Debates of March 19th, 2024

Carbon Pricing

[Pablo Rodriguez, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, could the member remind me whether the speech she is talking about is the one where the Leader of the Opposition attacked the mayors of Montreal and Quebec City? Is that the speech where he said that climate change does not exist and where the Conservatives voted? Is that the speech where he said that he was going to abandon families, seniors, young people and students and where he said that he was going to make cuts everywhere? I would like her to remind me which speech she is talking about, or perhaps he said all that in the same speech he gave in Quebec City that time.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

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

Mr. Speaker, the federal government's decision to unilaterally increase Quebec's immigration targets represents a historic loss of sovereignty for the Quebec state. When Quebec sets its threshold at 50,000, it means 50,000, not 60,000 or 70,000.

If the minister wanted to increase family reunification after the thresholds were set, he should have worked with Quebec. For example, he could have suggested finally doing something to help Quebec with asylum seekers, but no, he never co-operated. He tried to force Quebec to increase its targets whether it wanted to or not.

When can we expect a collaboration instead of condescension?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday I asked the member to kindly read the Canada‑Quebec accord. I should have been more specific. I would simply ask her to read section 13 for more clarification.

Clearly, we collaborate very closely with Quebec, and we all have our responsibilities to carry out. I welcome Minister Fréchette's recent remarks. We will keep working together on our priorities, which are ultimately the same.

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

Mr. Speaker, just to clarify, no one is against family reunification. We are simply against Ottawa imposing its irresponsible federal policies on Quebec.

If the minister had wanted to, he could have negotiated compromises. Let us look at his record. He is forcibly increasing Quebec's immigration targets. He is largely responsible for the record increase in temporary immigration. He is also responsible for the disproportionate number of asylum seekers that Quebec is taking in, rather than spreading them out among the provinces.

In all three categories, Ottawa is unilaterally increasing immigration to Quebec, with no regard for our integration capacity and no additional funding.

Is this intentional, or has Ottawa lost all control?

[Marc Miller, Liberal, Minister of Immigration]

Mr. Speaker, imagine being a doctor and being asked to accept 10 patients, but instead being sent 20. That is ridiculous, and that is the situation Quebec families find themselves in.

What I am hearing from the Bloc Québécois is contempt for Quebec families. What do they say to Quebeckers who want to be reunited with their loved ones from abroad? This is tearing Quebec families apart. It is tearing Canadian families apart.

We will work with Quebec to rectify the situation.

Carbon Pricing

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the NDP-Liberal government, the Prime Minister is simply not worth the cost. When the carbon tax was announced, small businesses were promised a hefty rebate. The government is now sitting on $2.5 billion in collected revenues while insolvencies skyrocket and businesses suffer under higher taxes and inflation.

As the Prime Minister broke his promise on the carbon tax rebate, why will he not simply spike the hike, axe the tax and give small businesses their money back?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, the MP who just spoke is a member of Parliament for B.C., and British Columbia is rightly proud of its place as a leader in Canada and the world in having a price on pollution since 2008. It is a provincial system that the people of B.C. support, so either the Conservative Party is ignorant about that or it disrespects the people of B.C.

With respect to small businesses, the money will be going back to small businesses very soon.

[Brad Vis, Conservative, Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Mr. Speaker, it is not just small businesses that have been betrayed by the government on the carbon tax. First nations and Métis communities are owed over a billion dollars in promised rebates. In what seems like a sick April Fool's Day joke, remote and rural communities will see the cost of the carbon tax increase by 23% on April 1. This means higher costs to operate schools, band offices and businesses.

I will ask again: When will the government spike the hike, axe the tax and give remote, rural, indigenous and Métis communities their money back?

[Chrystia Freeland, Liberal, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance]

Mr. Speaker, I have a lot of respect for that MP from British Columbia, but I am really disappointed that he seems entirely ignorant of how the price on pollution works in B.C. There is no federal backstop in B.C. There is no federal backstop on B.C. small businesses nor on the people of B.C.

B.C. has an exceptional system for pricing pollution, which the province has had in place since 2008. The people of B.C. are proud of it, and they should be.

[Mel Arnold, Conservative, North Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Mr. Speaker, $100,000 is not chicken feed. Richard, a farmer in the Shuswap, paid that out in carbon tax to run his farm instead of buying feed to raise chickens and put food on Canadians' tables. Now, the NDP-Liberal Prime Minister wants to raise the carbon tax by 23% as part of his plan to quadruple it.

After eight years, the Prime Minister is not worth the cost. Will he spike the hike, axe the tax and let farmers grow the food, so that Canadians can afford to put food on the table?

[Gudie Hutchings, Liberal, Minister of Rural Economic Development and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency]

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be part of a government that understands climate change is real and understands the impact it is having on farmers from coast to coast to coast. I have seen first-hand as I have travelled the impact of hurricanes and the impact of drought. All that has a cost on our farmers. I am proud to be part of a government that is fighting climate change so my little granddaughter can say, “Nanny, you tried to make a difference”, because climate change is real and it is impacting everyone.

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

The hon. member for Kings—Hants—

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

Order. There seems to be great enthusiasm to hear from the hon. member.

The hon. member for Kings—Hants.

Climate Change

[Kody Blois, Liberal, Kings—Hants, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I am glad the Tories stood up. They might not like the question, though.

