Debates of Dec. 13th, 2023

Carbon Pricing

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, 97% of farm fuel emissions are exempt from the price on pollution. The average farm across this country pays a little less than $1,000 on natural gas emissions through the price on pollution. Therefore, one can only imagine how much natural gas this successful mushroom farm must be using for their cost of the price on pollution to be that large. We will happily work with the farmer to switch toward a lower-emitting approach to doing their business well and protecting future generations.

Dental Care

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government needed a feel-good announcement after its disastrous performance in the fall. Wanting to please its centralizing NDP allies, it chose dental care, a health care service that already exists in Quebec. It chose an area of jurisdiction that falls to Quebec and the provinces. It chose to interfere instead of support. It chose encroachment instead of collaboration.

How does the Prime Minister justify making a half-baked announcement on dental care before reaching an agreement with Quebec?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we recently launched an historic program that will provide dental care to children under 12 across the country. We have now extended the program to seniors across the country. We are ensuring that seniors do not have to choose between taking care of their teeth and paying their bills.

We will continue to work with the provinces and territories, including Quebec, to ensure that Canadians who need it can have access to proper dental care without having to worry about the bill and to improve the oral health of all Canadians from coast to coast to coast.

[Luc Thériault, Bloc, Montcalm, QC]

Mr. Speaker, since the 1970s, dental care for young people has been covered by Quebec's health insurance plan, or RAMQ. The Quebec government was open to an agreement to improve the plan. All of the transferred funds would have been used for dental care. The Liberals knew that, but they win more votes by diving head first into Quebec's areas of jurisdiction than by transferring money.

Quebec has the expertise, but the Liberals and the NDP chose Sun Life Canada. Why choose a private company over the RAMQ?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are having very good conversations with our counterparts in Quebec, as we always do, about how we are going to help Quebeckers and provide them with the care and services they need. We are here to work with them, and we are going to continue those discussions with the Quebec government, not with the second opposition party in the House of Commons in Ottawa.

Public Services and Procurement

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

Mr. Speaker, last night at committee, the hand-picked Liberal chair of the Prime Minister's billion-dollar green slush fund was exposed as having new staff at the fund to round up $10 million for her project, which had been deemed ineligible. Then she literally ran out of the committee, shutting off the cameras, because she did not want to answer any more questions.

The NDP-Liberal government failed to protect taxpayers from embezzlers and swindlers to the tune of $150 million. After eight years, the Prime Minister is not worth the cost. When will Canadians get back their missing millions?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Innovation has already accepted the resignation of the CEO and chair. When allegations are made and issues arise, it is both appropriate and necessary for there to be a review of the matter. Those investigations and reviews are currently under way. We look forward to the results of those investigations.

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

Mr. Speaker, well, it is going to be more in depth than the whitewashed investigation that the Prime Minister and his minister put forward.

They are under investigation by the Auditor General, there are two Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner investigations and their board chair, his hand-picked chair, resigned in disgrace along with the CEO. The Prime Minister was handing out millions after his minister knew that his insiders had their hand in the cookie jar, taking 150 million taxpayer dollars.

The Prime Minister is not worth the cost after eight years and his NDP-Liberal government could not be more out of touch. Who got rich and where did the missing millions go?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives are making cheap political points. The Conservative Party of Canada cannot take yes for an answer.

The independent officers of Parliament are investigating. A third party review of the allegations is under way. We are committed to ensuring organizations that receive federal funding adhere to the highest standards of governance.

When it comes to fighting climate change and drawing in investments from around the world, we have a plan and we have a focus on doing it in the right ways to grow the economy and support Canadians. The Conservatives have no plan whatsoever. All they can do is try to play partisan political games.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Industry has been for 35 months the minister on this file, and the Prime Minister's hand-picked chair of the green slush fund admitted last night that she tried to get $2.2 million in taxpayer money funnelled to the Verschuren Centre vanity project from the fund she chairs. Then she got the employees of the slush fund to get another $10 million for the Verschuren Centre vanity project from Liberal ministers. She took the money and ran. Verschuren claimed this was being an entrepreneur; we are calling it grifting.

Why did the Prime Minister let his green slush fund chair abuse the taxpayer for personal gain?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the minister has already addressed this question and investigations are under way.

The work we are doing on fighting climate change is already cutting pollution while building a strong and competitive economy. While we work to advance our ambitious climate action, the Conservative Party has no plan because fighting climate change simply does not matter to it. The Conservative leader is turning his back on future generations on both the environment and the economy by refusing to commit to Canada's targets, like his mentor Stephen Harper did when he withdrew from the Kyoto accord.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of this Prime Minister, his Liberal cronies keep lining their pockets. The $1-billion Liberal green fund scandal has been confirmed in scathing testimony by a brave whistle-blower.

Do members recall the Loto-Québec ad “Bye bye boss”, where a lottery winner quits his job with pockets full of cash? The former president of the board of the Liberal green fund, appointed by this Prime Minister, did just that when she literally ran away in the middle of her testimony, her pockets full of $10 million in subsidies that she paid to herself.

When will the Prime Minister demand a refund of Canadians' money?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the minister has already addressed this issue and an investigation is under way.

When it comes to the environment, we are about to surpass the Harper government's 2030 target. The most recent greenhouse gas emissions forecasts show that Canada is on track to meet our government's 2030 climate target, a new, ambitious and achievable target. Our plan is working.

