Debates of Nov. 21st, 2024

Reference to Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs

[Don Stewart, Conservative, Toronto—St. Paul's, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the easy thing to do would be for the documents to be produced. This has been ongoing since the middle of June, and here we are in the middle of November. Many people have had birthdays. We are all a year older. We could have been doing the business of Parliament, but we cannot because we have a government that is not interested in accountability and transparency. Parliament has asked for the documents. The documents must be produced.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I am wondering if the member has any concerns about the amount of control the leader of the Conservative Party has over his members. We have heard that there are Conservative MPs who are being tracked and followed, with pictures being taken, and this is reported back to the leader. They have to say the slogans that the Conservatives want them to say. Otherwise, they will be punished, if not directly, then indirectly.

The Conservatives have a leader who continues to feel that he does not have to get the security clearance, even though it would be in the best interest of Canadians for him to do so. He continues to thumb his nose at Canadians and disrespect members of Parliament.

Does the member seriously believe that this is good leadership?

[Don Stewart, Conservative, Toronto—St. Paul's, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I disagree with the analysis of the member opposite. I would say that the only people who are following me around are my constituents, and they are asking me when this election is going to happen.

Can we have a carbon tax election? That is the only thing I am getting followed around about.

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I do not relish the opportunity to return to this debate, but it is important because it is about a thoroughly corrupt government hiding documents that would shed light and transparency on one of the biggest spending scandals in Canada's history. In fact, this green slush fund scandal, which has been laid at the feet of the Liberal government, is far bigger than the sponsorship scandal that cratered the Chrétien government.

This is important because it is about accountability. As my colleague from Toronto—St. Paul's said, it is about accountability, transparency and the responsible use of Canadians' hard-earned dollars, all of which have been wasted by the government and Liberal insiders, who are involved in graft and corruption.

Now, before I delve more deeply into this green slush fund scandal, I did want to chat very briefly and direct some comments to the residents of Abbotsford. This is a community that has supported me for 19 years. By the time I leave this chamber, it will be probably closer to 20 years. They have been very loyal to me. I have been able to win six elections. Each time they have trusted me to represent them with integrity in this House.

I have had the opportunity during that period of time to help shape Canada's trade policy with trade agreements like the European free trade agreement with Canada, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, our trade agreement with South Korea. By the way, that also included negotiating Canada's free trade agreement with Ukraine. It is not a Liberal accomplishment. The original free trade agreement with Ukraine was negotiated under Stephen Harper.

Over those years, I was also able to deliver on a number of infrastructure priorities for my community, for example, the McCallum Road overpass, the Clearbrook Road overpass and the Mill Lake spray park. I was able to deliver on some social priorities, like the youth and gang crime prevention funding that keeps youth out of gangs and violent crime.

However, the biggest ask I have made of the government, and I ask members to take note of this, was that the government step up to the plate and help Abbotsford avoid future natural disasters. As members may recall, back in 2021, Abbotsford suffered through the worst natural disaster in British Columbia's history. The damage was in the billions of dollars. International trade was brought to a halt because goods could not come to and from the Vancouver port, because railways could not get their products to the port. Highway 1 one was completely severed. All this was because of a massive flood in the Abbotsford area on Sumas Prairie. Thousands of livestock drowned.

With billions of dollars of economic activity at stake and with lives at stake, one would think that the government would have stepped up and helped Abbotsford. In fact, what happened is the Prime Minister, as he is wont to do, showed up in Abbotsford. It was time for a photo op. He met with all the business leaders and the political leaders in Abbotsford, and said, “I have got your back.”

In fact, let me quote exactly what he said.

We'll be there for the clean up and the rebuilding after the impacts of these extreme weather events. It's really going to be important that Canadians continue to do what we do, which is being there for each other in this difficult situation and we will continue to be.

That is what the Prime Minister said to the residents of Abbotsford and some of the other flood-affected communities in British Columbia. He made a promise to deliver the help residents need to mitigate against future events like these.

More recently, the cities of Abbotsford and Merritt and the Town of Princeton all put in applications for the government to step up to the plate and do what the Prime Minister had promised he would do and deliver the kind of funding required to be able to build diking and pumping infrastructure that would prevent these kinds of events from happening again. The government said no. For anyone watching in Canada, especially the residents of Abbotsford, they must understand that the City of Abbotsford made an application to the federal government for funding to replace and enhance the Barrowtown Pump Station, provide additional diking and strengthen existing dikes so that a massive flood event would not happen again. The Prime Minister said no.

