House of Commons Hansard #92 of the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was firearms.

Topics

Energy Industry in CanadaStatements by Members

2:15 p.m.

Conservative

Dane Lloyd Conservative Sturgeon River—Parkland, AB

Mr. Speaker, in a shocking display of hypocrisy this past weekend in Montreal, German Formula One driver, Sebastian Vettel, had the audacity to call the production of Alberta’s oil sands a “crime”. The Aston Martin driver is also sponsored by Saudi Aramco, the largest oil producer on the planet. Clearly, he does not have a problem taking money from oil companies. Meanwhile, millions of barrels of Russian blood oil continue to flood into Germany, helping to fund Putin’s barbaric war in Ukraine. If Mr. Vettel wants to talk about a crime, he should look closer to home.

There is no country where the energy industry is doing more to bring down emissions and produce resources with the highest ethical standards than Canada. In fact, it is Alberta’s freedom fuel that will provide the energy that the world needs to kick Putin’s gas. Albertans will never apologize for our oil. My only regret is that we do not have more pipelines to supply the world when it needs it most. We will not take any lessons from high-carbon hypocrites such as Sebastian Vettel.

World Refugee DayStatements by Members

2:15 p.m.

Liberal

Arielle Kayabaga Liberal London West, ON

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to commemorate World Refugee Day. Seeking safety is a human right, no matter who one is or where one comes from—

World Refugee DayStatements by Members

2:15 p.m.

Liberal

The Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota

I am going to interrupt the hon. member for a moment.

This is a message that I think we all want to hear, but the noise level is getting too high. I am going to ask everyone to tone it down so we can hear. The hon. member can start from the beginning so we can all hear it.

World Refugee DayStatements by Members

2:15 p.m.

Liberal

Arielle Kayabaga Liberal London West, ON

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to commemorate World Refugee Day. Seeking safety is a human right, no matter who one is or where one comes from. Whenever one has been forced to flee, everyone has the right to seek safety.

Let us acknowledge the 100 million displaced people across our planet as the precariousness of peace and climate change continue to be growing concerns. Canada must work hard to retain its long-standing reputation as an international leader in resettlement and integration. In 2021, Canada welcomed more refugees than any other country. As we know, refugees make significant contributions and are a driving force behind our society and economy.

We must show compassion and respect for refugees, and acknowledge every day the courage it takes to build a new life in a new country, not just today. We have a collective responsibility to support those fleeing war and persecution and to make sure that no one is left behind. As a country, Canada can be proud of the work that we have accomplished so far, but we cannot lose our sense of urgency to keep helping the world's most vulnerable.

The EconomyOral Questions

2:20 p.m.

Portage—Lisgar Manitoba

Conservative

Candice Bergen ConservativeLeader of the Opposition

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are suffering with record-high inflation, and it is clear the Liberals have no plan to deal with it responsibly, except with more of the same mismanagement that got us here in the first place: out-of-control spending. Even financial institutions like Scotiabank have warned that their continued spending drives higher inflation.

We cannot spend inflation away. Is it not true that life is continuing to get worse not better for Canadians under the Liberals and they have no idea how to deal with it?

The EconomyOral Questions

2:20 p.m.

Edmonton Centre Alberta

Liberal

Randy Boissonnault LiberalMinister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, that side ran on a platform to do even more deficit spending than we did. On this side, we have an affordability plan. We created the Canada child benefit, which is right now putting $13,666 into the pockets of a single mother with two kids. We have indexed OAS and are increasing it. We are making sure that there is a $500 home credit for people struggling with housing.

There is no plan for affordability on that side, but there is a clear plan on this side.

The EconomyOral Questions

2:20 p.m.

Portage—Lisgar Manitoba

Conservative

Candice Bergen ConservativeLeader of the Opposition

Mr. Speaker, well, one idea is to reduce federal taxes at the pump to help ease the high cost of gas. The provinces are doing it. Other countries are doing it. Even the U.S. is considering doing it. What did the Liberals say when we made this suggestion? They said no.

Whether it is lowering taxes on gas or things like removing restrictions and mandates, the Liberals always say no to good ideas. Why are the Liberals always so slow and reluctant to do the right thing when it comes to helping Canadians?

The EconomyOral Questions

2:20 p.m.

North Vancouver B.C.

Liberal

Jonathan Wilkinson LiberalMinister of Natural Resources

Mr. Speaker, we are, of course, doing the right thing. That means working to address the supply constraints that have evolved since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Canada has committed to increasing its production of oil and gas by 300,000 barrels by the end of the year. We are working in partnership with our friends in the United States, Brazil and a number of other countries to stabilize global energy prices and to ensure that we are actually addressing affordability on a go-forward basis.

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:20 p.m.

