Debates of Jan. 31st, 2024

Public Safety

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, I will say it again: His policies are more costly. Yes, he is a lot more costly.

The Conservatives spent less and had less auto theft. In fact, there were half as many car thefts in Montreal and two-thirds fewer in Toronto in 2015, the year that he took office. That is because he is releasing car thieves and mismanaging federal ports, which are plagued by incompetence.

Will he reverse the policies that caused the crisis?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are in the process of getting everyone on board in combatting auto theft. The ministers have just announced a national summit on auto theft that will bring together leaders from several different jurisdictions and sectors to tackle this issue head-on.

We are already getting results. In 2023, our border officers intercepted more than 1,600 stolen vehicles. We continue to work hard, while the Conservatives prefer to engage in political attacks.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, our priorities are clear. We are going to axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget, stop the crime and stop the auto theft that has run rampant under the Prime Minister. He is now throwing a cape over his back and claiming that he is the hero on auto theft, but it has actually tripled in Toronto, and it is up by 100% in Montreal after he brought in capture and release and house arrest for car thieves, and after his incompetence allowed our ports to spin out of control and our cars to be exported to overseas crime and terror networks.

Why does he not reverse his policies instead of have another meeting?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, this is a serious situation. Canadians are concerned about this, and the Conservative leader just chooses to whip out his empty slogans and continue to blame everyone while we are getting to work.

We are pulling together stakeholders and leaders from across governments to look at what more we can do. We have seen successes. CBSA agents intercepted over 1,600 stolen cars last year, in 2023, but there is more to do. We are going to continue to do the steady work and to make investments necessary to keep Canadians safe and to keep crime down.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, he says that he would keep crime down. Crime is way up. Violent crime is up 40% under the Prime Minister. Today, he had his ministers hold a big press conference as their solution. In it, they put out a press release that said, “In 2022, approximately 9,600 vehicles were stolen in the Toronto area alone, representing a 300% increase since 2015”.

What happened in 2015? I know; he happened. How can we make him unhappen and stop the crime?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, in 2015, Stephen Harper presented a budget that had slashed funds for policing, slashed funds for CBSA officers and slashed funding for Veterans Affairs services, and we were there to clean up the mess, to cut taxes for the wealthiest 1% and to lower them for the middle class, to support families and to start moving forward on gun control in real ways.

While the Conservatives cozy up to the American gun lobbyists, we have continued to step up in keeping Canadians safe. Let him bring assault weapons back to our streets; we will keep Canadians safe.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, wow, is the Prime Minister ever losing control of himself. My goodness, he is screaming and hollering like that.

It is his press release that says that, in Toronto, auto thefts are up 300% since he took office. His solution is to hold a summit. He held a summit on food prices, and food prices went up. He held a summit on housing, and housing costs doubled. How much is crime going to rise after all of the bigwigs go to his summit?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition has trouble believing that we would actually include real facts in our press release, something he and the former Harper government never did, for years. Yes, there is a real challenge with auto theft in this country, and our solution is to roll up our sleeves, pull together partners from across the country and get to solving it. His solution is to throw his hands in the air and blame a raft of political attacks on us. We continue to see that he is not putting forward any real solutions.

Health

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

Mr. Speaker, medical assistance in dying is profoundly influenced by a progressive idea in Quebec. Everyone agrees that a person who is suffering from a serious mental illness cannot make a decision on medical assistance in dying. There is a broad consensus about that idea, and a postponement is warranted. However, there are people who know ahead of time that their condition will deteriorate and who want to make the decision now. The government's bill could provide this option and reflect the will of Quebec.

Is the Prime Minister prepared to consider it now?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as my hon. colleague says, the choice to seek medical assistance in dying is an extremely difficult and personal one. As a society, as a Parliament, we have a responsibility to strike a sometimes difficult balance between respecting the rights, choices and freedoms of an individual and protecting the most vulnerable.

That is why, for years, we have been conducting studies and evaluations, putting measures in place, proposing debates and listening to experts. We will continue to be open to all suggestions as we work responsibly.

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

Mr. Speaker, I am simply asking the Prime Minister to recognize that these are two different situations. There are people who are already living with a mental health condition that does not enable them to make the decision, and there are people who are currently in full control of their faculties and who would like to make the decision in advance.

I think the Prime Minister may want to consider it. If he fears the religious conservative right, which may very well be the case, we will be there to support a major step forward on this issue.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are well aware that the issue my colleague is pointing out is real. It is one issue that needs to be looked that, along with other difficult issues that are being examined and debated.

Yes, we will continue to consider advanced directives. We are going to continue to look at how we can ensure that people have the choices and freedoms that are important to them, while at the same time ensuring that we are protecting them and everyone else from the possibility of being vulnerable to unforeseen circumstances or negative situations.

