Debates of Jan. 30th, 2023

Hazel McCallion

[Peter Fonseca, Liberal, Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I sat with a force of nature two weeks ago: “Hurricane Hazel” McCallion, a dear friend, a mentor, a leader, someone who devoted her life to serving the people of Mississauga, Ontario and Canada. We are all overcome with sadness by her passing. Our hearts go out to her family.

She was always there to lead and to help: helping with the biggest mass evacuation in Canadian history, helping people through the pandemic at 101 years of age young, and helping to build Mississauga to the successful city it is today.

Hazel had great insight and vision, but her greatest strength was her connection with people. Loved by all who met her, with a big heart and a deep caring for community, she will always be remembered as the people's mayor. She was so proud of our country. The last thing she said to me was, “Peter, we live in the best place in the world, Canada.”

On behalf of the Parliament of Canada, we thank Hazel. May she rest in peace.

New Member

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I have the honour to inform the House that the Clerk of the House has received from the Chief Electoral Officer a certificate of the election and return of Mr. Charles Sousa, member for the electoral district of Mississauga—Lakeshore.

Charles Sousa, member for the electoral district of Mississauga—Lakeshore, introduced by the Right Hon. Justin Trudeau.

Government Services and Procurement

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, in eight years, this Prime Minister has doubled our national debt, adding $500 billion in inflationary deficit. What did we get for spending what Bill Morneau called too much money? More inflation, more poverty, more people having to rely on food banks. Where did the money go? Now we know: $15 billion worth of contracts were given to the Prime Minister's friends.

How much of that money went to McKinsey?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, seven years ago, when we were elected to lead the government, we made a promise to invest in the middle class and all those working hard to be part of it. That is exactly what we did with the Canada child benefit, assistance for seniors and help for students. We were able to create millions of jobs, while lifting millions of people out of poverty.

Unfortunately, the Conservative Party opposed us at every step. Today, the Conservatives continue to oppose our investments in dental care, our investments to help renters and our investments in child care. We will continue to invest—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Order.

The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I asked the Prime Minister how much McKinsey got. He said that it was all for the middle class. He has always had difficulty defining what the middle class is, and now we know his definition. It is his friends who make $1,500 an hour as high-priced consultants for his government over at McKinsey, where his personal friend Dominic Barton was the boss.

We now know that he spent $15 billion-plus per year on high-priced consultants while Canadians are eating at food banks and living in homeless shelters and while house prices have more than doubled. Again, how much did the Prime Minister's government give McKinsey?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, while the Leader of the Opposition snickers at the middle class, we will stay focused on supporting it.

That is exactly what we did by bringing forward supports for low-income renters and supports for families to send their kids to the dentist. These are things that the Conservative Party voted against, just as they stood against the Canada child benefit, just as they stood against help for seniors and just as they have continued to stand against investments that have had Canadians backs before the pandemic, through the pandemic and since the pandemic. We will continue to be there for Canadians.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Prime Minister, mortgage payments have doubled, up to $7,000 per month for an average house in Toronto, and rent prices have doubled, up to $2,500 per month for an average place in Toronto. The number of people eating at food banks has gone up to 1.5 million, and crime is up 32%. We wonder where all this half a trillion dollars of inflationary debt actually went. Now we know: Liberal friends got the money.

I am going to ask a third time about the well-connected insiders at McKinsey. How much did the Prime Minister give them?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, over the past number of years, we have invested in supporting Canadians from coast to coast to coast to lift families out of poverty, to help seniors make ends meet, to invest in low-income renters, to help people access dental care for their kids and to deliver the kinds of things that have made not just Canadians better off but our whole economy work better.

We are going to continue to step up by investing in Canadians while the Conservatives continue to push cuts and austerity and to not be there for Canadians. We know that investing in Canadians is the best way to build a better future.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister says that Canadians have never had it so good as they face 40-year highs in inflation, as food prices are up 12% year over year after he brought in a carbon tax on our farmers, as the cost of housing has more than doubled and as students are living in homeless shelters.

We know why, though, he is so out of touch with these people after eight years. It is because the people he surrounds himself with, like the high-priced consultants at McKinsey, are doing better than ever.

I would like to ask him this again. This company did work of little or no value according to his own public servants. How much did Canadians have to pay for that?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, Canadians are struggling right now with high inflation caused by global crises, with interest rates and with disruptions in global supply chains. That is why we have stepped up to support Canadians, despite Conservative politicians voting against it.

We have been able to keep investing in Canadians while maintaining the best balance sheet in the G7. We have the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio and the lowest deficit of all our G7 partners. We have put that to work to support the Canadians who need it most. We will continue to be there for the middle class and people working hard to join it.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, we finally got the Prime Minister to admit that Canadians are suffering, and it is after eight years of the Prime Minister. After eight years of the Prime Minister, we have 40-year highs in inflation, we have a 32% increase in crime and we have the TTC transit system in downtown Toronto overtaken by crime. We have more people eating at food banks and living in homeless shelters after eight years of the Prime Minister, but not everybody is doing badly. His friends at McKinsey are rolling in cash.

