Debates of Dec. 1st, 2023

Health

[Blake Desjarlais, NDP, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Madam Speaker, today marks the 42nd World AIDS Day. Countless Canadians have lost someone to AIDS, and Canada is heading in the wrong direction as new infections are increasing, especially among indigenous communities. For an annual investment of just $100 million, HIV in Canada could be eliminated. People living with HIV, and organizations like HIV Edmonton, have the tools to do this work; they just need the proper resources.

When will the government provide the funding needed to make the elimination of HIV a reality?

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health]

Madam Speaker, on this World AIDS Day, ensuring that Canadians have access to testing and treatment for HIV is a top priority for our government. That is why we recently announced nearly $18 million in funding to make decentralized forms of HIV testing, including HIV self-test kits, more widely available across Canada. HIV self-test kits are helpful in reaching those who are undiagnosed, by offering greater accessibility, privacy and convenience. They can also reduce stigma.

Grocery Industry

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Madam Speaker, this coming Monday, the CEO of Sobeys will be back to testify about food prices.

For two years, the Liberals have been beating around the bush both on bringing food prices down and on standing up to grocery CEOs. Anyone can tell us that the minister's little meeting, where he asked the rich CEOs nicely to stop gouging Canadian grocery shoppers, had no impact.

By bringing back the grocery CEOs, the NDP has given the minister a chance to right his wrongs, so will the Liberals crack down on the out-of-control price gouging?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Madam Speaker, I will not take the “little” meeting personally. I am sure he was not referring to me when he said that. In fact, it was a big meeting. It was the first time in Canada's history that we had the five largest grocers in Canada. What I did was express the frustration of 40 million Canadians. I welcome my colleague to express his own frustration.

Together, we are going to stabilize prices. One of the tools we presented that would make a difference is a reform on competition. That is the best way to stabilize prices. We are really committed, and I hope every member of the House will vote in favour.

The Economy

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Madam Speaker, it is always difficult to follow the member's large impression.

After eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, Canada is facing challenges not seen since the Great Depression. Two million Canadians are visiting food banks a month. There has been a doubling of rents and mortgages. Perhaps worst of all, there are heartbreaking reports of children asking Santa for something to eat this Christmas.

To quote the current Liberal finance minister, from 2015, “[t]his is no global problem, as the government likes to pretend to excuse its shoddy management. This is a made-in-Canada runway to recession.

Why are the Liberals so hell-bent on impoverishing Canadians?

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and to the Minister of Sport and Physical Activity]

Madam Speaker, on the one hand, it is good to see the Conservatives finally talking about poverty reduction strategies, but on the other hand, it is clear that they are still reading only the headline and not the article.

While the Conservatives continue to talk down the Canadian economy, I would like to take an opportunity to remind them of a couple of key facts. There have been over 1.1 million more jobs created since the pandemic, and we have recovered all the jobs in the economic growth since after the pandemic.

The important thing to recognize with respect to poverty reduction is that the current government was the one that modernized the Canada child benefit and pulled hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty. Poverty reduction continues to be one of the pillars of our government strategy.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Madam Speaker, I want people at home to listen carefully, because what we will not hear from that side at all is “per capita”, “per Canadian”. Every Canadian, on average, is getting poorer. In fact, our economy shrank by 1.1%. Our per capita growth is the worst in the OECD. In the U.S., it has gone up by nearly 5%.

I am just curious; what would cause the Liberals to reverse direction? Is it longer food bank lines, worse economic numbers or perhaps even worse polling numbers?

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and to the Minister of Sport and Physical Activity]

Madam Speaker, I have been paying attention to the same headlines, but I do not just read the top line; I read the entire article.

What a lot of the poverty reduction organizations, the food banks and the organizations that are helping keep some of the most vulnerable Canadians afloat during challenging times are asking for is continued programs, like guaranteed livable income strategies, the Canada child benefit and the guaranteed income supplement. They are asking for more programs to support Canada's most vulnerable.

Those are the exact same programs the Conservatives would cut if they were ever in government. Their programs, when Harper was prime minister, did nothing to alleviate poverty. We will continue to help the most vulnerable Canadians with these—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member for Kenora.

Indigenous Affairs

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Madam Speaker, after eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, first nations leaders know that the Prime Minister is not worth the cost.

The Chiefs of Ontario, representing over 130 first nations, are asking the federal court to exempt their communities from the carbon tax, a policy they say leaves them worse off and breaches the principles of reconciliation.

When will the Liberals stop violating the constitutional rights of first nations, and simply axe the tax?

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and to the Minister of Sport and Physical Activity]

Madam Speaker, I will reiterate that there is no relationship more important to the current government than Canada's relationship with first nations and indigenous peoples.

No one understands the risks and dangers of climate change better than first nations communities. They are on the front lines with the record wild fires and horrible destruction we have seen over the last couple of years. Like us, first nations are asking for more climate resilience and more climate action. Just last month, I was proud to meet with members of the Indigenous Leadership Initiative about its Land Needs Guardians approach. The price on pollution is the most effective way to fight climate change, and we will continue to—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member for Kenora.