Housing

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal member of Parliament for Davenport claims that there is no housing crisis in Toronto. The rest of the Liberal MPs for Toronto would rather fight the City of Toronto than actually deal with the crisis of housing. Frontline workers are saying, “On the ground, we've seen a man recently arrived from Africa die in [an] encampment while trying to stay warm.”

Will the Prime Minister listen to his out of touch Liberal MPs or to frontline workers trying to save people's lives?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we have been there investing in housing across the country, including with hundreds of millions of dollars directly to the City of Toronto for investing in housing, housing affordability and fighting homelessness. We know there is lots to do, and we are going to keep doing it.

Whether it is signing housing accelerator agreements across the country, introducing a suite of new measures to unlock the construction of 600,000 new apartments, cracking down on short-term rentals to unlock even more apartments, or introducing a mortgage charter to protect homeowners from the stress of elevated interest rates, we are taking action.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, an 83-year-old woman was evicted from the home she lived in for 30 years. Because of the Liberal-Conservative housing crisis, she does not know where she will end up. The Liberals have the resources, the power and the land to fix the housing crisis.

When will the Prime Minister stop putting real estate giants ahead of Ms. Bertrand?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we are taking concrete steps to get hundreds of thousands of new homes built across the country by signing agreements directly with municipalities, provinces and territories, Quebec and all of Nunavut. We are working to cut red tape, expedite permits, increase density and improve zoning. We have put $4 billion on the table to deliver results in terms of housing.

We will continue taking a serious and responsible approach to doing this work.

Public Safety

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister needs a summit to find out about the problem of auto theft. We can help him. He is the problem. His policies caused the 300% increase in auto theft in Toronto. He has asked for solutions. Well, we have some of those, too.

Will the Prime Minister agree to reverse his catch-and-release bail policy for car thieves, end house arrest for those who steal cars and put an end to his incompetence at the Port of Montreal, from which so many of our vehicles are being shipped to organized crime and terrorist networks abroad?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, what is interesting about the Leader of the Opposition is that he does not actually care about auto theft. He cares about making a good political attack on the government because people are facing real challenges.

We are focused on solving the challenges. We are focused on initiatives, such as that we announced today of $121 million to fight auto theft in Ontario. We have been working to bring together stakeholders and leaders from across the country to bring forward more positive solutions to build on the 1,600 recovered autos that we prevented from being stolen last year.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, he claims to have stopped 1,600 car thefts. There were 100,000 car thefts in 2022, which is a 34% increase across Canada. He needs to host a summit to understand the problem. He is the problem.

We have common-sense solutions. We need to put an end to the catch-and-release policy and Netflix sentences for car thieves and restore competent management to the Port of Montreal to prevent our cars from being exported.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, there he goes again accusing the people of Quebec of being incompetent. That is a real pattern for the Conservative leader.

We are here to work hand in hand with municipal leaders, with police chiefs and with the provinces on resolving this problem. We are here to work responsibly by making investments. For example, today we announced $121 million to help Ontario. There is work to be done, but empty slogans and personal attacks are not going to fix this problem for Canadians. Our hard work will.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, he is the one accusing Quebeckers of incompetence when he says that they are in charge of managing the Port of Montreal.

That is not true. The Port of Montreal is a federal port. He is the incompetent one, and the one who caused the problem. The same thing is happening at every port in Canada. The federal ports are mismanaged because of him. That is one of the reasons why we have this crime rate. We have common-sense solutions.

Will he put a stop to automatic releases and Netflix sentences, and will he restore competent management to all our ports across the country to prevent the auto theft crisis that he caused?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I have already addressed auto theft concerns, but the Leader of the Opposition wants to talk about common sense when it comes to crime and violence. Why, then, is he going along with the American gun lobby, which wants to put assault weapons back on our streets and in our communities? For eight years, he has tried to block our gun control measures at every turn, because he is a puppet of the American right. He does that instead of standing up to protect communities, control firearms and show that he really cares about the safety of Canadians.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, not only is he not worth the cost, but he is also not worth the crime, and now he is spreading disinformation. Years after he promised he would ban these so-called military assault rifles, they are still legal in Canada, and he is paying foreign hunters to get into helicopters and fly around over Vancouver Island to slaughter deer our hunters would have taken down for free for the meat.

When will the Prime Minister stop his policy of targeting lawful Canadians and go after the real criminals who are terrorizing our streets?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the contortions the leader of the official opposition goes through to try to talk about gun control are quite impressive, but Canadians will not be fooled by him. The order in council that made assault-style weapons illegal to use, purchase, share or sell is still in place.

The Conservative Party of Canada has, as its official position, that it wants to restore the legality of assault-style weapons in this country. We—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

The hon. Leader of the Opposition has the floor.