Debates of May 10th, 2023

Health

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, what is truly alarming is a walk through many of our inner-city streets. There he will see tent cities where people are lying face-first on the ground, because he has flooded those streets with taxpayer-funded drugs and has signed a deal with the NDP to decriminalize crack, heroin, cocaine, meth and other drugs. He has imported this ideological and extremist policy from failed big American cities where the result has been exactly the same.

Will he finally abandon his reckless and extremist policies in favour of a common-sense plan that gives recovery and brings home our people?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, it feels like it is déjà vu all over again.

We spent years in opposition fighting against the Stephen Harper ideological approach that stood against harm reduction, that allowed people to die in the streets and that criminalized drug users.

That failed. Canadians chose a different path in 2017, one grounded in evidence, science, compassion and a health approach to treating addictions, not a justice-system approach to treating victims.

We will not take any lessons from that ideologically driven, fact-free Conservative Party of Canada.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the idea of a larger and therefore cheaper workforce is a McKinsey specialty called “breaking workers”. This is the same McKinsey that made no mention of French or Quebec in their proposal. The so-called progressives in this House should be ashamed of this policy.

Is the Prime Minister saying that he will bring in 500,000 immigrants a year as cheap labour, yet we are the ones who will pay?

He will be able to read his answer in tomorrow's Journal de Montréal.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, entrepreneurs across Quebec and the country need workers. Our communities want to welcome new families who can come and fill the needs for the economic growth that is on the horizon.

We are here to welcome not just newcomers, but new Canadians and new Quebeckers who will continue to help build our country for generations to come.

Yes, we are going to continue to be there to defend French and to deliver on francophone immigration, but we are also going to be there to create opportunities for all, in both official languages, to achieve solid economic growth.

Intergovernmental Relations

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we have a Prime Minister who is about to speak about himself in the third person, who says he consulted 3,000 organizations or people, but not Quebec, because those they intend to harm do not get consulted.

What does he have to say to this growing number of people who realize, say and write that the only solution is Quebec's sovereignty?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, it is immediately obvious what the Bloc Québécois is focusing on and always ends up arguing about.

They just want Quebec and Ottawa to argue. They only want to bicker with the federal government because they are not interested in Canada's economic growth, or in creating bilingual communities with two flourishing official languages, and they are not interested in having a stronger Canada.

They have already lost two referendums, but we will continue to be there to work with Quebeckers and the Government of Quebec to provide a more prosperous future in French.

Carbon Pricing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, here are the choices: The Prime Minister is generally outside the country and the Bloc Québécois wants a referendum to break up the country. There is only the Conservative Party who wants things to be more affordable and for people to have bigger paycheques and a better country. That is the choice.

Let us talk about choice. The Prime Minister wants to bring in a second carbon tax that will increase the cost of fuel.

How much will Canadians have to pay for the second carbon tax that the Prime Minister wants to bring in? How much?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, years ago we decided that here in Canada it is no longer free to pollute. We made sure there was a price on pollution across the country.

In doing so, we also put more money in the pockets of average families in the country to ensure that while we fight climate change we continue to invest in the cost of living for families.

This is working, not just in terms of lowering our emissions, which is happening, but also for creating economic opportunities, economic growth and good jobs for the middle class.

Employment

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, this Prime Minister's government spread false information about the number of belugas in the St. Lawrence River to justify the rejection of the GNL Québec project, which would put bigger paycheques in the pockets of people from Saguenay.

We know now that that information was false and that the number of belugas is double what the government said it was.

Will the government reverse its position to give jobs and paycheques to the people of Saguenay rather than sending that money to Vladimir Putin?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative Party leader is once again demonstrating that he understands nothing about what is happening in Quebec. That is a real problem for him, but it is his problem.

We were working with the Government of Quebec on the GNL Québec project, and we know very well that the Government of Quebec was the first to reject that project. Then, the federal government did its job.

The reality is that we need to work hand in hand with the provinces rather than picking fights and refusing to understand how things work in a federation.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the difference is that I would rather see that money go towards a paycheque for a Jean‑Marie Tremblay or a welder from Saguenay than to Vladimir Putin.

In fact, the Japanese Prime Minister and the German Chancellor both asked the Prime Minister for LNG. He said, “No, call Putin. He'll provide it to you instead,” claiming there was no business case. Nobody told the Americans who have built six LNG plants at the same time that the Prime Minister blocked 18.

