Debates of April 7th, 2022

Government Accountability

[Blake Desjarlais, NDP, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Mr. Speaker, working families in my district of Edmonton Griesbach cannot afford to keep waiting to get the basic dental care and medicine they need. Working people who are struggling to get a roof over their heads cannot afford to keep waiting while house prices skyrocket and rents keep going up.

Métis, Inuit and first nations people across Turtle Island cannot afford to keep waiting for the federal government to finally honour its obligations. The planet cannot afford to wait for real climate action, and none of us can afford to keep waiting while billionaires and big corporations dodge their taxes and leave the rest of us footing the bill.

New Democrats are done waiting. We are done waiting for real action from the government. Now is the time for results. Make no mistake: New Democrats will get results. We will keep holding the government accountable, we will keep winning victories that make life more affordable and we will keep working for people across the country. Today's budget is a floor, not a ceiling.

Kinanaskomtinawaw.

World Health Day

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Mr. Speaker, today is World Health Day and the theme this year is “Our planet, our health”.

Since the environment is one of the primary determinants of health and, unfortunately, of disease, it is more important than ever to rethink the world and our society so our children and grandchildren will have the opportunity to grow up in a healthy environment with the best possible living conditions. Talking will not get us there, only action will.

The government must decide, once and for all, to be consistent, take action, and assume its responsibilities by protecting the environment and funding health care.

I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to all those in the health sector who are doing all the heavy lifting and who can no longer wait for ongoing, significant and unconditional funding.

Health is a collective responsibility. We must decide to make it a priority.

World Autism Awareness Day

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Wetaskiwin, AB]

Mr. Speaker, last Saturday was World Autism Awareness Day and 24 years since my son, Jaden, was diagnosed. Jaden would normally be in Ottawa with me, but last week, he tested positive for COVID. He has bounced back quickly, but sadly is not able to travel.

As the years go by, we learn more about autism and both the strengths and challenges that come with the label; still, so much remains unknown. Thankfully, more and more autistic Canadians are sharing their stories, and mysteries that we once only viewed as problems to be solved we are learning to embrace, as diversity that enriches our entire human experience.

Some of my favourite moments are spent sitting beside Jaden and just being with him, looking into each other's eyes with smiles on both of our faces. We are content with the part of each other that remains unknown.

There is so much I do not know in those moments, but I am intensely aware that Jaden loves me. Through a connection I could never begin to explain, I know that he knows I love him. There is no knowledge more important to me than that.

Rwandan Genocide

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, 28 years ago today, more than one million people died in the genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda, and to this the world said “never again”. “Never again”, but yet again the world is dealing with the consequences of not seeing each other's humanity.

I want Rwandans watching this today from my riding of London West and across Canada to know that the world sees them and the world recognizes their resilience and willingness to rebuild and to walk the path of reconciliation no matter how hard it is and how hard it has been. They have chosen healing and rebuilding.

As I stand before the House today, 82 million people have been forcibly displaced across the world. The Ukrainian and Afghanistan crises alone have created respectively 6.3 million refugees. I want all of us to reflect on these numbers. It is our job as leaders to carry out the “never again” words in our actions to ensure that the next generation of Rwandans, of Tutsis across the world, do not have to face another moment to invoke these words.

On behalf of all Rwandans who are no longer with us today, on behalf of the children of families, including my own, who have been forever changed by what happened during the cold nights of April 1994, I say to them “never again”.

I ask members of the House to stand with me in a moment of silence for the voices that will never speak again. Let us commit to never sit in silence and always use our voices and actions to fight against hatred and discrimination of all kinds.

Twibuke twiyubaka.

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

I know there is a request for another moment of silence, and maybe we will do them together. There has been a request for a moment of silence for the people lost in Portapique, and we just had a request for the people of Rwanda, so let us stand in a moment of silence for them.

[A moment of silence observed]

Justice

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we know this NDP-Liberal government is not big on transparency. Recently Canada witnessed a kind of justice more closely associated with the Middle Ages. Nobody knows where or when this phantom trial took place. We also do not know the judge, the accused or the lawyers, and there is no transcription. RCMP investigators and federal prosecutors participated in this North Korea-style travesty of justice.

What role did the Liberal Minister of Justice play in this trial that violated every basic principle of our country's judicial system?

[David Lametti, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, the open court principle is a fundamental principle in our justice system. I am very concerned about media reports on the judicial process in Quebec. I gather that the director of the Public Prosecution Service of Canada issued a press release. As we all know, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada is an independent arm's-length entity. Because of the court orders in this case, I cannot comment further.

Finance

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, today is budget day. It is a parliamentary tradition for the details of the budget to be kept under wraps until it is read by the Minister of Finance in the House. It is even a legal obligation to prevent the disclosure of privileged information. This morning we learned that the member for Burnaby South and unofficial deputy prime minister of the NDP‑Liberal government received a briefing on the content of the budget.

When did this briefing take place? Who was there? Did the members of the NDP branch of the government swear an oath of confidentiality on the secret information they received?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the budget will be presented very soon and all the details will be available. Certainly, everyone had access to the same details. We did not share information. That is not true at all.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we did not get a secret briefing. We now know that the NDP members received information on the budget. The Canadian Press reported this morning that the health critic said after receiving a briefing that he was optimistic the government would keep its commitments on dental care and pharmacare in the budget. That is highly confidential information and may influence the stock market value of many companies working in that field.

What exactly do the NDP member and his leader know?

