House of Commons Hansard #195 of the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was quebec.
Jenna Sudds LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth
Mr. Speaker, we know, on this side of the House, that health care and abortion go hand in hand. We will always protect a woman's right to an abortion.
We have seen, on the other side of the House, an attempt to attack a woman's right to an abortion. To be clear, that will not stand on this side of the House.
Jagmeet Singh NDP Burnaby South, BC
Mr. Speaker, the reality is, with the Liberal government, it is often all talk and no action, particularly when it comes to something as important as reproductive rights.
The Liberals promised to ensure that all regions of this country would have access to abortion services. Did they deliver? No, they failed. The Liberals promised to ensure that anti-abortion groups spreading misinformation would not receive charitable status. Did they deliver? No, they failed.
Again and again, the Liberals continue to say one thing and do another. Will they stop with the empty words and deliver concrete steps to defend, not just the right but the absolute right—
Mélanie Joly LiberalMinister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, on this side of the House, our policy is clear. We are a feminist government. That includes defending women's rights, including a woman's right to choose and a woman's right to access abortion.
We will always be there to fund clinics, but also to fight the radical right that models itself on everything that comes out of the United States, south of our border, which certainly has repercussions for our colleagues opposite.
Melissa Lantsman Conservative Thornhill, ON
Mr. Speaker, $3,000 is the price that Canadians could soon be paying to rent a one-bedroom unit in Toronto. That is according to a piece from BNN Bloomberg this week. The report says that limited supply, which of course gives us higher prices, is the reason for this.
Under the Prime Minister, new units are not being built fast enough, housing prices have doubled and the dream of home ownership is slipping away. When will the Liberals get out of the way and actually get shovels into the ground?
Ahmed Hussen LiberalMinister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion
Mr. Speaker, it is really amazing to listen to the Conservatives finally come around to actually proposing some half-baked ideas about housing.
We have been doing everything that the hon. member is talking about for the last two years. We have been tying infrastructure to housing. We have been investing in municipalities to make sure that we have more housing supply. We have been building more affordable housing. We have been putting measures in place to help first-time homebuyers. We have been building rapid housing for the most vulnerable.
We have been doing it all, and the Conservatives have voted against every single measure we have brought to this House.
Melissa Lantsman Conservative Thornhill, ON
Mr. Speaker, that is because none of it is working.
The housing minister is spending $89 billion to double the price of a home, double rent and double mortgage payments. He is about to build 50,000 fewer houses this year than he did last year. In eight years, we have also lost 20,000 affordable housing units. The Liberals are spending more money to get higher prices and worse results. It is a failure by any measure.
Will the housing minister bring home places to live for our people that they could actually afford?
Ahmed Hussen LiberalMinister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion
Mr. Speaker, maybe the hon. member needs to talk to her leader, because he stood up in this House and insulted and denigrated three of the leading mayors of Canada's largest cities, calling them “woke.”
He also stood in this House and pledged to cut housing funding. He hopes that, somehow, all of that would result in some magical solution to the housing issue. It is the same magical thinking that underpinned his advice to Canadians to go with cryptocurrency to opt out of inflation.
Leslyn Lewis Conservative Haldimand—Norfolk, ON
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government has created a cost-of-living crisis. Housing prices have doubled under the Liberals. Many Canadians are skipping meals just to keep up with their bills. Now the Liberals plan a 41¢ per litre tax increase on heat, gas and food.
When will the Liberal government come to its senses and cancel its harmful tax increases?
Steven Guilbeault LiberalMinister of Environment and Climate Change
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives talk a big game when it comes to energy in Canada, but here are the facts.
Under the Conservative government, foreign oil imports were double what they are today. It is a fact that imports from non-U.S. sources have declined 80% under our government. These facts speak for themselves.
Under our government, more Canadians are using Canadian energy. The member opposite may not like it, but a fact is a fact.
Leslyn Lewis Conservative Haldimand—Norfolk, ON
Mr. Speaker, the fact is that the Liberals have not met one single climate target.
Liberal taxes are breaking the backs of Canadians. Liberal policies are discouraging workers by clawing back more and more of what Canadians earn. The Liberals are making it impossible to get ahead. So many Canadians are discouraged and concerned about buying their first home, starting a family or working toward financial independence.
Will the Prime Minister cancel his plan to raise taxes on food, heat and gas, and give Canadians some hope?
Sean Fraser LiberalMinister of Immigration
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to let the hon. member know that from the very time we formed government we have been laser-focused on making life more affordable for Canadians. I note that at every step along the way when we have cut taxes for the middle class or delivered benefits directly to families, the Conservatives have reliably been there to vote against the measures we put forward.
With respect to some of the comments that are coming from the Conservative Party right now about money that is being earned by Canadians is so-called being taken away, the reality is that those are the funds that go toward ensuring Canadians have access to the Canada pension plan. Those are the funds that go toward making sure Canadians have access to employment insurance if they fall upon hard times.
