Debates of Feb. 1st, 2024

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years, this Prime Minister is not worth the chaos.

His Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship admits that Quebec's housing and services are under intense pressure as a result of the refugee crisis. This crisis followed the Prime Minister's decision to remove visa requirements for Mexicans, increasing the number of refugee applicants from 250 to 17,000. Only 11% of them are accepted as genuine refugees.

Will the Prime Minister reverse his decision, do an about-face and restore order to our system?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, as you well know, this kind of decision must be taken seriously. We must first take very important diplomatic steps with Mexico. We will not be making any rushed statements in the House of Commons.

Public Safety

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is not worth the chaos, nor is he worth the crime.

Auto theft is a federal crisis. The decision to amend the Criminal Code to release car thieves was a federal one. Mismanagement of federal ports makes it possible for thieves to send our vehicles off to terrorists and organized crime. The RCMP, which is responsible for fighting organized crime, is federal, too.

Will the Prime Minister reverse course on his mismanagement and his changes to the federal Criminal Code in order to fight the crisis he caused?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, I know the opposition leader likes coming up with reasons to blame everyone.

I would like to set the record straight by saying that we are working with provincial partners in both Ontario and Quebec on this very important issue. We have invited provincial ministers, police forces, the manufacturing industry and insurance companies to meet with us next week. I myself had an excellent meeting with the Conservative Premier of Ontario, and we are going to do even more to tackle this problem.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, lots of meetings, lots of photo ops, lots of spending and lots of car theft, after eight years, the Prime Minister is not worth the car theft crime, which is up 300% in Toronto and 100% in Montreal. This is a federal problem. It is his mismanagement of federal ports that allows our cars to be stolen and sent abroad. His quick release of criminals on catch-and-release who steal our cars is a federal matter and it is mismanagement of our federal police force, which is responsible for organized crime.

Will the Prime Minister reverse his failures, so we can stop the car theft?

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Again, Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition forgets one important thing that this government did in collaboration with the provinces from coast to coast. We strengthened bail conditions to ensure that precisely the circumstance that my hon. friend continues to repeat, inaccurately, is not the case.

I was very pleased that Premier Ford thanked our government at the event yesterday for working with them constructively to put these auto thieves behind bars and do everything we can to bring an end to this unacceptable practice.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, here are the facts. The Liberals brought in catch-and-release bail. They reversed part of it, but guess where catch-and-release remains in place, even after their most recent bill, car theft. Therefore, car thieves can still get catch-and-release, same day bail because of the Prime Minister's amendment to the federal Criminal Code.

Ports are federal; he mismanaged them. The RCMP is federal; he mismanaged that. The Criminal Code is federal; he brought in catch-and-release. Will he not own up to his failures and reverse these decisions so we can keep our cars?

[Arif Virani, Liberal, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday, when the Minister of Public Safety and I were with the Premier of Ontario, we announced $121 million of funding to help with attacking crime in places like Ontario. That will help to stop this flow of what we see in terms of auto theft.

The other thing we heard from the premier, and what we have heard from the law enforcement officials who were there, is that if we want to tackle this we have to tackle organized crime. Interestingly, the Leader of the Opposition is directing his caucus to vote against anti-money laundering initiatives that are contained in the fall economic statement to address exactly that.

Finance

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister has accomplished something only he could do. Our central bank, which can create cash, is actually losing money. How did this happen? He forced the central bank to create $600 billion in cash to fund his overspending over the last three years. To pay for it, the bank makes deposits into the accounts of large financial institutions. Interest rates on those deposits, of course, have gone through the roof, meaning that taxpayers are now forced to bail out those losses.

Will he admit that his incompetence now forces Canadians to pay twice: once for the inflation the money printing caused and twice to bail out the bank, which is failing?

[Anita Anand, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board]

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure if the Leader of the Opposition is aware, but Canada has the lowest debt-to-GDP ratio and the lowest deficit in the G7. What we do on this side of the House is maintain prudent fiscal responsibility, while investing in Canadians, especially vulnerable Canadians.

Let us look at the Canada child benefit, let us look at $10-a-day child care and let us look at the Canada dental benefit. On this side of the House, we actually have compassion for Canada.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the CMHC report confirms that the housing crisis is worse than ever. The vacancy rate is the lowest it has been in 20 years. Rents are up 8%, and finding a new home in Quebec is 17% more expensive.

Why is this happening? It is because the population is growing too quickly. To be clear, immigrants are not responsible for the housing crisis. The Liberals are to blame, thanks to their out-of-touch immigration policy. They got everyone into trouble, starting with immigrants.

Will they amend their immigration policy and bring it in line with our integration capacity?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, this is interesting. The Bloc does not want to blame immigrants, yet they are telling us to amend our plans.

I would like to ask the Bloc members from rural ridings to go and visit the farmers in their ridings to see where they are finding workers. Would they want to reduce the number of temporary workers?

The Bloc members need to answer the question, because it is a very important one that needs an answer.

[Christine Normandin, Bloc, Saint-Jean, QC]

Mr. Speaker, there is a shortfall of 3.5 million housing units according to the CMHC. Meanwhile, the Liberals are increasing immigration levels again in 2024 and 2025. They refuse to spread out asylum seekers among the provinces to alleviate the burden on Quebec. As a result, a heartbroken asylum seeker anonymously told the Journal de Montréal, “I'm scared because I am with my daughter. She is only nine. I do not want to end up on the street.”