Did they swear an oath before receiving that information, yes or no?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, there was no secret discussion. No information was shared. That is absolutely not the case. A very important budget for our country will be presented in a few moments. The member will have to wait for the budget. All the details will be there.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

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

I am already hearing some things over there I am not quite liking, so can we just keep the comments down? I do not mind a little bit of back-and-forth, but I heard a couple of words from back there that I do not like.

The hon. member for Dufferin—Caledon has the floor.

The Economy

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

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I asked the Prime Minister to acknowledge the economic pain that Canadians are suffering. Rather than answering, he chose insults.

Let us try again. Former Liberal MP Dan McTeague said food prices are going to go up 30% to 35% as a result of increases in diesel prices. Gas and diesel are up, food prices are up and Canadians are scrambling to make ends meet. All the while, greenhouse gases go up as well.

Will the Prime Minister just admit, as confession is good for the soul, that his environmental and economic policies are a failure and apologize to Canadians?

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

Mr. Speaker, I believe the conversation yesterday was about our investments working, so maybe I can quote some investments that have been made in his province of Ontario: $6 billion with GM in Oshawa for an electric vehicle plant and $5 billion between LG and Stellantis in Windsor to make the transition to electric vehicles. These are only some of the investments we have made. In fact, our emissions are going down by 30 million tonnes already, and that is just the beginning.

Finance

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

Mr. Speaker, well, let us talk about investments. We have all heard of the Midas touch. It turns things to gold. We have the Liberal touch, and it is not gold.

Liberals have invested billions of dollars to increase housing affordability. What has happened? Housing prices have doubled. They spent $60 billion to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and emissions went up. Helping the middle class? Sixty per cent of Canadians are having trouble making ends meet.

How is it when the Liberal government spends money, Canadians just end up further behind?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are showing once again that their main role in this chamber is to delay important legislation and distract from important issues.

They obstructed getting COVID supports to Canadians and Canadian businesses and they obstructed legislation to get us to climate goals. Now they are delaying and trying to gut Bill C-8, a bill that would help farmers and teachers and Canadians and people to access rapid tests. When will they bring Bill C-8 to a vote, support Canadians and focus on affordability?

The Environment

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, at 3:20 p.m. yesterday, the Prime Minister announced that he had been asked by the UN to promote sustainable development around the world.

Barely an hour and a half later, our champion of the environment approved Bay du Nord, a one-billion-barrel oil project that will pollute for 30 years.

It took him an hour and a half to make a mockery of his mandate and show the entire world that not only is Canada an oil state, but also a rogue state. The Prime Minister is literally redefining the art of talking out of both sides of his mouth.

Does he have any credibility left today when it comes to the environment?

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for La Prairie. I find it quite ironic that the Bloc Québécois is asking to cancel projects supported by the provinces, when its position is always to tell the federal government to mind its own business. In this particular case, the provincial sovereignty issue is on a bit of a sliding scale.

I would answer my colleague's question with another question. Would the Bloc Québécois be in favour of the federal government conducting an independent assessment of the third link in Quebec City?

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the worst part is that, as recently as Monday, the UN warned that no new oil and gas development should be approved if we want to have any chance of curbing climate change.

That did not stop the government, just yesterday, from approving Bay du Nord, which will pump out up to 100,000 barrels of oil a day. Drill, baby, drill.

This government took the report released by climate experts from around the world and threw it in the garbage. Not even the recycling, the garbage.

How can it still claim its decisions are based on science?

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind my hon. colleague that the Bay du Nord project underwent a four-year, independent environmental assessment, not to mention consultations with scientists, experts and 42 indigenous communities.

I would also like to remind him that his leader allowed drilling on Anticosti Island without any environmental assessment whatsoever.

We, on our side, have been assessing this project for four years, and I have received a green light from the federal environmental assessment agency.

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, just a few days ago, the IPCC released an alarming report.

This is an emergency. The future of our children and grandchildren is at risk. We must take bold action.

The Minister of Environment took action: He approved a new fossil fuel project. He will continue to hand out billions of dollars to oil and gas companies. He could have said no to this project, but he said yes to more oil and more emissions.

Does the minister understand that an additional billion barrels of oil is not a green project?

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

Mr. Speaker, I would like to remind my hon. colleague from Rosemont—La Petite‑Patrie that the IPCC stated that to limit global warming to 1.5°C, countries must reduce their emissions by 43% by 2030. Canada's objective is to reduce emissions by 40% to 45%.

The IPCC said that all sectors must reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The plan we introduced in the House last week clearly shows how all sectors in Canada are in the process of reducing their greenhouse gas emissions.

The IPCC also noted that, despite everything we are going to do, we will continue to consume oil, with 35 million barrels in 2050. That oil must emit as few emissions as possible and they must be sequestered.

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, just days ago, the IPCC released a scathing report saying the planet is burning. The Minister of Environment called it “sobering”. If we have any chance of beating the climate crisis, we need to urgently transition away from fossil fuels, invest in green energy and support workers, yet he just approved Bay du Nord, a massive fossil fuel project that will add the equivalent of seven million cars to the road.

Why is the minister ignoring the science and putting Canadians at risk?

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

Mr. Speaker, what the IPCC said in its report this week is that in order to prevent global temperatures from rising beyond 1.5°C, countries have to reduce, between now and 2030, their greenhouse gas emissions by 43%. We are on track to reducing them by 40% to 45%. The IPCC said that every sector of our economy needs to be reducing its emissions.

I tabled last week in the House a report that shows how exactly we are going to do that between now and 2030. The IPCC also recognized that we will still be using fossil fuels even in 2050, and we need to make sure that these are as low-emitting as possible and we need to capture all of the emissions.