Debates of Dec. 4th, 2023

Housing

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, the irony, when I take criticism about photo ops from that member, is shocking, because he continues to use his opportunities to travel around the country on the government's dime to take pictures in front of projects that our government funded.

The reality is that the fund he is talking about has secured agreements that will change the way cities are built, not just in Halifax but in Moncton, Kitchener, Kelowna, Calgary, Vaughan, Brampton, Richmond Hill, London, Hamilton, the province of Quebec, and I will continue the more time he gives me.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, all those homes in all those cities that he is talking about are all open concept. They have no walls, no windows, no roofs, no basements, no kitchens, no bathrooms. Other than that, they are the best homes we could imagine, and we will have to imagine them, because after eight years, they still do not exist.

Instead of pouring billions of dollars into local government gatekeepers who block construction, why will he not follow my common-sense plan to require cities to boost housing construction by 15% a year or lose their money, unless they beat the target and get a building bonus? That is common sense.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member's argument falls apart when we come to understand that he ignores the good work that has been done since the national housing strategy was adopted in 2017. There are hundreds of thousands of homes that exist today that have been built or retrofitted as a direct result of government supports that have put them in place.

When we actually look at what the hon. member's policy would do, it would raise taxes on middle-class home construction. It would cut funding to cities that desperately need the infrastructure so they can build more homes. He would remove support for affordable housing altogether, which is a cardinal sin we cannot repeat after a 30-year history when we should have learned those lessons.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the member says it is a cardinal sin.

It is time for that member to make a confession. Since 2017, when they brought in this program, housing costs have doubled. Rent has doubled. Mortgage payments have doubled. The needed down payments have all doubled.

My common-sense plan, which is in a 15-minute documentary he can watch between photo ops while he is being chauffeured around, would ensure that cities have to permit 15% more homes to keep their funding. It would take taxes off construction, including carbon taxes off of building materials. It would require CMHC bureaucrats to quickly approve financing or lose their bonuses and get fired.

This is a common-sense plan. Why will he not get working to implement it?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, I am fond of the hon. member's soliloquies on biblical passages. I read scripture in church growing up, and if there is one lesson I took, it is that we all have a responsibility to help the vulnerable members of our community.

The reality is that we have been investing since 2017 to put money in place for supporting people who do not have a roof over their head and for building more affordable housing after 30 years of Liberal and Conservative governments not taking the issue of housing seriously. The hon. member plans to make cuts when we will make investments. I know which path will put a roof over more of my neighbours' heads.

CBC/Radio-Canada

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, CBC/Radio-Canada management met with the Crown corporation's employees at 2 p.m. to give them some very bad news.

Things are not going well for the media these days. More than 600 jobs are going to be cut. This announcement is almost a repetition of the Quebecor announcement in early November. It means that our culture, our sense of regional belonging and the quality of the news we receive are going to suffer.

Here is my first question: How long has the Minister of Canadian Heritage known that these job cuts were coming?

[Pascale St-Onge, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, let me begin by saying that my thoughts are with all CBC/Radio Canada employees who are currently meeting with management. We are aware of the major crisis in the media sector caused by the dominance of digital platforms in the advertising market and rising production costs.

We cancelled the Harper government's budget cuts when we took office, reinvesting $115 million in the public broadcaster. The Conservatives want to take away Canadians' access to a public broadcaster, but we will continue to be there for CBC/Radio‑Canada.

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in June, Catherine Tait, the CEO of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, had her contract extended by 18 months. It will end in January 2025. She said that gave her 18 months to combat disinformation. Cutting hundreds of jobs over the next few months really means cutting news.

Basically, Ms. Tait is not there to combat disinformation. The government extended her contract so she could cut those jobs. At least, that is the impression we are getting.

Was that the real plan when her contract was extended?

[Pascale St-Onge, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I would remind the House that CBC/Radio-Canada is an independent corporation that operates at arm's length from the government and must manage its administration internally. However, our government has always been there to support journalists at CBC/Radio-Canada and at all media outlets across the country.

That is why we have introduced programs to better support them. That is why we insisted that the digital giants pay their fair share here in Canada. I was pleased last week to announce that Google would contribute $100 million a year, indexed to inflation.

Now, we still need to do more to support news organizations and our public broadcaster. We will continue to do so.

The Economy

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in any case, the Liberals do not seem to be there for Radio‑Canada. The holidays are fast approaching and people are wondering what they are going to do.

The charity Opération Père Noël reports that underprivileged children are not even asking for Christmas presents anymore; they are asking for food. The organizers say that they have never seen this before. That is what happens when CEOs are so greedy and profit-hungry that they stuff their pockets at the expense of parents who are struggling to make ends meet.

The Liberals are doing nothing about this predatory behaviour, and the Conservatives would rather protect corporate profits.

During these difficult times, why are the Liberals turning their backs on families to help big bosses?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, our government understands that times are tough for many families in Canada. That is why our government is there to support them. Our government is there with the Canada child benefit, which helps less fortunate families and many children in the country.

As far as taxes are concerned, our government implemented taxes on financial institutions to pay for investments made during COVID‑19.

Grocery Industry

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

Mr. Speaker, the holidays are coming up, and parents are stressed about covering presents for the kids and managing the costs of a turkey dinner. Meanwhile, Canada's biggest grocery chains are making bucketloads of excess profit. While families struggle this holiday season, the Liberals are offering families a lump of coal with no solutions and just words, but the NDP is getting results. We have summoned the grocery CEOs back to testify on food prices, and Sobeys is here today.

Will the minister take this opportunity to put his foot down on unchecked price gouging that is driving up food prices?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, our government understands that this is a challenging time for too many families across the country, and that is why we are there to support families. We are there to support them with the Canada child benefit. We are there to support them with a historic investment in early learning and child care. There are 2.3 million Canadians who have been lifted out of poverty thanks to support from our government.

