Debates of Dec. 7th, 2023

International Trade

[Yvan Baker, Liberal, Etobicoke Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister of International Trade on the Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement.

I have been speaking with Ukrainian Canadian Congress branches across Canada, and they have been telling me how important this agreement is to both Canada's economy and Ukraine's economy and to Ukraine's rebuild. Now, it has been over a week since the Ukrainian Canadian Congress wrote to the leader of the Conservative Party to express its disappointment in the fact that every single Conservative MP voted against the agreement and to urge them to support it. Still, Conservatives oppose it.

Could the minister reassure Canadians that, despite Conservative opposition and obstruction, the government will stand with the Ukrainian people until they win?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Minister of Export Promotion]

Mr. Speaker, Ukrainians have a word for the Conservative position on the Canada-Ukraine free trade agreement. It is “nisenitnytsya”, or nonsense.

It is nonsense to call this agreement “woke”. It is nonsense to not stand up for Ukraine sovereignty. It is nonsense to suggest that this agreement puts a price on pollution on Ukraine because it has had a price on pollution since 2011.

President Zelenskyy wants this agreement. The rest of this House voted for this agreement. Why will the Conservatives not vote for this agreement?

Carbon Pricing

[Marc Dalton, Conservative, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Prime Minister, British Columbians are having a tough time making ends meet. Mortgages and rents are among the highest in the world. Gas prices are the highest in North America. Inflation on groceries has led to the longest lineups ever at food banks. As a former B.C. MLA, I have seen the light and hope that the NDP-Liberal government will also show some common sense and axe the tax.

Will the Prime Minister listen to Canadians and take the carbon tax off of farmers, first nations and families?

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

Mr. Speaker, I find the question coming form the hon. member very interesting given he was a member of the caucus of the B.C. Liberal government that put in place the carbon price in British Columbia.

His leader, the former premier, Gordon Campbell, said at the time that putting a price on carbon pollution was a way to reduce emissions, incent innovation and drive an economy going forward. He voted for that.

[Bob Zimmer, Conservative, Prince George—Peace River—Northern Rockies, BC]

Mr. Speaker, sadly, empty words from those Liberals will not fill empty stomachs in Nunavut.

Kyra Kilabuk, an Inuit woman, shares photos of current food prices in Nunavut on her social media. A can of Campbell's potato soup is $11. A medium box of Cheerios is $17. A small package of ham is $18. After eight years, Nunavut knows the Prime Minister is not worth the cost.

When will the Prime Minister finally listen to Canadians and scrap the carbon tax on farmers, first nations and families?

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

Mr. Speaker, as my hon. colleague knows, eight out of 10 Canadian families actually get more money back. If he would take the time to actually read the study that was published by the University of Calgary recently, he would know that the people who are most vulnerable get far more money back than they actually pay.

Instead of presenting a plan for the economy or for the environment, the Leader of the Opposition spends his spend musing about pulling out of the Paris agreement, joining Nicaragua and Syria. This will do nothing to address the economic future of Canada, nothing for the future of our children in fighting climate change. The climate-denying Conservative Party is not worth the risk.

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Christmas is coming and Canadians are struggling to put food on the table. Since 2016, there has been an 82% increase in the number of workers in Ontario who are using food banks.

Bill C-234 would have taken the carbon tax off farmers, but the desperate Prime Minister spent the weekend calling senators pleading them to kill the bill. He is just not worth the cost.

Will the Prime Minister listen to Canadians and take carbon tax off farmers, first nations and families?

[Seamus O'Regan, Liberal, Minister of Labour and Seniors]

Mr. Speaker, there have been accusations that she and other members have made in the past couple of days that people in the other place were given marching orders by the Prime Minister on how to vote on that piece of legislation. Of course that is not true.

The real question here, and what so many Canadians are wondering, is on the issue of a Ukraine free trade agreement and who told them how to vote. That is what Canadians are wondering. Who told them or did they each arrive at this independently? What a shameful exercise to vote against a beacon of democracy in this world.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Mr. Speaker, according to Canada's Food Price Report just released by Dalhousie, food will cost a family of four an additional $700 next year, totalling $16,297. After eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, Canadians are being forced into the highest level of food bank use in history, proving the Prime Minister is not worth the cost, as he plans to quadruple his penalizing carbon tax.

Will the Prime Minister listen to Canadians and finally take the carbon tax off farmers, first nations and families that are just trying to heat their homes?

[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, it is clear the member opposite does not believe in climate change, but I wonder if he believes in math.

A Calgary-based economist did a study on our carbon pricing program, and I will give him two quotes: first, “A clear majority of [Canadian] households do receive rebates that are larger than” the pollution price costs; and, second, “If we got rid of the carbon tax and rebate, this would harm...lower- and middle-income households.”

When will the Conservatives admit their risky, irresponsible and reckless approach will plunge Canadians back into Harper era poverty?

CBC/Radio-Canada

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, CEO Catherine Tait announced that CBC/Radio-Canada is laying off 600 employees. This is a catastrophe. It is a catastrophe for news and regional information. It is a catastrophe for Quebec culture and democracy, and of course it is a catastrophe for Radio-Canada creatives.

Catherine Tait's chosen approach is like water torture: Waves of layoffs stretching out over months, leaving everyone feeling like they could get the boot at any second. It is disgusting, yet the executives have the gall to give themselves holiday bonuses. Shame on them.

Does the Minister of Canadian Heritage still have confidence in Catherine Tait?

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank my Bloc Québécois colleague for his question.

