Debates of Nov. 1st, 2023

Carbon Pricing

[Diane Lebouthillier, Liberal, Minister of Fisheries]

Mr. Speaker, I am rather shocked by the participation of my colleagues from Quebec who are in the Conservative Party.

I would like my colleague across the way to ask his colleague from Louis‑Saint‑Laurent why, when he was at the National Assembly of Quebec, he said he was so happy with the carbon exchange. He said:

[We are] glad...that there will be a greenhouse gas emissions registry, and the fact that this information will be made public confirms to us the desire for transparency that unites us all here in this chamber.

It is truly shameful to speak out of both sides of one's mouth.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

Order.

The hon. member for Sudbury.

Natural Resources

[Viviane LaPointe, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

Mr. Speaker, to the detriment of our economy, the Conservative Party is blocking two vital pieces of legislation that would create sustainable jobs, bring workers to the table and build important renewable energy projects.

First, it blocked workers from speaking at committee. Then it cancelled debate in this chamber, and now it is filibustering the natural resources committee to stop consideration of Bill C-50 and Bill C-49.

Could the minister inform the House of the importance of the sustainable jobs act and the Atlantic accords act?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for her hard work for her community and for workers across Canada. The Atlantic accords act and the Canadian sustainable jobs act are key to unlocking generational economic opportunities for Canada.

The Atlantic accords act would allow for the development of an offshore wind industry, which would create thousands of jobs in Atlantic Canada. The sustainable jobs act would bring workers to the table and equip them with the tools and skills they need to thrive.

I call upon the Conservative Party to end its wasteful filibuster and allow committee members to consider these bills. It should heed the call of premiers, industry, workers and the House to advance Bill C-50 and Bill C-49. It is simply wasting time and the money of taxpayers.

Health

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP moved a motion at the health committee to launch an independent public inquiry into Canada's COVID response. Shockingly, the Conservatives joined with the Liberals to defeat this common-sense proposal.

New Democrats believe that Canadians deserve transparency on and accountability for how their government handled every aspect of the pandemic. No stone should be left unturned. Can the Prime Minister explain why his party teamed up with the Conservatives to block this overdue, essential inquiry?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my hon. colleague for his work in this space.

As he knows, and as I mentioned earlier in question period, Canada had among the best responses to COVID-19 anywhere in the world. Thanks to vaccines and to other measures, we saved literally hundreds of thousands of lives, which is something we should be deeply proud of.

We are going to be conducting not only the review that the member is talking about but also a forward-facing review. There are all kinds of reviews now to take the lessons that we learned during the pandemic and apply them to our entire health system.

I want to thank everybody who was on the front lines of keeping us safe. We are going to honour that work by making sure we learn and do everything we can to keep people safe.

Housing

[Kevin Vuong, Independent, Spadina—Fort York, ON]

Mr. Speaker, 24 Liberal MPs supposedly represent Toronto. Using the Minister of Rural Economic Development's handbook to get things done, how come none of those 24 MPs are standing up for people sleeping on Toronto streets?

They are also missing in action to get the government to honour its promise to assist Toronto with our COVID budget shortfall. Many Torontonians will struggle to heat and, hopefully, keep their homes this winter. They would like a carbon tax deferral too.

While the two Liberal MPs from Alberta can hold their regional caucus in a phone booth, can the Prime Minister explain how this Toronto 24 have simply disappeared?

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, the member fails to mention the advocacy of Toronto MPs who pushed for this government to invest no less than $290 million for the City of Toronto so that it could respond to homelessness challenges. That is exactly what is happening. We will continue to work with that municipality and with other municipalities across the country.

This is an unacceptable situation that we find ourselves in, but we have a choice. Do we respond, and how do we respond? We respond with co-operation. We respond by working together. That is what we will continue to do.

Presence in Gallery

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

I draw the attention of hon. members to the presence in the gallery of the recipients of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Awards, including the winners of the John C. Polanyi Award, the Brockhouse Canada Prize for Interdisciplinary Research in Science and Engineering, the Donna Strickland Prize for Societal Impact of Natural Sciences and Engineering Research, the Synergy Awards for Innovation, and the Arthur B. McDonald Fellowships.

