Debates of March 31st, 2023

Government Appointments

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, there is actually a very simple answer for the member opposite. The interim Ethics Commissioner is a career public servant who has served in a senior role in the Ethics Commissioner's office for more than 10 years, and that began when the Harper government was in office.

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

Madam Speaker, we should all remember clam scam, when the then fisheries minister was found guilt of an ethics breach for awarding a $24-million licence to a company to be ran by his wife's cousin. Now the Liberals have appointed the same cabinet minister's sister-in-law as the Ethics Commissioner. Really?

Can they only find family and insiders willing to work for them, or is this another attempt to censor disclosure of their ongoing ethics issues? Which is it?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs recused himself from all deliberations and decisions related to the appointment of the interim Ethics Commissioner.

Fisheries and Oceans

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Madam Speaker, members of this House have worked for years on funding and governance for the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. As a result, the budget last year promised $44.9 million to DFO for the commission. However, every step of the way it seems like DFO is obstructing the will of Parliament. Last year, it dragged its heels in transferring that money to the commission.

When will the President of the Treasury Board crack the whip and ensure DFO complies with the will of Parliament and best practices on governance?

[Jennifer O'Connell, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Madam Speaker, it is interesting that the Conservatives raised this question, because it was in fact Conservative members who underfunded and did not increase funding to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission.

There is good news. In this budget, we corrected the previous mistakes of the Conservatives—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Jennifer O'Connell, Liberal, Pickering—Uxbridge, ON]

They can continue to heckle me because they do not like the facts. The fact is that we are actually investing in our Great Lakes. We are going to continue to protect them, while the Conservatives allowed them to be underfunded and did not take the protection of our Great Lakes seriously.

National Defence

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Madam Speaker, in the year before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Canada was spending 1.28% of GDP on defence. According to NATO last week, in the year since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Canada has spent 1.29% of GDP. I read the budget document, but I could not find any information about defence expenditure as a per cent of GDP over the next five years.

Will the government commit to providing this very important information to the House as soon as possible?

[Bryan May, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence]

Madam Speaker, the Canadian Armed Forces plays an essential role in defending Canadians and supporting global security. We have been consistent in supporting its work, starting with our 2017 defence policy, which increased spending by over 70%.

In the past year, we have made new investments in Canadian national defence totalling more than $55 million. We are also undertaking a review of our defence policy in the face of a changing global environment. Rest assured that we will keep making necessary smart investments in our forces.

Employment Insurance

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Madam Speaker, the budget proves that Ottawa has not learned from its mistakes. If there is one lesson to be learned from the pandemic, it is that EI is failing most people who lose their jobs. In spite of that, the government is abandoning the reform it has been promising since 2015. Even today, 60% of people who lose their jobs will be left with nothing, particularly seasonal workers, the self-employed and those in non-standard jobs.

Why does the government still refuse to help people who lose their jobs?

[Irek Kusmierczyk, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Employment]

Madam Speaker, budget 2023 invests in seasonal workers so they have five additional weeks of coverage for a total of 45 weeks. Also, in budget 2023, we propose establishing a new independent tripartite board of appeal to hear cases regarding employment insurance claims.

We know Canada's EI system is complex, and that is why we are focused on improving it. In the past two years, the minister has led more than 35 virtual, national and regional round tables with workers, employers and academics. EI reform is a priority of this government. We are on it and we will get it done.

[Louise Chabot, Bloc, Thérèse-De Blainville, QC]

Madam Speaker, the only thing Ottawa took away from the pandemic is debt. The budget passes that debt on to workers.

Ottawa expects to collect an extra $24 billion in workers' EI premiums. However, the government is not putting that money towards EI reform. It is taking workers' money and using it to pay off $24 billion in pandemic debt.

Why not use workers' money to protect them rather than paying off pandemic debt at their expense?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance]

Madam Speaker, we have a great deal of respect for the workers in this country. We supported them during the pandemic. We take the entire EI system very seriously. The minister has been focusing on the modernization of the EI system.

We will continue this work and we will have a solid plan to respond to workers' needs.

Taxation

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

Madam Speaker, the budget still allows the automatic tax increase to take place tonight on beer, wine and spirits. Under this Liberal government, simple pleasures like enjoying beer with friends after work or a bottle of wine over dinner with a loved one have become unaffordable luxuries for working Canadians.

