Debates of Nov. 21st, 2024

Canada Revenue Agency

[Iqra Khalid, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Revenue]

Mr. Speaker, I do not think that the challenge here is whistle-blowers. As I said earlier, there are ways within the CRA that people are able to report whatever misconduct they see. I think the question really is how we protect whistle-blowers. We have obviously supported Bill C-290 from the Bloc Québécois. I wonder if we can support the Conservative Party and its whistle-blower situation going on right now.

Ethics

[Damien Kurek, Conservative, Battle River—Crowfoot, AB]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the disgraced Liberal MP for Edmonton Centre resigned from cabinet, but as of today, his shady company GHI is still eligible to bid on government contracts, despite the member admitting he lied about his heritage to get dollars earmarked for indigenous businesses in the past. That is on top of being embroiled in conflicts of interest and even allegations of being connected with international drug busts. The government House leader still has not made clear whether or not that company has been banned from bidding on contracts with the government.

Can she give a straight answer here today?

[Charles Sousa, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Mr. Speaker, what is clear is the company in question was not listed as an indigenous company. What is clear is that the company never received a contract as an indigenous company. We have taken many steps going forward to provide for modernization of procurement, transparency and openness. We are working toward supporting Canadians and supporting the indigenous community that require our support, and we will be there for them all the way through.

[Dane Lloyd, Conservative, Sturgeon River—Parkland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, what do five Range Rovers, two Porsche Cayennes, a post office box co-owned by a suspected drug trafficker, a warehouse full of medical supplies destroyed by arson, millions of dollars in fraud and a company falsely claiming to be indigenous all have in common? The Liberal member for Edmonton Centre. The Prime Minister continues to stand by his MP. He sees nothing wrong with these scandals.

It begs the question: If all this corruption and scandal is not enough to fire a minister, how corrupt do they need to be to get fired by the Prime Minister?

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, that question has been answered. One question I have is how far the Conservatives are going to go. The Conservative leader wants to take away $10 a day child care from Canadian mothers. He wants to take away dental care subsidies from our seniors. He wants to take away 750,000 new construction builds from Canadians who want to buy their first home. Now the newest policy of the Conservative leader is to take away the tax break that the Liberal government announced today for all Canadians.

When is it going to end? The Conservative leader would make life more expensive.

Emergency Preparedness

[Dane Lloyd, Conservative, Sturgeon River—Parkland, AB]

Mr. Speaker, now that the Prime Minister's minister in charge of Jasper's recovery has resigned under a cloud of suspicion, who is going to oversee the rebuilding of this beautiful community? Will it be the radical environment minister, who ignored warnings for years from forestry experts that the dead forest around Jasper was a powder keg waiting to blow?

Will the Prime Minister assure Canadians he will not put the radical minister, who failed the community by allowing it to burn in the first place, in charge of Jasper and towns like it again?

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

Mr. Speaker, the member should be ashamed of the previous government's record in the protection of Jasper. How much did it invest in 2011 for fire protection in Jasper? Zero. How much did it invest in 2012? Zero. How much did it invest in 2013? Zero. 2014? Zero. 2015? Zero.

We have invested more than $60 million in fire prevention in Jasper. The previous government did absolutely nothing.

Taxation

[Peter Fonseca, Liberal, Mississauga East—Cooksville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, while the Leader of the Opposition silences and strong-arms his caucus into being his mouthpiece in their communities, our government is listening to Canadians. What are our neighbours telling me? They have told me that, while inflation is easing, life can still be challenging.

They have also told me that our government has been there to support them through difficult times, but they are worried about the added costs of the upcoming holiday season. Could the Minister of Justice and Attorney General please tell us what our government is doing to put more money in the pockets of Canadians?

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

Mr. Speaker, we are starting off the new year on the right foot. Today we announced that we are giving all Canadians a tax break by exempting the GST and HST on things Canadians care about so that they can buy essentials, such as groceries, snacks and kids' clothing, tax-free. We are also introducing the working Canadians rebate, which will put $250 directly back into the pockets of working Canadians, 18 million-plus working Canadians.

The question for this chamber is this: Will the members opposite have the courage to stand up to their leader, to free themselves from this gag order he has imposed upon them and to come out in favour of the tax break?

[An hon. member]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

I am going to ask the hon. member for New Westminster—Burnaby for the second time today to please not take the floor when not recognized by the Chair.

The hon. member for Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles.

Public Safety

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, according to the media, a woman from Montreal's north shore had her car stolen twice. To add insult to injury, her car insurance increased to more than $7,000 a year, and she had to install a TAG tracking system on her vehicles or her insurance application would be rejected. Once again, victims are paying for this government's incompetence. The Prime Minister's inaction on Canadians' safety says a lot more than his long empty speeches do.

When will he wake up?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, like all members of the House, we are concerned when we hear stories like that. That is precisely why we are working with law enforcement, for example Montreal's SPVM, the Sûreté du Québec and other police forces in Quebec and the other provinces. We have transferred hundreds of millions of dollars to support this important work. We increased RCMP funding and staffing.

We will keep fighting against what my colleague just described, in other words, a totally unacceptable situation.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, maybe the minister needs more information, so let me tell him that it was reported this morning that, for the second time in 24 hours, car thieves deliberately drove straight at police officers who were trying to intercept them in the Côte‑des‑Neiges neighbourhood of Montreal.

One of the three criminals in this case, Abdorrahman Tayeb Ali, was already awaiting trial on three separate cases of auto theft, being an accessory after the fact, forcible confinement, assault with a weapon, robbery, break and enter, and uttering death threats.

