Debates of Feb. 14th, 2024

Health

[Hedy Fry, Liberal, Vancouver Centre, BC]

Mr. Speaker, sexual and reproductive health touches all aspects of human health and well-being. It affects physical and mental health. It impacts social participation. It ensures healthy reproductive organs, family planning, pre- and post-natal care, the delivery of healthy babies and safe abortion.

There is a push globally to limit access to the full range of sexual and reproductive health care. This week, two female MPs were stopped from raising this issue in Parliament.

As it is SRHR week globally, can the Prime Minister reaffirm the government's position on this human rights issue?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Vancouver Centre for her tireless advocacy on women's issues.

This week, I am proud to reaffirm our government's unwavering commitment to defending Canadians' reproductive rights through historic investments and through work with grassroots organizers. We have seen, just this week, over the past two days, that the threat to reproductive freedom is alive and well in Canada, even in this chamber. The shameful behaviour of Conservative MPs, shutting down women in the House, leaves Canadians wondering what that party is so afraid of. I call on Conservative MPs to stand up for women's rights.

Carbon Pricing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, our common-sense plan axes the tax, builds the homes, fixes the budgets and stops the crime.

The Prime Minister cannot defend his policy, so he is changing the name. People hate the carbon tax because 60% pay more into it than they get back in his phony rebates. Today, he announced a costly rebranding of the hated carbon tax.

My questions for him are these: How much did he spend on consultants in order to come up with the new name, and was it GC Strategies that he hired?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition does not even understand the consequences of the cuts he is proposing left, right and centre. He proposes to take away the carbon price rebate, the Canada carbon rebate, from millions of Canadian families across the country. The Canada carbon rebate is going to be there to continue to deliver more money to eight out of 10 Canadian families, in four cheques, over the course of the year. That puts cash in their pockets while we fight climate change. We are seeing a reduction in emissions that Canada is leading on. We are also moving forward on growing the economy and supporting Canadians.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, he could not even get the new name of the carbon tax right. It is only three words. The Prime Minister should learn that we cannot improve life by slogans alone. That is right. That is why we propose the facts. I have here a distributional analysis of the federal fuel charge by the Parliamentary Budget Officer, which shows that 60% of Canadians pay more in taxes than they get back in the Prime Minister's phony rebates.

Why will the Prime Minister not follow the facts and axe the tax?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition wants to talk about the facts. The Canada carbon rebate will deliver $1,800 in Alberta to an average family of four; $1,200 in Manitoba; $1,120 in Ontario for a family of four; $1,500 in Saskatchewan; $760 in New Brunswick; $824 in Nova Scotia; $880 in P.E.I.; and, $1,192 in Newfoundland and Labrador to a family of four. Eight out of 10 families across the country get more money out of the Canada carbon rebate—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

The hon. Leader of the Opposition.

Housing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, the Prime Minister is not worth the cost of housing, which has doubled since he took office. Today, we learned on Rentals.ca that rent reached a new high in January at $2,196 a month. That is a 10% increase in one year.

When will he learn that funding bureaucracy instead of housing will not address the cost of housing?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition keeps showing that he does not even understand the programs that he intends to cut.

With our housing accelerator fund, we are investing in municipalities' capacity to build more houses faster by speeding up densification, making zoning changes, issuing permits and moving forward in a way that creates more opportunities to build more homes.

The Leader of the Opposition refuses to understand that, rather than making cuts, this is how we are going to resolve the housing crisis.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, let us talk about that program. Since it was created two years ago, rent has increased by 20% across the country. At the Standing Committee on Finance yesterday, the Minister of Housing was asked how many homes have been built through the accelerator fund. The answer is zero.

The minister said the program does not build houses specifically. Those were his words.

If it costs $4 billion to build no houses, how much would it cost to build one?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition just proved that he does not even understand the programs he is proposing to abolish.

Yes, we are investing $4 billion in municipalities across the country to speed up densification and housing construction and cut red tape in order to build more homes faster. That is exactly what we are doing. We are creating opportunities. More than half a million homes will be built in the next few years. The Leader of the Opposition is proposing to abolish everything because he only cares about cuts.

Natural resources

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

Mr. Speaker, contrary to common sense, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission has authorized a pit covering over a million square metres to store nuclear waste pretty much alongside the Ottawa River. Many people are concerned about this, including chiefs of the Anishinabek Nation, who are here with us today.

I would like the Prime Minister to tell me, does he consider nuclear waste to be dangerous?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, protecting the health and safety of Canadians and the environment is a top priority for this government.

