Debates of Oct. 24th, 2024

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, what is being proposed today is a reasonable immigration plan that lowers the targets for permanent and temporary residents. The plan is reasonable and carefully crafted. It takes account of contributions by people across the country who have spoken up and asked us to lower the numbers. I think that Canadians have a lot to be proud of. The reduction is not drastic. It is the same plan we proposed back in 2020. I think this will be good for Canadians and Quebeckers.

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, not only is the federal government finally agreeing with us on integration capacity, but it is also recognizing the Bloc Québécois's demand for successful immigration. I will quote a report on immigration that says, “successful immigration requires that housing, education, healthcare, childcare services and other key services keep pace with projected population growth”.

The Liberals finally seem to get it. Quebeckers have been saying this for years, but it was not until the Liberals heard if from Canadians that they finally listened. Why did the Liberals not listen to Quebeckers before, instead of lecturing us?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the Bloc Québécois for once again contributing to national unity.

Health

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Mr. Speaker, abortion is health care, but under the Liberal government, so many Canadians still do not have access to reproductive health care. For those who live outside of larger urban centres, it is almost impossible.

The anti-choice Conservatives would only make this worse. The Trump-lite leader and his extremist caucus have voted five times to restrict abortions, and while the Prime Minister talks a good game, he has not done enough to ensure that Canadians get the care they deserve.

Why has the government not taken access to reproductive health care seriously?

[Marci Ien, Liberal, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for her advocacy, but the right to an abortion and access to it go hand in hand. Through the $45-million sexual and reproductive health fund, we are addressing that. We are making sure that Canadians facing obstacles in accessing reproductive health care are supported financially and that organizations providing those essential services have capacity funding.

While Conservative MPs try to limit a woman's right to choose, we will continue to work hard at opening every possible door to increase access.

[Lindsay Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians have heard that Liberal rhetoric before, but the point here is that abortion care and access are not good enough. Women and gender-diverse Canadians are scared. They know that rights are under attack, and they have seen far-right movements and politicians in Canada emboldened. The Conservatives continue to side with anti-choice movements and believe that Canada is a “lawless state of fetal killing”, but we know abortion is health care.

Will the Liberal government use the Canada Health Act to make sure that all Canadians have full access to abortion?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, I completely agree that abortion is health care. It is absolutely essential that every woman in every part of this country has access not only to abortion, but to the reproductive tools that she needs to have control and autonomy over her own body. We are making remarkable progress on that, signing agreements with every province and every territory, having indicators common on health standards across the country and making sure for the first time that every woman everywhere has access to the contraceptives she needs.

That is what freedom looks like. That is what we are delivering.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the NDP-Liberal government, taxes are up, costs are up, crime is up, time is up and now even excuses are up. The Prime Minister now admits that he destroyed Canada's immigration system and the 150-year immigration consensus. He cannot fix what he broke. He cannot fix immigration. He cannot fix housing or anything else right now because he is fighting his own caucus.

Instead of blaming everyone else, including immigrants like me, will he just admit that he shattered the immigration system and caused lasting damage to Canada's housing market, health care and jobs?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I was flabbergasted to hear the Leader of the Opposition's answer today, the most immature answer on immigration that I have ever heard. He is late to the game. He is so late to the game that he has not even come up with a slogan yet. When he comes up with a slogan, perhaps we will take the chance to respond, but what we propose is a plan for controlled migration. We are proud of it. It serves Canadians well.

[Tom Kmiec, Conservative, Calgary Shepard, AB]

Mr. Speaker, that is rich coming from the minister, who called 24 Liberal MPs “garbage” because they are looking after their own careers and are worried they are not going to be here after the next election because their constituents are going to send them to the unemployment line.

The Prime Minister is reckless, and he even said himself that he did not get it right. He said it during his own press conference. He did not get it right on immigration. He did not get it right on housing. He cannot get it right on the carbon tax.

Will the Prime Minister just admit that his flip-flop has destroyed the immigration system and accept his own personal failure?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, what I said is that it is garbage to focus on anything other than the circus clown the member is supporting.

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

I will invite the hon. minister to please withdraw that comment. It was unparliamentary toward another member of Parliament.

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Ville-Marie—Le Sud-Ouest—Île-des-Soeurs, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I withdraw the comment.

