House of Commons Hansard #375 of the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament's site.) The word of the day was documents.
Pierre Paul-Hus Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
Mr. Speaker, the whole world has seen the images of the riots in Montreal. It is shameful. We are reaping what the Prime Minister sowed with his woke, divisive policies. He is dividing people based on their race, gender, religion, region, age, wealth and so on. Because of these policies, we have lost control of our borders.
The government has allowed criminals to come to Canada. The country is in chaos. Why is the Prime Minister dancing while Montreal burns?
Dominic LeBlanc LiberalMinister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, I will repeat what I just said.
Our government condemns the violence and criminal acts that we saw in the streets of Montreal in all of our policies. It is completely unacceptable to express a political view by destroying Canadians' property, committing assault and attacking police officers.
These people are not demonstrating peacefully. They are criminals and they will have to face Canadian justice.
Pierre Paul-Hus Conservative Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
Mr. Speaker, for this Prime Minister, it is not enough that Hamas supporters are burning our city centres. He has opened the borders to terrorists and criminals. He called anyone who questioned them racist. Despite the Conservatives constantly urging him to put the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on the list of terrorist entities, he let them operate here legally for years. Now he is letting Hamas supporters destroy our cities.
Why did the Prime Minister choose to go out dancing when he knew Montreal was burning?
Dominic LeBlanc LiberalMinister of Public Safety
Mr. Speaker, the RCMP continues to work closely with law enforcement agencies in Montreal, namely the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal, which is doing a good job. The RCMP always supports its partners, whether in Montreal, Quebec or other parts of the country.
We have criticized and will continue to criticize the increase in anti-Semitism and hate crimes in Canada. We will continue to work together with the forces of law and order by giving them our support, which is more than the Conservatives can say.
Jamil Jivani Conservative Durham, ON
Mr. Speaker, for years, the Liberals have engaged in woke virtue signalling. They have promoted a hollow and superficial understanding of morality and are more concerned with appearances than doing what is right. Canadians clearly saw the consequences of Liberal ideology over the weekend in Montreal when hate-fuelled attacks overtook the city. The Prime Minister is partying while Canadian cities are suffering.
Why was the Prime Minister dancing while Montreal was burning?
Arif Virani LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, all Canadians in the House and all Canadians around the country detest and render unacceptable what we saw on the streets of Montreal. That kind of violence, unlawful behaviour and anti-Semitism is unacceptable and will never be countenanced.
While we are talking about the fight against anti-Semitism, I will put it to the member that there is legislation on the floor of the chamber that would, with respect to the ban on willful promotion of anti-Semitism, accentuate the penalties, taking them from two to five years.
Will the member support the bill? It is called Bill C-63 and it targets online radicalisation, which is the root cause of what we are seeing.
Jamil Jivani Conservative Durham, ON
Mr. Speaker, the Liberal justice minister, just like his boss, the Prime Minister, refuses to take any responsibility for creating the conditions that led to what we saw in Montreal just a couple of days ago. It is the Liberal justice minister's DEI criminal justice policies that have allowed crime to go unchecked in our cities. It is the Liberal justice minister who will not lift a finger to do anything about the violence targeting religious communities in Canada. The Prime Minister and the Liberal justice minister are the problem.
I ask again, when will the Prime Minister stop dancing and address crime in our cities?
Arif Virani LiberalMinister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Mr. Speaker, I reject that out of hand. What I would say on this side of the House is that we are working to ease tensions in our communities. We are looking at the statistics on hate crimes and seeking to address them.
What is the proof positive? When I announced Bill C-63 in the chamber, who was standing by my side? It was people from the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs. Why is that? They know that a Pittsburgh Tree of Life synagogue attack does not happen unless people are radicalized online. Radicalization online is causing anti-Semitism. It is what we will combat through the bill and through every measure on this side of the House.
The Speaker Liberal Greg Fergus
I would like to remind members, including the member for Durham who asked the question, to please not take the floor and to please listen to the answer to his question.
The hon. member for Beloeil—Chambly.
Yves-François Blanchet Bloc Beloeil—Chambly, QC
Mr. Speaker, I was going to ask the finance minister what the Liberals were thinking when they decided to give tax breaks to people who could theoretically be millionaires or give cheques for $250 to people who earn $150,000. However, I wonder, were we led down the garden path? Does the government not have the support of the NDP?
Chrystia Freeland LiberalDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, I sincerely hope that every member of the House will support us. I know that we are divided on certain things, but I think that all of us believe in the importance of supporting the middle class across this country. Yes, I hope the NDP will vote for these measures. I also hope that the Bloc Québécois will vote for them. I hope that our Conservative colleagues will vote for them as well.
Yves-François Blanchet Bloc Beloeil—Chambly, QC
Mr. Speaker, the minister says she wants support from people who care about social justice, which rules out some people in the House. Why do we not finish the discussion on Bill C‑319, which is for pensioners? The Liberals themselves voted in favour of it. Why does the minister not tinker with the eligibility rules for the cheques in order to give some to people who really need it, like pensioners, without increasing the overall cost?
Chrystia Freeland LiberalDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, we agree with the leader of the Bloc Québécois and all members in the House who think that we should help the most vulnerable and seniors. We completely agree. That is why our government significantly increased the support we are giving to the oldest and most vulnerable seniors.
That is the right thing to do and we are doing it.
Andréanne Larouche Bloc Shefford, QC
Mr. Speaker, according to FADOQ, the federal government is turning its back on retired people. FADOQ had already denounced the Liberals' refusal to provide equitable OAS to all seniors. Now that organization is furious that they are handing out $250 cheques to almost anyone earning a taxable income of up to $150,000 a year, except pensioners. There is not a penny for seniors, not even those who rely on the guaranteed income supplement, which the Liberals promised to increase.
