Debates of Oct. 9th, 2024

Innovation, Science and Industry

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, Conservatives would have liked to be working today to counter the doubling of housing costs the Prime Minister has caused or the record food price inflation, which has been 36% higher in Canada than in the U.S. Unfortunately, the Prime Minister has paralyzed Parliament by refusing the Speaker's ruling. It directed his government to turn over evidence in the $400-million green slush fund scandal that the Auditor General says involves 186 conflicts of interest, with the chair of the fund found guilty.

What does the Prime Minister have to hide?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition is not being truthful with Canadians.

The RCMP commissioner himself said:

...the RCMP's ability to receive and use information obtained through this production order and under the compulsory powers afforded by the Auditor General Act in the course of a criminal investigation could give rise to concerns under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It is therefore highly unlikely that any information obtained by the RCMP under the Motion where privacy interests [exist] could be used to support a criminal prosecution or further a criminal investigation.

Let us get this to committee and get back to work.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, this is a $400-million scandal involving Liberal appointees giving millions of dollars to their own companies, and the minister's story is now changing.

Last week, she claimed that the government had given documents to the RCMP. This week, they are claiming that, if they gave documents to the RCMP, it would cause the Charter of Rights to come crashing down. It sounds as though there is a new story every week to justify paralyzing Parliament to cover up the truth.

What is in these documents about this $400-million scandal that the Prime Minister is so afraid of?

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

Mr. Speaker, this is a typical witch hunt from the Leader of the Opposition to go after people who have nothing to do with this. These are files, such as personnel files, that contain private information of individuals who have nothing to do with what is going on.

The RCMP and the Auditor General themselves raised concerns with this motion. It is the government's view that we should send this to committee so that we can get on with the important work of the House and protect the rights of Canadians.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the member says it is a “witch hunt”.

The Ethics Commissioner, who was appointed by the government, has found the chair of the fund to be in violation of the law. The Auditor General, who was also appointed by the government, says there were 186 conflicts of interest involving Liberal appointees, who gave millions of dollars to their own companies. It was $400 million. There is potential criminality, according to the main whistle-blower in the scandal.

Any other employer would have voluntarily turned over all the evidence to the police if it had been ripped off by its own staff. What is the Prime Minister hiding?

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

Mr. Speaker, if and when the police request that information, it will obviously be handed over because that is proper judicial process. However, when Parliament is doing that, Canadians should be concerned because, when the leader of the Conservative Party is going after the rights of other Canadians, it is only a matter of time before his political vendetta comes after the rights of all Canadians.

International Trade

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to clarify something. The Bloc Québécois introduced Bill C‑282, which excludes supply management from any future trade negotiations, and all parties in the House have at various times supported this bill, which is now in the Senate. I want to make this very clear. The government holds the executive power that stems from the democratic process.

Does the government still agree that supply management, which is so important to farmers, should be excluded from all future trade agreements?

[Lawrence MacAulay, Liberal, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food]

Mr. Speaker, having been a dairy farmer for a large portion of my life, I fully understand and appreciate the value of the supply management program. Our government fully supports Bill C-282 and urges the other place to move on this legislation as quickly as possible.

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, let me further clarify something. Two unelected senators have been unequivocal. They are clearly saying that supply management must be part of future trade negotiations and must not be excluded. They are saying the opposite of what the government is saying.

By not asserting its leadership with two unelected senators, the government is turning its back on farmers in Quebec and Canada, is it not?

[Marie-Claude Bibeau, Liberal, Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, surely the member is not trying to suggest to me that our government is turning its back on dairy farmers. I am sorry, but we have always been there for dairy farmers, right from the start. We will continue to be there for as long as it takes.

We chose to appoint independent senators. It seems to me once again that the Bloc Québécois should understand that concept.

Housing

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, members will not believe this. Corporate landlords are using AI technology to rip off renters and then jacking up rents. The United States is taking legal action against this, but the Liberals are letting it happen here in Canada. I know that the Conservatives do not care because their chief adviser is also a chief lobbyist for corporate landlords. What is the Liberals' excuse?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my hon. colleague for his question and for his concern for the rising cost of rent, which I completely agree is a very serious issue. Where we differ is that we are not satisfied with just launching complaints on the floor of the House of Commons.

