Debates of April 28th, 2022

The Environment

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

Mr. Speaker, the short answer is no.

The long answer is the commissioner says that carbon pricing is one of the most important measures to fight greenhouse gas emissions. That is exactly what we are doing.

The commissioner says that eight out of 10 Canadians are getting more money through carbon pricing than without it. The commissioner said that the federal government would reach its 25% emissions-reduction target this year, not in 2025. Our plan is working, but I will agree that there is way more we need to do.

Carbon Pricing

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

Mr. Speaker, the environment commissioner's report on carbon pricing states that the government has not addressed the burden from carbon pricing faced by small businesses.

There is no plan to get carbon tax money back to small businesses. I met this morning with Ward from Kelowna—Lake Country, who owns an RV business, and much of our conversation was around various tax increases hitting the RV and camping industry.

Will the minister admit that the just transition plan is breaking the backs of small businesses and transitioning them to just hang on?

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

Mr. Speaker, as the commissioner recognized in his report, eight out of 10 Canadians are getting more money through carbon pricing than without it. We are working with small businesses to ensure that the rest of the revenues are recycled. We already have an agreement with Ontario, and it is happening with the rest of the provinces in Canada.

Health

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, LGBTQ+ rights are human rights, and we know that there is still more work to be done.

For years, LGBTQ+ communities have been calling for a non-discriminatory blood donation system. Today, Health Canada approved the request from Canadian Blood Services.

Could the Minister of Health tell us more about this historic announcement and the impact it will have on these communities?

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from London West for her excellent work in support of the LGBTQ+ community.

Today is a great day for anti-discrimination, justice and equity. Canadians have been waiting for this day for many years. Health Canada has approved Canadian Blood Services' request to eliminate the deferral period for men who have sex with men and to replace this policy with a single universal questionnaire that is non-discriminatory and is not based on gender identity or sexual orientation.

This is a significant achievement and I thank everyone whose hard work led to today's announcement.

Digital Services

[John Nater, Conservative, Perth—Wellington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, over the past year, the Liberals have spent over $600,000 on social media influencers. While they say they want to crack down on misinformation online, the Liberals literally paid thousands of dollars to influencers to give fake, sponsored endorsements of the government.

Why should Canadians trust the Liberals to regulate online activity, when they have literally hired an army of keyboard warriors, using taxpayer dollars, to fight their fights?

[Chris Bittle, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, the objective is very simple. We are going to ask online platforms to contribute to Canadian culture. We have heard the concerns that were raised about social media. We have gotten the message. We have fixed it. We are making it extremely clear.

Users and their content will never be regulated. Our bills will make platforms contribute to Canadian culture. That is it. It is written in black and white in the bill. Platforms are in; users are out.

Passport Canada

[Brad Redekopp, Conservative, Saskatoon West, SK]

Mr. Speaker, Viktoriia and her two daughters moved from Ukraine to Saskatoon West. Two months ago they received their Canadian citizenship.

One of the first things Viktoriia did was apply for a Canadian passport. However, between Passport Canada and the Saskatoon Service Canada office, all she got was hours queued up in lines and the runaround from staff. My office had to intervene directly with Ottawa as the local bureaucracy failed her.

Could the minister please explain to Viktoriia and all my constituents why the Service Canada office in Saskatoon has become the “out-of-service Canada” office?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I would like to begin by welcoming Victoria and her family to Canada. I am glad they found refuge here from what is a very awful situation that is happening in Ukraine.

As I have explained to this House before, we are experiencing an unprecedented time when Canadians who have had their passports expire over the past two years, because they were not travelling, are now wanting to travel. Because of these volumes, Service Canada and Passport Canada are working around the clock to try to serve Canadians as best as possible.

We will continue to do everything we can to make this service available and seamless for Canadians, but there is an unprecedented volume at this moment.

Fisheries and Oceans

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

Mr. Speaker, folks from Port aux Basques to the tip of the great northern peninsula are dismayed and worried.

Plant workers and fishermen in towns like Port aux Choix, Anchor Point and Cook's Harbour just received the news of a 20% cut in the 4R shrimp quota, after DFO stock surveys showed growth in the stock.

Will the minister keep with her new policy of leaving more fish in the water or admit her mistake and reinstate last year's shrimp quota?

[Joyce Murray, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, my mandate is to grow the fish and seafood industry. For that, we need stocks that are viable and abundant.

