House of Commons Hansard #89 of the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was pension.

Topics

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Conservative

Blaine Calkins Conservative Red Deer—Lacombe, AB

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Public Safety's own department confirmed that the police did not ask for the Emergencies Act to be invoked, and now the Minister of Emergency Preparedness has also publicly agreed.

In the Prime Minister's 2015 “Open and Accountable Government” document, he wrote:

For Canadians to trust our government we must trust Canadians, and we will only be successful in implementing our agenda to the extent that we earn and keep this trust.

The Minister of Public Safety has shattered that trust. When will the Prime Minister fire him?

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, while Conservative politicians were out there supporting barricaders and while they continued to support those illegal actions, we were working with law enforcement and municipal and provincial authorities across this country who were telling us they needed more tools. We delivered more tools, whether it was more police officers or more resources, until we realized we needed to take a further step. We chose to invoke the Emergencies Act to give them even further tools. We did it in a responsible and proportional way, and it worked.

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

Before I go to the questions, I want to remind hon. members that if they want to talk to each other they can cross over and talk very lowly. Shouting across or talking very loudly across just interrupts everyone else. I want to remind them of that.

The hon. member for Red Deer—Lacombe.

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Conservative

Blaine Calkins Conservative Red Deer—Lacombe, AB

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Emergency Preparedness made it clear last night at committee that the Minister of Public Safety has misled Canadians. The Prime Minister's “Open and Accountable Government” document also reads:

Ministers cannot dissociate themselves from or repudiate the decisions of Cabinet or their Ministry colleagues unless they resign from the Ministry.

Only one of these two ministers can be right. The Prime Minister cannot agree with both of them, so which one does he agree with, and when will the Prime Minister fire the Minister of Public Safety?

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, every step of the way we worked with local police services and with responsible authorities to ensure that they got the resources and the tools they needed to get the situation back under control. They continually asked for more tools, and we continued to step up with extra officers, extra resources, extra finances and ultimately the Emergencies Act. Absolutely, it is only a government that can choose to invoke that, and to do so in a limited and restrained way is exactly what we did.

Government PrioritiesOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Bloc

Alain Therrien Bloc La Prairie, QC

Mr. Speaker, the federal border fiasco is breaking records. Going abroad has become a real endurance test.

First, travellers have to wait in line for 24 hours to get a passport, thanks to the Minister of Families' lack of vision. Then, travellers have to wait for hours at the airport, mainly because border services are short 3,000 officers thanks to the Minister of Transport.

It is a perfect storm for travellers. When several ministers fail at the same time like that, it is because the problem comes from above.

When will the Prime Minister sort out his fiasco at the border?

Government PrioritiesOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, we absolutely understand that people are facing challenges because of the global pandemic. That is why it is not just in Canada that there are challenges at airports and border crossings. We are seeing this all over the world. That is why we have hired about 600 new employees at passport offices, and that is why we are making investments to help the airports, because we know that the airports and airlines are facing labour shortages. We are there to support them.

I know these are difficult times for Canadians, but we are working hard to fix everything.

Government PrioritiesOral Questions

2:40 p.m.

Bloc

Alain Therrien Bloc La Prairie, QC

Mr. Speaker, it does not end there. The Minister of Foreign Affairs is also in trouble because her staff attended a party at the Russian embassy. What a great idea that was.

The Minister of Public Safety is in trouble too because of his “alternative facts” on the Emergencies Act. What about the Minister of Immigration, who runs a department where permanent residence applications seemingly go to die, or the Minister of Environment, who has become an oil and gas developer?

Ultimately, when all the musicians are playing out of tune, the conductor is always to blame. In this case, the conductor is the Prime Minister.

When will he start looking after his own affairs instead of always meddling in Quebec's jurisdictions?

Government PrioritiesOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, I am here to serve all Canadians, including Quebeckers. That is why we will continue to make investments to help Quebec families and address challenges, whether at our borders or in our health care systems. We will always work in partnership with provincial governments, municipalities, small businesses and Canadians who need help. We know this pandemic has been difficult, but we have been there for Canadians and we will continue to be there.

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Conservative

Kerry-Lynne Findlay Conservative South Surrey—White Rock, BC

Mr. Speaker, the emergency preparedness minister said the police did not recommend enacting the Emergencies Act, and nor would it have been appropriate. The public safety minister has said for months that the police requested the act. The Deputy Prime Minister, in committee, is now amazingly vague on her recollections on this controversial issue. The RCMP and Ottawa Police said they did not request that the act be used, period. When will the Prime Minister uphold accountability, transparency and ethics and ask for the public safety minister's resignation?

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, it is amazing, the lengths to which Conservative politicians will go to try to deflect from the fact that they were standing with blockaders and continue to support the illegal protests. We worked with police and local authorities every step of the way, who asked for more resources, which we delivered, whether it was more police officers, whether it was more financial resources or, ultimately, the Emergencies Act, which we chose to bring in to give people the tools necessary to put an end to these illegal protests.

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Conservative

Kerry-Lynne Findlay Conservative South Surrey—White Rock, BC

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Public Safety misled Canadians repeatedly. Using the Emergencies Act after its invocation and needing the act beforehand are two very different things. The current Liberal government invoked a Canada-wide civil liberties-limiting act to force tow truck drivers to move trucks, which is not exactly proportional.

The scandal-ridden Liberal government has a serious issue with transparency. From SNC to WE, it seems to be in its DNA. When will the Prime Minister ensure the public safety minister's resignation?

