House of Commons Hansard #361 of the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was cbc.
Soraya Martinez Ferrada LiberalMinister of Tourism and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec
Mr. Speaker, I just want to be clear. Yesterday, the Conservative Party proposed cancelling the construction of 8,000 social and affordable housing units in Quebec.
What I would like to know is how the member opposite, who is from Quebec, will explain to Quebeckers that she is eliminating 8,000 affordable and social housing units? That is what her party proposed yesterday.
Dominique Vien Conservative Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC
Mr. Speaker, for the record, the Conservative leader built 195,000 new homes when he was the minister responsible for housing. That deserves a round of applause.
In contrast, the Liberals have doubled the cost of rents and mortgage payments. That is a fact. It is high time to act and truly invest in housing construction. When will the government call an election to give Canadians a chance to choose a common-sense option to resolve the crisis it created?
Soraya Martinez Ferrada LiberalMinister of Tourism and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec
Mr. Speaker, what exactly are we talking about when we talk about a housing crisis? We are talking about the supply of social and affordable housing. They boast about having built 150,000 housing units. On this side of the House, not only have we built housing, we have built social and affordable housing. What I keep telling the Conservative Party is that the Conservative leader built six social and affordable housing units. When my family and I were looking for housing in the Conservative era, we could not find social and affordable housing, because the Conservatives do not care about vulnerable people who are looking for housing they can afford.
Laurel Collins NDP Victoria, BC
Mr. Speaker, it is our body, our lives, our choice. Abortion care is health care, but the Liberals keep letting Conservative premiers erode access, while these Conservatives creep anti-choice legislation into Canada.
Conservative cuts mean no family doctors, no midwives, no nurses to staff clinics. This is not real access. Everyone should be able to get health care when they need it, including abortion care.
Will the Liberals enforce the Canada Health Act to stop Conservative attacks on abortion?
Marci Ien LiberalMinister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth
Mr. Speaker, our message is clear. The right to an abortion and access to abortion go hand in hand, yet there are a growing number of anti-choice pregnancy crisis centres that use deceptive tactics to deter women from making informed decisions and to make choices about their reproductive health.
That is why today I introduced a motion to require more transparency from these centres providing pregnancy counselling. Organizations that do not clearly or prominently provide this information to clients risk losing their charitable status. This is about holding them accountable. This is about supports on which women can rely.
Taylor Bachrach NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Mr. Speaker, last week, the U.S. Department of Transport fined American Airlines $50 million for its horrible treatment of people with disabilities. In Canada, people have been dropped on the floor, they have had their wheelchairs broken and lost, one even had to drag themselves off a plane by their arms. What was the government's response? The minister held a summit with plenty of nice words and zero action.
Why is it that the Americans get a secretary of transport that stands up for passengers while here in Canada we get ministers of transport that continually cave to the big airlines?
Anita Anand LiberalPresident of the Treasury Board and Minister of Transport
Mr. Speaker, I beg to differ. I am standing up in the House today, after meeting with our government's chief accessibility officer, to definitively emphasize how important passenger safety and accessibility is for this government. I will repeat that over and over again in the House and outside of the House. There is nothing more important than non-discrimination and more accessibility and safety for our air passengers, rail passengers and freight passengers also.
Leah Taylor Roy Liberal Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON
Mr. Speaker, last week, we found out that an ex-Conservative MP left his party after seeing the increase in the number of anti-choice MPs in the caucus. Anti-choice organizations that support those MPs use deceptive tactics to push women away from making informed choices and accessing a full range of reproductive care through so-called pregnancy crisis centres.
Could the Minister of Women and Gender Equality and Youth please share with the House what our government is doing to require more transparency from pregnancy crisis centres that encumber a woman's right to choose by providing biased and unscientific counsel?
Marci Ien LiberalMinister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth
Mr. Speaker, people have the right to make informed decisions about their own bodies. Across the country, we are seeing anti-choice pregnancy crisis centres undermine a woman's right to choose. Today, I tabled a motion to require more transparency from charities providing pregnancy counsel. If they do not, they stand the chance of losing their charitable status.