[Arpan Khanna, Conservative, Oxford, ON]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the NDP-Liberals, taxes are up, costs are up, crime is up and chaos in our immigration system is also up. The Liberal-NDP government has broken our world-class immigration system with its reckless policies, and today's immigration flip-flop is a massive admission of its failures. The Prime Minister said that he “didn't get the balance quite right”. That is clearly obvious with the state of our country today.

Will the Prime Minister admit that he broke Canada's consensus on immigration and call a carbon tax election now?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, the leader will have to put forward a plan instead of slogans. I have not even heard the slogan on this because he has been so delinquent on coming up with any valid points to make on the immigration system, the consensus of which is challenged. Let us hear him. Let us hear his plan. Let us even start hearing the slogan, because we have not heard it yet.

[Arpan Khanna, Conservative, Oxford, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals are trying to be firefighters when they are the ones causing the fires in the first place.

We had a consensus on immigration in this country, and the incompetent Prime Minister broke it. The Liberals ignored warnings from their own officials. They dropped police clearance certificates from their own background checks for temporary residents. They even told their own officials to skip vetting for temporary foreign workers.

There is no doubt that after nine years, they have broken the consensus on immigration. Will they call a carbon tax election now so common-sense Conservatives can clean up their mess?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, if the member opposite thinks that security certificates from the Modi government are reliable, he needs a little clearance too, on top of his leader, who should probably get a better briefing on the national security of this country.

The Conservative leader should get the clearance, get the briefing, stop being a baby and be responsible.

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

Mr. Speaker, immigration is in chaos and so is the Liberal caucus. This government broke the immigration system with the help of the Bloc Québécois, who voted nearly 200 times to keep the government in power.

Let us not forget that this coalition kept Roxham Road open one year after the United States offered to close it themselves. Governing means looking ahead. A Conservative government will bring consistency, planning and most of all a common-sense prime minister.

People want an election.

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, everything I have been hearing from the opposition leader so far has been totally inconsistent.

I would like the member's opinion on our francophone strategy outside Quebec. For the first time, we have reached the 6% target of francophone permanent residents outside Quebec. We want to get to 10%. That will be the first time in our history.

She should be proud and she should support us.

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

Once again, Mr. Speaker, everything is broken with this government. The Bloc Québécois voted nearly 200 times to keep it in power. It bears repeating.

Today we are seeing a desperate attempt by the Prime Minister to fix what he has broken. The immigration changes that were announced are totally confusing. They are full of inconsistencies and are a product of pure Liberal improvisation. Only a Conservative government can fix the immigration system.

The message is clear: People want an election. Is the Prime Minister ready to call one?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, I see the member continued reading from her paper instead of answering my question.

I would like to see the Conservative Party's plan. The Conservatives are not mature enough. They have not even put any thought into their next slogan.

I would like to hear their plan because our plan is reasonable. It provides for controlled immigration for Canada and Quebec over the next three years.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have finally started listening to the message passed on from Quebeckers by the Bloc Québécois. Instead of raising their immigration target to 500,000 people a year, they are going to lower it to 365,000 by 2027.

If Quebec were to accept the federal government's new target, it would have to welcome more than 80,000 immigrants a year. That is more than the target set by Quebec and all its political parties. No one is proposing more than 80,000 immigrants per year.

How can the federal government determine that Quebec has the capacity to welcome more immigrants than the target set by all of Quebec's parties?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, the member opposite is well aware that, since the Canada-Quebec accord, the Government of Quebec has set its own targets. That is within its jurisdiction. It also has 50% control over temporary residents. We are waiting for the Government of Quebec's plan. We have proposed a Canada-wide plan, and we are waiting for its response. This is entirely within its jurisdiction, and it has the power to do this itself as per the Canada-Quebec accord. We are giving Quebec $6 billion for this purpose, to cover things like francization. We will make sure we work with Quebec.

[Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, Bloc, Lac-Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the proposed new thresholds are a step in the right direction, but they still force Quebec to choose between accepting more immigrants or losing political weight within Canada. That being said, Quebec's main concern is still temporary immigration and, above all, asylum seekers. There is still no plan for distributing asylum seekers among the provinces, and Quebec is still taking on nearly half of all asylum seekers in Canada. It is the federal government's responsibility to convince reluctant provinces to do their part.

What is the government waiting for?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, there is no truth to the claim that Quebec is taking in 50% of asylum seekers. My colleague can simply check the documents that we give him, or the documents from Statistics Canada. With the decrease in arrivals, particularly at the Montreal-Trudeau airport, the percentage stands at 29%. It is quite clear that the member opposite is trying to mislead the House.