Debates of Nov. 7th, 2024

Ukrainian Canadian Association of Yukon

[Brendan Hanley, Liberal, Yukon, YT]

Mr. Speaker, courage, solidarity, giving and hope are the values that members of the Ukrainian Canadian Association of Yukon, UCAY, are showing as they embark on a heroic journey to deliver medical supplies to the front line of Ukraine's fight against Putin's ruthless and illegal invasion. Four dedicated individuals, Grant Zazula, Lesia Hnatiw, Anastasia Matlashevska and Eileen Melnychuck, will carry over 20 suitcases to Ukraine filled with everything from antibiotics to first aid supplies to warm socks.

I thank each Yukoner who has contributed as well as all the volunteers who have worked tirelessly to gather resources and support for this mission. I thank UCAY for standing with Ukraine during these challenging times. Indeed, it is incumbent on all of us to act against the dark forces that threaten democracy and work together towards the peace that the world so desperately needs.

I wish safe travels and success to the team. May their journey bring hope and healing to those who need it most.

Slava Ukraini.

Public Safety

[Terry Duguid, Liberal, Winnipeg South, MB]

Mr. Speaker, as the member of Parliament for Winnipeg South, I am proud to represent a large and growing Indo-Canadian community where Sikh and Hindu families live side by side in harmony as neighbours. Unfortunately, there are those who seek to promote extreme views, create division and sow discord.

Let me be clear, there should never be disruptive protests at places of worship, like we saw recently in Brampton and Vancouver. The defacing of Hindu temples, as we have regrettably seen at the BAPS mandirs in Toronto and Edmonton, is absolutely unacceptable. As well, inflammatory statements and incidents of grave violence targeting Sikh Canadians have no place in our country. Acts of hate and the creation of disharmony do not reflect the Canada we know and love, which is a multicultural mosaic that is the envy of the world.

In Winnipeg South and beyond, let us work hard to foster unity, keep community members safe, live together in peace and build a better Canada for all.

Consulate General of Canada in New York

[Corey Tochor, Conservative, Saskatoon—University, SK]

Mr. Speaker, love it or list it. When the Prime Minister's old media buddy, Tom Clark, got to New York, he was disgusted with the 2,700-square-foot, cramped penthouse condo on Park Avenue with only 12 rooms and five bedrooms. Tom took one look at the dump and called his friend, the Prime Minister, and demanded that this property be listed.

What is on Tom Clark's must-have list for his New York penthouse condo? Well, Italian marble, of course, a handcrafted copper soaker tub, a $5,000 coffee machine and, yes, even a golf simulator.

I am sure that the Prime Minister's media buddy, Tom Clark, loves his new $9-million penthouse condo. However, if we ask anyone who is living in the 1,400 homeless tent encampments in Toronto or the millions of Canadians who cannot afford a home, they say: List it.

Veterans' Week

[Lisa Hepfner, Liberal, Hamilton Mountain, ON]

Mr. Speaker, this Veterans' Week, I want to thank all those who have served and all those who continue to serve in the defence of our country.

Two weeks ago, we marked 10 years since Corporal Nathan Cirillo was senselessly gunned down while on sentry duty in Ottawa at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. That morning, I walked over to the War Memorial to pay my respects to this brave Hamiltonian, a class-A reservist of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. I was flooded with memories from the day he died when I spoke with many Hamiltonians in my capacity as a journalist, and the anguish was intense across the city.

When I arrived at the memorial, I found myself amid a throng of Argylls from Hamilton here in Ottawa to continue their duty. Some of them had been close to Corporal Cirillo and knew him well. Again, we were overcome with emotion. Hamilton will never forget.

I want to thank the Argylls for their ongoing service to our country, and I look forward to seeing them again on Sunday for the Garrison Parade.

