House of Commons Hansard #353 of the 44th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was documents.
This summary is computer-generated. Usually it’s accurate, but every now and then it’ll contain inaccuracies or total fabrications.
Canada Health Act First reading of Bill C-414. The bill amends the Canada Health Act to include community-based mental health, addictions, and substance use services as insured services, requiring provinces and territories to provide coverage. 200 words.
Reference to Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs Members debate the government's refusal to provide unredacted documents on the Sustainable Development Technology Canada fund, following Auditor General's findings of conflicts of interest and ineligible projects. Opposition demands documents go to RCMP, citing parliamentary privilege. Government cites Charter rights and police independence concerns, suggesting committee review and accusing opposition of playing political games and filibustering. 55000 words, 7 hours in 2 segments: 1 2.
Finance Members debate the Canadian economy and the impact of government policies, focusing on the Liberal government's capital gains tax increase. Conservative MP Tracy Gray argues it hurts small businesses, investment, productivity, and housing construction, citing constituent concerns. Liberal MP Jenica Atwin challenges the claim it is a job-killing tax, citing a report suggesting it benefits the wealthy. 1500 words, 10 minutes.
Marie-Claude Bibeau LiberalMinister of National Revenue
Mr. Speaker, once again, we support the supply management system and want to protect it. It is important to our regions, for one thing, and it is important to our economy. We urge senators to move swiftly and to respect and recognize the fact that a vast majority of the House wants this bill to move forward.
Yves Perron Bloc Berthier—Maskinongé, QC
Mr. Speaker, Senator Boehm said he cannot study the supply management bill because, in case people had not noticed, there are a few wars going on. He and Mr. Harder, our two future Nobel Peace Prize winners, are going to start by ending war. Then, if they have any time left, they will use their superior intellect to take a closer look at the supply management bill. Now that is what I call arrogant.
Enough with the nonsense. Will the government call Mr. Harder and Mr. Boehm to order and push Bill C-282 forward immediately?
Marie-Claude Bibeau LiberalMinister of National Revenue
Mr. Speaker, our Liberal government supports the supply management system and has committed to making no further concessions. We urge senators to move swiftly, but they are independent senators.
I think the Bloc Québécois understands the concept.
Jamil Jivani Conservative Durham, ON
Mr. Speaker, today, the Parliamentary Budget Officer confirmed once again that the carbon tax is costing Canadian families more than they are getting back in rebates. Once the NDP-Liberals quadruple the carbon tax, as they intend to do, the average family in Ontario will pay an additional tax, up to $1,400. To Liberal elites that might not sound like a lot of money. The Prime Minister could probably find $1,400 in between his couch cushions. However, to the average Canadian family, that is quite a lot of money.
When are we going to get the carbon tax election that Canadians desperately deserve?
Steven Guilbeault LiberalMinister of Environment and Climate Change
Let me read again, Mr. Speaker, from the Parliamentary Budget Officer's report: “The general consensus among economists is that explicit carbon pricing is the most cost-effective approach to reducing [greenhouse gas] emissions”.
The Conservative Party of Canada has no plan to fight climate change. It has no plan to adapt to the massive impacts of climate change, which are costing Canadians tens of billions of dollars. It has no plan for the economy. It has nothing to say about this conversation.
Jamil Jivani Conservative Durham, ON
Mr. Speaker, you like to talk about civility and decorum. In the interests of civility and decorum, I would like to invite the minister to look at table 3 on page 18 of the PBO report, which details the overall cost of the carbon tax. Maybe when the environment minister reviews the report and table 3 on page 18, he will agree with me and most other Canadians that we need a carbon tax election now.
Will the minister review the table and come back to us and say when we are going to get the election that Canadians deserve?
Karina Gould LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, in the interest of clarity, I think Canadians would like to understand what the Conservatives plan to cut.
The member talks about families in Ontario. The Conservatives refuse to talk about the Canada child benefit, which puts thousands of dollars in the pockets of Canadian families every single year. They refuse to talk about child care, which saves Canadian families thousands of dollars every year. When they talk about the price on pollution, they conveniently omit that Canadian families get more money back than they put in. The Conservatives want to put their hands in the pockets of Canadians and take that money away.
