Debates of May 12th, 2023

Democratic Institutions

[René Villemure, Bloc, Trois-Rivières, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure that the member for Wellington—Halton Hills is reassured.

The Liberals are once again asking us to not only believe that they knew nothing about the threats against the member for Wellington—Halton Hills in 2021, but also that they were not aware of the diplomat's other reprehensible actions, which were known about since 2020. We are even supposed to believe that the Liberals were not aware that CSIS had had the diplomat under close surveillance since 2019.

To be blunt, the Liberals have been exposed. They obviously do not want to shed light on or take action against Chinese interference. When will they launch an independent public commission of inquiry?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, if my colleague has been following everything that has been done on this file over the past few weeks, then he knows very well that a special rapporteur has been appointed, former governor general David Johnston. He is doing his work and we are going to let him do that. He will make his recommendations shortly.

The Minister of Public Safety is following this file very closely. Given the facts that have come to light, we decided to declare the diplomat in question persona non grata. That was the right decision.

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

Mr. Speaker, for three years, the current government knew that a diplomat in Beijing's Toronto consulate was spying on Chinese Canadians and sending information back to Beijing's secret police. At the same time, the government knew that the very same diplomat was targeting a sitting member of Parliament and for three long years it did nothing.

Either the current Prime Minister is grossly incompetent or he just does not care about protecting Chinese Canadians from Beijing. Which is it?

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indigenous Services]

Mr. Speaker, when a foreign government comes at one of us, it comes at all of us.

While Conservatives try to politicize and play partisan games, we are taking real action to keep Canadians safe. We have a government here that cares, a government that looks out for our Canadian values with empathy. We want to ensure that all members of Parliament move forward, working together with our families, friends or neighbours facing those very values.

In conclusion, I would say this to the members opposite: Let us all consider our responsibility to our citizenship versus our responsibility to our politics.

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

Mr. Speaker, that answer is an insult to Chinese Canadians. This government expelled one Beijing diplomat after they got caught doing nothing.

It gets worse. According to national security sources, CSIS has provided this government with a list of other Beijing diplomats identified for expulsion because of the threat they pose to Chinese Canadians.

How many names are on that list?

How many more warnings from CSIS is this government ignoring?

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

Mr. Speaker, we take the issues of foreign interference extremely seriously.

In fact, we took this issue so seriously that we started implementing measures as soon as we took office, something I would like to remind Canadians that Conservatives never did.

The Leader of the Opposition said, and members want to heckle because they do not want to hear the fact that the Leader of the Opposition actually admitted this, that when he was the democratic minister, he actually did not do anything to deal with foreign interference because he did not think it was in his political interest.

We do not believe in that. We are going to take action to protect our democracy.

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

Mr. Speaker, it seems that the foreign affairs minister is too embarrassed to answer these questions.

We have learned that Beijing diplomat Wei Zhao has been under intense CSIS surveillance for three years. We know he was targeting a member of Parliament two years ago. It took a front-page story in The Globe and Mail for the government to finally act by expelling the diplomat this week.

What else have we learned? We have learned that her department has known about it since 2020.

Why did the Prime Minister allow this agent to operate in Canada under diplomatic cover for three years? How many Canadians were victimized?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I think my colleague forgot to pay attention yesterday and listen to what was happening in committee.

Jenni Byrne, Pierre Poilievre's chief strategist, his confidante, the person who thinks of everything necessary—

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

I want to remind members that we cannot mention the names of members in the House.

The hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs.

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, QC]

Mr. Speaker, allow me to repeat that. Jenni Byrne, the official opposition leader's chief strategist, his confidante, the person he trusts, told the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs yesterday that when the official opposition leader was minister of democratic institutions, he did nothing about foreign interference.

We are not going to take any lessons from our Conservative colleagues, and we are going to be there to act in the interests of Canadians.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is pathetic.

The Globe and Mail article is what led to the diplomat's expulsion, even though the Department of Foreign Affairs knew about this for three years. We are talking about her department.

More shockingly, we now know that the Department of Foreign Affairs has had, since 2020, and I quote, “a list of diplomats that could be considered for expulsion because of their involvement in foreign interference and 'threat' activities outside of their regular diplomatic duties”.

There has only been one expulsion, even though there is a list of Beijing operatives who continue their dirty work in this country under diplomatic cover, because the Prime Minister refuses to act.

When will the Prime Minister take the threat seriously and protect all Canadians from the threats of diplomats, who are still in their posts just because they want to be?

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

Mr. Speaker, when I was in opposition as the critic for public safety and we were watching the horrors that happened to Mr. El Maati, Mr. Almalki and Mr. Nureddin, and we were reviewing the recommendations of Justice O'Connor and Justice Iacobucci, and there were critical calls, then, for the government to act, to create an oversight committee of parliamentarians that could look into every aspect of security and intelligence, the Conservatives refused to act.

Even in the wake of those tragedies, they refused to move, year after year after year.

When our government came in, we made sure that happened, and that is why they can see every piece of intelligence.

The Environment

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Ontario's Greenbelt is a world-class program that protects critical farmland, wetlands and forests, yet the Ontario premier, Doug Ford, thinks the Greenbelt is a scam.

Well, do we know what else some people think is a scam? Inviting developers to donate to one's daughter's wedding is a scam. Handing over the Greenbelt to these Conservative-connected donors is a scam.

When will the federal government take action under the Impact Assessment Act to prevent the corrupt Doug Ford developers scam from further selling out our environment?

