Debates of Feb. 13th, 2023

Carbon Pricing

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, as everyone in this House knows, as of January, fees for child care have been reduced 50% across the country. I asked families to tell me what that means to them. Let me give some examples. “Just paid our January daycare fees. Under $500!!!!! This is a 55% reduction from last year. This is going to make such a huge difference for so many families.” Here is another quote: “We are finally FINALLY seeing real reductions in our daycare costs. It's genuinely life-changing to see fees reduced by just over 50%—this is how you support families, this is how you achieve real equity in the workforce.”

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

Mr. Speaker, Dr. Seuss over there is living in fantasy world.

What the Liberal government really should be focused on is the price of corruption, like $15 billion going to Liberal insiders for cushy contracts, thousands of dollars going to ministers' besties and thousands and thousands going to racists like Laith Marouf. Random Liberals, like Bill “no more” and Mark Carney, also agree the government overspent and pile-drove Canadians with inflation.

Will the Liberals finally take some damn responsibility, rein in their spending and axe their failed carbon tax?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, I actually read Dr. Seuss quite a bit with my son at night, and he has some pretty good lessons that I think the Conservatives could learn if they want to open up his books. In fact, one of those lessons is about protecting our environment. When he talks about the truffula trees, it is about protecting what we have, like the clean air and clean water, and making sure we protect that for generations to come.

If my opposition colleague would like to learn more, I invite him to open the books. He might have more compassionate policies for Canadians.

The Economy

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, let us skip the fantasy.

I am a numbers girl, so here are the numbers: eight long years under the Prime Minister, 40-year highs in inflation and food prices up 10%. Now the Liberals are going to triple the carbon tax. Do members know what that adds up to? It is 67. That is the percentage of people who think Canada is broken.

Will the Prime Minister take responsibility for breaking the country, or will he get out of the way and let us fix it?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, my son, like tens of thousands of kids in this country, is a huge fan of hockey. What he likes above all is to be able to play it outside. Unfortunately, because of climate change, he will no longer be able to do this. This year, for the first time in 51 years, the Rideau Canal will not be able to open—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I will have to interrupt the hon. minister. I am having a hard time hearing. There is a very strong voice coming from one side that prevents me from hearing.

I will ask the minister to start over again so that I can hear his full answer.

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as I was saying, my son, like tens of thousands of kids across this country, loves to play hockey, and what he loves above all is to be able to play it outside. However, because of climate change in this hockey-playing country, it is becoming less and less possible to do so. This year, for the first time in 51 years, the Rideau Canal is still not open and probably will not be able to open.

What is the response from the Conservative Party of Canada? It is to make pollution free again. There are no reckless policies from the party on this side of the House.

Carbon Pricing

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the reality is the Liberals have never met a single one of their emissions targets. They do not have an environmental plan; they have a tax plan.

The minister's answer is no help at all to John in my riding. John is struggling with the rising cost of gas, groceries and home heating. At 74 years old, on a fixed income, he has had to go back to work.

Will the Prime Minister axe the tax so John can keep the heat on?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, less than two years ago, the Conservative Party took the position that climate change was not even real. Then last year, the leadership went through a process where it put together a climate plan, the centrepiece of which was a price on pollution. All of the Conservative members in this House were elected on a platform that included a price on pollution.

Now, once again, under a new leader, the Conservatives have stopped talking about climate change and they attack the idea of pollution pricing. Given their history, how can Canadians believe anything they say?

Seniors

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Mr. Speaker, there is a lot of hot air coming from that side.

After eight years of the Liberal government, local animal shelters are filling up because their owners cannot afford to keep their pets. In the last two months, the Central Okanagan Food Bank has added 350 seniors who need their help. Governor Macklem said, “high inflation is making life more difficult for Canadians, especially those with low or fixed incomes”. He also said, “inflation in Canada increasingly reflects what's happening in Canada.”

When will the Liberal government finally raise its deficit spending blinders and see that its out-of-control spending is making life harder for seniors?

[Kamal Khera, Liberal, Minister of Seniors]

Mr. Speaker, for the last eight years, we have been there supporting Canadians, including seniors, by restoring the age of eligibility for retirement back to 65, by increasing the guaranteed income supplement that has helped over 900,000 seniors and lifted 45,000 seniors out of poverty, by enhancing the Canada pension plan and by making sure we are increasing the old age security pension. These are all measures the party opposite opposed. Unlike them, we will continue to make sure we have the backs of all Canadians, including seniors.

Finance

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Mr. Speaker, John in Sarnia and seniors in my riding cannot eat those talking points. Even Liberal wannabe leader Mark Carney, who moonlights as an adviser to the Prime Minister, knows that the Liberal government has it wrong. He knows its runaway deficit spending is inflationary. He said, “it's not all imported inflation. In fact, most of it is now domestically generated inflation.”

After eight years of the government, residents in my riding are facing sky-high gas and propane bills and now must choose between heat, food and their pets. If the Liberal government will not stop its spend, spend, spend deficits, can it at least cancel the triple, triple, triple tax?

