Debates of Sept. 25th, 2023

Guests in the House of Commons

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is ultimately accountable for ensuring the safety of the heads of state he invites.

Today, he would have us believe that no one in his cabinet or his office, no one at the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Public Safety or the Office of Protocol of Canada was involved in the process by which this Nazi fighter was invited to and given access to Parliament and was allowed to stand up in the House just a few feet from President Zelenskyy.

After the last terrorist attack on Parliament, the RCMP was given full responsibility for overseeing our safety.

How can the Prime Minister deny having any responsibility and claim that he knew nothing?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, the truth is that neither the Prime Minister nor anyone in his cabinet or in the Ukrainian delegation knew in advance that this individual was invited or that he would be recognized by the Speaker of the House of Commons.

As I said many times, the Speaker of the House of Commons invited this individual of his own accord and he made the decision himself to recognize him. It was very painful for all of us, as parliamentarians, who were there and who were surprised by this decision.

It is painful for every Canadian who was affected by the Holocaust and the wars—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

The hon. member for Mégantic—L'Érable.

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

Mr. Speaker, we are all painfully hurt by the irresponsibility of the Prime Minister who allowed, either by negligence or incompetence, a Nazi to be recognized in the House.

The Office of Protocol of Canada, which falls directly under Global Affairs Canada, is responsible for state visits in Canada. Part of the mandate of the Office of Protocol is to “define standards of treatment for state, official, working and private visits of heads of state, heads of governments, ministers and guests of government.”

How can the Liberals claim that the Prime Minister knew nothing when the entire protocol machinery of the whole government is involved in the slightest details of every visit, as it surely was for the visit of President Zelenskyy here in Ottawa?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague knows, because he listened to you this morning and he saw your message yesterday, that you clarified that it was your personal initiative and that you had not notified the government that you were inviting this individual and drawing attention to his presence.

We are all deeply hurt. We are hurt as parliamentarians and as Canadians. More importantly, communities across the country are hurt by this initiative of the Speaker of the House.

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

Mr. Speaker, last Friday, a member of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the Nazi SS was celebrated in the presence of President Zelenskyy.

No one believes that the government would not see the list of attendees when a foreign leader attends this chamber. Canada's reputation is damaged. This chamber's reputation is damaged. Our valiant Canadian World War II veterans are shocked and humiliated. Jewish Canadians are horrified. Russia could not be happier.

Does the Liberal government really expect Canadians to believe that it did not know a Nazi was in this House?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I can only share the facts and the truth. The truth and the facts are that, no, the government did not know that this individual was invited, nor that he was going to be recognized by the Speaker of the House.

As the member opposite heard the Speaker say earlier today, this individual was from his riding. He decided to recognize him. He did not inform either the government or the Ukrainian delegation. This has caused profound hurt and embarrassment to this chamber, to Canada and to Canadians from so many different backgrounds, Jewish Canadians, Canadians of Eastern European descent, Ukrainian Canadians and, of course, the President of Ukraine.

Official Languages

[Viviane LaPointe, Liberal, Sudbury, ON]

Mr. Speaker, today is Franco-Ontarian Day, a day to celebrate francophone culture, art, tradition and people in this beautiful province. The French language is an essential part of our culture in Sudbury, Ontario, and across the country. It is our responsibility to protect it.

Can the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages update the House on what our government is doing to support the Franco-Ontarian community?

[Randy Boissonnault, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the hon. member for Sudbury for her question and for her incredible advocacy on behalf of the Franco-Ontarian community. With our new action plan for official languages, we are supporting official language minority communities across the country with $4.1 billion to support organizations, education, communities and more. Whether we are talking about francophones, francophiles or the “franco-curious”, our government will always support the French language in Ontario and across the country.

I wish everyone a happy Franco-Ontarian francophonie day.

Guests in the House of Commons

[John Brassard, Conservative, Barrie—Innisfil, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have sat here during question period and, like all Canadians, have listened to the Liberals deflect and place blame on the Speaker for a Nazi being allowed in this chamber.

Like we have seen with so many others, the Prime Minister, and apparently his House leader, will go to any length to ruin personal and professional reputations to protect himself.

After eight years, our nation is living through a rotating loop of international humiliation that lies solely at the feet of the Prime Minister. Why will the Prime Minister not accept responsibility and apologize to not only the House but to our nation, our international partners and those who have been retraumatized?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, my hon. colleague heard your statement this morning. He knows very well that this was your decision, and your decision alone, to invite this individual and to recognize him in the gallery, without informing the government, without informing the Ukrainian delegation.

We are profoundly hurt by this. We are profoundly embarrassed by this. I would ask that the Conservative colleagues pay attention to the facts, rely on the facts, and treat this matter with the seriousness that it deserves. There are communities across the country that are hurting, and politicizing it helps no one.