In case any of my Liberal colleagues over there suggest that this promise was never made, more recently, one of the members of the government approached me in a moment of candidness and said, “Ed, we really failed Abbotsford. I am so sorry. We promised to deliver support and we did not.” That is at the feet of the Liberal government. It is only one in a host of scandals that have surrounded the Prime Minister and his corrupt, unethical government.

That is only the tip of the iceberg. Today we are talking about the green slush fund scandal. I want to explain a bit about what that scandal entails. There is an organization called Sustainable Development Technology Canada, which was created to support small and medium-sized businesses that had innovations in the green technology space that would help Canadians become more technologically advanced and environmentally sustainable. There is merit in that. We all want to do our part for the environment. The Prime Minister asked this organization to create a new fund, let us call it the billion-dollar fund, to help young entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized businesses to perhaps expand markets, do further research, develop their products, market their products in a way that Canada could find a way of leveraging our strengths and educational expertise to deliver value for Canadians and at the same time respond to the emergent environmental challenges that our world faces.

Instead of doing what was right, which was to evaluate each application to the green slush fund on its merits, something quite different happened. The Prime Minister appointed a board to administer, evaluate and assess these applications. The directors of the board, who have a fiduciary duty, not only to SDTC, but to the taxpayers of Canada, instead of evaluating these projects on their merits and declaring conflicts of interest when they arose, enriched themselves by awarding these monies to themselves through their own companies.

Remember, this is a government organization that is supposed to administer taxpayer money. It is basically holding this money in trust for taxpayers to make sure that Canadians get value for that money.

Instead of the directors doing their job and discharging their fiduciary duty, they said that they had companies and that they would love to skim millions of dollars off the top to give to their own companies, which would benefit because that would increase profits in the companies. The directors would get dividends and become rich as a result. That is exactly what those directors did. They stole money from taxpayers and funnelled it to their own companies. By any account or standard, that is a scandal. It is corruption and graft of the highest order.

As I said when I spoke earlier, I fully expect that people are going to go to jail as a result of this scandal. Will it be members of this House of Commons who go to jail as a result, or members of the cabinet? We do not know. Will Liberal insiders go to jail as a result of this? We do not know.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order. To the best of my knowledge, only one MP has gone to jail, and that was the former Conservative member for Peterborough.

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

That falls under debate again.

I would remind the hon. member that his time will expire at two o'clock.

On another point of order, the hon. member for Timmins—James Bay.

[Charlie Angus, NDP, Timmins—James Bay, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I want to point out that the member for Abbotsford, who I do not often agree with, has lots of experience. If he is concerned someone might go to jail, I think we should let him continue to speak.

[The Deputy Speaker, Conservative, Chris d'Entremont]

That was not a point of order either, but I thank the member for the input.

The hon. member for Abbotsford.

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting to hear these interruptions, because obviously my words have touched a nerve on that side. It is very clear that the NDP-Liberal coalition is really worried about where this scandal is taking it and the government.

What was the Prime Minister's response? There was a request that came from the House of Commons that the government deliver to the House of Commons, to parliamentarians, all the documents having to do with this green slush fund scandal, a Liberal scandal. The Speaker specifically directed the government to deliver those documents. Of course, what the Prime Minister did not want to do was deliver any of those documents, so he did what his government has done so regularly. He engaged in something called “redaction”. That is just a fancy word for censoring documents. They took all those documents and they blacked them out, pages and pages of just black. There is nothing, no information of value, to glean from those documents. The Prime Minister then delivered those documents. The Speaker had expressly instructed that those documents be delivered in unredacted form.

What did the Prime Minister do? He thumbed his nose at the Speaker, at the Speaker's chair. The Speaker understands. He is the highest authority in Parliament. There is no appeal from his decision. When he orders the government to deliver documents, there is no appeal from that decision and it must be complied with. The Prime Minister thumbed his nose at parliamentarians and at the law. He thumbed his nose at Canadians. That is why we are in the House and why the business of the House has ground to a halt.

It has nothing to do with obstruction. It has to do with our intent to get to the bottom of this rottenness that has infected the Liberal government. The Prime Minister has presided over the most corrupt government in Canadian history. In fact, one of my colleagues on the Conservative side recently cited statistics that showed that one-third of all major scandals in Canada's complete history, from 1867 until now, had taken place under the Liberal government. It is unbelievable that this should happen in today's day and age.

[Jeremy Patzer, Conservative, Cypress Hills—Grasslands, SK]

That's a lot of scandals.

[Ed Fast, Conservative, Abbotsford, BC]

Yes, it is a lot of scandal, and it is way too much scandal, because it involves billions of dollars of taxpayer money that has been recklessly spent and has been defrauded from taxpayers.