We will defend the social programs that keep my neighbours well during difficult—
The Speaker Liberal Anthony Rota
The hon. member for Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes.
Michael Barrett Conservative Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON
Mr. Speaker, The Globe and Mail reported that the Trudeau Foundation was used as part of an influence operation to get access to the Prime Minister. We heard from the CEO this week that with the donation there was no oversight and no due diligence or audit.
Within five weeks of the Prime Minister's brother signing this $200,000 donation agreement with two Beijing-backed donors, they both had direct access to the Prime Minister.
The question is very simple. Does the Prime Minister still believe the allegations in The Globe and Mail are false?
Mark Holland LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, what has been said time and time again in the House is that the Prime Minister has not had a connection, direct or indirect, with the foundation for more than 10 years. It is an independent foundation that is responsible for giving scholarships to young leaders, who are going to have tremendous futures in our country. If members have questions about that organization that gives those scholarships, they should ask the foundation directly.
However, what we have seen from the testimony is that whether it is attacking the CBC or independent organizations, those members have no care for whom they attack with their partisan attacks or what damages it does. They are just seeking partisan—
Luc Berthold Conservative Mégantic—L'Érable, QC
Mr. Speaker, what we saw is that the president of the Trudeau Foundation, a long-time Liberal and good friend of the Trudeau family, Edward Johnson, was a good student. Like the Prime Minister, he wilfully chose to turn a blind eye to Beijing's attempted interference in the foundation to influence the current Prime Minister. The foundation manages $125 million in taxpayer money and Mr. Johnson, a good soldier, put a freeze on all internal investigations into this $140,000 donation from the regime in Beijing.
Why will the Prime Minister not acknowledge that he too wilfully turned a blind eye because his party benefited?
Mark Holland LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, the foundation in question is independent. The Prime Minister has no direct or indirect involvement in the foundation. That is clear.
The foundation is responsible for scholarships. The foundation is independent and ensures that future generations of leaders receive support for their education. If the member across the way has any questions, it is important to address them to the foundation directly.
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
Mr. Speaker, the government can go ahead and say that it is not following the Century Initiative, but it is using the same targets. I said “the same”, but that is not accurate. The Century Initiative is recommending that Canada welcome 475,000 newcomers in 2025, but the government chose to go with 500,000. It is moving even faster, despite the unanimous opposition of the Quebec National Assembly, and without even consulting Quebec or holding a public debate.
The Bloc Québécois is calling on all parties, especially the Liberals, to listen to my question. If they want to copy the Century Initiative or even increase the level of immigration even faster, will they at least be honest enough to tell Quebeckers about it?
Sean Fraser LiberalMinister of Immigration
Mr. Speaker, that is interesting. It is obvious that my friend across the way did not read the federal government's plan for immigration levels. If he had read the chapter on francophone immigration, then he would know that it is possible to create a system that will welcome the largest number of francophone newcomers in the history of Canada. That is the government's plan right now.
However, the situation in Quebec is very different. Quebec now has the power to set the level of newcomers to Quebec. Quebec has the power to choose every person who comes to Quebec through the economic class.
Now—
Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe Bloc Lac-Saint-Jean, QC
Mr. Speaker, they reached their francophone immigration target once in 20 years and they are boasting about it. That is ridiculous.
Immigration thresholds are not an abstract concept or just a number in a notebook. They are not statistics that are just thrown around. Behind the numbers there are people with needs. These people need housing, they need health care, day care and schools for their children. They also need to integrate into their new society, learn its language and its culture. We cannot look at immigration from a strictly economic point of view. We are talking about human beings.
Will the government commit to rejecting this bad initiative and finally consider the ability to integrate these people when establishing these thresholds?
François-Philippe Champagne LiberalMinister of Innovation
Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his intervention.
When I think about immigration, I think about the labour shortage. What we need to make clear to all Quebeckers watching today is that Quebec has the authority to select immigrants.
What we are hearing across Quebec and in the regions is that there is a need for workers. When we make investments, for example in the GM plant that will be built in Bécancour, the mayors and officials of the RCMs tell us that they need skilled people.
That is how we will build Quebec and Canada.
Luc Thériault Bloc Montcalm, QC
Mr. Speaker, let us talk about health transfers.
The provinces said they needed $28 billion a year. The federal government gave them only one-sixth of that amount. That was insulting enough, but that was only to provide care for the current population. That did not take into account the Century Initiative.
The Liberal target is a minimum of 500,000 people per year. What studies have they looked at to determine that Quebec and the provinces can provide health care to at least 500,000 more people every year with one-sixth of the money we already need?
Mélanie Joly LiberalMinister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Speaker, first of all, as the Bloc Québécois is well aware, because the minister has already said so, the initiative mentioned is not a policy of this government. That is the first point.
My second point is that, to my knowledge, there were no Bloc Québécois members present with the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and the Minister of Health when they were negotiating an additional $8 billion in health transfers to Quebec.
That is what Quebeckers wanted from our government and that is what we delivered.