Women have shared stories with me about how they have felt when they have walked into these centres, how they have felt shame, how they have felt guilt, and how it has been at the most difficult time in their lives. This legislation would ensure that no woman will endure judgment or pressure from groups that restrict her freedom.
Stephanie Kusie Conservative Calgary Midnapore, AB
Mr. Speaker, after nine years, the Liberal-NDP government is not worth the cost. Over two million Canadians use a food bank on a monthly basis. In Calgary, food bank use is up 28% over the last year, and that is because the Liberal-NDP government put a 23% punitive carbon tax on everything.
Will the Prime Minister do the right thing, take responsibility for the mess that he created and call a carbon tax election?
Jenna Sudds LiberalMinister of Families
Mr. Speaker, I challenge the member to point to a single thing the Conservatives have done to help Canadians who are struggling. It is easy. She cannot. It is appalling. The three-word slogans on that side of the House are empty words. On this side of the House, we continue to make investments in things like the Canada child benefit and the Canada carbon rebate.
On this side of the House, we will continue fighting for Canadian families.
Stephanie Kusie Conservative Calgary Midnapore, AB
Mr. Speaker, the numbers do not lie. The Calgary Food Bank paid $10,000 in carbon tax and that was to facilitate 41,000 visits. That is because food bank use is up 300% since 2019, the year the Liberal-NDP government implemented its punitive carbon tax.
Will the Prime Minister do the right thing, take responsibility for the mess he created, for the Canadians he drove to the food bank, and call a carbon tax election?
Randy Boissonnault LiberalMinister of Employment
Mr. Speaker, the hon. member wants to talk about numbers and facts, so let us talk about the numbers and facts. Eight out of 10 Albertans get more money back from the Canada carbon rebate than they pay in the price on pollution. The best solution for people who are struggling is a good job. There has been $22 billion in investments from this government into the energy sector, into clean electricity, into carbon capture, use and storage, and $25 billion for the health care system.
Do members know what the price for a Conservative government would be? It would be $20,000 per Alberta family with one kid. That is a tax nobody can afford.
Branden Leslie Conservative Portage—Lisgar, MB
Mr. Speaker, after nine years, the NDP-Liberals are simply not worth the cost. Food Banks Canada reveals a devastating truth: Over two million Canadians are turning to food banks. It also reports that up to 25% of Canadians are living in a state of poverty. In Manitoba, food bank usage has surged by 30% in just the last year alone. Despite this crisis, the Prime Minister still thinks it is some sort of a brilliant idea to quadruple the carbon tax.
When will the Prime Minister put an end to this misery and finally just call a carbon tax election?
Jenna Sudds LiberalMinister of Families
Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity recently to be in Manitoba and to announce that Manitoba has signed on to our national school food program. This year alone, 19,000 additional kids in that province will receive food at school through this program. That is real children and real food, not the bureaucracy that the leader of the Conservatives would like to claim this program is. That is the impact of the work we are doing as we roll out this program across the country.
Branden Leslie Conservative Portage—Lisgar, MB
Mr. Speaker, Canadians recognize the impact of the Liberal government's policies, and it is that they are being recklessly driven into poverty. How many more families have to suffer? How long do the lineups at food banks need to be before the Prime Minister realizes that he and his government are the cause? If we tax the farmer who grows the food, the trucker who ships the food and the grocer who sells the food, how can he be surprised when we are seeing record-breaking food bank use?
Canadians want a carbon tax election. When will the Prime Minister give it to them?
Chrystia Freeland LiberalDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, the Conservative leader does not usually give press conferences. That is why it is understandable that he goofed yesterday and he admitted his true plan. He said, “We're going to cut two programs for sure, and more beyond that.”
