House of Commons Hansard #79 of the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was ukraine.

Topics

The EconomyOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, every step of the way the government has had Canadians' backs, and we will continue to have their backs through these difficult times.

We know we are continuing to lower Canadians' cellphone bills. We did that by 25%, as promised. We committed to working with provinces and territories to cut child care fees in half this year. Families are already seeing real savings as a result. We committed to raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, and it increased again on April 1. Also, by delivering an enhanced Canada worker benefit, more families will benefit from that support.

We will continue to be there to support families across the country.

The EconomyOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Portage—Lisgar Manitoba

Conservative

Candice Bergen ConservativeLeader of the Opposition

Mr. Speaker, the reality is that the cost of everything is going up, and the Prime Minister seems to be in denial about it.

Do members know what else is going up under these Liberals? It is violent crime, and that is because the Liberals are soft on crime. Their soft-on-crime approach means that places such as Winnipeg, Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal are becoming more dangerous with violent crimes increasing under their watch. Criminals who terrorize vulnerable communities should not get just a slap on the wrist and house arrest or bail. They should be behind bars.

Why will the Prime Minister not start standing up for victims, do something to protect the innocent and make sure that violent criminals are put in jail and stay in jail?

The EconomyOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, what our communities need is a justice system that punishes criminals. What we do not need is a system that targets racialized people because of systemic discrimination.

Our reforms turned the page on failed Conservative Party policies that contributed to the overrepresentation of Black and indigenous people in our criminal justice system. At the same time, through our new legislation, we are increasing maximum penalties from 10 to 14 years for firearms-related offences, including smuggling and trafficking. We are there to support Canadians and to keep Canadians safe.

TaxationOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Conservative

Luc Berthold Conservative Mégantic—L'Érable, QC

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister keeps repeating talking points that border on misinformation and that definitely show a lack of compassion, both for victims of crime and for Canadians who are paying more and more for everything.

To satisfy his insatiable appetite for spending, the Prime Minister is happy to let Canadians pay millions of dollars more every day in taxes because everything costs more. Why will the Prime Minister not stand up, take responsibility, and cut taxes for Canadians to give them a bit of a break?

TaxationOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, comments like that from the Conservatives would have a bit more credibility if they had not voted against our very first measure to cut taxes for the middle class and raise them for the wealthy.

We continued our work by creating a Canada child benefit that helps families who need it most with hundreds of dollars per month and is indexed to inflation and the cost of living. We are there to support people, and we will continue to be there to invest in meaningful ways to help the middle class, while the Conservatives do nothing but criticize and engage in partisan attacks.

TaxationOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Conservative

Luc Berthold Conservative Mégantic—L'Érable, QC

Mr. Speaker, how is it partisan to ask the government to spend a little time thinking about how difficult it is for Canadian families to stretch their budget to get to the end of the month? Canadians need help now, not in six months or a year. The Prime Minister must act now.

However, he never even saw it coming, and there was nothing in the last budget to help Canadian families get through the impending recession. Once again, today we learned of a third increase in the rate of inflation. What will the Prime Minister do instead of just spouting rhetoric?

TaxationOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, in concrete terms, the investments made by this government will ensure that families will save thousands of dollars in child care costs, and, in Quebec, the number of day care spaces increased as a result of federal investments.

We will continue to be there to invest and to help families. The Canada child benefit is indexed, which means that there will be more money in the pockets of families that need it every month. We continue to be there to support families facing hardship because of the war in Ukraine and the pandemic recovery.

JusticeOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Bloc

Alain Therrien Bloc La Prairie, QC

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Prime Minister said that he wanted to challenge Quebec's legislation on the secularization of the state “given the vast implications for all Canadians across the country”. However, there are no implications for Canada. That is pure nonsense.

