Debates of Nov. 20th, 2024

Carbon Pricing

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again the Leader of the Opposition is entirely misrepresenting the facts for his own gain, for his own interest. That is really all he cares about. If he cared about Canadians, he would not be standing against dental care. He would not be standing against more spaces in child care. He would not be standing against putting more money in Canadians' pockets with a price on pollution that is bending our emissions down faster than those of our other G7 neighbours. At the same time, it is helping with affordability for eight out of 10 Canadians in areas in which it lands. The Canada carbon rebate is an affordability measure that is protecting future generations, and he is standing against it.

Taxation

[Leah Gazan, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Speaker, child poverty has increased for a second year in a row, and parents are struggling more than ever to buy essentials, such as baby formula and diapers. The Liberals have let families down. Meanwhile, the Conservatives want to cut child care and cut the national school food program. That will cost families thousands more dollars every single year.

On World Children's Day, will the Prime Minister lower costs for families by following the NDP's plan to cut the GST on essentials?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I very much appreciate my NDP colleague's bringing up the school food program and her support for it. If she really wanted to support it, she would help us stop the obstructionism by the Conservative Party that is preventing us from moving forward on delivering concretely for Canadians the way they need.

Canadians need help and investments, and Conservatives did not have enough in blocking and voting against school foods, voting against and blocking dental care, and voting against and blocking pharmacare, so they are now blocking any capacity in the House to deliver for Canadians. The NDP needs to work with us and stop this obstruction.

Northern Affairs

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Uqaqtittiji, 11 of the 25 communities I represent have experienced boil water advisories this year. That is almost half. Even the UN special rapporteur slammed the government for ignoring its obligation to ensure clean drinking water. The Liberals have failed. Nunavut children, families and whole communities should not have to worry about drinking water.

When will the Liberal government finally invest in Nunavut so everyone can have the clean drinking water they deserve?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, qujannamiik to my colleague. I agree: We need to move forward on protecting clean water and on delivering. That is why we are asking the NDP to stop slow-walking the clean water bill and to work with us to get it through the House so we can actually deliver the water Canadians need from coast to coast to coast, including in Nunavut.

[An hon. member]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

Order.

I am going to ask the hon. member for Hamilton Centre to not take the floor unless he is recognized by the Chair.

The hon. member for Alfred‑Pellan.

Democratic Institutions

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, foreign interference is a real threat to democracies around the world. Bad actors like Russia, China and India are using questionable tactics to sow discord and advance their own agendas in countries like Canada. Still, there is deafening silence from the Leader of the Opposition.

Could the Prime Minister explain why the Conservative leader should be taking national security seriously?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Alfred‑Pellan for his work. Canadians send each and every one of us to the House, in part to ensure their safety. However, the Leader of the Opposition does not care much abut national security. He refuses to get the security clearance he would need to protect Canadians from foreign interference. He is going to cut resources from the police and the border, and he wants to put guns back on our streets.

Canadians deserve a government that protects them and that does not put their safety at risk with dangerous cuts.

The Economy

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, inflation is again on the rise, with three of the Bank of Canada's four measures now above target. The finance minister admitted about a year ago that deficits cause inflation. She made this commitment in her budget, “the 2023-24 deficit at or below $40.1 billion”. Since then, the Parliamentary Budget Officer said that number has been blown away.

Will the Prime Minister tell us, here and now, how much last year's deficit was?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we just heard it once again from the Conservative leader. The foundation to his entire economic argument is that delivering programs to help Canadians in times of need somehow makes everything worse for everyone. He is proposing cuts to dental care, cuts to child care, cuts to the school food program, cuts to money responding to the housing crisis in municipalities. His only answer to Canadians hurting is to cut services to them while he exploits their fears for his own personal gain.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister misheard. It was the Minister of Finance who said that deficits cause inflation.

The Prime Minister also said that every dollar of deficit contributes to inflation. That is why they made the commitment, he and his finance minister, to “Maintaining the 2023-24 deficit at or below $40.1 billion”.

Last year's books have been closed for six months now. He certainly has all the data. How much was last year's deficit?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I know the Leader of the Opposition is keen to see our fall economic statement, which will talk about measures that are there to help affordability, to support Canadians, to be there to invest in them. He is looking forward to seeing all these great measures we are putting forward to support Canadians in their time of need, because he cannot wait to vote against them. He cannot wait to slash services and programs that are helping Canadians. He cannot wait to stand in the way of us helping Canadians through this difficult time by putting the best balance sheet in the G7 in service of Canadians who need a little more support. He has voted against supports for Canadians. He is going to continue to do so.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, it is the Prime Minister who admitted that deficit spending adds to inflation. Maybe that is why there has been a record increase in child poverty this year, with one in five kids now in poverty, and two million people lined up at food banks. This is not my world view; he has now admitted that deficits contribute to inflation. That is why he promised that the deficit would not go above $40.1 billion last year. He has had six months since that fiscal year ended. Does he even know what the deficit was in his own government?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, obviously the Leader of the Opposition is keen to hear our fall economic statement, but the reality is, he is only looking forward to it because he wants to vote against it. He is going to vote against measures that support Canadians: measures to be there for Canadian families who are struggling, to invest in things like school food, to invest in more support for dental care for vulnerable people, and to invest in jobs and growth creation right across the country. These are the things he has consistently stood against because he believes in cuts, austerity and a trickle-down that gives benefits to the wealthiest, but nothing for everybody else.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has brought nothing but costs for everybody else. He has a food program with no food. He has a pharma program with no pills. He has a gun buyback program that has not brought in a single gun, despite spending $67 million. He has a housing program that his minister admits does not build houses.

