Debates of Jan. 29th, 2024

Fall Economic Statement Implementation Act, 2023

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Madam Speaker, I was a little concerned about some of the comments the member was making. We all know that one of the reasons wealth has increased in Canada is in relationship to the increase in assets that many Canadians have through home ownership. One of the reasons those assets increased in value so much over the last number of years is because we did not build enough homes to keep up with the demand for housing.

Why does the New Democratic Party continue to prop up a government that has not done enough to get more homes built? Why will it not lose its confidence in the government so we can have an election and Canadians can make a decision for themselves about which party will make the best housing policies for our country?

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

Madam Speaker, we respect the decision that Canadians made in an election about two short years ago, and we have seen it as our task to work in the context that Canadians created in order to deliver on the promises we made to Canadians, like a dental care plan, for instance, on which we have been working. People are receiving their letters to register for that program now. We will continue to do the work in the Parliament Canadians elected.

We have a lot to say both now and at election time about what the Liberals have done on housing, what we would do differently and the glaring deficiencies of the so-called Conservative plan when it comes to housing. The idea that somehow we are going to have an election and the housing crisis is going to go away because those guys are going to do something different than these guys, when they are both obsessed with market solutions, is a little rich. No, I do not believe that, and I am prepared to do the work in the Parliament Canadians elected.

[Denis Trudel, Bloc, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Madam Speaker, happy new year to you and to all of my colleagues. I hope we will be gracious in our debates in 2024, if such a thing is possible.

I thank my colleague for his speech, in which he talked extensively about housing. I think that off-market housing is, in fact, one of the solutions. We need to work on that. There are countries in Europe where between 20% and 30% of the housing stock is off-market housing. That is huge. In Canada, it is only 5%. We really have a lot of work to do. On the Island of Montreal, 1% of property owners own one-third of all the housing stock. The situation is the same in Vancouver and Toronto. We need to address that.

The financialization of housing is a phenomenon that basically did not exist at the time the federal government was investing in housing, or before 1993. Now it is a factor. What can we do to address that problem? Does my colleague have any solutions?

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

Madam Speaker, obviously, I think there is not just one thing, but several things we can do to tackle this problem.

One of the things we could do is create an acquisition fund so that non-profits can have a chance to acquire a building when it comes on the market. Right now, they cannot access the necessary capital quickly enough to make an offer before a big company makes an offer and acquires that building. That is one solution.

Another is to make sure that the big companies that are in the housing market pay a reasonable amount of tax, because there are mechanisms they use to avoid paying the regular amount of tax.

I also think that building more off-market housing will have an effect on market value if people have the opportunity to buy off-market housing.

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Madam Speaker, I could not agree more with my hon. friend from Elmwood—Transcona and his analysis. When we talk about inflation, we cannot leave out excess corporate profits. He referred to the large, unprecedented profits from oil companies.

Does he agree with me that it essentially amounts to profits from war profiteering, because the profits went through the roof when Putin invaded Ukraine?

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

Madam Speaker, we absolutely should have an excess profit tax on the oil and gas industry. We have seen it make a 1,000% increase in an industry that was already very profitable over the last number of years. This indicates that is not something where it is marking up prices to keep up with inflation. It saw an opportunity. The war was certainly part of that opportunity. It is shameful for companies to be using a global conflict to jack up its prices. They should not be allowed to do it.

We have the power in Canada. Some of our allies have exercised the power that they have in their own jurisdictions, including a Conservative government in the U.K., which implemented an excess profit tax on the oil and gas sector. Why, in Canada, can we not find people on the government benches with the courage to do the same and reinvest some of those excess profits in the Canadian economy and in Canadians themselves?

It is a real disappointment and it is certainly something that we will continue to talk to Canadians about, including at election time.

[Matthew Green, NDP, Hamilton Centre, ON]

Madam Speaker, it is always a pleasure to hear from the hon. member for Elmwood—Transcona, who does a masterful job of highlighting the hypocrisies and contradictions of both Liberals and Conservatives. He raised a very important question today about workers.

He spoke about our responsibility to workers. I want to take a moment and highlight a recent visit we had to IBEW's training facility in Alberta, the 424 Union. It is doing a fantastic job training the next generation of workers in Alberta. We heard from it that our federal government had a responsibility.

When it comes to procurement, there are some construction and infrastructure contractors out there who do something called “double breasting”. They make applications with union workers and then they come through and make applications with another side of their company with non-union workers, essentially driving down the prevailing wage on the backs of not just the workers but taxpayer investments as well.