Now we all know that the Conservative plan is one of cuts, cuts, cuts. They are going to cut that school food program that is going to feed 400,000 kids. They are going to cut dental care that has provided care to one million Canadians. They are going to cut pharmacare. They are going to cut early learning and child care, but we will not let them.
Kristina Michaud Bloc Avignon—La Mitis—Matane—Matapédia, QC
Mr. Speaker, correctional officers working at Montreal's Bordeaux prison say that there are so many drones flying around that it feels like an airport. These drones are delivering knives, drugs and contraband phones to criminals in prison. Ottawa is aware of all this but is doing nothing about it. Quebec is calling for the right to jam signals in its prisons. The correctional officers are calling for the same thing, but nothing is happening. The drones are still flying around.
When will the Minister of Public Safety, Democratic Institutions and Intergovernmental Affairs take action to block access to cellphones in prison?
Dominic LeBlanc LiberalMinister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, we are taking action. We are already deploying several technologies to federal prisons. Obviously, we are not going to publicly discuss the details and capabilities of those technologies.
I myself have visited federal institutions in Quebec and seen how these technologies are being used. I had a very good discussion with Quebec's Minister Bonnardel on what we can do to help the Government of Quebec ensure that its prisons have access to these technologies as well.
Rhéal Fortin Bloc Rivière-du-Nord, QC
Mr. Speaker, the biggest problem with cellphones in prisons is that they allow gang leaders to continue their criminal activities from behind bars. Gangsters can order hits on their enemies, order businesses to be burned down and broker drug deals. In short, they can continue to pose a real threat to public safety from inside a federal prison. It has been documented. Everyone knows it. The minister knows it, too.
Why is he not taking action to ban cellphones in prisons once and for all?
Dominic LeBlanc LiberalMinister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, of course, we are doing just that, as my colleague is well aware.
I will be in Quebec again on Friday. I will be touring a prison with the deputy commissioner of Correctional Service Canada responsible for Quebec. We will be discussing this exact issue. I would be happy to organize a briefing for our Bloc Québécois colleagues to discuss the technologies that are in place and why it is not as simple as they claim.
Of course, we do not want to give gang leaders this information in the House of Commons.
Jamie Schmale Conservative Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON
Mr. Speaker, after nine years, the NDP-Liberals are not worth the misery. Every month in Ontario, three-quarters of a million people must rely on food banks to get by. That is up nearly 10% over last year. Worse, monthly visits by Ontario's children are up almost 117% since 2019. Despite these record numbers of children relying on these food banks, the NDP-Liberals continue to increase the carbon tax by 23%, on the way to actually quadrupling it, making groceries even more expensive.
How many more families must suffer before the Prime Minister calls an election?
Jenna Sudds LiberalMinister of Families
Mr. Speaker, Canadians have been facing challenges in these expensive times, and that is exactly why we have been delivering programs to help them. Our $10-a-day child care program is saving families thousands of dollars each and every year. The national school food program will see 400,000 additional kids receive food at school.
The Conservatives would like to make us think they are pro-family, but we know they will cut these programs at the first possible opportunity.
Jamie Schmale Conservative Haliburton—Kawartha Lakes—Brock, ON
Mr. Speaker, after nine years, indigenous people and families living in rural and remote Ontario know the NDP-Liberals are not worth the cost. The impact of the carbon tax on the cost of groceries is a real issue for those trying to make ends meet and feed their families. HungerCount 2024 reports there were over two million visits to food banks across Canada in March of last year. That is up 90% since 2019.
When will the Prime Minister stop ignoring the evidence, admit the carbon tax scheme is not working and call a carbon tax election?
Patty Hajdu LiberalMinister of Indigenous Services and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario
Mr. Speaker, for a moment I thought my official critic was going to ask a question about indigenous peoples, but again we saw a return to Conservative talking points, not the kinds of things that matter to the first nations people I have been working so hard with, along with my colleagues. In fact, that member voted against indigenous health care, the Grassy Narrows care home, emergency management support, schools, roads, housing and water. We get the picture. They are no friends to indigenous people.