Debates of May 9th, 2023

Democratic Institutions

[Larry Brock, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we would think the illegal operation of foreign agents in this country would serve as a good enough reason for the Liberals to appropriately intervene. Instead, the public safety minister chooses to mislead Canadians by claiming that the RCMP has shut down all Beijing-backed police stations, when in reality, two Montreal groups under investigation for hosting these stations have not received any closure requests.

How much longer do Canadians need to wait before the government finally closes down these illegal Beijing-backed stations?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, by now my colleague will know that the RCMP provided an update that it has taken action to disrupt the activities of these so-called police stations. As we heard the Prime Minister say, it is this government's expectation that, if any such foreign interference activities occur or pop up again, it will take the necessary action to keep our communities safe.

More to the point, there is $49 million to assist the RCMP in budget 2023. Instead of tough talk and sabre-rattling, Conservatives should support that budget so we can protect our communities from foreign interference.

[Larry Brock, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

Mr. Speaker, actions speak louder than words. Canadians deserve no less. The government's apathy concerning the threats of foreign interference continuously fails to protect Chinese Canadians across the country. We have had enough with the smoke and mirrors.

Last week, on this very same topic, the minister stressed the importance of communication and transparency in the House. It is time for the minister to demonstrate it and finally answer the question: When will the government close down all of the Beijing-backed police stations in Canada?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite knows full well that operational independence is a pillar of our democracy. We put our confidence in the RCMP and our national security apparatus to protect our communities from foreign interference.

Instead of misguided statements like the one the member opposite just said, he should put the work into protecting our institutions, including the people in this chamber. All of that is built on the foundation of the work this government has been doing since we took the reins in 2015.

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it took two years for the government to do the right thing and expel the diplomat who was directly involved in interfering in our democracy and intimidating the family of a member of the House of Commons for a vote of his in the House of Commons. Meanwhile, the dictatorship in Beijing continues to operate illegal police stations in Canada, which are used to intimidate members of the Chinese diaspora community.

Are the Prime Minister and his public safety minister going to wait two years, or will they commit today to shutting down these foreign influence operations running out of these Beijing-backed police stations?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, as long as we get the same questions, Conservatives will get the same answers.

The RCMP has taken decisive action in the foreign interference relationship to these so-called police stations and, going forward, will take the necessary steps to protect our communities.

Conservatives talk about apathy. They were apathetic for a decade when they held the reins of government, and they could have put in place the tools, measures and resources they are now asking the government to do. We are doing that work. They need to stop with the politicization, stop with the claims of political interference and get behind the work this government is doing.

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

Mr. Speaker, what we would like is for the government to actually start doing the work. Yesterday, all members on that side, including the public safety minister and the Prime Minister, voted against a public inquiry. They voted against expelling a diplomat. They voted against a foreign agent registry. All of these tools can be used to protect members of the Chinese diaspora community from intimidation from the Communist dictatorship in Beijing. It is operating here on our soil, and the government has the ability to stop it.

We have a very simple question. The minister says that, if we ask the same question, we will get the same answer. We would like some action to go with it. Will they implement a foreign agent registry and shut down these Beijing-backed police stations?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, here is the record of action that this government has taken. We declared the foreign agent persona non grata. That person is now on his way out of Canada. We have put hundreds of millions of dollars into the national security apparatus to give it the tools it needs to protect our communities against foreign interference.

Rather than continue to politicize this issue and make claims around apathy, Conservatives should take a look in the mirror at their own record, where for 10 years they did none of the work they are now asking the government to do. The difference is that we are doing it. We are protecting our institutions, and we are protecting the people in them.

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

Mr. Speaker, today, the Prime Minister said that he would launch a national public inquiry on foreign interference if necessary. Who will decide if it is necessary? The decision will be made by a former director of the Trudeau Foundation, which received an illegal donation from the regime in Beijing. I can already guess what the special rapporteur's response will be and how much credibility he has.

Yesterday, we gave every member of the House an unique opportunity to vote in favour of a independent national inquiry on foreign interference. All members of the House, except the government members, voted in favour of that motion.

Why does the government show so little respect for MPs?

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

Mr. Speaker, Mr. Johnston is a former governor general of Canada. He is independent and will soon present his action plan to counter foreign interference. As an expert, he can look at all of the options, obviously.

With regard to the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation, it is an independent foundation in which the Prime Minister has no personal interest.

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

Mr. Speaker, the government is saying that it is taking action. Taking action gets results, but to date, the government's score on foreign interference is 25%. That would not be a very good mark to get on a report card. Why?

The Liberals finally expelled a diplomat after two years, but they have done nothing to create a foreign agent registry, to conduct a independent national inquiry or to shut down the Chinese police stations.

Every time we ask them questions, they fail miserably at protecting Canadians. Our question to them is, why?

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

Mr. Speaker, I was the critic of public safety at the time of Stephen Harper's government, and when Justice Iacobucci and Justice O'Connor issued their recommendations saying that urgent action needed to be taken, and that an independent parliamentary committee of parliamentarians should oversee every aspect of national security, they did nothing.

It was our government that brought in that body, which allows parliamentarians of every party to be able to see into every aspect of our national security. We acted on those and many other recommendations that the Conservatives opposite, when they were in government, sat on and did not act upon.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, let us talk about the Century Initiative. Many Quebeckers and French Canadians are concerned about the federal government potentially tripling the population to 100 million by 2100 without any public debate. The Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship says his plan has nothing to do with the Century Initiative and he makes his own choices. Coincidence or not, his 2023-25 immigration targets are remarkably similar to those proposed by the Century Initiative.

