Debates of Oct. 4th, 2023

The Economy

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, when we wanted to provide dental care to help Canadians, the Conservatives filibustered. The same thing happened with affordable child care. Now, they are obstructing the affordable housing and groceries bill. They are using parliamentary tricks to obstruct the process. The fact is that we can always count on the Conservatives to obstruct measures that help Canadians if they can get in some partisan attacks in the process.

On this side of the House, we remain focused on helping Canadians.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years, all the Prime Minister can do is blame others for the exorbitant inflation that he has imposed on Canadians' food bills. He promised a month ago that, by Thanksgiving, food would be affordable. Yet, since that time, the CEO of Food Banks Canada has said that we have more Canadians than ever relying on assistance just to eat. A poll out just today shows that two-thirds of Canadians are actually afraid for their health, because they cannot buy nutritious food after eight years under the Prime Minister.

Will he keep his promise to deliver an affordable Thanksgiving dinner to Canadians, yes or no?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we can see that the Leader of the Opposition is always ready to play political games. A few weeks ago, we moved forward with the affordable housing and groceries act, which will help build more rental homes and increase competition, including among the largest grocers. However, instead of working with us to move this forward before Thanksgiving, the Conservative opposition chose to obstruct debate around these measures. We are going to continue to stay focused on helping Canadians while they stay focused on playing political partisan games.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister can pass any bill he wants anytime he wants because he has a majority in coalition with the NDP. That is why he promised a month ago that he would make food affordable by Thanksgiving in a big, blustery photo op.

My question for the Prime Minister is this: By this Monday, Thanksgiving, will he reverse the 22% inflation in the price of peas, the 33% inflation in the price of green salads, the 37% price inflation in the cost of frozen turkeys and the 74% price inflation for potatoes? Will he keep his word? Will he bring the prices down, yes or no?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we see again that the Conservative opposition is always ready to fling attacks and make criticisms, but what they actually did was block our move to move forward on the affordable housing and groceries act. They obstructed debate last week by delaying it.

We want to move forward on this so we can help Canadians, but they stood against this act in the same way they stood against $10-a-day child care, the same way they stood against the Canada child benefit, the same way they stood against dental care for Canadians who need it. We will keep helping people.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, last week, Statistics Canada revealed that there are nearly 500,000 non-permanent residents in Quebec, an increase of more than 150,000 over last year.

Whether they are permanent or temporary residents, newcomers have the same needs as everyone else. They need a roof over their heads, they need to work, they need to interact with others and therefore, they need to learn our language. Children need to go to school. If they are sick, they need treatment like everyone else does.

Will the government review its targets to ensure that we can provide all these essential services for newcomers?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as my hon. colleague is well aware, immigration is a jurisdiction shared by the Government of Canada and the Government of Quebec. We are working together to bring in people to address the labour shortage and to continue to help spur economic growth, while ensuring that the necessary investments are made to welcome and integrate these immigrants and teach them French.

We will always be there to work responsibly in partnership with the Government of Quebec.

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's statement is clearly wishful thinking. To hear him tell it, being open to the world means welcoming newcomers because it is the nice thing to do. He seems to think it is okay if newcomers do not have a place to live or if housing prices are skyrocketing. He thinks it is okay if they do not integrate because they have not learned enough French. He does not seem to think it matters if they do not have access to basic services. Well, it does matter, and it is irresponsible on his part to think otherwise.

Will the Prime Minister review the immigration targets, taking into account our capacity to welcome newcomers?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I disagree with my hon. colleague. I do not think that closing the door to newcomers is a solution.

We know we need more affordable housing. I agree. That is exactly why we announced measures like eliminating the GST on the construction of new rental apartments. We will continue to work with the provinces and municipalities to speed up approvals and build more housing faster to better accommodate people.

Health

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, today is a bad day for Conservatives but a great day for the people of Manitoba. Premier-elect Wab Kinew ran a historic campaign and a hopeful campaign. He ran a campaign to defend a public universal health care system. Now they need a federal partner.

The Prime Minister—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

Order. Colleagues, I could not hear the question.

The hon. member for Burnaby South, from the top, please.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am very happy to repeat this.

Today is a bad day for Conservatives but a great day for the people of Manitoba. Premier-elect Wab Kinew ran a hopeful and historic campaign, a campaign to defend a public universal health care system, but now New Democrats need a federal partner.