Could the hon. member, who I know is a proud member of IBEW, speak to the importance of a good prevailing wage and the procurement power of a federal government to ensure that workers get paid that union rate with good benefits and great pensions?

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

Madam Speaker, that important question highlights the important role that government decision-making plays in honouring the idea that workers deserve respect and they deserve fair wages. That is why it is important to have good labour laws. That is why I am proud that we are pushing for anti-scab legislation and that the bill is beginning to progress through the legislative process.

There are other things we can do to reinforce collective bargaining rights and we do not do that when we allow this kind of double breasting to go on, which undermines workers.

[Kody Blois, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Madam Speaker, happy new year to you and to all colleagues in the House.

Today, we have the opportunity to speak to Bill C-59, which is the legislation that would implement the initiatives in the fall economic statement before Christmas.

Before I get too much further, I will be sharing my time with the hon. member for Nepean.

One of the things I contemplated over the Christmas break was the decorum in this place. I know that will be something on which those who sit in the chair will be focused. I will commit to those who are here today, and indeed to the House, that we will have robust debate but we should try to keep it within the confines of respectful debate at the same time.

The fall economic statement from this government was focused on two core issues: affordability and housing. Those are top-of-mind issues at home in Kings—Hants. I want to talk first about the economic context, because affordability is a top-of-mind issue, but it is important for my constituents, and for Canadians across the country, to understand where we are at in the current economic context. If all they did was listen to the Conservative opposition bench, they would never really understand some of the positive things that are happening vis-à-vis Canada's economic growth and particularly our investment climate right now.

Inflation is a global issue. The last statistic by Statistics Canada shows that Canada had a 3.4% inflation rate in the month of December 2023, and we are working to try to help bring that under control. However, where does Canada rate in a global context? I pulled out some statistics from around the world: Germany, 3.7%; France, the same; U.K., just over 4%; and United States is on par with Canada. I would submit that Ireland, India, Australia and New Zealand are all comparable countries and they have higher inflation rates than Canada right now.

I know that is cold comfort. I do not say this to Canadians and to my constituents to suggest that this government will rest on its laurels, but it is important, because when we hear the opposition members talk, they suggest that Canada is a laggard in the world with respect to the affordability question. We have work to do and we will continue to do that work. However, make no mistake, it is important to contextualize that as we move forward.

How about our debt-to-GDP ratio? When we listen to the member for Carleton and the opposition, they would suggest that Canada is in a terrible situation vis-à-vis its debt-to-GDP ratio. That is not the case. Canada is actually a leader in the G7 with respect to net debt-to-GDP ratio and it also has the lowest deficit in the G7. Again, we do not hear that being said very much from the opposition benches. It is important for Canadians to understand that.

The number that I thought was quite important is investment in the country. Yes, we want Canadian equity firms and Canadian businesses investing in our country, but we know that in a globalized economy we want other countries and companies around the world to come to Canada and invest in our economic success as well.

A number that is quite striking is foreign direct investment in 2023. Canada was third overall in the entire world. We are 40 million people. We are a relatively small country with respect to population in the world, but of course rich in resources and ingenuity. We are third in the world, not per capita but over all, behind U.S. and Brazil. That is an incredible feat. It is something of which every Canadian, and every member of Parliament in the House, should be proud. It is being driven by this government's view of investing and driving future growth, particularly in a transition to a lower-carbon economy. This is a significant number that Canadians should understand.

However, when we talk about affordability, we have to also balance spending with responsibility. We are in an environment now where we saw the Bank of Canada, through the governor, Tiff Macklem, hold interest rates at 5%. His indication to the Canadians, to the public, and to this government is that we will expect to see decreases in the benchmark interest rate over the next couple of months. That is extremely important.

I am proud of the way in which this government has walked a very careful line between putting out supports to vulnerable Canadians, but at the same time being mindful that we do not want the spending that does take place to further drive inflation. The Bank of Canada has been very clear that this has not happened to date, and it is important that this government continue to do this. I for one, and I know my colleagues in all corners of this place, will be focused on that question as well.

With respect to housing, I want to tell a story. I represent Kings—Hants, a rural riding in Nova Scotia, just outside Halifax in the beautiful Annapolis Valley. Come see us sometime. Indeed, that invitation is to all Canadians. I remember knocking on doors during the 2019 election, as a new candidate. I would go to rural areas of my riding, where there would be a for sale sign on a property. I would go in and talk to the homeowner, and I would note, of course, that they were trying to sell their house. They would say they were concerned they would never be able to sell their house. They had had it on the market for two years and were worried they would never be able to get the equity to be able to retire or move on with their life.