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Madam Speaker, first nations do see, first hand, the effects of climate change, but the Liberal government misses climate target after climate target. The plan simply is not working. The Liberals are only driving up the cost of living for first nations and people right across the country.

Meanwhile, NDP and Liberal politicians across northern Ontario are planning to quadruple the tax. Again, why are they so committed to their failed plan that they are ignoring the concerns of first nations?

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

Madam Speaker, since we took office in 2015, indigenous spending has increased by 168% in first nations communities. That is no small number.

What underlies that number is the ongoing systemic discrimination of the previous Conservative government, which spent nothing in first nations communities, discriminated against children and ensured that generations of poverty would continue.

We are reversing that trend. Liberals are the ones who are working on reconciliation. These folks have nothing to say.

[Gary Vidal, Conservative, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Madam Speaker, instead of listening to Canadians, the Prime Minister is quadrupling down on his failed carbon tax. Yesterday, left with no option after being ignored by the NDP-Liberal government, Ontario chiefs filed a judicial review asking for their own carbon tax carve-out. After eight years, they have realized the Prime Minister is just not worth the cost.

This is the Prime Minister who claimed that the relationship with first nations is the most important one to him and his government. If that is true, will he stop forcing first nations to go to court to defend their constitutional rights, and axe the tax?

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

Madam Speaker, I spent last summer with first nations leaders in community after community evacuating people from the onslaught of incredible wildfires and floods that devastated community infrastructure and that put people out of their homes for months on end. That is the risk of climate change to first nations communities.

They are first on the line in terms of people affected by the devastation of climate change. Indigenous leaders know that, and we are working with indigenous communities to ensure that they have the infrastructure they need, the support they need to manage this astronomical—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member for Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River.

[Gary Vidal, Conservative, Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, SK]

Madam Speaker, first nations leaders are simply tired of managing poverty. They have realized the Prime Minister is not worth the cost. Unlike the Prime Minister, they are forced to think about monetary policy, and they know that he is simply not worth the cost. In fact, last January, the Ontario chiefs wrote to the Prime Minister, saying that the carbon tax was a grossly unfair burden on their nations. Four out of five first nations communities have median incomes that fall below the poverty line, and they are asking for their own carbon tax carve-out.

Will the NDP-Liberal government finally listen to first nations leaders and simply axe the tax?

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

Madam Speaker, for a decade, the Conservative government kept people in poverty, refused to invest in infrastructure and refused to support education. Can colleagues believe it? When we were elected in 2015, we made sure there was parity for first nations education so kids could get a decent education. The member knows the record of the Conservative Party.

We will not stop our work in reconciliation. The Conservatives' record speaks for itself. That is the gap we now have to close.

Public Service and Procurement

[Simon-Pierre Savard-Tremblay, Bloc, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

I have a riddle for you, Madam Speaker. Do you know what a lack of vision is?

It is awarding a $10‑billion aircraft contract to Boeing when a Quebec company has the expertise to fulfill that contract. It is giving Quebeckers' money to Quebec's biggest aerospace rival without a call for tenders. It is belittling our industry in front of all of its partners by not even deigning to look at its offer. It is flying blind as the only country among the big players without a national aerospace policy. It is kowtowing to Washington rather than defending Quebec's interests.

Why is Ottawa fundamentally incapable of having a vision for our aerospace industry?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.

I would caution him to be careful because the decision that we announced yesterday was based on national security. We have to be careful when it comes to matters of national security.

I have good news, and the people in the Canadian aerospace industry clearly understand that. Boeing is going to invest $5.4 billion in Canada's aerospace industry. Not only that, but Boeing is also going to open an innovation centre in Montreal.

I would invite my Bloc Québécois colleagues to speak with CAE. I would invite them—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member for Terrebonne.

Small Business

[Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné, Bloc, Terrebonne, QC]

Madam Speaker, the unemployment rate is on the rise in Quebec. In October it was at its highest since January 2022. It is not going to go down because the federal government is pushing tens of thousands of small and medium-sized businesses toward bankruptcy as of January 18.

By keeping the January 18 loan forgiveness repayment deadline for the Canada emergency business account, the government is putting hundreds of thousands of jobs in jeopardy in the middle of the holiday period.

Why does this government simply not reassure the workers that they will not be unemployed after the holidays?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Madam Speaker, let us be clear.

Plan A: the business owner has the money, repays the CEBA and gets some loan forgiveness.

Plan B: the business owner has the capacity to take out a loan, repays the CEBA and gets some loan forgiveness.

Plan C: the business owner does not have the capacity to take out a loan, stays with us for another three years and has to pay the minimum, which is 5% interest, or $250 a month at most.

That is not going to bankrupt anyone.

Carbon Pricing

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

Madam Speaker, this is what Canada looks like today after eight years of this Liberal government.

This week, the Journal de Québec reported that a 13-year old wrote to Santa, like many children, and asked for food. That is what Canada has become after eight years with a Liberal government in power.

We cannot have food without agriculture. Bill C‑234 was adopted here in the House of Commons. It seeks to reduce and cancel the carbon tax for farmers. Unfortunately, as we speak, senators appointed by the Liberal government are delaying passage of this bill.

When will the Prime Minister stand up and tell the—