Debates of Dec. 6th, 2024

Opposition Motion—Cost of Living Relief for Canadians

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

There are a lot of games being played right now. I would ask members to please refrain from doing that, so we can get to the business of the House.

The hon. member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, on a point of order.

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

Madam Speaker, my conscience was prodded by the intervention from the member for Northumberland—Peterborough South. I may too have at some point used the term Maserati Marxist to refer—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I will shut this down right now.

The hon. member for Burnaby South.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Madam Speaker, I want to talk about the Canadian dream. This is what we want for everyone in our country.

We want people to be able to find a good job, and that job should earn us enough so that we can find a home that meets our needs and that meets the needs of our family. We want to make sure that people have enough so that they can have a fridge full of groceries, and they do not worry when they go to the grocery store about what they need, because they can get everything that they need for their family. They can save up enough money, maybe for a trip, maybe for a little vacation or for the treats that their family or their loved ones need.

However, that is not what it feels like right now. People are losing hope.

They are seeing the super rich make more money than ever before, while they keep on falling behind. Canadians are doing everything right, but they cannot get ahead. It is because governments, and the current government specifically, have failed to do the most important job of government: to fight for people, not the billionaires and not the CEOs.

In this difficult time, it is clear that the Liberal government has let people down. Rents have doubled. Home prices have doubled. Grocery prices are out of control. Big corporations, though, on the other hand, have seen their profits massively increase. Their CEOs are getting huge bonuses. Shareholders are getting huge dividends.

The Prime Minister says to leave the economy up to the bankers. Instead of choosing people, he chooses the wealthiest CEOs, corporations and billionaires. He has shown again and again that he is too weak to stand up to corporate greed. While they are raking in cash, people are drowning in bills.

What have the Conservatives done throughout this? They want to pour fuel on the fire of corporate greed. Their plan is to make life even less affordable. The leader of the Conservatives wants to cut, cut deeply and hurt people. He wants to cut from the working class to give to his CEO friends.

He wants to cut health care so that it is even harder to find a family doctor, so that wait-lists and wait times are even longer. He wants to cut pharma care so that people do not get access to free birth control or free diabetes medication. He wants to cut pensions so that seniors who are already struggling to get by are in even more difficult times. He wants to cut EI so that workers who cannot find a job or cannot get back to work have even more difficulty getting back on their feet. He wants to cut dental care because he is saying that seniors and kids do not deserve to get their teeth looked after. That is what he wants to do.

There is a cost to the Conservatives and people need to know this cost. He wants to cut child care. If he does, that could cost families more than $8,000 a year. He wants to cut the Canada child benefit. That would hurt families with another $600 a month. There are costs to the Conservatives, and that hurts. He wants to cut from Canadians to give to big businesses. That is what he has shown.

He will let us fall further and further behind to help the very richest get even further ahead. Last week, he proved who he truly is. The Conservative Party proved who it is truly in it for. Conservatives had no problem, when they were in government, with bringing in a $60-billion—

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. I do not believe there is quorum in the House.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I will double-check and see if we have quorum in the House. It will just take a few minutes.

And the count having been taken:

We have quorum. There are individuals online as well, so they are considered to be in the House.

The hon. member for Burnaby South.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Madam Speaker, last week, the Conservatives showed us what they are really about.

They often talk about tax cuts. We learned that, when they say tax cuts, they mean for billionaires only. They had no problem with a $60-billion tax cut for the richest CEOs' corporations, but they said no to a tax cut for the working class. They have shown us who they really are.

On top of that, the Conservative leader's own campaign in 2021, which he ran on, promised a GST holiday. He is now voting against it. The hypocrisy is so blatant. It shows us that any time they talk about cutting taxes, they only want to cut taxes for their CEO buddies. They do not want relief for families.

What they are saying, to a single mom who is trying to buy a snowsuit for her kid, is, no, she does not deserve a tax cut. They are saying to a senior who maybe wants to go out to dinner, no, they do not deserve a break. However, to a CEO that runs a massively wealthy corporation, it is, yeah, they need big tax breaks. That is what the Conservatives have—

[Rick Perkins, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margarets, NS]

Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order. Both in the House and online, I think you should check for quorum.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I will check for quorum.

And the count having been taken:

There was a quorum and there still is quorum.

The hon. member for Burnaby South.

[Jagmeet Singh, NDP, Burnaby South, BC]

Madam Speaker, where is the Bloc Québécois in all of this? Where is the Bloc Québécois? The Bloc has made it clear that, even in a minority government situation, it is a symbolic, useless party. It is not—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

The hon. member for LaSalle—Émard—Verdun is rising on a point of order.

[Louis-Philippe Sauvé, Bloc, LaSalle—Émard—Verdun, QC]

Madam Speaker, the member for Burnaby South knows full well that we cannot make reference to the absence of members in the House.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I am not sure what was said. I will watch the video and intervene if the member indicated that someone was not present in the House.

The member for Manicouagan is also rising on a point of order.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Madam Speaker, I have been hearing insults since I entered the House. I would like—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

One moment, please. I cannot hear what the hon. member is saying.

I would ask members to please refrain from speaking while someone else has the floor.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Madam Speaker, I would just like to ask you to remind members to simply respect each other. We are trying to have direction on how to handle the relationship we have with all of our colleagues and our employees here.

What I am hearing right now is insults and even threats against our political party. I find that deplorable, and I would like things to calm down. I am not responsible for the fact that some people are in the House or not, and neither is my political party. I would simply like the House to be called to order. This has carried on while I am speaking. Please intervene.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I apologize for not hearing what was said, but it has been clarified. Members certainly cannot mention who is or is not present in the House. Members cannot say whether a specific party is present in the House. There are also people who participate virtually, and that has to be taken into account.

Moreover, when someone has the floor, it is crucial that they are given the chance to say what they have to say without interruption. If there have been insults, I hope people will refrain from such behaviour, because we all have the right to be respected in the House.

I think some of what the hon. member raised was a matter of debate. Refraining from creating chaos in the House is always best. I hope everyone will show respect for each other. That way, we will be able to participate in debate, questions and comments. We will also be able to hear points of order and questions of privilege without being attacked in some way.

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Madam Speaker, on that point of order, I heard behaviour, quite frankly, that was intimidating to my colleague. I do appreciate your admonishment. I hear more of that heckling and more of that intimidation, but I—

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I already laid down the law on this, and I am hoping that members will—

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

Madam Speaker, I do believe an apology is required.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

Again, I did not quite hear what was being said. We can look at the record. I did indicate there should not be any insults or anything else being hurled at anyone. I will ask the clerks to come back to me with what exactly was said because I certainly did not hear it from this end.

The hon. member for Manicouagan.

[Marilène Gill, Bloc, Manicouagan, QC]

Madam Speaker, briefly, a threat to disrupt the Bloc Québécois's next opposition day was made against us. I heard, “Just you wait and see when your next opposition day comes around”. Really, that is what I heard.

I consider that to be intimidation.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

I did not hear that, but, as I said, I will check whether anyone heard anything on the floor.

The hon. member for Cowichan—Malahat—Langford.

[Alistair MacGregor, NDP, Cowichan—Malahat—Langford, BC]

Madam Speaker, I think today we are obviously witnessing behaviour in the House from the Conservatives that is meant to disrupt the leader of the NDP's speech. I think they are sore because we forced them to vote against women's reproductive health and rights yesterday.

[The Assistant Deputy Speaker, NDP, Carol Hughes]

That's more of a point of debate and not a point of order.

I would ask members, when they rise, to please state the point of order they are actually rising on.