How many women or police officers need to be assaulted before the Prime Minister brings back real criminal justice?

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

Mr. Speaker, just to point out the facts, with the investments we have just made and the fact that we targeted border services, what we have seen in Quebec is a 41% decrease in auto thefts. What the member opposite said is important because it touches on the administration of justice at the provincial level by the Government of Quebec.

Are there enough police officers? Are there enough justices of the peace with adequate legal training? Is there enough space in prisons?

These would be good questions to ask Mr. Legault.

[Clifford Small, Conservative, Coast of Bays—Central—Notre Dame, NL]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years, the NDP-Liberals are not worth the cost, crime or corruption. Last week, I attended a town hall on crime in Summerford, Notre Dame Bay, where the RCMP was also present. Residents told the RCMP it has gotten so bad that they are sleeping with guns next to their beds. The RCMP basically said that its hands are tied by the Liberal soft-on-crime justice system.

Will the Prime Minister call an election and let the people have their say on whether his crime record is good or bad?

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

Mr. Speaker, concerns about community safety are concerns that touch all of us in every community. What I would say with respect to combatting gun violence in our communities right around this country is that we should look at the Liberal record. What we have done is that we have put a ban on assault rifles. What we have done is that we have put a freeze on handguns. Most importantly, we are investing in our borders to interdict the traffic of arms between different countries, particularly on our southern border. That is important for keeping Canadians safe. That was in place of investments that had been cut by the previous government.

That is the Liberal record. I hope that the Conservatives will get behind basic community safety.

Housing

[Anju Dhillon, Liberal, Dorval—Lachine—LaSalle, QC]

Mr. Speaker, this week, we announced major investments to speed up housing construction in Quebec. The Conservative leader has had a rough couple of weeks because of the outrage caused by his plan to scrap this agreement with Quebec.

Can the minister tell us more about our government's initiatives to build more housing for Quebeckers?

[Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Liberal, Minister of Tourism and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague, and I am just as concerned as she is. We know that the devil is in the details. The Conservatives' secret agenda involves cutting funding for the construction of social and affordable housing. It involves cancelling the new $92‑million initiative for Quebec. It involves cutting support for municipalities. The Conservative leader muzzled his members who want to fight for their communities.

Will the Conservatives vote in favour of tax breaks? Today is the day that they can stand up for the interests of Canadians and Quebeckers.

[Blake Desjarlais, NDP, Edmonton Griesbach, AB]

Mr. Speaker, rents in Edmonton are rising faster than almost anywhere else in the country. A one-bedroom apartment costs 16% more than it did last year. Working people cannot keep up. These sky-high rents are being caused by greedy corporate landlords who own almost half of all purpose-built rentals, but the Liberals refuse to stand up to them. They have let Canadians down while the Conservatives work to get these CEOs even more.

Why are the Liberals standing by while corporate landlords buy up affordable homes?

[Peter Fragiskatos, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, of course, it is incumbent on all levels of government to do whatever they can to help all Canadians, including renters. On our side, what have we done? We have lifted the GST costs on the construction of purpose-built rentals and put forward, for the first time in Canadian history, a renter's bill of rights to support renters. We also see the need for more supply. Unfortunately, we have not heard about that from the NDP. That is why we have cooperated with builders across the country. There is more to do, and we will do that work.

I know that the Conservatives would cut every single one of these initiatives. That much is clear.

National Defence

[Elizabeth May, Green, Saanich—Gulf Islands, BC]

Mr. Speaker, on November 15, the peace train pulled out of Vancouver station; a cross-country trip raising awareness for peace, disarmament and peacekeeping has now arrived in Ottawa. It asks parliamentarians to press the government: Will we re-establish a centre for excellence for peace and justice where the Pearson peace centre used to be? Will we increase our involvement as a country in peacekeeping and pressing for nuclear disarmament. For God's sake, will we give peace a chance?

[Bill Blair, Liberal, Minister of National Defence]

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for Saanich—Gulf Islands for her strong advocacy. Canada has long been a proud and significant contributor to United Nations peace operations. Most recently, we pledged $85 million over three years in continued support of global peacekeeping and peacebuilding. We have also extended and expanded the Elsie initiative to increase the participation of uniformed women in peacekeeping operations. We have renewed our commitment to providing tactical airlift support to UN peace operations, and we are exploring opportunities for a Canadian contribution of a quick reaction force.

It has been a great source of pride for all Canadians that the Canadian Armed Forces has always answered the call for peacekeeping operations. That is why—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

Question period comes to an end.

I see a number of people on their feet; I assume they are rising for points of order.

Oral Questions

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

Mr. Speaker, in the past, the Chair has found that words used in this place that can be seen to incite violence are deemed to be unparliamentary. I want to provide context to the Chair. There was a protest that took place at the home of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General. When that occurred, I said, “Protest government buildings and MP offices - absolutely. But the intended target of this demonstration is a family home. This time they stayed outside, but we shouldn’t wait until masked thugs are emboldened. This scene is not acceptable.”

It is never acceptable for people to attend the family homes, the residences of members of Parliament, where their spouses, partners and children live.

Today, during question period, the government House leader used language that could be seen to incite this type of activity, specifically targeting the Leader of the Opposition.

I would ask that you counsel the government House leader to withdraw her comments, to apologize and to condemn the protest that occurred at the home of the Leader of the Opposition, where his wife and children are.