Debates of April 20th, 2023

Government Policies

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Prime Minister, Canadians are struggling more than ever. People are turning to food banks in record numbers, young people are worried that they will never be able to afford a home and people are struggling just to fill their gas tanks.

This week, the NDP-Liberal coalition approved its new budget, which only features more of the same failed policies that have caused these issues in the first place. Thankfully, the Conservatives have a different solution. We are going to cap government spending to control inflation. We are going to get more homes built. We are going to make paycheques more powerful. We are going to scrap the carbon tax that is driving up the cost of gas, groceries and home heating.

The Conservatives stand ready to jump into the driver's seat, bring it home for Canadians and fix what this coalition has broken.

Rwanda

[Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal, London West, ON]

Mr. Speaker, last week, I had the honour of going to Kigali in my capacity as a Canadian MP to attend the 29th Commemoration of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsis in Rwanda. On April 7, we began the 100-day mourning period.

Today, on Parliament Hill, we will be commemorating the genocide against the Tutsis where we will do our part in marching toward a world that truly represents the sentiment of "never again".

Hate speech was one of the tools used to misinform and incite violence during that time, and today we continue to see hate speech propagated online. Complacency of this reality will not help us achieve "never again". We cannot sit silent while revisionism and genocide denialism prevails because then we risk facing another genocide, we risk destroying the healing that people have worked so much for.

Let me say it in the House that genocide was against the Tutsis, and I personally condemn everyone who denies that. I personally commit to survivors to continue to use my voice and platform to bring awareness and to make sure that the road of reconciliation continues.

Labour

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has developed a very particular type of incompetence.

Since he was elected, he has increased the cost of bureaucracy by 50%. At the same time, he managed to convince the union to call the biggest strike in 40 years. Now, our veterans, immigrants, small businesses and Canadian taxpayers are deprived of services.

How will the Prime Minister fix the mess he has created?

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to inform my colleagues that public servants are people who provide important services to Canadians for the government.

We are currently negotiating to make sure we have an agreement that is competitive, fair to employees and reasonable to taxpayers.

We are working very hard at the bargaining table and we will continue to do so until we have an agreement.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, why is the Prime Minister not standing up and answering our questions? Why is the Prime Minister not working for Canadians? Is he busy planning another vacation with his friends at a Trudeau Foundation member's luxury hotel?

He does not think about people waiting in line for their passports; someone takes care of that for him. He does not think about crowded airports; he has a private jet. He does not think about small businesses because he has never balanced a budget.

Canadians want an answer. When will he finally get to work and fix the problem he created?

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

Mr. Speaker, for the third day in a row, yes, the Prime Minister took a vacation over Christmas with his family in a house with his friends. That is the truth. For the third day in a row, yes, that is the case.

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

Mr. Speaker, it takes a special type of Liberal incompetence to not only blow up the bureaucracy by 50%, spending $21 billion of taxpayer money, while also causing the largest public sector strike seen in 40 years. Even before the strike, those Liberals were breaking records, creating massive backlogs at passport offices, Service Canada, airports and immigration. Apparently not even the public servants could stand the Liberal government's incompetence anymore.

Could the Prime Minister stand up and inform the House how it feels to break the record for government incompetence?

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, public servants from PSAC provide important services to Canadians, and the government values their work. We are committed to reaching agreements that are competitive, that are fair to the public servants, but also that are reasonable for Canadians. We also, as a government, believe they have a right to strike, and we will be working with them to make sure, because we are continuing at the table, that we get to a deal. We are working very hard together to get to this deal.

Carbon Pricing

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

Mr. Speaker, the only people getting ahead in the Prime Minister's Canada today are crony Liberal insiders covering his vacations and insiders.

Forty per cent of Canadians are borrowing from family just to make ends meet, one in five are skipping meals and people are literally eating out of dumpsters in Vancouver, because of Liberal inflation. In typical Liberal logic, the Liberals' solution is to raise taxes, like their failed carbon tax scam, adding an extra 41¢ per litre to fuel up and to heat homes.

Why will the Prime Minister not scrap this scam and let Canadians get ahead for once instead of himself and his crony insiders?

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

Mr. Speaker, there is a lot of hypocrisy and misinformation, but I will pose a question back to the other side.

The Leader of the Opposition gets up every morning in a government-funded bed and—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

We started off really well and now, all of a sudden, it is getting out of hand. I am going to ask the government House leader to start over again. I want to hear what he says and I think everyone else does as well.

The hon. government House leader.

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Ajax, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition gets up in a government-funded bed in a government-funded house. He enters a government-funded car, where he is driven by a government-funded driver, where he goes to a government-funded office with government-funded staff. I wonder, when he gets on his government-funded phone and talks to big tech giants from other countries about how they can destroy the CBC and other public broadcasting or when he talks about his Twitter account, what percentage is publicly funded, given that he has worked his entire life for the federal paycheque. What is it, 99.8% or 99.9%?