Philip Lawrence Conservative Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON
Mr. Speaker, Statistics Canada confirmed today what millions of Canadians already know: While the rich are getting richer, the most vulnerable are falling further and further behind. Today, Stats Canada reported that the gap between the top 40% earners and the bottom 40% earners grew by nearly 50%. It reported that income inequity has never been higher in our country.
The government has a choice: Will it continue its agenda of causing misery across our country or finally call a carbon tax election?
Jenna Sudds LiberalMinister of Families
Speaker, I recently got to meet a young mom named Madeleine from my community, who shared with me how important the Canada child benefit has been to her young family in these early days.
The Conservatives have made their position very clear. They would cut the Canada child benefit and leave the 4.3 million moms across this country like Madeleine without the support they need. That is what Conservative cuts look like.
Alexandre Boulerice NDP Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC
Mr. Speaker, when the NDP gets to work, results follow. Thanks to NDP pressure, Premier Legault reversed his heartless decision to take dental care away from Quebeckers.
Now let us take a look at the Liberals' track record. Remember the Prime Minister's promises? He promised more doctors, more nurses and a health care system that works for everyone. Nine years later, 500,000 Quebeckers do not have a family doctor. Promises have been broken, and Canadians are paying the price. When will the Liberals get down to work to provide everyone with a doctor?
Jean-Yves Duclos LiberalMinister of Public Services and Procurement
Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank and congratulate my NDP colleague from Montreal, as well as all the other NDP members, for their support of the Canadian dental care plan.
Together, we have made a huge difference, not least for Quebeckers. Some 800,000 Quebec seniors now have a Canadian dental care plan card, and 250,000 have been able to access affordable dental care, in some cases for the first time in many years. It was an extraordinary collaboration, and it produced major results for Quebec, even though the Conservative leader continues to say that this plan does not exist.
HealthOral Questions
The Speaker Greg Fergus
The hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby should please not take the floor unless recognized by the House.
The hon. member for Churchill—Keewatinook Aski.
Niki Ashton NDP Churchill—Keewatinook Aski, MB
Mr. Speaker, this week Canada's lawyers argued in federal court that first nations leaders are showing a lack of “maturity” in their fight for clean drinking water. That language is unbelievable: a lack of maturity. It is deeply offensive, paternalistic and discriminatory. Let us be clear and say that the lack of clean drinking water on reserve did not just happen. It is the result of decades of neglect from Conservatives and Liberals toward first nations.
Will the Prime Minister apologize on behalf of his lawyers for that deeply offensive language? Will he call off his lawyers, stop fighting Shamattawa and Tataskweyak and deliver clean water now?
Patty Hajdu LiberalMinister of Indigenous Services and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario
Mr. Speaker, I just met with the chief from Tataskweyak a few hours ago. We talked about the importance of Bill C-61 and the work that Tataskweyak and the other communities have done on the legislation to ensure that we never go back to a time when well over 145 communities were suffering through long-term boil water advisories.
That is the work the government will continue to do in partnership with first nations leaders. I hope the NDP will see that this is important legislation that needs to get through the House and give it their full support.
Leah Taylor Roy Liberal Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON
Mr. Speaker, climate change is an issue that affects us all. Small businesses are not immune to the devastating effects of a changing climate. Small businesses in my riding of Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, such as Windfall Ecology Centre, have been contributing to the fight against climate change through the services they provide, the price on pollution program and so much more.
Can the Minister of Small Business tell Canadians about the measures our government has put in place to help all small businesses as they deal with the impacts of a changing climate and the fight against it?
Rechie Valdez LiberalMinister of Small Business
Mr. Speaker, as a former small business entrepreneur myself, I understand the importance of affordability. This is why our government is delivering $2.5 billion to close to 600,000 small- and medium-sized enterprises by the end of the year through the Canada carbon rebate. As I mentioned already, we have negotiated agreements with both Visa and Mastercard to reduce their interchange fees by up to 27%. This is a real, tangible difference that is going to help small businesses across this country. We are going to continue to fight climate change while supporting small businesses.