This decision was made by the independent Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, which approves projects only if it determines they are safe for Canadians and the environment, and only after a thorough assessment based on evidence and consultations with indigenous and other affected communities. The Government of Canada and the Department of Energy and Natural Resources are not involved in the commission's decisions regarding—

[The Speaker, Liberal, Greg Fergus]

The hon. member for Beloeil—Chambly.

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

Mr. Speaker, the Anishinabek Nation has conclusively decided that it is not safe. The Quebec nation has conclusively decided that it is not safe.

Is the Prime Minister only listening to the nuclear lobby and to the steadily shrinking Liberal nation?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, as we know and as everyone knows, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission is an independent scientific body that conducts rigorous assessments to ensure the safety of nuclear facilities. It consults with the communities concerned and bases its activities on science to protect Canadians and the environment. This is not a political decision. On this side of the House, we trust our experts.

Housing

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years, the Prime Minister is not worth the cost of housing, which has doubled as he has built bureaucracies that block homes. In January, according data out today, rent was up 10% year over year to $2,196, an astonishing increase in a very short time. In fact, it is up about 20% in the last two years alone, and it has been accelerating ever since he recently named his incompetent housing minister.

Will the Prime Minister follow our common-sense plan to cut the bureaucracy and build the homes?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians know that cuts from the Conservative leader would not get more homes built. If he were really concerned about rents, he would line up behind us and support the removal of the GST on new apartment construction. That is something they actually voted against. We know that unlocking a greater supply of housing, including with purpose-built apartment buildings across the country, is a way of bringing down rents for people. That is a concrete solution we put forward that the Conservatives chose to vote against for political gain and for political reasons.

We are going to continue to be there to do the hard work of delivering for Canadians, while he relies on catchy slogans and misunderstanding of what it is he is choosing to cut.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, we were the ones who proposed taking the tax off home building, the one good idea that he finally copied. However, the Prime Minister talks about slogans. One is the housing accelerator fund, the $4-billion program that was supposed to speed up housing. We asked the housing minister yesterday in committee how many homes it had completed, and the answer is zero, nada and nothing. He said, “It doesn't actually lead to the construction of specific homes.”

It cost $4 billion to build zero homes. How much would it cost to build one?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, once again, we have the clear proof that the Leader of the Opposition does not even understand the proposals that he is counting on cutting, that he is promising to cut, from Canadians.

The housing accelerator fund is about investing in municipalities across the country to change the frame around which they build homes faster. It involves eliminating red tape, increasing densification, changing zoning and making sure we can unlock far more house construction than any federal government could build on its own. This is the approach that we are taking, and it is working.

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, we have seen $4 billion, 35 photo ops, one minister and zero homes.

The minister not only says the program does not build homes, but he also says it does not lead to the construction of homes. He could not point to one development that had actually been completed.

The Liberals have been in power for eight years and they cannot get anything built. When will they get the bureaucracy and the taxes out of the way so we can build the homes?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, the only tool that the Leader of the Conservative Party has put forward is cutting: cutting programs in order to somehow create more homes. What we are actually doing is investing, in partnership with municipalities, to eliminate red tape, to accelerate the construction of homes, to increase densification and to change zoning so that more houses can be built.

If he wants to talk about a number, half a million new homes are being facilitated by the housing accelerator fund right across the country. We have signed these over the past months. Construction is already under way across the country.

Indigenous Affairs

[Sophie Chatel, Liberal, Pontiac, QC]

Mr. Speaker, communities across Canada are marching to remember missing and murdered women, girls and two-spirited people. Indigenous women are still afraid to leave their communities at night.

As this year marks the fifth anniversary of the national inquiry's final report on this issue, can the Prime Minister provide an update on efforts to implement the report's calls to action?

[Justin Trudeau, Liberal, Prime Minister]

Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for Pontiac for her question and her hard work.

The crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women, girls and two-spirited people continues in our country. Since 2015, we have launched a national inquiry—something the Conservatives refused to do—and we now have a clear plan of action that includes more help for people fleeing violence and a commitment to create the red dress alert to find missing indigenous people.

I would like to thank everyone who is participating in the walk in their communities.

Public Safety

[Pierre Poilievre, Conservative, Leader of the Opposition]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years, the Prime Minister is not worth the crime, chaos, drugs and disorder he has unleashed in our streets. He has signed on with the NDP government in B.C. to decriminalize crack, heroin and other hard drugs and has allowed for drug injection sites in Richmond. Courageous and patriotic Canadians of Chinese origin rose up to speak out to protect their kids and were treated to racial slurs by radical NDP activists telling them to go back to where they came from.

Will the Prime Minister reject this Liberal racism and ban hard drugs so we can stop the crime?