Government Policies

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

Mr. Speaker, after nine long years of these NDP-Liberals, taxes are up, costs are up, crime is up and time is up. The Prime Minister has taken his anti-energy crusade to a whole new level after recently announcing his oil and gas production cut. This job-killing policy will result in sending jobs to the United States along with $700 million that will go to build pipelines in America. The NDP-Liberals are creating more powerful paycheques. Unfortunately, they are for U.S. oil workers, steelworkers and truck drivers. The government's own analysis admits that its cap on production will cost thousands of jobs and billions of dollars, destroying Canadian paycheques.

Here at home, Canadian workers are getting poorer and cannot afford to put food on the table or a roof over their heads. The NDP-Liberals have no plan for the environment and their cap on production will only perpetuate the economic vandalism they have caused. It is time for a carbon tax election now.

Leader of the New Democratic Party

[Dan Albas, Conservative, Central Okanagan—Similkameen—Nicola, BC]

Mr. Speaker, my constituents have told me in no uncertain terms that they want a carbon tax election. There is only one person left who prevents that by keeping this Prime Minister in power, and that person is the leader of the NDP. That is the same leader of the NDP who made a big stunt when he told Canadians he had ripped up his coalition deal with the Liberals. It was a perfectly timed scam on the voters in Elmwood—Transcona, right before a by-election.

The leader of the NDP even went so far as to say, “The fact is, the Liberals are too weak, too selfish and too beholden to corporate interests to fight for people”. If the Liberals are so weak, why has the leader of the NDP voted for the carbon tax over 24 times? Why does he support his inflationary deficits, including wasteful spending like the Prime Minister's arrive scam app? Why does the leader of the NDP support the Liberals' soft-on-crime policies that have led to a 50% increase in violent crime?

Every day this Prime Minister remains in power is because of the leader of the NDP. It is time for the leader of the NDP to stand with Canadians instead of the Liberal government. Call a carbon tax election.

Veterans' Week

[Randeep Sarai, Liberal, Surrey Centre, BC]

Mr. Speaker, veterans often see music as a profound way to express themselves and heal from the impacts of military service. That is why, last year, Veterans Affairs Canada hosted its first-ever Veterans' Open Mic night. This event brought together veterans, family members, active service members and music lovers. It was so successful that the idea expanded, with events happening across the country, including in Victoria, in Montreal later this weekend and right here in Ottawa tonight.

I invite all members of this House to join with us tonight at the Warrant Officers' and Sergeants' Mess to celebrate the healing power of music.

Lebanese Heritage Month

[Lindsay Mathyssen, NDP, London—Fanshawe, ON]

Mr. Speaker, November is Lebanese Heritage Month, and I am fortunate to work with many Londoners of Lebanese heritage who make our city better. To name only a few, there are Mike Ramal, a small business owner in London South; Sergeant Ziyad Zabian from the London Police Service; Majidah Zabian, a leader from Cedars of Hope; Dr. Munir El Kassem, our local imam; Dr. Majed Fiaani, physician in internal medicine; and Nadine Abi Raad, who works in my office and fights for my constituents every single day. I am so grateful to them all.

I have witnessed that Lebanese Canadians always seem to find each other. They share a solidarity that has been built through hardship and war, and they continue to show remarkable resilience and the truest pride in being Lebanese.

The Lebanese community is hurting. I see the pain in their eyes every day, and I see the worry about friends and family. I want them to know that I stand with them. We must never stop demanding a ceasefire for an arms embargo and peace in the region. While this may hold cold comfort to so many at this time, I hope that they will be able to celebrate this Lebanese Heritage Month.

Women's Rights

[Andréanne Larouche, Bloc, Shefford, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as we stand in solidarity with American women, let us not forget the Iranian women who are fighting for their rights.

Let us keep in our thoughts Ahou Daryaei, the new heroine of the resistance. When confronted by the morality police about wearing a veil, she shed her clothing in front of the misogynistic authorities with dignity, pride and courage before she was arrested. Her fate remains unknown, and our thoughts are with her.

Let us also keep in our thoughts 16-year-old Arezoo Khavari, who took her life after being harassed for dancing without a hijab.

Two years after the death of Mahsa Amini, the Woman, Life, Freedom movement is still going strong despite violent suppression. These women deserve our support in their fight against Islamism, in their fight for freedom.