Happy Small Business Month.
Ryan Williams Conservative Bay of Quinte, ON
Mr. Speaker, in the $400-million corruption scandal that is the green slush fund, you ruled that the Canadian people have the absolute right to demand the production of unredacted documents to be given to the police. However, the government refuses Parliament's absolute authority. Parliament is the people. The absolute authority of Parliament is like someone's mom checking their room after they said they cleaned it. We might be able to hide one or two things, and the government may think that it will get off the hook, but Parliament is here to inspect and clean the House.
This is a messy House. When will the government clean it?
Karina Gould LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, as I said, the government has handed over thousands of pages of documents. However, the big issue here that I think Canadians are concerned about is that they know politicians should not be directing police. What is at issue here is the fact that the House has decided that it should be the judge and jury and the police should investigate something.
We have no problem with police investigations. In fact, of course, any government would respond to them. I would expect that any government of any stripe would react the same way we are today.
Ryan Williams Conservative Bay of Quinte, ON
Mr. Speaker, the police have already opened an investigation. This is just Parliament asking for documents to be turned over. It is the ask and the absolute rule of Parliament, and the government is refusing.
We can just think of it like a business. The government forgets that, in a business, it is the employee and the Canadian public are the owners. In the real world, if employees refused to hand over documents or hand over anything in an investigation, those employees would be fired.
Is the government just waiting to be fired by the Canadian public, or will it hand over the documents?
Karina Gould LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, in the real world, the police have to request warrants. They have to go through due process to get information. It is not up to parliamentarians and politicians to direct police because they have a political vendetta. Canadians expect due process, and they expect that politicians are here to protect their rights, not to get rid of their rights.
Rick Perkins Conservative South Shore—St. Margarets, NS
Mr. Speaker, there is so much Liberal corruption that Liberals are covering up their cover-up of the $400 million of corruption in the Liberal green slush fund. The Speaker ruled that the NDP-Liberals violated the House order to turn the green slush fund documents over to the RCMP's criminal investigation. Obstruction of justice is the Liberals' middle name. They refused to turn over documents in the SNC scandal, in the WE Charity scandal, in the Winnipeg lab scandal and in the foreign interference scandal.
They should just end the corruption cover-up and turn the documents over to the RCMP. How bad is it?
Arif Virani LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, every Canadian watching right now wants parliamentarians to do their job. The job of the opposition is to hold the government to account. The job of the opposition is not to direct the police. Members do not need to take my word for it. How about we hear from the commissioner of the RCMP himself, who said, “There is significant risk that the Motion could be interpreted as a circumvention of normal investigative processes and Charter protections.” He went on to say, “In a free and democratic society, this ensures that the government cannot direct or influence the actions of law enforcement”. We agree with the RCMP. It is time these guys started listening to the cops.
Rick Perkins Conservative South Shore—St. Margarets, NS
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals blacked out so much in the documents that the Prime Minister's Office ran out of toner for the copiers. Apparently it is okay to turn blacked out documents that hide Liberal corruption over to the RCMP; that is not a constitutional issue. However, it is a constitutional issue to remove the redactions and expose the Liberal corruption. I have news for the minister: The Constitution does not exist to protect Liberals from criminal investigation.
Will the Liberals just stop their cover-up and their cover-up addiction and hand the unedited documents over to the RCMP?
Karina Gould LiberalLeader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, I have some grave concerns with what the member opposite said, beginning with the fact that I assume he has actually not seen those documents. I am not sure what he is talking about, because the documents have been handed over.
What is of greater concern, and it was the RCMP that said it, is that the way the Conservatives are acting would actually compromise any police investigation because the evidence would not be considered. What is of concern is that they are interfering in an investigation and they are interfering in police independence, and Canadians should be rightly concerned that Conservative politicians want to direct the police.