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources and to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, one of the things that we can be proud of in this place is that we put in a national urban park, Rouge National Urban Park, which is an amazing jewel for our city.

It is something that we have worked on and that we protect. It has species that are very important and endangered, and that we protect within that space.

We have started a study, through the Impact Assessment Agency, to make sure that we are taking into account all possible impacts on that park and we will always be there to support our urban green spaces, which are so important to us.

Health

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, according to a media report, nurses are leaving the public health care system in droves and returning through private job placement agencies.

The health care crisis is getting worse under the Liberals' watch. Poor work conditions, low wages, forced overtime and high patient-to-nurse ratios are causing burnout. The structural problems must be addressed, and budget 2023 missed the mark.

Will the Liberals work with the provinces to ensure that nurses get the respect, resources and support they need so that patients can get the care they deserve?

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health and to the Minister of Sport]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge that this week is National Nursing Week. I would like to thank every nurse from coast to coast to coast, including our Minister of Seniors. Nurses absolutely do the most important work, and it is a very thankless position sometimes, so I would like to thank them.

To the substantive question, nurses deserve fair wages. They deserve a safe environment for work, and they deserve better work conditions. This is why budget 2023 is investing $198.6 billion into our health care system, including better wages for those who care for the most vulnerable.

Foreign Affairs

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

Mr. Speaker, in recent days, many Canadians have expressed deep concern over the developing political crisis in Pakistan. This is in the wake of the violent arrest of former prime minister Imran Khan.

Thanks to our strong people-to-people ties, most Canadians have a family member, friend or neighbour with deep links to Pakistan. There is real concern about what this arrest means for loved ones overseas and for the region generally.

Can the Minister of Foreign Affairs tell the House what the Government of Canada is doing about these events?

[Mélanie Joly, Liberal, Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague for Pierrefonds—Dollard, a fantastic riding, for his important question.

The recent images of the arrest of Imran Khan are deeply troubling. We are very preoccupied with the political crisis that is happening right now in Pakistan. We are monitoring the situation very closely, and I am receiving regular updates.

Of course, Canada will always stand up for human rights, for the rule of law, for democratic values and for free and fair elections. We will continue to engage on this very issue with Pakistan and, of course, with the community here in Canada.

Carbon Pricing

[Karen Vecchio, Conservative, Elgin—Middlesex—London, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this past month, a constituent's bill for natural gas was $168.50. The federal carbon tax was $30.78. This is more than the individual charges for delivery, transportation costs and HST were. Under the government, it is evident that life costs more for Canadians, with the rising costs of gas, heat and food. How are regular Canadians supposed to keep up?

When will the Prime Minister get rid of the carbon tax and prioritize the financial needs of Canadians?

[Julie Dabrusin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Natural Resources and to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member opposite for that question, because it gives me an opportunity to talk a bit about how carbon pricing works.

To be clear, the way carbon pricing works is that every bit of money that comes through the carbon price is returned to the province; it goes to the families in the province, as well as to the hospitals, schools and cities in the province of Ontario. Every penny goes back to support people in the member's community.

In addition, as a government, we are providing supports to Canadians, be it through the dental benefit, be it through child care or be it through the Canada child benefit. We are there to support Canadians.

The Economy

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

Mr. Speaker, the cost of government is driving up the cost of living, and now the Liberals plan a 41¢-a-litre tax on gas, groceries and home heating. Liberal deficits are driving up inflation. This means that interest rates are higher, making mortgages more expensive and harder to qualify for. Prices have doubled, down payments have doubled, rents have doubled and new housing construction is falling because of high interest rates and red tape.

When will the government stop increasing taxes, stop its inflationary deficit and let the builders build?

[Terry Beech, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, it is a little hard to take Conservatives seriously as they talk about affordability, when we have several affordability measures that are in front of the finance committee right now and instead of talking about those measures, they have turned them away. They have been filibustering for 23 hours. Food banks were scheduled to visit us. We wanted to hear from them. The Bloc and the NDP wanted to hear from them. The Cons wanted to talk to themselves.

Stop the filibuster and let us get to work.

[Tako Van Popta, Conservative, Langley—Aldergrove, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister's tax-and-spend policies are driving up the cost of everything, and now he has plans to push the tax on gas to 41¢ a litre. What happened to his promises to help the middle class? Brandon from Langley wrote to me recently and said, “I am one of many middle-class citizens getting pushed down to the lower class”.

My question for the Prime Minister is this: Will he reverse course, stop the never-ending tax increases and finally stand up for the middle class?

[Ya'ara Saks, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, one thing we know for certain is this: When it comes to Canadians, Conservatives will always hold them back. They voted against the CCB, they voted against dental care and they voted against rental supports; they voted against everything, including child care at a certain point. They tore up the agreements from the previous government when we were in power.

What we know about Conservatives is that, during their time, there were 2.7 million more Canadians in poverty than there are today. We have 450,000 more children out of poverty today than when they were in power. They keep holding Canadians back. We are lifting them up.

Carbon Pricing

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians cannot take it anymore. We have said it over and over in many different ways. They are fed up. What is this Prime Minister doing? He is planning to increase the carbon tax again. Contrary to what he says, it will have an impact across Canada, including in Quebec. Quebec is not separate from the rest of the country, it is part of it. Everyone will inevitably be affected.

This confirms that costs for farmers and truckers will increase again. What will happen in the meantime? Ultimately, everyone ends up paying.

Will the Prime Minister wake up and abandon these disastrous policies?