Will the government commit today to support my bill, Bill C-266, and cancel the automatic annual tax increase on beer, wine and spirits?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance]

Madam Speaker, I have said it in the House already this week, and I will say it again. We listened to Canadians, we worked with the industry, we worked with our Liberal caucus, which leaned in on this issue, and we are going to pause the escalator tax on beer, wine and spirits for one year at 2%. It was going to be less than a cent for a can of beer, and now it is going to be even less for a can of beer.

We are with the tourism industry. We are with this sector. We are going to support them. We have heard from Canadians. We made the right move.

[Pat Kelly, Conservative, Calgary Rocky Ridge, AB]

Madam Speaker, we are in the middle of an affordability crisis. Any tax increase is too much. The tax was too high to begin with. There is no room for any more tax. The budget adds $4,200 in new costs for every Canadian family, more spending, more taxes, more debt. That means more inflation.

Canadians cannot even afford basic necessities like food, housing and transportation, and tonight the tax on beer, wine and spirits is going up, just as it does every year automatically under the current government.

Why will the Liberal government not commit today that it will cancel the automatic annual tax increase on beer, wine and spirits?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance]

Madam Speaker, the Conservative opposition has a golden opportunity to support Canadians at a time of high inflation by supporting our budget. Conservatives have no record to stand on when it comes to taxes. When we lowered, not once, not twice but three times, taxes on middle-class Canadians, how did the Conservatives vote? They voted against. When we reduced taxes on workers, how did the Conservatives vote? They voted against. When we lowered taxes across the board, once again they voted against.

They have a phobia of us supporting Canadians. Thank goodness, we have got Canadians' backs.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Scott Reid, Conservative, Lanark—Frontenac—Kingston, ON]

Madam Speaker, the immigration minister's program to admit the families of language and cultural advisers who assisted our troops in Afghanistan has such rigid criteria that it will freeze out almost everybody it should be helping.

For example, only those who were still in Afghanistan after July 22, 2021 are eligible, so this rules out the Afghans who were in the most dangerous parts of the country and who therefore had to flee their homes before the Taliban overran their regions. These family members are now trapped in third countries and are in danger of being transported back to Afghanistan, where they will be killed.

Will the minister change these restrictive criteria to fix the mess he has created?

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

Madam Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for his advocacy. I have said it in the House, and I will say it again today: If it were a matter of will, there would be 40,000 Afghan refugees here already, but we know that in reality, with everything that has been happening, there have been challenges and obstacles. We are working very hard in addressing those, for instance through Bill C-41. There are a number of factors that we do not fully control, including safe passage.

Innovation, Science and Industry

[Sameer Zuberi, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Madam Speaker, Canada's innovation and economic priorities are evolving. We will continue to prioritize clean growth, good jobs and investments for the future.

Budget 2023 announced many innovative new measures that will enable Canada to play a leadership role on the international stage. Can the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry tell us about these important measures?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his excellent question, which gives me an opportunity to talk about the budget measures.

My colleague is right. We have taken action to achieve our ambitious goals by introducing initiatives like a tax credit for clean technology manufacturing, a tax credit for clean hydrogen and a tax credit for electricity.

The people I want to thank today are Canadian workers. It is thanks to their expertise, know-how and excellence that we are able to attract record investments to our country, like the recent investments by Volkswagen.

Democratic Institutions

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Madam Speaker, the cover-up continues. It has been a month since the Prime Minister's national security adviser and the director of CSIS committed to providing the dates on which the Prime Minister was briefed about Beijing's election interference. One month later, there is still no response. All the Prime Minister needs to do is check his calendar.

When will the Prime Minister stop the obstruction, stop the cover-up and give us the dates?

[Jennifer O'Connell, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Madam Speaker, on the contrary, the PROC committee has been working diligently on this issue, continuing to hold more meetings to bring in more witnesses as opposition members have requested, and we support that. We will continue to work with the committee to find the most appropriate time, because the committee has other business as well, but this is a top priority to ensure that we are dealing with the issues of foreign interference, and we will continue to work hard on that.

Government Appointments

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Madam Speaker, ethics violations do not seem to be a problem for the Liberals, as long as they stay in the family.

If there is any position where independence must not merely be presumed but be a certainty, it is that of Ethics Commissioner. Someone at the Office of the Prime Minister, however, thought that it would be a good idea to temporarily appoint a Liberal minister's sister-in-law to rule on the ethics of ministers in the Liberal government.

When will the Prime Minister put a stop to his hypocrisy and revoke the interim appointment of the sister-in-law of his best friend, the minister?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Madam Speaker, I will emphasize once again that the interim Ethics Commissioner is a career public servant who has served in a senior role in the Ethics Commissioner's office for more than 10 years, beginning when the Harper government was in office.