We need to learn the value of this freedom from religious militancy that we too often take for granted here at home. Let us stand in strong solidarity. Today, more than ever: woman, life, freedom.

Indigenous Procurement

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Mr. Speaker, under the Liberals, well-connected government elite insiders have been pretending to be indigenous in order to take contracts intended for indigenous people, but until today, we did not know just how high the rot went.

Today, the Liberals' indigenous contracting scandal just got a bit “randier”, with revelations that the company owned by the Liberal minister from Edmonton Centre tried to identify itself as indigenous in order to get government contracts. Recall that when text messages came out about someone named Randy directing the affairs of the company in violation of ethics laws, the minister's partner claimed it was someone else named Randy. He later admitted that was false, but said the references to Randy were the result of autocorrect. In order to help get government contracts, they invented another Randy and pretended he was indigenous.

Here is the bottom line. Indigenous people in Canada have tragically high levels of poverty. This privileged, elite minister's fraudulent company tried to grab contracts that the government promised to indigenous people by pretending to be indigenous. It has never been more clear that the minister and the Liberals are only in it for themselves.

Leonard William Elliott

[Sherry Romanado, Liberal, Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne, QC]

Mr. Speaker, as we pause this week to honour the brave men and women who have served our country, I would like to pay tribute to Private Leonard William Elliott, a Canadian infantry soldier who fought in the First World War.

Private Elliott was one of the more than 650,000 Canadians and Newfoundlanders who courageously answered the call to defend the values of freedom and peace in the war that was meant to end all wars, and one of the more than 66,000 who never came home. He was also my great-grandfather.

Leonard was killed in action in August 1917 in the Battle of Hill 70, leaving behind a wife and five children, among them the six-month-old daughter he would never meet, my grandmother Edith. Like so many others, he left his home and family, stepping into the unknown to protect a future he would never see. He fought not just for his generation but for every generation to come.

I had the honour of visiting my great-grandfather's grave in northern France in 2017. I was the first family member to do so, 100 years after his death. The solemn promise I made that day was to ensure that his memory and legacy would live on. Lest we forget.

Oil and Gas Industry

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Mr. Speaker, after nine years of brutal assaults on Canadian energy workers, the Prime Minister just delivered a knockout punch with a production cap on oil and gas development, which his own department admits will kill jobs and drive investment south of the border.

Canadian energy company Enbridge just announced a $700-million project in the U.S. The Prime Minister is creating powerful paycheques for American workers while Canadian workers cannot afford their mortgages or food. It is completely baffling why he would kill jobs here just to see them created down south. Is he getting some kind of commission from the U.S. energy lobby for all the business he is sending it?

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

Mr. Speaker, what the member opposite is saying is simply not true. It is a cap on pollution. In fact, production is going to go up 16% by 2030, and companies in Alberta in the oil sands sectors are making a billion-dollar investment to make sure workers in Alberta have a future and the energy sector has a future. We can fight climate change at the same time.

Carbon Pricing

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Mr. Speaker, it is a cap on production and his own department says it will kill jobs.

Let us listen to something else the Liberals' own officials are saying. The Prime Minister's own environment commissioner has blasted the carbon tax as a failure. Here are some of his conclusions: The government has “not made sufficient progress to reduce greenhouse gas emissions” and “Canada remains the worst performer among all member countries of the G7”.

Every time the Prime Minister makes the carbon tax go up, Canada's climate performance goes down, yet he keeps doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result. Why will he not call a carbon tax election so Conservatives can stop his insanity?

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

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative Party of Canada is talking about climate change. We should note this somewhere in a book because it does not happen very often. If only the Conservatives would talk about the fact that for 10 years, they did nothing, which is why we had to pick up the slack. When we came to power, emissions were going to overshoot by more than 30% by 2030.

Emissions are down by 8% because of our plan. We have the lowest emissions in 25 years, no thanks to the Conservative Party.