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

Mr. Speaker, our government will take no lessons from the Conservatives when it comes to protecting Canada's most vulnerable. Thanks to measures put in place by our government, hundreds of thousands of seniors have been lifted out of poverty, as have hundreds of thousands of Canadian children. We have done that while maintaining Canada's AAA credit rating and having the lowest debt and the lowest deficit in the G7.

We can be compassionate and fiscally responsible at the same time. That is what we are doing.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, right now at Roxham Road, there are smugglers who are peddling illusions to migrants to exploit them. There are unaccompanied children in the woods in the middle of winter, and there are people being detained indefinitely.

That is what is happening at Roxham Road. That is what the federal government is condoning. Refugee rights groups themselves are calling for the suspension of the safe third country agreement. They are the ones the government needs to listen to.

Why is the federal government refusing to listen to what they have to say?

[Marie-France Lalonde, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, before I answer the question, I would first like to say a few words about the incident that occurred in my community of Orléans this morning.

My thoughts and prayers are with all those who are affected, and I want to sincerely thank the first responders and simply tell them that I am here and that I can help them.

To answer the question, the closure of Roxham Road is not a short-term solution because it does not solve the main problem. As the member opposite was saying, Canada shares the longest demilitarized border in the world. We need to modernize the agreement, and that is what we are going to do.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, let us hear what the people who advocate on behalf of asylum seekers have to say. Frantz André of the Non-Status Action Committee said that the government must begin by suspending the safe third country agreement if it wants to demonstrate that Canada is not the 51st state of the United States when it comes to accepting refugees.

He is right. The United States is part of the problem at Roxham Road. Their customs officials have even become smugglers. The federal government needs to suspend the agreement in order to force Washington to act.

Will it do that?

[Marie-France Lalonde, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I am going to be very candid this morning, because in my opinion, the Bloc Québécois has lost all credibility if it believes that asylum seekers are crossing the border for an all-inclusive vacation package or feels that the situation asylum seekers are facing is a joke.

This is not a joke to us. We take this situation very seriously. On this side of the House, we continue to protect the world's most vulnerable people by working with our provinces and territories to find lasting solutions.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government is making up scandals when it comes to Roxham Road, but the real scandal is that Roxham Road has become a network for the exploitation of asylum seekers, in cahoots with the American authorities. The real scandal is that U.S. customs officers have become smugglers, right under the government's nose. The real scandal is that Ottawa knows about this and accepts it.

The safe third country agreement must be suspended. That is the only way to stop the exploitation of migrants and to command respect from the Americans.

When will the federal government take action?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, the real scandal is the Bloc Québécois ad comparing the migrants' journey to an all-inclusive vacation. It is truly sad. These folks are fleeing countries under extremely difficult situations, with their children, and trying to rebuild their lives to the best of their ability. The least we can do is to welcome them with dignity, not with insults.

Public Safety

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Liberal government, violent attacks on public transit are becoming the norm. Just in the past few days, a woman had her face slashed with a knife on the TTC, and a Winnipeg transit passenger was attacked by a man with a machete.

Canadians deserve to feel safe when they ride public transit. When will the Liberals take responsibility for these violent crime incidents and do the work to keep our communities safe?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I share my colleague's concern, which is precisely why a number of my colleagues and I have been in direct contact with the City of Toronto to make sure it is getting the support it needs when it comes to mental health, homelessness, poverty and other social determinants that lead to crime. We are also providing additional supports for law enforcement.

At each and every critical juncture when the Conservatives have had an opportunity to support these measures, what have they done? They have voted against. If they are serious about protecting our communities, they should support the policies of this government, because that is how we are going to better do that.

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have had eight years to deal with violent crime, and it has gone up 32% in that time. In fact, gang murders are up 92%. Everything the Liberals have said they are doing for public safety has resoundingly failed Canadians. Maybe if the minister would stop going after the tools used by sport shooters, hunters and farmers, and instead focused his attention on going after repeat violent offenders getting out on bail in our communities, we would see a decrease in crime; we would see results in our communities.

When is the Liberal government going to wake up and do the work to keep our communities safe?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, we are doing that work. We are doing that work by introducing a national ban on assault-style rifles, which have been used in some of the worst mass killing shootings in this country's history. We are doing that work with Bill C-21, which would raise maximum sentences for hardened gun traffickers.

What is my colleague doing with regard to that bill? Her and her party have been filibustering it. They should stop doing that. They should study the bill. They should support our policies. They should also support the investments we have provided for law enforcement and for addressing the root causes of crime when it comes to the building safer communities fund. They voted against each and every one of those things. They should reverse course.

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, when people think of Canada, they think of a prosperous, peaceful and safe country. Unfortunately, the situation has been deteriorating for the past eight years. The Prime Minister has been in power for eight years and violent crimes have increased by 32%. In major cities, people, and women in particular, are afraid to walk alone. That is not Canada.

When will this government protect victims instead of criminals?