House of Commons Hansard #161 of the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was maid.
Mona Fortier LiberalPresident of the Treasury Board
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my hon. colleague for his hard work.
Canada has joined the net-zero government initiative, and Canada is showing global leadership on climate change. We are working with countries around the world to pledge to achieve net-zero emissions from government operations by 2050. Our planet needs us to aggressively reduce our emissions, and the government is leading by example.
Pierre Paul-Hus Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Bloc-Liberal alliance continues to work against Quebec's best interests. First, their proposed bill, Bill C‑11, fails to ensure that online businesses are subject to Quebec's status of the artist legislation. Second, this bill contains no mechanism for formal consultation with the Quebec government. The Minister of Canadian Heritage has stated that his government is collaborating extremely well with the government, yet he has ignored the input from April 29, 2022, and the letter from February 4, 2023.
Will the government send Bill C‑11 to committee so that it can consider Quebec's proposed amendment?
Pablo Rodriguez LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, there is a consensus in Quebec on the importance of the bill and the importance of supporting our artists, creators, directors, producers, those who top the best-of lists in music, film and television. Everyone agrees, except the Conservatives, who never talk about culture. In fact, their daily dose of culture comes from their morning yogurt.
Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
Mr. Speaker, there is more than a consensus in Quebec; there is unanimity. The National Assembly voted unanimously to demand that this government hear what it has to say on Bill C‑11. We realize that members of the Bloc-Liberal alliance may not have read the bill carefully. Clause 7 gives greater power to cabinet to direct the CRTC. This centralizes power at the federal level, and the Bloc Québécois is okay with that.
Could the Liberal or Bloc minister, since it is hard to know which is which, tell the House that, yes, they will allow the Quebec proposal and the amendments to be heard in parliamentary committee?
Pablo Rodriguez LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, I do not know whether it is because today is Canada's Agriculture Day, but my colleague always seems to be in the weeds. When it comes to culture, there is a consensus in the government with the Bloc Québécois, the NDP and Quebec society on the importance of working together to ensure that online broadcasters like Netflix, Disney and others, which are very popular, contribute to the production of homegrown content, in other words Quebec and Canadian content in music, film and television. Everyone agrees, except the Conservatives.
Pierre Paul-Hus Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
Mr. Speaker, it is clear that everything the Bloc-centralist-Liberal alliance is currently doing for Quebec is not working. Just think of Bill C‑5, which allows rapists to stay at home, or Bill C‑75, which lets criminals who have been released to obtain bail even if they are still violent. Now, there is Bill C‑11.
To add insult to injury, they are refusing to consider the motion that was adopted unanimously. Even the Bloc voted unanimously for the federal government to move on Bill C‑11.
Can the minister tell us if Bill C‑11 will be sent to committee to be studied together with the amendments?
Pablo Rodriguez LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, I thank my Bloc Québécois friends who have understood the importance of culture in Quebec.
I am confused about why Quebec MPs elected by other Quebeckers do not understand how important this bill is to ensure support for our music, television and movies so that we can continue to be not just the best in Canada, but the best in the world.
Gérard Deltell Conservative Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC
Mr. Speaker, who would have thought? Not only is the Liberal government no longer bickering with the Bloc Québécois, but now it is bickering with the Government of Quebec at the National Assembly. That is not what it means to speak on behalf of Quebec.
The fact is that Quebec is the home of the French fact. The Government of Quebec and the National Assembly want to be heard in parliamentary committee.
Could the new star of the Bloc Québécois, who happens to be minister of the alliance between the Bloc Québécois and the Liberal Party, stand up and assure Quebec that, yes, Quebec's grievances over this bill will be heard in parliamentary committee?
Pablo Rodriguez LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, we know that being a Quebecker means being able to reach out and that if there are disagreements over certain things, being able to work for the interests of Quebec. That is what we are currently doing with the Bloc Québécois and with the NDP, unlike what the Conservatives are doing.
Bill C‑11 is good for our artists, our producers and our artisans. It is good for the French fact and for French productions. The Conservatives want to kill this bill. Shame on them. It is good for Quebec and we will forge ahead.
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
Mr. Speaker, the rifts in the Liberal caucus over Bill C‑13 are—
The Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota
I must interrupt the hon. member. I cannot hear the question, because people are talking on all sides of the House.
I would ask the hon. member to start his question over so that we can all hear it.
The hon. member for La Pointe‑de‑l'Île.
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
Mr. Speaker, the rifts in the Liberal caucus over Bill C‑13 are playing out like a musical. Tensions between the different gangs escalate from one day to the next. It is a real West Island story.
Yesterday, the member for Mount Royal broke ranks and announced he would vote against Bill C‑13 if it mentions the Charter of the French Language in any way.
Today, in a dramatic turn of events, a Liberal minister from the West Island also threatened to vote nay. A Liberal minister opposing a Liberal bill, that makes for good theatre, but will the minister responsible call them to order—
Ginette Petitpas Taylor LiberalMinister of Official Languages and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
Mr. Speaker, we have been very clear about our commitment to do our fair share to protect and promote French across the country, including in Quebec, and to protect and promote our official language minority communities.
I want to take a moment to thank the committee members who are working to advance this file.
With the passage of Bill C‑13, we will be able to give the Commissioner of Official Languages the tools he needs to do his work, which is essential. We will also be seeing changes for federally regulated private businesses to make sure that people can work and get service in French.
Mario Beaulieu Bloc La Pointe-de-l'Île, QC
Mr. Speaker, the member for Mount Royal is against recognizing the Charter of the French Language in Bill C‑13, as are the member for Westmount and the member for Saint‑Laurent.
