Debates of June 1st, 2023

Health

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Health recently blocked reforms that would save Canadians billions on their prescription medicines. The minister said he did this because he wanted to be consulted by Canada's drug price regulator but did not receive an invitation. In fact, documents obtained by the health committee show he was invited at least five times, and the minister's office either ignored or rejected them.

Why will the minister not come clean with Canadians and just admit that he refused to lower drug prices because big pharma told him not to?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, as the member knows really well, we had discussions on that just a few months ago. On July 1, we put into place some of the strongest regulations ever put into place to regulate the prices of patented medicines. This is great news because we are now going to compare the cost of patented drugs in Canada to a new basket of countries. It is a better basket of countries and excludes the highest costs seen in the world, which are in the United States and Switzerland. We look forward to doing more.

Housing

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, 200 residents of a west end Toronto building are taking action against huge rent increases by their landlord. Their rent is being jacked up by 40% this fall. Seniors on fixed incomes, workers and families are worried sick they could end up on the street.

Under the Liberals, rents have skyrocketed. We are now seeing rents double or even triple in communities. This is unacceptable.

Will the Liberals stop these renovictions, put people before profits and launch an acquisition fund for non-profits to keep rents low?

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

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member knows that rent subsidies and making sure rental rates reflect fairness are in provincial jurisdiction. However, we do believe we have a role in helping vulnerable renters. That is why we introduced the Canada housing benefit, which is helping tens of thousands of Canadian households across each province and territory in Canada. That is why we introduced a top-up to the Canada housing benefit. It is why we are also making sure we are building more rental supply, including more supply of affordable rental units across the country.

Canadian Heritage

[Jean Yip, Liberal, Scarborough—Agincourt, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this year marks the centennial of the Chinese Exclusion Act, a shameful chapter in our nation's history that we must not forget.

Can the Minister of International Trade tell this House how our government is planning to commemorate the history of the Chinese Exclusion Act and what steps it is taking to continue supporting Chinese Canadians and their heritage?

[Mary Ng, Liberal, Minister of International Trade]

Mr. Speaker, 100 years ago, the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed in this Parliament. It stopped Chinese immigrants from coming to Canada, stopped families from reuniting, and caused racism and harm. These same Chinese immigrants helped build Canada's railway to connect our country from coast to coast to coast.

I pay tribute to those whose strong advocacy repealed that law, but it took 24 years. Our government is recognizing the centennial as an event of national historic significance and we are commemorating it with a plaque. We must ensure that this never happens again.

Carbon Pricing

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals' first carbon tax hikes the cost of gas and diesel, doubles heating and makes groceries more expensive. A record 1.5 million Canadians had to go to a food bank in one month, and one in five Canadians skip meals just to get by. The Liberals will hit struggling Canadians with carbon tax 2 anyway. It will add 17¢ a litre at the pumps, and it will hurt the working poor and people with low incomes the most.

Why do the Liberals not care and will they not axe their costly carbon taxes?

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

Mr. Speaker, setting aside the fact that the members opposite all campaigned to put in place carbon pricing in Canada, let us look at what they are saying no to.

They are saying no to clean air and clean water. We were evacuating people in New Brunswick and in Quebec. We had to airlift people outside of Fort Chipewyan last night because of climate change. The Conservatives are saying let us make pollution free again, and let us move away from the economy of the 21st century. We are saying no.

We had the strongest economy of all G7 countries last year and we are the country that has reduced its emissions the most of all G7 countries. We can fight climate change and have a strong economy.

[Shannon Stubbs, Conservative, Lakeland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals say the carbon taxes are supposed to reduce emissions, but after eight years, they have missed every target and they only went down slightly once when governments locked Canada down.

To really help lower global emissions, Canada could export LNG, but after eight years and 18 proposals, the only one getting built was approved by Conservatives before. From oil and gas, to critical minerals, to tidal power and to offshore opportunities on every coast, the Liberals hold Canada back. The world wants Canada's energy and technology. The Liberals are out of touch and Canadians are out of money.

When will the Liberals axe their harmful, failed, costly carbon tax?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am sorry, but the member is plainly wrong. We have not missed our target. The Conservatives missed their target. I was in Copenhagen in 2009 when former Prime Minister Harper committed Canada to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions. They did nothing.

We have reduced emissions by 50 million tonnes between 2019 and 2021, the best performance of all G7 countries. We did that while creating millions of jobs in this country and having the strongest economy of G7 countries.

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK]

Mr. Speaker, after eight long years and out-of-control spending, what are we seeing? More Canadians are using food banks, going hungry and worried about how they are going to make ends meet. Carbon tax 1 increases a litre of gas by 41¢ and makes everything more expensive. Carbon tax 2 adds another 17¢ and more pain for Canadians. If we add the GST, the price is 61¢ a litre.

