House of Commons Hansard #363 of the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was maid.
Steven Guilbeault LiberalMinister of Environment and Climate Change
Mr. Speaker, I have heard a number of Conservative MPs talk about Jasper. Let us talk about Jasper. Do members know much money—
The Speaker Liberal Greg Fergus
Order. The hon. Minister for the Environment and Climate Change from the top.
Steven Guilbeault Liberal Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC
Mr. Speaker, let us talk about Jasper. Do members know how much the Conservatives invested in 2011 in prescribed burns and mechanical removals around Jasper? Zero dollars. They cut funding by $30 million in 2010, 2011, all the way to 2015.
Do we know who the director to the minister of the environment was in those days? It is was the member for Thornhill—
The Speaker Liberal Greg Fergus
At some point, we are going to run out of time to have all the questions posed. The Chair cannot hear the answer. Could we allow the minister to please give his answer so that we can move on and ensure that all the questions that have been planned to be asked today are asked today?
The hon. minister from the top, please.
Steven Guilbeault Liberal Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC
Mr. Speaker, for four consecutive years, the Conservative Party of Canada slashed funding for Jasper fire prevention by $30 million every year. In the last six years alone, we have invested $800 million. If the Conservatives want to blame someone, they can go and talk to their colleague from Thornhill, who was the director to the minister of the environment in those days.
Stephen Ellis Conservative Cumberland—Colchester, NS
Mr. Speaker, after nine years, the NDP-Liberals are not worth the cost. The statistics are clear. Nova Scotians relying on food banks have increased by over 50% in the last five years to over 40,000 visits per month.
Another staggering report this morning shows that 40% of Atlantic Canadians are struggling to afford necessities like food, rent and home heating. The failed former minister of immigration and now-floundering Minister of Housing clearly cannot help Nova Scotians. However, there is an answer.
Will the Prime Minister call a carbon tax election?
Ryan Turnbull LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and to the Minister of Innovation
Mr. Speaker, I would like to start by wishing Canadians a happy Halloween. What kids should be most frightened about this Halloween is the cuts that would be made by the Conservative leader. I apologize to Johnny Depp in advance, but the leader of the Conservatives is like the Edward Scissorhands of politics.
What else is truly spooky? The Conservative leader refuses to get his security clearance to protect Canadians against foreign interference. I can only speculate that he must be concerned about the ghosts in his closet.
The Speaker Liberal Greg Fergus
Colleagues, comparing any individual to a fictional character is not within the realms of what we do here. I will ask all members to restrain themselves from doing that.
The hon. member for Brandon—Souris.
Larry Maguire Conservative Brandon—Souris, MB
Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the NDP-Liberal government, life is more expensive than ever.
The report of Food Banks Canada indicates over two million Canadians used food banks in March, up 6% from last year. In my riding, the Samaritan House food bank saw nearly 2,000 more people accessing their services in the last two years. Four in 10 were children. One in 10 was a senior. Despite this, the NDP-Liberals continue to increase the cost of groceries by increasing the carbon tax.
When will the Prime Minister call a carbon tax election?
Kevin Lamoureux LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
Mr. Speaker, this question has already been answered. Let me talk about the foreign interference. The leader of the Conservative Party says not to worry, that his chief of staff has the clearance and he will tell him. The leader of the Conservative Party does not understand the law. It would be illegal for the chief of staff to give the names to the leader of the Conservative Party. It is time—
The Speaker Liberal Greg Fergus
Order. The hon. parliamentary secretary has seven seconds left on the clock.
Kevin Lamoureux Liberal Winnipeg North, MB
Mr. Speaker, the leader of the Conservative Party does not understand it. He is asking his chief of staff to break the law. That is a bad thing. He needs to understand that breaking the law—
Yves Perron Bloc Berthier—Maskinongé, QC
Mr. Speaker, all parties should be outraged by the filibuster in the Senate against Bill C-282 and the protection of supply management. No one here should accept that two senators, two unelected senators, are trying to overturn an all-party majority vote in the House. It is a direct attack on democracy. Peter Boehm and Peter Harder are unelected individuals who are acting like divine right monarchs.