The Conservative Party leader's platform encourages emissions and benefits no one but large corporations that keep parroting the same slogans as him and that have been hurting us for decades.

Housing

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Uqaqtittiji, adequate housing for indigenous peoples has been neglected by Conservatives and Liberals. Thanks to the NDP, a for indigenous, by indigenous housing strategy will now help first nations, Métis and Inuit find adequate homes away from their home communities. However, there is still work do. Territorial governments like Nunavut are still waiting on the government to deliver funding for homes for their residents.

Why are the Liberals always delaying critical funding for housing in the territories?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have demonstrated time and time again how committed we are to addressing housing gaps in indigenous communities swiftly, effectively and in equal partnership. Since 2016, we have supported the construction and renovation of over 30,000 homes in first nations communities. We launched the $4-billion urban, rural and northern indigenous housing strategy despite the Conservative Party voting to cut this essential funding.

We will continue working with partners to codevelop and implement community-based housing solutions.

Grocery Industry

[Blake Desjarlais, NDP, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Mr. Speaker, Edmonton families are making tough choices this winter: put food on the table or buy Christmas presents for their kids. Who is stealing Christmas this year? Is it Scrooge? Is it the Grinch? No, it is the Liberal-Conservative corporate coalition. They have let their grocery CEO friends jack up prices to make record profits while Canadians turn to food banks for Christmas dinner.

Why is the government okay with letting grocery CEOs ruin the holidays for Edmonton families this winter?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have taken real actions to hold grocery CEOs to account with more competition, because more competition means lower prices, more choice and more innovative products and services for Canadians.

Our affordability legislation will empower the Competition Bureau to hold grocers accountable and prioritize consumers' interests. The fall economic statement proposes further amendments to the Competition Act to crack down on predatory pricing and better respond to anti-competitive mergers and more.

We are ensuring that Canadians have more competitive options, and we are limiting excess profits by corporations at the expense of Canadians.

Veterans Affairs

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Mr. Speaker, Canadian veterans have fought for our country and deserve all the respect in the world. Our government has invested over $11 billion in new services and supports for veterans since 2016 and will always support those who have served to promote and defend Canadian values, both at home and in so-called faraway foreign lands.

Can the Prime Minister update this House on what measures this government has taken to support our veterans?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Charlottetown for his advocacy and leadership on the veterans affairs committee.

One of the very first things we did when we formed government was reverse the damaging Conservative cuts to veterans services. Veterans remember when that party cut programs, fired 1,000 veteran support staff and closed nine veterans offices, all in an attempt to nickel-and-dime veterans to balance the budget for an election.

We saw last week that nothing has changed when the Conservatives voted to cut funding for our armed forces, and even worse, they voted last week to cut support for homeless veterans. Canadian veterans know they cannot trust the Conservative leader.

Carbon Pricing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, this is the Prime Minister who said veterans were asking for more than he could give. He sued them in court after he said he never would. He has caused the homelessness that he just talked about, and he spends the money on more bureaucracy instead of on our veterans.

He asked how much Carleton Mushroom Farms is spending on gas. He said it is spending too much. I have its bill records here. In November alone, it was $11,866, pro-rated to about $100,000 a year, which he wants to quadruple to $400,000 a year.

Once again, should the farm raise prices on consumers or cut production so polluting foreign farms get the business?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the average farm in Canada pays far less, around 1%, than what that very successful farm is paying. The reality is that 97% of farm fuel emissions are already exempt from the price on pollution. That is why we are continuing to move forward with programs and supports to encourage farms across the country, particularly very successful farms, to look at ways to reduce their emissions as they move forward into a net-zero future.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, that is his attitude now. Do we remember when he called small businesses wealthy tax cheats? Now he accuses Carleton Mushroom Farms of being too successful, and therefore it needs to pay higher taxes.

He clearly has no idea about our food supply chain, because, of course, grains have to be dried and the fuels for drying are now taxed. Barns have to be heated. Heating those barns is now taxed. There is a common-sense Conservative bill to axe the tax on those farmers to lower the price of food.

If he does not believe that this tax costs farmers, will he sit down with the Medeiros' Carleton Mushroom Farms and inspect its bill personally?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, our government reached out and will continue to reach out to a range of farmers across the country who want to reduce their emissions, who are concerned about climate change, who want to preserve our land for future generations and who understand, unlike the MAGA Conservatives, that there is no choice anymore between protecting the environment and growing the economy.

While the Conservatives want to take us back to the Stone Age, we are going to continue to invest in supporting farms, supporting businesses and supporting Canadians, while we reduce our pollution, reduce our emissions and build a stronger future for everyone.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, he has missed all his targets, except for the one year when Canadians were locked down. His own environment commissioner says he will come nowhere near meeting his 2030 targets, and now Canada ranks 58 out of 64 on the climate change performance index.

His tax is not working, nor does he seem to understand how food arrives. Food does not come from the grocery store. The average farmer in Canada has to spend $150,000 on his carbon tax for barns and drying, and that all has to go to consumers.

Will he pass our common-sense bill to axe the tax on food?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, when we took office eight years ago, Canada had no plan to reach even the Harper government's very modest environmental targets. We not only have surpassed the Harper targets but have put in place new ambitious targets that we are very much on track to meeting.

We have decreased our emissions over the past two years faster than any other G7 country, and we will continue to lead the way on demonstrating that we cannot have a plan for the future of the economy if we do not have a plan to fight climate change. That is what we are doing. That is what they are not.