Debates of Oct. 23rd, 2023

Film Industry in Newfoundland and Labrador

[Joanne Thompson, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, from Apple to Disney and the CBC, the film industry has noticed Newfoundland and Labrador: our talent, our creativity and our beautiful backdrops.

I had the privilege of joining the Minister of Rural Economic Development and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency this past week in St. John's East to announce $1.5 million for PictureNL and the Newfoundland Independent Filmmakers Co-operative, or NIFCO. This funding will help the film industry in our province keep its competitive advantage, so that the next great production chooses Newfoundland and Labrador as its cast of characters.

The film industry is worth over $9 billion in Canada, and we have approximately 1,400 full-time jobs in the province. With this funding, our government is continuing in our commitment to an industry that has become an integral part of the community.

Carbon Tax

[Richard Martel, Conservative, Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of this Liberal government, the cost of living just keeps going up. Massive spending and endless deficits are causing record rates of inflation. Quebeckers are getting poorer by the day.

While our people are unable to make ends meet, the Liberals find that this is the perfect time to add to Quebeckers' burden by imposing the carbon tax 2, which applies in Quebec and adds 17¢ per litre at the pump.

It is no surprise to see Bloc Québécois MPs rallying around the Liberals because they are out of touch with the realities of Quebeckers who are suffering. Not only do they agree with the tax, but these so-called defenders of Quebec have said loud and clear that they want to drastically increase it. It is very costly to vote for the Bloc Québécois.

At a time when people are struggling to feed themselves and put a roof over their heads, the only thing the government and its Bloc allies can do is raise the tax that drives up the price of everything.

The Conservative Party is the only party that will make life more affordable by scrapping the carbon tax and bringing back common sense.

Discrimination in Canada

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, imagine someone having lunch in a Jewish-owned business in downtown Toronto, only to be shouted at because they are Jewish. Imagine someone being harassed outside their children's school, where they have been told they would be safe, as they are escorted in by uniformed police officers. Imagine someone being told they should not come to the office on a Monday morning, or maybe that it would be wise to take the religious identifier that was meant to signify their faith off their front door because it would make them a target.

We do not have to imagine it. It is all happening here, and it is being further fuelled by the irresponsible statements pushed by the Prime Minister, who, six days after repeating Hamas's talking points, still has not corrected the record.

Imagine someone being terrified in their own community and having a Prime Minister who has not said a word about it. It is quite the opposite: He took the word of a terrorist organization over the words of his own military and our allies and still has not retracted his statement.

Brain Cancer Awareness Day

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, October 24 marks Brain Cancer Awareness Day in Canada.

Thanks to the Hats for Hope campaign, this date has become a symbol of solidarity in response to this devastating disease. Every day is a struggle for patients, but support and hope grow every year.

Tomorrow, let us wear a toque or hoodie, take a photo, share it on social media and be a bearer of hope. It is an opportunity to pay tribute to all those who bravely face brain tumours, like my beloved mother. I am making this statement in her memory.

This life-altering disease can impair vision and hearing and affect memory, balance and mobility, leaving lasting physical and emotional scars.

I want to thank the Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada for its hard work in helping patients and families and in advancing the search for cures.

Oil and Gas Industry

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, humanity faces unprecedented danger from climate change and biodiversity loss, yet while the earth is on fire, government inaction is equivalent to pouring gasoline on the flames. This past summer, the CEO of Suncor made troubling remarks about the need to maximize profits in an industry that has seen record profits over the last two years. CEOs of big oil companies raked in billions of dollars while communities across Canada were ravaged by forest fires. These companies are taking no responsibility for their decades-long pollution.

The Liberals have given big oil free rein to fuel the climate crisis and maximize profits. The NDP wants to see an end to subsidies and to see stronger emissions caps on these big oil and gas companies to stop their decades-long free ride. It is time to end their greed and protect the future of our planet.

Érudit Platform

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Érudit, a Quebec leader in disseminating scientific knowledge in French, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

Érudit is a digital platform created to promote scientific publications. It owes its existence to the vision and genius of a consortium comprising the Université de Montréal, the Université Laval and the Université du Québec à Montréal. Today it offers 250,000 publications in 35 fields in the humanities, social sciences, arts and literature to more than five million users worldwide. The best part is that the vast majority of this content is available in French free of charge to everyone. Érudit is therefore a invaluable showcase for our researchers and for the knowledge they generate. It allows Quebec's star to shine across all of Francophonie.