We want to advance policies that would put solutions on the table to make a meaningful difference for families. That is why we are putting measures in place, such as cutting taxes on apartment construction, to help build more homes. It is also why we are increasing investments to build more affordable housing and why we put a renters' bill of rights on the table to help protect renters in precarious situations. I only wish the NDP would care enough to join us in trying to do something about the problem.

Indigenous Affairs

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister's excuses are way cheaper than rent.

Shamattawa First Nation has had undrinkable water since 2018, and the Liberal government is fighting it in court, arguing that it does not have a legal responsibility to clean the water. The government is also arguing that, when a minister says something, it is just politics and not something we have to believe the government would actually do.

Will the Liberals call off the lawyers and clean up the water?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Indigenous Services and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario]

Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what we have been doing over the last nine years, cleaning up the mess that the Conservatives left behind. We have made over $8 billion in investments in clean water operation plants across the country.

We have legislation, incidentally, tied up in committee. Hopefully, it will get to the House shortly. I will be testifying tomorrow about the legislation. There are hundreds of chiefs who have called on the NDP and the Conservatives to get this legislation moving through the House, so that we never go back to that time again.

Innovation, Science and Industry

[Leslyn Lewis, Conservative, Haldimand—Norfolk, ON]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years of the NDP-Liberals, taxes are up, costs are up, crime is up and, now, time is up. You ruled that the government violated the House order to turn over evidence to the RCMP related to the $400-million green slush fund scandal, yet the Liberal government continues to obstruct justice by refusing to turn over the documents.

When will the government end this cover-up and let the House focus on solving the housing, food and inflation crises that it has created?

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

Mr. Speaker, what the member opposite is saying is absolutely false. It is the Conservatives who are filibustering their own motion in the House because the RCMP and the Auditor General have both raised their extreme discomfort with the motion the Conservatives put forward.

If the Conservatives want to get back to work, we are ready to send this to committee to make sure we can talk about the issues that matter to Canadians. That is what Liberals are here to do. We do not understand why Conservatives do not want to do that.

[Leslyn Lewis, Conservative, Haldimand—Norfolk, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the truth is that it is the Liberal government that is obstructing justice and holding Parliament in contempt by refusing to hand over documents to the RCMP. Now we know why. The Auditor General has found that the Liberal-appointed board members gave nearly $400 million to their own companies. This is happening at a time when Canadians can barely afford food to eat, and when poverty diseases, such as scurvy, have resurfaced in this country.

Will the NDP-Liberals take accountability and just hand the documents over to the police?

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, three times in this question period I have heard the Conservatives talk about obstructing justice. Let us talk about how justice works in this country. When law enforcement wants to prosecute an individual—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

Order.

I will invite the hon. Minister of Justice and Attorney General to start from the top.

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Parkdale—High Park, ON]

Mr. Speaker, three times in this question period, so far, I have heard Conservatives talk about obstructing justice. Let us talk about how justice actually operates in a democracy.

When law enforcement has a reasonable suspicion of an individual or an entity, it will then seek a search warrant from a court so it can invade that person's privacy and obtain the documents. Instead of pursuing the normal court processes, the Conservatives are saying they are going to subvert all of that for the purposes of partisan gain.

This is what we do in a democracy: We stand up for judicial processes and we stand up for the Charter of Rights. We will always do that on this side of the House.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

I was not able to hear all comments, but I did hear the comments from the member for Glengarry—Prescott—Russell. I will ask him not to take the microphone until he is recognized by the Speaker.

The hon. member for Dufferin—Caledon.

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Mr. Speaker, taxes are up, costs are up, crime is up, time is up and corruption is off the charts. A fish rots from the head down. Is it any wonder that Liberal cronies appointed to the green slush fund by a Prime Minister twice convicted of ethics violations engaged in corruption? This was not small corruption. It was $400 million.

Mr. Speaker, you ordered the production of these documents. Why will the Liberals not stop the cover-up and produce them?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, it has only been nine minutes since question period began, and slogans are up. Slogans are up again. Canadians are sick and tired of Conservatives repeating the same false things and the same slogans.

These Conservatives are trying to go after the personal files of employees and former employees. They are targeting SDTC today. Who will they target tomorrow?

On this side of the House, we stand up for democracy. We stand up for rights. We stand up for Canada.