Debates of Feb. 10th, 2023

Climate Change

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources and to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Madam Speaker, we are working on real climate solutions right across our economy. Whether it be putting on a target on sales of electric vehicles to reduce combustion, or whether it be retrofitting buildings right across our country to reduce combustion, we are taking action.

Carbon capture and storage is one of the tools in the tool box. It is not the only one. Here on this side, we know we are going to take a full spectrum across all sectors of our economy so that we take action on climate change.

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Madam Speaker, Canadians have seen what happens when we are not prepared for climate disasters: Homes are swept out to sea, and vital transportation corridors are destroyed by floods. Municipalities across Canada are asking for help, but the Liberals are not stepping up. Instead, according to Postmedia, the government is underfunding disaster adaptation by $13 billion.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities is calling for action, so will the Liberals listen and immediately increase disaster adaptation funding?

[Terry Duguid, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Madam Speaker, unlike the party opposite, we believe climate change is real. Those costs are going up, as the hon. member mentioned, and we are feeling the impacts from coast to coast to coast: floods, fires and droughts costing billions. That is why we launched, just a short time ago, our national adaptation strategy. We have invested $1.6 billion, and there are 84 very specific measures. We are going to protect our communities. We are going to save lives, and we are going to build a resilient economy.

Health

[Valerie Bradford, Liberal, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

Madam Speaker, over the last few years, especially over the last three years, our health care system has experienced significant challenges. Every Canadian deserves to get the health care they need whenever and wherever they need it. That is why I am proud our government presented a plan to deliver real results for patients and health care workers.

Can the Minister of Health please update this House on the recent progress made to improve health care for all Canadians?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Madam Speaker, I thank our colleague from Kitchener for her hard work. I am thankful for this opportunity to say exactly that. On Tuesday, we made an offer of over $200 billion over the next 10 years to prepare the future in health care, but also to repair the damage that was caused by COVID-19, by giving more access to family health teams, which are essential for a truly functioning health care system, reducing backlogs, supporting health care workers, investing in mental health and having a data system in Canada that saves lives and protects the health of workers.

Public Safety

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Madam Speaker, after eight years of this Prime Minister's soft-on-crime policies, the consequences are devastating. In Vancouver, the same 40 offenders were arrested 6,000 times in a single year. The Liberal government is fine with releasing criminals back into their communities.

Shootings in Montreal are on the rise. The government is reducing sentences for gun crimes. This cannot happen in Canada.

When will they introduce tougher measures to keep violent criminals in jail?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Madam Speaker, Canadians deserve to feel safe and to be safe.

The laws are clear. If an accused poses a risk to public safety, they should be denied bail. At the Minister of Justice's direction, federal officials have been working for months with their provincial and territorial counterparts to develop ways to best keep Canadians safe.

We all have a role to play in protecting our communities. In fact, the Minister of Justice met with police chiefs from across the country to listen to their suggestions on how to deal with serious, repeat violent offenders on bail. They agreed that we need lasting solutions that are—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member for Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup.

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Madam Speaker, violent crime has increased by 32% since this Prime Minister took office. After eight years, gang-related homicides are up by 92%. Canadians are becoming increasingly concerned.

It is sad to see that, in such a peaceful country as Canada, people are now afraid to walk down the street or take the subway in Toronto.

What will the Prime Minister do to take things seriously and put in place real measures to protect people?

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance]

Madam Speaker, the Conservatives are talking about the increase in violence in our streets and the increase in gun violence. However, they are against gun control in Canada.

We introduced a bill that seeks to freeze the market for handguns, and the Conservatives are against the idea. If they really want to protect our children and Canadians, they need to get on board so that we can get handguns off our streets.

Justice

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

Madam Speaker, after eight years of Liberals dragging their feet and not acting on bail reform, we find ourselves here, where bail is broken.

Premiers want change. Canadians want change. Police want change.

The government prefers to talk rather than act. Yesterday, I and my Conservative colleagues took the first step in a very long journey on bail in tabling Bill C-313. Will the government pass this legislation or get out of the way so that we can reform bail?

[Gary Anandasangaree, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Madam Speaker, all Canadians deserve to be safe and to feel safe. The laws on bail are clear. If an accused person poses a serious risk to public safety, they should be denied bail.

At the Minister of Justice's direction, federal officials have been working for months with their provincial and territorial counterparts. We all have a role to play in protecting our communities. In fact, the Minister of Justice met with police chiefs from across Canada to listen to their suggestions on how to deal with serious, violent repeat offenders on bail. They agreed that we need lasting solutions that are tough when they need to be tough but also address underlying issues—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo.