Portage—Lisgar Manitoba

Conservative

Candice Bergen ConservativeLeader of the Opposition

Mr. Speaker, under the Liberals, murders are at a 30-year high. We are seeing shootings and deaths increase. This weekend in Toronto is another sad example. However, we should not be surprised. The same minister who is busy misleading Canadians on the Emergencies Act is the one in charge of public safety.

The Liberals implementing gun bans while at the same time letting violent criminals into our communities is illogical and dangerous. Why will the soft-on-crime Liberals not do something to protect our streets and start by making sure that gangsters and drug dealers stay behind bars?

Public SafetyOral Questions

2:20 p.m.

Eglinton—Lawrence Ontario

Liberal

Marco Mendicino LiberalMinister of Public Safety

Mr. Speaker, if the member had actually read Bill C-21, she would see that we are taking on organized crime head-on by raising maximum sentences for illegal gun smugglers. She would see that we are addressing the alarming concerns around handgun violence by introducing a national handgun freeze. She would see that we are also addressing the alarming trend around the connection between intimate partner violence and guns by the introduction of red flag protocols.

The only thing the Conservatives can offer is making AR-15 assault-style rifles legal again. They should come to this chamber with more ideas.

Government PoliciesOral Questions

2:20 p.m.

Portage—Lisgar Manitoba

Conservative

Candice Bergen ConservativeLeader of the Opposition

Mr. Speaker, under the Liberals, those who commit a crime with a gun get to do their time at home. How is that protecting communities?

However, everything the Liberals touch is a disaster, whether it is the soft-on-crime and often misunderstood public safety minister, the heritage minister, who is taking away Canadians' online freedoms, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who invites her delegates to a party with the Russians, or a finance minister trying to spend her way out of inflation. It is all a disaster.

Is it not true that Canadians are much worse off today than they were seven years ago and that it is all because of terrible Liberal policies?

Government PoliciesOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Ajax Ontario

Liberal

Mark Holland LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons

Mr. Speaker, as we near the end of this session, I understand that the party opposite is continuing to try to obstruct and cast aspersions in a number of different places.

The reality is that over the last seven years, we have seen our economy grow. We have seen the investments that have been made across the board to help lift Canadians up. We have seen a record number of Canadians be lifted out of poverty, and we are way ahead of our poverty-reduction targets.

This government continues to be focused on delivering results for Canadians. I understand that the opposition is searching for attack lines. As they troll from subject to subject, we stay focused on getting things done for Canadians.

Government PoliciesOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Conservative

Luc Berthold Conservative Mégantic—L'Érable, QC

Mr. Speaker, we are still waiting for those results. Let me summarize the Liberal response to the cost of living.

Last week, the Minister of Finance announced with great fanfare that she would do nothing. Everything is more expensive because of the cost of gas. The Minister of Environment and Climate Change is happy.

Canadians are camping out in front of passport offices. The minister failed to anticipate that Canadians would want to travel after two years of a pandemic.

The list is never-ending. The time has come to end the spiralling incompetence of the Liberals.

Who will have the courage to get up and bring the Prime Minister back in line?

Government PoliciesOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Edmonton Centre Alberta

Liberal

Randy Boissonnault LiberalMinister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, let us be clear on the issue of affordability for Canadians.

On this side of the House, the government created the Canada child benefit, but the Conservatives voted against it. We delivered support for the tourism sector, but the Conservatives voted against it. We were here to support seniors, workers and single mothers, but the Conservatives voted against it.

The economy is growing and we are here for Canadians, but the Conservatives are just here to get sound bites for Twitter.

PassportsOral Questions

June 20th, 2022 / 2:25 p.m.

Bloc

Alain Therrien Bloc La Prairie, QC

Mr. Speaker, the federal passport fiasco is becoming dangerous. It has gotten to the point where the police have to intervene in lineups. The police are doing more than just anger management, though; they are also answering questions meant for federal employees.

Enough is enough. A crisis cannot be managed from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday. Why are these offices still not open seven days a week with extended hours?

This is a crisis. When will this government wake up?

PassportsOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

York Centre Ontario

Liberal

Ya'ara Saks LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families

Mr. Speaker, as we are all aware, after two years of travel restrictions Canadians are travelling again and there is increased demand and volume for passports. That is why the focus of the minister and officials has been to make sure that Canadian do receive their passports. It is why we are triaging lines at every Service Canada location in urban and metropolitan areas. It is why we have increased our staff by over 600 to serve Canadians. It is also why we have added additional resources to our NP lines and other call-in lines to ensure that we reach Canadians and that they get the documents they need.

PassportsOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

Bloc

Alain Therrien Bloc La Prairie, QC

Mr. Speaker, because the government is not doing its job at the passport office, members of Parliament are being inundated with calls for help from citizens.

