Debates of June 15th, 2023

Grocery Industry

[Lindsay Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the London Food Bank is seeing its highest turnout ever. People cannot afford the cost of food right now, and major grocers are using inflation as a cover to jack up prices. The government is choosing to protect the profits and greed of major grocers while Canadians' bills skyrocket.

The multipartisan committee released a report stressing how a windfall tax would incentivize large grocers to keep prices low. Will the government implement this windfall tax immediately so that Canadians can stop going to food banks and can actually afford their groceries?

[Andy Fillmore, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, we agree with the member, and we know that Canadians are paying far too much for their groceries right now. That is why, not long ago, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry wrote to the Competition Bureau to make sure that the bureau is using all the tools it has at its disposal to keep prices down and to prevent businesses from taking advantage of the high prices to profit off of Canadians. We have also asked the bureau to look immediately into these matters. We will continue to work to make life more affordable for Canadians in all matters.

Diversity and Inclusion

[Lisa Hepfner, Liberal, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, around the world we are seeing the rights of 2SLGBTQIA+ people being restricted. Even within our own borders, we are seeing extremist groups callously using innocent trans and non-binary children as political targets.

The Minister of Labour recently represented Canada at the UN International Labour Organization in Geneva, where he raised this issue. Would the minister share with the House what he said to this international forum?

[Seamus O'Regan, Liberal, Minister of Labour]

Mr. Speaker, a few days ago I stood before nations that have attempted to roll back 2SLGBTQI+ rights, and I reminded them that as a gay and married man, I would be jailed or even condemned to death if I happened to have been born in their countries.

Nations make progress and they achieve rights in their own time and in their own way, as was the case with Canada, and we respect that, but once those rights are achieved, once they are named, we will not stand by and see them swept under the carpet, put back in the closet or taken away, not here, not there, not anywhere.

Public Safety

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister and cabinet have never taken responsibility for their many acts committed in bad faith.

For example, the Minister of Public Safety alone has misled the House no less than seven times. He even misled a judge by backdating documents. He should have been fired for that, but he is still here. The Liberals have also never showed empathy or compassion for the victims of Paul Bernardo.

The Prime Minister is in Ottawa. Can he rise today and tell us whether he is going to fire his public safety minister?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, with all due respect, that is absolutely not true. I called the representatives of the families of Leslie Mahaffy and Kristen French to express our government's solidarity and our full support.

In addition, we will now work with CSC to prevent further cases like this from happening. Victims must be notified before such decisions are made. That is the commitment we are making for the future.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Correctional Service of Canada took the trouble to inform the Prime Minister's Office three months ago that Paul Bernardo was being transferred to a medium-security prison.

Did anyone in the Prime Minister's Office think to have the common sense to contact the families and warn them? No one seems to have thought about calling the victims' families, even though this should be standard procedure.

The minister says that he did so two weeks ago. Why did his prime minister not do it three months ago?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, with all due respect, my hon. colleague does not understand our current laws. These are issues that we need to address. We are prepared to work with all members of the House.

In the meantime, I have issued a new directive to CSC to make sure of one very important thing: I will be briefed directly, and CSC will notify victims when making such decisions in the future.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Mr. Speaker, an unsealed justice department indictment in U.S. court revealed that a Canadian in Vancouver was coerced back to the PRC. It has been eight months since the first reports about Beijing's illegal police service stations. Beijing brazenly admitted to five of these stations, and another two have been identified. These stations are being used to coerce people back to the PRC.

The minister has indicated these stations were shut down, but they have not been. When will they be?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, with great respect to my colleague, he needs to listen carefully to the RCMP, which has consistently updated Canadians that it is taking action in regard to foreign interference associated with these so-called police stations.

If the Conservatives are serious about fighting foreign interference, they will stop with the partisan attacks. They will support the government's agenda to tackle this issue and do so in a way that is unifying, because we must protect our democratic institutions, and most importantly Canadians, from this phenomenon.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Mr. Speaker, that same indictment also revealed that in New York City last summer, PRC agents tried to coerce someone in New York City to come to Toronto for more intensive interrogations. The implication is that Beijing is comfortable using Canada as its foreign interference playground. Maybe that is because two months ago those same PRC agents were arrested, yet here north of the border there is nothing: no arrests, no new legislation.

When will the Prime Minister replace the minister with someone who will get the job done?

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, we are getting the job done by adding new authorities for our national security establishment, by adding $49 million for the RCMP to protect Canadians from foreign interference, by being on the cusp of introducing a new foreign agent registry—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I have to break for a second. We are starting to see the volume go up again, and we are hearing individual voices. It is getting a bit out of hand, so we are going to take a deep breath and pause a bit.

I will ask the hon. minister to start from the top, please.