First, the Liberals said it was $50 million, and now the government says it is over $100 million. We want to know the real number. Will the Prime Minister finally answer the question? How much did he give McKinsey?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, everyone in the House, from conversations with constituents and conversations with people right across the country, knows well that Canadians are facing tough times. What the difference is between the Conservative leader and me is that instead of proposing real solutions and instead of telling Canadians how he is going to help them and invest in them, the Conservative leader stands up, crosses his arms, throws his hands up and says, “everything is broken”.

That is not what Canadians are living through. Canadians stick up for each other. We are there for each other. We support each other through the tough times. That is exactly what we have been doing through this pandemic through these past years. That is what we will continue to do, no matter how much—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for Beloeil—Chambly.

Government Appointments

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to be back here with you and all my colleagues.

As my colleagues know, the Prime Minister made an appointment of his own, choosing Amira Elghawaby. He surely looked into her statements and positions prior to her appointment, which many perceive as very insulting to Quebec. Nevertheless, he went ahead with the appointment.

Here is my question for the Prime Minister: Does he really think this appointment will bring people together and build bridges rather than be divisive?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday evening, I was honoured to be at the Quebec City mosque with the community that was the target of a dreadful terrorist attack committed six years ago by a person motivated by hate, intolerance and ignorance regarding the Muslim community in Quebec and across the country.

We must all stand up every single day to recognize and fight Islamophobia. We must see it as our duty to be there for our fellow Muslim citizens, and we will always be there for them.

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Ms. Elghawaby, who has described Bill 21 as Islamophobic, was unfortunately there, too. Her presence was commendable; her remarks, not so much.

Rather than simply condemn her remarks out of hand, I asked to meet with Ms. Elghawaby so that we could try to understand, as parliamentarians, as elected officials, as those responsible for passing the budget that will fund her position.

Can the Prime Minister tell me whether he supports such a meeting, whether he wants to see it happen and maybe could even facilitate it?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I would truly love to see this meeting happen. It would be a great conversation. I think Ms. Elghawaby would be able to explain how systemic racism and Islamophobia are a reality for people across the country.

We all have a duty to listen to one another and understand how hurtful bills and words can be, even if that is not our intention. We have a duty to understand the impact of what we are doing on vulnerable communities in our country.

Yes, I will certainly facilitate that meeting, and I know that Ms. Elghawaby would be delighted to meet the Bloc Québécois leader.

Health

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, in the last election, the Prime Minister criticized the Conservatives for proposing to increase for-profit private health care in our system.

Now, Doug Ford is doing the exact same thing and the Prime Minister is calling it innovation. Why this big flip-flop?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party has always been very clear: We will stand up for our public health care system.

We will continue to defend the principles of the Canada Health Act. This is non-negotiable and over the past few years we have taken back money several times from provinces that did not abide by the Canada Health Act. We will continue to stand up for our public system.

In the current negotiations to improve health care for Canadians across the country, we will continue to be there to stand up for the public system.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the problem is that the Prime Minister says one thing and does another. In the last election, the Prime Minister made a really big deal of calling out the Conservatives for proposing the idea of bringing in more for-profit private health care, but now when Doug Ford is doing exactly that, he is calling it “innovation”.

I am not surprised the Conservatives support this approach as they believe in for-profit private health care, but I am surprised at the Prime Minister. Why the flip-flop?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I and the Liberal government have always been very, very clear that we stand for a public health system that fully abides by the Canada Health Act. This is something that matters to most Canadians, that certainly matters to us, and that we will continue to defend.

We know that even as we negotiate with the provinces to ensure we are delivering more family doctors, better mental health supports, moving forward on backlogs and supporting Canadians who need emergency care, we will ensure that the Canada Health Act is fully respected. In the past, this government has pulled back money from provinces that have not respected it. We will continue to do that.

The Economy

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of Liberal mismanagement, one in five Canadians is saying they are completely out of money, skipping meals and accessing charity services just to meet their basic needs. The Governor of the Bank of Canada said that the interest rate hikes were because of out-of-control wasteful Liberal spending. Even former Liberal finance minister Bill Morneau had it right when he admitted that the Liberals overspent in the last eight years.

When will the Prime Minister and Canada's worst money manager in Canadian history stop breaking Canada, rein in his spending and stop making the price of everything go up?

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

Mr. Speaker, we know that many Canadians are facing real challenges, and that is why our government is there to help with a plan that is compassionate and fiscally responsible. Here is what we are doing: doubling the GST, providing $500 to people who are facing challenges paying their rent, providing dental care to Canadian kids, eliminating the interest on Canada student loans and improving the Canada workers benefit. The Conservatives voted against all of those essential measures.