Debates of Nov. 5th, 2024

International Trade

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, in the New York times 10 years ago, “Life in Canada, Home of the World’s Most Affluent Middle Class....median income in Canada appears to have surpassed median income in the United States.” What a decade can do.

Now, American workers make almost $20,000 more than their Canadian counterparts. They get twice as much investment every single year. The gap between our per capita GDP and that of the United States is now the worst in a century after the Prime Minister's rising taxes, bureaucracy and blocking of energy projects.

I know why Harris and Trump want to create jobs for Americans, but why does the Prime Minister want to help them?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the silence of the Conservative leader is deafening when it comes to what is happening in the South Asian communities right now, and it is a real shame. Not only is he not stepping forward to talk about how all Canadians must stand together and all South Asian Canadians, Sikh, Hindu, Jain and Buddhist, are celebrating together this weekend, but he even refuses to take the issue seriously enough to get the security clearance necessary to be briefed on threats to Canada and to Canadians. That is not leadership.

Public Safety

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, now we know the Prime Minister's real agenda. He wants to distract from all the economic misery he has caused at home, and so he uses divisions here at home. These divisions are as a result of him. Under his leadership, we have seen a 251% increase in hate crimes, firebombings of synagogues, bullets shot at Jewish children's schools, a hundred churches burned and vandalized, and now we see sectarian riots on the streets of Brampton. This never happened before the Prime Minister.

Does the Prime Minister take ownership for the divisions he has caused and the violence that has resulted?

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

Order. I am going to ask members, especially members from the far end of the House, to please not take the floor unless they are recognized by the Speaker.

The right hon. Prime Minister.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, people watching that last answer will know and note the assuredness with which the Leader of the Opposition declared all the causes and the sources of the terrible violence we are seeing. The reality is that he refuses to take the necessary briefings that our security agencies are offering him to understand the threats to Canada. Why will he not get the security clearance necessary to protect Canadians?

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

Order. When one side of the House is asked to keep quiet, the other side of the House should do the same. All members should do the same.

The hon. member for Beloeil—Chambly.

Oil and Gas Industry

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the government has tabled draft regulations to cap greenhouse gas emissions. It is a pretty weak plan, because the timelines are too long and the costs involved are essentially going to be covered by Quebeckers and Canadians. The Quebec and Canadian economies will pay for the break that oil companies are getting from having to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and production. These regulations may well be insufficient because of the oil lobby in the House.

Has the government considered passing legislation to protect maximum greenhouse gas emissions?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as a government, we have always made every effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, to protect Canada's prosperity and to safeguard the future of Canadians.

That is why we are capping greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas sector. This sector is making record profits. This sector already has technological solutions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. With this emissions cap, we expect the sector to invest in ways to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to ensure that everyone is doing their part to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect the planet.

[Yves-François Blanchet, Bloc, Beloeil—Chambly, QC]

Mr. Speaker, instead of considering the proposals for green equalization, a green banking system or funding for clean energy, as the Bloc Québécois has been proposing for a long time now, the Prime Minister is making us pay for an industry whose profits have increased tenfold since the pandemic, as he himself has said.

Instead of imposing standards that are not strict enough, why does he not impose tougher standards and why not in the form of legislation? Why not? Then he could finally go to the voters with a courageous stand on the environment.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I know full well that the Bloc Québécois shares the same perspective on this as we do. No sector should be able to pollute as much as it wants. That is why we put a cap on greenhouse gas emissions in the oil and gas sector. We know that this sector contributes nearly a third of Canada's annual emissions and therefore has the greatest capacity to be able to reduce our emissions. These companies are making record profits. We expect them to reinvest in the technologies that are going to help lower their emissions and help them do their share of the effort.

Health

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, who here does not have a family doctor? Five million Canadians do not.

Loblaw owns Maple, and a family doctor working at Maple will charge $80 a month per person. Things have gotten so bad. This is predatory. The Prime Minister lets us down and then Galen Weston swoops in to profit off of it.

Why is the Prime Minister letting Galen Weston profit off of people's pain?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we recognize that it is the provincial area of jurisdiction to deliver health care in this country, but it is the federal responsibility to make sure that health care remains public, universal and single-payer. That is exactly what we are doing by investing a record $200 billion in health care over the coming years that will oblige the provinces to invest in public health care; to hire more doctors, particularly family doctors; to reduce wait times; and to improve mental health services.

These are things that Canadians expect, including the federal government expecting it of the provinces.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Mr. Speaker, did Galen write that answer?

Private health care is a jungle. It can cost up to $250 for a minor emergency. It is so profitable that real estate investors are opening private clinics. The Prime Minister calls all that innovation.

