Debates of Oct. 3rd, 2024

Government Accountability

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I know we have been hearing about unhinged responses today, and there is one.

We can check Hansard. There was nothing about Alabama in there, but we could see it from noted Liberal strategist and commentator Trevor Tombe, who did make the comparison.

However, when we are making comparisons, we can make many between banana republics and the corruption under the NDP-Liberal government, with the Prime Minister himself twice found guilty of breaking ethics laws. The government is absolutely out of touch after nine years, and now it has put Mark “conflict of interest” Carney in charge of its economic policy.

Why can we not just have a carbon tax election?

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

Mr. Speaker, I understand why the member opposite is getting a little riled up, because there are some uncomfortable truths that are being put forward here. While the Conservatives continue to talk down Canadians and talk down our country, the bigger concern is what they are trying to do in this place, where they are overriding the charter rights of Canadians.

When it comes to privacy rights and, indeed, when it comes to a woman's right to choose, we know that the first inclination of Conservative members of Parliament is to take them away.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, a trillion-dollar everything corporation that is currently asking for billions of tax dollars recently faced shareholder calls for transparency after a scathing report raised questions about whether Brookfield engages in tax avoidance strategies when it comes to paying Canadian tax.

The Liberals just appointed Brookfield's board chair, carbon tax-promoting Mr. Carney, to craft Canada's economic policy. The Liberals will not say whether they cleared this with the lobbying commissioner. Are the concerns Brookfield's shareholders had about tax transparency the reason why?

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

Mr. Speaker, this is another typical attack from the Conservatives against Canadians who do not support their vision for Canada. We have seen this over the last nine years. I guess it is hurtful for them when it is people they appointed to important positions who come forward and do not actually agree with their vision of Canada. What do they do? They attack them. They bring them down. They are not open to debate or to criticism, and their only inclination is to attack fellow Canadians.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Mr. Speaker, this is another typical Liberal scandal. The Conflict of Interest Act prohibits ministers from furthering interests of their friends, which is why the act requires ministers to declare close friendships with people who lobby.

The finance minister has frequently mentioned her close personal friendship with the chair of Brookfield, who now holds a senior Liberal economic advisory position. In describing her relationship with carbon tax-promoting Mr. Carney, the minister said things like “Mark is a personal friend of mine, of very long standing” and “I speak with Mark often, he's actually my son's godfather.”

Has the minister declared her friendship with the world's—

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

The hon. government House leader has the floor.

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

Mr. Speaker, again this is just a simple personal attack because the Conservatives are sad or disappointed that there are eminent Canadians who do not support their dangerous vision of Canada, to be honest. There is a reason why Canadians who have global recognition are working to support a progressive vision of this country, but what we see from the Conservatives is that when Canadians or organizations do not support them, all they do is attack.

Agriculture and Agri-Food

[Yves Perron, Bloc, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, if the Liberals do not want to fall by October 29, they had better start standing up for farmers.

Bill C-282, which has just one clause and protects supply management, has been stuck in the Senate for more than a year. Why? It is because Peter Boehm and Peter Harder, two unelected wannabe kings, both appointed to the Senate by the Liberals, are deliberately blocking a bill supported by the majority in the House.

Will the Liberals ensure that the senators respect democracy and pass Bill C‑282?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal Party has always supported supply management in Canada. It was actually a Liberal government that brought in supply management many years ago. We have always stood behind farmers. We also voted in favour of the bill on supply management.

Senators know that they are independent, but they also know that they must do their job and carefully consider the House's point of view as they decide whether to support farmers in Quebec and across the country.

[Yves Perron, Bloc, Berthier—Maskinongé, QC]

Mr. Speaker, all of the parties should be furious that senators are obstructing the will of the House. We cannot allow two unelected senators—emphasis on “unelected”—to decide, between naps, to threaten Quebec agriculture.

They do not care about democracy or farmers. They do not care about the 6,000 businesses or the 100,000 jobs in Quebec. They do not care about Quebeckers. Enough is enough.

I am calling on all parties. Farmers are listening. Will they pick up the phone and tell their senators to respect democracy and pass the bill?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Mr. Speaker, I already spoke a few moments ago about how the Liberal Party, the Liberal government, has always supported supply management to protect farmers in Quebec and across the country.

We have demonstrated that support on many occasions, including during the difficult negotiations with President Trump. We stood our ground. We were insistent. We won out against President Trump and succeeded in protecting the interests of farmers in Quebec and across the country.

