Debates of Nov. 19th, 2024

Public Safety

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, the safety of children who participate in this long-standing mother-child program is obviously a top priority for the Correctional Service. There are rigorous eligibility criteria in place to participate in this program. It includes child welfare screening completed by provincial family services, as well as ensuring that people residing in the mother-child living unit have not been convicted of any offence against a child. My colleague knows that this program has been in existence for 24 years, and no child has ever been harmed in any way during this program's implementation.

[Frank Caputo, Conservative, Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, BC]

Mr. Speaker, these living units are townhouses literally right next to each other. If they are going to screen people, why are they not screening the sex offender and killer who lives next door?

This is the time to show courage and not cowardice, and the minister is doing the complete opposite. This comes back to Bill C-83, which allowed people such as McClintic, Bernardo and Rafferty to serve their sentences with the least restrictive measure.

Victims are owed an apology. Is the minister going to reverse these failed policies and get rid of allowing children to live with sex offenders?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, this member does a disservice to and is disrespectful of the victims of these very people he keeps naming in the House of Commons.

The persons the member just named are inmates in federal correctional facilities. He pretends that the most important criterion for their incarceration is not the public safety of Canadians. He knows that is false, and he does victims a disservice by continually naming these people in the House of Commons. We are thinking of the victims of these horrible people and do not think that he should continually drag their names out in the House.

[Michelle Ferreri, Conservative, Peterborough—Kawartha, ON]

Mr. Speaker, Tori Stafford was eight years old when she was lured from school by a monster. Tori never made it home. She was beaten, tortured, sexually assaulted and murdered by Terri-Lynne McClintic and Michael Rafferty. Today, Terri-Lynne McClintic lives in a cosy townhouse with free access to a mother-child program. Yes, colleagues heard that correctly: a child killer has free access to children in prison.

In what universe is this okay?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member knows that the facts that she just alleged are entirely fabricated. She asked in what universe would that—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

Order. I am going to invite the hon. minister to withdraw that comment because saying that someone has told a deliberate falsehood in this place is not considered parliamentary.

I will invite the hon. minister to withdraw those comments and to start from the top.

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Beauséjour, NB]

Mr. Speaker, I am happy to withdraw those words.

I think it is important that hon. members in this House who allege a series of circumstances be sure that they are accurate. When the hon. member asked in what scenario that particular conduct that she alleges would be appropriate, the answer is in no scenario in Canada. So, she can wonder why she keeps talking about issues that she knows are entirely inaccurate.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

For the second time today, I am going to ask the hon. member for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo to please not take the floor unless recognized by the Speaker, which he has been, for questions.

The hon. member for Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis.

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

Mr. Speaker, dangerous criminals are granted bail and get to serve their sentences at home. The mind boggles.

Here is another upsetting example from a sick system. Terri-Lynne McClintic abducted eight-year-old Tori Stafford and then helped her boyfriend kill her, yet she is allowed to be in the presence of children, courtesy of this government, which passes laws that make no sense.

Why is this Liberal government allowing child killers to come into contact with children in prisons?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, at no time will any government allow that kind of thing to happen. My colleague is well aware that the program she referred to has been in place since 2011. It was in place throughout the Harper government years.

The most important criterion is, of course, the children's safety. I have full confidence that the correctional service will rigorously apply these criteria.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

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

Mr. Speaker, Donald Trump is doubling down on his plan to deport millions of people. Yesterday, he floated the idea of declaring a national state of emergency to free up the necessary resources.

Once again, we have every reason to fear a wave of migrants heading for our borders. Once again, we get the impression that criminal smuggling networks are one step ahead of the federal government at the borders.

The federal government says that there is a plan and that it is ready, but does it understand that, without seeing even the slightest hint of that plan, it is very hard to take the government's word for it?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, of course we share the concerns of all Canadians when it comes to securing the border. Our government has stood by this commitment from day one. We have made significant investments to ensure that the CBSA and RCMP have the resources they need to make absolutely sure our border is safe and secure.

Here is the good news. The RCMP commissioner and the CBSA president give our government regular updates, and I have every confidence in their work.

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

Mr. Speaker, that is interesting. While we are wondering whether the federal government has sufficient resources at the border to deal with immigration, while we are wondering whether human smuggling networks are one step ahead of the federal government, yesterday, the Liberals announced that hours of service are being reduced at 35 border crossings, including 10 in Quebec.

The federal government says that it has all the necessary resources in place, but at the same time, it is cutting its hours of service. It is obviously sending very mixed messages, which is very worrisome.

Is the federal government aware of the message it is now sending to human smugglers?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Absolutely, Mr. Speaker, and that is why we worked with our American partners to harmonize the hours of operation at certain border crossings. Obviously, that also allows us to reassign resources, as needed, to other areas that might be under pressure.

This is a discussion that we have been having with the U.S. government for several years now, and it will enable us to apply the safe third country agreement. If, for example, the border is open in Canada and closed in the United States, we do not have the ability to return people to the U.S.

Carbon Pricing

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister said that paying his carbon tax is more important than buying groceries or paying rent. He obviously believes that feeding his obese bureaucracy is more important than Canadians feeding their family. Documents reveal that just to administer the carbon tax will cost Canadians more than $800 million by 2030, an increase of 163%. This is at a time when more than two million Canadians were forced to visit a food bank in a single month. If the Prime Minister really believes that for Canadians it is more important to pay the carbon tax than feed their families, he should call a carbon tax election now and let us find out.

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

Mr. Speaker, every time the Conservative Party of Canada talks about the issue of climate change, it never talks about how it is costing Canadians, just for the month of July and August of this year, $7 billion in climate damages, which is a record, and the year is not yet over. Conservatives may have decided to let Canadians down and let the planet burn, but on this side of the House, we are here for Canadians, we are here to fight climate change and we are here to build the economy of the 21st century.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the documents reveal just how much pain the carbon tax inflicts on Canadians. They will be paying more than $800 million just to administer the carbon tax. Not only have the costs skyrocketed, but the number of bureaucrats just to manage this scam has doubled. Let us put that in perspective. Farmers will pay $1 billion in carbon taxes by 2030, so the Prime Minister is putting the family farm at risk just to feed his bloated bureaucracy. If he really feels that Canadian families want to pay the carbon tax over feeding their own kids, he should call a carbon tax election and let us find out.

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

Mr. Speaker, it is important to note that when my hon. colleague and the Conservative Party of Canada were in power, the way they dealt with agriculture was to slash half a billion dollars from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. They slashed $200 million from the business risk management program. If that is the track they want to be on, it is a track of destruction, and we are not on that path as a government.

Innovation, Science and Industry

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Mr. Speaker, the radical environment minister continues to hold a financial interest in Cycle Capital, which benefited the most from the billion-dollar Liberal green slush fund. Today, once again, the Liberals are refusing to produce the uncensored documents for the House and the RCMP on the slush fund. The Liberal cover-up, the obstruction of justice, has been going on for six months. When will the Prime Minister come clean and send the uncensored documents to the RCMP, including everything the corrupt environment minister is involved in?

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

This is not going to be a surprise to members. I am going to ask the hon. member for South Shore—St. Margarets to remove that word, which he knows, when talking about the hon. minister. I am going to ask the hon. member to simply withdraw those words.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I will withdraw those words.

Then he stuffed his pockets with the—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

I am going to ask the hon. member just to simply withdraw the words and we will move on.

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Mr. Speaker, he stuffed his pockets with the money. I am sorry, he is not corrupt, he stuffed his pockets.

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

I would ask the member to withdraw those comments, but this has been delayed too long.

The hon. Leader of the Government in the House of Commons.