On Friday, all MPs' offices received an email notifying them that the federal government was cutting services to elected officials who help their constituents obtain passports. Imagine that. The government is not doing anything to help people, and now it is preventing us from helping them instead.

In the end, we learned this morning that this email was a mistake. This is amateur hour. The minister's incompetence is reaching new lows.

When will they stop ad libbing and keep the offices open in the evenings and on weekends until the crisis is finally resolved?

PassportsOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

York Centre Ontario

Liberal

Ya'ara Saks LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member and all colleagues of the House who are advocating for constituents with urgent travel needs.

Employees at Service Canada have worked tirelessly throughout this pandemic to serve Canadians, and they have been performing their services overtime and every weekend. As a matter of fact, on the June 24 and July 1 long weekends, employees will be working to make sure that Canadians receive their documents. In addition to that, with regard to the NP line, an additional 50 resources have been added, with another 40 being trained, to make sure that we can address the increased demand and volume to assist constituents.

We are here to serve Canadians together in the House.

The EconomyOral Questions

2:25 p.m.

NDP

Alexandre Boulerice NDP Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC

Mr. Speaker, that is not reassuring.

Life is getting more and more expensive. Families are on the verge of losing their homes, and children are going to school hungry. The crisis is hitting hard, and people are paying the price.

The Liberals' response is a $7 tax credit. They could not be more out of touch. It is a slap in the face to workers, seniors and children. People need help, and the NDP has proposed solutions.

Will the Liberals double the GST tax credit and increase the child benefit to help families that are struggling right now?

The EconomyOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Edmonton Centre Alberta

Liberal

Randy Boissonnault LiberalMinister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, what the NDP is putting forward is insincere and rings hollow.

Just look at the Canada child benefit. In my city, Edmonton, a single mother with two children will receive $13,660. That is not $7, it is over $13,000.

In Edmonton, a mother and father will get $10,000 from our child care program. That is not $7, it is $10,000.

The NDP needs to get its facts straight and not tell tall tales in the House.

The EconomyOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

NDP

Daniel Blaikie NDP Elmwood—Transcona, MB

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals keep talking about things they were doing or should have been doing before inflation struck. The fact is that Canadians are worried about losing their homes and are worried about feeding their families, and the Liberal plan is another seven dollars on the GST rebate. That is not a plan. That is a talking point for a government that is more concerned about inflation as a public relations problem than it is about an economic problem. A real plan would provide some debt relief, double the GST rebate and increase the Canada child benefit.

When is the Deputy Prime Minister going to kindly announce that plan?

The EconomyOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Edmonton Centre Alberta

Liberal

Randy Boissonnault LiberalMinister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, it is disappointing that the NDP continues to push this cynical and disingenuous narrative that somehow Canadians are only getting seven dollars more in affordability supports. It knows very well that in my own city of Edmonton, child care benefits are up to $10,000 this year. As to the Canada child benefit, in Vancouver, a mother with two children gets $13,666. That is a lot more than seven dollars. The NDP needs to stop playing for political points and tell the whole story.

The EconomyOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Conservative

Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC

Mr. Speaker, the finance minister must be wearing industrial-grade noise-cancelling earphones to avoid hearing the calls from economists to cut her government's over-the-top spending. She knows that it is only adding gas to the inflationary fire. The Prime Minister has said that anything that has a hint of fiscal restraint is austerity. He axed Bill Morneau for wanting to get post-COVID spending under control.

Is she worried that if she presents anything to the Prime Minister that remotely resembles a cut, she might suffer the same fate as her predecessor, who went from Finance Minister Morneau to finance minister no more?

The EconomyOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Edmonton Centre Alberta

Liberal

Randy Boissonnault LiberalMinister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance

Mr. Speaker, let us take a look at the facts. The Conservatives ran on a platform to spend $168 billion. I am glad they did not get elected. That would have been irresponsible.

Let us look at the economy. Let us look at the fact that we have a GDP that grew 5.6% in Q1. This fall, S&P and Moody's again affirmed our AAA credit rating, and 3.5 million jobs have been recovered since the worst part of the pandemic, which is ahead of the United States. Also, we have the lowest unemployment rate, at 5.1%, since 1976.

The economy is doing well. The Conservatives do not like it, but we sure do.

The EconomyOral Questions

2:30 p.m.

Conservative

Dan Albas Conservative Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC

Mr. Speaker, they keep trying to change the channel, but these speNDP-Liberals do not, will not or cannot understand that their obsession with spending is fuelling inflation and hurting Canadians. Doug Porter, chief economist at BMO, said, “Fiscal policy has every bit as much a role to play in dampening inflation as does monetary policy...and fiscal policy should definitely not get a pass in the inflation fight.”

The Conservatives have been saying to cut discretionary spending and give Canadians a break at the pumps. Those are good starting points. The question is, when will the Minister of Finance stop fuelling inflation and instead start fighting it?