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

Mr. Speaker, they are more worried about Twitter than actually helping Canadians. Nobody believes the Liberals are there to help Canadians. Believing that is as ridiculous as believing the NDP is still an opposition party. This costly coalition would rather virtue signal with its carbon scam, forcing more into food banks and making one in five Canadians go broke. The Liberal environment minister finally admitted that the carbon tax was a scam all along, and the PBO backed that up by proving Canadians pay more into this scam than they get back in carbon pricing rebates.

Why does the costly coalition not do the right thing to help Canadians and finally scrap the scam?

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

Mr. Speaker, every day, we listen to conspiracies from the Conservatives, and I wonder how they square this when they are on 4chan and subreddits talking about these various conspiracy theories. The Conservative Party of Canada is more than 40% funded by government funding. I wonder, when its members talk to these companies that are from other countries trying to destroy our public broadcaster, do they talk about what percentage the Conservative Party of Canada should say is government-funded, as well as its federal leader?

Democratic Institutions

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister keeps repeating that he has had no ties to the Trudeau Foundation for the past 10 years. Today, however, everyone is talking about his Christmas trip to visit friends from the foundation, but that is not all.

In 2016, his office directly contacted the foundation, regarding the much-talked-about donation from the Chinese regime. Next, he appointed the foundation's former CEO to look into interference in our elections. Then, he appointed another member of the foundation as the special rapporteur.

Does he not consider this to be a lot of ties to the Trudeau Foundation for someone who is not supposed to have ties to the foundation?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has already explained that multiple times. It is quite clear that the Prime Minister had no direct or indirect involvement with the foundation. There have been no ties for over 10 years. Those are the clear and straightforward facts.

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is clear that the Prime Minister still has close ties with the Trudeau Foundation. That is a big deal because it is also very clear that China wants to build ties with the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation through its very generous donation.

Why? What is China's objective? That is the $140,000 question. Will we get an answer?

The rapporteur who is supposed to give us one by conducting an inquiry into Chinese interference is a member of the foundation and a personal friend of the Prime Minister.

Do the Liberals understand why we will never stop calling for an independent public commission of inquiry?

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

Mr. Speaker, it is clear that no one in the House of Commons shares China's objective. Foreign interference is a major concern for all members.

Every member of the House of Commons is loyal to our country and responsible for protecting our democracy. That is clear. Calling that into question is unacceptable.

Public Services and Procurement

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we have learned that this Liberal government spent hundreds of millions of dollars to outsource the work of public servants: $200 million to Deloitte, $100 million to PwC, $45 million to Accenture. The Liberals are unable to negotiate a fair agreement with the federal public service, but when it comes time to write cheques to their friends at large firms, they are more than able, and the sky is the limit.

Why is it so hard for the Liberals to put the interests of workers over the interests of their rich and powerful friends?

[Helena Jaczek, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Mr. Speaker, obviously we are looking very closely at management consultants. They are used only in the case where we need specific expertise or in the case of fluctuating workload, but I can assure the member that we are always looking to ensure we get the best value for Canadians.

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians were shocked when news broke of the government's reckless outsourcing to McKinsey. This week, we learned it was just the tip of the iceberg. In the last year, the Liberals handed out more than $200 million to Deloitte, $100 million to PwC and $45 million to Accenture for contracts with a single department.

The Liberals seem to have no problem giving massive public handouts to their rich friends while delaying a fair deal for public sector workers. Will the Liberals put an end to this unchecked outsourcing and instead invest in Canada's public service by coming up with a fair deal?

[Helena Jaczek, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the government operations committee for its work in studying the use of management consultants.

I am sure the member is very pleased that, in budget 2023, we proposed to reduce spending on consulting, other professional services and travel by roughly 15% of planned 2023-24 discretionary spending in these areas.

Labour

[Stephanie Kusie, Conservative, Calgary Midnapore, AB]

Mr. Speaker, it takes a special type of incompetence to spend 50% more on the bureaucracy yet have the largest public service strike in 40 years. It takes a special type of incompetence to have not only passport delays but also delays in immigration processes and tax returns. It also takes a special type of incompetence to spend $22 billion on outside consultants and still end up in the same strike position.

When will the Prime Minister apologize for his incompetence and end this strike?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, unlike the Conservatives opposite, we respect collective bargaining, we respect the right to strike and we understand that negotiations need to happen at the negotiating table. The government has been extraordinarily engaged to ensure we get a fair deal for Canadians, a fair deal for the workers and a fair deal for government. We are going to continue to negotiate in good faith and to ensure that we can continue to serve Canadians in such an effective way.