Debates of Dec. 15th, 2023

Health

[Élisabeth Brière, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families]

Madam Speaker, I totally agree with the member.

We continued this strategy by implementing the 988 suicide prevention line on November 30. That line has been very successful so far. It was receiving calls within the first few hours. Staff are well trained and ready to respond to help Canadians in these most difficult situations.

Foreign Affairs

[Yvan Baker, Liberal, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

Madam Speaker, our government is unwavering in our support for Ukraine, but there are troubling signs internationally and in this House.

This week President Zelenskyy urged American politicians not to succumb to far-right, MAGA-inspired plans to abandon Ukraine. Unfortunately, we are fighting the same fight here in Canada with Conservatives voting against the free trade agreement, voting against Operation Unifier and voting against military aid for Ukraine. This week Vladimir Putin said that western support for Ukraine is waning and that he will win the war. The situation is dire for all of us.

Can the parliamentary secretary share with Canadians what we are doing to support the Ukrainian people in their fight for their own survival, for global security and for Canada's security?

[Maninder Sidhu, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Export Promotion]

Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Etobicoke Centre for his tireless advocacy. Earlier this week, President Biden urged Republicans not to give Vladimir Putin an early Christmas gift and abandon Ukraine. It looks like Christmas came early for the MAGA-inspired Conservatives right here in Canada. While they are busy voting against trade and against Ukraine, we will not waver. At the international trade committee, we heard directly from industry groups, the UCC and the ambassador of Ukraine, who supports this modernized trade agreement.

I hope our colleagues across the way will take some time over the holidays to reflect, come to their senses and support this trade agreement with Ukraine.

Carbon Pricing

[Tako Van Popta, Conservative, Langley—Aldergrove, BC]

Madam Speaker, the Rocky Ridge Turkey Farm in Langley just received its heating bill. It was $3,000 and shockingly, a quarter of it is the carbon tax. When it quadruples, farmer Steve's heating bill is going to be 60% carbon tax. It is ridiculous. After eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, it is clear that the Prime Minister is just not worth the cost.

What is his advice to farmer Steve? Is it to raise prices on Canadians or cut production so that Canadians are forced to import food from polluting foreign farms?

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

Madam Speaker, it is Christmas and I want to thank the turkey farmers for doing an amazing job providing turkeys for all of us during Christmas.

The one thing that the entire supply-managed sector is asking of us is to support Bill C-282. I know that caucus is split, but our caucus is unified in terms of supporting our dairy farmers, our turkey farmers, our egg farmers and our chicken farmers.

Where is that member's support and where is that caucus's support for Bill C-282 in the other chamber?

[Tako Van Popta, Conservative, Langley—Aldergrove, BC]

Madam Speaker, where is the support from the Liberals for our common-sense bill, Bill C-234, which they rejected? It is a common-sense solution to tackling food inflation.

Why did the Prime Minister reject supporting Canadian farmers and the citizens who rely on them for a good, safe, affordable food supply?

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Madam Speaker, what I want for Christmas is for that member of the justice committee and his colleagues to end their antics and stop playing with people's lives. I am talking about David and Joyce Milgaard's law. That is a law that would change the way we address wrongful convictions and end systemic discrimination.

Reversing a wrongful conviction should never be a partisan matter, but filibusters by that member and his colleagues at the committee have made it exactly that. These delays mean that potentially wrongfully convicted people, like indigenous people and Black people languishing in our prisons, will just languish a little longer. That is reprehensible behaviour and that needs to be corrected immediately.

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Madam Speaker, places of worship in Edmonton have always helped with food hampers for those in need, regardless of their faith. After eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, they are seeing record increases of those seeking help. What is the government's solution? More carbon taxes. One church alone in my riding is facing a bill of $30,000 in carbon taxes this year alone. The government is probably not aware, but they cannot pass those costs on to their congregants.

When will the government axe the tax so places of faith can have more to give to families in need?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Madam Speaker, I think it is essential that we be straight with people who are going through difficult times. Those difficult times are felt all over the world. The fact that Canada is doing better than just about any other country in the world is cold comfort to people who are suffering.

What they need are solutions, like dental care so that seniors can get the dental care they need and one million children can get the dental care they need. Of course, the Conservatives voted against that. Not taking action on the climate and cutting support for vulnerable people is really what this is about.

Finance

[Richard Lehoux, Conservative, Beauce, QC]

Madam Speaker, after eight years, the costly Bloc-Liberal coalition wants to radically increase the carbon tax, driving up the price of all food. They are so out of touch with reality. It is costly to vote for the Bloc Québécois.

The food bank in my region is receiving roughly 12,500 user requests a month. According to Marie Champagne of Moisson Beauce, that is an 82% increase compared to a few years ago. More than a third of these requests are for children.

Will the Prime Minister follow our common-sense plan and eliminate inflationary taxes and deficits so that Canadians can have enough to eat at Christmas?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Madam Speaker, the Conservatives keep talking about the price on pollution. There are some very clear facts.