We believe it is important for the biggest companies to pay their fair share. We think we need to introduce more competition into the grocery sector, and we are doing that with a historic transformation of competition law.

Carbon Pricing

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Liberal-NDP government, it plans on quadrupling its carbon tax scam to crush families, farmers and first nations further. The Prime Minister is not worth the cost. He refuses to tell the senators to stand down and pass the common-sense Conservative bill, Bill C-234, which would take the tax off our farmers. Even first nations communities, more than 100, are fed up and taking the government to court over the carbon tax, saying it is disproportionate and an unfair burden to them.

When will the Prime Minister finally take the carbon tax off families, farmers and first nations?

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

Mr. Speaker, for the fourth or fifth time, I would like to remind the Conservatives that the only senators who sit in a caucus sit in their Conservative caucus, and that the Senate is independent.

I would like to raise the fact that the Conservatives have had a really troubling trend of bullying, particularly of female senators, whenever they are not getting what they want out of the Senate. That is a real problem. That is a problem for democracy, and they should reconsider how they manage their affairs on Twitter when accusing senators of not advancing legislation at their whim and whimsy.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Mr. Speaker, this is coming from the guy who swore at a girl in her DMs.

After eight years, the Liberal-NDP government's empty acts of reconciliation are not worth the cost. A recent Auditor General report proved the carbon tax is an unfair burden on indigenous communities, something the Chiefs of Ontario reiterated just last week. The Liberal-NDP government still plans on quadrupling this carbon tax scam.

When will the Prime Minister finally take the carbon tax off families, farmers and first nations?

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

Mr. Speaker, a price on pollution is an important part of addressing the climate issue in a manner that actually promotes innovation and incentives.

I will read a couple of quotes: “We recognize that the most efficient way to reduce our emissions is to use price mechanisms.” Also, “We will work with the provinces and territories...at both the national and state levels, to develop...a trade system for greenhouse gases”. Those are from the Conservative Party platforms of 2008 and 2021. My god, it is the height of hypocrisy in this chamber.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, a common-sense Conservative bill, Bill C-234, would save farmers close to a billion dollars, but the Prime Minister, who is demanding his senators block this bill, is not worth the cost. The Kielstra farm in Okotoks paid $180,000 in carbon taxes this year. When the Prime Minister quadruples that tax, it will be $480,000, just in carbon taxes. There is no way, when two million Canadians are relying on food banks, that we can afford to not have affordable, nutritious Canadian-grown food.

Will the Prime Minister finally remove the carbon tax from families, farmers and first nations?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, being a farmer, I fully understand how important it is to take care of the soil and the environment. Our party has a plan for the environment. My hon. colleague's party does not have a plan for the environment. Quite simply, with our plan, we are able to make millions of dollars in British Columbia to help farmers innovate, increase their production and make sure farmers remain on the cutting edge. We have done, and we will continue to do, just that.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I agree with the agriculture minister. Our plan is definitely not to bankrupt farmers and continue to make food unaffordable. Canadian farmers are struggling under punishing input costs such as the carbon tax. In fact, often the carbon tax costs them more than the natural gas they use. Bill C-234, a common-sense Conservative bill, is the solution, but the Prime Minister is blocking his senators from passing this bill in the Senate.

Will the Prime Minister follow his 2001 campaign promise to pass it forward, and let this bill pass the Senate to finally take the carbon tax off farmers, families and first nations?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my hon. colleague's concern, but I think he is fully aware that the only party in the House that has any control over senators is the Conservative Party of Canada. We do not have senators in our caucus. There was some talk of harassment in the Senate. We are not involved in harassment.

What we want to do as a government is make sure farmers innovate, produce more product and be more profitable. We have done, and will continue to do, just that.

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

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of this Prime Minister, young Quebeckers between the ages of 18 and 45 are losing hope about their future. A poll cited in the Journal de Montréal found that they had not experienced inflation before the Liberals. Quebeckers aged 18 to 45 have been thrown into the deep end. In fact, 75% of them have postponed or cancelled major life events, such as building a house or having a child.

Instead of taking action now, the Liberals and Bloc Québécois voted against our motion to reduce the taxes that are increasing prices across the board.

Will the Prime Minister tell the senators he appointed to stop delaying the passage of Bill C-234 so we can reduce the cost of groceries for all Canadians?

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

Mr. Speaker, as my colleagues have already said, there is only one party in the House that controls its senators, and that is the Conservative Party.

If the Conservatives wanted to lower prices for Canadians so they would have better access to food, they would have supported the free trade agreement with Ukraine.

We can only hope that the leader of the Conservative Party lets his MPs vote independently so that prices can come down and we can support Ukraine in its fight for freedom.

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

Mr. Speaker, while this government is trying to divert everyone's attention, here is the reality. Santa Claus received a list from a young Quebecker who was asking for a gift card so he could have a good meal this Christmas. Fifty-four per cent of young people aged 18 to 45 have seen their standard of living fall after eight years of this government's inflationary policies.

The costly Bloc-Liberal coalition does not understand that. They do not understand how desperate young Quebeckers feel. It is costly to vote for the Bloc. The Bloc Québécois wants to drastically increase the carbon tax that raises the price of everything.

Will the Prime Minister finally scrap his plan to drastically increase the carbon tax on farmers and families?

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

Mr. Speaker, I have a tremendous amount of respect for my colleague opposite, but I am confused, because as a Quebecker, he knows very well that Quebec is not part of the federal pollution pricing system. I do not understand why he continues to mislead Quebeckers and Canadians.

What we can say is that, at every opportunity, the Conservatives have voted against support for Canadians. It is nice that they are now showing an interest in Canadians, but it is new for them.