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Again, Mr. Speaker, we see Conservative politicians minimizing the very real disruptions that Canadians faced during the blockades. The Conservatives stood with and encouraged the blockaders while at the same time ignoring Canadians who were afraid to go to work or leave their apartments, Canadians who were losing their jobs and businesses that were shut down because of supply chain disruptions. These are things that we took seriously. While Conservative politicians were celebrating alongside the blockaders, we used proportional, responsible measures and we got it done.

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Conservative

Dominique Vien Conservative Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, the Minister of Emergency Preparedness, the very colleague of the Minister of Public Safety, said, “I am not aware of any recommendation from law enforcement. Quite frankly, this was a decision of government”.

This completely contradicts what the Minister of Public Safety said. He has misled Canadians and the House. There must be consequences.

Will the Prime Minister do the right thing and ask for his resignation?

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, during the blockades, police forces and provincial authorities, including an Alberta minister, told us that they no longer had the tools to deal with these challenges. They needed more resources and tools. We gave them more resources and more police officers, but ultimately, we chose to invoke the Emergencies Act because it gave us specific and proportionate tools to be able to put an end to the crisis. That is exactly what happened.

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:45 p.m.

Conservative

Dominique Vien Conservative Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC

Mr. Speaker, contrary to what the Minister of Public Safety said, neither the RCMP nor the Ottawa Police Service asked the government to invoke the Emergencies Act. However, true to form, whenever the Prime Minister is confronted with his contradictions, he dodges the issue or blames others, and when that does not work, he takes cheap shots, which is what he has been doing throughout question period. Ministerial responsibility appears to be a foreign concept for this government.

Will he ask his minister to resign?

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, I understand my hon. colleague's indignation, but she should be asking her colleagues, who were encouraging civil disorder and supporting the people involved in the blockades, why they were backing those folks rather than law enforcement, who wanted to protect Canadians in their homes and needed additional tools. We provided police with those tools through the Emergencies Act in a responsible and proportionate manner, which is what put an end to these illegal blockades.

Air TransportationOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

NDP

Jagmeet Singh NDP Burnaby South, BC

Mr. Speaker, it did not take a crystal ball to realize that Canadians would start travelling again, and what we have seen in the airports are massive delays across the country. These are delays that could have been prevented if sufficient steps had been taken ahead of time: hiring staff, making sure they have good wages and making sure the conditions of work are appropriate so that we can have the staffing levels required so that there are no delays.

What is the Prime Minister going to do now to hire staff and make sure they are well paid so that they can deal with the delays in the airports for Canadians trying to travel?

Air TransportationOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member opposite for actually highlighting one of the big challenges that are being faced right now by airlines and airports, which is staffing shortages. That is something that is not just happening in Canada; indeed, we are seeing those kinds of disruptions at airports around the world, whether it be Amsterdam, whether it be Paris, whether it be other significant airports around the world that are facing these kinds of challenges and delays.

We invested early in hiring more staff for CBSA and hiring more staff at passport offices. Fortunately we did, because the problems would have been even worse, but we do recognize that there are challenges, and we are working hard every day to solve them for Canadians.

PassportsOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

NDP

Jagmeet Singh NDP Burnaby South, BC

Mr. Speaker, it is not surprising that people want to travel again. They will need their passport to travel, but the wait times for getting a passport are excessive. It is unacceptable.

Will the Prime Minister ensure that the necessary workers are hired to meet the needs?

PassportsOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what we have done. At the beginning of the year, long before these challenges arose, we hired 600 new employees and we are hiring 600 more, because we know how important it is to deliver passports. This has allowed us to deliver more than 360,000 passports since April 1, but there are still Canadians waiting. That is unacceptable, which is why we are working day and night to resolve this situation and help Canadians.

Foreign AffairsOral Questions

June 15th, 2022 / 2:50 p.m.

Liberal

Joanne Thompson Liberal St. John's East, NL

Mr. Speaker, Hans Island has been subject to a 50-year-long territorial dispute between Canada and Denmark. While the Whisky War raged on, it was high time that we found a permanent solution that affirmed Canada's sovereignty and respected the rights of the Inuit.

Can the Prime Minister share with this House the significance of the announcement of the historic agreement between Denmark and Canada that resolved this dispute?

Foreign AffairsOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the member for St. John's East for her important question and for her tremendous hard work.

As global security is threatened, it is more important than ever for democracies like Canada and Denmark to work together to resolve our differences in accordance with international law. That is why we jointly announced a historic agreement to settle the Whisky War and the dispute over Hans Island once and for all. We will continue working with our partners, like Denmark, to protect the security and stability in the Arctic while doing so hand in hand with indigenous peoples.

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Conservative

Michael Chong Conservative Wellington—Halton Hills, ON

Mr. Speaker, the public safety minister has said repeatedly that law enforcement recommended that the government invoke the Emergencies Act, but yesterday the emergency preparedness minister said at committee, “I am not aware of any recommendation from law enforcement.”

Suspending civil liberties is serious; so is misleading the House. I have a simple question for the Prime Minister: Does he believe the minister has acted honourably?

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:50 p.m.

Papineau Québec

Liberal

Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister

Mr. Speaker, while Conservative politicians were out supporting the blockaders and standing with the illegal protesters, we were busy working with law enforcement and authorities across the country to deliver them tools that they needed, whether it be extra police officers or extra financial resources or tools. We were there for that.

Ultimately, we chose to deliver, in a proportional and responsible way, the Emergencies Act, which had measures that helped put an end to these blockades. This was something that we had to do for the good of all Canadians.