Debates of Sept. 20th, 2023

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

It being Wednesday, we will now have the singing of the national anthem led by the hon. member for Timmins—James Bay.

[Members sang the national anthem]

The Economy

[Ryan Turnbull, Liberal, Whitby, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is good to be back in the House after the summer break. Over the course of the summer, I met constituents across my riding of Whitby and they are rightfully worried about the rising cost of living. They expect our government to create real solutions that make a real difference in the lives of Canadians, and not make slogans and empty promises.

Canadians spoke and we listened. We are taking immediate steps to lower and stabilize the cost of groceries, which will help all Canadians by demanding that the five big grocers come up with a plan to stabilize food prices by Thanksgiving; extend the CEBA loan repayments to help small businesses; and incentivize construction of purpose-built rental units by removing the GST on the construction of new apartment buildings.

This is just the beginning. I am ready to roll up my sleeves and work even harder for Canadians. I am determined to address the affordability challenges, as we all are on this side of the House, that Canadians are facing today. It is good to be back.

National Hunting, Trapping and Fishing Heritage Day

[Blaine Calkins, Conservative, Red Deer—Lacombe, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to mark the ninth National Hunting, Trapping and Fishing Heritage Day, which is celebrated on the third Saturday in September every year.

For generations, our people have harnessed the resources of Canada's outdoors, building resilient communities, embracing the principles of conservation and fostering economic prosperity through sustainable practices. Hunters and anglers have devoted their lives to preserving our natural habitats, advocating for ethical practices and ensuring the continuity of these cherished traditions for future generations.

Unfortunately, after eight years, the Liberals have undermined our cherished heritage through attempts to ban hunting rifles and blaming hunters for the Liberals' rise in gun crime.

Conservatives understand the important role hunters, trappers and anglers play in both our economy and in conservation of our fish and wildlife. Conservatives, and only Conservatives, will always protect the ability of Canadians to hunt, fish and trap for generations to come.

Windsor—Tecumseh

[Irek Kusmierczyk, Liberal, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my community of Windsor—Tecumseh is rising. Hundreds of workers are building the Stellantis battery plant that will soon employ 3,000 people.

Last week, I joined the Minister of Housing to officially open Meadowbrook Lane, the first affordable housing project in our community in 30 years. That same day, the minister and I stood on the deck of the Gordie Howe International Bridge as it nears completion. Over 9,000 workers have now worked on the largest infrastructure project in Canada.

This summer, the iconic Parks Canada beaver appeared in Ojibway with a sign that said, “Soon to be the home of Ojibway National Urban Park”.

With strong Liberal investment, my community is thriving. At the heart of that optimism are workers. As our auto workers mobilize to fight for their fair share, we stand with them today, tomorrow and always.

Québec Capitales Baseball Team

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Quebec City's baseball team, the Capitales, are the champions for the second straight season. They beat out the Evansville Otters to win the Frontier League championship.

Once again, baseball fans turned out in droves, breaking the attendance record with a season total of 166,916. The team could not have secured its ninth title in its 24-year history without the talent and hard work of the players and the entire organization, who brought us some magical baseball moments.

I would particularly like to acknowledge the incredible work of manager Patrick Scalabrini and president Michel Laplante.

I would also like to take this opportunity to say happy retirement to Quebec City's own David Glaude, who hit a home run late in the game, scoring three runs.

I would like to congratulate the whole team and the entire organization. Once again, I want to thank them for making us so proud.

National Forest Week

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Gatineau, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is National Forest Week. The forestry sector has shaped the history of the Outaouais region.

In 1926, the Canadian International Paper Company built the Gatineau newsprint mill on the Ottawa River and the Gatineau River. From that point on, thousands of labourers, log drivers and raftsmen came here looking for work. Those pillars of heritage and identity created the underpinnings of the city of Gatineau.

The Gatineau mill has changed names several times over the course of its history, but it continues to dominate our landscape. It is now part of the Paper Excellence Group, which is committed to supporting the mill's long-term growth. This is great news for the dedicated workers and members of Unifor.