Mr. Speaker, we as a country can do so much better. We as a Parliament can do so much better.

When the Prime Minister was elected, he issued mandate letters to each of his ministers, in which he demanded that they be transparent and accountable to Parliament. Now this very Prime Minister is violating the very mandates that he had purported to impose on his ministers.

It should not surprise anyone that minister after minister becomes embroiled in their own scandal, like the other Randy scandal that we have been dealing with in the House, where a minister of the Crown got involved in a shady company, pretended that he was indigenous when he is not, and then got government contracts by pretending his company was indigenous when it is not.

It has been said that a fish rots from the head down, and that is an apt description of the government. When the head of a government, the prime minister himself, is not willing to comply with ethical standards imposed by the law and is convicted on two occasions of conflicts of interest, we can expect that all those on his team will follow suit, and here we are today. We have this scandal, one of dozens of scandals.

We as a country can do better, and surely we as a Parliament can do better.

Infrastructure

[Lena Metlege Diab, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to represent Halifax West, a diverse and growing riding, and I am proud to deliver investments to support the lives of people and improve our neighbourhoods. That includes the $1.7 million in community revitalization fund money that I secured for local infrastructure projects.

With that money, my constituents are benefiting from better audio and lighting at the Bella Rose Arts Centre; an improved basketball court in Fairview; a newly renovated and accessible Fairview Resource Centre; building upgrades at the Fairview Legion; accessible doors at the Lakeside Legion; improvements to the BLT trail; extensive renovations at the Salvation Army; AV equipment at the Cedar Events Centre; an elevator and accessible washroom at Saint Mary's Cathedral Basilica Foundation; and Upper Hammonds Plains is one step closer to having their own rec and arts centre.

I am committed to continue delivering investments in my constituency.

Veterans

[Kelly McCauley, Conservative, Edmonton West, AB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to honour Maureen Purvis, the heart and soul of No Stone Left Alone.

No Stone Left Alone was officially launched in 2011 to help ensure an enduring national respect and gratitude for the sacrifice of Canadian men and women who lost their lives in the service of peace.

Maureen's mother, Lillian, was also a veteran herself. When honouring her mom's headstone with a poppy, Maureen's daughters would ask why other headstones did not have a poppy. Thus was born Maureen's mission to see that one day all soldiers' headstones would have a poppy placed in their honour.

This year, 11,000 students from across the country honoured more than 80,000 veterans with a poppy. Maureen and her husband Randall's dedication reminds us of the power of remembrance and the importance of staying connected to our history.

I am proud to work with my predecessor, the Hon. Laurie Hawn, to support Maureen in her selfless work.

I thank Maureen for her commitment in preserving our past and ensuring that for those who served Canada, no stone is left alone.

Pakistan

[Adam van Koeverden, Liberal, Milton, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in recent years, Pakistan's democracy has faced some serious challenges, including limited space for dissent, media suppression, judicial manipulation and others. As Milton is home to the largest Pakistani community in Canada, this issue affects many of my neighbours, friends and constituents back home.

Human Rights Watch has noted that the military's strong influence over politics undermines civilian authority and democratic principles. Laws are being used to silence opposition and activists and marginalize groups like women and religious minorities, and many of those are being systematically excluded.

The government's crackdown on opposition parties has led to hundreds of detentions. Under pressure or duress, some political leaders have left their parties entirely. Journalists report being intimidated, harassed and monitored for criticizing the government. Many politicians and journalists have been charged under Pakistan's vague sedition laws and dozens have been tried in military courts, which is a violation of international law.

True democracy in Pakistan and around the world requires more than just elections. It must protect basic human rights, promote inclusivity, respect journalistic independence, freedom of expression and ensure that independent institutions are free from political control. Restoring democracy depends on fostering tolerance and accountability throughout the government.

Philippe Barrette

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise to mark the passing of one of the great community builders in my region, Philippe Barrette.

Mr. Barrette dedicated more than 30 years of his life to politics. He served as chair of the Lac-Témiscamingue school board, as mayor of the Town of Temiscaming for 20 years, and as reeve of his RCM. I would like to point out that he was a great advocate for our region, and he worked closely with my father on the Abitibi-Témiscamingue district development council.

Mr. Barrette was also involved in the forestry sector for quite some time. He was a driving force behind the creation of the Organisme de bassin versant du Témiscamingue, our watershed organization. He helped create the Parc national d'Opémican, one of Quebec's newest gems. I find it particularly moving that Mr. Barrette was honoured in his lifetime, especially when he received the regional reeves medal in 2023.