Letting these guys get away with it means turning back the clock on three centuries of democracy. Enough is enough. Will the Prime Minister ask them to pass Bill C‑282 immediately?
Marie-Claude Bibeau LiberalMinister of National Revenue
Mr. Speaker, with all due respect to my colleague, it seems to me that he should also respect our institutions, regardless of what he thinks. That is important.
We are 110% in favour of supply management. We want to see this legislation pass. We supported it. Many of us in the House have tried to encourage our colleagues in the Senate to act much more quickly. We are calling on them loudly and clearly to do their due diligence. We want it to come back here as soon as possible.
However, they are still independent. We need to let them do their work, but we are ready to receive it.
Yves Perron Bloc Berthier—Maskinongé, QC
Mr. Speaker, the greatest institution is our democracy.
Peter Boehm and Peter Harder, who I would remind members are two unelected officials, have even refused to meet with the Minister of International Trade in committee. They made sure that they met with every group imaginable that is against supply management, but they did not want to hear from the minister.
That is proof that the Prime Minister needs to personally intervene. He is the one who appointed those senators who now want to turn the Senate into the House of Lords, superior to the House of the people. We cannot let that happen.
When will the Prime Minister finally ask these two monarchs to stop hurting farmers?
The Speaker Liberal Greg Fergus
Before we move on to the answer, I would like to remind all members that it is part of our usual practices and our Standing Orders to be respectful of the other chamber and the people who serve there. I would ask members to exercise some restraint.
The hon. Minister of Public Services and Procurement.
Jean-Yves Duclos LiberalMinister of Public Services and Procurement
Mr. Speaker, my colleague is right.
He mentioned hurting farmers. That is exactly what the Bloc Québécois is doing by aligning itself with the Conservatives. If any party in the House is against supply management, it is the Conservative Party.
The Bloc Québécois will now have to explain to people, including farmers, why it is entering into an alliance with the Conservatives and saying that the only thing it will do from now on is to ensure that there is an election to presumably bring to power a Conservative Party that would make cuts in every area, including assistance for farmers.
Richard Martel Conservative Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC
Mr. Speaker, the food bank back home, Moisson Saguenay—Lac‑Saint‑Jean, reports that there is twice as much demand as there was three years ago. In total, there are 76 requests for help every month. More and more locals are fighting to keep their head above water. What is the Bloc Québécois doing? It is doing absolutely nothing. It has not made any gains for Quebec.
Why do the leader of the Bloc Québécois and the Prime Minister prefer to feed the bureaucracy in Ottawa instead of allowing Quebeckers to feed their families?
Diane Lebouthillier LiberalMinister of Fisheries
Mr. Speaker, the Conservative leader and the Conservatives have always shown their true colours. They confirmed that their main plan was to make cuts. With the Conservatives, it is chop, chop, chop. They are going to make cuts in dental care, in help for families, in the Canada child benefit, in small craft harbours, in pharmacare. They get it.
We are scared of the Conservatives. Children are scared of the Conservatives. It is Halloween. We want nothing to do with them.
Richard Martel Conservative Chicoutimi—Le Fjord, QC
Mr. Speaker, today is Halloween. After nine years of the Liberals, food banks are swamped. In just three years, demand has shot up by 107% in my region. That is 76 requests a month.
People who used to donate food are now lining up to receive some, all because of this government's obsession with taxing everything from gas to food and beyond. The Bloc Québécois is going along with it. By voting twice to confirm its confidence in this government, the Bloc Québécois betrayed Quebeckers. The time has come for an election.
When will the Prime Minister call an election?
Diane Lebouthillier LiberalMinister of Fisheries
Mr. Speaker, you were right earlier on. We cannot compare people to fictional characters because the reality we see in front of us is worse.
When will my colleagues opposite tell us about the other cuts they intend to make and the most vulnerable people they intend to attack, people who, speaking of housing, are homeless? We look forward to hearing what the Conservatives are going to do. We also encourage them to get their house in order and get their security clearance.