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

Madam Speaker, I invite my hon. colleague to go back and listen to the Minister of Justice's remarks to this House when asked similar questions on January 30 and 31 of this year, and into the prior year, where he essentially denied that there was a problem. We now hear that they have been talking for months. After eight years of inaction, the bail system has never been worse. Canadians feel unsafe, with a 32% increase in violent crime and gangland homicides up 92%.

No more talk, Canadians want action. We are ready to start the process with bail reform on a very long journey. Will they help or get out of the way?

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Trade]

Madam Speaker, we will agree on one thing: that all Canadians deserve safety and that their government needs to take their safety as a fundamental priority.

Where we do not agree is that there are foundational issues that relate to criminal justice problems and the overrepresentation of certain communities in our criminal justice system, things like systemic racism, things like colonial legacies vis-à-vis the indigenous community.

What I would reiterate is that we need the co-operation of all parties to tackle these multiple issues that lead to criminality in our society. When we address the root causes, such as mental illness, addictions and systemic racism, that is when we can truly achieve the goal of keeping our communities safe.

Privacy

[René Villemure, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Madam Speaker, many people have probably spent the afternoon at the mall, only to open their Facebook account later and see an ad for something they saw earlier. This is no coincidence. Facebook follows us even when we are shopping in person.

Major chains like Home Depot, The Bay, Best Buy and many others share our invoices with Meta, without our consent, every time they send us an electronic receipt. Meta knows everything about our consumption patterns, whether we like it or not.

Why does the federal government condone this practice?

[Andy Fillmore, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Innovation]

Madam Speaker, Canadians have never been more reliant on the digital economy, yet our existing digital privacy law was updated before the advent of technologies such as the use of social media and smart phones.

In the new digital economy, enhanced privacy will not only benefit consumers, but also allow companies to innovate, compete and thrive. That is why it is crucial to have clear rules when it comes to this sector, and that is why our government was proud to introduce our digital charter legislation. We hope all parties will join us in supporting this—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member for Trois-Rivières.

[René Villemure, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Madam Speaker, Bill C‑27 was supposed to tighten control over personal information, but it fails to address that practice and it does not recognize the fundamental right to privacy as recommended by the Privacy Commissioner.

Bill C‑27 does not require businesses to seek valid consent of clients before sharing their data. The simple act of requesting an electronic receipt does not constitute authorization to provide our personal data.

Will the government amend Bill C‑27 to protect client data rather than the right of businesses to share the data without consent?

[Pascale St-Onge, Liberal, Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec]

Madam Speaker, our government takes Canadians' and Quebeckers' privacy very seriously. That is why we introduced a bill to address that. We will continue to work with all parties to ensure that consumers are protected and that the web-based economy can continue to grow.

Public Services and Procurement

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Madam Speaker, after eight long years of the Liberal Prime Minister, more than 1.5 million people use a food bank each month, and parents are skipping meals so kids do not have to. This is the reality for many hard-working families across Canada, but over in Liberal land, the Prime Minister's well-connected buddies at McKinsey are cashing in on their $119-million contracts while popping champagne on their yachts.

Will the Prime Minister stop wasting money on his wealthy friends and get out of the way so we can fix this scandal-plagued government?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, for the first part, it has been seven years and not eight years, and I know the Conservatives have a great difficulty with math.

Talking about other errors in arithmetic, the reality of the Conservatives when they were in power is that they did not talk about those who were dealing with poverty, and they did not talk about the most vulnerable when they had an opportunity. It was this government that set targets on poverty, and that has actually hit and exceeded them every single year. It is this government that has reduced the levels of poverty in this country, such that over two million fewer people are in poverty now than when the Conservatives were in power. That means over 800,000 fewer children are now in poverty than when the Conservatives were in power.

Ethics

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

Madam Speaker, after eight years of the Liberal Prime Minister, Canadians have never had it so bad, and Liberal insiders have never had it so good. We can take the Liberal trade minister as an example. She gave tens of thousands of dollars in contracts to her bestie while Canadians were lined up at food banks. She was at committee today and would not answer the question, when I asked her, if she would do the right thing, make restitution and pay Canadians back those ill-gotten gains.

Here is another chance to answer the question. Will the minister repay Canadians the tens of thousands of dollars she gave to her friend?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, of course, the minister in question has taken responsibility and has apologized, but I have great difficulty when the member opposite says that Canadians have never had it worse.

The reality is that we are in incredibly difficult times. We have lived through a global pandemic. There is a war going on in Ukraine. We are dealing with global inflation. However, the idea that this is the worst time Canadians have ever faced is offensive. Is he saying that these times are worse than the world wars? Is he saying this time is worse than the Great Depression?

Canadians are resilient. They have risen in every moment, and when—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!