I would like to commend the courage and tremendous resilience demonstrated by the employees of the Gatineau mill over the years. I am very proud of them, as are we all. Have a wonderful National Forest Week.

Carbon Tax

[Bernard Généreux, Conservative, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of this government, our country is broken. Inflation is already hurting families, and food prices are expected to rise by 34% over the next two years. Repeated interest rate hikes have doubled mortgage payments. One in two Canadians lives paycheque to paycheque.

What is the government's response? It is adamant about going ahead with its plan to increase the carbon tax.

Worse still, the Bloc members are blindly supporting it. They say they want to drastically increase the carbon tax. What does “drastic” mean? It means “extreme”, “radical”. That is what the Bloc-Liberal coalition wants: to make everything drastically, radically more expensive. Could a government be more out of touch? I think not. I want all families in Quebec and Canada to know that a vote for the Bloc Québécois in the next election will cost them dearly.

I want everyone to remember this: A Conservative government will bring back common sense by abolishing the Bloc-Liberal tax and bringing home lower prices.

Insite Safe Injection Site

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Vancouver Centre, BC]

Mr. Speaker, this last weekend marked 20 years since the first North American safe injection site, Insite, opened in Vancouver. Since 2003, it has proven to be a lifesaver, with 1.7 million visits.

I want to give a shout-out to those who looked at the positive evidence of harm reduction seen in Europe and took a chance on a pilot project with the Portland health society that proved successful.

The catalyst was Mayor Philip Owen, who convinced two other levels of government to sign the Vancouver agreement. The MP for Vancouver East was the provincial minister, I was the federal representative, and all three of us, together with UBC's Drs. Montaner, Kerr and O'Shaughnessy, who headed the pilot project, took a political risk based on evidence. Eighteen months later we saw 100% of lives saved and knew it was all worth it. It still is.

Liam Fisher

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Milton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we lost a dear friend last week, at just 34 years old: my pal from Pemberton, Liam Fisher.

Liam was a fellow paddler, who recently moved to Grenada to pursue his dream of becoming a doctor at St. George's University. He was not content with just being the fittest guy in the lower mainland of Vancouver, but dreamed of doing more, helping more people, and he aspired to help people as a doctor.

Liam used to own a gym in North Vancouver. He once raised over $22,000 by flipping a 300-pound tire for over 10 kilometres to raise money for cancer research. He did that for his sister Riva.

Tragically, this week marks six years since Riva lost her battle with cancer. One of Riva's friends shared this quote after she passed six years ago:

Grief, I've learned, is really just love. It's all the love you want to give, but cannot. All that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in that hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go.

I say to Riva and Liam's parents Hugh and Hillary, on behalf of the Canadian paddling community, that we are so sorry and we love them so much.

Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada

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

Mr. Speaker, let me tell the House about the Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. Many know him as the common-sense leader our country needs. His schoolteacher parents know him as the boy they adopted and raised in their modest home in the suburbs of Calgary. His dad knows him as the son he took to early morning hockey games. His neighbours know him as the boy who used to deliver their morning newspaper. His children know him, in français, español and English, as “papa”. His colleagues know him as someone who is fighting hard every day for Canadians. Therefore, when he says, “It doesn't matter who you know or where you're from, but rather who you are and where you're going”, those are not just empty words; he has lived it. It is common sense. Let us bring it home.

Municipality of Bauline

[Joanne Thompson, Liberal, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, with a population of just 500, the municipality of Bauline in St. John's East may be small in size, but it is big on addressing the pressing issue of climate change.

Perched on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, Bauline understands the threat of our changing climate and extreme weather events better than most. The town recently hosted its third annual Climate Action Day, bringing together the local council and residents of Bauline, with a shared determination to reduce carbon emissions through consistent and well-thought-out actions.

Bauline has set a high standard for all of us to emulate and is a true champion for change. If our smallest communities can make significant strides in reducing their carbon footprint, then it is incumbent upon us all to collectively challenge communities, both big and small, to follow suit.