If one were to come to my riding right now, there is little to no real estate available whatsoever. I want people to understand that, in fact, in Nova Scotia, that is a good thing because for years, we were concerned about our demographic trends. In fact, for my generation, as someone who is 33 years old, when I was coming out of university, there were a lot of folks who were actually moving elsewhere in the country. We have reversed that trend in Atlantic Canada. That is a good thing.

Economic growth and population growth are good things, but we need to have the housing to keep pace. We have heard commentary in this place about past iterations of federal governments, both Liberal and Conservative, that have not invested in housing, particularly social housing. I am pleased to say that this is something that has changed under the current government. The philosophy is to invest in public housing, along with market housing, which that the hon. member for Elmwood—Transcona mentioned. Both have to happen at the same time. I would point Canadians to the fact of our most recent investment, which is removing the HST on purpose-based rental housing.

Again, owning one's own home is extremely important, and we will want all Canadians to have that opportunity. However, some people are in a situation where affordable rentals are also extremely important. I have seen the cost of rentals go up, in the community of Kentville, for example, from being in the range of $1,200 a few years ago to now upwards of $2,000, because of the pressure we have seen.

All three levels of government have to be part of this.

Foreign Affairs

[Shafqat Ali, Liberal, Brampton Centre, ON]

Madam Speaker, we mourn the lives lost in a Quebec mosque seven years ago today and recognize the trauma suffered by Canada's Muslim community on account of Islamophobia.

We also mourn the tens of thousands of civilians, including thousands of innocent children, who have been killed by Israel in Gaza. The majority of Gaza's traumatized surviving population has been displaced and needs humanitarian intervention.

Three days ago, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Out of respect for the rule of law, Canada should help Israel to comply with that order.

Canada and its allies should reinstate UNRWA funding, considering the devastating humanitarian cases in Palestine.

Lunar New Year

[Han Dong, Independent, Don Valley North, ON]

Madam Speaker, I wish a happy new year to you and to everyone in the House.

Over the past holiday season, our diverse communities in Don Valley North and across Canada have come together to celebrate a range of festivities, including Hanukkah, Shabe Yalda, Christmas and the new year.

Building on the spirit of celebration and diversity, I would like to remind the House of the motion passed in 2016 that recognized the lunar new year in order to highlight our vibrant Asian communities and the invaluable contributions Asian Canadians are making to our society. The auspicious dragon symbolizes strength and prosperity. This year the dragon heightens fortune for those born in the years of the rat, tiger, horse and rooster.

I want to wish everyone a happy, healthy, and prosperous lunar new year. Gong xi fa cai. San nin fai lok. Saehae bok mani badeuseyo. Chúc mung năm moi.

Liberal Party of Canada

[Melissa Lantsman, Conservative, Thornhill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, there are many kinds of silence: the silence of indifference, the silence of complicity and the silence of cowardice. The government's refusal to take a clear position on South Africa's baseless case at the ICJ, its about-face on its once-respectable UN voting record and its abject failure to protect Jews in this country betray all three of those vices.

Calls for the extermination of Jews in Canada have been normalized by the morally bankrupt Liberal brain trust. On Canadian values, the Prime Minister responds with silence, only to amplify the hate. Worse, he stokes it. This weekend's International Holocaust Remembrance Day should have been a stark reminder that “never again” is right now.

Silence in the face of lies can be as damaging as the deliberately confusing position of the Prime Minister. He has one group of MPs say one thing to one community, and he sends another group to say the exact opposite to another community. The calculated silence may be deafening, but everyone hears their shameful cynicism loud and clear. Canadians will get the moral clarity they deserve when—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

The hon. member for St. John's East.

Government Priorities

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

Mr. Speaker, with 2024 in full swing, our team is tackling head-on the issues Canadians are facing, with affordable housing, the Canada child benefit, child care, dental care, affordable home heating, green jobs and more money back in their pockets.

For St. John's East, I am focused on supporting residents through my constituency office, ensuring that Newfoundland and Labrador's unique needs are heard in Ottawa and building more housing, supporting seniors and families, and creating more local jobs.

We are putting Canadian families first, and this does not involve cuts, far right tactics or exploiting people's fears. That may get social media likes, but it does not get the job done.