The member for Carleton talks about farmers in Kings—Hants, but he actually stands in their way. He will not allow Bill C-234 to come to the House to be voted on, so I call on the member for Carleton to do that to support farmers.

However, my question is for the minister from Nova Scotia. Can he tell the House, and indeed Nova Scotians, of the work we have done to adjust the federal backstop to support rural Canadians, including the programs we have put in place on affordability around home heating and heat pumps, contrary to those guys across the way?

[Sean Fraser, Liberal, Minister of Housing]

Mr. Speaker, over the past year and a half in our home province of Nova Scotia, we have felt the impacts of climate change more than any other part of the country, with wildfires, hurricane Fiona and floods in the hon. member's riding. He has been a staunch advocate for rural communities and for the agricultural sector every step of the way.

Because of his advocacy, we have doubled the rural rebate that households in Nova Scotia receive. Because of his advocacy, we are offering to cover the cost of heat pumps to save people between $1,500 and $4,700 a year, and because of his advocacy, the provincial government is retreating on a policy that would impact the wine growers in his region. I am proud to stand alongside him today and will be for years—

[The Speaker, Greg Fergus]

The hon. member for Edmonton Mill Woods.

Public Safety

[Tim Uppal, Conservative, Edmonton Mill Woods, AB]

Mr. Speaker, after eight years of the NDP-Liberal government's soft-on-crime policies, more and more Canadians are becoming victims of violent crime right across the country. The Toronto Star reports that carjackings have more than doubled so far in 2024, and break and enters for the purpose of car theft have already exceeded the total number for all of last year. Canadians are not only concerned about their private property, but also the safety of their families.

I met some of these families in Brampton this week, and they want to know when the Prime Minister will drop his soft-on-crime policies and protect Canadians from real violent crime.

[Dominic LeBlanc, Liberal, Minister of Public Safety]

Mr. Speaker, our government is always focused on protecting Canadians from crime. That is why we are working with police forces, municipal authorities and provincial governments to do exactly everything we need to do to crack down on this increasingly violent criminal activity. I have had conversations with the Premier of Ontario and with police chiefs across the country. The RCMP are working in collaboration with their partners in these jurisdictions. The Canada Border Services Agency seized 68 vehicles at the port of Montreal this week alone.

We will continue to do everything we need to do to keep Canadians safe.

[Tim Uppal, Conservative, Edmonton Mill Woods, AB]

Mr. Speaker, what the Liberals did was bring in Bill C-5 and Bill C-75, which allow these same criminals to quickly get bail and be out on the streets, sometimes on the same day. As a result, small businesses across the country are not only dealing with higher taxes, like the carbon tax that the Liberals brought forward, but are now having to pay for extra security to protect their businesses and their families from property theft, organized crime, extortion, shootings and arson.

This is the new reality for businesses and families in Canada after eight years of the Prime Minister. He is not worth the cost, the corruption or the crime. When will it end?

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

Mr. Speaker, I respect the member opposite, but what I respect most of all is that he actually was not here when we were voting on Bill C-75. That piece of legislation actually enhanced the penalties on summary conviction for auto theft, something that most of his colleagues voted against. He was not here, so I will excuse him on that one.

On the issue of mandatory minimum penalties, there is a guy named Ben Perrin. He might remember that individual. He used to be the lead adviser to a guy named Stephen Harper. Ben Perrin has been on the record as saying that mandatory minimum penalties were a gross error, a miscarriage of justice, and perpetuate systemic racism. That is why we reversed them. I wish these guys would get on board.

[Pierre Paul-Hus, Conservative, Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC]

Mr. Speaker, auto theft in Toronto has nearly doubled over last year, and 2024 has only just begun. Where do the stolen vehicles go? They go to the port of Montreal.

I would like to commend the efforts of Sûreté du Québec police in February. That said, the federal government must do more to help them. That is why our leader has proposed amendments to the Criminal Code to bring back tougher sentences for car thieves and to give the ports the resources they need to stop the crime.

Does the Liberal government realize that its strategy to combat auto theft is not working?

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

Mr. Speaker, when it comes to crime in our communities and auto theft, we have made these issues a priority with our investments in the port of Montreal. A few weeks ago, we announced $28 million for auto theft. In addition, there was $121 million to help police officers. There was also about $15 million to help the Canada Border Services Agency at the border itself.

Our investments are what we need to do to address this extremely important issue and promote safety in our communities.

Dental Care

[Darren Fisher, Liberal, Dartmouth—Cole Harbour, NS]

Mr. Speaker, I believe that no one in this country should ever spend their days in pain because they cannot afford to see a dentist. Oral health is health.

I heard from seniors in Dartmouth—Cole Harbour that the new Canadian dental care plan is going to make a real difference in their quality of life, yet the Conservatives just do not care. The Conservatives voted against dental care for Canadians, and we know that Conservatives always choose cuts over care.

Can the Minister of Citizens’ Services please let Canadians know how many people have applied for the program, and how many seniors will lose their dental coverage if the Conservatives get their way?

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

Mr. Speaker, I am very happy to advise my colleague that, thanks to his efforts, more than 1.5 million Canadians have successfully enrolled in our dental care program. Today those 70 and older can apply, and children and people with disabilities can apply starting in June. In total, we expect nine million Canadians to benefit.

I do not understand why Conservatives want to take dental care away from more than one in five Canadians. If we all work together, Canadians can make sure that Conservatives never have that opportunity.