Debates of May 18th, 2023

Health

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, emissions only went down when the government actually locked down the country for COVID, if it wants to do that forever.

The Prime Minister decriminalized crack, heroin and other hard drugs on January 31. He has flooded the streets with taxpayer-funded hydromorphone, and today we have learned the tragic results. The report from British Columbia shows that seven people are dying every day of overdoses. In April, overdose rates were up 17%.

This experiment has failed. When will the Prime Minister get common sense, get drugs off our streets and get our people into treatment?

[Carolyn Bennett, Liberal, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, our hearts are with all the families that have lost a loved one to this terrible crisis caused by a poisoned drug supply. The B.C. coroner has said that there is no evidence that safe supply has been implicated in any of these drug deaths.

We have to use every tool in our tool box to stop this terrible tragedy and that includes prevention, harm reduction, treatment and enforcement.

Democratic Institutions

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc Québécois has been calling for an independent public inquiry into Chinese interference every day since February. Every day, the Liberals hid the truth. They knew that China was interfering in the elections, but they hid it. They knew that China had suspicious ties to one of their MPs, but they hid it. They knew that China was hobnobbing with the Trudeau foundation, but they hid it. More importantly, they knew that China was threatening elected officials and their families, but they hid it. Most importantly, they did nothing. That is unforgivable.

When will there be an independent public inquiry?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I did not realize that hiding information involved putting it in a public report from a Canadian intelligence agency. On the contrary, our government acted quickly to implement measures to counter foreign interference, including China interference. That did not exist before we formed the government.

We will strengthen those measures. We have taken steps to ensure that no member of Parliament is threatened by this interference, as my colleague said. We intend to stay the course.

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, his answer proves that we need an independent public commission of inquiry, a commission whose chair will be selected by the House, a commission whose mandate will be as broad as possible to get to the bottom of this matter, a commission with a clear timeline, a commission that will begin its work quickly, not in the fall, not when pigs fly, but now.

That is the only acceptable recommendation that can come from the rapporteur, who is actually not that special and certainly not independent. It is time the Liberals stopped muddying the waters.

Right here, right now, will they commit to launching this investigation?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I am a former fisheries minister. Far be it from me to muddy any waters.

What is very clear is that our government has decided to seek the advice of an independent expert, the Right Hon. David Johnston. Next week, Mr. Johnston will be tabling his report on this very issue, an independent inquiry into foreign interference. We look forward to reading Mr. Johnston's recommendations.

I would ask the hon. member to wait until Mr. Johnston submits his report next week.

Public Services and Procurement

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

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals gave over $100 million worth of federal contracts to their friends at McKinsey since 2015, despite McKinsey playing a major role in pushing opioids to vulnerable people. That was $100 million to a company that worsened the toxic-drug crisis. The government even knows McKinsey is terrible, as it has joined a lawsuit to hold the company accountable.

Therefore, why do the Liberals not stop giving money to McKinsey and use that money to appropriately respond to combatting the toxic-drug crisis that is killing people in our country?

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

Mr. Speaker, Public Services and Procurement Canada is always committed to an open, fair and transparent procurement process while also obtaining the best value for Canadian taxpayers.

In the case that the member opposite has alluded to, we also have an integrity regime that we consult regularly. It is clear in that integrity regime that civil litigation is not a ground for suspension or departure from the existing integrity regime, which was actually put in place by the previous government.

Housing

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, giant housing corporations are treating people's homes like a stock market and evicting long-time tenants to jack up rents. The Minister of Housing thinks a 1% tax on empty homes and a two-year ban on foreign investments will solve the housing crisis. He is wrong.

The housing advocate says these Liberal half-measures are dangerous and short-sighted. Financial firms already own 20% to 30% of the rental stock.

Will the Liberals stop corporations from getting their hands on more low-cost rental homes with a moratorium and help non-profits secure these homes with an acquisition fund?

[Ahmed Hussen, Liberal, Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member is denying the fact that we are the party in office that brought in the Canada housing benefit, a plan to support renters across the country that is currently helping tens of thousands of vulnerable renters. In addition to that, we have legislated an annual 1% tax on vacant non-Canadian residential real estate as well as a two-year ban on foreign investments in Canadian residential real estate. We are also reviewing the tax treatment of real estate investment trusts.

Carbon Pricing

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

Mr. Speaker, carbon tax scam one costs on average $1,500 net on Canadian families after phony rebates. The Liberals just pile drove Canadians with a second scam that will cost Canadians another $500 without any rebates. They hid the facts, but their own budgeting officer exposed these scams. They made the cost of gas, groceries and home heating more expensive. The first scam hit the most vulnerable indigenous populations hard. The second scam is going to cripple lower-income households even further. This is just so the Liberals can look more woke while more Canadians go broke.

