Debates of Dec. 1st, 2023

Democratic Institutions

[Jennifer O'Connell, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety]

Madam Speaker, it is interesting that the member opposite speaks about a high-cost trip. Let us speak about the Conservatives travelling to the U.K. to sip on champagne and eat oysters. That trip, for one Conservative member, was actually paid for by the Danube Institute, which has regularly advocated against Ukraine in support of Russia. Lo and behold, Conservatives come back and vote against the Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement.

When it comes to the champagne Conservatives, they are not worth the cost to Canadians or Ukrainians.

News Media Industry

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Madam Speaker, the agreement with Google is a step in the right direction, a first step. Of course, we were hoping that the government would take more steps. Initially, there was talk of $172 million—

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

I am going to interrupt the hon. member to ask for silence in the House. I would like to hear the hon. member for Drummond's question.

The hon. member can start his question again.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Madam Speaker, the agreement with Google is good news. It is a step in the right direction, a first step. Obviously, we were hoping that the government would take more steps. Initially, there was talk of an amount of about $172 million, but let us still recognize that this is good news. Now, if Meta could be more open, that would also help. However, the fact remains that $100 million is not going to resolve the crisis that our media are in.

Can the Minister of Canadian Heritage assure us that CBC/Radio-Canada, which is already largely funded by taxpayer dollars, will not be taking any money out of this pot that is already too small?

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. This agreement will inject $100 million annually into our media, and it will be indexed to inflation each year. This is good news for our local media. It is good news for media in Quebec.

Our agreement also provides that, if better conditions are reached with other countries, we will automatically be given the same conditions. We have been saying that access to information is something we will always support, and that is exactly what we are doing. This is good news for our media outlets across Canada and Quebec.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Madam Speaker, it was so nice of the member to explain the agreement. However, that was not the question. I was talking about CBC/Radio-Canada and funding, but I am sure we will come back to that.

Another thing the minister can immediately do is ensure that there are no further job cuts in the media. That will enable struggling online, radio and television media to have access to the 35% tax credit for journalists that print media already have access to. Bell Media, Québecor and Cogeco Media have asked us to do this in recent days. She needs to do it before the holiday break, before we see more newsrooms closed and the diversity of information pay—

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

The hon. parliamentary secretary.

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Madam Speaker, first, let me say that my thoughts are with the workers and their families affected by the TVA layoffs.

We have implemented measures to help the journalism sector, and we are looking into what else we can do. The Minister of Canadian Heritage is open to all proposals.

Today we see the effects of Conservative obstruction in preventing the modernization of laws and programs that allow Canada's media and culture to exist.

The Economy

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Wetaskiwin, AB]

Madam Speaker, this week, we learned that our Canadian economy shrank by 1.1% in the last quarter, while the U.S. economy grew by 5.2%. When our leader pointed this out, a Liberal minister responded by saying, “we actually have an economic plan”. Rarely has the word “actually” been less convincingly used in a sentence than that. The last time we saw a plan like this was from the equally incompetent Trudeau government of the 1970s and 1980s, which obliterated our economy.

When will the government realize that those Trudeau economics are as bad for Canada now—

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

The hon. member said Trudeau, as in the father. I am sorry; it was the seventies.

The hon. parliamentary secretary.

[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, we are advancing the government's plan to grow the middle class, build more homes faster and build an economy that works for everyone. Meanwhile, the Conservatives have become this one-issue party claiming that axing the tax will solve all the country's problems. It will not.

This week, we introduced Bill C-59, our fall economic statement, which is going to help deliver on key measures of this economic plan. In this legislation, we are modernizing competition laws to help stabilize grocery prices, doubling the rural top-up on the pollution pricing rebate, and removing the GST on new rental home construction and co-ops, which the Conservative stand against, calling co-ops Soviet-style—

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

The hon. member for Edmonton—Wetaskiwin.

[Mike Lake, Conservative, Edmonton—Wetaskiwin, AB]

Madam Speaker, the Liberals love to bury the very real hardships of Canadians in ridiculous non-answers such as that.

The per capita GDP numbers represent the real world, where Canadians actually live and where they are getting to be worse off. It has not been this bad since the Trudeau economic rampage of the 1970s and 1980s, which took us decades to recover from.

Does anyone over there have the courage to look the Prime Minister in the eye and tell him that following the Trudeau economic blueprint is destroying our economy?

[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, from the beginning, we have been delivering for Canadians. From a personal perspective, I would like to highlight what, a couple of weeks ago, the Conservatives continued to say: When we build affordable, non-profit, non-market co-op housing, they say it is Soviet-style housing. That plays right into the Conservatives' recent vote against the Ukraine-Canada free trade agreement. What are they thinking over there?

