Debates of Oct. 6th, 2023

Christian Lamoureux

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Glengarry—Prescott—Russell, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House to pay tribute to someone I was fortunate to have in my life. Christian Lamoureux was a husband, a father and my friend.

Christian battled cancer for many years, yet despite the side effects that treatment can have, he always had a smile on his face and maintained his sense of optimism. I thank him for the time we shared at the cottage. I thank him for the many times he made us laugh. I will never forget one evening at Jason's, when he enlisted our entire group to help him look for his wallet, only to find it the next morning, right where he had left it, in his bag.

Last Friday, we all asked Christian if there was anything we could do for him. He simply told us to enjoy life to the fullest. That is a testament to his selfless love, even in times of suffering. Every one of us thanks him wholeheartedly for being part of our lives.

I offer my deepest condolences to his wife, Mélanie, his children, Jade, Isabelle and Samuel, and his family.

The guys and I want to say “see you later” to Christian. We fully expect him to organize the hockey pool when we are together again someday.

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

I just want to remind everyone to try to keep their S.O. 31s under one minute. A few of them did go a little over.

Also, as a reminder, we are asking questions in our seats and answering questions in our seats. I see a lot of people moving around in the chamber, so I want to make sure that everybody is aware of that.

The Economy

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Mr. Speaker, three weeks ago, the Prime Minister made a promise that grocery prices would come down in time for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, an article just out from The Canadian Press today says, “Prices haven't went down, so you're going to continue to see to see fairly large sticker shock on items”.

This is Canada after eight years of the Liberal-NDP government, but it gets worse. The article goes on to say, “Some people are going to look at alternatives”, so they might not have a big family gathering. Happy Thanksgiving to Canada, brought to us by the Liberal-NDP government.

Will the Prime Minister keep his promise and get grocery prices down?

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, we have heard loud and clear from Canadians across this country that grocery prices need to come down. Our government gets up every morning and is working hard every day to lower those prices or stabilize those prices. Not only did we call the top five largest grocery CEOs to Ottawa, but we got them on board to work on action plans that would help stabilize food prices for Canadians. That is just what they have done. We are seeing those actions roll out, with price reductions and discounts on a basket of basic goods, and we look forward to future developments.

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Mr. Speaker, that is entirely not accurate. None of the prices are going down. I just read an article from The Canadian Press. Canadians know that all the prices are going up. In fact, The Ottawa Mission is now asking for turkeys. Why? It is because the price of a turkey has gone up 67% as a result of eight years of the NDP-Liberal government.

The Prime Minister made a promise three weeks ago, so I am going to ask this again: Will the Prime Minister keep his promise to get grocery prices down so Canadians can have an affordable Thanksgiving, or is he just going to go back to Rideau Cottage and hide like he recently did?

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, our government is taking action with grocery CEOs. They have gotten on board. They have produced plans. They are rolling out measures. They do not know what the others are going to do. They are going to be competing to bring down and stabilize those prices.

There are many measures that we will move forward in weeks and days to come, and this is good news for Canadians, because grocery CEOs and those chains are now competing to stabilize food prices for Canadians.

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Mr. Speaker, that reminds me of when people say things like “the wheels are in motion”, “the cheque is in the mail” and those kinds of things. Canadians cannot eat a plan. Canadians cannot eat the photo op that the Prime Minister took with grocery CEOs.

The facts are the facts. Grocery prices are way up, and they continue to go up, despite these alleged plans and photo ops. Onions are up 69%, potatoes are up 76%, oranges are up 77% and turkey is up 67%.

Will the Prime Minister keep his promise? It is not hard. He made that promise. Or will he just go off on another $200,000 vacation at the taxpayers' expense in Montana?

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, I know it must be hard for the leader of the Conservative Party to empathize with Canadians, when surely he does not pay for turkeys at Stornoway. We know they are free.

On federal leadership, we have demonstrated leadership and brought the five largest grocery chains to Ottawa, and we are moving forward with them to lower and stabilize food prices for Canadians. Those grocery chains are demonstrating that Canadians will really be the judge of how satisfied they are with decreases.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years under this Liberal government, everything in Canada costs more. Thanksgiving is just two days away, but Canadians do not feel like celebrating.

Unfortunately, the Prime Minister led them down the garden path once again. Three weeks ago, the Prime Minister said that Canadians would see prices come down in time for Thanksgiving. Once again, that did not happen.

What could happen and what will happen, however, is the arrival of a second carbon tax implemented with the enthusiastic support of the Bloc Québécois.

A growing number of Quebeckers are starting to realize that voting for the Bloc will cost them. Does the Liberal government know that?

[Taleeb Noormohamed, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, as my colleague said, we have already started working with the major grocery store chains. They will work with us and prices will drop for Canadians.

We also know that the climate action incentive payments will go out to Canadians next week. That is the reality.

While we have been working to improve Canadians' quality of life, the Conservatives have done nothing.

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the parliamentary secretary for answering my question in French. I congratulate him on the quality of his French.

However, the thanks end there, because what he said does not reflect the reality. Prices are going up. Yesterday, the minister was so proud to say that prices would come down this weekend, but that is not true. Some announcements have been made, which always seems to happen this time of year. The fact of the matter is that, once again, the Liberals are too greedy and want to raise taxes. That is the worst thing to do when people are struggling. When will the Liberals come to their senses?