The public broadcaster, which is supported by public money, is accountable to Canadians for its decisions. I encourage the CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada to answer the questions people are asking about the compensation policy.

What I can say is that our government will always be there to support a public broadcaster that is strong from coast to coast to coast. We understand how important it is, especially in Quebec and in all francophone communities, so we will always stand up for it.

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased that the minister also wants answers from the president and CEO of CBC/Radio-Canada, but I would remind the minister that it is her responsibility to appoint the CEO.

Ms. Tait's 18-month tenure was supposed to focus on combatting disinformation. However, she is doing the opposite. The loss of 600 jobs will mean less news. We need to send a clear message. There should have been zero layoffs announced on Monday, not 600.

No layoffs should have been announced, or maybe just one. If Catherine Tait does not back down on those cuts, will the minister fire her?

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

Mr. Speaker, since we took office in 2015, our government has shown that we have always been there to support the public broadcaster. We gave back the $115 million that the Conservatives cut, despite the fact that the Bloc Québécois, which was the official opposition at the time, failed to prevent the Conservatives from making those budget cuts.

We gave that funding back to the CBC. We will continue to be there despite the media crisis, despite all the difficulties that our Canadian media are facing right now. We will continue to support our public broadcaster, and I would invite all the parties here, except the Conservatives, who want to axe CBC/Radio-Canada, to help us find good solutions.

Carbon Pricing

[Dave Epp, Conservative, Chatham-Kent—Leamington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, released today, the food price report shows that a family of four is going to pay $700 more for food next year. Meanwhile, overall dollars for food spent are going down because of the cost of everything else. That means Canadians are reducing the quality or quantity, or both, of the food they buy.

This morning, Walmart and the CEO of Loblaws, Galen Weston, said the carbon tax charged to the farmer, to the trucker, to the retailer and then to the food producer will get passed on to the consumer.

After eight years, the NDP-Liberal government is not worth the cost. When will the Prime Minister repeal the carbon tax on farmers, first nations and families?

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

Mr. Speaker, being a farmer and part of a government that understands there is a problem with the climate, I know we have climate change. Climate affects the weather. Destructive weather destroys farms and destroys farm crops.

Quite simply, we have a program in place. Unfortunately, the Conservative Party of Canada does not have a plan to deal with the environment. With our plan, we are able to deal with the agricultural sector in clusters and with provincial governments right across the country to help farmers deal with climate change and become innovative.

We have more to do and we will continue to do it.

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

Mr. Speaker, that is no plan.

A desperate, panicking Prime Minister spent last weekend calling senators, pleading with them to kill Bill C-234, which would lower grocery prices for Canadians. On Tuesday, those supposedly independent senators voted to gut Bill C-234, betraying farmers and keeping food prices high.

After eight years of rising prices and lower paycheques, Canadians know that the Prime Minister is not worth the cost. Will the Prime Minister listen to Canadians and take the carbon tax off farmers, first nations and families?

[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, it is clear the member does not agree with climate action. I wonder if his children would agree with climate action. It is going to impact next generations more than it affects us. When Conservatives show Canadians who they are advocating for, they take notice.

I would pose a question back to the Leader of the Opposition. As a family of four, he would have received $976 in climate action incentive payments. He lives in a taxpayer-funded mansion and gets driven around, so he does not buy very much gas himself. Did he cash the cheque?

Natural Resources

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

Mr. Speaker, last night, under the cover of darkness, the NDP-Liberal government rammed through its anti-energy unjust transition and job-killing agenda at the natural resources committee. It broke every rule of parliamentary procedure and denied MPs the chance to be heard as it rammed through its anti-energy agenda.

On the agenda of the committee, I ask the chair of the natural resources committee this: When will the committee consider this matter again, and how does the chair justify another gross betrayal of Canadian workers?

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

As members know, this question was put to the chair of the committee. I do not see the chair of the committee, but I see the vice-chair standing up.

The hon. member for Lakeland.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the chair, the MP for Calgary Skyview, should be ashamed and will pay for his choice to betray his constituents.

Bill C-50 is the top-down global just transition that will end 170,000 jobs—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

I invite the hon. member for Lakeland, to make sure there was no misinterpretation of her answer, to start again from the top. I would ask her to be careful in the language she uses.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the constituents of Calgary Skyview will hold their MP to account for his betrayal, and he will pay at the ballot box.

Bill C-50 is the top-down just transition that will end oil and gas in Canada in favour of dictator and U.S. oil. The NDP-Liberals know it will kill 170,000 oil and gas jobs immediately and hurt 2.7 million Canadians working in transportation, construction, agriculture and manufacturing on top of it. It will make power and fuel prices skyrocket. The NDP-Liberals also know it will hurt indigenous and visible minority Canadians the worst.

It has never been more clear that Canadians cannot afford the colluding costs of the cover-up coalition.

Justice

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, our bail reform bill received royal assent this week. This legislation is the result of consultations with and close collaboration between our government, all the provinces and territories, and Canada's major police associations. Canadians need to have confidence in our justice system and know that it will protect them from harm. My question is for the Minister of Justice and Attorney General.

How will this bill improve the safety of Canadians?

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Alfred-Pellan for his question and his dedication.

As a minister, a father and a Canadian, community safety is one of my top priorities. Bill C-48 has now received royal assent. This bail reform bill will keep repeat violent offenders off our streets. Our government will continue to fight crime and its root causes to keep communities safe.

All of Canada's premiers, police forces and municipalities called for action, and we acted.