I offer my sincere condolences to Thérèse, his wife of 65 years, as well as his children, Lise, Jean and Marc, his grandchildren, and his many friends and family.

I am grateful to Philippe. I will think of him every time I go by the park named after him, in the heart of his beautiful and beloved city. Farewell, Philippe.

30th Anniversary of La Source d'Entraide

[Peter Schiefke, Liberal, Vaudreuil—Soulanges, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 30th anniversary of La Source d'Entraide, a beacon of hope and support in Saint-Lazare.

Launched in December 1993, when a small group of volunteers organized the town's first guignolée, or holiday food drive, it has since grown into a thrift store, food bank and resource centre, and serves as a vital resource for those in need.

At the heart of La Source d'Entraide's impact is an exceptional team. Led by Andrée-Anne Lavigne and fuelled by a remarkable team of over 150 volunteers, La Source d'Entraide embodies the very best of our community's values, and its contributions have touched countless lives over three decades.

One of these extraordinary volunteers is Monique Gravel, who has volunteered three days a week, every week, for the past 30 years.

On behalf of the community of Vaudreuil—Soulanges and all members of the House, I sincerely thank La Source d'Entraide and its inspiring team. I wish them success as they continue their inspiring work.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Greg McLean, Conservative, Calgary Centre, AB]

Mr. Speaker, there is more proof that the NDP-Liberal government is not worth the cost nor the corruption.

The department of immigration is in disarray. Canada's once-respected immigration system is another casualty of the government's failures.

The Liberals have issued a passport to a convicted human smuggler responsible for the deaths of eight migrants, despite a court order forbidding it and the previous confiscation of multiple fake Canadian passports.

The minister will say that it is just incompetence, but here is the reality of his complicity in Canada's broken immigration system. A foreign student, Zain Haq, violated the terms of his study permit, was arrested 10 times, was convicted of mischief and led a foreign-funded rebellion. Facing a deportation after costing our legal system thousands of dollars, the minister intervened to keep him here.

The government members stand up for their friends, even when those friends are convicted criminals. Canadians have seen enough. It is time for an election to restore trust, integrity and effective leadership in Canada.

Lucien Francoeur

[Rachel Bendayan, Liberal, Outremont, QC]

Mr. Speaker, we recently lost a great Quebec artist. Lucien Francoeur was a legendary poet, an iconic counter-culture icon, a radio host, a French teacher and, of course, a rocker with Aut'Chose. He left his mark on the collective imagination of our Quebec.

He was a proud member of the Outremont community for nearly four decades, having lived there for nearly 40 years. It was a real honour to run into him just a few weeks ago with Carol‑Ann and Marie, his neighbour, on the sidewalks of Bernard Avenue, which he loved so much. His delight at seeing his federal MP wandering the streets in a leather biker jacket will remain etched in my memory.

Well known for his rock'n'roll spirit, his charisma and his authenticity, this Montreal “freak” will be sorely missed. Lucien Francoeur leaves behind not only his wife, Claudine, his sister, Carole, his brothers, Donald and Louis, and his daughter, Virginie—herself a poet and professor at the Université de Montréal—but also an entire generation of Quebeckers. Farewell, Lulu.

Project Red Ribbon Campaign

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Mr. Speaker, although progress has been made to reduce impaired driving, it remains a scourge on Canadian society. Every year, hundreds of people are killed and thousands are injured in crashes involving alcohol, cannabis and other drugs. These tragedies are entirely preventable.

That is why Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada's annual Project Red Ribbon campaign raises awareness about impaired driving, especially during the holiday season, a time when the risk is higher.

This year, the campaign honours Jacob Simmons, a young man whose life was tragically cut short in my home province of Prince Edward Island by an impaired driver. Unfortunately, Prince Edward Island also has the highest rate of impaired driving in Canada, despite consistently imposing the most severe sentences in the country.

I encourage all Islanders and Canadians to support this campaign by making responsible choices and wearing a red ribbon to honour victims and survivors of impaired driving. Together, we can create a safer future.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Luc Berthold, Conservative, Mégantic—L'Érable, QC]

Mr. Speaker, only the Liberal Prime Minister, with the support of the Bloc Québécois, could manage to further break what he broke while claiming to repair it. I am talking here about Canada's entire immigration system, which was one of the best in the world. The Prime Minister destroyed it. He sacrificed it to satisfy his giant ego. Let us remember the Prime Minister's 2017 tweet that told the entire world that Canada's doors were open to everyone. People heard him.