[Some hon. members]

Hear, hear!

Oral Questions

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I rise before my colleagues in the House today to respond to a concern raised yesterday regarding a response I gave to the Bloc Québécois.

I used some language yesterday that I will not repeat for the purposes of this point of order. I understand that the words I used may have offended some people. I therefore withdraw them and apologize.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

I thank the hon. minister not only for withdrawing his comments, but also for apologizing. That is very kind of him. I think it enhances the decorum of the House.

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Pursuant to subsection 94(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, I have the pleasure to table, in both official languages, the 2023 annual report to Parliament on immigration.

[Sukh Dhaliwal, Liberal, Surrey—Newton, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I have been in the House for many years, and I have always been respectful to the Chair and tried never to be disrespectful. However, today, it went beyond my tolerance when you, Mr. Speaker, were not respected.

The rule of the House is that when the Speaker is up, every member should sit down. The Leader of the Opposition did not follow that. He was so arrogant that, time and time again, you told him, but he never sat down. That is why—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

It is important for all members to respect not only the regulations but also the traditions of the House. There is certainly an understanding that, when the Speaker takes his or her feet, all members should sit down.

I did not ask for a while, but when I asked, I would note that the members did all sit down. I appreciate that they followed this important tradition of the House.

The hon. member for Lakeland has a point of order.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, certainly I would not be one to raise any issues about decorum, because I think it is fair to suggest that I am a fairly assertive advocate on behalf of the people of Lakeland after eight years in the House of Commons. I certainly would not want to be hypocritical. Mr. Speaker, you have noted the importance of decorum, of how we speak to each other and of ensuring that the temperature can remain low as we do our duty on behalf of Canadians in this place of democracy for the common people. However, given this, I would note that, during question period, the member for Ajax quite directly challenged whether our leader and Conservatives truly care about Canada, the future of this country and, ultimately, all constituents, as well as whether we are patriots.

I can say not only on my own behalf and certainly that of the leader, but also on behalf of every single member of Parliament in the Conservative Party, and I would like to assume in every other party, that we care deeply about this country and Canadians. I hope I can be forgiven afterwards for doing so, because I did not ask for permission in advance. I just wanted to raise that for your consideration, Mr. Speaker.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

I would like to thank the member for Lakeland for bringing up the issue of decorum. I would also like to cut the member a bit of slack. All members, from time to time, can be very passionate about their debates, so they know that there will be interventions that are made. I made that clear in the statement about decorum, which I am glad the member supports. I am glad, listening to the applause from members in the House, that all members support improving decorum in this place and following the guidelines that have been set out from the Chair.

I will certainly take a look at that issue. I was a little preoccupied today, trying to make sure all members were acting in a decorous manner. If I missed that, I certainly will look. However, raising the issue about any hon. member's commitment to their ridings, to their region or to their country is something we should all avoid. Every member here has taken the steps to represent their communities, and they do so with honour. We need to make sure we never question that, as we should also make sure we do not question members, as I indicated, about their courage, presence in the House and so on. I encourage all members to refer to the statement I made two weeks ago.

I thank the member for Lakeland for that. I thank the members who supported her and applauded her for making that intervention, and I would truly hope that, for the rest of the day and going forward, we will all try to avoid what happened here today during Oral Questions.

I thank all hon. members for that.

The House resumed from October 31 consideration of the motion.

Opposition Motion—Immigration Threshold and Integration Capacity

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

It being 3:35 p.m., the House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion of the member for Saint-Jean relating to the business of supply.

Call in the members.

(The House divided on the motion, which was agreed to on the following division:)

Vote #438

Business of Supply

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

I declare the motion carried.

The House resumed from October 27 consideration of the motion that Bill S-205, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and to make consequential amendments to another Act (interim release and domestic violence recognizance orders), be read the second time and referred to a committee.

Criminal Code

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

The House will now proceed to the taking of the deferred recorded division on the motion at second reading stage of Bill S-205 under Private Members' Business.