Will the Prime Minister get out of the way so that we can turn dollars for dictators into paycheques for our people?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians know well that clever buzzwords is not a plan to grow the economy and create opportunities for the middle class right across the country. Energy workers in Alberta, forestry workers in Quebec and miners right across the north know that with the opportunities we have, while fighting climate and while building a cleaner economy by getting to that net-zero economy the world expects, we are going to be able to create more great jobs for the middle class. Meanwhile, they continue to stick their heads in the sand and refuse to accept climate change is real and that one cannot build an economy—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for Lac-Saint-Louis.

News Media Industry

[Francis Scarpaleggia, Liberal, Lac-Saint-Louis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, local news is vital. Voters rely on local news outlets to keep them informed. When the Liberal government passes legislation to ensure fair compensation for the use of community news content, Facebook responds by censoring the news.

The Conservative leader, a friend of big tech, is happy to parrot the excuses offered up by the billionaire web giants, at the expense of Canadians' right to access news content.

What are the Prime Minister's thoughts on this disregard for Canadians' right to information, a fundamental right in any democracy?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member from Lac-Saint-Louis for his question and for his hard work. Facebook's tactics failed in Australia, and they will fail in Canada. The saddest part is seeing the Conservative members continue to rally around the web giants, regurgitate their arguments and rush to help American billionaires attack local news.

While the Conservative leader stands alongside big tech, we will keep standing alongside francophone and rural communities, who consider access to the news as something essential.

Oil and Gas Industry

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister continues with his ridiculous claim that there is no business case for the 1,300 trillion cubic feet of natural gas we have here in Canada. Nobody told the Americans, who built six export plants. Nobody told the Qataris, who are increasing their production by 66%. Nobody told the Mexicans, who are using a formerly Canadian company, Trans Canada, to bypass and exceed Canada's export potential. We could be shutting down dirty Asian coal fire and replacing it with clean Canadian LNG and we could turn dollars for dictators into paycheques for our people.

Why will the Prime Minister not finally bring it home?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again the leader of the official opposition will never let the facts get in the way of a good political argument. The reality is this is the government that approved a historic $40-billion LNG Canada investment by Shell and Asian partners to export LNG to Asian economies to replace coal and to make sure we are contributing in a strong way. We will continue to move forward on ensuring a cleaner energy future for people around the world. Canada and Canadian workers especially in the energy sector deserve to be part of the future we are building, and we are making sure they will.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, actually, the LNG Canada project was approved before the Prime Minister even took office. He showed up for the photo op. The only way it could get built was exempting it from the carbon tax and exempting it from Bill C-69. There were 18 proposed LNG projects on his desk the day he walked in on his first day on the job; zero have been completed. That is because his gatekeeping keeps our resources in the ground and the money in the pockets of foreign dictators.

Why will he not bring it home to Canada for our people?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, again we are suddenly back in the Stephen Harper era, where Conservatives continue to think one can just drive a pipeline anywhere one wants, built a plant, move—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I am going to interrupt. There is some shouting back and forth, more going back than forth, but I want to remind everyone that when a person asks a question we listen and when a person answers the question we listen as well, whether we like the question or the answer. Unfortunately, that is not up to me to decide. We listen and then we will make some judgments later.

The right hon. Prime Minister has the floor.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Papineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, under Stephen Harper, Conservatives were the most pro oil and gas of any government we had ever had and yet they could not get a damn thing built. They did not understand that working with communities, working together with Canadians and fighting climate change is the only way to get things built, and that is how we are the ones able to move forward with the twinning of the Trans Mountain pipeline they were unable to get done. They failed the energy sector with their ideological approach. We are delivering for Canadians.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, is he bragging about the Trans Mountain project? He said it would cost $7 billion to get it done. It has cost $30 billion, and it is still not complete. By the way, the money he spent went to Kinder Morgan, a foreign company that took it to build pipelines in Texas. Under the Prime Minister, all our exes are in Texas.

Why will he not bring jobs, resource production and opportunity home to Canada so we can put paycheques back in the pockets of Canadians?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we just heard it from the Conservative Party of Canada: We should not have moved forward with the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. We disagree, and that is why we are actually getting it done.

If the member opposite really cared about creating great jobs for the middle class, he would be understanding that we cannot grow the economy unless we fight climate change at the same time. That is why Volkswagen is coming to invest in Canada. That is why Sayona is building lithium mines in Quebec. That is why Stellantis, Ford and GM, and investors like Michelin, Rio Tinto and Lion Electric continue to invest in our supply chain, in our future and in great jobs for Canadians.

Women and Gender Equality

[Lisa Hepfner, Liberal, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives do not believe in a woman's right to choose. Conservative MPs introduced legislation to reopen the abortion debate. They will march with anti—