Will he at least confirm the fact that his target, 500,000 newcomers in 2025, lines up with the proposal and actually goes a bit further?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, the purpose of the federal government's immigration plan is to grow our economy. People need to recognize that it is possible to grow the economy while protecting the French language and francophones' demographic weight.

We will continue to increase the number of francophone newcomers. That is good for official language minority communities and it is good for our economy too.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister brags about 4% of immigrants outside Quebec being francophone, but according to francophone and Acadian communities, they need 12% next year and 20% in the future just to slow the decline of French.

Quebec's Minister of the French Language calls it the most hare-brained idea of the century. He says it is not good for Quebec or for the Canadian francophonie.

Will the minister commit to not tripling the Canadian population to 100 million by 2100?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, that is very interesting.

It is clear that the hon. member has read the McKinsey plan and the Century Initiative plan. It is equally clear that he has not read the Government of Canada's plan. If he is interested in reading that plan, as I am and as our government is, I can easily send him an email with the chapter on francophone immigration after question period.

I have one priority: to increase the number of francophone newcomers and support minority francophone communities while growing the economy.

Housing

[Denis Trudel, Bloc, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we are in the midst of a housing crisis.

It is virtually impossible for people in Quebec to find affordable housing. Three weeks ago, the National Housing Council stated that, although the federal government has built 115,000 units, Canada has lost a jaw-dropping 550,000 affordable housing units over the past 10 years. We are moving backward, not forward. For every new affordable housing unit, we lose five.

Before any talk about tripling the population, is there a single MP on the government side who has thought about where all those people are going to live?

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

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for the question.

It is very important to understand that immigration is actually one of the tools among a number of tools in our toolset that we use to address the skills and labour shortage within the construction and building trades sector to actually build housing for Canadians.

I would invite my hon. colleague to look at our national housing strategy, the housing accelerator fund, the results we have delivered through programs like the rapid housing initiative and the Canada housing benefit to see the real effects on the ground to deliver more safe and affordable housing for Canadians.

The Economy

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

Mr. Speaker, according to a constituent, he makes a decent living of around $70,000 and lives within his means with no credit card debt, yet he and his wife are struggling. He states that there are no extras for the family, so they cannot afford the Liberal way of living and shelling out more and more.

This is a common cry from Canadians. However, the Prime Minister is too busy on vacations to listen to Canadians who are struggling. Will the Prime Minister land his plane and start doing his job?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, as the minister for Alberta, I would like to take a moment to thank first responders across the country, and Canadians from coast to coast to coast, for working with Alberta and coming to support us as we face the crisis with the forest fires.

On the substantive issue of affordability, our government has introduced targeted measures to make life more affordable. Today, I was at the Senate finance committee, where we asked the senators to pass Bill C-46. They have done so, and it is now in front of the Senate for third reading.

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

Mr. Speaker, government policies have made life more unaffordable. They are not working for Canadians who are struggling or for seniors on fixed incomes.

The Prime Minister does not understand that 41¢ per litre being added to heat, gas and food does drive up the cost of living. Seniors' budgets do not have that flexibility. Why is the Prime Minister making life harder for seniors who are already struggling?

[Kamal Khera, Liberal, Minister of Seniors]

Mr. Speaker, since 2015, we have been there, supporting Canadians, including seniors, by lowering the age of retirement back to 65; strengthening the guaranteed income supplement, which has helped over hundreds of thousands of seniors and has lifted 45,000 seniors out of poverty; and enhancing the Canada pension plan. All these measures, by the way, were opposed by the party opposite.

Budget 2023 continues to support seniors. Our new grocery rebate will put more money in their pockets. Our new dental care plan will give them the dental care they need. We are here, delivering for Canadians. The Conservatives can just say things that make no sense, but we are here, delivering.

Ethics

[Glen Motz, Conservative, Medicine Hat—Cardston—Warner, AB]

Mr. Speaker, my constituents are sick of the Prime Minister's hypocrisy. With Alberta's average monthly salary at $5,000 a month, many struggle to make ends meet while the Prime Minister spends more than that for a one-night hotel stay. It was $6,000 for one night. His poor decisions demonstrate just how out of touch he really is with the average Canadian.

Why does the Prime Minister make Canadians pay for his lavish travel while they continue to struggle?

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

Mr. Speaker, I greatly sympathize, obviously, as we all do, with Canadians. At a time of global uncertainty, with global inflation and the challenges it poses, they are expecting action. That is why they expect the facts to be presented to them, just as the action we are taking to help them should be fairly presented. The member opposite talked about the night the Prime Minister spent to commemorate the Queen's death and to be there. As I have iterated before, the fact is that there was security in that room. There was more than one room. They misrepresent facts, and unfortunately, they continue to be personally focused on the Prime Minister.

Finance

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is more out of touch than ever.

Canadians are struggling. Everything costs more: food, housing, heating. Meanwhile, he keeps going on luxury vacations and spending recklessly. He refuses to listen to anyone, not even his own party members, who tried in vain this weekend to convince him to balance the budget.

Will the Prime Minister get his act together and put an end to his ill-advised policies that are poisoning Canadians' lives?