This concerns Quebeckers and Quebeckers alone. Quebec's state secularism law is the will of Quebeckers, was passed by Quebec members of Quebec's National Assembly and applies only in Quebec. I think it is quite clear. Canadians have nothing to do with it. It is none of their business. What does the Prime Minister not understand about that?

JusticeOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, I am certain I must have misheard. Surely the hon. member did not mean to suggest that all those who disagree and who are challenging this law before the courts in Quebec are not true Quebeckers.

We will always stand alongside anyone in Canada who wants to defend their fundamental rights, those rights protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. If this does end up before the Supreme Court, the government will be there to defend minority rights, as it always has.

JusticeOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Bloc

Alain Therrien Bloc La Prairie, QC

Mr. Speaker, Quebeckers want to reinforce state secularism where we live, in Quebec. That is for us to decide.

Quebeckers are not telling Canadians what to do in Canada. If the people of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, want the state and religion to go hand in hand, that is not our problem. They can go ahead and tattoo “In God We Trust” on their faces if they want. We could not care less. It is none of our business.

Quebeckers want state secularism. That is what we voted for. Why would Quebeckers allow Canadians to force religion back into our state affairs?

JusticeOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, I just want to point out to the hon. member that his “where we live” is also where I live. I am a Quebecker, and I have every right to make sure that the rights of all Quebeckers get the same respect as those of people elsewhere in the country.

The federal government's job is to make sure that the rights of Canadians across the country are upheld and protected. If this law ends up in the Supreme Court, we will be there to defend and protect the fundamental rights of all Quebeckers and all Canadians.

HealthOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

NDP

Jagmeet Singh NDP Burnaby South, BC

Mr. Speaker, since 2016, 27,000 Canadians have lost their life to a toxic drug supply. Experts agree that a criminal approach will not save lives and we need a health care-based approach. Now, the Prime Minister has agreed to take a health care-based approach by decriminalizing personal possession in B.C., but if that approach is good in B.C., why will the Prime Minister not support our bill to bring a health care approach for the rest of Canada to save lives across our country?

HealthOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, to take a health care approach across the country, which is exactly the approach one needs to take, one needs to work with the people who actually direct the health care in every different province. That means working with provinces. It means working with municipalities. It means working with frontline workers, and that is exactly what we have done in moving forward with B.C. responsibly to make sure there is a framework around it. Unfortunately, it is not a simple solution like that proposed by the NDP. It is a complex solution that actually goes at the heart of the problem that we are moving forward on, and that is the right way to keep Canadians safe.

HealthOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

NDP

Jagmeet Singh NDP Burnaby South, BC

Mr. Speaker, since 2016, we have lost 25,000 people in this country to a toxic drug supply.

As we know, we cannot continue to take the same approach and expect different results. We need to do something to help people. The Prime Minister has agreed to take a different approach in British Columbia.

If that approach is good for British Columbia, why is that not the case for the rest of Canada? Why is that not good for Montreal, for example? Why will the Prime Minister not support our bill, which will save lives?

HealthOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, we did indeed decide to work with the Province of British Columbia and the municipalities to move forward with a science-based approach.

However, the Parliament of Canada cannot simply issue an order to do the same thing in other parts of the country without partnerships and without the co-operation of local jurisdictions.

The approach proposed by the NDP would be irresponsible. Responsible leadership means working with partners to move forward, as we are doing in British Columbia. Yes, we are open to doing the same elsewhere, but partnerships are needed to make this happen.

JusticeOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Conservative

Rob Moore Conservative Fundy Royal, NB

Mr. Speaker, three RCMP officers were killed in Moncton. Six worshippers were killed inside a Quebec City mosque. Two grandparents and their grandson were murdered in Calgary in 2017. Their killers were given jail sentences of 40 years or more, but the Supreme Court has now capped sentences for mass murderers at 25 years. The Prime Minister likes to say that he has Canadians' backs. Will he stand up for the families of these victims?

JusticeOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, our thoughts are with the families and survivors of the hate-filled Islamophobic attacks at the Quebec City mosque and the other killings across the country. At the Supreme Court, we argued in support of a sentencing judge's discretion to impose a longer period of parole ineligibility where appropriate. We know this court decision was painful for many.

We want to be clear: Nothing in the decision changes the fact that all people convicted of murder receive a mandatory life sentence. Just as we did in January 2017, we will stand with the families, survivors and communities and everyone impacted by such violence.

JusticeOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Conservative

Rob Moore Conservative Fundy Royal, NB

Mr. Speaker, thoughts are not enough. This decision means that the person who killed three RCMP officers in Moncton will now be eligible for full parole at age 49. The Supreme Court ruling hands this issue back to Parliament for this Parliament and the current government to do something about it. Will the government and the Prime Minister act to ensure that families will not have to go through the retraumatization every two years of parole hearings to ensure that their loved one's killer remains behind bars?

JusticeOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, allow me to be clear once again: Nothing in the Supreme Court decision changes the fact that all people convicted of murder receive a mandatory life sentence.

At the Supreme Court, we argued in support of a sentencing judge's discretion to impose a longer period of parole ineligibility where appropriate, but we will continue to stand with Canadians. We will continue to stand with the victims and survivors of these terrible killings.

JusticeOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Conservative

Stephanie Kusie Conservative Calgary Midnapore, AB

Mr. Speaker, the Supreme Court of Canada's ruling on consecutive parole sentences takes the side of serial killers and mass murderers instead of victims. What is cruel and unusual punishment is individuals losing their innocent loved ones to heinous crimes and then having to sit through years of detailed parole hearings, only adding to the trauma. Why is the Prime Minister not taking the necessary steps to ensure victims are put first?

JusticeOral Questions

2:35 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, what we are also doing is taking the necessary steps to make sure there are fewer victims of mass killings by, for example, banning military-style assault weapons in this country, something Conservative politicians continue to stand against. They want to make those guns used at École Polytechnique and those guns used in other mass killings legal again, which we will continue to stand against. Not only that, but we are now moving forward on an initiative that will make it illegal to buy, sell, transfer or import handguns anywhere in Canada.

JusticeOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Conservative

Stephanie Kusie Conservative Calgary Midnapore, AB

Mr. Speaker, that is disinformation, and the Prime Minister knows that they were already banned in the seventies.

Those with consecutive sentences have only committed the most horrifying of crimes, yet the Supreme Court wants these criminals to have the opportunity to be in society again. Canada's worst criminals should be locked behind bars and not free to walk the streets, so when will the Prime Minister start standing with victims and commit to ensuring that criminals serve sentences that reflect the severity of their crimes?

JusticeOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, perhaps a more appropriate question is, when will the Conservative Party stop standing with the NRA and start standing with Canadians, so there are fewer victims of violent crimes and fewer victims of mass murders?

That is why we moved forward with a ban on military-style assault weapons in this country, and it is now illegal to buy, sell or use a military-style assault weapon in this country. On top of that, we are moving forward to make it illegal to buy, sell or import handguns anywhere in this country. The Conservative Party stands against that. Canadians should ask them why.

JusticeOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Conservative

Karen Vecchio Conservative Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON

Mr. Speaker, section 33.1 of the Criminal Code states that the defence of extreme intoxication is not available when an act includes an assault, but just recently the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that section 33.1 of the Criminal Code violates sections 7 and 11 of the Charter of Rights.

What part of this protects victims?

JusticeOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, this government is unwavering in our commitment to ensuring that our criminal justice system keeps communities safe, respects victims and holds offenders to account, all while upholding charter rights. We are carefully reviewing the decision to determine its effect on victims, as well as the criminal law. We have taken action to strengthen sexual assault laws to ensure that victims are treated with the utmost respect and are protected. This is critical to fostering greater confidence of survivors of sexual assault and gender-based violence, as well as the broader Canadian public, in our justice system.