Debates of May 4th, 2023

Climate Change

[Mike Morrice, Green, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Ontario government is actively looking to go backwards in the climate fight by building and expanding natural gas-fired electricity plants. Natural gas is no climate solution. The federal government must step in to ensure that Ontario does not undo hard-fought gains in the midst of a climate crisis. Its upcoming clean electricity regulations must deter provinces from this kind of climate backsliding.

Will the minister commit to making these regulations stringent enough to stop natural gas expansion in Ontario?

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

Mr. Speaker, we made a commitment during the last election campaign to have a net-zero grid by 2035. Canada already has a grid that is more than 80% non-emitting, and there are a number of provinces doing amazing things when it comes to renewable energy. Let us talk about Alberta, which in 2016 committed to eliminating coal by 2030. Alberta will have eliminated coal this year.

This is what we are aiming to do across the country.

Democratic Institutions

[Todd Doherty, Conservative, Cariboo—Prince George, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Beijing operative Zhao Wei sought information on the whereabouts of the family of the member of Parliament for Wellington—Halton Hills so that Beijing could make an example of him. This is a direct threat against a sitting member of this House and his family. Zhao Wei is still in this country. The response from the Liberals today is to blame a sitting member of Parliament, victim blaming.

When will the Prime Minister do his job, stop blaming victims, send a message to Beijing and send Zhao Wei home?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, any suggestion that we do not have care or concern for the member for Wellington—Halton Hills is absolutely absurd. I have reached out to that member. We made sure that we got a briefing. We will continue to support him and all members in the chamber, because every member of Parliament, every parliamentarian, has a right to represent their constituencies. We need to do this work together so that we can push back against the forces of foreign interference and uphold our democracy.

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, under the Vienna Convention, we do not have to ask for permission to expel a diplomat. The Prime Minister really should let his caucus know.

While the Minister of Foreign Affairs is dithering, Liberal parliamentary secretaries are busy blaming the member for Wellington—Halton Hills, a man who is really well liked in the House. What is the world coming to?

Instead of looking away, will the Prime Minister expel this diplomat, this persona non grata?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, as I have already said, my hon. colleague the Minister of Foreign Affairs summoned the Chinese ambassador to firmly set the boundaries for activities that are legitimate and others that fall under the category of foreign interference.

We will continue to condemn activities in this category to protect our democratic institutions.

Canadian Heritage

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

Mr. Speaker, from listening to the Prime Minister, one would think that everyone is going to be glued to their television sets this weekend watching the latest soap, the coronation of Charles III. According to the Prime Minister, “Canadians are looking forward to celebrating the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III”.

I do not know who he is talking about, but it is certainly not Quebeckers. It would have been a little more accurate if he had said that Canadians are looking forward to getting rid of the monarchy. It is not too late to get it right.

What is the government waiting for? When will it free us from this outdated, undemocratic institution?

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

Mr. Speaker, Quebeckers are currently dealing with floods and climate change. They are worried about affordability issues, the housing crisis and our health care system, which is at risk, and yet the Bloc Québécois spends its time in the House talking about the monarchy.

Our Liberal government is squarely focused on the real priorities of Quebeckers and all Canadians.

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

Mr. Speaker, the minister is the one who told us that the monarchy is not a priority and that the Bloc Québécois should change the subject.

Why is the Prime Minister trying to make it sound like the coronation is the most popular media event since the Quebec cult TV series La petite vie? His government is the one that decided to issue and give away 30,000 coronation medals. His government is the one that is about to land in London with 20 or so representatives, not counting staffers, for yet another eye-wateringly expensive event.

If the monarchy is not a priority for the government, can the minister explain the reason for this circus?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, I must be dreaming. For viewers at home watching us, it must seem like the world has gone mad.

Here we have before us the Bloc Québécois using its time in the House of Commons to talk about the coronation and the monarchy. What must viewers be thinking? While we Liberals discuss the floods and the cost of living in Quebec, cell phone charges and health care, the Bloc Québécois suddenly wakes up and starts talking about the monarchy.

Our side of the House will keep working for Quebeckers and for the things that matter to them.

Justice

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, crime, chaos, drugs and disorder. That is the legacy this Liberal Prime Minister is leaving to Canadian society after eight years in office.

Releasing repeat violent offenders and decriminalizing hard drugs has resulted in more violent crime and drug overdoses in our communities.

Why does the Prime Minister insist on leading us down a dead-end street?

[David Lametti, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians deserve to feel safe and to be safe.

That is precisely why we have been working with the provinces and territories to strengthen the bail system, among other things. We will take action in our areas of jurisdiction, but we will come up with solutions by working together, because these are complex problems. We are working together, and that is exactly what we will do.

I hope to have more news soon.

The Economy

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, at a time when everything costs more and Canadians are suffering and struggling to make ends meet, the Prime Minister has taken not one but five luxury trips abroad to get a nice tan and have some fun in New York. It is scandalous. Housing costs have doubled.

