Debates of Nov. 1st, 2023

Carbon Pricing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister said he would have Wednesday Prime Minister's question period, that he would show up for work and answer questions, but here we are less than a week after he had to back down and pause his signature policy, the massive new carbon tax. His plan now is to quadruple that tax to 61¢ a litre, forcing seniors everywhere to choose between eating and heating.

If that is really the right thing to do, then why does he not have the guts to stand up and defend that policy before Canadians here and now?

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

Mr. Speaker, the price on pollution is one part of a comprehensive approach to addressing the climate issue. It is implemented in a manner that is affordable. The majority of Canadians get more money back than they pay on the price on pollution.

Having a thoughtful approach to climate change is an important part of being a real and realistic political party in this country. We cannot actually have an environmental policy without a climate policy. We cannot actually have an effective economic plan for the future without recognizing the reality of climate change. It is time the Conservatives entered the modern era.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

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

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois motion that the minister will be supporting later today is about successful immigration.

Immigration cannot be successful when thresholds do not take integration capacity into consideration. Indeed, the Conference Board of Canada indicated yesterday that the number of disappointed immigrants who end up leaving Canada has skyrocketed. In 2017 alone, 60,000 immigrants left; two years later, it was 67,000. Problems with access to housing and economic integration were among the reasons cited.

Will the minister get back to work and consult Quebec instead of announcing immigration thresholds that are completely disconnected from our integration capacity?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, obviously, we have to keep increasing our efforts to integrate newcomers.

The flip side of those numbers is the unprecedented volume of people who want to come to Canada. I do not blame them, but the reality is that so many people want to come here because Canada is a welcoming country.

I think that criticizing Canada and Quebec by saying that we do not have the integration capacity shows bad faith and is essentially a refusal to listen to what is going on in the country.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

I would encourage members who have not been recognized by the Speaker to allow the ones who have to ask and answer questions.

The hon. member for Saint-Jean.

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

Mr. Speaker, Quebec has confirmed that it was not consulted.

This means that the immigration thresholds that the minister will unveil shortly do not take into account the availability of health care. They do not take into account space in our schools. They do not take into account child care spaces. They do not take into account capacity for French-language training. They do not take into account the housing crisis. They do not take into account the infrastructure that needs to be built to support population growth.

Did the the minister consult his astrologist to come up with the thresholds he will be announcing shortly?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I am not going to talk about astrology. The member opposite was in the House when I gave my speech yesterday but she must not have been paying attention or she would have heard the details of what we are doing with Quebec to ensure that there is co-operation and coordination.

We have disagreements, of course, but what she does not understand—and this is odd because the agreement has been in place for as long as the Bloc Québécois has existed, since 1991—is that this falls under Quebec jurisdiction.

Finance

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the irony is, and this question is, for the Prime Minister, that the carbon tax chaos is unfolding within the Liberal tent itself. We saw last week, just as I was about to hold a thunderous rally with a thousand common-sense Nova Scotians to axe the tax, the Prime Minister was in a sweaty ball on the ground. He had to flip-flop and hold a hastily called and humiliating press conference.

Now, Mark Carney has come out against his flip-flop, and Percy Downe, a loyal Liberal senator, has called for the Prime Minister to resign because of his fiscal irresponsibility. Is that why he is hiding under his desk and refusing to answer questions today?

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

Mr. Speaker, other than trying to find ways to do indirectly what he is not actually allowed to do directly, the one thing that is consistent about the Leader of the Opposition is that he loves to pat himself on the back continuously.

At the end of the day, what we are interested in on this side of the House is good public policy. We have put into place a plan that will assure affordability for Canadians, that applies across the country and that does so in a manner that actually addresses the reality of climate change.

Once again, it is appalling and a shame that the Conservative Party does not believe in climate change and has no plan to do anything about it.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Senator, Mr. Percy Downe wrote:

The opportunity for a [Conservative] government was created by a lack of fiscal responsibility [by the Liberal] government, and the damage it caused our economy is now showing up in the opinion poll numbers. Within the Liberal Party, many members who are in favour of fiscal responsibility...have given up on this current iteration of the [Liberal] party.

Hence, the leader should resign. However, he will not stand and answer questions, even though his itinerary shows that he was in this building today.

If the Prime Minister will not show up and do his job, which I will, why will he not get out of the way?

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

Over the last two weeks, many members have taken it upon themselves to quote my statement back to me, and I am quite happy to defend that statement as your Chair. Again, I will say that it is important for us to recognize that all members of the House have duties, regardless of which side they belong to, duties that sometimes take them out of the chamber. That is the reason why we try not to mention whether or not a member is present in the House. It is part of the duties.

We are going to continue. I believe the hon. House leader is going to answer this question.

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I find the last thing that the hon. Leader of the Opposition said particularly troubling, because it is Canadians who decide who sits in the House; it is not the Leader of the Opposition.