First, pollution exists. Second, climate change exists. Third, the price on pollution will help reduce emissions by one-third over the next few years. Fourth, we know that the Conservatives are no longer welcome in the Magdalen Islands. We know they will not be visiting the Plains of Abraham in the next few weeks because they voted against the Plains of Abraham project. We know they will not want to go to the St-Tite western festival. Maybe they could go to Baie-Saint-Paul where, a few months ago, there was catastrophic flooding that destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses.

Would the member for Beauce agree to invite his climate-change-denying leader to Baie-Saint-Paul so he can understand that climate change exists?

Small Business

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Madam Speaker, the federal government has one last chance before the holidays to prevent a wave of SME bankruptcies. It has to extend the January 18 loan forgiveness repayment deadline for the emergency business account.

As inflation chips away at families' budgets this Christmas, the customer base for restaurants shrinks by 20% and bankruptcies increase by 81% compared to last year, the life is draining out of our main streets, and the survival of our small local businesses hangs in the balance.

Will the federal government finally extend the deadline and let our SMEs get through the winter?

[Bryan May, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Small Business and to the Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario]

Madam Speaker, the CEBA program provided unprecedented support to nearly 900,000 small businesses and helped keep their doors open and their lights on. Last year, our government extended the forgiveness qualification deadline by one year, to the end of this year. We know that times are still tough and that is why our government has extended the full loan for another year.

We are going to continue to listen to small businesses throughout this time and we are going to continue to have their backs.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Madam Speaker, it seems holiday magic is not meant for everyone.

According to Statistics Canada, more than 98,000 companies are unsure whether they have the liquidity or access to credit available to repay their CEBA loans.

With 98,000 businesses in limbo, SMEs are not the only ones in need of reassurance before the holidays. Hundreds of thousands of workers need some too. The January 18 deadline is a sword hanging over all these peoples' heads.

Will the government extend the deadline so they can rest assured that their jobs will still be waiting for them after the holidays?

[Bryan May, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Small Business and to the Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario]

Madam Speaker, we are offering additional flexibilities for small businesses to repay their CEBA loans. This includes a full one-year extension on the term loan repayment deadline, more flexibility on refinancing and more time to access the loan forgiveness, which is a balanced and fiscally responsible approach.

We know that times are tough, which is why our government will also be cutting taxes for growing small businesses and lowering their credit card fees by up to a quarter.

Innovation, Science and Industry

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Madam Speaker, the Liberals' billion-dollar green slush fund is mired in corruption. Tens of millions of taxpayers' dollars have been funnelled to companies that board members have an interest in and yesterday, at the industry committee, the former chair dismissed this corruption as the normal course of business. In other words, it is business as usual.

After eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, can the minister explain why corruption and self-dealing are business as usual?

[Maninder Sidhu, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Export Promotion]

Madam Speaker, let us be clear. As soon as we found out about these alleged allegations, the Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development acted quickly. The Minister of Innovation has already accepted the resignation of the CEO Annette Verschuren. We take these allegations extremely seriously, which is why we are following proper due diligence.

Our government is committed to ensure that organizations that receive federal funding adhere to the highest standards of governance. We are committed to getting to the bottom of these allegations.

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Madam Speaker, according to the whistle-blower, more than $150 million has been misappropriated by Liberal insiders at the green slush fund and yet, incredibly, the minister continues to stand behind the board, a board that has engaged in self-dealing to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.

This is scandalous. It begs the question: What does the minister know, when did he know about it and who is he protecting?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Madam Speaker, the member opposite knows that this agency was created 20 years ago and operates at arm's length. I am not sure what the member is saying. Is he saying that if the Conservatives were in government, he would be interfering and managing the organization or is he saying that if he saw malfeasance, he would do what we did, which is to immediately call people in to review what has occurred?

What this is really about is the Conservatives being against taking action on climate change and being beholden to a base that has MAGA values.

[An hon. member]

It's tens of millions of dollars of corruption.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member knows full well that if he has other questions, he can ask for a late show to expand on his question today.

The hon. member for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo.

[Frank Caputo, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Madam Speaker, after eight long years of the NDP-Liberal government, we know that it is just not worth the cost. We have the government's billion-dollar green slush fund and what do we have following that? Over $150 million appears to have been criminally misappropriated. Rather than word-salad explanations that they are investigating, we can say that there is an Auditor General investigation and an ethics investigation, times two.

Why will the government not just call in the RCMP?

[Terry Beech, Liberal, Minister of Citizens’ Services]

Madam Speaker, as we go away, we know that Canadians have had a hard year. We know that we have suffered with global inflation. We have had troubles with war in Ukraine and elsewhere. We have had, of course, the after-effects of the pandemic and climate change.

Despite that, I think Canadians can feel good about the fact that we still have the lowest net-debt-to-GDP ratio in the G7 and that we have lifted millions of Canadians out of poverty. We have done that by investing in programs like health care, dental care, the CCB, $10-a-day child care, retirement security, and investments in communities like the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, all investments—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for Egmont.

Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

Madam Speaker, Atlantic Canada has had its fair share of challenges over the past three years. A deadly hurricane, natural disasters and a global pandemic have left Atlantic Canadians wondering what the future holds.

Can the Minister of Rural Economic Development and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency outline for the people in my Egmont riding what the government is doing to help Atlantic Canada recover, rebuild and thrive?