I would ask that these members consider voting for our fall economic statement, so we can build more homes faster and bring affordability to Canadians through good, proven mechanisms such as non-market housing.

Carbon Pricing

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Madam Speaker, after eight years, the government still does not understand that it could quickly bring down food prices just by giving farmers a break. That is why passing Bill C-234 is so essential.

The costly Bloc-Liberal coalition is really out of touch and wants to radically increase the carbon tax. It is costly to vote for the Bloc Québécois. Farmers in my region are calling on me to get this bill passed quickly.

Will the Prime Minister tell the independent senators that he appointed to stop blocking Bill C-234 in order to bring down the cost of groceries for all Canadian families?

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

Madam Speaker, there is something I do not understand about my Quebec colleague's intervention.

Whatever happens with this bill, it will have no impact on Quebec. In fact, it will actually put farmers in Quebec and British Columbia at a disadvantage because they will continue to have their price on pollution while the other provinces will not, to the same degree.

What my colleague from Beauce is doing is trying to put Quebec farmers at a disadvantage.

Social Development

[Lena Metlege Diab, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Madam Speaker, when Canadians needed support during the pandemic, community groups and charities stepped up to provide crucial assistance. Now many are having difficulty generating revenue, managing increased costs and demand for services, and attracting and retaining paid staff and volunteers.

Can the parliamentary secretary update the House on what is being done to support these organizations?

[Terry Sheehan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Labour and Seniors]

Madam Speaker, through our community services recovery fund, nearly 5,500 organizations nationwide have been funded. This means that, in the member's riding of Halifax West, the Fairview Resource Centre can continue offering family programming and services to new parents, as well as community meals for families and seniors. This also means that groups like the Halifax Sexual Health Centre can continue offering vital reproductive and gender-affirming care to the community. These are local groups that are making a real difference in the member's riding and across the country.

Automotive Industry

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Madam Speaker, the Liberal Minister of Industry admitted he had not read the $15-billion Stellantis contract that will cost every taxpayer in Canada a thousand dollars in new taxes. Conservatives put forward a motion requiring the government to make contracts public. When one takes taxpayer money, transparency is expected. For 10 hours, Liberals have been obstructing the passage of this motion on a filibuster, hiding their bad deal.

Will the Liberals put transparency where their mouths are and release the contracts?

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

Madam Speaker, it is always so outrageous for Canadians to hear the Conservatives make such crazy allegations. Not only have they been against the Stellantis deal, but they have also been against the Volkswagen deal. They are against the Northvolt deal. They are against the Ford deal, and they are against the GM deal. Will they ever do something for Canadian workers? Will they ever do something for the auto industry or do something for the communities? On this side of the House, we have a plan. We have brought record investment and will continue to invest in our auto sector.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Madam Speaker, will he have the guts to show the public and Canadians the contract, the thousand dollars of taxes per household, to assemble batteries with parts made from China and shipped to the U.S. for cars assembled and sold in the U.S.? Taxpayers will cover the cost of batteries of these cars, with no guarantees of Canadian jobs and no guarantees that these plants will survive after the 100% battery subsidy ends in 2033.

Liberals are obstructing the Conservative motion to release the contracts by filibustering the committee. These contracts must be way worse—

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

The hon. parliamentary secretary has the floor.

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

Madam Speaker, there will be 2,300 Canadians building the plant and 2,500 Canadians building batteries, maximizing work for our world-class trades. Conservatives never supported the EV battery plant in Windsor, and they are now working overtime to tear it down. Our Liberal government worked with labour to deliver the plant, we are working with labour to secure the plant and we will fight tooth and nail to protect the plant from Conservative attacks.

[Greg McLean, Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

Madam Speaker, after a set of incompetent negotiations, the NDP-Liberal government acceded to a $15-billion subsidy to Stellantis. That is $6 million in taxpayer funds per job, but more than half these jobs may actually be coming from Korea. After eight years, the government is not worth the cost. First we had a cabinet minister who did not read his emails, and now we have one who will not read the contracts. The jig is up. Will they release the Stellantis contract so Canadian contributors can see what they are paying for?

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

Madam Speaker, it is so outrageous to hear the Conservatives. Not only did I read the contract, but I also negotiated the contract. These guys have never seen it, and they make all these claims. They have all these numbers. They do not know what they are talking about. It is not me who is saying that, but the leader of Unifor. These guys do not know what the hell they are talking about. When their leader was the minister of employment, it was not 3,000 jobs or 30,000 jobs but 300,000 jobs that were lost in the manufacturing sector. I will take no lessons from any of them. I will fight every step of the way.