Debates of Oct. 22nd, 2024

Pharmacare

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

The hon. Minister of Health.

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, let me start by thanking the member for Vancouver Centre, who is one of the longest-serving members of this House. Her tireless advocacy for health care in this country and for pharmacare are a huge reason we have pharmacare.

It was just passed. We are ready to sign deals. What is that going to mean? It is going to mean that people who cannot afford medication are going to get it. That is not just an issue of fundamental justice; it is about cost avoidance and creating a system that avoids bad outcomes.

Not only are the Conservatives against it, but most disappointingly, they have no plan for people who do not have access to the medication they need. They want to cut dental care and other essential services. We are not going to allow it.

Innovation, Science and Industry

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the NDP-Liberals, taxes are up, costs are up, crime is up and time is up. What else is up? Liberal cover-ups are up. The Speaker ruled that the NDP-Liberals had violated the order to turn over the green slush fund's $400-million scandal documents for criminal investigation. The Liberal obstruction of justice continues with 19 government departments censoring documents and two agencies refusing to turn documents over.

Will the Prime Minister end the Liberal corruption cover-up and turn the uncensored documents over now?

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

Mr. Speaker, the member gets up every day and says things that are simply not true. What he will not answer is why his leader is refusing to get a security clearance. That is the real question on every Canadian's mind right now.

While we are facing a time when we have to put the country first and stand up for Canadians, the Leader of the Opposition is hiding something from Canadians. What is it, and why is it stopping him from getting his security clearance?

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister could release the 11 names, and he could also release the documents uncensored so Canadians could learn the truth about the $400-million, Liberal, green slush fund cover-up.

Canadians, I am sure, will also be shocked to learn that, on the Prime Minister's order, more than 10,000 pages were censored to cover up the most important information about the Prime Minister's hand-picked Liberal appointees to the green slush fund. The government does not exist to protect corrupt Liberals from criminal investigation.

Will the Prime Minister stop the cover-up of Liberal corruption and hand the uncensored documents over now?

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

Mr. Speaker, Canadians expect police to follow due process. Let me be perfectly clear: The government obviously complies with anything that follows due process. Canadians also expect their leaders to act in the best interest of Canadians, not to protect their own partisan interests.

Why is that member, and all members of the Conservative Party, covering up for the Leader of the Opposition, who is refusing to get his security clearance? It is easy to get. All the other members have done it. When will the Leader of the Opposition get it?

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

For the second time today, I am going to ask the hon. member for Battle River—Crowfoot to please not take the floor when he is not recognized. I would not like to do this a third time.

The hon. member for Hastings—Lennox and Addington has the floor.

[Shelby Kramp-Neuman, Conservative, Hastings—Lennox and Addington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years of NDP-Liberals, taxes are up, costs are up, crime is up and time is up.

The Speaker ruled that the NDP-Liberals violated a House order regarding the criminal investigation into the latest $400-million scandal. The government's refusal to respect the Speaker's ruling has paralyzed Parliament. The Auditor General found that Liberal appointees at SDTC gave millions to Liberal insiders, with over 186 conflicts of interest.

Will the NDP-Liberals end the cover-up and comply with the Speaker's lawful order so we can get accountability for corruption and Parliament can get back to work?

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

Mr. Speaker, I expect my hon. colleague on the other side to at least be honest with the facts. What was said was that this motion was highly unusual and it should be referred to committee for study. We support that. It is only the Conservatives who are obstructing their own obstruction. This is unsurprising because they are also trying to cover up their own leader's refusal to get his security clearance.

All of the other leaders of the political parties in the House have done that. Canadians want to know why. What is he hiding, and what is he trying to protect?

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

Mr. Speaker, after nine years of scandals under this Liberal government, here we are again, paralyzed by Liberal corruption.

Canadians need to know where their money is going and why nearly $400 million ended up in the pockets of Liberal cronies. Canadians are struggling to find shelter and put food on the table while Liberal cronies get rich at their expense.

Will the Liberals put an end to the secrecy and hand the evidence over to police so that Parliament can work for all Canadians?

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

Mr. Speaker, once again, it is disappointing that the Conservatives are not telling the truth on this issue.

What is even more appalling and what Canadians are wondering is why the Leader of the Opposition is not getting his security clearance. Is it because he has something to hide? Why is he refusing to get his security clearance? He must have something to hide, because it is so easy to get it.

Public Safety

[Rhéal Fortin, Bloc, Rivière-du-Nord, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Quebec is facing another gang war. It is a war between organized crime, which has been around for far too long, and new, less organized groups.

