Debates of Dec. 4th, 2024

Government Priorities

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Conservative leader has spent the last few months in the House trying to demonstrate that Parliament cannot work for Canadians. He has been obstructing debate. He has been obstructing our ability to move forward on delivering for Canadians. Indeed, every chance he gets, he votes against measures that would support Canadians. Whether it is the tax break that we are giving over the next few months or moving forward on dental care, on a school food program and on more spots in lower-priced child care, the Conservative leader is voting against them because he wants Canadians to believe that everything is broken. Well, it is not. We continue to believe in Canadians and build a stronger future together.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians want to fire that costly Prime Minister. His MPs want to fire that costly Prime Minister. The only one keeping him in power is the NDP leader, who, again, says, “the Liberals are too weak, too selfish and too beholden to corporate interests to fight for people.”

Now the Liberals are complaining that Canadians might choose me if there were an election. That is not the Liberals' choice. It is not my choice. It is not any of their choices. That is the decision of the Canadian people. Therefore, why does he not turn the decision over to the people who run this country, Canadians, in a carbon tax election?

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

Again, I ask hon. members not to take the floor.

The right hon. Prime Minister.

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, the Conservative leader demonstrates that he is trying very hard to prevent anything from being delivered for Canadians, whether it is dental care, the tax break that Canadians are getting off the sales tax for the next few months, initiatives around child care or a school food program. He has stood up time and time again in the House to vote against measures that directly support Canadians, grow the economy and help people out, because his political argument relies on people being broken, Canadians being divided and people being angry. That is not the way we are going to—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

Carbon Pricing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, we will fix everything he broke, as my great finance critic said. Let us start with the carbon tax. The Indian Resource Council announced today, they will be presenting a resolution at the Assembly of First Nations Special Chiefs Assembly to take the Liberal-NDP Prime Minister's carbon tax to court. They say, “We will not stand by while our communities are pushed further into poverty by the tax we never agreed to.” They want to dispel any notion that lower-income first nations are better off with the carbon tax rebate.

Why not listen to our courageous first nations people and have a carbon tax election?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, indigenous people have been the first and have for the longest stood up to highlight the dangers of climate change and the impacts of neglecting our environment and of not protecting our lands and our oceans, particularly against the previous Conservative government, of which that member was a part. The reality is that the Canada carbon rebate puts more money back in the pockets of eight out of 10 Canadians right across the country. We will continue to fight climate change by putting more money in their pockets, despite the attempts of the Leader of the Opposition.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, he is talking down to first nations people again. They said they have done the research and they “want to dispel any notion that lower-income first nations are better off with the carbon tax rebate.” In rural and remote communities where first nations live, the tax drives up their food, their heat and their transportation bills so much that the Ontario Liberal leader, Bonnie Crombie, has said, “I promise you, I will tell him when he’s wrong. Like on the carbon tax”.

Why won't he listen to Bonnie Crombie and other Liberals and call a carbon tax election?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, indigenous peoples across this country know better than most the cost of inaction on climate change, the impacts of extreme weather events and the impacts, quite frankly, of Conservative underinvestment for years in the kinds of infrastructure and supports they needed. We turned that around. We started treating indigenous peoples and communities as partners. We are invested in fighting climate change and are putting more money back in the pockets of eight out of 10 Canadians with the Canada carbon rebate. We are continuing to make sure that protecting the environment and growing the economy for everyone go hand in hand. That is the path forward.

Government Priorities

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

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister talked about seniors, so let us talk about them. The Prime Minister admitted that there is discrimination in increasing old age security for seniors 75 and up, while his party is in favour of our bill to end the discrimination. He says he is in favour of supply management, and yet he is not doing what he needs to do to ensure the passage of our bill protecting supply management. He says he is against hate propaganda, but he does not have the courage to join forces with us to unblock Parliament and get the bill on hate propaganda passed.

Does he understand why Quebeckers are ready for an election?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, that is another fine example of the Bloc Québécois looking to pick a fight, while we are delivering results for Quebeckers and all Canadians, with a dental care plan, with investments for older seniors who have higher expenses and more requirements and who often have less retirement savings. We are doing good things for Quebeckers and for all Canadians.

We will continue to be there as a partner while the Bloc Québécois and the Conservatives try to prevent this Parliament from operating and prevent the delivery of goods and benefits for Quebeckers, for Canadians and for our seniors.

Justice

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

Mr. Speaker, it is possible to not squabble and show some so-called common sense at the same time.

We are freeing up Parliament, maybe even by unanimous consent, but one by one, I want to see every member here who will not stand up and vote in favour of a law that puts an end to hate propaganda and violence under the guise of religion. I want to see those members who are going to oppose this legislation.