Innovation, Science and Industry

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years of this Prime Minister, supported by the Bloc Québécois, Liberal corruption has taken over the House of Commons. Once again, the Prime Minister will do anything to protect his cronies who follow his lead and violate ethics and conflicts of interest rules. There were 186 conflicts of interest in the Liberal green fund, involving $330 million of public money. That is seven times more money than the sponsorship scandal.

Why does the Prime Minister refuse to hand over all the documents requested by the House to the RCMP? What is so corrupt about this that he would once again violate an order of the House?

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

Mr. Speaker, once again, the Conservative members are not giving Canadians accurate information. Conservative members are the ones violating Canadians' charter rights. Canadians should be extremely concerned about what the Conservative members are doing. The Conservatives are compromising the independence of the legislative and judicial branches. That is very troubling.

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians' right to know is more important than this government's right to hide.

To be clear, the Liberals can shut down debate on the question of privilege by being open and transparent and by providing the House with the documents it has requested right now. The Conservatives proved that parliamentarians' privileges were violated. The Auditor General of Canada found that the Prime Minister created a slush fund for Liberal insiders. Liberal ministers knew about it and allowed their friends at SDTC to engage in corruption. The House is overflowing with Liberal corruption.

When will Canadians get their money back?

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

Mr. Speaker, what my hon. colleague is saying is completely false. The Auditor General and the RCMP have said that they are extremely concerned about the Conservatives' motion because it violates Canadians' rights. It is the privilege of the House to do so, but—

I am sorry, I am not sure—

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

I apologize. Unfortunately, I only looked at the clock, and the clock is incorrect. I am going to ask the hon. minister to start her question from the top. This one is on me, dear colleagues, and I apologize, but we will make sure that the clock starts at the right time.

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, what my hon. colleague said is completely false. The Auditor General and the RCMP have said that they are extremely concerned about the fact that the Conservatives are moving this motion in the House because it limits Canadians' Charter rights. I know Conservatives care about Canadians' rights and, of course, Quebeckers' rights, but they are the ones who are not respecting those rights in hopes of scoring political points. That is terrible.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

The hon. member for Mégantic—L'Érable has had two opportunities to ask his questions. I am sure he will have others, if his colleagues are willing. I would therefore ask him not to speak until it is his turn.

The hon. member for Lévis—Lotbinière.

[Jacques Gourde, Conservative, Lévis—Lotbinière, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we learned from the Auditor General that the Prime Minister broke the Conflict of Interest Act by using the green fund managed by Sustainable Development Technology Canada to give gifts to his friends. The Liberals have refused the Conservative Party's legitimate request to hand over the documents related to this slush fund to the RCMP so that it can conduct its investigation. These Liberal secrets represent 184 conflicts of interest for a total of nearly $400 million in taxpayers' money.

When will we get that money back?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague has already answered that question several times.

The member spoke about secrets. One thing that should not be kept secret is that, in his riding, 11,900 seniors have received their membership card for the new Canadian dental care plan. Meanwhile, his leader is saying that he cannot tell us why he is against the Canadian dental care plan because it does not exist.

How will my colleague explain to the 11,900 seniors in his riding that the card they have received does not exist?

The Environment

[Francis Scarpaleggia, Liberal, Lac-Saint-Louis, QC]

Mr. Speaker, in 2021, we committed to strengthening and modernizing the Canadian Environmental Protection Act in order to better protect the environment and the health of Canadians. With the passage of Bill S-5, Strengthening Environmental Protection for a Healthier Canada Act, we have kept our promise.

Can the Minister of Environment and Climate Change give us an update on the implementation of this new law?

[Steven Guilbeault, Liberal, Minister of Environment and Climate Change]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question and all his work on environmental issues. Yesterday, our government announced additional measures to protect the public from the harmful effects of pollution, particularly forever chemicals.

We know that the Conservative Party of Canada's environmental priority is giving big polluters a free pass. They want to give the oil and gas companies the green light to pollute as much as they want, for free. They are turning their backs on the work of experts and scientists and choosing instead to listen to conspiracy theories, like Premier Danielle Smith in Alberta is doing, and promote disinformation.

Ethics

[Michael Cooper, Conservative, St. Albert—Edmonton, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the shady business partner of the Minister of Employment testified that the Randy in the text messages implicated in a half-million-dollar shakedown is someone other than the minister. However, surprise, surprise, when he was ordered by the ethics committee to identify this so-called other Randy, he refused to do so. Everyone knows why. Will the Minister just stand in his place and admit that it is him?

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!