Debates of Feb. 26th, 2024

Fisheries and Oceans

[Gord Johns, NDP, Courtenay—Alberni, BC]

Mr. Speaker, for almost three years, the Liberals have let a ship-breaking company in Union Bay bend the rules, and it is putting locals at risk. A boat filled with asbestos is being broken apart in sensitive fish and shellfish habitats, which could cause irrevocable harm and cost 500 people their jobs. The B.C. government, local first nations and residents say that the Liberals are failing to protect Union Bay.

When will the Liberals finally stop allowing this dangerous activity and further develop ship-breaking regulations to protect our local jobs and our environment?

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, this is something we have been working on for quite some time with the NDP through committee, as well as with certain members. We will continue to work on this issue and ensure that a lot of the concerns the member has will be addressed shortly.

Dental Care

[Patrick Weiler, Liberal, West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, BC]

Mr. Speaker, global inflation disproportionately impacts low-income seniors living on fixed incomes. That is why it was so important that we reversed the Conservatives' plan that would have raised the OAS eligibility from age 65 to 67 that would have abandoned seniors. We went further to increase OAS benefits for those once they reach age 75.

To show how else we are there for Canadians, we launched our new Canadian dental care plan, which will support dental care for up to nine million low-income Canadians, including seniors. I guess we should not be surprised that the Conservatives are against this support too.

Could the Minister of Citizens’ Services update Canadians on how many seniors have applied for this and would lose their dental care plan if the Conservatives got their way?

[Terry Beech, Liberal, Minister of Citizens’ Services]

Mr. Speaker, I am very happy to advise my colleague from the north shore that, as of yesterday, more than one million Canadians have successfully enrolled in our dental care program. In four days, applications will open up to seniors aged 70 and older, and in the coming months, we will open up eligibility for all Canadians. This is a life-changing program. It is not only an essential part of oral health, but also of overall health and economic productivity. I expect that children getting checkups and seniors getting dentures will put a smile on everyone's faces.

Public Services and Procurement

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on one hand, common-sense Conservatives would axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime. On the other hand, after eight years, we have an NDP-Liberal Prime Minister who is not worth the cost, the crime or the corruption, but he needed support for his $60-million arrive scam. Where did he get it from? It was from the costly cover-up coalition NDP.

Canadians want to know, in this scandal that cost them millions, what the Liberals promised the NDP in exchange for its vote to support the corruption of the government.

[Jennifer O'Connell, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to allegations of misconduct in the procurement process, we take them very seriously. On the other hand, we see the Conservatives contorting themselves to come up with catchy slogans.

While they do so, we are doing the work to get to the bottom of what happened here because, for anyone who acted inappropriately, there will be consequences, and we have already committed to that. The president of the CBSA has already implemented changes, but the Conservatives can stick to their slogans.

[Michael Barrett, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville—Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes, ON]

Mr. Speaker, it would not fit on a bumper sticker, but that member and everyone over there voted against the common-sense Conservative motion calling for the Auditor General to investigate corruption, and corruption is exactly what they found. That is what they get on that side of the House. On this side of the House, we have common-sense Conservatives who would axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime.

Why did the NDP support the Liberals with the $60-million arrive scam, which saw Liberal insiders working in their basement and getting paid millions while Canadians lined up at food banks? What did the Liberals promise the NDP?

[Jennifer O'Connell, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, on the contrary, we support the work being done by the Auditor General, including that of the Information Commissioner. We want to get to the bottom of what happened here. The CBSA president has been very forthright in sharing information with the committee. The minister has spoken with her as well, ensuring that information is being shared because we welcome this work, and, as I have said many times in the House, any misconduct in the procurement process will come with consequences.

[Larry Brock, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

Mr. Speaker, while common-sense Conservatives would axe the tax, build the homes, fix the budget and stop the crime, the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister is not worth the cost, crime or corruption after eight years. Canadians are sick and tired of seeing the NDP leader pretending to be outraged over the arrive scam. Let me remind the House that the Prime Minister needed votes to keep funding his $60-million arrive scam, and the NDP came to the rescue. Joining Conservatives and voting no would have saved Canadians tens of millions of dollars.

Does the coalition between the Prime Minister and the NDP require them to fund the arrive scam?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I think it would be useful if we just moved on from the slogans written in the leader's office for one moment while I address another issue that would actually help Canadians. On the Order Paper is Bill C-35, which would guarantee lower child care costs for every single mother and father in this country. That could pass on a voice vote today.

Will that member, instead of taking his orders from the leader, walk down to the leader's office and tell him to pass Bill C-35 to bring down child care costs for Canadians?

[Larry Brock, Conservative, Brantford—Brant, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the previous member stands for the rights of Canadians and getting to the heart of the $60-million arrive scam. The NDP voted yes at least eight times to give tens of millions of cost overruns and money-for-nothing contracts to shell companies, including a $20-million contract to a two-person basement business that wrote the terms for its own contract. The Prime Minister is worth neither the cost nor the corruption.

I will ask this again: What did the Liberals have to do to require the NDP to fund the arrive scam?