[Marco Mendicino, Liberal, Eglinton—Lawrence, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we are getting the job done by making sure that we equip our national security establishment with the tools that it needs to fight foreign interference, by adding resources for the RCMP, which we put into the budget, by raising the bar on transparency through the creation of NSICOP and NSIRA, and by continuing to engage Canadians on this.

That is what we are doing. What the Conservatives are doing is continuing on with an agenda that focuses on partisan attacks. They should stop that and do the work with all members in the chamber so that we can fight against foreign interference and protect our democratic institutions.

News Media Industry

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, 1,300 people learned yesterday that they would be losing their jobs at Bell Media. Six radio stations are going to stop broadcasting. When even a giant like Bell can no longer protect its media and newsrooms, the situation is dire. The entire news industry and the people who work in it are all under threat.

The Bloc Québécois is proud to have contributed to Bill C‑11 and Bill C‑18, two very important bills. However, I think the minister is beginning to realize, as I have, that this will probably not be enough.

In light of these new job losses, does the minister have anything to suggest in order to better protect the diversity of information?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, my thoughts are with all those who have lost their jobs, and with their families. It is always worrisome when radio stations shut down and journalists lose their jobs. That is why we have been there from the start. We worked with the Bloc Québécois and the NDP to study Bill C‑11 and Bill C‑18, but the Conservatives did everything they could to delay the passage of those bills.

Do they finally understand that their actions have consequences?

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, layoffs at Bell Media are a sign of growing pessimism even among the telecom giants. We can only imagine how the smaller industry players feel.

Will current federal programs and the compensation flowing from Bill C‑18 really be enough to ensure the survival of the news?

The Bloc Québécois is proposing the creation of a dedicated fund, separate from existing programs, wholly dedicated to protecting news media and newsrooms. I think we are at that point.

What does the minister think? Is he prepared to work with us to develop a fund like that?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, our government will always be open to new solutions. We will always look at what more we can do and what we can do better.

However, when we introduced the Canadian journalism labour tax credit, the Conservatives were against it. When we created the Canada Media Fund for the regions, the Conservatives were against it. When we introduced Bill C‑11, the Conservatives were against it. When we introduced Bill C‑18, the Conservatives, again, were against it.

Do they understand that their actions have real consequences?

Financial Institutions

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

Mr. Speaker, as a way to show the world his admiration for the basic dictatorship of the regime in Beijing, the Prime Minister wanted to personally contribute to its expansion in 2016 by proudly announcing an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. We warned the Prime Minister. The Conservatives saw the trap many times. We know from one of its executives that the AIIB was in fact run by the Chinese Communist Party. Canadians should not have to pay a quarter of a billion dollars to expand the Beijing regime.

When will the Prime Minister get our money back?

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

Mr. Speaker, as the Deputy Prime Minister said yesterday in answer to this question, the Government of Canada will immediately halt all government-led activity at the AIIB. Furthermore, she has instructed the Department of Finance to lead a review of the allegations regarding Canada's involvement in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. The Canadian government will also be discussing this issue with its allies. The review announced yesterday is to be undertaken expeditiously. No outcome is being ruled out following its completion.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal-appointed board member on the Asian infrastructure bank just resigned, calling it a cesspool and saying that it was controlled by “the Chinese Communist Party crowd who operate like a secret police.”

Who could have seen this coming? Who could have predicted that a bank structured to give Beijing effective control would use the bank to expand the power and influence of the Communist regime in Beijing? Who could have possibly seen that coming? The Conservatives, that is who.

We warned the Liberals not to put tax dollars into this scam of a bank. When are they getting our money back?

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

Mr. Speaker, as the Deputy Prime Minister and I said in the House yesterday on this matter, the Government of Canada will immediately halt all government-led activity at the bank. She has instructed the Department of Finance to lead an immediate review of the allegations raised and of Canada's involvement in the AIIB.

The Canadian government will also be discussing this issue with our allies and partners who are members of the bank.

The review is to be undertaken expeditiously, and no outcome is being ruled out following this investigation.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Mr. Speaker, nobody likes an “I told you so”, except for everyone who told them so.

It was not only Conservatives, but also our major security partners, such as Japan and the United States, and foreign affairs experts, who said the same thing, that the Communist regime would use the bank to bully developing countries and expand its power and influence.

This bank built railways and ports with taxpayer dollars while Canadians here at home are struggling just to pay the bills. Now that the con has been exposed, will the government do the right thing and get Canadians their tax dollars back?

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

Mr. Speaker, to the same question, we say the same answer as we gave yesterday in the House.

The Deputy Prime Minister has been very clear. We have ceased all government-led activities with the AIIB. We have asked the Department of Finance to conduct an immediate investigation into the activities of the bank. This investigation is to be undertaken expeditiously, and no outcome will be ruled out.