Debates of May 2nd, 2023

Democratic Institutions

[Gérard Deltell, Conservative, Louis-Saint-Laurent, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is a very simple question that deserves a clear answer.

When did the government find out that the Communist regime in Beijing was threatening people elected to the House of Commons?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I think my hon. colleague understands the answer now. I hope that he and all of his colleagues will change their position on national security issues and challenges and support all of the government's efforts, such as creating new powers, increasing transparency and, most importantly, protecting democratic institutions as well as everyone who works in those institutions.

Indigenous Affairs

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the ongoing genocide of missing and murdered indigenous women, girls, transwomen, gender non-conforming and two-spirit people is a Canada-wide emergency. Relatives of lost loved ones, human rights advocates and survivors are calling on the government to take action to end this unrelenting violence. We are not disposable. Our lives are precious and we deserve justice.

Will the Liberals recognize this ongoing genocide as a Canada-wide emergency?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations]

Mr. Speaker, I think the answer to that is a resounding yes. Yesterday, I was in Val-d'Or to underline a $60-million investment in the Friendship Centre there, which will allow people to use Val-d'Or as a regional hub and to get the culturally sensitive and appropriate care they need. That will save lives and address the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.

This is a tragedy, but doing public policy by tragedy only leads to tragic results. I can only direct people to the final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls to see the systematic work that needs to be done by our government, the provincial governments and municipal governments to make sure—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for Timmins—James Bay.

Natural Resources

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canada needs to get its critical mineral supply chain off the ground, but Doug Ford has thrown a major spike in this by doing away with the duty for mining companies to come up with the funds for environmental cleaning. There is not a first nation anywhere that will allow mining without the guarantees for closure. Doug Ford is now driving his bulldozer all over the duty to consult and the result is Treaty 9 has launched a $95-billion lawsuit against Doug Ford and the government.

What steps will the minister take to ensure that sustainability and the duty to consult remain at the heart of our critical mineral strategy?

[Jonathan Wilkinson, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, the way we can get good projects built, including the critical mineral projects that are essential for the energy transition and offer an enormous economic opportunity to this country, is to do things the right way by respecting the rights of indigenous communities, ensuring that we are consulting thoroughly, working with indigenous communities as partners in these projects and ensuring that we are doing thorough environmental assessments. That is how we move projects forward.

That is very different from the gutting of the environmental assessment process that happened under Stephen Harper and the Conservatives. We are committed that going forward—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for St. John's East.

Labour

[Joanne Thompson, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada believes in the collective bargaining process and the best deals are the ones that are reached at the table. Public servants work hard to deliver important services to Canadians.

Could the President of the Treasury Board update the House on negotiations with the Public Service Alliance of Canada?

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

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the MP for St. John's East for her tireless work for constituents.

After many weeks of hard work, negotiation and compromise, the government has reached tentative agreements with PSAC for the core public administration. We appreciate Canadians' patience and understanding over this time because the best deals are reached at the bargaining table. We are deeply grateful for the public servants who work hard to serve Canadians. These deals are fair, competitive and reasonable, and bring stability to public servants and Canadians.

Democratic Institutions

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the minister is right that it would be outrageous for a government minister to know that a foreign agent was granted credentials by the government to carry out threats against an MP's family because of a vote held in the House of Commons. That would be outrageous.

The only way we can know if it actually happened is if the minister tells us when he saw this briefing note or any related information showing that the MP's family was threatened. When did he learn of it?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, there have been a number of questions on this issue. I agree with my Conservative colleague, in a moment of some consensus, that decisions regarding national security and intelligence should not be politicized.

I would certainly hope that this is not what the Conservative leader is now suggesting, yet it was him who said, a little more than a month ago, that when he was the minister responsible for democratic institutions, he knew about these things and he did not act because he did not think it was in his interest to do so. Let us now unite—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, we do have to put the partisanship aside. It would have been a non-partisan act for the government to protect the MP's family, even though he is from another party. It would have been a non-partisan act to strip away the diplomatic immunity and kick this foreign agent out of country, yet the government did not do that.

We now need to know the facts. The briefing note showing these threats occurred was produced in July 2021. When did the minister find out?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I am somewhat encouraged. At least the Conservative leader is now using the right words for a change, in that he is saying it is non-partisan, which is what the government has been saying for months now on this issue. I have said to the Conservative leader and the member for Wellington—Halton Hills that we will work with them to get them the information on this issue.

CSIS has offered a briefing to the member for Wellington—Halton Hills, and the Conservatives now, finally, hopefully after some reflection, will agree to work with the government to protect our institutions and the people who work in this chamber.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, if the government knew that an MP's family was being threatened by a foreign agent and did nothing to kick that agent out, that is an outrage. The briefing on this incident is from July 2021. We need to know when the minister found out that these threats had been made against a member of the House of Commons and his family.

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, it is absolutely outrageous that the leader of the Conservatives would suggest that the government has no concern for the member for Wellington—Halton Hills. I contacted him yesterday to offer support and to offer a briefing with CSIS. This government is committed to working with all members of the House to protect our institutions and everyone who works here.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, this is a question of the gravest importance. There is a member of Parliament, of the House of Commons, whose family has been threatened because of the way he voted here. How can we defend national security on the floor of the House of Commons if our family members are being threatened based on the votes that we cast? We need to know whether the government is protecting us against that, or we cannot do our work.

Therefore, I will ask this one last time: When did the minister know that these threats were directed at this MP's family?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, as I have said now on numerous occasions, decisions regarding what information that touches on security and intelligence is released into the public domain are made by our independent and non-partisan public servants. We have reached out to the member for Wellington—Halton Hills.

The government's commitment is to work with him and all members of this chamber so we can do the work of protecting our institutions, our communities and, most importantly, the people who represent, in this chamber, the 338 ridings. We will do that work in a non-partisan way.

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Canadian Heritage told us the monarchy is not a priority for the government. It is so far down the list of priorities that the Liberals put recognition of King Charles III in the budget. It is so far down the list of priorities that the Prime Minister will be leaving his party's convention to attend the coronation of the King of Canada, his King. He could have sent someone in his stead, like a minister, but prostrating himself before the King is his priority.

Sometimes I think this is just embarrassing. Is it not time to get rid of the monarchy?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, the Bloc members are really something. They get up in the morning, brush their teeth and start thinking about the monarchy. They are obsessed. They look at the paper but do not read articles about the climate change crisis. They do not look at articles about how to grow the economy. They do not pay attention to the work the House is doing around investing to attract businesses.

No, they want to talk about democracy. Actually, they want to talk about the monarchy. They are focused on the monarchy, but we are going to focus on Canadians' priorities.

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, he said a word that is not usually part of his vocabulary, the word “democracy”. I will say no more, but if people could read my mind, they would get it.

The Prime Minister of New Zealand would like his country to become a republic. The ambassador of Australia in London is saying the same thing. England is about to get rid of its King before we do, but no matter. However, a majority of Canadians, the population of Quebec and Canada, want to cut ties with the Crown.

In the House, apart from the Bloc Québécois, no one is saying a word. It seems like everyone is a monarchist. Does this government truly think it knows better than the population of Quebec, Canada, New Zealand, Australia—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. Minister of Canadian Heritage.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, other members of the House might want to talk about things like the economy and social programs, whether they agree or disagree. We talk about all kinds of things: how to invest here at home, how to attract businesses, how to help our seniors, how to help our students, how to help our families, how to help our young people.

They are fixated on constitutional change. That is what they want to talk about. We will be over here focusing on the priorities of Quebeckers and Canadians.

Health

[Tracy Gray, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals teamed up with the B.C. NDP on drug decriminalization policies.