[Steven MacKinnon, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons]

Mr. Speaker, I see that answer had little effect. I would again encourage my hon. colleague to, instead of taking all the inbound invective and all the rage farming from the leader's office, trudge back down that long hallway to his leader's office and tell him that what the Conservatives can do today is bring down dental costs for Canadians by passing the bill on the fall economic statement that will help seniors, poor families and children in our country. We can have an impact today on the lives of Canadians. They should stand up and vote for Canadians.

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Mr. Speaker, let us go back to ArriveCAN. The government developed an app worth a few thousand dollars to make it easier for travellers returning home. There was nothing to alert the Prime Minister or cabinet to. It was a small, inconsequential expense that could be summarized in the department's actions. Then it went up to $10 million, $30 million and $59 million. It seems to me that the Prime Minister and cabinet should have been told at that point.

When exactly were the Prime Minister and cabinet informed of the cost overruns associated with ArriveCAN?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Mr. Speaker, my colleague is asking a very good question.

She probably knows and remembers that we recently went through a pandemic, the worst pandemic since 1919, combined with the worst economic crisis since 1930. She knows that public servants had two main directives or instructions. The first was to act quickly and effectively to save hundreds of thousands of lives and millions of jobs, and the second was to act properly by following the rules in place, which unfortunately was not done. The Auditor General observed that. Fortunately, most of her recommendations have already been implemented.

[Julie Vignola, Bloc, Beauport—Limoilou, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the Liberals seem intent on pointing fingers at public servants, but it is inconceivable that a cost overrun of this magnitude was not flagged. It is inconceivable that no one warned the government of the potential embarrassment. The Prime Minister and cabinet must have been alerted to this situation, yet they continued to spend Quebeckers' and Canadians' money like compulsive shoppers.

Was there no reasonable person in this government who said, “Wait a minute, enough already”, or were they all hoping that no one would notice?

[Jean-Yves Duclos, Liberal, Minister of Public Services and Procurement]

Mr. Speaker, I basically answered that question before. What I would add, however, is the importance and value of the Auditor General's work. She deserves not only our thanks, but also our encouragement in performing her work. She plays an essential role in our democracy, because Parliament and parliamentarians rely on her efforts to force governments to do the right thing and ensure that all public servants follow the rules.

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

Mr. Speaker, after eight years, Canadians know that the NDP-Liberal government is not worth the cost or the corruption. With the help of the NDP, the Liberals gave at least $20 million to a two-person company during the arrive scam scandal for no work done, and Canadians want their money back.

Meanwhile, the Auditor General found a stark absence of documentation. Reports now show that tens of thousands of emails were illegally deleted.

Will the Prime Minister and his NDP partners who are responsible for this scandal stand up and tell us when they will release the documents that are missing?

[Jennifer O'Connell, Liberal, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, while the Conservatives want to pretend that this is an issue that the government does not take seriously, we do. We are very concerned about these documents. That is precisely why we support the Information Commissioner's decision to review this matter. CBSA has already indicated that it will work with the Information Commissioner on providing any information it has.

As I have said before, we want to get to the bottom of this and any wrongdoing will come with consequences.

Public Safety

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I have a very simple question. When will the government release the Winnipeg lab documents to the House?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, the short answer is imminently. It is going to happen right away.

I want to thank all parties, because it is through co-operation and working together, the mechanism that we set forth. Remember that it is the Public Health Agency of Canada that makes decisions around redactions. We set forward a collaborative process that all parties participated in. As a result of that, this is exactly why additional information will be deposed before the House, and that additional information was exactly the intention in setting up that committee. That means Canadians will have additional views on the information therein.

[Michael Chong, Conservative, Wellington—Halton Hills, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the four MPs on the Winnipeg lab committee found that most of the information the government withheld from Parliament was withheld to shield the Prime Minister and ministers from embarrassment rather than to protect national security. These four MPs, including a Liberal member, recommended that the majority of the information withheld by the government be made public.

Will the government finally admit that its decision to withhold documents from Parliament was not to protect national security, but rather to protect itself from political embarrassment?

[Mark Holland, Liberal, Minister of Health]

Mr. Speaker, the hon. member across knows very well that it is the Public Health Agency of Canada, not the Government of Canada, that makes the decision with respect to redactions. Those decisions have to do with national security and also with the protection of employees. What we said, and, by the way, what was initiated by this government, was that there were questions that parliamentarians had, wishing to see additional information.

I would remind us that the Conservatives did not want to participate in this process. They actually were against participating in the process that produced the documents. It was the NDP, then the Bloc and then the Conservatives who all participated. That is exactly why this information is—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

Order. I would ask the member for Ajax and the member for Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan to please take their conversation outside of the chamber or ask questions and receive responses.

The hon. member for Laval—Les Îles.

Innovation, Science and Industry

[Fayçal El-Khoury, Liberal, Laval—Les Îles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, during the pandemic, we reached a historic agreement with Moderna to create life-saving vaccines in Laval.

Can the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry tell us how the work on this facility is progressing and what it means for jobs, growth and the success of Canada's biomanufacturing sector?