Debates of June 16th, 2023

Queen's York Rangers

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member for South Okanagan—West Kootenay.

Penticton Vees

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Madam Speaker, I may be a little late to this party, but this is the first opportunity I have had to stand in this place to congratulate the Penticton Vees, who won the Fred Page Cup last month, for the second year in a row.

The Vees were carrying on the tradition of the Vees of 1955, who won the world hockey championship by defeating the Soviet Union five to nothing. The Vees won 50 games this year, losing only three, and they have won 43 straight games at home. Their last home defeat was at the hands of the Trail Smoke Eaters, a team I have to say is in my riding as well, and is also a team that defeated the Soviet Union to win the 1961 world championships.

The B.C. Hockey League pulled out of the Canadian Junior Hockey League last year, so the Vees have not been able to go on to win the Centennial Cup, but I think, in both years, they would have given the Brooks Bandits a run for their money.

I would like to congratulate coach Fred Harbinson for his incredible leadership, and the entire team, but especially brothers Bradly and Josh Nadeau, who led the team and the league in scoring.

Go, Vees, go.

Manicouagan

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Madam Speaker, I am immensely pleased today to extend a warm invitation to my colleagues and to all Quebeckers and Canadians to come visit my riding, Manicouagan, this summer.

To the people back home, Manicouagan really means the north shore, a true country within a country, its 350,000 square kilometres teeming with so many wonders that the north shore tourism bureau aptly describes it as “nature beyond measure”.

I may be biased, but I cannot help but boast that Manicougan has 1,300 kilometres of beaches, 60% of the salmon rivers in Quebec, Anticosti Island, which is the size of Corsica, 168 dams, including the Daniel Johnson dam, the largest arch-and-buttress dam in the world, the Manicouagan-Uapishka Biosphere Reserve, numerous outfitters and controlled harvesting zones, and thousands of lakes, not to mention whales and caribou. In short, the north shore is a veritable feast for the senses.

In closing, I invite everyone on the north shore to become ambassadors for our region and show the entire world that our passion for wide open spaces is equal only to our love for people.

We look forward to welcoming visitors.

Seniors' Bus Accident in Manitoba

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Dauphin—Swan River—Neepawa, MB]

Madam Speaker, today is a heartbreaking day. I rise in Parliament, from my home province, with a loss of words to acknowledge the lives taken near Carberry, Manitoba.

Yesterday, nearly 25 individuals departed the Dauphin Active Living Centre. They were on their way to southern Manitoba for what was supposed to be an enjoyable day trip. Today, at least 15 of those Canadians did not return to their loved ones, after a deadly vehicle accident took their lives on the Trans-Canada Highway.

I represent this rural region, and I know rural Canadians are strong and resilient. I know this tragic news has touched the hearts of Canadians across this country, but I also know this will leave a wound on many communities and families, a wound that may never heal.

I thank the first responders for being there in this time of need.

On behalf of all parliamentarians, I extend my sincere thoughts and prayers to the victims of this devastating accident. Canadians are here for them at this time.

Volunteerism

[Francis Scarpaleggia, Liberal, Lac-Saint-Louis, QC]

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honour a sterling citizen and community stalwart.

On June 24, Graeme Maag will be celebrating 50 years of community service, including 34 years with the Pointe-Claire Volunteer Rescue Unit. Graeme has helped structure and transform the rescue unit into a pillar of emergency response in Montreal’s West Island. In addition to responding personally to hundreds of calls in Pointe-Claire and neighbouring municipalities, Graeme has created a solid governance framework for the rescue unit. He authored the unit’s first constitution, standing orders, annual training program and inventory system, and was instrumental in the acquisition of vital rescue equipment.

A man for others knows no boundaries. Despite his responsibilities with the Pointe-Claire Volunteer Rescue Unit, Graeme has still found time to sit on the boards of directors of various community and charitable organizations.

I thank Graeme for all he does. I thank him for having our back.

Housing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Madam Speaker, at three o'clock this afternoon, Canada's population will hit 40 million. At the same time, we have learned that the number of houses built in Canada will drop by 19% this year.

Where are we going to put everyone?

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

Madam Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question.

However, I would like to remind him that members of his own party say one thing but think another. I think that, before they even talk to Canadians, they should agree within the party on what they want to do about housing.

On our side of the House, we have a national housing strategy. We want to work with the provinces and the municipalities, certainly not insult them.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Madam Speaker, today at 3 p.m., we will see Canada's population hit 40 million people, while the number of houses built is dropping 19%.

Where are we going to put everyone?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Madam Speaker, I think it is very important that we do not start to believe that the solution to our housing challenges is to close the door to more newcomers. We need to use our immigration policies to help bring in the people who have the skills we need to help build more homes.

I think that all members of the House, hopefully, support continuing to integrate newcomers into our society. We need to adopt policies to allow us to build more homes to ensure that people do not just arrive here but that they are also set up for success. This is something we have been working towards over the last number of years with the national housing strategy, and with new policies, we will have dedicated draws for skilled workers who have the talents we need to build more homes for Canadians who have been here for generations and for those who arrive in the future.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Madam Speaker, the solution is to build more homes, yet since the Prime Minister took office, the number of houses per capita in this country has dropped. The average mortgage payment is up 122%. The average rent is up over 100% and the average down payment is up over 100%. That is his record of doubling housing costs, after eight years of running deficits that drive interest rates up and of funding local gatekeepers that block construction.

Will the Liberals balance the budget to bring down interest rates and inflation, and link dollars for cities to the number of houses completed?

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

Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to hear my colleague talk about working with the municipalities. I am happy that the tone has changed and that the municipalities are no longer the target of insults.