Why is the Prime Minister so intent on pricing Canadians out of a living?

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

Mr. Speaker, I quote from the 2021 Conservative Party platform. It says, “Our plan will ensure that all Canadians can do their part to fight climate change, in the way that works best for them, and at a carbon price that is affordable...increasing to $50/tonne”. The document further states, “We will assess progress...[so] carbon prices [can be] on a path to $170/tonne”.

Either the Conservatives believe that climate change is real or they do not, but there is one thing that is for certain: Canadians in this country cannot believe a word that side says.

[Richard Bragdon, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

Mr. Speaker, the carbon tax has been in place in some jurisdictions in Canada now for nearly 15 years. The commissioner of the environment admitted at committee recently that Canada has no metric by which to measure whether there has been any reduction in carbon as a result of its implementation.

With no results other than its diminishing effects on Canadian pocketbooks, why in the world would the government place an additional carbon tax on their already weary and burdened backs?

When will the government finally listen to the common sense of the common people and scrap this useless, regressive, ineffective and punitive tax?

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

Mr. Speaker, unfortunately the commissioner of the environment did not have the benefit of our latest national inventory report, which shows that we have the best performance of all—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Wait a minute. Both sides are talking to each other. We are not at a party here. We are in the House of Commons, so I want everybody to just calm down and listen.

The hon. minister can start from the top, so that we can all hear his answer.

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

Mr. Speaker, as I was saying, when he went to committee the commissioner of the environment did not benefit from the information in our latest national inventory report, which shows that we have reduced emissions by 53 million tonnes, which is the equivalent of removing 11 million vehicles from our roads, between 2019 and 2021. We are landing deals like Volkswagen. We are landing deals with Tidewater in B.C., with Imperial's $720-million plant in Alberta for a bio-refinery, with Federated Co-op's $2-billion plant in Saskatchewan or with Braya's plant in Newfoundland, which has received in the last few months $300 million.

Intergovernmental Relations

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on Thursday, the National Assembly unanimously demanded the disclosure of documents from the Grenier commission. Let us not forget that this commission had found that the federal government had engaged in illegal spending during the 1995 referendum.

The National Assembly is missing some key documents from the federal government. Ottawa is still refusing to disclose these archives. The heritage minister was asked to collaborate, but instead he accused the four parties in Quebec City of living in the past. Let us give him another chance. We are good people.

For the 125 elected members of the National Assembly, will he open his archives?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I was talking directly to my friends in the Bloc Québécois who are constantly looking for something to bicker over.

Speaking of bickering, or chicane in French, this makes me think of the famous band La Chicane and one of their songs: The Bloc is so “goddamn pissed” and there is “some resentment here”. They have a lot—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Order. There are words we do not use. That term is unparliamentary. I would like the minister to continue without using sacrilegious language.

The Minister of Canadian Heritage.

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Honoré-Mercier, QC]

I apologize, Mr. Speaker. I was quoting the song.

The Bloc Québécois is always looking for ways to divide people. Why does it not work with the government to make a difference for our families, our seniors, our young people, our businesses and the environment? That would be a sign that they are here—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

Order. The hon. member for Jonquière.

[Mario Simard, Bloc, Jonquière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, that is a lack of respect for the National Assembly.

In history and in relationships, the one who tells the other that they are trying to pick a fight is usually the guilty party. Everyone knows that. The federal government is the one that has been accused of illegal financing here.

The National Assembly is unanimous. It voted last Thursday to investigate the illegal financing, not last year. We are not living in the past. We are talking about last Thursday.

Will the minister play fair, respect the National Assembly, which is unanimous, and open their archives?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I do not know what kind of relationships my colleague has been in in the past.

To come back to the debate that concerns us, I have a great deal of respect for the National Assembly. What is happening is that we are respecting jurisdictions. Right now, there is a debate going on in Quebec and we are talking about it. We respect all that.

However, the Bloc Québécois is trying to bring 30-year old arguments and debates up here. Why does it not focus on what we can do together to help society, to help Quebec move forward? That would be more productive than always trying to go back to the past.

Justice

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Speaker, new stats out in Winnipeg show a very disturbing trend. After eight years of a Liberal government, crime in Winnipeg is up by over 25% over last year, which includes a record 53 homicides, and the Liberals have done absolutely nothing effective to address this. In fact, they have made it worse with their dangerous and reckless catch-and-release bail policies.

Winnipeggers deserve far better than this. When will the Liberals reverse the damage they caused, clean up our streets and finally protect our communities?