I am focused on advancing consistent, sustainable and collaborative fisheries to benefit rural, indigenous and coastal communities now and for future generations. Earlier this year, a full stock assessment was held and, yes, there is an increase in area SFAs. However, in SFA 5, there was a 12% biomass increase and SFA 6 continues to be in the critical zone.

We will continue working with all harvesters and consult—

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

The hon. member for Scarborough Centre.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Salma Zahid, Liberal, Scarborough Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, every time I stand to speak in this House, I am struck by how privileged I am to be a Canadian citizen representing the people of Scarborough Centre. I became a citizen in May of 2004, and it was one of the happiest days of my life. Unfortunately, many people have faced delays in taking their oath of citizenship since COVID-19 hit in March 2020.

Can the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship update the House on the progress of citizenship ceremonies?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague from Scarborough Centre for her passion for Canadian citizenship and for her work on behalf of her constituents. Since April 2020, more than 240,000 applicants have become Canadian citizens through virtual oath ceremonies. We had to pivot our strategy after it became impossible to host large events for people together in a room. We are now hosting 350 virtual ceremonies each month, and each week approximately 5,800 applicants are invited to deliver their oath virtually.

I am happy to announce that just last month, we set an all-time record by welcoming more than 41,000 applicants to complete their journey toward Canadian citizenship. Moving forward, we are going to continue to explore more options. The hon. member began her—

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

The hon. member for Edmonton Griesbach.

Health

[Blake Desjarlais, NDP, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the government is finally acting to change its discriminatory blood ban against men who have sex with other men, gay men and transwomen. This is a crucial step in increasing the blood supply at a time of ongoing shortages, and it is a step toward ending a policy that reinforced homophobia and transphobia, but New Democrats share the concerns of activists that the government could still be leaving people out.

Will the government commit to working with the 2SLGBTQI community to end the arbitrary exclusions still contained in the new policy?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am so pleased to be able to hear our colleagues speak about this great day we are having today in removing discrimination in this particular matter. As our colleague said, we are so grateful to the activists, as well as the scientists, for having worked so hard over the last few years to get to that outcome. We look forward to working more together to make sure that Canada is a country in which we can live safely, in dignity and without discrimination.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Kevin Vuong, Independent, Spadina—Fort York, ON]

Mr. Speaker, many of my constituents have been contacting me about the severe delays in processing immigration applications and the pause placed on the express entry draws. People have had to put their lives and careers on hold, living in IRCC purgatory, all while Canadian businesses are facing a labour shortage. IRCC is a total farce. Along with the quagmire at passport offices and the mess in obtaining social insurance cards, all are colossal failures.

Does the government have any viable plan to get “dis-Service Canada” back to Service Canada any time soon?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, over the last number of months, we have taken a number of steps to boost the processing capacity of IRCC, with $85 million announced in the fall economic statement. We have made available an additional $385 million to be processed in the recent federal budget. We are launching a modernization of the digital platform to boost processing time further and creating more immigration level space.

The result of these investments is actually seeing the numbers in the express entry system under the federal high-skilled streams decrease from 112,000 to 48,000. The draws for the Canadian experience class in the federal skilled workers stream will resume this July, and we will be back to the service standard we enjoyed before COVID-19 was something we had ever heard of.

Commemoration of the Holocaust

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

Following discussions among representatives of all parties in the House, I understand there is an agreement to observe a moment of silence in commemoration of the Holocaust.

I now invite hon. members to please rise.

[A moment of silence observed]

Business of the House

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is great to be back after a couple of weeks in the riding.

We have a busy time coming up in the legislative agenda. I am sure the NDP is already aware, but for the sake of my colleagues and the Bloc, would the parliamentary secretary to the government House leader please advise the House what the business will be over the next week?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, this afternoon and tomorrow we will deal with Bill C-8, the economic and fiscal update. On Monday, we will resume debate on Government Business No. 11 concerning the extension of sitting hours and commence third-reading debate on Bill C-8. It is also our intention to begin consideration at second reading of the budget bill on Tuesday and continue with this debate on Wednesday and Thursday.

Motion No. 8

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

moved that a ways and means motion to introduce an act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on April 7, 2022, and other measures be concurred in.

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

If a member of a recognized party present in the House wishes to request a recorded division on the motion or that the motion be adopted on division, I would invite them to please rise and indicate it to the Chair.

The hon. House leader for the official opposition.

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we would like a recorded division.