The Prime Minister has called the privatization of health care innovation. Will the Prime Minister stop the flip-flop and come out clearly and say no to for-profit health care?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I agree it is a good thing that Manitobans rejected the politics of fear, division and intolerance and moved forward with a progressive alternative. I look forward to working with the new Government of Manitoba on issues that matter deeply to Manitobans, whether it is building more housing, supporting on the path to reconciliation, fighting climate change or, mostly, moving forward on affordability for everyone.

We will continue to stand up for a public health care system, including with the $200 billion in health accords that we are looking forward to signing with this new progressive government.

Indigenous Affairs

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, during the campaign, Conservatives said they would never search the landfill for the bodies of murdered indigenous women. They were actually trying to score political points off a genocide. It is disgusting, and Manitobans spoke very clearly. They rejected these hateful, divisive Conservative politics.

Will the Prime Minister do everything in his power to make sure the landfill gets searched and put in place a red dress alert to save indigenous lives?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, words cannot express the grief and pain being felt by the Myran and Harris families, as well as the entire community of Winnipeg. They are looking to find healing and closure right now.

Our approach must be victim-centred, trauma-informed and indigenous-led to support healing. That is why today we announced $740,000 in additional funding to explore in greater detail the next steps of a search. As we announced in our last budget, we are moving forward on a red dress alert as well.

The Economy

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister pretends that he is not in a majority coalition with the NDP when in fact he is. He can pass any law he wants at any time. That is why he promised a month ago that we would have an affordable Thanksgiving. I know it was a ridiculous promise. I hate to have to hold him to something so absurd after he caused prices to rise so quickly, but it was his promise.

Will he reverse the food price inflation he caused by Monday so that Canadians can have an affordable turkey dinner, yes or no?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, times are difficult for Canadians right across the country, as they are difficult for people around the world. The war in Ukraine, the global inflation crisis and the after-effects of the pandemic have all caused real challenges. That is why, as a government, we have been there to support people, whether it is with grocery support or now with the affordable housing and groceries act. The problem is that the Conservatives chose to obstruct debate on that act, to delay it. We call on them to help us move forward on it to make sure that this Thanksgiving and future Thanksgivings are more affordable for Canadians.

Finance

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of excuses, inflationary debt and taxes, food prices and mortgage prices are raging out of control. In fact, mortgage payments are up 150%. When the government borrows money and competes with Canadians for their mortgage rates, it drives up the cost of lending.

Will the Prime Minister tell Canadians how much his government will borrow this year? How much?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, on the one hand, Conservatives continue to call for cuts to spending and cuts to supports for Canadians, while at the same time they say there is not enough access to housing. They put forward a plan, a private member's bill, to tackle the problem of housing affordability. The problem is that it will not build homes fast enough, it does not reach enough cities and it creates unnecessary bureaucracy, while cutting the accelerator fund and ripping up our agreements to build more homes with cities like London and others across the country.

On this side, we are actually linking public transit dollars to housing density, working with cities to ensure their housing proposals are ambitious and addressing the bureaucracies—

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the question was “How much?” See, when the government borrows billions of dollars out of the economy, it bids up interest rates. Those interest rates have already ballooned faster under the Prime Minister than under any other in monetary history.

Once again, how much will the government borrow from the economy this year? I want just the number, please.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, while the Leader of the Opposition continues to talk down Canadians and talk down the Canadian economy, we are going to continue to put Canada's strong fiscal position in service of Canadians. Yes, it is a strong fiscal position. We have the lowest deficit in the G7, we have the best debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7 and we are one of the three largest countries in the world with a AAA credit rating from the bond agencies.

We have been there for Canadians and have been responsible stewards of the public purse, and that means we will continue to be able to support Canadians through these difficult times, including with the measures we have right now.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the bond agencies he brags about are the same ones that were charged because they falsely claimed the subprime crisis would never happen in the United States of America.

Canadian households, after eight years of the Prime Minister, are more indebted than those in any other country in the entire G7. Interest rates have gone up faster than at any time in monetary history after eight years of the Prime Minister. All of this is driven by his massive addiction to borrowing.

The average barber or waitress knows how much they borrow. Does the Prime Minister, who is the head of a half-trillion-dollar government, even know how much he is borrowing out of the country this year?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we see once again the Leader of the Opposition's tried and true tactic of attacking the facts when they do not suit his purposes.

The international bond rating agencies, like Moody's and S&P, have ranked the top economies as AAA economies: the United States, Germany and then Canada, some of the world's largest economies. They have said that our fiscal plan is sustainable, as we are there to support Canadians, as we demonstrate fiscal prudence and as we support Canadians through this difficult time.

He can rage war on experts and the facts and demonize them all he likes, but we will keep being there for Canadians, grounded in the facts.