Debates of Dec. 5th, 2023

The Environment

[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, I would just like to take a moment to welcome my friend and colleague back to the House. It is good to have her back, not only because it is good to talk about how we fight climate change and not whether we fight climate change in this House.

I think the idea of having a youth environment corps to fight climate change and bring forward great ideas is an awesome one. I am looking forward to talking with the member.

It also gives me great pleasure to announce in this House that Canada is the first country ever to commit to an oil and gas methane emissions target reduction of 75%. Other countries will follow in our footsteps. We will bring down our methane emissions by 75% by 2030.

Government Priorities

[Fayçal El-Khoury, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as Quebeckers and Canadians, we are proud of our culture, our French language and our commitment to protecting the environment for future generations.

In the face of Conservative policies that would send us back to the Stone Age, can the Quebec lieutenant and Minister of Transport tell us what initiatives the government is taking to safeguard and enhance our commitments to the environment, language and culture?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I commend my colleague for his excellent work.

Quebeckers are proud to participate in the energy transition with the battery industry. Our government is proud to support it.

The Conservative leader thinks that investing in Quebec is a waste. Quebeckers know that Radio-Canada is vital for our language, our culture and our democracy. The Conservative leader wants to destroy Radio-Canada. He does not like difficult questions.

With Bill C-13, we strengthened the rights of francophones across the country. The Conservative members do not even let their colleagues work in French. We will continue to advance the priorities of Quebeckers. We will not let the Conservatives send us back to the Stone Age.

Automotive Industry

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years, workers know that they cannot rely on the NDP. The NDP leader initially called for the release of EV contracts, but last night the NDP flip-flopped and voted with the Liberals to bury them. These contracts will cost taxpayers over $40 billion. That is about $3,000 per Canadian family and the money will be used to fund foreign replacement workers instead of Canadian paycheques.

The NDP-Liberal government betrayed workers and is complicit in a cover-up. What did the Liberals offer the NDP to get the NDP members to change their position and abandon workers and taxpayers?

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, investments like the LG and Stellantis EV battery plant represent a win for the economy, a win for Canadian workers and a win for the fight against climate change, but the Conservatives are so committed to their doomsday narrative that they just cannot admit that anything good is happening.

In a recent article in The Globe and Mail, a journalist writes that the Conservative leader “has not said he opposes subsidizing these battery makers. Rather, he is seeking to rile up working-class voters by falsely suggesting foreigners might be stealing their jobs.”

While the Conservatives are blinded by their self-induced rage, we are focused on realizing a positive vision for the future of our economy.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I have a simple proposition for the member. If the NDP-Liberal government is genuinely proud of its work, then release the contracts. Let all of us see them so that we can know, but the NDP is complicit with the Liberals in trying to bury these contracts. Why? Every Canadian family will pay $3,000 for these deals, so they want to know. What is in these deals for them?

Again, what did the Liberals offer the NDP members to get them to change their position, abandon workers and hide these contracts? What are they hiding?

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to share positive news. Canada is number three in the world in foreign direct investment, which is something that we should all be proud of.

Brendan Sweeney from the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing talked about the “specialized expertise workers” needed from outside of Canada to help set up the giant facility. He said, “There are hundreds, if not a thousand Windsorites, going off to the U.S. to help set up, test and service machinery in assembly, engine and Tier 1 plants. It’s a little hypocritical to fail to take into account the way...foreign direct investment works”—

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

Mr. Speaker, to help pay for overseas replacement workers, the NDP-Liberal government is going to send every Canadian family a bill for $3,000. The formerly pro-worker NDP has refused to stand up to the Prime Minister and demand the release of contracts that detail the number of foreign replacement workers that are going to take Canadian jobs. The Prime Minister clearly is not worth the cost to Canadian workers after eight years and neither is the NDP.

Will the Prime Minister finally stand up and tell Canadians how many foreign replacement workers $40 billion buys?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, it is curious to listen to the Conservatives after their eight years in opposition and hear how little they have learned on foreign direct investment, which is clearly nothing, how little they understand about free trade deals, which is clearly nothing, and how little they understand about creating good, middle-class jobs. What they are clearly against is 2,500 full-time jobs at the Stellantis plant and 2,300 construction jobs there.

It is clear that under a Conservative administration, Canada would be closed for business, but, guess what, not on our watch.

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

Mr. Speaker, let us talk about what has happened under the Liberals' watch.

Canada's Building Trades Unions says that so far, this NDP-Liberal government has cost $300 million in wages. If the Liberals are so proud of their record and so proud of these great deals that are going to cost every Canadian family $3,000, why will they not just release the contracts? They know that releasing those contracts will expose that $40 billion is buying a lot of foreign replacement workers that should, instead, be funding Canadian paycheques.

Why will the Liberals not release the contracts today?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, there are smart people on the Conservative benches, including trade lawyers and people who understand that contracts between nations and countries need to stay confidential because of important trade secrets.

What do the Conservatives have against the fact that Canada is now third in the world in foreign direct investment? After the United States and Brazil, who is next? It is Canada, ahead of China.

Clearly the Conservatives are against Dow in Fort Saskatchewan. They are against Stellantis. They are against Bécancourt. When are the Conservatives going to be on the side of workers? I do not know. Maybe they do.