When will the Liberals realize that their irresponsible policy is affecting real people?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, it is true that this affects real people. People should not be treated like cattle. They need to be treated with respect and compassion. It is true that we are making efforts to send asylum seekers to other provinces when they request it, but people need to be treated with respect.

That is why I announced yesterday more than $300 million to house asylum seekers. Canada is not exempt from the historic influx facing the west.

Grocery Industry

[Alexandre Boulerice, NDP, Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, Quebeckers never get a break when it comes to buying groceries. Metro's CEO, Eric La Flèche, is telling people to brace themselves because, starting today, eating is going get even more expensive.

What is the Minister of Industry doing? He tells us to keep an eye on the flyers. Then he tells us that he wants to stabilize prices that are already too high. Now he wants another inquiry. That is classic Liberal dithering. We know what the problem is. People are getting pummelled at the cash.

When will this government stand up for people instead of millionaire bosses?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, every day, we are going to do our work to make life more affordable for Canadians, including addressing the issue of food prices in our country.

Of course, members will recall the introduction of the grocery rebate recently, but we are also putting forward new measures to strengthen our competition laws and are launching recruitment efforts to bring more international grocery chains into Canada, which will create competition in the market place, creating better prices for families.

We are going to continue to do what we can to help people who are struggling, including implementing reforms that will help address the cost of food.

Health

[Don Davies, NDP, Vancouver Kingsway, BC]

Mr. Speaker, Manulife just cut a deal with Galen Weston that forces Canadians to fill their prescriptions at Loblaws. This robs patients of their choice of pharmacist and hurts local community pharmacies. Experts say that this will restrict Canadians' access to over 250 medications. This is not only anti-competitive, but once again shows Liberals putting corporate greed ahead of people's health, while the Conservatives say nothing.

Will the government protect patients and block this corporate collusion, as Quebec has done?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, we are deeply committed to ensuring that Canadians have access to the drugs they need for their health and well-being. We have worked hard to make hundreds of millions of dollars in savings, nearly $300 million in savings, through bulk purchasing.

We are working with provinces and territories through our bilateral agreements to continue to find ways to improve health care across the country and to ensure that Canadians have access to the health care they need.

Carbon Pricing

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

Mr. Speaker, after eight years, the Prime Minister is not worth the cost. The carbon tax is going to drive up food prices again on April 1, when he drives it up by 23%. What is that going to do for food prices?

The Keilstra poultry farm in Okotoks has said it is going to go from paying $180,000 this year to $480,000 when the carbon tax is fully quadrupled. These are hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra taxes that all get passed on to the shoppers in the grocery aisles, and the rebate does not cover any of it.

If the Prime Minister will not axe the tax, will he at least cancel his April 1 increase so food prices do not go up even further?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, families in my community do raise the cost of food as a very real concern. That is why we put forward measures like the grocery rebate. That is why we are introducing new reforms that will increase competition.

If the Conservatives would like to help, there is something the opposition leader can do. He can pick up the phone. As I am sure he knows, his chief adviser, Jenni Byrne, is actually a registered lobbyist for Loblaws in Ontario.

Before the Conservatives sling arrows at this side of the House, I would invite the opposition leader to do what we all know is one of his favourite things: take a look in the mirror.

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

Mr. Speaker, this from a government that literally wrote a cheque on taxpayer dollars to give Loblaws millions of dollars for new fridges.

I would like to correct the record. It is not families that are raising grocery prices in stores; it is the government with its carbon tax.

The principle of the carbon tax is to make everyday things in life more expensive and more punishing. The Prime Minister does not care because he never has to deal with those costs. He does not have to pay the carbon tax on his flights or put packages of beef back on the shelf.

Will he finally have some mercy on Canadian families and axe the tax?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, I am sure members will agree with me that it is hard to accept criticism from Conservatives when the person responsible for running their campaign is getting paid on the side to lobby to government Loblaws, the giant grocery chain, which is causing families to pay so much more for groceries than they were previously.

On this side of the House, we are going to put measures on the table that are going to help families put food on the table.

The Conservatives will align themselves with big grocery chains. We are going to do everything we can to make life more affordable.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, today the Conservatives tabled a motion asking the NDP-Liberal carbon tax coalition to cancel its plans to increase the carbon tax on April 1.

After eight years, the Prime Minister is not worth the cost, and farmers' tax bills prove that. The numbers are staggering.

Prairie Gold Produce in southern Alberta is paying $1,500 in carbon taxes every single day. That is unsustainable. It has no option but to pass that onto consumers.

Will the Prime Minister finally axe his plan to increase the carbon tax on April 1 and make food and farming more affordable?

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

Mr. Speaker, the impacts of climate change on our agricultural sector are incredible, which is why we have put in place measures to help our farmers diminish their greenhouse gas emissions.

Let us talk about how much the farmers in the ridings of our colleagues have received: in the riding of the member for Carleton, $2.4 million; in the riding of the member for Dufferin—Caledon, $3.7 million; in the riding of the member for Haldimand—Norfolk, $22 million.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Mr. Speaker, the environment minister is struggling to find some positive numbers.

I will tell him the number. When the Liberals quadruple the carbon tax, it will cost Canadian farmers $1 billion a year. That does not include the GST, also $1 billion, that the Liberals are charging on top of the carbon tax. Higher carbon taxes and more GST will mean higher food costs for Canadians.

When two million Canadians rely on a food bank every single month, the Prime Minister is clearly not worth the cost. How many Canadians need to rely on a food bank before the Prime Minister cancels his plan to increase the carbon tax on April 1?