How can the Liberals so blatantly turn their backs on the most vulnerable pensioners after promising to help them? It is shameful.
Jean-Yves Duclos LiberalMinister of Public Services and Procurement
Mr. Speaker, I have two points I would like to make.
First, no federal government has done more for seniors than the Liberal government has done since 2015. That is one reason why the poverty rate among seniors has dropped by 20% since 2015.
Second, if we had listened to the Conservatives, who, unfortunately, are often supported by the Bloc, we would not have brought the age of eligibility for old age pensions back down to 65. If we had not done that, right now, 100,000 Canadian seniors and many Quebec seniors would be not just poor, but utterly destitute.
Stephen Ellis Conservative Cumberland—Colchester, NS
Mr. Speaker, the word “kakistocracy” means “government run by the worst, most incompetent” or “most unscrupulous citizens”. I cannot think of a better description for the NDP-Liberal government. There have been 27 reported cases of scurvy in Saskatchewan and The Salvation Army has reported that over one quarter of parents are skipping meals so their children can eat. Canadians are malnourished and suffering, and what do we get from the government? A quadrupling of the carbon tax to 61¢ a litre.
When will the Prime Minister finally show some courage and call a carbon tax election?
Mark Holland LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, it is a shame that members would speak to each other in that kind of way.
I believe that within every member's heart, they are here because they wish to serve their communities. The average number of years that Canadians spend in health is six years longer than the United States, two years longer than the United Kingdom and one year longer than France and Italy. We have the second highest only to Japan.
The model Conservatives would choose would push us deeper into ill health and attack our health system. That is not a direction we will follow.
Stephen Ellis Conservative Cumberland—Colchester, NS
Mr. Speaker, under that Liberal minister, seven million Canadians do not have access to primary care and malnutrition mayhem reigns supreme. Two million Canadians are visiting food banks; 40,000 of them are Nova Scotian and, of those, 12,000 are children. There is scurvy. Can it get any worse? How do the members of the NDP-Liberal reunited costly coalition think they are going to address food bank use and scurvy? Of course, as I mentioned, they want to quadruple the carbon tax.
I will ask again: When will the Prime Minister let Canadians decide if they want the madness to continue, and will the Liberals call a carbon tax election?
Mark Holland LiberalMinister of Health
Mr. Speaker, the Conservatives' solution to food insecurity would be to take away a rebate cheque that gives people more money in their pocket to be able to afford the necessities of life. The Conservatives' solution to food insecurity would be to cut a school food program that makes sure that kids get the food they need. The Conservatives would cut dental care.
The reality is that I sat in opposition and I watched the Conservative Party when it was in government. I will say that in that period of time, the amount of action the Conservatives took for vulnerable people was exactly zero. For now, they are talking about what vulnerable people need, but they are not putting forward any solutions to actually help them.
Laila Goodridge Conservative Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, AB
Mr. Speaker, after nine years of NDP-Liberals, the cost of living crisis is having a major impact on family grocery budgets and yet the Liberals' answer is to continue hiking the carbon tax, making food even more expensive. Under NDP-Liberals, we are seeing the largest annual increase in child poverty on record. One in four parents are cutting back their food to feed their kids, and one in five children are now living in poverty due to the NDP-Liberal government. That is nearly 1.4 million children. Enough is enough. Will the Prime Minister give Canadians a choice and call a carbon tax election?
Chrystia Freeland LiberalDeputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance
Mr. Speaker, I have a great deal of respect for the MP for Fort McMurray—Cold Lake, and that is why I would like to ask her and all of her colleagues, who I believe sincerely do care about Canadian families, to join us in supporting Canadian families. Here is how they can do it: Vote for a GST rebate over the holidays.
That would mean no GST on diapers, no GST on kids' clothes and no GST on that prepared food, maybe a rotisserie chicken that a hard-working mom wants to pick up after work to feed her kids. That is real support we can all deliver in a couple of weeks.
Bonita Zarrillo NDP Port Moody—Coquitlam, BC
Mr. Speaker, seniors and persons with disabilities are hardest hit by rising costs driven by unchecked corporate greed because they live on fixed incomes and already struggle to pay for medication and groceries and yet, the Liberals excluded them from their planned $250 rebate. We know Conservatives cut supports Canadians need and these Liberals always let people down. Will the government get real, reverse this cruel and callous decision and ensure seniors and persons with disabilities also get the relief they need?
Terry Sheehan LiberalParliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Labour and Seniors
Mr. Speaker, the current government has done more for seniors than any other government. The first thing that we did was roll back the retirement age from 67 to 65, taking 100,000 seniors out of poverty. We increased the GIS by $1,000, taking nearly a million seniors out of poverty. We increased the OAS for the most vulnerable seniors and, yes, we are doing a tax break for all Canadians, including seniors. I ask everyone in this House to stand up for seniors and to vote for our tax break for all Canadians.
Leah Gazan NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB
Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have failed to deliver on their $10-a-day child care by allowing provinces to continue to pay child care workers inadequate wages, causing labour shortages and long wait-lists for families. A recent report by the Centre for Future Work has said that $10-a-day child care improves affordability for families and has allowed more women to return to work. What is stalling it? The Liberals will not put in place a workforce strategy. Will the government answer people's calls, put in place a workforce strategy and give child care centres and workers the support they need?
Jenna Sudds LiberalMinister of Families
Mr. Speaker, since rolling out the Canada-wide early learning and child care system, we have seen over a million children benefit from this affordable care, but, as the member points out, more work needs to be done to ensure that the workforce is well supported. Later this week, I will have the opportunity to meet with all ministers responsible for early learning and child care at the provincial and territorial level, where we will discuss the work that is under way to make sure that early childhood workers are well compensated and well respected.