However, none of those things were the question. It was about his inflationary deficits that he admits drive up the cost of everything. Canadians are watching and wondering if the guy in charge of this half-trillion-dollar enterprise called the Government of Canada knows anything about the numbers. Once again, does he even know the deficit for last year?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, again, he is eager to hear our fall economic update and we will share it with him in due course. In the meantime, the House has work to do on passing legislation that would support school food programs, moving forward on delivering dental care for more Canadians who cannot afford it, expanding child care spaces and putting money in people's pockets at a time when it is needed. Instead, he is crossing his arms and forcing his MPs, because we know he forces his MPs to do whatever he wants, to block the passage of bills in the House because he does not want to see Canadians helped right now; he wants to see Canadians hurt because he only cares about himself.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

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

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, François Legault announced that he would be deploying the Sûreté du Québec, or SQ, to patrol Canada's borders. The SQ will have to do the federal government's job for it because no one in Quebec believes that Ottawa is prepared to manage a potential wave of migration. This is what things have come to, but it is not as though the SQ is looking for work. It has to patrol the borders because, once again, the federal government is not doing its job. Once again, the federal government is passively waiting for a crisis to occur, when Donald Trump has promised to deport millions of people.

Why is the Prime Minister still unable to plan ahead?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as a government, we will always be there to defend the rule of law and the integrity of our borders. We have a plan to increase staff, police and vehicles at our borders. We will work with our provincial partners across the country. We will make sure that Canadians can continue to have confidence in their sovereignty, in the integrity of our immigration system and in our borders. That is a responsibility that we take very seriously, and we have shown our ability to overcome challenges over the past few years.

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

Mr. Speaker, they certainly have shown that over the past few years.

Quebeckers do not believe this Prime Minister can deal with a wave of migration caused by Donald Trump. They saw how he dealt with the borders during the pandemic. They saw how he dealt with Roxham Road. They saw how he took to Twitter to invite the whole world to come to Quebec, then shirked his responsibilities when our intake capacity reached its limit. That is why Quebec has no choice but to send the SQ to the borders.

Quebec is sending the SQ to the borders. Does the Prime Minister realize what is happening?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I have a great deal of respect for the excellent, professional work the SQ does to protect every part of Quebec. It will continue to do so in partnership with federal agencies such as the RCMP and the CBSA.

I have long acknowledged the generosity of Quebeckers, who have done more than their share to welcome people from all over the country. That is why we are in the process of compensating them. That is also why I am still waiting for Mr. Legault's temporary immigration plan. We need to work together to resolve the immigration situation.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, Quebec has reached a breaking point because of the decisions made by this bad actor, the Prime Minister of Canada. The last time Trump won the White House, the Prime Minister posted a “welcome to Canada” tweet. By opening the intake centre at Roxham Road, he invited in tens of thousands of people who had no housing, no jobs and no health care.

Will he do the exact opposite this time, to avoid creating another crisis for Quebeckers?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, ensuring the integrity of our immigration system and our borders has always been a primary responsibility of this government. Yes, the world has faced difficult situations. That is why we have put the necessary measures in place to protect our principles and values and the integrity of our system. We will continue to ensure that we deploy the necessary personnel. Unlike the Conservatives, who reduced the number of border officers and made cuts to the RCMP when they were in power, we are continuing to invest in keeping Canadians safe.

Housing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, Roxham Road was not a problem when the Conservatives were in government. There were more law enforcement officers at the borders and less bureaucracy in the offices. He is doing the exact opposite. That is why we have a broken system after nine years.

It is exactly the same thing with housing. He has doubled the cost of housing to the point where one-third of young Canadians are considering leaving the country. His solution is to give billions of dollars to the bureaucrats and public servants who are blocking construction.

Why will he not eliminate the GST to reduce the cost of housing by $50,000?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the member is attacking the mayors of municipalities across the country, who are working with the federal government to accelerate housing construction, cut red tape and increase densification.

This program is working. I know it is, because at least 18 members of his own caucus have advocated for municipalities in their ridings to get this money to accelerate housing construction.

Unfortunately, the Conservative leader is preventing his members from speaking on behalf of their communities and advancing the interests of their constituents.