Let me be very clear that it is troubling but not surprising, because when he was the minister of democratic reform, he made it harder for 150,000 of Canada's most vulnerable citizens to vote. He was also sanctioned by Elections Canada for violating electoral law. While what he is saying is completely inappropriate, it is unsurprising, given his track record and his lack of respect for democracy.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

Order.

Could I ask the member for Surrey—Newton to please allow me to continue?

Colleagues, I ask all members to please exercise discretion. These are the things which you all raised with me and others in terms of improving discretion. Temperatures are running hot today. May I ask all members to respectfully sit down until I recognize them to speak, please?

The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

Carbon Pricing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I can understand that as the Liberal members watch their Prime Minister in a panicked huddle, in the fetal position, shaking and trembling, they are losing control of themselves. The last few days of carbon tax chaos have been very hard on them, and now their leader is defending them.

The minister says we should let Canadians decide, so why do we not pause the carbon tax on all home heat until the vote, when Canadians will decide whether they want the Prime Minister's plan to hike the 61¢ a litre or my common-sense plan to axe the tax for everyone forever?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, there are several things that we as Liberals are united on. We are united on the fact that the Leader of the Opposition is trying to destroy the action that our government is taking on climate change, not only our government but governments across the world that are finally turning the tide. He wants to go back to the time when they were attacking climate action. We are united in the fact that we led the G7 in 2022 in growth, that we are going to be number one again in 2024 and that 64,000 jobs were created in Canada.

Which country would he change places with when he denigrates Canada? What country does he think is better? This is the greatest country in the world, and we will stand up for it.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, we have someone now auditioning for the job of prime minister. When the cat is away, the mice will play, but we do not need any more of this chaos.

If the NDP would actually do its job and hold the government to account, it would announce today that its members would vote in accordance with the views of the NDP in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and now Manitoba, all of whom agree that people in cold climates, whether it be in Timmins, Kapuskasing or Churchill, should enjoy tax-free heat.

Will they vote to keep the heat on by taking the tax off, or will they once again serve the out-of-touch Prime Minister?

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

Mr. Speaker, as I have said a number of times, and perhaps the hon. Leader of the Opposition has not heard me, home heating oil is up to four times as expensive as natural gas. It creates challenges with respect to affordability for Canadians.

We have come forward with a plan that applies in every province and territory in this country. It will address that particular issue in a manner that will be affordable and will ensure long-term savings for families, but will do so in a manner that continues the fight against climate change, a fight against climate change that would not happen if he was on the other side of the House.

Foreign Affairs

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, a Palestinian refugee camp was bombed by the Israel Defence Forces. We saw lifeless children being pulled out of the rubble. We heard agonizing screams of the worst human suffering.

Palestinians in Gaza are being used as human shields and being bombed for crimes they have not committed. Canada cannot stand by while innocent people die. We must demand a ceasefire and a release of all hostages now.

How can the Prime Minister defend abstaining from the UN's call for a ceasefire?

[Rob Oliphant, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I think every member of this House of Commons is looking at the situation in Gaza and Israel as a crisis that is of proportions that are dire and are causing us to lose sleep at night.

We continue to negotiate the best way possible for hostages to be released. We continue to work at getting humanitarian aid into the area and getting Canadians out. We will continue to monitor the situation even as hearts are breaking.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the media is reporting that members of the Canadian Forces are currently in Israel. Canada cannot participate in this blood bath and in the deaths of innocents.

The Prime Minister is not calling for a ceasefire and is abstaining from the UN's call for a ceasefire.

Can the Prime Minister confirm that no Canadian troops will participate in the war?

[Marie-France Lalonde, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I want to be very clear: We are not providing military assistance to Israel. What we are doing is providing force protection for Canadians and assisting the Canadian embassy in Israel with contingency planning. This is similar to the CANSOFCOM presence and assistance we have provided in other instances, including in Sudan.

Child Care

[Wilson Miao, Liberal, Richmond Centre, BC]

Mr. Speaker, our government is focused on building a Canada-wide early learning and child care system, but we know that this will not be possible without the hard work of all our early childhood educators. Attracting and retaining educators is critically important, and for too long, their working conditions and compensation have not met the desired standard.

To the minister, what is our government doing to change this situation across the country and in my home province of British Columbia?

[Kamal Khera, Liberal, Minister of Diversity]

Mr. Speaker, early childhood educators deserve to be well compensated and respected. That is why on Monday, alongside the Province of British Columbia, my colleague, the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, announced a two-dollar-per-hour wage increase for eligible early childhood educators, effective December 1 of this year.

In the first two years, British Columbia has created an additional 10,000 child care spaces, and parents have been saving up to $550 per month per child. This is what happens when governments work together. We can deliver even more for Canadians.