We are pushing forward with legislation to help Canadians, all of which the opposition has voted against, signalling what it would do if it is in government.

Roger Pomerleau

[Martin Champoux, Bloc, Drummond, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Roger Pomerleau has died. He took with him a small piece of Quebec's very soul. He loved Quebec and its people as fiercely as he cherished its language and its culture.

Roger Pomerleau was a Bloc Québécois member of Parliament from 1993 to 1997 and again for Drummond starting in 2008, when he succeeded the late Pauline Picard.

Above all, Roger was an outstanding party supporter. Whether for the Bloc Québécois or the Parti Québécois, Roger was active in every campaign. Anyone who ever saw former MP Roger Pomerleau campaign on the phone will no doubt have a vivid memory of the experience. He was a man of conviction and unfailing integrity and, first and foremost, he was a man of action.

Roger Pomerleau has left us to join other illustrious members of our political family, members with names like Lévesque, Bourgault, Miron, Julien, Leclerc, Landry, Falardeau and many others. We stand on the shoulders of these giants who are now gone, having eased the way for us to finally keep our promise to give Roger the little bit of country that we owe him, in return for everything he did to achieve it.

Farewell, Roger.

Wishes for the New Year

[Élisabeth Brière, Liberal, Sherbrooke, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as the year begins, I want to wish everyone in Sherbrooke a happy new year. I wish them a year of opportunities, a year of kindness to preserve our sense of safety, a year of good health. I also want to take this opportunity to thank everyone in my team who, day after day, endeavour to meet the needs of the public with skill and compassion as they support me in every aspect of my work.

Olivia is professional and experienced; Jacques is passionate and sensitive; Gabriel is capable and understanding; Marie is creative and approachable; Clémence is courteous and effective; Clément is curious and multi-talented; and Jocelyne manages finances carefully and diligently. I am very grateful to be able to rely on such a skilled and dedicated team. Their commitment helps us provide quality service and creates a positive and inspiring work environment. I thank them.

I wish everyone a happy new year.

Emergencies Act

[Rob Moore, Conservative, Fundy Royal, NB]

Mr. Speaker, the NDP-Liberal government is not worth the cost to Canadians' freedom.

In a landmark victory for the freedoms of all Canadians, the federal court has just confirmed what most Canadians already knew, that the use of the Emergencies Act in 2022 was illegal and unconstitutional. Two years ago, the Prime Minister decided to violate the charter rights of Canadians to deal with a political crisis of his own making. The decision to invoke the Emergencies Act directly violated Canadians' most essential rights to freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression. The federal court found that in the illegal use of the act, reasons were not provided for the decision to declare a public order emergency, and that it did not satisfy the requirements of the Emergencies Act.

A Conservative government led by the Leader of the Opposition will ensure that the Emergencies Act can never again be used to silence political opposition. Conservatives will always defend the rights—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

The hon. member for Kitchener South—Hespeler.

Former CEO of Food Bank of Waterloo Region

[Valerie Bradford, Liberal, Kitchener South—Hespeler, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on Monday, January 15, the Waterloo region lost a great community leader, with the passing of Wendi Campbell, the former CEO of the Waterloo region's food bank, a position she held for 15 years.

Wendi stepped up and completely revamped the delivery of food during the outbreak of COVID-19, which instantly precluded volunteers and staff from sorting food donations. She packed a lifetime of service in her short 53 years, procuring over 40 million pounds of food for the Waterloo region and surrounding areas.

Despite courageously battling cancer for 19 months, Wendi never lost the optimism that governed her life. My thoughts are with her husband, Craig; her parents, Robert and Barbara Oakes; and her children, Maddie and Ben, who lost their mother way too soon. She was truly inspirational and will be greatly missed by the entire community.

May her memory be a blessing.

Religious Freedom

[Sameer Zuberi, Liberal, Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, seven years ago, a heinous act took the lives of six men and injured 19 others at the Centre culturel islamique de Québec.

Ibrahima Barry, Mamadou Tanou Barry, Khaled Belkacemi, Abdelkrim Hassane, Azzeddine Soufiane and Aboubaker Thatbi were fathers, husbands, brothers and loved ones. They were targeted simply because of their faith, simply because they were Muslim.

Unfortunately, Canada has also seen an alarming rise in discrimination as a result of the conflict in Gaza. People who are Muslim, Palestinian and Arab feel what is happening intensely. They are yelling on the inside but are asked to be patient and to endure. They are feeling their freedom of speech curtailed.