As a former Montreal city councillor, I think we want to make sure that the municipalities build more housing. This is exactly what the housing accelerator fund is doing for municipalities.

What the leader of the official opposition is proposing is exactly what we said we would do last year. I am very pleased to see that we were able to inspire his party's messaging today.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Madam Speaker, while the government pretends to plagiarize my policy on removing gatekeepers, there is a very big distinction. It brought in this so-called accelerator. Since that time, housing construction has decelerated; it is down 19% year over year, and in May, it was down 33% on an annual basis. We are building fewer houses since this $4-billion monstrosity came into place. Our approach is to require the completion of homes before cities get the money. The Liberal approach is to fund promises.

Why will they not fund results instead of promises?

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

Madam Speaker, we know the opposition leader's policy when it comes to housing; it was to do nothing. For 10 years, the Conservative government did not invest a dime in housing; it did not prioritize or even talk about housing. It left it to every other level of government. What we have done instead is to say that the federal government has to be a leader in housing.

What Conservative members have done, frankly, is to come up with ideas that we have already been doing for years. While they insult mayors, throw slurs at them and talk about how incompetent municipal governments, elected in their own right, are, we will stand up and get the job done.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Madam Speaker, what we delivered was affordable housing. The average house cost when I was the minister responsible was $450,000. Today, it is well over $700,000. The average mortgage cost was $1,400; now it is over $3,000. The average rent was $1,000; now it is over $2,000.

The member is right, though, that our programs cost far less to taxpayers. We spent far less to achieve far more. Housing was cheap. The way we can make it affordable again is by requiring that cities get out of the way and let builders build.

Why do they not bring in place a “dollars for doors” policy that gets things—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. government House leader.

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

Madam Speaker, we knew the opposition was good at making fake cheques with the Conservative logos, but when it came to actually delivering action, there were 2.7 million more people in poverty when they were in government than what is happening today. They presided over the worst growth that had been seen since R.B. Bennett.

When the economy was down, when more people were in poverty, things were cheaper. That is true. As our economy is growing and booming and Canada is leading the world in growth, we have to meet the challenge of growth. Instead of having the problems of falling apart, we have problems of growing. Those are good problems to have. We are rising to meet them.

Public Safety

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Madam Speaker, the Minister of Public Safety was completely unaware that Paul Bernardo was being transferred, even though his office knew about it for three months. He told us that the problem has been solved because he instructed his office to keep him informed.

The same thing happened with the Prime Minister regarding China's threats against an MP. He had not been made aware either, but everything is fine now: The Canadian Security Intelligence Service was given a directive to inform his ministers from now on.

This government has been in office since 2015. It needs to reassure us that it is simply not true that it took eight years for ministers to ask to be informed on their files.

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

Madam Speaker, as the member across the way understands, the decision to transfer an incarcerated person is an independent choice. That is essential in our system. The decision in the case in question was a choice made by Correctional Service Canada. It is very important not to politicize such a serious issue.

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Madam Speaker, we now know that the ministers do not really seem to be informed about what is happening.

It is common knowledge here that everyone works via text messaging, because texts are practical. When the recipient sees the message, the system tags the message as “read”. We can even see what time the message was read.

Would it be possible for the government to implement the same kind of system for ministerial briefing notes? At least then when they say that they have not been informed about their files, we would know whether it is actually true.

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

Madam Speaker, the crime in question is so serious that there are no words to describe it.

In March, staff were informed that someone might be transferred, but it was just a possibility. It was only once we had all of the details at the end of May that the Prime Minister—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès), Liberal, Alexandra Mendes]

The hon. member for Vancouver East.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Jenny Kwan, NDP, Vancouver East, BC]

Madam Speaker, people fearing gender-based persecution are adversely affected by the safe third country agreement. Today, the Supreme Court of Canada stated that equality rights are just as important as every other human right. Even the government's lawyers argued that an urgent exemption for migrant women, girls and 2SLGBTQIA+ people in the safe third country agreement is needed.

Will the Liberals do the right thing and expand the exemption in the safe third country agreement for people fearing gender-based persecution?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for her advocacy on behalf of vulnerable people in Canada and around the world.

Of course, members will have seen by now that the Supreme Court of Canada has upheld the safe third country agreement, recognizing that Canada and the United States have the ability to make decisions to monitor and control the flow of people who seek asylum in Canada in a way that respects the need to be compassionate toward the world's vulnerable but also to have an orderly and regular migration system.

To the extent that we want to look for ways to improve the agreement over the years ahead, we will continually monitor this particular issue to ensure that those fleeing violence who are vulnerable and may not have the opportunity to seek protection elsewhere have the ability to have their claims considered in Canada.

Grocery Industry

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

Madam Speaker, in the debate between the Conservative leader and the Liberal finance minister, we hear a lot about public spending and inflation, but what neither of them will say is the role that outsized price increases and record corporate profits have been playing in driving inflation for Canadian households. Canadians know it, as they are the ones paying the bill, and the number one stressor for them now keeping them up at night is their financial position.

The agriculture committee has finally recognized that the New Democrats were right to call for a windfall profit tax on those very same corporations. Now that we have a multipartisan recommendation to implement a windfall tax on giant grocery companies, will the Liberals finally do it?

[Francis Drouin, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Madam Speaker, I wish my hon. colleague would have spoken to some of his members. What the recommendation says is that politicians should not be deciding what is a reasonable profit and that the Competition Bureau should be looking at it. As the recommendation talked about, if the Competition Bureau decided that, yes, there were excess profits, then perhaps the recommendation would be to look at implementing a windfall tax. However, politicians should not be deciding that. At the Competition Bureau, there is a process in place and it is looking at that.