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.
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister, costs are up, taxes are up, crime is up, and, according to 24 Liberal MPs, time is up. The Prime Minister has doubled housing costs, doubled the national debt and given us the worst economy in the G7. He has paralyzed Parliament with a cover-up of corruption, and two million people are lined up at food banks. However, he cannot fix what he broke because his caucus is revolting.
Will he call a carbon tax election today?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, while the Leader of the Opposition is focused on politics, we are focused on delivering for Canadians the things that matter most, whether it is more money in their pockets with the Canada carbon rebate, more places for $10-a-day child care right across the country or dental care for seniors and more and more Canadians of all ages. We will move forward to deliver things that are easing pressures on pocketbooks and building a strong economy for everyone.
This is the work that we are doing and that we will continue to do. While the Leader of the Opposition tosses around empty slogans and plays politics, we will stay focused on the things that matter to Canadians.
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, 24 Liberal MPs went to his caucus meeting today to tell him that he is not worth the crime, cost or corruption. They wanted to tell him that he has doubled housing costs, doubled the national debt and sent two million people to food banks, but he would not let them; he silenced half of the dissidents. In fact, some were intimidated so much that even Rosemary Barton, the Prime Minister's favourite journalist, said, “People don't have their phones in...the room. Some people going to the bathroom are texting us.”
Will the Prime Minister text the dissident Liberal MPs, tell them to come out of the bathroom and tell the whole world that he is not worth the cost?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, in our caucus, people have always been free to speak their mind and have different perspectives.
What is interesting is that nobody in the Conservative caucus seemed to have spoken out when one member got an all-expenses-paid trip to an extreme anti-abortion church in Florida. Nobody spoke out. One of the members on the Conservatives' front bench dined with white nationalists, far-right German nationalists, and nobody spoke up. They also continue to not speak up when their leader refuses to get a security clearance so he can deal with foreign interference.
Yves-François Blanchet Bloc Beloeil—Chambly, QC
Mr. Speaker, I think it is more honourable to leave Liberal turpitude to the Liberals. I want to talk about another phenomenon: intimidation, harassment, verbal abuse, contempt for science, and corporal punishment.
Is the Prime Minister concerned about the situation at Bedford school, in Montreal's Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood, as it relates to religious intransigence? What does he think is behind this situation?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Bloc Québécois knows full well that, on this side of the House, we respect provincial jurisdiction over education. We will always be there to defend freedom of expression and the fundamental freedoms afforded to all Canadians.
These freedoms are what allow us to live in a free, democratic and open country, where our values are always at the forefront.
Yves-François Blanchet Bloc Beloeil—Chambly, QC
Mr. Speaker, I understand that the Prime Minister has other things on his mind.
Is he saying that forced teaching of a religion at a school and corporal punishment fall under teachers' freedom of expression?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, no, that is not at all what I said. I pointed out that school administration is a provincial jurisdiction. We expect the province to handle its own jurisdictions.
That being said, we will always defend the fundamental freedoms of all Canadians. That includes children, who have the right to be educated in a way that is consistent with our values as Quebeckers and Canadians.
Jagmeet Singh NDP Burnaby South, BC
Mr. Speaker, I recognize that the Prime Minister is distracted, but a recent survey that came out shows that over half of Canadians are having a hard time with the cost of groceries. Too many in this chamber are more worried about themselves than kids going to sleep hungry in our country.
Why has the Prime Minister refused to take action on painful food prices?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, we have taken action and we will take more action. We have moved forward on increasing competition rules so the Competition Bureau can go after people and companies that are gouging Canadians.
At the same time, we are delivering more supports, whether with the national school food program, which is putting more money in the pockets of families by giving them breaks on their groceries so kids can eat healthy foods at schools, or by delivering a Canada carbon rebate. Unfortunately, with the Canada carbon rebate, which puts more money in families' pockets, the NDP just pulled its support, even though it is helping Canadians with affordability.
We will continue to be there to fight climate change—
The Speaker Liberal Greg Fergus
Order.
I invite the hon. member for Burnaby South to start from the top, and I encourage all hon. members to make sure their questions and comments are directed through the Chair.