We are proud of Érudit for its 25 years of service to science in French.

Congratulations, Érudit and continued success to a true Quebec treasure.

ArriveCAN App Investigation

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal-NDP government is once again in the midst of a scandal and criminal investigation. The RCMP is currently investigating allegations of identity theft, forged resumés, contractual theft, fraudulent billing, price-fixing and collusion in the creation of the $54-million ArriveCAN app.

Two whistle-blowers trapped in this scandal came forward to the media. This is the only reason we now know about it, as government officials were forced by their political masters to lie to Canadians about this contract. This investigation was hidden by GC Strategies, the Canada Border Services Agency and numerous Liberal ministers during our study last year. They deliberately withheld the truth from this House and from Canadians.

The Liberal-NDP government will engage in criminal behaviour to pay their friends millions and continue their cover-up before they tell the truth. The Prime Minister once again has shown that he is not worth the cost.

Conservative Party of Canada

[Ken Hardie, Liberal, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Mr. Speaker, last week I counted 158 times that Conservatives claimed things that demonstrated they were, let us say, factually perplexed. It is like the Liberal-NDP agreement of 18 months ago that delivers important help for Canadians. Conservatives turned that into a “coalition”. Then they mutated that into a “Liberal-NDP government”. Then they said, “an eight-year Liberal-NDP government”. Really? We have told them a million times to quit exaggerating.

Conservatives blame the price on pollution for high food prices. I checked, and no big grocery CEOs are selling pencils on street corners. I am sorry, but there is no $120 Tory turkey driving those mega grocery profits either.

Conservatives preach again and again that deficits, less than 1% of Canada's GDP, drive inflation. Either they do not really know what causes inflation, which makes the Conservatives far too risky, or they do know and they are deliberately, dangerously deceptive.

Housing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years, this Prime Minister is not worth the cost. The cost of housing has doubled since he took office. The CMHC said that there has been a 63% increase in the number of Canadians who are using alternative loans. They pay as much as 15% per year for these alternative mortgages. Will the Prime Minister finally bring down his inflationary deficits to allow the Bank of Canada to lower interest rates so that Canadians can keep their homes?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, my colleagues opposite have no shame claiming that they want to march towards prosperity on a path of austerity. Canadians know that all the Conservative Party stands for is chop, chop, chop, cutting funding for small craft harbours, cutting support for fishing communities and cutting the crucial programs our communities depend on. The Conservative Party is like a shark that claims to be a vegetarian. They have no credibility. They are not worth the risk.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are already living with austerity. They keep chop, chop, chopping at the grocery store, at the gas station and now at home. We are seeing the rise of a new phenomenon of homelessness among middle-class seniors ever since the cost of housing doubled. One man in Calgary had his rent raised by $1,600. Now he is unable to find an apartment to rent. Will the government finally reverse its inflationary policies to allow for lower interest rates so that our seniors can keep their homes?

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, I have the sad duty to announce that members on the other side of the House can no longer see clearly. They are so determined to make cuts everywhere that they have cut back on their own glasses. They have no plan, no vision. That is all the Conservatives have to offer us. They should put their glasses back on and keep them on, for heaven's sake.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years, the Prime Minister is not worth the cost of housing, which has doubled. We now see there has been a 63% increase in the number of Canadians who are going to alternative lenders to get mortgages because they can no longer get approved by the main banks. That means interest rates as high as 15% per year. We have not seen those types of rates since the last Trudeau was in power.

Will the Prime Minister reverse his inflationary spending in the upcoming fall economic update so we can bring down interest rates and our Canadian people can keep their homes?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, it is important that people understand that the hon. member's plan to have more homes built seems to be to cut funding to build homes.

I was in Brampton last week, where we announced $114 million to help Brampton build more than 24,000 homes over the next decade. He plans to cut that. When it comes to getting more homes built, we are removing the GST on new apartments in this country. He plans to put it back on.

We are going to continue to make the investments necessary. We agree that there are people struggling. The difference between us is we have a solution to the problem.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, he is absolutely right that he has a problem, a problem that he and his government created.

After eight years, the Prime Minister has doubled rent and doubled mortgage payments, and now his plan is a $4-billion program that two years in has not built a single, solitary home. He also wants to target tax benefits for the construction of $10-million penthouse apartments.