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

Mr. Speaker, time and time again, the Prime Minister and his Liberal House leader say, “I had no idea; it didn't involve me.”

Time and time again, the Liberal Prime Minister fails in his duties to Canadians and has someone else take the fall. This week it looks like he is going to come to you, Mr. Speaker, and ask you to leave, and to take the garbage out with you on the way out.

Is that really what the government wants to show to Canadians?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, again, that hon. colleague would have seen the your statement yesterday and heard your apology in the House today. The Speaker confirmed that this was his decision, and his decision alone, to invite this individual from his riding and to acknowledge him in the gallery. We were all caught off guard by this. We all stood and applauded, but this was not the individual we were led to believe he was. That is something that hurts all of us and embarrasses all of us, but there was no prior knowledge from the government.

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

Mr. Speaker, Canadians expect better than incompetence from their government, and that is what they continue to get. There are dozens of questions for the Liberal Prime Minister, and he refuses to stand up and take responsibility for an international embarrassment that lies solely at his feet. His government House leader and those Liberals continue to stand, and they want the Speaker to take the fall.

Canadians deserve better. We know that. Why do those Liberals not know that Canadians deserve better?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, again, I would invite my colleagues on the Conservative benches to rely on the facts. You have laid out both in a statement as well as in an apology to the House that it was you who decided to invite this individual. You decided to recognize him in this place without informing the government, the Ukrainian delegation or, indeed, any parliamentarian.

I think we are all profoundly hurt and embarrassed by this as are Canadians. We need to take this seriously and not politicize it. We need to make sure that we are bringing Canadians together during this difficult time.

The Economy

[Francesco Sorbara, Liberal, Vaughan—Woodbridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, my constituents in Vaughan—Woodbridge are feeling the pressure of increased housing costs and grocery prices. This summer, I heard them loud and clear, from the skilled trades workers who are building our homes and critical infrastructure to the workers creating made-in-Canada products in the manufacturing sector and the seniors who helped build our country. That is why I was pleased to see our government introduce Bill C-56, the affordable housing and groceries act, as the next phase of our government's plan to bring down the cost of living for Canadians.

Could the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance tell my residents what this bill would do?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the MP for Vaughan—Woodbridge for his hard work for his constituents and all Canadians.

Canadians need more homes built faster and they need affordable groceries. Bill C-56, which the government tabled last week, would help to provide both.

With this bill, we would remove the GST from the construction of rental housing to build more homes faster. We would empower Canada's Competition Bureau to help small grocers compete. We are demanding CEOs of Canada's largest grocers to present a plan to stabilize prices.

We are going to continue to move forward with a serious plan to help Canadians.

Air Transportation

[Taylor Bachrach, NDP, Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC]

Mr. Speaker, there is now a backlog of over 57,000 air passenger complaints before the Canadian Transportation Agency. Canadian travellers have had their lives upended. Many are out thousands of dollars. For those who have managed to navigate a complex complaint process, they are having to wait well over a year to have their complaints heard.

The government is on its third attempt to fix this debacle. Will the minister apologize to Canadian travellers for failing so utterly to stand up to the big airlines?

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, our government was the first to protect the rights of travellers, and we will make our passenger rights regime even stronger by making compensation mandatory for disruptions, putting the onus on airlines, not passengers, and ensuring an improved standard level of service during any disruption. We have also invested in the Canadian Transportation Agency so it can resolve cases faster. It will be much faster.

Taxation

[Alain Rayes, Independent, Richmond—Arthabaska, QC]

Mr. Speaker, on December 2, February 15 and and March 23, I asked the government about a 30-year-old tax law whereby Canadian companies are penalized by our tax system, despite the fact that they use only local and healthy ingredients.

The government told us that it wanted to quickly introduce legislation to help people with the exploding cost of groceries. Tackling this situation would encourage people to buy healthier, less expensive food, and put an end to this injustice that unfairly pits Canada's small businesses against multinationals. This is a direct way to help Canadian families and make it cheaper for them to eat better.

Does the government intend to make any changes?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, we take the health of all Canadians seriously, especially that of our children. Our tax system is data-driven, as is our health care system. We will always implement taxes and health rules based on facts and expert advice.

Rick O'Brien

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

I understand that there have been discussions among representatives of all parties in the House and that there is an agreement to observe a moment of silence in honour of the fallen RCMP officer in Coquitlam, British Columbia.

[A moment of silence observed]

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order.

I would like to ask for unanimous consent to adopt the following motion.

I move that, notwithstanding any standing order, special order or usual practice of the House, the recognition made by the Speaker of the House of an individual present in the galleries during the joint address to Parliament by His Excellency Volodymyr Zelenskyy be struck from the appendix of the House of Commons Debates of Thursday, September 21, 2023, and from any House multimedia recording.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Anthony Rota]

All those opposed to the hon. minister's moving the motion will please say nay.

[Some hon. members]

Nay.