The hon. member for Burnaby South.
Jagmeet Singh NDP Burnaby South, BC
Mr. Speaker, has the Prime Minister actually ever been to a grocery store?
People are losing hope. An Angus Reid study shows that over 40% of renters have given up on the dream of home ownership. The Conservatives cut housing construction in Canada and lost 800,000 affordable housing units.
The Liberals have had nine years. Why has the Prime Minister not cleaned up that mess?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, I can start by answering both questions the leader of the NDP had. I have actually been to a grocery store, with you, Mr. Speaker, in your riding a few years ago, Hull—Aylmer, and I have been to many grocery stores since.
When it comes to housing, we implemented a program to invest in affordable housing across the country, which includes $900 million for Quebec. We are continuing to invest in affordable housing.
While the Conservative Party is offering cuts to housing programs, we will continue to invest to help Canadians with affordable housing.
The Speaker Liberal Greg Fergus
I would like to assure all members that Marché Laflamme is a mainstay in my riding.
The hon. Leader of the Opposition.
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, it is good to know that you and the Prime Minister like to go grocery shopping together. Since you do, you would know that, of course, food prices have risen 36% faster in Canada than they did in the United States in the last four years, and that this gap grew in line with the carbon tax. The leader of the NDP apparently likes to shop at Metro, for which his brother's company is the chief lobbyist.
Maybe the leader of the NDP can tell us this. Twenty-four Liberal MPs have lost confidence in the Prime Minister. Will the leader of the NDP finally vote for a carbon tax election?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, that was not a question for the government, but let me reiterate that multiple analysts and economists and the Parliamentary Budget Officer have indicated that lowering inflation has made it easier on Canadians, and the price on pollution, which delivers the Canada carbon rebate to Canadians right across the country and puts more money in their pockets, is helping Canadians with affordability.
If the Leader of the Opposition really wanted to help with affordability, he would not have voted against dental care. He would not have voted against the national school food program, which is saving parents hundreds of dollars a year right across the country.
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, even Liberal MPs now know, because their constituents keep telling them, that the carbon tax is driving up the cost of food. The Liberals wanted to go to caucus today and tell the Prime Minister that Canadians are literally starving, some eating out of dumpsters, because of the carbon tax. However, the Prime Minister sent out the immigration minister to attack them, saying that they are “garbage”. What is garbage is the Prime Minister's record of doubling housing costs, driving up food prices and forcing people to eat out of dumpsters.
Will the Prime Minister stop treating his own MPs and Canadians like garbage?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Conservative Party should not be bragging that none of his MPs have asked him to get a security clearance so that he can protect his party from foreign interference, that none of his MPs have spoken out, that having one of his members go down to Florida on an all-expenses-paid trip by an extreme anti-abortion church is just fine for all of his MPs, and that, quite frankly, none of them have any issue with a member on their front bench dining with a neo-Nazi. I would hope some of the members in his caucus would speak up about some of the—
The Speaker Liberal Greg Fergus
I would ask the hon. member for Wellington—Halton Hills to please not speak out of turn repeatedly during questions. He is an honourable and very well-respected member.
The hon. Leader of the Opposition.
Pierre Poilievre ConservativeLeader of the Opposition
Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister, who has a lifelong record of racist outbursts, is now coming unglued on the floor of the House of Commons. The question was about the 24 Liberal MPs in his caucus who are trying to speak out against his quadrupling of the carbon tax, not because they care about the cost of living for their constituents, but because they are worried they are going to lose the election.
If the Prime Minister is so confident in quadrupling the carbon tax, why will he not call a carbon tax election now?
Justin Trudeau LiberalPrime Minister
Mr. Speaker, our price on pollution not only decreases emissions and helps fight climate change, but grows the economy and investments and puts more money in the pockets of middle-class Canadians from coast to coast to coast. Indeed, what we have seen from the Parliamentary Budget Officer is that the Canada carbon rebate puts more money in the pockets of Canadian families than it costs them in the federal price on pollution. That is exactly what the Leader of the Opposition wants to cut. He wants to cut affordability for Canadians. He wants to cut the fight against climate change. That is not how we build a strong future.