Instead of wasting our money, what will our Prime Minister do to reduce inflation across Canada?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, what is scandalous to the people listening to us today is that the Conservatives are going to vote against the budget. It is a budget made for Canadians across the country.

We listened to Canadians. They talked to us about the cost of living and the cost of groceries. That is why we created a grocery rebate for millions of Canadians; in fact 11 million Canadians will benefit from that measure. They asked us to help with health care and dental care. They asked us to invest in the economy of tomorrow. We even brought Volkswagen to Canada to build this country.

That is a responsible government.

Government Priorities

[Shelby Kramp-Neuman, Conservative, Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, while Beijing agents strike at the heart of Canadian democracy, imperilling our freedoms by threatening our democratically elected members and their families, the Prime Minister is off on lavish Jamaican junkets and footing Canadians with the bill.

After eight years of ineffective and inept governance, Canadians are out of money and the Prime Minister is not only out of touch, but also, often, out of the country. When will the government finally start taking its responsibilities seriously, or get out of the way so we can start tackling the crises that are paralyzing Canadian society?

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

Mr. Speaker, as I have said to this House on many occasions, the member is right: The Prime Minister took a vacation with his family over Christmas. He did so, staying at a friend's house. Is the member asserting that the Prime Minister should not be able to take a vacation with his family at Christmas, or is the member asserting that if he does so he does not have security, which was the vast preponderance of the cost? It seems that the Conservatives want to torque and play partisan games with a family vacation that the Prime Minister took. That is inappropriate.

Indigenous Affairs

[Sophie Chatel, Liberal, Pontiac, QC]

Mr. Speaker, every person in Canada deserves to be safe. Tomorrow is Red Dress Day, a time to commemorate the tragedy of these missing and murdered women and girls. We all need to do more.

Would the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations please tell us more about the work our government is doing to protect indigenous women and girls?

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

Mr. Speaker, we all have a duty to fix the systemic issues that continue to fuel this national crisis and to act on the calls for justice identified by the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

That is why budget 2023 includes a $125-million investment to implement the national action plan, support the family and survivors circle and launch a red dress alert.

We remain committed to doing this very important work with survivors, families and their communities.

Housing

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

Mr. Speaker, while this Prime Minister is living it up and taking international celebrity selfies, a generation of Canadians are giving up on home ownership. Down payments have doubled, rents have doubled, mortgage payments have doubled and builders cannot build because it takes years just to get permits in Canada's large cities. When will the government do something about the big-city gatekeepers who are choking Canadians out of access to a home?

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing and Diversity and Inclusion (Housing)]

Mr. Speaker, I am a former municipal councillor. Never before has a party leader denigrated and insulted a duly elected municipal government in this House. Insults and denigration are not going to get more houses built. I am astounded that Conservative members who are themselves former mayors did not call their own leader on that.

The Economy

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

Mr. Speaker, we will always stand up for Canadians who cannot access homes.

The Prime Minister has been on five lavish trips already this year, including a vacation worth $80,000, paid for by Trudeau Foundation donors. He is out of touch and Canadians are out of money. The cost of government is driving up the cost of living, a 41¢-a-litre tax on gas, groceries and home heating and endless deficits that drive up interest rates, pushing access to housing even further out of reach.

When will he get to work and stop making life more expensive?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Minister of Families]

Mr. Speaker, we understand that Canadians are struggling right now and that there is a high cost of living, but, unlike the Conservatives, we are actually acting. We have put measures in place, like the Canada child benefit, like the climate action incentive, like increasing the guaranteed income supplement, like the new grocery rebate. We are actually acting to help Canadian families at this time of struggle.

We know what the Conservative playbook was: send cheques to millionaires and make seniors work longer.

[Eric Melillo, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter is the policies of the government are the very ones that are driving up inflation and making everything more expensive for Canadians. Now grocery prices are rising to the point where people have to turn to food banks, housing prices have doubled and many young people are worried they will never be able to afford a home. The clawbacks on paycheques are making it so that people who are working harder are falling further behind. While all that is happening, the Prime Minister continues to take lavish vacations, like his $80,000 trip to Jamaica.

When will the Prime Minister finally take responsibility for what he has broken and fix this inflationary crisis?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, we will take no lessons from these Conservatives who have let the town of St. Thomas in southwestern Ontario down, who have let 8,000 workers down, who have let the auto sector down.

We will do what we do best, which is to build a future for Canadians. We will attract investment at Volkswagen, we will create thousands of jobs, we will build our auto sector. We will build Canada for the 21st century. That is what we will do.

National Defence

[Lena Metlege Diab, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Speaker, in my riding of Halifax West, we know that search and rescue capabilities are critical to those in our fishing industry and tourism, and for the safety of Atlantic Canadians. Canadians need to know that no matter where they are, the Canadian Armed Forces will always answer the call.

Could the Minister of National Defence please provide an update on the Cormorant helicopter fleet announcement she made in Halifax last week?