Climate change requires all of us to act, and Bauline's exemplary leadership serves as an inspiration to us all.

The Economy

[Marty Morantz, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

Mr. Speaker, in June, the finance minister said, “Canada’s plan to bring down inflation is working.” She called it a “milestone moment”, taking credit for the reduction.

Yesterday, we learned inflation has gone up to 4%, an increase of 43% since she made those comments. Now inflation is higher here than it is in the United States. Mortgage payments are up 151%, to $3,560. Rent has doubled.

Before the Prime Minister took office, it took 25 years to pay off a mortgage. Now it takes 25 years just to save for a down payment. The NDP-Liberal government wants to blow the bank. The Prime Minister has added more debt than all previous prime ministers combined.

Common-sense Conservatives would bring homes people can afford by reducing inflationary deficits and taxes to bring lower interest rates. After eight years, the Prime Minister is just not worth the cost.

Public Safety

[Frank Caputo, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Mr. Speaker, first, I have a special message for someone important in my life. To my daughter, I say happy birthday. I love her, and my life got a thousand times better the day she was born.

However, I worry about my daughter's safety: After eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, crime is up nearly 40%. Gang-related murders are up 108%. Worst of all, sex crimes against children are up 126%. Despite this, the Liberal-NDP government stands by its pillowy-soft sentences for gun, sex and violent offenders, who are an affront to ordinary Canadians.

Luckily, we are beginning to realize that the Prime Minister is not worth the cost. Conservatives and our leader are ready to work to reverse the wave of violent crime that has been ushered in by the Prime Minister. He is not ready to act; we are.

Monique Bégin

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today I want to express my admiration and gratitude for an exceptional woman, the Hon. Monique Bégin. Driven by the strong liberal values of feminism, equality, social justice and equity that guided her career, she cleared a path for all the women who entered the House after her.

In 1972, she became one of Quebec's first three women members of Parliament. A true pioneer, she also served with distinction as a minister, creating the child tax credit, supporting a guaranteed income supplement increase and passing the Canada Health Act.

After leaving politics, she made Ottawa—Vanier her home and continued serving others as a faculty member at the University of Ottawa. She also influenced and advised political decision-makers, and I am privileged to count myself among them.

We owe Monique Bégin a great deal for her outstanding achievements. We also have a duty to carry the torch she passed to us.

I offer my sincere condolences to her loved ones. May she rest in peace.

Reproductive Health

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the work of Project EmpowHER and other women’s health organizations that have come to Ottawa to advocate for universal coverage of contraception in Canada.

It is time that we end financial barriers that limit access to contraceptives. I heed Action Canada’s call for “universal no-cost prescription contraception”, which is “predicated on everyone being able to give free and informed consent, and on that consent being respected”, as well as its call to “see an end to forced sterilization and discrimination in the healthcare system”.

It is time to put in place a national pharmacare strategy that includes free contraceptives and get rid of the cost barriers that limit an individual’s right to choose. It is time to respect people’s bodily autonomy, including the right to reproductive choice, and to recognize reproductive rights as human rights and ensure free access to contraceptives in Canada.

Jacques‑Yvan Morin

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it is only natural for Quebec to see itself as more than a mere province, since it was shaped by giants like Jacques‑Yvan Morin, who passed away on July 26.

In 1973, he became leader of the official opposition with just six elected members from the Parti Québécois, which would transform Quebec three years later. He then served as deputy premier of Quebec alongside René Lévesque, and later as minister of education, minister of cultural and scientific development and minister of intergovernmental affairs.

Jacques‑Yvan Morin was at the forefront of our nation's history as it was being written. He was a professor emeritus and prominent jurist who was trained at top schools like Harvard and Cambridge. He was the first full-time professor of international law at the University of Montreal. He belonged to a rare breed of distinguished Quebec intellectuals from that era, who toko the plunge and devoted everything they had to serving Quebec.

On behalf of the Bloc Québécois, I offer my condolences to his wife Élisabeth Gallat‑Morin, his son Étienne, and all those who loved him.