These groups are recruiting young people, teenagers, to commit serious crimes. They are luring children into crime with the promise of a chance to change their lives and a fistful of dollars to boot. Once they are in that world, these children are unable to escape.

What will the government do to protect children, our children, from organized crime?

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, the fight against organized crime, the fight to protect our youth, is extremely important.

On this side of the House, we invested $390 million to fight guns and gangs. We also invested $28 million in resources for the CBSA and $3.5 million over three years to help Interpol.

[Kristina Michaud, Bloc, Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC]

Mr. Speaker, it takes a lot of prevention work to stop young people from joining criminal gangs. We applaud everyone who does this hard work on a daily basis.

However, we also have to crack down on the criminals who deliberately recruit children knowing that they do not face the same harsh penalties adults do. They have to be deterred from targeting children. That is our role as elected members.

Is the government willing to work with us on that?

[Jennifer O'Connell, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I support the initiative that the member opposite has raised and thank her for her work on our public safety committee, where we have discussed this.

We agree that it is crucially important to crack down on criminal organizations, particularly those that recruit young people to subvert the justice system. This is precisely why we restored the funding cut by the Conservatives to invest against gun and gang violence in this country. I hope that we can work across party lines to continue with this investment.

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years of NDP-Liberals, taxes are up, costs are up, crime is up and time is up. The Toronto police are on the front lines of gun violence in Canada. One of their officers was recently shot by a repeat violent offender, yet shockingly, yesterday, the Liberal Prime Minister took a deranged victory lap on social media for his attack on licensed, trained and police-vetted sport shooters. Let us remember that, after nine years of the Liberals, gun violence in Canada is up 116%. Their approach has categorically failed.

When will the Liberals finally get tough on the criminals responsible for gun violence?

[Jennifer O'Connell, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, it is a shame to see, once again, Conservatives using the talking points of the gun lobby instead of standing up for victims of crime and standing up to get guns off our streets. We also know that women are disproportionately affected by gun violence. What do Conservatives do? They want more guns on our streets. They cut funds from CBSA to stop the import of illegal guns and then stand in this place acting as if they support victims of crime. It is a shame.

We have committed to get guns off our streets while Conservatives work for the gun lobby.

[Raquel Dancho, Conservative, Kildonan—St. Paul, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I will read the words of the Toronto Police Association to the Liberal Prime Minister. It said, “Criminals did not get your message. Our communities are experiencing a 45% increase in shootings and a 62% increase in gun-related homicides compared to this time last year. What difference does your handgun ban make when 85% of guns seized by our members can be sourced to the United States?

“Your statement is out of touch and offensive to victims of crime and police officers everywhere. Whatever you think you’ve done to improve community safety, has not worked.”

When will the Liberals call an election so we can finally bring an end to the crime and chaos they have created in our streets?

[Jennifer O'Connell, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, once again, let us talk about Conservative logic. Conservatives think that putting more guns on our streets is going to somehow keep our communities safer. We know that does not work. Their cuts to the CBSA allowing the import of illegal guns is something that we had to clean up. Conservatives care only about the gun lobby and not about Canadians.

We have put in place—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

I have been having difficulty hearing the answer to the question, and I would ask hon. members to please allow us to hear the answer. There was a lot of heckling from the moment the member stood up.

I am going to ask the hon. parliamentary secretary to start from the top.

[Jennifer O'Connell, Liberal, Pickering—Uxbridge, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting that, every time I stand in this place and call out Conservative hypocrisy around violence in our communities, they cannot stand it. This is why they try to silence voices like mine, which stand up for women in particular, who are disproportionately affected by gun violence. What Conservatives believe is that more guns on our streets will somehow help keep our communities safe.

We know that what keeps communities safe is getting these guns off of our streets and investing in the CBSA to protect our borders. This is while Conservatives take their talking points from the gun lobby.

[Dominique Vien, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, over the past nine years, the policies of this Liberal government have caused a tragic rise in crime, including drug trafficking, arson and the recruitment of youth into street gangs. Canadians and Quebeckers are living in fear.

However, instead of protecting Quebeckers and taking a stand against this incompetence, the Bloc Québécois continues to support a failing government. This government's inaction will undoubtedly lead to a spike in crime figures. It is time to bring back common sense and call an election.

Do they have the guts to call an election?

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I cannot believe the Conservatives' hypocrisy. They voted against our measure to freeze the handgun market across the country, yet they come here and ask questions about gun violence. It makes no sense.

We know we need to take action. We have in fact taken very concrete measures. We froze the handgun market a year ago. It is starting to work.

Keeping our communities safe will take the co-operation of all parties in the House.