[Andrew Scheer, Conservative, Regina—Qu'Appelle, SK]

Mr. Speaker, he said pick up the slack. Under the Liberals' policies, Canada keeps falling on performance indexes. The only thing the carbon tax is doing is making Canadians poorer, and the results are devastating.

A damning new report from the Salvation Army shows the human suffering the Prime Minister is inflicting on Canadians. The report says that first-time users of food banks shot up this year from 43% to 58%, and one in four parents is eating less so their children can eat. This is in Canada. How can he be so cold-hearted?

Why will he not at least let Canadians decide in a carbon tax election?

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

Mr. Speaker, who here has an inferiority complex? It is the Conservative Party.

Honestly, inflation in Canada is at 1.6%, the lowest it has been in the last four months, and interest rates are coming down. On this side of the House, not only do we help Canadians when they need it, but we also build housing and hand out the family allowance. The only party in the House that has an inferiority complex when it comes to Canada's economic resilience is the Conservative Party.

The Environment

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

Mr. Speaker, after nine years of this Prime Minister, supported by the Bloc Québécois, we find out today in the report from the commissioner of the environment that the Liberals' greenhouse gas reduction numbers are not reliable.

In fact, this Prime Minister's environmental policy has contributed more to doubling the cost of food and housing than to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The Liberals are misleading Canadians and are on track to miss every one of their environmental targets.

When will the Prime Minister call an election so that we can lower taxes?

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

Mr. Speaker, we will have to mark our calendars. The Conservative Party is talking about the issue of climate change. If only it was to remind us that they did nothing for 10 years: no measures on energy efficiency, no measures for the electrification of transportation and no measures for renewable energy. We know that Canada's record under the Conservatives was far from stellar.

From 2019 to 2021, Canada had the best record of all the G7 countries on greenhouse gas reduction. It was certainly not thanks to the Conservative Party, that has no plan for the environment, no plan for protecting the public and no plan for security.

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

Mr. Speaker, I think the minister should read the report. The commissioner of the environment and sustainable development has been clear: the recent drop in emissions is not a result of governments' climate measures.

The Liberal environmental policy, supported by the Bloc Québécois, is not a plan to fight climate change. It is a plan to tax Canadians that has doubled the cost of housing and groceries. The truth came out this morning. Liberal Canada has the worst record in the G7 when it comes to reducing emissions.

When will the Liberals stop punishing Canadians and call an election so that we can finally lower taxes?

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

Mr. Speaker, it is rather unbelievable that the Conservative Party still has its head in the sand when it comes to climate change.

For July and August alone, the insurable cost of the impact of climate change for Canadians was $7 billion. That is a record. It is unprecedented. What is the Conservative Party saying? It is saying that it will let the planet burn. The Conservatives do not have a plan to fight climate change. They do not have a plan to create jobs in the 21st-century economy, which will be a green economy. They do not have a plan to protect Canadians, to have clean water and clean air for all Canadians.

That is a real disgrace.

[An hon. member]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

Before I go to the hon. member for La Prairie, I would like to remind the hon. member for Miramichi—Grand Lake not to speak unless he is recognized by the Chair.

The hon. member for La Prairie.

International Trade

[Alain Therrien, Bloc, La Prairie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the thing farmers were afraid of happened in the Senate.

Senator Peter Harder introduced an amendment to Bill C‑282 that prevents it from protecting supply management. Mr. Harder's amendment invalidates the bill as far as future renegotiations of existing agreements are concerned. In other words, the Senate is giving Donald Trump carte blanche to attack supply management during the next round of CUSMA talks in 2026.

Peter Harder and Peter Boehm are not working for farmers; they are working for Donald Trump.

Will the leader of the government ask senators to defeat this toxic amendment?

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

Mr. Speaker, we agree with the Bloc Québécois. Bill C‑282, which protects supply management, is important. I am disappointed in the committee of senators who voted against this bill and made this amendment.

I would ask senators to respect the will of the House. I am asking all senators to vote against this amendment and support our farmers, who feed Canadians and contribute so much to our economy.