[Taleeb Noormohamed, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, we are working with the industry. We are working with the grocery chains. We have instructed them to lower prices, and they are going to do just that. They have already begun to do so. Canadians will see a difference in the coming days. That is the reality. The Conservatives can say whatever they want and invent whatever facts they want, but the reality is that Canadians' quality of life will improve thanks to us.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this week Radio-Canada did a piece on foreign workers who are being exploited by the multinational Newrest. They were told that if they came to Canada on a tourist visa and they worked for the company, they would be given a work permit later. Obviously that is not true, and the workers are subjected to illegal working conditions under the threat of expulsion. According to the Immigrant Workers Centre, 400 people in two years have been victims of the same trap after having been recruited by a placement firm, the Trésor agency in this case.

My question for the minister is simple. Has he taken up the case?

[Irek Kusmierczyk, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, the mistreatment and abuse of temporary foreign workers is unacceptable. Everyone deserves to work in safe, healthy and dignified conditions. Under our watch, we have mandated that employers provide all TFWs with information about their rights in Canada, have prohibited reprisal by employers against workers who come forward with complaints and have prohibited employers from charging recruitment fees to workers.

We know there is more work to do. That is why we are strengthening our integrity measures to ensure that temporary foreign workers live and work in a safe and decent environment.

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the news piece talked about a specific case, but it is hard to believe it is the only one. It is even harder to believe that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has control over the situation after it lost track of one million temporary immigrants.

Obviously we need to prevent this illegal exploitation in our country from happening and crack down on criminal enterprises, but the minister must also take the lead and make it known abroad that this practice is a trap. Again, I have a simple question for the minister. What is he doing to put an end to this abhorrent exploitation?

[Irek Kusmierczyk, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, temporary foreign workers have the same rights to workplace protections as Canadians. We have a requirement that employers and recruiters cannot charge recruitment fees to or recover them from TFWs, for example.

We launched the migrant worker support program to assist TFWs in learning about and exercising their rights. We will continue engaging migrant worker support organizations, employers and other partners to further strengthen protections for Canada's temporary foreign workers.

Indigenous Affairs

[Blake Desjarlais, NDP, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Mr. Speaker, at a “glacial pace” is how a recent report described the speed at which the Liberals have been moving to implement the truth and reconciliation calls to action. It is an average of just two calls to action per year. At this rate, it will take 42 years to complete all of them.

For a government that says it is committed to reconciliation, its actions tell a different story. When will the government pick up the pace and ensure that all the calls to action are implemented without delay?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Indigenous Services and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, let us roll back the tape a bit. In 2015, when we were elected, the former Conservative government refused to meet with indigenous leaders in this country. In fact, indigenous leaders could not meet with the previous prime minister and could not move forward an agenda of reconciliation whatsoever. In fact, the previous prime minister said that an inquiry into the murdered and missing indigenous women in this country was not on his radar.

We have moved in tangible ways, including with respect to equity, and we will continue to do that hard work.

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Uqaqtittiji, that was a disappointing response.

I will turn to a question on the searches that have uncovered hundreds of graves of children at former residential schools across the country.

As communities grieve, they are looking for answers. Due to a lack of clarity from all levels of government, these families cannot access the records they deserve. Even the government's special interlocutor is experiencing barriers.

When will the government take responsibility and give indigenous peoples the funding and access to information they need toward healing?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations]

Mr. Speaker, residential schools are a sad reality of Canada's history, and their painful legacy continues to be felt today across Canada. We are working in partnership to provide the resources needed as communities continue to do the very important and challenging work of locating, identifying and commemorating the remains of those who were stolen from their families and prevented from coming home.

As of today, we have supported 117 commemoration and search projects, for a total of $160.4 million. As more potential burial sites are found at former residential schools, we remain committed to supporting communities in addressing their priorities as they work—

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

The hon. member for Barrie—Innisfil.

Grocery Industry

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are hurting, and as we head into Thanksgiving, food banks are on the front line of the cost of living and food-insecurity crises created by eight years of the NDP-Liberal government.

In Barrie, food bank usage is up 94% in one year. Executive director Sharon Palmer told Simcoe.com this week, “With rents where they are, the price of gas and food, we're seeing more families struggling.” There is no evidence anywhere that the promise the Prime Minister made three weeks ago has lowered grocery prices.

Where are the grocery prices, and why have they not been lowered?

[Taleeb Noormohamed, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, our government is the only party in this House that is prepared to take action. We have called in the CEOs of the largest grocery chains. They have come back with a response. We have worked with the manufacturers, and they are coming back with a response. These responses will result in a direct benefit to Canadians in terms of lower prices, and that work is going to continue. We are going to hold grocery chains and manufacturers to account and we are going to keep doing so until the affordability that Canadians deserve is delivered to them.

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the promise has not been kept. The cost of living and food-insecurity crises created after eight years of the NDP-Liberal government have also hit families hard as they go to buy turkey this weekend. Prices for turkeys have shot up 67% since 2015. On top of that, potatoes are up 77%, while carrots are up 74% in the same time. The legend of the bird's power to induce sleepiness, a sort of turkey coma, is proving to be a myth. Canadians have now awakened to the fact that the Prime Minister is not worth the cost.

Where are the lower grocery prices he promised three weeks ago?

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, our government is fighting for Canadians on affordability every step of the way. We are fully seized with addressing the affordability challenges that Canadians are facing. We called in the top five grocery chain CEOs to help stabilize food prices. They have come up with plans that they are now implementing.

The fact that Conservatives call that a photo op, when it is a decisive action for Canadians, says more about them than it does about us. Regardless of Conservative attacks, we will keep pressing on and fighting for affordability for Canadians.