Last year, the government appointed the first special representative on combatting Islamophobia. She has done an excellent job in addressing the issues.

Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of this Prime Minister, life has never been more difficult for Canadian families. Meanwhile, for him and his Liberal friends, life has never been better. Clearly, a Prime Minister who takes a free vacation worth $84,000 is out of touch with the plight of Canadians who are struggling to make ends meet.

Many Canadians can no longer afford to live or to dream; they had to scale back or cancel their plans over the holidays because of Liberal policies that have driven up the cost of living. The Prime Minister has proven once again that he is out of touch with Canadians, that he thinks only of himself and that he is not the right man for the job. His office is doing its best to conceal his actions by using various manoeuvres and to lull us into believing a distorted version of the facts ahead of the ethics commissioner's appearance before the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics.

Canadians will not be fooled. They will remember this Prime Minister's luxurious activities and lifestyle.

Tamil Heritage Month

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

Mr. Speaker, as the month of January comes to an end, I want to take a moment to recognize Tamil Heritage Month.

I had the pleasure of visiting the Hindu temple in my riding to celebrate Thai Pongal. I want to thank the president of the Senior Tamils' Centre, Pari Srikanthan, for inviting me and Henry Soosaipillai for accompanying me. In keeping with the theme of “Tamilicious: Tamil Food”, we celebrated Thai Pongal.

We honour the vibrant and invaluable contributions Tamil Canadians have made to our country. We also recognize that Tamils faced discrimination and persecution, and many came to Canada to escape this. Today, the National Day of Remembrance of the Quebec City Mosque Attack and Action against Islamophobia, is a day that reminds us of this.

Let us build a Canada where all individuals, regardless of their backgrounds, feel they belong. Let us all fight discrimination and hate to keep Canada the inclusive and welcoming nation we are proud to call home.

Carbon Tax

[Lianne Rood, Conservative, Lambton—Kent—Middlesex, ON]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of this NDP-Liberal government, life in Canada has become unaffordable. It is unthinkable to continue the inflationary carbon tax scheme while millions of Canadians are relying on food banks and are forced to choose between heating and eating.

The government surely understands there is no way to produce food without using energy to dry grain, to heat barns and to bring food to our grocery stores. The Prime Minister wants to quadruple the carbon tax from 14¢ per litre to 61¢ per litre. Farmers in my communities are paying thousands of dollars in carbon tax every month. The Prime Minister is just not worth the cost. The carbon tax carve-out is necessary for farmers to help fight food inflation. In response to the government's relentless pressure, the so-called independent senators gutted Bill C-234.

I call on the House to stop with the desperate tricks that are preventing farmers from getting the needed carve-out, drop the Senate amendments and send Bill C-234 back to the Senate in its original form.

The Economy

[Marilyn Gladu, Conservative, Sarnia—Lambton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, over the holidays, I heard how after eight years of this NDP-Liberal government, Canadians are struggling to pay their bills and keep roofs over their heads. They know that the Prime Minister is not worth the cost.

Our leader, my Conservative colleagues and I are back to show Canadians they have a simple choice in the next election. On the one hand they can have a costly coalition of the NDP and Liberals that takes their money, taxes their food, punishes their work, doubles their housing costs and unleashes crime and chaos in their communities or they can choose the common-sense Conservatives and our common-sense plan.

We are back to address the priorities facing Canadians, starting with a focus on passing Bill C-234 to take the carbon tax off farmers and to bring food prices down.

Our priorities are clear: axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime.

Let us bring it home.

Freedom of Religion

[Iqra Khalid, Liberal, Mississauga—Erin Mills, ON]

Mr. Speaker, seven years ago today, peaceful Muslim worshippers were gunned down in Quebec.

Three years ago, when the Afzaal family were brutally murdered because of their faith, every single political party leader in the House stood on the steps of the London mosque, recognized that Islamophobia is real and vowed to protect the Muslim community in the face of hatred.

Today, on the National Day of Remembrance of the Quebec City Mosque Attack and Action Against Islamophobia, we not only commemorate the victims and survivors but also reflect on whether we have taken action to combat Islamophobia in all of its forms, including the suppression of expression.

Our government declared January 29 a national day of remembrance, invested millions in our national anti-racism strategy and appointed a special representative on combatting Islamophobia.

More needs to be done by all political leaders in the House and indeed by all Canadians.

We remember.