Now, a Liberal minister is threatening to join them and to vote against a Liberal bill. There are starting to be quite a few Liberals who are opposed to Bill C‑13.
At this point, one has to wonder whether the Quebec Liberal caucus dissidents, the rebels, are the ones who want to defend French.
Pablo Rodriguez LiberalMinister of Canadian Heritage
Mr. Speaker, Bill C‑13 is a good bill. It recognizes that French is threatened and that more needs to be done to protect French both within and outside Quebec.
However, the Conservative-Bloc coalition plans to vote against this bill. It is doing everything to defeat it.
We, on the Liberal side, will continue to fight to defend French across the country.
John Brassard Conservative Barrie—Innisfil, ON
Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the current Prime Minister, Canadians are struggling to pay for their food and for their heat, and moms are going to bed every night worried about keeping roofs over their heads. However, if someone is a Liberal-connected insider, or a friend of the Prime Minister like McKinsey, they get their palms greased to the tune of $120 million, yet the Prime Minister does not care. He takes no responsibility either.
Will the Prime Minister either step aside and let Conservatives fix the problem, or is he going to add to the problem like he has over the last eight years?
Mark Holland LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, first of all, it is Canadians who decide who gets to sit in government, not Conservative MPs. The second point I would make is that the member is suggesting that the Conservatives would engage in political interference and interfere with the independent, arm's-length process to engage contracts. Canada has one of the highest standards in the world for how contracts are engaged. Those decisions are made without political interference, and I find it disturbing that the Conservatives continue to come back and say that they would, if that is what I am hearing, politically interfere and make decisions about what the public servants engage in, in terms of contracts.
Dane Lloyd Conservative Sturgeon River—Parkland, AB
Mr. Speaker, Canada's professional and independent public service is the backbone of our federal government. Public servants are the ones the government should trust to provide professional advice, not the high-priced consultants at McKinsey & Company. Nonetheless, the Liberal government has awarded at least $120 million in contracts to McKinsey, undermining our hard-working public servants by creating a legion of shadow consultants who are accountable not to Canadians, but to their shareholders.
Why does the Liberal government trust foreign consulting firms more than our own professional public service?
Mark Holland LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member has been in this place for some time. He would recognize that he is absolutely correct to state that the public servants we have are the best in the world. We owe them a tremendous debt for all they do, and that is why we ensure that they are the ones who actually make the decisions with respect to those contracts. Those are made at arm's length. The reality is that one day the Conservatives are trying to cook up these conspiracies and talk about “shadow” whatever they are talking about, and the next day they are talking about Dominic Barton, the former campaign manager to Stephen Harper. They are saying he is right and should be lauded as one of the great Canadians.
I do not know what they are talking about over there.
Dane Lloyd Conservative Sturgeon River—Parkland, AB
Mr. Speaker, the creation of the “shadow public service” are not my words; they are the words from the Canadian Union of Public Employees. The Liberals claim they stand in support of our professional public servants, but after eight years, their record says otherwise. After eight years, the amount of taxpayer cash that goes to private consultants has grown exponentially. This was funding that our public service could have used to improve services for Canadians. The Liberal government seems so intent on breaking the public service, just like it breaks everything else.
When will the Liberals stop wasting taxpayer dollars on unethical consulting firms that are not accountable to Canadians?
Mark Holland LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I have already indicated that these are decisions made by the public service at arm's length and that it is inappropriate for the members opposite to imply they would use political influence to influence these contracts, but I will talk about what has grown since the Conservatives left power and we have had the opportunity to serve Canadians.
As I indicated earlier, there are almost two million more people who have jobs today than when the Conservatives were in power. There are 2.7 million fewer people in poverty, hundreds of thousands of children and hundreds of thousands of seniors who are not in poverty today. That is what has improved. That is what has changed since the Conservatives left power.
Sophie Chatel Liberal Pontiac, QC
Mr. Speaker, there has been a lot of talk about Canada's Agriculture Day, which is being celebrated today.
There is also more talk about global food security lately. When we talk about food security, we are also talking about our economy. Agriculture is one of the key pillars of the Canadian economy in the 21st century.
I would like to ask the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food if she can tell us what the government is doing to support the development of this important economic sector.
Marie-Claude Bibeau LiberalMinister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
Mr. Speaker, today we celebrate our agricultural producers and the wonderful food they produce in an increasingly sustainable way.
I want to take this opportunity to update people on our latest initiatives and investments. Yesterday, we invested an additional $150 million in the protein supercluster, and this morning I announced nearly $20 million for two initiatives to support our businesses in their search for workers.
Scott Aitchison Conservative Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON
Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the government, housing is broken. Health care workers are living in tents, students are living in homeless shelters, vacancy rates are at an all-time low and rental rates are now $2,000 a month. Home prices have doubled under the government's watch, and nine out of 10 young people who do not own homes in this country think they never will. Everyone agrees that Canada is in a housing crisis, everyone except the housing minister that is.
If the minister refuses to even acknowledge that a crisis exists, how can Canadians trust him to fix it?
Ahmed Hussen LiberalMinister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion
Mr. Speaker, our record is clear. We recognize that more Canadians need to have access to safe and affordable housing. We have invested record amounts of money to make sure that we build more and faster.
The fact of the matter is that the Conservatives' record is clear. That member should talk to the member for Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, who said that the federal government needs to do less, that we need to dump housing on provinces.
Our record is clear. We believe that the federal government has an active role to play. They believe we should do less, and that is why they vote against every housing measure that comes to the floor of the House.