Will the Liberals instead reverse their inflationary spending so we can bring down interest rates and let Canadians keep their homes?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, if the member wants to talk about housing program delivery, when he was the minister, he had $300 million go toward building only 99 homes over years. We are continuing to roll out programs that are literally changing the ways that cities build homes. We have helped build or repair nearly half a million homes through the national housing strategy, which his party voted against. He is now opposing measures that will make it cheaper to build the homes that Canadians need. We are going to get it done by continuing to incentivize home building and supporting the people who are going to put roofs over the heads of our neighbours. It is the right thing to do. It is a shame that he opposes it.

Small Business

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years, the national housing strategy of which he speaks has doubled housing costs. It doubled the cost of mortgages, rent and down payments. Yes, it cost many billions more than what we spent when we were in government, but we delivered housing that was half the cost of what it is today.

Now, on to restaurants: Today, we learned that one-third of restaurants are losing money. That leaves them three choices: shut down, cut wages or raise prices for Canadians.

Will the government reverse the carbon taxes and the inflationary increases to interest rates that are forcing our restaurants to go under and costing waitresses and servers their jobs?

[Rechie Valdez, Liberal, Minister of Small Business]

Mr. Speaker, as a former small business owner myself, I know that small businesses are the backbone of these communities. As a small business owner, I am glad the Conservatives are not in charge. Small businesses would not be saving $1 billion in credit card transaction fees. Women entrepreneurs would not have $7 billion of investment through our women entrepreneurship strategy, nor the $10-a-day child care that has put more women into the work force.

The Conservatives have been voting against these efforts to support small businesses, including women entrepreneurs. They are not worth the risk.

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, 250,000 businesses are at risk of closing as early as 2024 if the government does not extend the repayment deadline for the CEBA loans. Imagine if we were to lose a quarter of a million businesses all at the same time.

It is not surprising that, on Friday, the premiers of Quebec and the provinces all wrote to this government. They are calling on the government to extend the repayment deadline for our businesses by one year, without the loss of the forgivable portion of the loan. The premiers are responsible.

Will the government grant their request?

[Rechie Valdez, Liberal, Minister of Small Business]

Mr. Speaker, we are offering additional flexibilities for small businesses to repay their CEBA loans. They include a full one-year extension on the term loan repayment deadline, more flexibility on refinancing and more time to access loan forgiveness, which is both a balanced and fiscally responsible approach.

We will continue to listen to small businesses across the country.

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the government cannot see beyond the end of its nose. That is not what the premiers are asking for. They are asking for a one-year extension.

Do the Liberals really think that the 250,000 businesses will be able to pay the money back faster if they close? How many workers will end up on EI if these businesses close? Have they calculated that?

The premiers of Quebec and the provinces are unanimous. They understand that it is not right.

When will this government understand that it is not right?

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Minister of Tourism and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. As he well knows, most companies have told us that if our government had not been there during the pandemic, many companies would have closed.

We came up with a flexible solution that fits with our fiscal framework. We are going to continue to be there for companies, for all kinds of things. We have again made historic investments in companies in Quebec, and we are going to continue to do so.

Foreign Affairs

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, for two weeks, Israeli families have lived with the pain of loved ones either killed or still held hostage. In the last two weeks, the situation in Gaza has grown dire. Humanitarian aid is trickling in. Thousands have been killed, many of them children. Diverse voices are calling for a ceasefire, including the head of the UN, Canadian aid agencies and even some Liberal MPs.

Will the Prime Minister join the NDP's call for a ceasefire now?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of International Development]

Mr. Speaker, the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza was dire before these last weeks. We are doing everything we can to support Canadians on the ground. We are also committed to working diplomatically to prevent the conflict from spreading. We are working with our allies to ensure the protection of all Israeli and Palestinian civilians. We have been consistently calling on international humanitarian law to be respected.

We were the first government to move to provide substantial humanitarian aid to both Israeli and Palestinian civilians, and we will continue our efforts in that regard.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Hamas terrorist attacks continue. Rockets are being deliberately fired at civilians. The humanitarian situation in Gaza is worsening. More and more innocent Israelis and Palestinians are losing their lives in this horrific war.

When will the government get serious about protecting the innocent and call for a ceasefire?