Will the Prime Minister finally show some backbone and put an end to all of that?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, unlike the NDP, we understand and we respect the fact that the delivery of health care falls under provincial jurisdiction. However, the federal government is responsible for ensuring that our health care systems remain public and for providing investments. That is why we are making $200 billion in investments over the next 10 years, so that the provinces can hire more family doctors, reduce wait lists and provide more support for mental health and for health care workers.

That is what all Canadians expect.

The Economy

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberal-NDP Prime Minister presides over the worst GDP per person growth since the Great Depression, and it is no surprise. His high taxes and woke policies like carbon tax scams, a job-killing capital gains tax hike and the oil and gas cap have made Canadians poorer. In fact, the U.S. GDP grew 2.8% as the Canadian GDP per person declined for two years, driving out business, investment and jobs.

Will the Prime Minister axe the tax hikes that make Canadians poorer?

[François-Philippe Champagne, Liberal, Minister of Innovation]

Mr. Speaker, what the Conservatives will not talk about is the record level of investment we have seen in the country. More importantly for Canadians watching at home, people are really wondering why the leader of the Conservatives is not getting his security clearance. What does he have to hide? People on the streets of Canada are asking.

The leader should get the clearance, get the briefing, get on and do his job.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Mr. Speaker, we are talking about the Canadians who are starving, and Liberals want to make personal attacks on the Conservative leader. These economic arsonists will do anything to deflect from their failed record.

Canadian workers are $22,000 poorer than U.S. workers. If Canada had just kept pace with the U.S. over the last two years, Canadian workers would have $6,200 more every year. Now Canada is poorer than Alabama.

Why do these economic arsonists not call a carbon tax election so Canadian workers can finally fire them?

[Kamal Khera, Liberal, Minister of Diversity]

Mr. Speaker, we will not take any lessons from the Conservatives on how to deliver for Canadians. While they keep their hidden agenda, we know exactly what they would do. They would cut dental care for nine million Canadians. They would end $10-a-day child care. They would cancel the national school food program.

Conservatives will not tell us their plan because they do not want Canadians to know, just like their leader will not get the security clearance that he needs to protect Canadians. Shame on them. What are they hiding?

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Mr. Speaker, there has been more bad news from experts. Last week, economists at National Bank released an analysis that said, “GDP per capita has fallen by around 4.0% cumulatively since 2022, which is unprecedented outside a recession”. This is a made-in-Canada, per person, per capita GDP recession caused by a government that has hiked taxes on everything: energy, housing, banks and investment. It is driving out investment and making Canadians poorer.

When will the government admit its mistake and reverse course on tax hikes that are driving out investment, like it has reversed course on so many other issues?

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

Mr. Speaker, if the Conservatives would like to make comparisons with the United States, I have one for them. Canada ran a deficit of just 1.1% of GDP in 2023. That is compared to a 6.3% of GDP deficit in the United States of America.

We have made sure to be responsible with our balance sheet and we are doing it while supporting vulnerable Canadians. The Conservatives' hidden agenda is to cut programs that Canadians rely on.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I will quote another expert, relative to Canada's position with the United States. Last week the Governor of the Bank of Canada said, “foreign capital, even some Canadian capital, is going to the United States because they can get faster regulatory approvals.”

Two years ago in Washington, the finance minister in her speech said, “Canada must – and will – show similar generosity in fast-tracking, for example, the energy and mining projects our allies need to heat their homes and to manufacture electric vehicles.”

Can the government tell us which mining and energy projects it has fast-tracked since the speech in Washington?

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I know the member to be an honourable—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

I am going to ask the hon. member for South Shore—St. Margarets to please not take the floor unless recognized by the Chair.

The hon. Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, from the top.

[Karina Gould, Liberal, Burlington, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I know the member to be someone who cares about Canada's standing in the world and who I thought cared about Canada's national security as well. What I find perplexing, and what I think must be difficult for him to understand, is why the leader of the official opposition is refusing to get a security clearance.

Why is it that he would rather ignore the threats to Canada's national security? What is it that he is trying to hide or that he does not want to know? The NSICOP reported that a Conservative leadership campaign was under threat by foreign actors. Is that something he does not want to know about?

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

Mr. Speaker, Canada's GDP has shrunk over the last nine quarters. This means that Canadians are getting poorer and that their quality of life is declining dramatically.

The story is exactly the opposite in the United States, which is enjoying a GDP growth rate of 2.8%. Canadians are facing financial pressure caused by the Prime Minister's carbon tax and capital gains tax increases. I know it is hard for him to understand how miserable Canadians are, but can he show some compassion by eliminating these taxes?