I am grateful to Jacques‑Yvan Morin, a towering figure in Quebec history, for sowing the seeds of a future that can now be reaped by younger Quebeckers.

Carbon Tax

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

Mr. Speaker, instead of celebrating this harvest season, farmers across Canada are shuddering at the thought of their first carbon tax bill. When the NDP-Liberal government triples the carbon tax, farmers will be forced to pay $150,000 in additional taxes, all for the crime of working hard to feed this country. The NDP-Liberal government's punitive tax is felt all the way from the farmer who grows the food and the trucker who moves it to the Canadian who eats the food if they can afford it. Onions are up 60%, cabbage is up 70%, carrots are up 74% and even potatoes are up 68%.

After eight years under the current Prime Minister, families will pay more than $16,000 more for groceries this year alone. With food banks lined up out the door, from Victoria-by-the-Sea, Prince Edward Island, to Victoria, British Columbia, Thanksgiving is going to be tough. The NDP-Liberal tax is truly farm to table, and the Prime Minister is not worth the cost.

Gender Equality Week

[Leah Taylor Roy, Liberal, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to rise as the MP for Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill to speak on gender equality, a fundamental issue for so many in my riding and all of Canada. Today marks the midpoint of Gender Equality Week, and in this place, we are just about at the midpoint to gender equality.

Over 100 years have passed since women could first run for office, yet only 30% of MPs are women. However, women make up more than 50% of the population. Women make up over 36% of the Liberal caucus; our policies encourage women to run, and we address the barriers they face and unequivocally support women's rights. Less than 18% of the official opposition's caucus is made up of women, and it is a caucus that is certainly not unanimous in its support of gender equality or a woman's right to choose.

In honour of Monique Bégin and other trailblazers, we must keep moving forward toward a just and equal society and not let regressive forces take us back.

Finance

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years, the Prime Minister has said that times are tough for politicians. At his retreat in Charlottetown, he said that inflation would go down. We learned yesterday that it has actually gone up.

In fact, since the Minister of Finance declared victory over inflation, it has increased 43%. This could force the Bank of Canada to raise interest rates on Canadians, who are already carrying the highest debt levels in the G7.

Will the government finally reverse its inflationary taxes and deficits so we can cut interest rates before we have a mortgage crisis on our hands?

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I am sure that the hon. Leader of the Opposition would like an answer, so I will ask members to quiet down.

It is nice to see you all excited, but I would like to recognize the hon. minister.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to see so much enthusiasm from my colleagues on both sides of the House.

During the summer, we did something important. We listened to Canadians. They told us three things. They want help with the cost of groceries and the cost of housing. One thing that Canadians did not tell us was to stop helping families, youth and the most vulnerable members of our society.

The Canadians who are watching us today know that we will always be there for them, and they are beginning to understand that the Conservative leader is just too risky for Canada.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, it seems to me as though, for once, the Liberals are actually happy with the person leading them in question period. I would like to congratulate the hon. member on his new duties. He is a little guy from Shawinigan. Perhaps we will have another little guy from Shawinigan as Prime Minister one day.

I can understand why even the Liberals want to fire the Prime Minister. He costs too much and is not worth the cost or effort.

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

Mr. Speaker, while the Conservative leader is busy ranting, Canadians are clearly telling us one thing: They need our government's help.

That is why we are here to help on the grocery front, for example. We called in the CEOs of the major grocery chains this week. We are going to lower the GST on housing. We are going to take action to help Canadians.

If there is one thing Canadians are tired of, it is hearing the Conservative leader's slogans. One thing they understand is that he is just too risky for Canada. We will be there for Canadians every step of the way.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, at his recent retreat in Charlottetown, the Prime Minister said that life is really tough for politicians. Today he is off on another trip to New York for three days to give a couple of speeches and burn a whole lot of fuel, at the same time as he raises carbon taxes on Canadians for the crime of driving to work and feeding their families.

Yesterday, inflation was way up. It is accelerating. It is higher than in the States and in Japan, which could drive up interest rates.

Will the Prime Minister balance the budget and axe the tax to bring inflation and interest rates down?