CBC/Radio‑Canada

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, less than two weeks after the economic update, CBC/Radio-Canada, a Crown corporation, the public broadcaster paid for mostly with our money, is cutting 800 jobs and announcing that 600 people will soon be fired. The media crisis that was affecting the private sector has now spread to the public broadcaster. This will inevitably affect the quality of news. It will also affect our TV series and soaps and our ability to tell our own stories.

How long has the minister known about this? Did she agree with this decision? If not, what is she going to do to stop the carnage?

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

Mr. Speaker, I share my colleague's concerns regarding the future of CBC/Radio-Canada and our media in general. That is why our government worked to modernize the Broadcasting Act in order to implement new support measures for broadcasting across Canada.

With regard to CBC/Radio-Canada, when we came to power in 2015, we restored the $115 million in funding that the Conservatives had slashed.

We were also there during the pandemic. We will continue to be there and to fight for the future of CBC/Radio-Canada.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Radio‑Canada outperforms CBC. From news and current affairs to television series and soaps, Radio‑Canada is doing better than CBC. That is certainly not because there are more francophones in the country. We know that for a fact. However, Radio‑Canada, which has fewer employees and higher viewership, is being cut just as much as CBC. If anyone wanted to sabotage the French network, that would be the way to do it.

There is no way the Minister of Canadian Heritage did not know about what was coming. Did she alert her colleague, the Minister of Finance, before the economic update?

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

Mr. Speaker, we are certainly concerned about the future of CBC/Radio‑Canada. That is why we provided an appropriate level of support, particularly during the pandemic, but also when we returned to power after the Conservatives, who had slashed the public broadcaster's funding. We will continue to be there, to work with the Crown corporation and to respect its independence.

We invite management to be transparent about the situation and about upcoming decisions. For our part, we will work to ensure the public broadcaster's future and long-term survival.

Housing

[Karen Vecchio, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in little under a decade, Canada's housing costs have basically doubled. Earlier today, members of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations shared with me a story of seven individuals living in one apartment. We know there are many similar stories about this across the country.

After eight years, students are becoming homeless under the NDP-Liberal government. The PM is not worth the cost. When will the government step aside so we can get Canada back on track?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the members of the Canadian Alliance of Student Associations for its advocacy. I used to be a member when I was in the student government at StFX University.

I should say that, when we compare the policies of the Conservative Party to the policies the government is putting forward, it is clear that its policies will do more harm than good and raise the cost of living. We are putting policies in place that are going to remove the tax on new apartment construction so we get more apartments built. The Conservative Party would put the tax back on. We are investing in affordable housing when it is campaigning on a commitment to make sure it does not invest.

When it comes to supporting students and the housing they need, the solutions lay on our side of the House.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, last Saturday, our leader premiered a documentary on the housing crisis to explain its cause to Canadians and outline the solutions he is proposing. The documentary Housing Hell has garnered nearly four million views for a good reason. After eight years of this Liberal government, the price of houses, rent and mortgages has doubled and the number of people who are homeless is skyrocketing. People are suffering.

Will the minister put his ego aside, watch the Leader of the Opposition's documentary and adopt the solutions suggested to help Canadians put a roof over their heads?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, it is hard to accept a question about checking my ego at the door when the opposition leader uses his space on the floor of the House of Commons to invite people to watch a video. I am curious how many of those views are actually the opposition leader—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Deputy Speaker, Chris d'Entremont]

Order. The hon. Minister of Housing has the floor.

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Central Nova, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I am beginning to question how many of those views are the opposition leader going home at night to watch himself in the evening.

The reality is, when it comes to which party has a plan to build more homes, it is clear that it is the government. We have a plan to cut the costs of building. We have a plan to invest in cities. We have a plan to invest in affordable housing. We will get the job done.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister can laugh all he wants, but what will he say to the 30-year-old guy from Sherbrooke who has no place to live and cannot find a place to rent because $1,500 a month is more than he can afford? Right now, he says that he will have to live in a tent this winter at an encampment that has practically become a refugee camp, in the middle of Sherbrooke. It makes no sense.

Every measure this government has taken in the past eight years has led us to this, to situations where 30-year-old men and women, with all their means and abilities, cannot even afford rent. Will the minister admit that the measures taken by his government have produced no results for the past eight years?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, I understand the situation. That is exactly why we are investing in affordable housing in Sherbrooke. That is why we are investing a total of $900 million with our partners in the province of Quebec. It is very important to keep making investments.

I cannot believe that the member and the Leader of the Opposition are opposed to investments in affordable housing. We absolutely have to keep making our investments.

We are going to continue to make a difference and build the homes that Canadians need, including in Sherbrooke.

Small Business

[Sophie Chatel, Liberal, Pontiac, QC]

Mr. Speaker, here in Canada, we have attracted an incredible amount of foreign investment by making the most of Canada's assets.

In Quebec, 99% of businesses are SMEs. To say that we are going back to an economic stone age where we are lining the pockets of foreign multinationals and letting them dictate our policies is simply not true. No, we are investing in the heart of our businesses and SMEs.

I have a question for the Minister of Tourism and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec. How are we supporting SMEs in Quebec?