Debates of Sept. 28th, 2022

Taxation

[Jeremy Patzer, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

Mr. Speaker, if EI is not in fact a tax, maybe the minister wants to update the government website.

More taxes mean Canadians have less money to pay their bills. The carbon tax has already increased the price of gas and groceries, which have just driven up inflation. Soon people will have to take home less pay while trying to cover these higher costs.

The Liberals try to sell that as taking care of people, yet the finance minister had to admit that higher payroll tax gives the government another $2.5 billion from workers' paycheques. It is time to quit the excuses.

Will the government end its planned tax hikes on Canadian paycheques?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, let us be clear on the record. When we brought forward the Canada child benefit, who voted against it? The Conservatives did.

When we brought in the tax decrease on middle-income Canadians, who voted against it? The Conservatives did.

When we are bringing forward dental benefits, the GST rebate and housing benefits, who is planning on voting against them? The Conservatives are.

Let us be clear on who is supporting Canadians and who is voting against them.

[Doug Shipley, Conservative, Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte, ON]

Mr. Speaker, “Justinflation” is really hurting the residents of Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I am going to interrupt that one, and maybe ask the member to start over. We are having a little discrepancy on what can be used. If I could have everyone calm down.

There is some play on words here that is really doing indirectly what cannot be done directly. I am going to ask the hon. member to start over and correct his error.

[Doug Shipley, Conservative, Barrie—Springwater—Oro-Medonte, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is just inflation.

Just this week, the executive director of Barrie Food Bank stated, “Everything we...buy is more expensive” She also noted that people who have historically donated to the Barrie Food Bank are now using it to feed their families. The number of households who have accessed the food bank in August was up 60% compared to last year.

Would the Prime Minister please acknowledge that we have a serious affordability crisis and commit to cancelling the proposed EI and carbon tax increases, which would only cause more pain for hard-working Canadians?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, let us put some numbers on the table, such as the 450,000 children who have been lifted out of poverty since we brought forward the Canada child benefit.

Instead of sending cheques to millionaires, we are sending benefits to hard-working Canadian families who need that help. We understand the high cost of living. We understand the high cost of raising a family. That is why we have put more money in the pockets of Canadians than Conservatives have.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Kristina Michaud, Bloc, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the federal government has turned Roxham Road into a permanent border crossing. That is according to the RCMP, not us.

In 2020, the RCMP reached an agreement for “nursing services at the Roxham border crossing”. That is how the RCMP put it.

Even the RCMP is treating Roxham Road like a legitimate border crossing. It is not a border crossing though; it is a way to avoid going through customs. Instead of creating a pseudo-border crossing run by the police, why not just suspend the safe third country agreement so that families have to go through the real border crossings?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, the purpose of the agreement with the United States is to protect asylum seekers' rights with a process that is transparent and fair and sets out legal consequences should the system be abused.

We are updating our agreement with the United States to strengthen our asylum system. That is the best way to proceed.

[Kristina Michaud, Bloc, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Mr. Speaker, what the government is calling irregular entries are supposed to be irregular.

In Quebec, 98% of the asylum seekers who crossed a land border went through Roxham Road. There is nothing confusing about it. No one is coming through regular border crossings anymore. Looking at all the provinces and all the entires via land, sea and air, Roxham Road is the route used by 64% of asylum seekers in Canada.

Does the minister find it normal that, under his watch, irregular entry at Roxham Road has become the official and internationally recognized way to claim asylum in Canada?

[Marie-France Lalonde, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, our system for asylum seekers must be robust and humane. There really is no magic solution. Calling for the closure of Roxham Road or the suspension of the agreement would likely have the opposite effect.

As we have repeatedly stated, this agreement needs to be modernized. That is what we are doing by working with the United States on a lasting solution.

Taxation

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Mr. Speaker, this government may dismiss it as just inflation, but these are very difficult times for Canadians, which the Liberals keep dismissing. People in B.C. are struggling to feed their families and have to make tough choices between paying for food, gas, Telus, Hydro and Fortis. Countless people can barely pay their rent, never mind thinking of saving for a down payment for a home. Now this government is looking to make those hard-earned dollars stretch even less, especially for low-income workers.

My question today is very simple for this government: Will it stop its planned tax hike on Canadian paycheques?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion]

Mr. Speaker, we are providing real help to Canadian renters through the Canada housing benefit, which is already providing, on average, $2,500 to many vulnerable renters across the country. In recent legislation, we have introduced a top-up to that Canada housing benefit with a one-time payment of $500.

If the member for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon cared about Canadian renters, he would speak to his colleague from Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan who played procedural games in this chamber to delay the passage of that real help, which is going towards vulnerable renters in Canada.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are getting walloped by not just inflation. Even after paying more for everything because of Liberal inflation, Canadians are spending more on taxes than food, clothing and shelter combined. Here come the Liberals with another tax hike come January. There is no way for the Liberals to spin these tax hikes.

Come January, Canadians will have less money in their pockets and smaller paycheques. Will the government commit to cancelling these damaging paycheques?

