House of Commons Hansard #357 of the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was leader.
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for London West for her hard work.
Today, the Bank of Canada announced a big cut to interest rates by half a point, bringing interest rates down to 3.75%. Canada was the first G7 country to cut rates and is now the first to do so for a fourth time. All the Conservative leader has is his little performances because he knows our responsible economic plan is working.
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, after nine years of this Prime Minister, the cost of housing in Quebec has exploded. In Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean, house prices have risen by $130,000, an increase of 76%. In Trois-Rivières, prices have risen by $190,000, an increase of 122%. In Drummondville, prices have risen by $204,000, an increase of 124%.
What is the Prime Minister doing? He has broken our immigration system and printed $700 billion, and he is funding the red tape that is getting in the way of construction.
Will he reverse these policies?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, the Conservative leader is using this information as well as the challenges facing Quebeckers and all Canadians to fuel his political aspirations, but he is not offering any solutions to address this problem.
That is why we have invested $900 million, alongside the Quebec government, to accelerate housing construction. That is why we continue to work with municipalities across Quebec and the provincial government to deliver more homes, more residences and more affordable housing.
We are going to continue to be there to invest, while he is busy bickering with the mayors of Quebec City and Montreal. We are going to work—
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, I have already put forward my common-sense plan. It involves incentivizing municipalities to fast-track building permits, reduce red tape, free up land for construction and lower taxes for people who build housing in Canada, while at the same time controlling population growth to keep it from outpacing the growth of our housing supply. That is what a common-sense plan looks like.
Will the Prime Minister give Quebeckers the freedom to choose that plan by calling an election soon?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, we know full well that the Conservative leader does not like to rely on experts. We can see why, because all the housing experts and all the economic experts have looked at his plan, and they say it is baloney. There is absolutely nothing in that plan that addresses the housing crisis. It is pure political posturing, which, once again, boils down to mere slogans. Slogans are not solutions.
Quebeckers and all Canadians deserve a government that will continue investing in housing and their future, instead of offering them cuts and austerity, which is all that the Conservative leader is offering.
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, the real experts are the people who build housing. The Quebec home builders' association, the APCHQ, has said that my plan is the best plan for building housing by encouraging construction and incentivizing municipalities to eliminate red tape.
In contrast, we are seeing the results of nine years under this Prime Minister. The cost of housing has risen faster here than in any other G7 country. Canada ranks second-last among the 36 OECD countries. Will the Prime Minister finally follow a common-sense plan?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, this Conservative leader's approach has been to launch personal attacks on the mayors of Montreal and Quebec City and to insult the intelligence of Quebeckers who choose progressive municipal governments that are investing in affordable housing and a better future for all their residents.
The Conservative leader thinks that insulting people will score him political points, whereas we are working in partnership with municipalities and provinces every day to deliver concrete solutions for housing and economic growth for everyone.
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, today the Bank of Canada had to issue an emergency rate cut to salvage a collapsing economy, an economy that has fallen more in the last five years than that of any other G7 country. Our GDP per capita is smaller today than it was a decade ago, while the American has grown by 18%. The gap between the Canada per person GDP and the U.S. per person GDP is now at its worst in a century, leading to homelessness, helplessness and hunger on the streets.
Why will the Prime Minister not call a carbon tax election so we can fix the economy he broke?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, every now and then, despite all his efforts, we see a little edge of the tinfoil hat peeking out once again from the Leader of the Opposition as he continues his attacks on the Bank of Canada and the independence of our financial institutions.
The reality is that we have worked hard as a government to bring down inflation so that the Bank of Canada can bring down interest rates faster than just about any other country among our peer countries around the world. We know that bringing down interest rates is what is going to help Canadians, even as we continue to invest in programs like dental, pharmacare and child care, which the Conservatives are voting against, and deliver for Canadians.
Yves-François Blanchet Bloc Beloeil—Chambly, QC
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is saying that the Bedford case is a one-off, an isolated event. However, it has been going on for seven years. It is well documented. There have been incidents of violence, harassment, intimidation and religious indoctrination.
Is the Prime Minister aware that three other schools may be involved? Is he aware that parents are taking their kids out of certain schools for fear of religious indoctrination because he is encouraging people not to comply with Quebec's laws?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, as a former teacher, I can say how essential it is to protect our children, as well as the values of openness and freedom that we uphold. This is our responsibility as a country.
I am very concerned about the reports that the leader of the Bloc Québécois is talking about. I would stress that we all expect the appropriate authorities, namely the provincial authorities, to quickly address this issue to protect the children in their care.