Are we or are we not doing this?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as we have indicated, we are very open to discussing, debating and moving forward on this issue. We recognize that there is no simple or easy solution to this. This is a partial solution, but we must continue to work together.

That is why we introduced Bill C‑63, which addresses online hate, protects our children and will be part of the solutions across the country to combat hate and discrimination, especially online.

We have work to do in the House. Why will the Bloc Québécois not stop the Conservatives from continuing their filibuster?

Leader of the New Democratic Party

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Halifax longshoremen unionized workers have just put out a statement, “On Monday the NDP has the opportunity to reinforce that they will not bring in back to work legislation by supporting their own leader's words.” Below that are those words, in a copy of the common-sense Conservative motion quoting the NDP-Liberal leader as saying, “the Liberals are too weak, too selfish and too beholden to corporate interests to fight for people”.

Will the NDP-Liberals stand with unions and vote non-confidence in the costly government?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, we can tell why the Conservative leader is so desperate to bring Parliament to a halt and to prevent debates on matters that are actually going to deliver for Canadians. As we support Canadians, as we make investments that are growing the economy and showing up for Canadians, like the tax break over the next few months, the Conservative leader sees that we are actually solving some of the challenges that the global economy has tossed our way. These are things that we are focused on.

While he is focused on his own, political, partisan advantage and personal attacks, we are going to stay focused on Canadians and on delivering for them tangibly and concretely.

Natural Resources

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, his party does not agree. He is so weak that the NDP keeps him in power while the Liberal Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador is attacking his energy cap. The Liberal premier says that this reduction of 35% in Newfoundland's energy production is already sending investment away.

We understand that President-elect Trump wants to take our money and jobs, but why is the Prime Minister standing against his own Liberal premier in Newfoundland and Labrador to help Trump do it?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, across the country, except on the Conservative benches, Canadians know climate change is real. Canadians are also stepping up in lots of different ways to help reduce their emissions, to grow the economy and to create a better future for their kids and grandkids. The multi-billion dollar profitable industry that is the oil and gas industry right now has an unlimited ability to emit emissions into the atmosphere.

We do not think any industry, particularly not one as wildly profitable as the oil and gas industry, should be able to have unlimited pollution. That is why we are putting a cap on emissions, not on production.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, that is factually false. The industry's emissions have been regulated for decades. He just wants to shut down their production and give more of the money and jobs to Donald Trump and the United States of America. Then there is the electricity tax. He calls it a regulation, but now we know that it is a tax because the independent Ontario energy operator says that this new regulation tax will drive up costs for families by $175 a year and will drive factories, mines and mills south of the border.

Why is the Prime Minister killing jobs with high electricity prices?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, our oil and gas emissions cap is a cap on emissions, not on production. No sector should be allowed unlimited pollution, and it is unfortunate the Conservatives continue to defend that incredibly profitable sector that is costing Canadians so much.

The reality is that we will continue to work with the industry, which is working on reducing its emissions, because we know that is how we protect oil and gas sector jobs into the future, by innovating, by bringing on better technologies and by recognizing that no sector should have a right to pollute unlimitedly.

Taxation

[Angelo Iacono, Liberal, Alfred-Pellan, QC]

Mr. Speaker, affordability is an important issue in my riding, as it is across Canada. The people of Alfred-Pellan were happy to learn that they will be getting a bit of a break over the next few months thanks to the GST holiday.

Can the Prime Minister explain to Canadians how this holiday will help them?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Alfred-Pellan for his question. We know that the past few years have been hard for Canadians. That is why we are going to give all Canadians a GST holiday.

That means that, for two months, Canadians will not have to pay taxes on any of their groceries or on other everyday essentials. It does not make any sense that the Conservative leader and his caucus voted against the GST holiday for Canadians. While we are putting more money in Canadians' pockets, the Conservatives are opposing tax cuts.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, this Prime Minister has lost control. He has lost control of our border. He has lost control of immigration. He admits it, in fact. He did an about-face on immigration. We want to know if he is going to regain control by answering a very simple question.

How many people are staying here in Canada illegally?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, after the pandemic, we answered the call of the provinces, businesses, small businesses across the country who needed to fill a labour shortage. That is why we allowed more people to come work in Canada.

The situation has changed and it is a good thing that we have a flexible immigration system because we were able to lower our immigration targets to ensure that our economy catches up to our level of growth.

It is perfectly normal for us to adjust our immigration targets based on the lived reality of people across the country.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, he is the head of the government, which is responsible for monitoring who enters and leaves the country. I have a very simple question.

How many people are here in Canada illegally?