He increased the number of permits for temporary foreign workers by 154%. He is the federal government leader who issued 211% more permits for international students. He presented a population growth plan that boosted growth by 300%. He opened Roxham Road, which pushed Quebec to the breaking point in the midst of a housing crisis, a cost-of-living crisis and a health care crisis that are hurting all Quebeckers.

In a video, he blames bad actors for his own bad decisions, but guess what? He has no one to blame but himself for the disappointed families, the worried businesses and the chaos within the Department of Immigration. The only bad actor is this Prime Minister, who is supported by the Bloc Québécois.

Conservative Party of Canada

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Niagara Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition has made it clear. His vision for Canada mirrors the Mike Harris “common sense revolution”, a revolution that was anything but common sense for Ontario families.

Ontario remembers that under Harris, we saw crucial programs that built stronger, healthier communities slashed without thought, infrastructure neglected and costs recklessly downloaded to municipalities. The result was soaring property taxes, skyrocketing water bills and communities left to clean up the mess.

The Leader of the Opposition now wants to take the same failed approach nationwide, cutting programs like the housing accelerator fund that Canadians rely on, weakening public services and forcing municipalities and families to bear the financial burden, resulting in property tax and water bill increases.

Canadians deserve better. They deserve a government that invests in communities, strengthens public services and supports affordability, not one that revives the reckless Conservative policies of the past that will increase property taxes and water bills.

Public Safety

[Anna Roberts, Conservative, King—Vaughan, ON]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday in the status of women committee, we heard testimony from Esther, a brave young woman from Nova Scotia. She came to Parliament to share her heart-wrenching story of the murder of her aunt by a repeat offender out on conditional release. She pleaded with the committee and the government to repeal Bill C-5 and Bill C-75, which have become known as the catch-and-release and hug-a-thug policies of the Liberal-NDP government.

Although the leader of the NDP claims to have ripped up his contract with the Liberals, he supports these soft-on-crime policies that have led to a 75% increase in violent crimes against women.

Every day the Prime Minister remains in power, it is because of the leader of the NDP, who voted to support the carbon tax 24 times rather than to support women.

The Economy

[Warren Steinley, Conservative, Regina—Lewvan, SK]

Mr. Speaker, Saskatchewan is the breadbasket of Canada. We have the food, the fertilizer and the fuel the world needs. After nine years of the carbon tax coalition, something has changed. Parents are skipping meals and mothers are adding water to their children's milk. In fact, between 2019 and 2024, food bank usage in my province increased by 42.1%. The primary causes are the growing cost of housing and food inflation. By 2030, the NDP-Liberals will quadruple the carbon tax, driving up costs on everything even more.

Canadians know the Prime Minister is not worth the cost. They now see what that cost is. Across Canada, 30% of food bank users are children. In Saskatchewan, that number jumps to 39%, which means 39% are children. The “spend-DP” love the carbon tax and voted to keep it 24 times. The result is that taxes are up, costs are up, crime is up and time is up. Canadians want and deserve a carbon tax election so they can kick these champagne socialists to the curb.

Housing

[Leah Taylor Roy, Liberal, Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON]

Mr. Speaker, tomorrow is National Housing Day. The City of Richmond Hill in my great riding of Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill received a $31-million investment through the housing accelerator fund. I advocated for this as the city's MP because it had presented an ambitious housing plan backed by a solid record.

Mayor David West calls this funding essential to removing barriers and empowering builders to create the housing Richmond Hill needs. The Leader of the Opposition now says he would cut this vital program as part of his so-called housing plan, a plan that benefits those who could already afford to buy a home and the developers building new homes. It provides no support to municipalities to ensure builders can and will build the homes that are needed.

He has even barred his MPs from advocating for housing funds for their ridings. This is reprehensible. Our most important role as MPs is to represent our constituents and to advocate for them, but Conservative MPs are being muzzled and told not to do this.

Tomorrow, on National Housing Day, I exhort all Conservative MPs to stand up to their leader, advocate for their ridings and help their municipalities get the support they need to provide the housing their constituents need.

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

[Laurel Collins, NDP, Victoria, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am rising today to recognize the incredible work of members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and to echo two of their calls to action.

I met with IBEW Local 230, which opposes the government's decision to end apprenticeship incentive and completion grants. The grants are set to expire in March, while apprentices across the country are facing rising costs. Without this support, housing and infrastructure projects could face delays, as these workers do vital work across Canada. The IBEW is also urging the federal government to increase all student bursaries, which have remained stagnant for almost 25 years.

Apprentices are the lowest-paid blue-collar workers, yet their overall value and impact on the Canadian economy are monumental. To secure Canada's future skilled labour force, we must remove barriers and invest in workers today.