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

Mr. Speaker, let us talk a little about EI.

The EI contribution rate today is $1.58. Next year, it is going to be $1.63. Guess what. Both of those rates are lower than every single year when Stephen Harper was prime minister.

Let us be clear about the Conservatives' schemes. They are proposing to slash our pensions. They are proposing to undermine the EI system. They are even disagreeing with things they actually did when they were—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for Cariboo—Prince George.

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Mr. Speaker, let us talk facts.

Hard-working families in my riding are already struggling to fill their tanks, put food on their tables and keep a roof over their heads, all because of this government's overspending. The Liberal government has tripled down on the carbon tax.

The reality is that Canadians, on January 1, will wake up to smaller paycheques. The last thing my constituents need is another federal assault on their hard-earned paycheques.

Canadians are at a breaking point. The cupboards are bare and this government just does not get it. I am asking the Liberals to show some compassion and cancel their planned raid on Canadian paycheques. Will they do that?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, we are absolutely compassionate when it comes to families in this country. In fact, I was in British Columbia on Friday making a really important child care announcement. British Columbian families are going to save up to $6,600 a year on the cost of child care by the end of this year.

We are there for Canadians, but what the Conservatives are talking about will hurt Canadians further, hard-working Canadians who have saved for their pensions and who need that employment insurance in tough times.

We are going to be there for Canadians. I hope the Conservatives would too.

Sport

[Patricia Lattanzio, Liberal, Saint-Léonard—Saint-Michel, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Concussion Awareness Week is being marked across the country this week.

It is estimated that 46,000 children and youth were officially diagnosed with a concussion by hospital emergency departments in 2018-19 after suffering an injury while being active.

Could the Minister of Sport please tell us what our government is doing to reduce the number of accidents as much as possible?

[Pascale St-Onge, Liberal, Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for her question and for the work she does on behalf of her constituents.

Our government is supporting national sport organizations so they can improve the rules of their sport, training protocols and behaviours with a view to reduce the risk of concussions.

Our government has invested $46.1 million, with more funding on the way, in research and initiatives to improve the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of traumatic brain injuries, including concussions.

Justice

[Rob Moore, Conservative, Fundy Royal, NB]

Mr. Speaker, last week in the justice minister's hometown, there was a shooting outside the Bell Centre, and yesterday a man was shot near the riding of the public safety minister. In fact, violent crime in Canada has increased 32% since the Liberals took office, but instead of reducing crime, Liberals are reducing the number of violent criminals going to jail, thanks to their soft-on-crime Bill C-5. We do not need fewer criminals in jail; we need fewer victims of crime.

On this side of the house, Conservatives will always put the safety of Canadians first. Will the Prime Minister finally withdraw the soft-on-crime Bill C-5?

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

Mr. Speaker, the security of Canadians is our absolute priority and serious crimes will always carry with them serious consequences.

I reject the premise of the hon. member's question. What we are doing with Bill C-5 is putting an end to policies from the Harper government that have failed. They have failed to make Canadians safer and they have wasted valuable police and judicial resources on infractions that are better treated, not incarcerated.

What we are doing with Bill C-5 is being able to put more resources into serious crime, as Justice Michael Moldaver has recently said we ought to be doing.

[Larry Brock, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

Mr. Speaker, since the Liberals formed government, serious violent crime has substantially increased. Homicides alone are up 30%. This is a direct result of the government's soft-on-crime agenda and lack of empathy toward victims. Now, thanks to Bill C-5, weapons trafficking, robbery with a firearm, drive-by shootings, fentanyl trafficking and kidnapping will no longer be punishable by mandatory sentences.

Why does the government continue to advocate for criminals while recklessly neglecting the rights of victims?

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

Mr. Speaker, the security of Canadians is our absolute priority. What we are doing with Bill C-5 is allowing for more resources to be spent on the very serious crimes that the hon. member is referring to. Those serious crimes will always carry with them serious consequences.

However, all that the failed Conservative tough-on-crime policies left us with was not greater public security but increased overrepresentation of indigenous and Black people in our criminal justice system. We are reversing that by putting the resources on the serious crime, where they ought to be.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there is a growing trend in Montreal called “scoring”, which consists of scoring points by shooting at innocent victims chosen at random. According to police sources, this trend may be the reason for an attack in the Rivière‑des‑Prairies neighbourhood, where an innocent 25-year-old woman was hit in the legs when shots were fired.

In response to this violent incident in Montreal, the Prime Minister wants to abolish minimum sentences for crimes like illegal importation of guns, intentional discharge of a gun and armed robbery.

Will the Prime Minister finally admit that he got it wrong with Bill C-5 and put it through the shredder?

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

Mr. Speaker, public safety is our number one priority. With Bill C‑5, we are eliminating failed policies from the Harper era that have created a backlog in the justice system and have filled our prisons and justice system with people who committed minor offences. We must use these resources for serious offences and serious crimes. Those who commit serious crimes will always receive serious sentences.