Yves-François Blanchet Bloc Beloeil—Chambly, QC
Mr. Speaker, when Adil Charkaoui gets mixed up in a situation, it is time for someone responsible to step in.
The Prime Minister has just found some respect for Quebec's jurisdictions. Good for him. However, his willingness to launch a court challenge of Quebec's secularism law, Bill 21, and to fund the challenge all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary amounts to federal intervention in a Quebec jurisdiction.
Furthermore, why does he not bring forward the Bloc Québécois's bill that would make religiously motivated hate propaganda illegal?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, when it comes to education, we know that the Government of Quebec has to step up and protect children where it has a responsibility to do so. Protecting the fundamental freedoms of all citizens is something that Quebeckers and all Canadians expect from their federal government as well.
That is why we are pursuing legal steps to protect fundamental freedoms and, at the same time, expecting Quebec to do its job when it comes to protecting children in Quebec's schools.
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, after nine years, the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister is not worth the human misery that Canadians are suffering. There are now 1,400 homeless encampments in Ontario alone. The City of Toronto admits that it has run out of homeless shelter space and will have to turn people out into the snow throughout the forthcoming winter. There is a Facebook group called the “Dumpster Diving Network”, and people are lined up in the rain for hours for rotten potatoes.
Is this the Great Depression?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, we have all seen the cozy relationship that the Leader of the Opposition has with a number of Conservative premiers across the country. I would ask him to use his significant influence over those Conservative premiers to ask them to accept the money that the federal government is putting on the table to help with homeless encampments.
A month ago, we asked each province and territory to partner with us to help find shelter for people living in encampments. Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan have not yet formally responded to us to end encampments in their respective jurisdictions.
I ask the Leader of the Opposition, if he cares about this indeed, to stop playing politics and start—
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, the problem with that blame game is that in fact the worst homeless encampments are in NDP-governed British Columbia. In fact what the Prime Minister has done is take the radical socialist policies that led to those encampments and those massive overdose crises nationwide.
Take, for example, the drug dens. The Prime Minister continues to push taxpayer-funded opioids on the population, which has led to 47,000 overdose deaths, more than the deaths of Canadians in the Second World War. Will he reverse these policies?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, I just have to pause for a moment on the incredible irony of listening to the Leader of the Opposition in the House accuse anyone of playing the blame game. He has made his entire career as leader and 20 years as a parliamentarian about playing the blame game.
It is about time he started taking responsibility for the members of his caucus and taking responsibility for putting forward solutions that will actually help Canadians, instead of offering cuts, finger pointing and empty slogans.
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, the NDP-Liberal government is acting like “a drug lord.” Those are the words of Masha Krupp, a mother who lost her daughter to an overdose. That daughter, Larisa, was given taxpayer-funded opioids. Now her son is addicted to the same government-provided drugs.
This radical policy, which the Prime Minister pioneered and expanded with the help of the NDP, has taken thousands of lives. Will he stop acting like a drug lord and put the money into treatment and recovery?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, we are using all the tools at our disposal to save lives and keep communities safe for everyone. Meanwhile, Conservatives are choosing to use struggling people as political props to promote fear and spread misinformation.
From the very beginning, we have been there to work on an evidence-based, compassionate and public safety approach. We have been and always will be there to work with provinces and territories on approaches focused on saving lives and ending the crisis.
Fayçal El-Khoury Liberal Laval—Les Îles, QC
Mr. Speaker, the fight against foreign interference is a priority for our government and for Canadians. Canadians deserve leaders who will take the necessary measures to protect them. However, the Conservative leader is choosing to make excuses to avoid his responsibilities and refusing to get his top secret security clearance.
Can the Prime Minister explain why it is important for the Conservative leader to step up and get his—
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Laval—Les Îles for his important question. That is a question being asked by many Canadians and even many Conservative MPs.
The Conservative leader is trying to score political points on the issue of national security, but he is refusing to get his security clearance at a time when it is more vital than ever for every party leader to be taking these threats seriously. That is not serious leadership. Canadians deserve better.
What does the Conservative leader have to hide? Why is he not getting his security clearance? Why are the Conservatives so agitated?
The Speaker Liberal Greg Fergus
I would ask all members not to take the floor unless recognized by the Speaker. I ask the hon. member for Wellington—Halton Hills, who is a very respected member of the House, to please not take the floor unless recognized by the Speaker.