and east, wild salmon are incredibly important to our government and to the people of this country. Any measures that we put in place are to protect and to help regrow the stocks of wild salmon. We are very engaged with the sports fisher community on both coasts. In fact, I met with a group of sport fishers just yesterday who were salmon fishers.

Yes, we want to enable the sport fishing community to fish. At the same time, we are working with them and others to make sure that we sustain these populations and regrow them for the generations to come.

Taxation

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

Mr. Speaker, tomorrow, the tax on beer, wine and spirits will increase automatically thanks to the government's excise escalator. Today, I tabled Bill C-266 to repeal this automatic annual tax increase.

Under the government, simple pleasures such as enjoying a beer with friends after work, or a bottle of wine over dinner with a loved one, are increasingly unaffordable for working people.

Will the government give Canadian brewers, vintners, distillers and especially consumers a break, and support Bill C-266?

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

Mr. Speaker, we will wait another week to see all the great contents of budget 2022, but what I can do is use this opportunity to hold the Conservatives accountable for their own record on affordability.

Let us get into it: we lowered the taxes for the middle class twice and raised them on the wealthiest 1%. What did the Conservatives do? They voted against it. We created the Canada child benefit and indexed it. What did the Conservatives do? They voted against it. We got tourism businesses all the way through omicron, and what did the Conservatives do? They voted against it.

We will stand for Canadians and affordability, each and every day.

Foreign Affairs

[Yvan Baker, Liberal, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, over a month ago, Russia began an unprovoked, full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Ukrainian people have been very courageous in defending their homeland, but the situation is dire.

They are fighting for their very existence. There is a humanitarian crisis, and this is a threat to Canada's security, to global security and to Europe's security. Ukrainians are not only fighting for themselves, but they are fighting for us.

Could the Minister of Foreign Affairs please share with Canadians what Canada is doing to support the people of Ukraine?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, Canada has one of the strongest relationships in the world with Ukraine, and we stand with Ukrainians in the face of this further invasion by Russia. We will continue to put maximum pressure on the Russian regime. We have imposed strong sanctions. We will send more lethal weapons, but we know we have to do more. We will do more. That is the reason why more sanctions are coming.

Indigenous Affairs

[Lisa Marie Barron, NDP, Nanaimo—Ladysmith, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Tla-o-qui-aht member Lisa Marie Young was 21 when she went missing in my riding of Nanaimo—Ladysmith. It has been 20 years, and still Lisa's loved ones have no answers. Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals continue to go missing or be murdered.

Indigenous women are at least 4.5 times more likely to be murdered than non-indigenous women. How many lives need to be lost for the Liberals to set timelines and real resources to address this crisis?

[Jaime Battiste, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member opposite for her passion on this subject. Our government is committed to working with indigenous stakeholders all across this country to make sure that we move forward on the missing and murdered indigenous women calls to justice.

In fact, we put $2.2 billion in a five-year federal action plan to make sure we are addressing that, to make sure that we see tangible results and to make sure, most importantly, that we keep indigenous women across the country safe and supported.

Presence in Gallery

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

I wish to draw the attention of members to the presence in the gallery of an all-woman delegation of the members of the Ukrainian Parliament, the Verkhovna Rada. Will they please rise?

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

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

We are honoured that they are here with us today.

Terminology in the House

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

Mr. Speaker, I am rising on a point of order in relation to a term that I think may have been used in question period and certainly featured prominently in debate earlier this morning. It caused me to reflect on the nature of unparliamentary language, as described in House of Commons Procedure and Practice, which reminds us that the most important factor is whether the remarks create disorder in the chamber. As you know, confusion often leads to disorder.

Before getting into the term itself, I just want to quote a few relevant authorities for your benefit. The first comes from the bylaws of the Board of Internal Economy, which state that a recognized party is defined as “a party that has a recognized membership of 12 or more persons in the House of Commons.”

I would refer you also to the House of Commons website, under the subheading “Party Standings in the House of Commons”, where it lists four parties that meet that definition: the Liberals, the Conservatives, the Bloc Québécois and the NDP.

In order to find a reference to the term “neo-liberal party”, you have to go to the Oxford English Dictionary. It defines a neo-liberal as, “relating to a type of liberalism that believes in a global free market, without government regulation, with businesses and industry controlled and run for profit by private owners”. There are two parties that meet that definition: the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party.

I am concerned that in the confusion that arises from the use of this term, we may end up causing disorder in the chamber. That is why I thought it was very important to clarify the record that the social democratic party here in the chamber is by no means a neo-liberal party. We may be getting a neo-liberal party to do things with our leverage that it may not otherwise do, but that by no means makes of us a neo-liberal party.