When will the Liberals scrap the scam and stop gaslighting Canadians?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, the truth is that the Conservatives have absolutely no plan to do anything to fight climate change and will set our country back on making promises toward a cleaner economy.

When it comes time to ask the oil companies to reinvest their record profits in the innovative solution in clean technologies, the Conservatives immediately back down. We are proud to support the clean fuel regulation, which has already contributed more than $2 billion in the last year alone to the Canadian economy.

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

Mr. Speaker, let me sober up the out of touch, orange jumpsuit wearing minister. Yesterday, food banks said that those accessing food charity quadrupled since the Liberal-made inflationary crisis. The Liberals already made rents and mortgages double, and to continue down their woke climate zealot ideology, they will take another $2,000 out of the pockets struggling Canadians, while failing to meet any climate targets.

How much more woke do they need to go? How much more broke do Canadians need to go before the Prime Minister wakes up?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, I am told that orange is the new black. To expand on the benefits to the Canadian economy of the clean fuel standard, let me talk about the Tidewater $342-million plant in British columbia. This year, Imperial Oil—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I am going to have to interrupt. We are starting to get noisy. It started off really well and I was impressed. I just want to make sure that we continue and that everybody is quiet so we can hear the answer.

The hon. minister, from the top, please.

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I am told that orange is the new black. I would like to further expand on the examples I wanted to give, like the Tidewater $342-million plant in B.C.; Imperial oil, all privately funded, $720-million plant for cleaner fuels in Alberta; Federated Co-op's $2-billion plant in Saskatchewan; the Braya's plant in Newfoundland, which received an added $300 million of private financing in the last month alone.

[Tim Uppal, Conservative, Edmonton Mill Woods, AB]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the Prime Minister, Canadians' lives have become more unaffordable. They already have one Liberal carbon tax that is costing Canadians 41¢ per litre. Now there is a second carbon tax that will cost Canadians 17¢ per litre. Once tax is added on that tax, it is going to cost Canadians 61¢ per litre, making everything more expensive.

Why do the Liberals continue to force Canadians to pay for their failed policies?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, if the Conservatives are going to oppose the clean fuel regulations, which they supported during the last election campaign, they should explain to Canadian farmers, particularly canola growers in western Canada, why they oppose something that will increase domestic canola demand by over five million metric tonnes and support a strong canola price in our country.

Canadians do not need short-term scare tactics. What they are looking for is long-term affordable solutions to the climate crisis, and that is exactly what we are doing on this side of the House.

[Tim Uppal, Conservative, Edmonton Mill Woods, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals' failed carbon tax has not achieved one environmental target they set. They need to get out of their ideological bubble and talk to real Canadians who drive for a living. They need to talk to truck drivers, delivery drivers, cab drivers and some farmers, who will tell them the real cost of the Liberals' failed policies.

On July 1, the second carbon tax will cost Canadians an average of $573. That is on top of the first carbon tax, which will cost $1,500. Do Liberals really believe that Canadians can afford over $2,000 for carbon tax 1 and carbon tax 2?

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, just this week, the Parliamentary Budget Officer stated that the effects of climate change bit a $20-billion-sized hole out of Canada's economy in 2021 alone. I understand that the Conservative Party of Canada does not believe in climate change, but it pretends to believe in economic responsibility. Why is it that the Conservative Party wants to cancel a market-based mechanism that is putting a price on pollution?

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

Mr. Speaker, the new carbon tax will cost the average Quebec household another $436. That will come right out of Quebeckers' pockets.

More and more people are having trouble paying for groceries and putting gas in the tank. They have to make tough choices to get by. For eight years, Canada has been led by a Prime Minister who makes other people foot the bill for his expenses and his vacations. He has not even had to fill his own gas tank for 10 years.

Will he back off and stop making life harder for Quebeckers who are struggling?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to set the record straight about a question that the Conservatives asked yesterday in the House about a Quebec tax.

The member sent us the report on this here tax. The report talks about something called SPEDE, which is actually Quebec's cap and trade system. That is the system operating in Quebec, not the federal system.

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

Mr. Speaker, that is 17¢ per litre. The new clean fuel regulations are going to cost Quebeckers $436 more per year. That is the second carbon tax that the minister does not seem to want to repeat.

No one believes this minister when he says that it does not cost Quebeckers more and that we are not subject to the carbon tax. When someone goes to the grocery store and pays for goods that were transported across the country, they see that it does cost more. We are not crazy, we see the impact of the carbon tax.

Why is the government now targeting Quebec with a second tax?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, my colleague's statement is false.

What we are doing is ensuring that refineries that made record profits in the past few years pay their fair share. That is a 25¢ increase in the refining margins for every litre of gas between 2019 and 2021. We believe that refineries have the means to collaborate on the fight against climate change.

Quebeckers watching us expect all sectors of society, all political parties and all parliamentarians in the House to work to fight climate change.